Free Republic

A surprising statement by a government official in eastern China's Jiangsu province has captured the attention of internet users after it was caught on video and posted online on Sunday.“If the police don’t beat people, what’s the point of keeping them?” said an unidentified official of a complaint bureau in Suzhou. “The police are the government’s violence machine.”The clip of the statement has gotten more than two million views and has set off a barrage of criticism against police violence."He told the truth. The police are the government's thugs," a person posted on his Weibo microblog.Police violence has been justified...

A West Sacramento police officer allegedly raped at least six women while on duty, the Police Thugs blog reported Monday, referencing a Huffington Post article from February. Officer Sergio Alvarez, a five year veteran of the force, was initially placed on administrative leave and then fired and arrested after an investigation into the allegations. In fairness to former Officer Alvarez, he has not yet been convicted. Trial is set for September. He remains in custody with bail set at $26.3 million. Dan Drummond, who was police chief at the time (he was replaced in May), said he and the department...

Two missiles were reportedly fired at a Russian plane with at least 159 passengers on board that was flying over Syrian territory. Russian officials admit the jet faced danger, but are not talking of a targeted attack. The news broke in on Monday as Interfax, citing “an informed source in Moscow,” reported that a Russian passenger plane was attacked.“Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline,” the source told the Russian agency.The pilots reportedly managed to maneuver the...

Anonymous has hacked the US Sentencing Commission’s website in retaliation for the suicide of internet activist and Reddit co-founder Aaron Swartz, and as of now, the site is still displaying in its compromised state.More on this breaking story as it develops. Statement below from Anonymous on the decision to hack USSC.gov. [Correction: An earlier version of this post stated that Anonymous' attack affected the Supreme Court's website, when in actuality, it is the US Sentencing Commission's website as stated above.]In addition to the defacing of the site with a video, a statement on Swartz’s death and the government’s alleged harassment of the activist...

It is with deep sadness and regret that I report the passing Wednesday morning of FReeper Eastbound (Dave Schultz). In an email to Jim Robinson, Dave's son said: Hello, I’m Dave’s son, Ken. I’m so sorry to say the Dave “Eastbound” passed away Wednesday morning. I know Free Republic was one of his favorite forums, so if anyone might want to know that he’s gone, please pass it on if you would. Thank you, sincerely. Dad spent many many hours at FR for years. ~ Ken Schultz Prayers and condolences can be sent to Ken at ken@apachego.com.

THE ARIZONA BILL OF RIGHTS CELEBRATION WILL TAKE PLACE AT THE ARIZONA STATE CAPITAL Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, starting at 10 a.m. [There will be no formal evening event as previously announced] 10:00 a.m. - Dedication of the Bill of Rights Monument at the Arizona State Capital THE FIRST OF ITS KIND IN THE NATION THE BILL OF RIGHTS -- CARVED IN STONE -- UNVEILED THIS SATURDAY The complete Bill Of Rights will be read aloud from Stone Tablets! The monument will be unwrapped and unveiled Saturday, Dec. 15, 2012, Bill of Rights Day, at 10 a.m. Do not miss...

A spreadsheet created by a former member of the National Rifle Association board of directors points out numerous inconsistencies between how the powerhouse gun group rates political candidates as compared to their actual voting records and positions. Russ Howard, who resigned his position in 1997 following irreconcilable disputes with association management, including over its “Project Exile” partnership with federal law enforcement, has a long history of exposing disconnects between what NRA tells its members about candidates and what their actual records are, having characterized the more blatant examples as “Sleeping with the enemy” and urging “No more A grades for...

Warren County, Ohio (CBS CLEVELAND) – A pile of political pranking was dumped on an Ohio Democratic headquarters early Tuesday morning. Volunteers at the Warren County Democratic headquarters, just north of Cincinnati, were shocked and disappointed by a political prank unloaded on them early Tuesday morning – someone dumped a pile of horse manure in the parking lot of the headquarters building on US 42, just north of Lebanon. Warren County Democratic chair Beth Goldenfield told CBS Local 12 news that the pile was dumped in the parking lot, blocking the entrance to the building, sometime between 10 p.m. Monday...

Warren County, Ohio (CBS CLEVELAND) – A pile of political pranking was dumped on an Ohio Democratic headquarters early Tuesday morning. Volunteers at the Warren County Democratic headquarters, just north of Cincinnati, were shocked and disappointed by a political prank unloaded on them early Tuesday morning – someone dumped a pile of horse manure in the parking lot of the headquarters building on US 42, just north of Lebanon. Warren County Democratic chair Beth Goldenfield told CBS Local 12 news that the pile was dumped in the parking lot, blocking the entrance to the building, sometime between 10 p.m. Monday...

The letter from Colonel Harry Tunnell is making its rounds around the internet, but here are some choice and relevant excerpts. But first a shot bio of Tunnell. Tunnell had been gravely wounded in Iraq, where he led a battalion of paratroopers with the 173rd Airborne Brigade. (snip) SNIPBy the time Tunnell took over the brigade, every other infantry commander preparing to go to Iraq or Afghanistan was using Gen. Petraeus’ COIN manual as his lodestar. But not Tunnell. He told his soldiers that their approach to security operations would be drawn from an Army manual that outlined counterguerrilla operations,...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - At a hearing Wednesday on Tennessee's Capitol Hill, it was revealed that two parole officers lost their jobs after a state audit said they were claiming to monitor dead parolees. Afterwards, the Department of Correction commissioner responsible for the Board of Parole indicated more may be involved.  "I find it hard to believe it was just two people," Derrick Schofield said.   The hearing before a joint meeting of the House and Senate Government Operations Committee examined a state audit released Monday that "found 82 offenders were still actively monitored after their death." One of the offenders...

The Mexican Attorney General's Office (PGR) has confirmed that three guns linked to Operation Fast and Furious were used in the massacre of 15 teenagers in Villas de Salvarcar, Ciudad Juarez, on January 30, 2010, according to the Mexican newspaper Reforma. Citing unnamed officials, Reforma, one of Mexico's most influential newspapers, reports that several government agencies are currently investigating the massacre and other violent crimes connected to Operation Fast and Furious. Univision News Univision News obtained the list of Fast and... Univision News Univision News obtained the list of Fast and Furious weapons and a list containing almost 60,000 recovered...

Otis McDonald, one of several headliners scheduled to appear at this weekend’s 27th annual Gun Rights Policy Conference (GRPC) in Orlando, Fla., has suffered a serious head injury and is in intensive care at a Chicago-area hospital, Gun Rights Examiner has learned. Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, notified members of the SAF Board of Directors during their meeting in Orlando today. McDonald was scheduled to speak during the Saturday awards luncheon, which also features U.S. Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and former Ambassador Donald A. Mahley.McDonald apparently fell and suffered a serious head injury. He...

Florida: Court Approves Detaining Motorists at Toll Booth US Court of Appeals upholds right of toll road operators to detain drivers for using large denomination currency. Motorists can be held indefinitely at toll booths if they pay with large denomination bills, according to a federal appeals court ruling handed down Wednesday. A family of drivers -- Joel, Deborah and Robert Chandler -- filed suit last year arguing they were effectively being held hostage by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the private contractor in charge of the state's toll road, Faneuil, Inc. Under FDOT policies in place at the...

Secret recordings made by British intelligence during the Second World War have revealed for the first time the horrific atrocities carried out by everyday German soldiers.For years the blame for horrific war crimes, rape and genocide were laid at the hands of the SS and Hitler's right hand men but a new book details how widespread the barbarity went. Transcripts taken from hidden microphones on prisoners of war have been collated for the disturbing book Soldaten: On Fighting, Killing and Dying: The Secret Second World War Tapes of German POWs. Revelations: The new book reveals how soldiers like this one...

CBS "News" 60 Minutes interview with SEAL TEAM 6 member who shot Osama. Click here.

The Taliban is using fake Facebook profiles of cute girls in an attempt to befriend soldiers with the intent of gathering information about operations, the Sunday Telegraph reports. Australian and coalition troops are being targeted by Taliban insurgents posing as “attractive women” on Facebook, according to the paper, and now troops are being warned about the potential danger. A review by the Australian government found a false sense of security exists among personnel due to an excessive reliance on privacy settings. According to the Telegraph, troops are being told that geo-tagging – the process of websites that secretly logs the...

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Two Los Angeles Police Department officers are under investigation stemming from a use of force incident caught on tape showing a woman being slammed to the ground twice, once while in handcuffs. Michelle Jordan, 34, of Sunland was pulled over last Tuesday on Foothill Boulevard and Saluda Avenue for a cellphone violation. She drove into a Del Taco restaurant parking lot, where the incident was recorded on surveillance video.The married mother, who works as a registered nurse, got out of her car. Moments later, the video shows her being slammed to the pavement and handcuffed. The...

The Crazy Train, built by the Religious Right and accelerated by the Tea Party, must stop before it goes off the rails and inflicts severe damage on America. It is unclear what the ultimate aims of these extremists truly are or where they ultimately want to take this country. But, it is increasingly clear that people like Rep. Todd "legitimate rape" Akin have a markedly different vision of this nation than the rest of us. As their rhetoric grows more reckless, the fundamentalism more inflexible, the facts more fantastical, the threats more menacing, the politics more petulant, and the demands...

Two venerable American gun manufacturers — Remington and Colt — could head for the West their weapons helped win if New York and Connecticut force them to implement microstamping technology. Microstamping, or ballistic imprinting, is a patented process that uses laser technology to engrave a tiny marking of the make, model and serial number on the tip of a gun’s firing pin to allow an imprint of that information on spent cartridge cases. Supporters of the technology say it will be a “game changer,” allowing authorities to quickly identify the registered guns used in crimes. Opponents claim the process is...