Free Republic

Washington - Four weeks after the United States began its military campaign to unseat the Taliban in Afghanistan and to destroy Osama bin Laden's terrorist network, there is an increasingly vigorous debate about whether substantial numbers of American combat troops will be needed to seal the victory in Afghanistan. In Congress, some lawmakers say the Pentagon's strategy of relying on the opposition Northern Alliance in Afghanistan, bombing around the clock, and mounting sporadic raids by American, and eventually British, commandos is all well and good but unlikely to guarantee a decisive win. "I am glad that the Pentagon has not ...

The following document is the testimony of personalities who, from September 1st through September 6th 1999 visited the Panshir valley in Afghanistan. These persons, by moral duty, by humanitarian duty, wish to relate the facts and events they gathered. During their stay, they all were allowed to move freely, question the civil population, the refugees, and the prisoners. The Panshir region, in the northern part of Afghanistan, since the attack of the Taliban in July, received over 150.000 refugees coming mainly from the Shamali plain. Those refugees flee the fights and the exaction of t the Taliban, leaving behind their ...

CHILDREN'S RIGHTS Children in Armed Conflict: A Horrifying Image from Asia Chitralekha Massey [Ed. Note: Recently a United Nations agreement reached in Geneva determined that the minimum age for both conscription and voluntary deployment into battle be raised to 18. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted in July 1998, makes the recruitment of children under the age of 15 and their participation in hostilities a "war crime". Chitralekha Massey, Indian human rights activist and member of the Asian Network for an International Criminal Court (ANICC), is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Nottingham Law School (UK). ...

Worst Forms of Child Labour Data Afghanistan Region Asia and the Pacific Total Population 21,354,000 Population under 18 10,321,000 Total Child Labour NATIONAL STATISTICS * For the year 2000, the ILO projects there will be 601,000 economically active children, 269,000 girls and 332,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 24.18% of this age group. (ILO STAT, Working Papers, 1997) * In 1995, there were 529,000 economically active children, 227,000 girls and 302,000 boys between the ages of 10-14, representing 25.25% of this age group. (ILO STAT, Working Papers, 1997) Child Slavery GENERAL NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS * Little information ...

An older article with good information. PESHAWAR, 26 September (IRIN) - A human rights activist in Pakistan's North West Frontier Province (NWFP) has warned of increased recruitment of young men from Islamic schools (madrasahs) in Pakistan to join Taliban forces in the event of a possible US-led attack on Afghanistan. "These boys are brainwashed and are too young to know what they are getting themselves into. Some are as young as seven," the chairman of Pakistan's Human Rights Commission in Peshawar, Afrasiyab Khattak, told IRIN. "They are convinced that martyrdom is their goal, and it can be achieved by fighting ...

Con artist posed as firefighter to cash in on Sept. 11, police say 'Smooth talker' under investigation over thefts, free hotel rooms For Jerome Brandl, police in several states say, the Sept. 11 attacks proved a windfall. On the run in a $60,000 Mercedes-Benz he is accused of stealing from a member of Wisconsin Gov. Scott McCallum's cabinet, he parlayed the nation's newfound appreciation for firefighters into free hotel rooms, cash from grief-stricken New Yorkers and a front-row view at a Monday night football game, police say. Brandl rushed to Manhattan after the attacks on the World Trade Center, only ...

Friday night 17 Wisconsin FReepers and their families met at the Mine Shaft Restaurant, in Hartford Wisconsin for socializing and dinner. What an honor to meet each and every Freeper last night. I am proud to know and be associated with our ever growing group! WIladyconservative made fantastic name tags for everyone to wear with our FReeper names and real names, a picture of the American flag and "Let's Roll" on them. Ozaukeemom had the digital camera which she used freely (ugh) and gorush has volunteered to post them this weekend. Right before we started our dinner, we stood and ...

In the world of romance, one single rule applies: Make the woman happy. Do something she likes, and you get points. Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted. You don't get any points for doing something she expects. Sorry, that's the way the game is played. Here is a guide to the points system: SIMPLE DUTIES You make the bed ....................+1 You make the bed, but forget to add the decorative pillows.... 0 You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets...................-1 You leave the toilet seat up.............-5 You replace the toilet paper roll when it is empty............ 0 When the ...

Idea of Daylight Saving Time The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin (portrait at right) during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." > Read more about Franklin's essay. Some of Franklin's friends, inventors of the oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America. The idea was first advocated seriously by a London builder, William Willett (1865-1915), in the pamphlet "Waste of Daylight" (1907) that proposed advancing clocks 20 minutes on each of four Sundays ...

Most who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - 1956 to 1964 or the beginning of GenX - 1965 to 1970 - feel we are not part of those generations. Therefore, it has been decided, we will be forever know as THE BRADY BOOMERS This week's episode:

How much information is too much information?On my office wall is the last dispatch from Raymond Clapper, a famous Washington reporter, columnist and commentator from the '30s and '40s. It was filed just before he went to his death in the Pacific while covering World War II, and it is fascinating not only for what it says but also for what it doesn't say.The story, written on thin parchment used to save paper and weight, has large, neat holes in it where a censor's razor has excised information thought to be sensitive to military operations.These redacted documents were the rule ...

Enough is enough. There have been at least 77 threads today that reference anthrax or powder. This does not include any threads that were pulled. Who knows how many those were. Is this necessary? Do you really feel we are doing justice to Free Republic with this nonsense? Does everyone have to be the one to break the latest "a friend of a friend of a friend's cousin's mother-in-law's niece's friend's boss knows someone who heard white powder was found on a loaf of bread?"

Most who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - 1956 to 1964 or the beginning of GenX - 1965 to 1970 - feel we are not part of those generations. Therefore, it has been decided, we will be forever know as THE BRADY BOOMERS Post your memories of tunes, movies, shows, fashions, school stuff, or anything from OUR generations! And remember, have fun! We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are ...

Most who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - 1956 to 1964 or the beginning of GenX - 1965 to 1970 - feel we are not part of those generations. Therefore, it has been decided, we will be forever know as THE BRADY BOOMERS Post your memories of tunes, movies, shows, fashions, school stuff, or anything from OUR generations! And remember, have fun! We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are ...

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Article III. Section. 3. Treason1 against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or ...

Most who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - 1956 to 1964 or the beginning of GenX - 1965 to 1970 - feel we are not part of those generations. Therefore, it has been decided, we will be forever know as THE BRADY BOOMERS We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are a matter for personal taste, and don't represent the shining apex of all civilization, icons to be revered by ...

Most who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - 1956 to 1964 or the beginning of GenX - 1965 to 1970 - feel we are not part of those generations. Therefore, it has been decided, we will be forever know as THE BRADY BOOMERS We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are a matter for personal taste, and don't represent the shining apex of all civilization, icons to be revered by ...

Last night, there was an anti baby boom thread that started with a rant, and before some disruptor trashed it, some of us who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - from 1956 to 1964 - were having some nice recollections. The things that we seem to have in common are the following:1. We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news.2. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are a matter for personal taste, and don't represent the shining apex ...

Last night, there was an anti baby boom thread that started with a rant, and before some disruptor trashed it, some of us who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - from 1956 to 1964 - were having some nice recollections. The things that we seem to have in common are the following:1. We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news.2. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are a matter for personal taste, and don't represent the shining apex ...

Last night, there was an anti baby boom thread that started with a rant, and before some disruptor trashed it, some of us who were born at the tail end of the baby boom - from 1956 to 1964 - were having some nice recollections. The things that we seem to have in common are the following:1. We were too young to serve in Vietnam, but remember the news.2. As far as we're concerned, the music, television and popular entertainment and heroes of the 60s were and still are a matter for personal taste, and don't represent the shining apex ...