Free Republic

I am a New Zealander (or "Kiwi," as we affectionately refer to ourselves) who has spent many years outside my home country — including several years in the United States.  At present, I live in Asia and cannot see myself returning to the land of my birth and upbringing anytime soon. My home country is simply not the paradise that many people, including a lot of Americans, perceive it to be. Background It's important to note that I drafted this article back in April — soon after the mass shooting that took place in Christchurch — but opted to have it sit in limbo...

Three years after two sheriff’s deputies shot and killed a Council rancher, a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family has been settled for $2.6 million. Adams County sheriff’s deputies Brian Wood and Cody Roland shot and killed Jack Yantis on Nov. 1, 2015, while the rancher was attempting to put down his bull that had been severely injured in a car crash.

A 2010 Pentagon directive on military support to civilian authorities details what critics say is a troubling policy that envisions the Obama administration’s potential use of military force against Americans. The directive contains noncontroversial provisions on support to civilian fire and emergency services, special events and the domestic use of the Army Corps of Engineers. The troubling aspect of the directive outlines presidential authority for the use of military arms and forces, including unarmed drones, in operations against domestic unrest. “This appears to be the latest step in the administration’s decision to use force within the United States against its...

..."I am gratified that the president has thrown his personal support and the authority of the presidency behind the goal of justice, equality, and decency for all citizens," said Ted Olson, founder of the Federalist Society and former Bush administration solicitor general.. I called Olson on Wednesday to get the conservative legal leader's take on the North Carolina gay-marriage ban at the ballot and the way it sets up a Supreme Court showdown, possibly as early as 2013--no matter who is president. Olson has stern words for his fellow conservatives who flooded the polls on Tuesday, making North Carolina the...

We recently posted to the site www.DailyKos.com, a site for thinking progressives. While many people view our current economic situation as one of right versus left, The Financial Survival Network has always viewed it as Man versus the State. It is not a question of government doing more, but rather an issue of government expansion. As the government grows and does more, it perpetually destroys the civil liberties that our nation was founded upon. These liberty infringements are perhaps the most disturbing aspect of our political system. While the parties espouse very noble doctrines, their actions belie their philosophy. The...

SEATTLE — A panel of judges has apparently made Washington the first state to rule that juvenile students accused of chronically cutting classes in public schools are entitled to a lawyer in their first court hearing. The Washington state Court of Appeals ruled Monday that denying a juvenile the right to a lawyer from the outset violated constitutional requirements. Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor's office, said the ruling was under review and no decision had been made on whether to appeal to the state Supreme Court. If it stands, the decision could make Washington the first...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Embattled U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced a new firestorm on Tuesday sparked by a report he may have misled lawmakers in 2005 about civil liberty violations by the FBI. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, responded by promising that Gonzales would face tough questions about this and other matters at a hearing planned by his panel later this month. And Rep. Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat who chairs a House Judiciary subcommittee, renewed calls for Gonzales to resign and called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to determine if he had...

A Senate committee advanced legislation yesterday that would prohibit smoking in most public, indoor places in Virginia. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Bill Mims, R-Loudoun, was approved by the Senate Education and Health Committee on an 8-7 vote, reversing an earlier Senate subcommittee vote that narrowly rejected the bill. The legislation would prohibit smoking in most indoor public places, including offices, restaurants, and common areas of apartments and condominiums, with few exceptions. Hotels could permit smoking in some rooms, as long they do not exceed 25 percent of the total rooms. Smoking would be permitted in "private, separately enclosed areas"...

VIRGINIA TAXPAYERS ASSOCIATIONFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE7/23/03TAXPAYERS SAY ASHCROFT KO'd ON PATRIOT ACT The Virginia Taxpayers Association said today "the stunning 309-118 House vote Tuesday passing an appropriations amendment stripping the USA Patriot Act of one of its most tyrannical provisions was a sharp rebuke to Attorney General John Ashcroft."The House voted to strike a section of the act allowing government agents to secretly search homes of suspects and only inform them later that a warrant had been issued to do so.Ashcroft had defended the sweeping anti-terrorist act Monday, saying that criticisms of it were based on exaggerations and falsehoods."The fact that...

America Must Choose: Open Borders or Civil Liberties "They are coming after us, they want to execute attacks. . . . The threat environment today is as bad as it was the summer before Sept. 11." In his October 17, 2002 appearance before the congressional joint intelligence committees, CIA Director George J. Tenet asserted that prior to 9/11 he was convinced that Osama bin Laden was planning to kill Americans, "and we reported these threats urgently." But to whom did he report these alerts? Apparently, not to the agencies that were admitting undesirable aliens by the planeload, boatload and truckload:...

September 16, 2002 A Presidential Wannabe’s Selective Amnesia by Doug Bandow Doug Bandow is a fellow at the Cato Institute. Former Vice President Al Gore is apparently on the hunt for votes for his prospective presidential campaign. He criticized the Bush administration on just about every ground at a dinner hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Saturday night. But his greatest moment of unintended hilarity came when he charged that Attorney General John Ashcroft "is not respectful of civil liberties." That's actually true. And Gore was right when he argued: "I believe one of the test of our nation is...

'An Attack on Freedom Itself?' by Michael Peirce When I first heard that phrase I wrote it off as merely an unusually silly bit of verbiage from a man who was justifiably angered by the attack on the World Trade Center. Wrong, Michael! These leaders of ours may be silly, but our George was right on target. He has indeed begun an attack on freedom unparalleled since Lincoln’s mercenaries drove old Dixie down. Let’s take the pulse of this war, and determine just what is really happening and to whom. First off – who are the targets, who are the...