Free Republic

First time “live blogging” will officially occur during a House of Representatives Hearing WASHINGTON, D.C. – Rep. Chris Smith – Chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees Global Human Rights – today announced that for the first time, a hearing in the House of Representatives will be blogged live from Capitol Hill. Smith’s hearing on Wednesday will examine the operating procedures of major US internet companies in China and feature testimony from the US State Department, corporate representatives and NGO’s that focus on human rights. “Modern communications have empowered individuals to get their news from different sources, and blogs have...

Former New York Times reporter Judith Miller turned up at a federal appeals court in Manhattan yesterday for arguments over whether the feds have a right to subpoena her phone records as part of a probe into Islamic charities and terror financing. The New York Times is seeking to stop authorities from gaining access to records for calls that Miller and another reporter, Philip Shenon, made to sources in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Two men who leaked a document suggesting U.S. President George W. Bush considered bombing Al-Jazeera television have to stand trial. David Keogh, a British civil servant, is accused of passing a memo to Leo O'Connor, a former parliamentary researcher. The memo was then leaked to a British newspaper last November. It alleged that Bush spoke of targeting Al-Jazeera's headquarters in Qatar in a meeting he had with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the White House in 2004. Keogh has been accused of "a damaging disclosure" of international information. O'Connor, a former employee of a Labour MP, is accused of...

NY Times Facing NSA Leak Indictment? The New York Times reporters who broke the Bush "Spygate" story, as well as the paper's top executives who approved its publication, face the very real prospect of criminal indictment by the Bush Justice Department - a lawyer involved in the 1971 Pentagon Papers battle is warning. With a full-blown Justice Department investigation now underway, Harvey Silvergate tells the Boston Phoenix: "A variety of federal statutes, from the Espionage Act on down, give Bush ample means to prosecute the Times reporters who got the scoop, James Risen and Eric Lichtblau." Silvergate represented several parties...

Council bans Australian flag January 02, 2006 PLANS to fly Australian flags over the famous Bondi Beach pavilion were vetoed because of fears the symbols could incite more racial violence on Sydney's beaches. In a decision met with outrage from locals, returned servicemen and ethnic groups, Waverley Council voted 6-5 against the proposal, declaring the popular beach should remain clear of flags to "remove provocation"...

For years I've been driving loads of dry cleaning, overdue books and groceries past the Lake Forest Park for Peace vigils on Saturday mornings at Ballinger and Bothell ways. Last weekend, Christmas Eve, I finally stopped. Two weeks earlier, the group had passed the three-year mark. Every Saturday since Dec. 14, 2002, a hardy band of strangers turned friends and family has stood at the intersection of personal conscience and public scrutiny to protest the war in Iraq. This is a busy corner. The peace vigil holds forth from 11 a.m. to noon. A grassy, triangular traffic divider is covered...

Is It Treason Yet? By Joe Mariani December 9, 2005 Treason is defined, in part, as "giving aid and comfort" to the enemies of the United States, according to the Constitution (Article III, Section 3) (web site) and the United States Code (Title 18, Part I, Chapter 115, Section 2381). (web site) Yet the Constitution also states, in the First Amendment, (web site) that "Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech." How do we distinguish between free speech and treason? Where do we draw the line? The answer may be found using that least-used resource: common...

The director of an aid group appealed on Saturday to the abductors of four Western hostages held in Iraq to release them, saying they were working in the country to help free Iraqi prisoners. Rich Mayer, director of Christian Peacemaker Teams, told the Arabic Al Jazeera television that the four captives -- two Canadians, an American and a Briton -- had been working in Iraq to help relatives locate people held prisoner in Iraq. He made his comments one day after Iraqi insurgents holding the four threatened in a videotape to kill them unless Iraqi detainees held in prisons run...

SCHLUSSEL COLUMNS GET RESULTS!: Unions Boycott "Flight Plan"; GOP Cancels Terror Supporter By Debbie Schlussel Sometimes, even a little website, like mine, can make a difference: * As a result of my column on the outrageous Jodie Foster movie, "Flight Plan," the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA)--the flight attendant's union--is boycotting the movie, APFA spokeswoman and flight attendant Lori Bassani told me. Also as a result of my column, the Federal Air Marshals Association (FAMA) also has sent out mass e-mails calling for the boycott of this irresponsible, PC-mad movie. * As a result of my column about the...

Not much will keep Cindy down. Her husband is divorcing her, her mother had a stroke, and most of the rest of her family thinks she is stomping on her son’s grave. But she’s still going strong, replacing her actual family with the much more sociable aliens-abducted-my-grandparents crowd that turned out in Crawford to lend their wallets, fashion crews, and media teams. Oh wait, I mean to lend their “emotional support” for the “grieving” mother. Of course, Cindy doesn’t want all of the media attention. She wants to be able to “walk into the supermarket and not be recognized.” I...

COUNTDOWN TO THE STATEWIDE PROTEST/VIGIL AT BRUNSWICK NAVAL AIR STATION When: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005 Where: March begins at Brunswick Mall, and ends at NASB Main Gate Time: 9 A.M. (at the Mall) The Event We're Protesting: The Navy's "Blue Angels" Air Show Theme of Our Protest: "Stop the Worship of the Gods of War!" On Sat., Sept. 10th, Maine Veterans for Peace will be joined by other major peace and justice groups (see list of co-sponsors below) in a massive protest: . to protest the false god idolatry of the Blue Angels Air Show, whose "ooh-&-aah"performances have one purpose:...

Central Tour Dallas, TX: Wed, Aug. 31st Little Rock, AR: Thu, Sep. 1st Memphis, TN: Fri, Sep. 2nd St. Louis, MO: Sat, Sep. 3rd - Sun, Sep. 4th Indianapolis, IN: Mon, Sep. 5th - Tue, Sep. 6th Columbus, OH: Wed, Sep. 7th - Thu, Sep. 8th Cleveland, OH: Fri, Sep. 9th Pittsburgh, PA: Sun, Sep. 11th - Tue, Sep. 13th Philadelphia, PA: Thu, Sep. 15th - Sat, Sep. 17th Trenton, NJ: Sun, Sep. 18th Baltimore, MD: Tue, Sep. 20th Northern Tour Kansas City, MO: Thu, Sep. 1st Wichita, KS: Thu, Sep. 1st Des Moines, IA: Fri, Sep. 2nd Minneapolis, MN:...

CRAWFORD, Texas - Cindy Sheehan hasn't achieved a meeting with the president during her three-week war protest, but she met a man who plays one on TV. Martin Sheen, who portrays the president on NBC's "The West Wing," visited Sheehan's makeshift campsite Sunday. "At least you've got the acting president of the United States," Sheen said as the crowd of more than 300 people cheered. "I think you know what I do for a living, but this is what I do to stay alive." Sheehan arrived in President Bush's adopted hometown Aug. 6 and promised to stay until she could...

I am starting a new monthly series on Freerepublic.com titled "Treason on Campus." This will profile a new US Professor each month, and give a description of the classes they teach, their governing philosophy, examples of anti-Americanism, and any other relevant information I can dig up. This series is intended to inform and educate readers about the socio-political propaganda carried out on American campuses under the guise of education, and help equip them to counter such destructive influences. *********************************************************** *********************************************************** Amanda Byron, Graduate Program in Conflict Resolution For the first installment in this series, I have chosen Portland State University...

For the last four years, leftists have pleaded for one thing in how we relate to our enemies in the war on terror. From silly politicians like Howard Dean, who did not even want us to go to Afghanistan; to silly activists like Al Sharpton and silly actors like Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon; to silly talk-radio icons like Al Franken and Ron Kuby, who always seem to rush to the defense of those who commit terrorist acts – they've all asked but one thing. "Why don't we try to understand their [the terrorists] position, so we can have a...

I'm listening to the local scAir America station out of curiosity on how they are reacting to the bombing in London. Thom Hartmann, the host, had on Oregon's governor Ted Kulongoski for an interview. He said, "... the way you mitigate it is by understanding why they hate us..." and "... The United States must negotiate with the insurgence in good peace...". Later Hartmann had a former CIA guest on the show who said ..."we must know why they hate us." Just like Carl Rove said!

In the second killing of its kind in Bethlehem in less than a month, Fatah gunmen on Monday executed a young Palestinian man suspected of collaboration with Israel. The victim was identified as 19-year-old Jad al-Hindi. His family said he was abducted late Sunday night by masked gunmen belonging to Fatah's armed wing, the Aksa Martyrs Brigades. Hindi's body was discovered in an open field early Monday morning. A Palestinian Authority security source in the city said the man had been shot in the head 12 times. He said Hindi was the 14 suspected collaborator to be killed in the...

Jewish groups have objected to a French decision to allow the television arm of Lebanon's Hizb Allah movement to continue broadcasting to Europe using a French satellite operator. The CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish organisations accused the French government of failing to protect citizens from broadcasts by the Hizb Allah's Al-Manar TV, which CRIF says includes anti-Semitic films that incite Muslims to attack Jews. "We French citizens are under attack as Jews by this television," CRIF president Roger Cuikerman said on Friday. Arabic-language satellite television is popular with France's five million Muslims, mostly of North African descent. List of...

On 11/9/04 Larry Elder had Stephen Miller on his radio show. What they talked about completely floored me. Stephen is a student at Duke and is trying to call attention to the abominable actions being taken on that campus to actively recruit future terrorists (with the President's blessing, no less). The bottom line of Stephen's chilling article is this: "America is the midst of a war on terror, where in the end we will either meet victory or death. And as we are engaged in this life and death struggle, Duke just gave its time, money, resources, space, and student...

Can't believe what I'm seeing. A whole Company of French Honor Guards saluting Arafat's stinking, rotten carcass with a flag-draped coffin.