Free Republic

Moscow (AFP) - US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden warned of dangers to democracy in the first video released of the fugitive since Russia granted him temporary asylum in August. "If we can't understand the policies and programmes of our government we can't grant our consent in regulating them," Snowden said in one of the short video clips posted on the WikiLeaks website Friday night. The anti-secrecy group said the videos were filmed Wednesday when Snowden met with a group of four retired US ex-intelligence workers and activists now seeking to promote ethics within the profession. Snowden, a former National Security...

Willie McCovey, one of the great left-handed power hitters of all time, a first-ballot inductee into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1986 and a beloved member of the San Francisco Giants family, passed away peacefully Wednesday after a battle with health issues. He was 80 years old. Nicknamed "Stretch" for the long arms and legs attached to his 6-foot-4 frame, McCovey and fellow Hall of Famer and Alabama native Willie Mays comprised the core of San Francisco Giants teams that gave opposing pitchers The Willies. McCovey's pull power was so prodigious that the China Basin that sits beyond...

In a presentation that he acknowledged is “sobering,” Dr. Donald House Sr. warned that The United Methodist Church has only 15 years to reverse its decline in the United States. This week’s presentation from House – a life-long United Methodist and trained economist – came to church leaders at the Connectional Table and General Council on Finance and Administration joint meeting held in Nashville, Tennessee. (See the UM News Service article for additional information.) “By 2030, the denomination in the United States will either have found a way to turn around, meaning it is growing, or its turnaround in the...

Monday night will be an emotional one for the San Francisco 49ers and their fans, as the team's matchup with the Atlanta Falcons will be the last regular-season game at Candlestick Park. For Tony Gonzalez, who will be on hand with the visiting Atlanta Falcons, it will also mark his final visit to the site where he experienced what he calls the "strangest thing that ever happened to him." On a conference call with Bay Area reporters, Gonzalez recalled how during a game between his then-team, the Kansas City Chiefs, and the 49ers at Candlestick Park he was pushed out...

Call a Christmas tree a Christmas tree, Madison, WI Bishop Robert Morlino insists. "Historically, that's what it is. I don't think we want to call a menorah a candlestick," Morlino told reporters Monday at a news conference. The bishop called the news conference to respond to questions about his role on an advisory board to the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation - formerly the notorious School of the Americas. But it was in protection of Christmas and its customs from the politically correct trend of watering them down to vague "holiday" references that aroused Morlino's first - and most...