Free Republic

A US spy gathered information on “how he moved, where he lived, where he travelled, what he ate and wore, and even his pets”. The operation that changed Latin America The largest US military operation in Latin America since the invasion of Panama 36 years ago involved 150 different types of aircraft, the Delta Force — an elite unit tasked with special operations — and multiple intelligence agencies. Yet the mission could not have succeeded without crucial intelligence provided by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which had operatives embedded in Venezuela since last summer. Information from the agency proved decisive...

Cheap bikes are nice, but free is even cheaper than cheap. Residents of the asylum seekers’ center in Dronten will soon be able to purchase a cheap bicycle. A workshop for bicycle maintenance will also be available. The Central Agency for the Reception of Asylum Seekers (COA) hopes that this will reduce the number of bicycle thefts in the area… The police will deliver part of the 150 bicycles. These are specimens that were once seized and for which no one has reported. The COA is still looking for the remainder. “We fix up the bicycles and make them available...

A watchdog group on Monday sued the U.S. government, accusing the Obama White House of interfering in and thwarting the release of public documents under the Freedom of Information Act. The lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the group Cause of Action (CoA) names 12 federal agencies that delayed the release of documents so officials could consult with White House under a new process established in spring 2009. The process, which gave White House officials review authority over documents that federal agencies wanted to release that mentioned the White House or presidential aides,...

I don’t belong to a Church which makes decisions about something as fundamental as the ordination of women priests by voting in a quasi-parliamentary General Synod. But, if I did, and if that Church then prepared to take the logical step of ordaining women bishops, I’d ask myself a simple question. Will these ordinations be valid? Then I stay. Invalid? Then I go. I am not saying that if you are an Anglo-Catholic who opposes women’s ordination then you must now seek to join the Ordinariate that Pope Benedict has set up for ex-Anglicans. Lots of conservative “Catholic Anglicans” don’t...

On February 20, President Bush officially notified Congress that he intends to sign the recently negotiated Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). That letter of notification started the clock ticking on the president’s so-called fast track trade negotiating authority, which Congress reauthorized in 2002. Under the fast track rules, the president must give Congress a 90-day notice before signing any trade agreement. That means President Bush could sign CAFTA as early as late May, although he could decide to sign at a later date. Once the president signs the agreement and then formally sends it to Congress, the legislators are...

The global war on terrorism will remain the Defense Department's top priority in the new year, as DoD continues to focus on improving and modernizing its programs, systems and forces to make them more responsive to 21st century requirements. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld told reporters today during his first Pentagon briefing in 2004 that the department already has made "remarkable progress" and will continue its work to "strengthen, improve and transform our forces, modernize and restructure programs and commands… and streamline DoD processes and procedures." Rumsfeld laid out an ambitious list of initiatives, many already under way, that he...

Most Gun Owners Disgust Me!"Typical gun guy: Full of ideas, full of criticisms, full of crap!"Barry Laws - Second Amendment Activist By Nicki FellenzerFor the first time since I began an active role in the Second Amendment rights movement, I’m disappointed with many of my fellow gun owners and thoroughly disgusted with a number of others.In the past few weeks we have seen the untimely demise of two crucial partners in the fight to restore our Constitutional rights. TWO in the past month! Sarah Thompson, the Executive Director of the Utah Gun Owners Alliance (UTGOA) called it quits last...

No Effect on Silveira v. Lockyer support/donations April 21, 2003Over the next month or two, Citizens Of America will cease operations. There are two primary reasons for this.FIRST -- It has become increasingly difficult to raise sufficient funds to pay for the costs associated with running the organization. From the beginning we did not want to get involved in direct mail fundraising due to the logistics involved in doing it in-house and the greatly diminished net return involved in using an outside direct mail fundraising company. We still do not wish to go this route.  COA's original operational model was...