Free Republic

BOGOTÁ. A call from Colombian president Alvaro Uribe may result in the suspension of plans for Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to make a stop in Caracas to meet with Hugo Chávez, as ABC revealed in an exclusive report. The Bogotá newspaper El Tiempo declared that it appears that Uribe made a phone call to La Moncloa [Spanish Government offices in Madrid] to “point out” that Spain was arranging the sale of war materials to Venezuela, although last year it suspended the sale of combat vehicles to Colombia. The announcement of Zapatero’s stop in Venezuela was made at...

The day had dawned like earlier days in Washington. Gray, rainy, cold. The President had dealt with some matters before going to Congress, where he also met with senators from both parties. Then he set out for the balcony of the East Wing of the Capital where he would swear his oath with the same formula used by George Washington on April 30, 1789. The President took his seat on the speakers’ platform next to his wife. It continued raining. Mary watched her husband stretch out to his more than 6 feet of height to approach the podium from which...

Named in a federal elections complaint alleging wrongdoing in paying filmmaker Michael Moore to speak before the presidential election, the University of Florida filed its response to the charges late Monday.

According to journalists, at least four police officers have died in Peru in a shoot out with ultranationalist rebels from the Etnocacerista movement who seized a police station in the Andean region of Andahuaylas on Saturday. The deaths were confirmed by representatives of the Andahuaylas hospital, according to Radio Programas de Perú. The station added that the dead officers included Captain Carloa Cauan and Lieutenant Luis Chávez. Sources recounted having heard a fierce exchange of gunfire in the morning, which residents of the area confirmed, in the department [state] of Apurímac, 822 km south of Lima. The rebels were holding...

Santiago Bernabeu Stadium (Madrid) Evacuated for Bomb Threat Security agents of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium have ordered the evacuation of the stadium, host to the game between the Real Madrid and the Real Sociedad [Spanish soccer teams], because of an alleged bomb threat. A call to the newspaper Gara de San Sebastian [in the Basque region] announced the placement of an explosive device in the Madrid stadium. The caller claimed that it would explode at 9:00 p.m. The approximately 75,000 spectators present were told over the PA system to leave the premises, although they were not informed of the reason,...

New NARAL President May Have Falsified Battle With Catholic Church by Steven Ertelt December 3, 2004 Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New NARAL president Nancy Keenan is finding herself in hot water for possibly exaggerating claims that she "stood up" to pressure from the Catholic Church in Montana after she spoke publicly at a pro-abortion rally fifteen years ago. Last month, NARAL selected former Montana elected official Nancy Keenan as its new president to replace outgoing leader Kate Michelman. In comments to the Washington Post after her selection, Keenan said she found herself rebuked by a Catholic bishop after speaking at...

[DNC logo} IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE To all Republican Party Election Day poll watchers: Your name has been filed to serve as a poll watcher on Election Day, on behalf of the Republican Party or a Republican candidate. The Democratic Party recognizes the legal rights of poll watchers, under Florida Election Law, to perform their lawful duties. We want to make sure that all poll watchers recognize the importance of their role in this process and understand the repercussions for abusing that role. As a poll watcher, you have the ability to protect one of the most sacred rights of our...

About 17,000 sign-waving supporters greeted President Bush during a whistle-stop Sunday in Gainesville, temporarily transforming a Democratic stronghold where Republicans are outnumbered 2-to-1 into Bush Country...

MADRID. The Spanish Catholic Church, working through diocesan educational committees and Christian movements and organizations, is planning a “major demonstration” in Madrid in December to protest against the measures of the Socialist government in matters of religious education, the streamlining of the divorce process, and marriage between homosexuals. Some dioceses have begun to notify priests and religious education personnel of this strategy, which would contradict what was publicly stated by the Bishops’ spokesman, Juan Antonio Martinez Camino, who declared that the Episcopal Conference was not “going to call for or participate in any demonstrations” against the Government. In a letter...

Eight people have now been arrested in the operation against the Islamic cell that was planning to blow up the [Spanish] National Court and the [Spanish] Supreme Court. Their leader has been under arrest in Switzerland since September. The terrorists contacted ETA member Rego Vidal to buy 1000 kilos [over 1 ton] of explosives….Asked why Spain continues to be a target of the Islamists despite the withdrawal from Iraq, Fernández de la Vega said that terrorism has “no causes or origin,” contradicting Zapatero’s theories… As for the objective of the attack, the terrorists had expected several of Spain’s most important...

<p>Located four blocks from the White House, the National Archives are best known as the home of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. The two founding documents are beautifully displayed in the Rotunda for the Charters of Freedom. Every day tourists line up for the exhibit, and after they're done, some step into the Archives Shop on their way out.</p>

Detroit Airport Screener Accused of Lying By Anu Prakash A Dearborn man was in federal court Thursday, accused of lying when he applied for his job as a TSA screener at Detroit Metro Airport. 25-year-old Sadeq Ahmed spoke to reporters as he walked out of the Detroit Federal Courthouse Thursday afternoon, released on bond. Back in October of 2002, Ahmed allegedly said he had never had his security clearance suspended, when in fact he had. His security clearance and access to classified information was suspended in 2001, while he was in the Air Force serving at Eglin Air Force Base...

A message issued by an Islamist web page calls on Italy to withdraw its troops and threatens car bomb attacks. The text asks the Italian people to use mass demonstrations to force their government to withdraw peacefully from Iraq. Furthermore, the group, which identifies itself as a member of Osama bin Laden’s network, adds that if the Italian government does not obey, the response will be car bombs. It has not been possible to verify the authenticity of the message. The same web page (“Ansarnet”) published another message on Friday, signed by the “Abu Hafs Al Masri Brigade,” threatening Italy...

Can A Catholic Politician Be Pro-Choice? By Bishop Victor Galeone In 1962 Archbishop Joseph Rummel of New Orleans excommunicated Judge Leander Perez for attempting to block the desegregation of the school system in the archdiocese. The mainstream and liberal media applauded the archbishop’s action. Racists and segregationists attacked him vehemently. How dare he try to impose his sectarian views on those who held a different opinion on how the schools should be integrated? In recent months, several Catholic bishops have issued directives forbidding the Eucharist to Catholic politicians who support abortion-on-demand. The media has been quick to respond with scurrilous...

Last weekend, I was in Bel Air, near Los Angeles, the place where Ronald Reagan lived. While I was having lunch on Saturday with a friend from Segovia, a university colleague visiting here, the television networks announced the death of the great “Gipper.” Since then, I have been unable to write a single line. Now I am writing as his body is about to be buried forever in the Presidential Library in Simi Valley. In recent days, I have seen and read a great deal of what has been written and said in Spain, Europe and the United States regarding...

The 15 members of the UN Security Council unanimously approved the new resolution on Iraq. The objective of the resolution is the transfer of powers to Iraqis, and defines the stages that will lead to new elections being held in January of 2005 and the conditions under which Coalition forces will remain in the country. After weeks of negotiation, Washington and London have overcome the reluctance of various Member States by including new conditions on the relationship between the Iraqi government and the multinational force, which was the principal subject of disagreement.

Two Islamist cells with logistical support have been found in [Spain]. Police in Spain, Italy and the UK have been working around the clock to localize several cells of Ansar al Islam, some of whose members have already been identified, who intend to commit attacks against British and Italian targets during President Bush’s trip to Europe, antiterrorist sources have informed La Razón. These groups are composed primarily of Algerian fundamentalists, although there are also some Moroccans, and they were trained in the camps of Afghanistan. The alarm sounded in Europe upon the receipt of completely reliable information that several cells...

A car bomb exploded this morning in the center of Baghdad, near the so-called “Green Zone” where the offices of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) are located. A think column of smoke is risking over the site of the explosion where, according to witnesses, at least two people died and several were injured in this new attack, occurring 30 days before the transfer of power. The explosion occurred in a street named Kindi, in the Al Hariziya neighborhood, a busy area near the former residence of Saddam Hussein. In addition, it was learned today that four snipers assassinated the leader...

Al Sadr Blames the US for Attacks on Spanish Troops Sheik Ahmad a-Sehibani, spokesman for Al Sadr, said that “We are ready to provide protection for the Spanish [to retreat] with a brigade of the Mehdi Army, if they give us their weapons and an armored vehicle.” “While US troops and their secret services were carrying out their operations, it was the Spaniards who showed their faces,” said Sheik Ahmad a-Sehibani, spokesman for Al Sadr. As an example, he cited the arrest by US soldiers of Mustafa Yaqubi on April 3 in Kufa, which is near the city of Najaf...

CNI [Spanish Intelligence Service] Agents Close to the PSOE [Socialist Party] Negotiated in Iraq for Shiites Not to Attack Spanish Troops Agents made a secret trip to Najaf a week ago to reach an agreement with representatives of Moqtada al Sadr. Fifteen hours after Zapatero announced the return of the “Plus Ultra” Brigade, the religious leader ordered his militias not to fire on the Spaniards. Agents of the National Intelligence Center (CNI) with ties to the PSOE [Socialist party] secretly travelled to Najaf a week ago to meet with representatives of Muqtada al Sadr. Their mission was to inform the...