Free Republic

From NBC/NJ’s Aswini Anburajan AUSTIN, Texas -- In the shadow of the state capitol that provided the United States with one of the most conservative presidents in recent history, Obama last night railed against the charge that being "liberal" was a bad thing. "Oh, he's liberal,” he said. “He's liberal. Let me tell you something. There's nothing liberal about wanting to reduce money in politics that is common sense. There's nothing liberal about wanting to make sure [our soldiers] are treated properly when they come home.” Continuing on his riff: "There's nothing liberal about wanting to make sure that everybody...

First Muslim Congressman Speaks of Faith, Change Minnesota Democrat Says Norway Good Model for U.S. By Natalie Lescroart | Feb 15 2008 The nation’s first Muslim congressman called for political change and spoke about how his faith has affected his job in a speech Tuesday at the Georgetown University Law Center. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) told a packed crowd at the Gewirz Student Center that “the time is now” for political change and reworking. Ellison, a freshman congressman, is the first African-American to represent Minnesota. He is a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and sits on the Financial Services...

MPs unhappy at Morocco's emigrant plan Friday 15 February 2008 Government and opposition MPs are unhappy with plans by Morocco to strengthen ties with its citizens living abroad, reports ANP news agency on Friday. Khadija Arib, an MP with the government coalition Labour party, calls the move undesirable and old-fashioned. ‘This [Moroccan] minister doesn’t understand the situation of Moroccans abroad. The new generation has a different relationship with Morocco than its parents. They go there on visits, on holiday or for business but they have chosen the Netherlands or somewhere else to live,’ Arib told ANP. The Rabat government said...

Muslim Councillor Tells Rotterdammer: 'Shut Up, Minority' ROTTERDAM, 17/01/08 - Labour (PvdA) politician Bouchra Ismaili has reviled a citizen of Rotterdam in an e-mail. The man was told that as a member of the white minority in his district, he should not complain about the Islamic organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir. Ismaili, who has Moroccan nationality, is a council member for PvdA in the Rotterdam district council of Charlois. "You are the immigrants here!!!", she wrote to the white man who drew her attention by e-mail to statements by the controversial Muslim organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir. Ismali also wrote in her e-mail reply...

Dec 31 05:14 PM US/Eastern John Dunbar, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Write a Comment WASHINGTON - Millions of US$40 government coupons become available Tuesday to help low-tech television owners in the United States buy special converter boxes for older TVs that might not work after the switch to digital broadcasting. Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, anyone who does not own a digital set and still gets their programming via over-the-air antennas will no longer receive a picture. That's the day the television industry completes its transition from old-style analog broadcasting to digital. The converter boxes are expected to cost between $50 and...

Make my day, sir, shoot a hoodie Jeremy Clarkson Almost every day a politician comes onto the news and tells us all that Britain’s town centres are being overrun by teenage gangs who drink vast quantities of cider and then run about all night stabbing passers-by. While the event is videoed on mobile phones for the edification of YouTube viewers. It all sounds frightful, but frankly they could be talking about events on the moons of Jupiter because, happily, I live in Chipping Norton, where a lost kitten is front page news. Of course there are teenagers here, and some...

As the nation settled down on Wednesday night to watch England play Croatia, I sensed an air of optimism in the land. A feeling that all would be well. I mean hey, England were holding their own against Brazil when Croatia didn’t even exist as a nation state. So what chance would these swarthy-looking Yugo-ruffians have? They were minnows in a tank of sharks. They weren’t going to be beaten. They were going to be eaten. Hmmm. I’m afraid I knew we were going to lose moments before the match began. I looked at our players mumbling their way through...

Muslim prayer time new legal issue at Swift plant DAN PACKARD MORRIS NEWS SERVICE AMARILLO - The dispute over prayer breaks for Muslim employees at the Swift & Co. plant in Cactus is a two-sided legal issue, an Amarillo attorney said this week. At least 54 plant employees, all Muslims of African descent, walked off the job last week, citing the company's refusal to allow them two prayer breaks and female employees adequate time to wash after using the restroom, a strict requirement of the religion. Vicki Wilmarth, an attorney specializing in employment law, said, "The basic rule is, an...

France is top intelligence provider on Iran: US lawmaker 9 November 2007 WASHINGTON (AFP) - France is one of the top intelligence sources on Iran for the United States, Democrat Ellen Tausche, chairman of the House of Representatives subcommittee on strategic forces, told a press conference Thursday. "Iran is deadly dangerous. They have been isolated from us for a very, very long time, and we don't have very good intelligence. I am glad we use a lot of international intelligence, especially the French and (Britain's) MI6," she told reporters. Asked if the US administration's warnings about Iran's alleged secret nuclear...

The Conservative candidate who declared that Enoch Powell was “right” in his warnings on the effects of immigration has resigned, the party announced today. Nigel Hastilow, the Tory running for the marginal seat of Halesowen and Rowley Regis in the West Midlands, had been summoned to a meeting with Caroline Spelman, the party’s chairman, over remarks he made to a local newspaper. He was asked to explain an article in the Express and Star newspaper in Wolverhampton in which he appeared to praise Mr Powell’s stance. “When you ask most people in the Black Country what the single biggest problem...

Italy expels Romanians, condemns attack Sat Nov 3, 2007 2:23pm EDT By Phil Stewart ROME (Reuters) - Authorities tore down a gypsy camp and expelled around 20 Romanians from Italy on Saturday while condemning a "racist" attack in Rome apparently triggered by this week's murder of an Italian naval officer's wife. Masked assailants brandishing knives, clubs and canes stabbed and beat four Romanians outside a Rome supermarket late on Friday. One of the victims is in serious condition. The attack partly overshadowed the Rome funeral on Saturday for Giovanna Reggiani, 47, who police believe was fatally wounded by a Romanian...

Municipalities: Right-Wing more Serious than Muslim Radicalism THE HAGUE, 27/10/07 - "In their own perception, municipalities have to contend with more right-wing radicalism than Islamic radicalism". This is the conclusion drawn in a study carried out for the Association of Netherlands Municipalities (VNG) and published in its VNG Magazine. Seventy five municipalities took part in the study by the COT Institute for Safety, Security and Crisis Management. The municipalities combined reported 27 incidents concerning right-wing radicalism and 8 instances of Islamic radicalism. In view of the complexity of the problems, the researchers consider it understandable that many municipalities as yet...

Obama, Edwards reassure donors Clinton rivals rally backers By TED JOHNSON In a series of events over the weekend, Barack Obama and John Edwards sought to reassure Hollywood donors that they can still win the Democratic nomination even as Hillary Clinton’s campaign starts to take on the air of inevitability. Clinton, meanwhile, was scheduled to attend a fund-raiser Sunday night at the home of Rob Reiner. The event, which is being co-hosted by a group including Greg Berlanti, Lyn and Norman Lear and Alan and Cindy Horn, was doubling as celebration of her 60th birthday. Not only is Clinton way...

At an anti-deportation march in Irving on Saturday, one of the leaders told the mostly Hispanic crowd, "We want to send a message that there is no division in our community. We are one." But some Hispanics were there to undermine that statement and demonstrate a sticking point in the immigration debate: Many Hispanics are among the strongest opponents of illegal immigration. "We've been here 38 years, and we deserve to be here, not some illegal immigrants," said Eva Hinojosa, whose parents were from Mexico. "They should go back to their own country; they don't belong here." She and her...

Martin Amis launches fresh attack on Muslim faith saying Islamic states are 'less evolved' By LAURA CLARK and TAHIRA YAQOOB Last updated at 00:55am on 18th October 2007 The author Martin Amis has claimed he feels 'morally superior' to Muslim states which are not as 'evolved' as the Western world. Responding to long-running accusations that he is Islamophobic, Amis launched a fresh invective against the Muslim faith and many of its followers. He admitted his late father and grandfather had been racist but then claimed radical Muslims were the real racists, misogynists and homophobes. The 58-year-old defended a proposal he...

ALBANY - The prosecutor who sent two local Muslim men ensnared in an FBI terror sting to prison is on the short list for a federal judgeship. Many in the Capital District's growing Muslim community are outraged. Members of Albany's Muslim Solidarity Committee say they will do everything in their power to ensure Glenn Suddaby doesn't receive the nomination. The activists formed their group after the arrest and conviction of Mohammad Hossain, an Albany pizza shop owner, and Yassin Aref, an Albany imam. Despite grass roots opposition, Suddaby has at least one pretty big name supporter - U.S. Sen. Charles...

THE HAGUE, 10/10/07 - The Netherlands has entered a third phase of Islamic fundamentalism. Where radical Muslims previously wanted to subject the country to Islam in a violent manner, they are recently doing this in a much less visible way, by participating in social forums and saying they reject violence, the AIVD secret service warns. In a report presented yesterday, the AIVD distinguishes three phases in the development of Muslim radicalism in the Netherlands and Europe. "In the first phase, which began in the middle of the 1980s and still continues, a small number of ultra-orthodox mosques and preachers from...

Sainsbury's (whose former chief executive, David Sainsbury, has donated £16 million to Labour) asks job applicants if they have 'issues' about handling certain products. "Where we can we will try and accommodate any requirements people have..." it says. This is their explanation for why its Muslim staff can refuse to handle alcohol. Is such crawling likely to promote racial harmony? People with 'issues' about handling alcohol shouldn't apply to work in a place selling it. That's what sensible Muslims think. A spokesman for the Muslim Institute says: "Sainsbury's is being very good. They are trying to accommodate the wishes of...

The last line of Tom Robinson's 1978 anthem Glad To Be Gay goes: "The buggers are legal now, what more are they after?" It was supposed to be ironic. Back then, even though homosexuality was no longer a criminal offence for consenting adults, gays faced prejudice and persecution. I can remember singing along with Tom. Though homosexuality wasn't exactly my idea of a night out, I thought it outrageous that gays were subjected to discrimination in areas such as employment, housing and pensions. I've always argued in favour of civil partnerships. Although I draw the line at cottaging - casual...

Organizer says prepare for more Mexican refugees Chris Thompson CanWest News Service; Windsor Star Saturday, September 29, 2007 WINDSOR, Ont. -- Another busload of Mexican refugees is headed for Windsor next week, the man many believe responsible for sending hundreds of refugees to the city told Mayor Eddie Francis at a meeting Friday morning. Jacques Sinjuste, from the Jerusalem Haitian Community Centre in Naples, Fla., met with Francis for about half an hour. Francis said Sinjuste told him another group was coming by bus -- as many as 60 people -- in the first week of October and that accommodations...