Free Republic

Unlike the other two Red State founders -- who are, let it be acknowledged, far more savvy about the political process than I am -- I've been a pessimist about the President's reelection chances for some time. I note that I am not among those who want the reelection to founder, the reason for which is summed up in four words: Supreme Court judicial retirements. That being said, the reelect bellwethers are not wholly positive. For all its progress, the casual observer of the news (which is to say, most Americans) will still note the continuing slaughter in Iraq; and...

An awful recounting of anti-Americanism in South Korea is here. It's well worth your reading.

A new weblog is up (as if there aren't enough of those) at i330.org.

What is the legal status of the prisoners at Guantanamo? Are they prisoners of war? We are treating all of the detainees at Guantanamo humanely and consistent with the principles of the Third Geneva Convention of 1949. The legal status of the detainees has not yet been determined. All detainees are being provided three appropriate meals a day, medical care, clothing, shelter, showers, and the opportunity to worship. The detainees will not, of course, be subjected to physical or mental abuse. The International Committee of the Red Cross is being allowed to visit each detainee privately. We are building enclosed, ...

I happened to be in Florida when Charles Bishop flew a plane into the side of the Bank of America tower in Tampa. Surprisingly, it wasn't a big story. Once it had been established that the boy had not been trained by Osama bin Laden, interest in his motives subsided. A brief flurry of bemusement as to why an "honours student" with "no links to terrorist groups" should choose to end his life in this manner quickly gave way to discussions on what would have happened if he had been a member of al-Qaida. The list of possible casualties in ...

The first death threat, veiled in a poem, came when he was 8 years old. This is a song for the genius child. Sing it softly, for the song is wild, it began. Gregory Smith recognized the Langston Hughes verse from his honors high school English class; the sender was almost certainly a classmate. The gifted students were the worst, seething with jealousy over the little boy who had suddenly infiltrated their elite ranks, merrily hopscotching from second grade to ninth in a single year. Teachers took Greg off the grading curve to quell the resentment. Adults walked him to ...

A TREND for thick sauces has left Brussels eurocrats wondering whether they should like it or lump it. A spectacularly obscure EU body will meet in Brussels today to decide just how many lumps a sauce can contain before it ceases to be classified as a sauce and is regarded officially as a vegetable. The issue is infuriating sauce manufacturers. One pointed out: “Most people can tell the difference between tinned carrots and a gourmet pasta sauce.” The market for chunky sauces is mushrooming at a rate of 15 per cent a year. For multinational food producers such as Nestle, ...

ONE of Zimbabwe's most respected judges resigned yesterday from the High Court in Harare, as President Mugabe packs the judiciary with his supporters ahead of the presidential election in March. Judge David Bartlett, 49, told Mr Mugabe at the New Year that he was resigning. He is in good health and refused to explain his sudden departure after more than 20 years on the bench. He is the fourth judge to leave in a year. Antony Gubbay, the former chief justice, left his post early last year and the last white Supreme Court judge, Nicholas McNally, retired last week. Judge ...

For those who haven't seen it, the Poynter Institute has an excellent collection of 11 and 12 September newspaper front pages from around the world. It's well worth your checking out, if only to get the blood flowing.

When it arrived at Pakistan's consulate in New York recently, the letter offered welcome help to officials worn out by desperate calls from Pakistanis in detention. It said it was "to offer our assistance" to people who have been held by the American government since Sept. 11. "We are particularly interested," the letter continued, "in highlighting instances of abuse by our government and in developing systematic litigation to challenge its unconstitutional practices." It was from the American Civil Liberties Union, a group so reviled and revered that even the mention of its name could create a furor, which in a ...

The first time I met Osama bin Laden inside Afghanistan, it was a hot, humid night in the summer of 1996. Huge insects flew through the night air, settling like burrs on his Saudi robes and on the clothes of his armed followers. They would land on my notebook until I swatted them, their blood smearing the pages. Bin Laden was always studiously polite: each time we met, he would offer the usual Arab courtesy of food for a stranger: a tray of cheese, olives, bread and jam. I had already met him in Sudan and would spend a night, ...

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is running an online poll with this question: If a terrorism suspect is arrested in a country that opposes capital punishment, should the U.S. agree not to seek the death penalty in exchange for having the suspect extradited? Only 50 people have responded, and it's running 68% NO. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't join in!

Twenty-odd years ago, it was Tolkien and CS Lewis's Narnia stories that one read to the children. I got through both cycles, complete, twice. Today it is Harry Potter and Philip Pullman: but the older books are far from dead, and the Tolkien film is now out. I've been attending carol services and noting as usual that dons who wouldn't dream of taking any of it seriously themselves are nevertheless quite determined that their children shall have been exposed to it. Indeed, they very often want to send their children to church schools. Why is it that people continue to ...

<p>ON WEEKEND MORNINGS, Bill and I hang out on 24th Street in Noe Valley with others of our kind -- smug, sandal-wearing, dog-equipped, caffeinated liberals.</p> <p>We walk past a small real estate office, always stopping to see what owner Harry J. Aleo has put in the window. Next to photos of Noe Valley houses that sold for $24,000 in the '40s, letters and baseball trophies, he puts up admiring signs about Reagan and Bush. One sign says, "Noe Valley is filled with elation. They love the Bush administration." Since Noe Valley does not love the Bush administration, I've always wondered how this Republican fares, stuck here amid yellow dog Democrats like an apple among plums.</p>

The European Union opened a new chapter in its history with a decision at the weekend to create a special convention that could lead to a constitution in 2004. In a far-reaching declaration on the future of Europe, EU leaders set out their aim of bridging the gap between the EU and its citizens, calling on the union to become more democratic, transparent and efficient. At its summit in the Belgian town of Laeken, 15 governments of all political hues, agreed that the EU "stands at a crossroads, a defining moment in its existence". Guy Verhofstadt, Belgian prime minister and ...

Check out www.muslimpundit.co.uk for a pleasant surprise.

Last week, American and British commanders made it clear that the war on terrorism will not be taking time off for Ramadan, which will just probably ruin Osama bin Laden's holiday plans. If this was ever even a remotely serious consideration, we need an attitude adjustment in this country. Seven weeks ago we were attacked. It was the most successful surprise attack in this country's history, and it left more Americans dead in a single day than the attack on Pearl Harbor, the invasion of Normandy, or the Civil War's Battle of Antietam - the previous record. The death toll ...

IAIN DUNCAN SMITH, the Conservative leader, yesterday refused to sign a pledge committing his party to religious tolerance of Muslims as part of Islamic Awareness Week. His shadow home secretary, Oliver Letwin, attended the Westminster launch of the pledge - drawn up by the Islamic Society of Britain - and delivered a statement of support for its aims. Conservative spokesmen, however, said the party was not willing to sign itself up to declarations drafted by other organisations. They insisted that the decision was not in response to race rows which dogged their general election campaign after William Hague signed a ...

In the aftermath of the violence on September 11, American politicians from George W. Bush on down have tripped over themselves to affirm that the vast majority of Muslims living in the United States are just ordinary people. Here is how the President put it during a visit to a mosque on September 17: "America counts millions of Muslims among our citizens, and Muslims make an incredibly valuable contribution to our country. Muslims are doctors, lawyers, law professors, members of the military, entrepreneurs, shopkeepers, moms and dads." Two days later, he added that "there are millions of good Americans who ...