Free Republic

Vice President Kamala Harris accused Russia Thursday of committing “atrocities of unimaginable proportion” in Ukraine — while warning the US will “defend every inch of NATO territory” if the war spreads. Harris made the commitment while also saying that Russia “absolutely” should be investigated for war crimes.

BEIRUT (AP) — The United States fired cruise missiles into central Syria early Friday morning, striking an Assad government-controlled air base where U.S. officials say the Syrian military launched a deadly chemical attack that killed dozens of civilians earlier this week. Syrian state TV called the attack an "aggression" that lead to "losses." About 60 U.S. Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat air base, southeast of Homs, a small installation with two runways, where aircraft often take off to bomb targets in northern and central Syria. The U.S. missiles hit at 3:45 a.m. Friday morning and targeted the base's airstrips, hangars,...

I hate to criticize a fellow pilot, but when one engages in such sky-high hypocrisy, well . . . On Morning Joe today, former Obama car czar Steve Rattner, a very successful hedge fund manager, decried "climate-change denier[s]." This is the same Rattner who, at last report, owned a "15,000-square-foot mansion on Martha’s Vineyard, to which [he] flies regularly on a Dassault Falcon 2000 jet [see file photo] he pilots himself." Rattner wrung his hands over the fact that we're "putting millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere every day." But just earlier this week, the New York Times...

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New York - In a letter to Brooklyn College President Dr. Karen L. Gould, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) decried the recent appointment of Adjunct Professor Kristofer J. Petersen-Overton who was hired to teach a Politics of the Middle East graduate course this spring at the College. Several concerned Brooklyn College political science graduate students, including Dina Kupfer, contacted the Assemblyman who, in turn, wrote to Dr. Gould after reviewing the grossly biased course syllabus and researching Petersen-Overton’s professional background and published works. Mr. Petersen-Overton has authored a number of anti-Israel papers, including one entitled, Inventing the Martyr: Martyrdom as Palestinian...

Speaking to about 400 people in Livonia, President Barack Obama's envoy to the Muslim world said there is a "disturbing rise in anti-Islamic sentiment" that may be caused in part by the poor economy.

When I think of people well-suited to lead a crusade against declining public civility, somehow Whoopi Goldberg doesn't spring to mind. Yet there was The View co-host on Morning Joe today, promoting what Amazon describes as: "her new book of observations [that] takes a funny and excruciatingly honest look at how a loss of civility is messing with the quality of life for all of us." And sure enough, Whoopi engaged in a [seemingly endless] discussion with the MJ folks on the subject. Mika read a passage from the book in which Goldberg bemoaned the rise of "political incivility." Added...

(IsraelNN.com) Activist secular group 'The Jerusalemites' complains that the women's prayer area in front of the Kotel (Western Wall) was reduced in size, and that men and women are separated in the external courtyard, are signs of the 'haredization' of the Kotel. A local Jerusalem weekly reported Friday that the group, which is represented by one member (out of 31) on the City Council, said it was forming an action group for "returning the Kotel to the general public as part of the struggle for the character of Jerusalem.'"

U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, on his first Bay Area swing since announcing his bid for the presidency, said Monday that the nation's most vital division is ``between the American people and their government.'' And he warned that if government doesn't address such issues as global warming, the federal deficit and lack of investment in education, ``We may be consigning the next generation to an America that is a little meaner and a little poorer than the one we inherited. ``That is un-American,'' he told a crowd of about 1,000 people gathered in San Francisco for a fundraiser for U.S. Sen....

Dean decries GOP's "culture of corruption" By SCOTT SHEPARD Cox News Service Tuesday, July 05, 2005 WASHINGTON — Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean is trying to get voters to hold the Republican Party responsible for the "culture of corruption" he sees in Washington, but Dean is getting virtually no help from fellow Democrats in the House of Representatives. In the year since then-Rep. Chris Bell, D-Texas, filed the complaint that triggered the current ethics investigation of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, not one Democrat has initiated another complaint despite the pleas of outside watchdog groups. House Democrats are...

Attorney General John D. Ashcroft said yesterday that federal courts have endangered national security by ruling against the Bush administration on issues related to the war on terrorism. In his first public remarks since he announced Tuesday that he would resign, Ashcroft told a meeting of conservative lawyers here that court decisions limiting President Bush's powers are part of "a profoundly disturbing trend" in which the judicial branch is injecting itself into matters that should be up to the executive branch. "The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas...

Arab League Decries U.S. Actions in Iraq Saturday February 7, 2004 4:46 PM By SALAH NASRAWI Associated Press Writer CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq is threatening the Iraqi and regional stability by empowering Kurdish and Shiite Muslim groups, according to an Arab League report obtained Saturday by The Associated Press. The report, drawn up by an Arab League delegation that visited Iraq in December, is circulating among the 22 members of the Cairo-based Arab League but has not been made public. It reflects concerns among Arab countries that changes in the sharing of power in a...