Free Republic

It has taken up residence deep within us. We go through our daily routines, but we know it is there. Like a low humming sound. Like a faint tremor. It flits intermittently beneath the surface. We hear about a Greyhound bus being overturned. One detail is hideously familiar. The driver’s throat has been slit with a box-cutter. Almost immediately, the press reports that a government spokesperson has labeled the incident as a random act. We read of a Russian airliner that crashes into the Black Sea, of a photo-editor who is dying from a rare case of anthrax, and ...

Like moths to a flame, Muslims come to America like so many others, attracted by the light of freedom, openness and prosperity. Within the Muslim world, however, there is a faction that embraces a fanatic distortion of Islam. Members of this ilk believe that those who live among non-Muslims are violating the faith. Religious freedom, free enterprise, limited government and individual liberty are anathemas to their worldview and their power structure. The allure of Western values, institutions and lifestyle continuously threatens the authority, as well as the stability, of their regimes. These regimes generally have an inner circle that ...

THE bright sunshine of an crisp autumn morning lends Trappes a cheerily provincial air. Queues of people form at the bakers and newsagents and inspect the market stalls, as if to confirm the municipal slogan, "La Ville qui Bouge", the bustling town. But Trappes has an altogether different reputation. Three decades after the first tower blocks of its housing estate went up, France knows it by the tagline "Trappes - La Ville qui Tue", the killer city. Les Merisiers estate has become a byword for the no-go areas which surround most of France's major cities. Crime and unemployment are ...

Many nations have communicated a willingness to join with the United States in its fight against terrorism. Now some are attempting to attach a condition to their support. These are the nations that insist that any action initiated against terrorists be taken under the authority of the United Nations. The sentiment expressed in this condition is not limited merely to leaders of other nations, but is being voiced within our own country as well. Some at home have questioned the legal and moral authority of US policy, which was articulated in a speech by President Bush. The disagreement over ...

A dramatic shift has taken place in America. In many ways, we are a different nation from the one that existed prior to September 11, 2001. Patriotism is in full blossom. Faith is expressed freely. We pray out loud. We sing spontaneously. We even sermonize from newsrooms and street corners. Our hearts swell in spite of their brokenness. At some point we are going to stop and ask ourselves why we have not behaved this way in such a long time. The answer will elude us until we are prepared to face a rather unpleasant reality. A number of ...

Three Miami firefighters refused to ride on a fire engine carrying the American flag because they deemed Old Glory "offensive," the fire department said today. The U.S. flag represents "oppression," the three government employees griped - and they refused to respond to emergency calls Saturday until a crew chief removed it, the Associated Press reported. "He felt the best thing to do was for the administration to deal with this later," said Miami-Dade Fire-Rescue spokesman Lt. Louie Fernandez. "This way, citizens were never affected as far as their fire and rescue service." On Monday, Miami-Dade Fire Chief Dave Paulison ...

New revelations remind us that we have an indispensable duty to respond to any attack waged against America in an immediate and unambiguous manner. The individual who masterminded the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, Ramzi Ahmed Yusef, had in his possession, plans that included a coordinated succession of US aircraft hijackings and subsequent suicide-style crashes. One of Osama bin Laden’s followers, Abdul Hakim Murad, was arrested in 1995 in the Philippines. In his possession was a laptop computer that likewise contained plans for a coordinated succession of US aircraft hijackings and subsequent bombings or suicide-style crashes. Khalid ...

This is not a temporary news cycle, singular act, attack or mere criminal matter. This is a declaration of war on the American people and must prompt a response in kind. There was once an unwritten rule that could be stated as follows: Because sufficient fear of American resolve existed, terrorism was carried out on embassies and military facilities outside of our borders, but not within our continental shores. This unwritten rule was challenged because of lack of a forceful enough response to previous incidents. Deterrence was thereby eroded. Now, with this declaration of war on the American people, ...

THE pilots of the four hijacked aircraft were probably murdered before their planes were diverted on their devastating suicide missions, terrorism experts speculated. No fewer than 30 highly-trained renegades - some 'graduates' of a secret school of terrorism - would have been involved in the extraordinarily well synchronised series of deadly attacks. As experts pieced together their audacious operation, it was clear that no pilot would have steered their plane into a building packed with people. Instead, it is possible they were shot dead in the cockpit and their seats taken by terrorists with at least a rudimentary ability ...

Some of the major television networks have announced that they are going to compete in a race from the gutter to the sewer this fall season. Decency regulations do exist, but three of the main players have already indicated that they intend to violate the rules. As The New York Times and NewsMax recently reported, G.E.’s NBC is planning to introduce a character that will use the Lord's name in vain, according to Aaron Sorkin, executive producer of “The West Wing.” Such a position has customarily been considered taboo for network TV. Viacom, Inc.’s CBS stated that its new ...

Americans are generally unaccustomed to giving much thought to the subject of sovereignty. Perhaps it is because we take our sovereignty somewhat for granted, or perhaps because we have not felt the urgency to take heed. However, in light of some current political trends, there may be good reason to give this topic our attention. Why is American sovereignty so important? Why do we hear people such as Senator Jesse Helms, Undersecretary of State John Bolton, Representative Ron Paul, and others extolling the virtue of preserving our nation’s sovereignty? The origin of the grand experiment we call America was ...

President Bush's determination on stem cell research appears to have spawned a division of its own within conservative quarters. Some of the greatest minds and deepest thinkers of current times continue to wrestle over the question of whether or not the decision was morally pure. Statements from two distinguished leaders within the pro-life community typify some of the reactions. Laura Echevarria of the National Right to Life Committee said the group was delighted that President Bush's decision "prevents the federal government from being a party to any further killing of human embryos for medical experimentation." Wendy Wright of Concerned ...

Roger Hedgecock, former San Diego mayor and talk show host for KOGO radio, has launched a movement against what he and his allies view as an invasion of privacy that is taking place in that city. Attorney volunteers are representing hundreds of defendants who have received citations for alleged violations that were caught on film by automated cameras positioned at red lights. Lawyers are disputing the constitutionality of the city's use of such surveillance devices and their application to ticketing. Hedgecock tells NewsMax that the trial in this matter brought out some startling information on the reliability and legality ...

There’s another disinformation campaign going on. This one involves the overly hyped, under-defined decision on embryonic stem cell research. Through use of some time-tested favorites - selective reporting, emotional manipulation and distortion of facts - Americans are now sufficiently confused. The public has been treated to a hefty serving of mistaken assumptions, but the essential truth has yet to be adequately presented. Emotional images have been wielded in an effort to get people to believe that the question under consideration is whether or not any stem cell medical research should take place in our country. But the real question ...

What genius came up with the idea of granting amnesty to illegal immigrants from Mexico only? It turns out that this misguided notion is a loser for the Bush administration in every way imaginable. It is fraught with legal, social, cultural, political and economic flaws, despite what proponents say to the contrary. If the legal dimension of this blunder sounds eerily familiar, it should. Apparently it has escaped the minds of some of the folks in the Bush administration, though. Surely a portion of the Bush team can recall that the basis upon which the Supreme Court decided the ...

London - A lesbian rendition of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet being staged in Birmingham - in which the role of Romeo is played by a woman - has met with a storm of criticism, organisers said on Monday. The play, originally performed around 1594, also sees Juliet's nurse and confidante played by a homosexual transvestite, and several other roles are marked by gender reversals. "People are becoming heartily sick of this sort of thing being offered up as entertainment. What a pity we have to see this sort of sensationalism in an attempt to fill seats," said Tony Wareing, ...

Washington is a town of many games, where the stakes are high and the outcome is never routine. In the Gary Condit cat-and-mouse match-up, the sport is being played by the masters. The term "suspect" has been bandied about by investigators and lawyers alike. All insist that Condit is not now, nor ever has been, considered one. Yet each side has distinct strategic reasons for the assertion. Condit forces are using the non-suspect label to remind the public that the congressman is not under suspicion of criminal behavior with respect to Chandra Levy's disappearance. The police are using the ...

The story has changed dramatically. We see it in the headlines. A short time ago, titles referred mainly to missing D.C. intern, Chandra Levy. Now, almost all captions feature the name of the Democrat congressman from California's 18th district, Gary Condit. Allegations of flight attendant Anna Marie Smith have caused the spotlight to be aimed directly at Condit. The focus, too, has shifted from alleged infidelity to alleged criminality. At the heart of Ms. Smith's claims is a request that she sign a draft declaration under penalty of perjury (California's version of an affidavit) that absolved the congressman of ...

MUSLIM leaders in Italy are demanding the removal or destruction of a priceless 15th century fresco in Bologna that they say offends Islam by showing the Prophet Muhammad being cast into the flames of Hell. The row over The Last Judgment by Giovanni da Modena, in Bologna Cathedral, could threaten the already strained relations between the Roman Catholic Church and members of Italy’s Muslim community. The recently established Union of Italian Muslims has written to the Pope and Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, the outspoken conservative Archbishop of Bologna, complaining that the fresco shows clearly Muhammad, the founder of Islam, among ...

Located between the Palatine and Aventine Hills of ancient Rome, there stood a massive arena. The colossal facility was about a third of a mile long, 150 yards wide, and held approximately 200,000 spectators. It was the principal source of entertainment and amusement from about 600 B.C. to the 6th century A.D. and functioned as the mass media of its era. It was called the Circus Maximus. People came to the arena to view athletic contests and chariot races, but as an additional diversion, the state purchased slaves and had the captives fight to the death in order to ...