Free Republic

An espionage incident only weeks prior to chancellor Angela Merkel’s planned China visit may be threatening the bilateral relations between Berlin and Beijing said German news magazine Spiegel Online in a June 26 article. Just days earlier, China’s intelligence gathering activities were prominently highlighted in a report issued by Germany’s Ministry of the Interior. Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s office is investigating two high-ranking Chinese officials on allegations of espionage, and the matter could make Angela Merkel’s upcoming China visit more difficult. According to information obtained by the Spiegel, Federal Prosecutors are investigating two Chinese individuals on accusations of spying against practitioners...

SIOA MOSQUE ALERT! SIOA MOSQUE ALERT! The hearing before the Landmarks Commission concerning the Ground Zero mosque is scheduled for July 13 at 2pm, at 45 Park Place. We should be there. The 152-year-old Burlington Coat Factory building should be landmarked, as it is part of historic New York, and it is a war memorial. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT MEETING. ATTEND. EMAIL THIS TO EVERYONE. CIVIL BEHAVIOR IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE. I ask each of you to be polite and reasoned when you speak. I noticed at the community board meeting that there were "plants" on our side, yelling inappropriately...

Probably not many people noticed, but FR changed its IP address over the weekend, from 209.157.64.201 to 209.157.64.200. I only noticed because I had hard coded the address to my HOSTS file. I just wanted to remind the admins that there are many links to 209.157.64.201 out there. Search any search engine for site:209.157.64.201 to see.

TULSA, OK – Tulsa Police tell the News On 6 a man claiming to be a Okmulgee County Reserve Deputy opened fire at a midtown Tulsa gas station about 7:15 p.m. Tuesday. The shooting happened at Moe's Grill at 5th and Lewis. Police officers say the man ran into a person he claimed to have arrested in the past. Witnesses say that person started an argument and flashed a gun. "At some point, he pulled up his shirt and told the guy, 'hey you know you can get some of this," said Captain Karen Tipler, Tulsa Police. "And he was...

<p>A mild-mannered Manhattan pooch turned into a flying furball when a gust blew him up, up and away off his owner's 11th-floor terrace in TriBeCa and sent him five stories down and 30 feet east to a rooftop.</p> <p>Alfie, a 4-year-old, 10-pound silky terrier, miraculously walked away from the flight with just a few bruises and scratches and a cut lip.</p>

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- The Iranian regime is notorious for cracking down on dissent inside Iran. Now Mahmoud Ahmadenijad and the mullahs are targeting dissidents in other countries -- including those in the United States. And they are using an international organization to do it. Shahram Homayoun fled Iran for the United States 19 years ago. He was a marked man in his native country, because of his support for democracy and human rights. Now the regime has finally caught up with Homayoun: not in Tehran, but in Los Angeles. "They have managed to keep me here, and it seems...

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Internet giant Google today was hushing up the new dispute over President Obama's strange Social Security number by diverting searches for news reports on the issue to unrelated stories about Elena Kagan, oil, Tampa and the Federal Reserve. The actual story, posted on WND.com, explained how two private investigators – working independently – are asking why Obama is using a Social Security number set aside for applicants in Connecticut while there is no record he ever had a mailing address in the state. Under a Google news search for "President Obama Social Security number," the top four results all quoted,...

Liz Edinger will never forget that telephone call, the one dreaded by any worried parent of a uniformed son or daughter in harm's way in Afghanistan or Iraq. "Nick called and asked if I was sitting down," she said. "I sat down, and he said, 'Mom, my left foot is missing.' " "This is six hours after it happened," added Scott Edinger, her husband and Nick's father. "He said, 'I stepped on a land mine but don't worry, I'm going to be fine.' " Army Cpl. Nick Edinger, 22, lost his left foot to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan...

There is no real difference between the 'liberal democrats' of the UK (who, like every other party which tagged 'democrat' to their name ~100 years ago was doing so to differentiate themselves from the Totalitarian Left, like 'hey, it's OK, we're not like Lenin, even though we believe a lot of the same things'. Remember that context when you see 'democrat' in a party name), and the leftist Labor party, and they will together form a leftist government. They are acting now as if they might help the Conservatives into power: they will NOT. They benefit from acting as if...

A South Bend, Indiana store owner reportedly shot an armed and violent robber in self defense. Police say that a robber, who was armed with a carpet knife, entered the Its a Man's World vintage clothing store on the 3000 block of Mishawaka Ave, just before closing time. The robber reportedly picked up a few items as though he was shopping, then proceeded to the cash register, where he demanded the store owner hand over all of his money. A struggle ensued, with the store owner suffering minor cuts to his chest, arm, and hand, at which point the store...

PALM BAY, Fla. -- A local bank customer was hailed as a hero Thursday night for taking down a man who said he was down on his luck and he decided to commit a robbery. Floyd Francis gave up instantly, police said, and he was taken to the Brevard County Jail. "I drew my gun on him and put him down," Ruben Torres said. In a hand-written confession, Francis said he tried to rob the Space Coast Credit Union in Palm Bay because he needed money. He wrote, "I make music for a living, but tings not working out right...

I studied Economics at one of the most prestigious universities in the world. When an economist reads 'VAT', they don't think "a value-added tax", as you mere workers/taxpayers are meant to think, but rather an economist sees "a Tax on the Value Added". It should enter the public debate that "Value Added" is a business term; an economics term that means GDP, or Gross Domestic Product. That is, the wealth creation of the United States of America. The "Value Added" of any organization is equal to the Outputs minus the Inputs. It is the fundamental wealth capacity of that organization....

The persecution of Christians in Pakistan is becoming very brutal and very deadly. The truth is that it is no longer safe to be a Christian in Pakistan anymore. A Christian man in Pakistan's Punjab province is literally fighting for his life after radical Muslim leaders, backed by police, burned him alive for refusing to convert to Islam while his wife was raped by police officers. This incident, which took place on March 19th, is just the latest in a series of deadly attacks on Christians in Pakistan. The name of the man is Arshed Masih, and according to reports...

After laying hands on the record-breaking 61.5 mph speedboat, built for a British sporting adventurer, the Iranian navy plans to arm it with the reputedly fastest torpedo in the world, the Russian-designed Shkval (Squall), which moves at speeds of 360 kph. debkafile's military sources report Tehran is aiming for a seaborne weapon able to sink a US carrier in the Persian Gulf. Blogs tracking the international weapons trade and the Financial Times reported Monday, April 5, that after purchasing the Bladerunner 51 powerboat from a Florida boatyard in 2005, the British sailor Neil McGrigor smashed the Italian-held record for the...

You can download this as a Word document, to print out & surprise a liberal, here. George W. Bush proposed to quadruple the U.S. debt, which took two centuries to accumulate, in one year. What kind of world was he trying to leave us with? George W. Bush flew over a badly flood-ravaged state, on his way to a swanky fundraiser, without so much as a stopover. Was he not heartless? George W. Bush visited Austria and made reference to the non-existent "Austrian language". Does that not tell you he was ignorant? George W. Bush spent hundreds of thousands of...

Reports of bias in Google results are coming in very fast recently. Microsoft has filed lawsuits alleging that Google favors its own websites. And conservative commentators have accused it of anti-freespeech bias for many years. Contrary to popular belief, Rush Limbaugh is usually very reserved in saying such things. He has often been quoted on his radio programme as saying that he is aware of the responsible position he has, and is thus considerate about what he says. But Rush directed some very harsh language at Google on Tuesday, noting that Google has developed an oddly close relationship with the...

Many Democratic commentators on the Networks and Cable are expressing surprise that the White House is intent on forcing through Healthcare despite extremely strong feelings against it nationally. (listen to Democratic House Representative Eric Massa describe the current situation in the Democratic Party) More moderate democrats are being pushed hard to vote for the Healthcare bill, despite its painful sanctions against Americans who don’t buy the prescribed insurance, and strong pro-abortion language. These adjurations are being combined with assurances that funding and support will be available for their reelection bids in November. However, sources are indicating that the Pelosi/Obama hard...

I had long heard about the answering-islam.org website. I think the site is very important, as it is important for our civilization to answer Islam. They say, on the site, that it is mainly for dialog with muslims. But also, Islam must be answered to non-muslims. Since 9/11, all of the issues regarding Islam have been pushed into our culture, and our culture does not have a unified response to those issues. I had heard about the “answering-islam” website for a long time before I actually read it, and I assumed that “answering islam” was about that - about answering...

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- After the Maryland Terrapins beat Duke, 79-72, people gathered on Route 1 to celebrate Soon, the crowd took down a traffic sign and rocked a bus. Police in riot gear tried clearing people from the streets. Officers were on horses, others used shields to physically push people back. Some say the police went too far, using tear gas and shooting sand bags while people ran away. Others say the response is understandable, considering the area’s history. The confrontation lasted for hours. Afterwards, people took pictures of blood on a sidewalk. A group of students said the...