Free Republic

A cartoon by Jack Higgins in Tuesday's Chicago Sun-Times incorporated inaccurate imagery to make a statement about the allegations that U.S. Marines killed Iraqi civilians in Haditha. Jack Higgins and the Sun-Times deeply regret the mistake and apologize to the U.S. servicemen, especially those in the Marine Corps, and to our readers who were understandably offended by the cartoon. Higgins, in doing Web research on the Haditha story, searched the Internet for images. A Yahoo search engine displayed a number of photos, one of which was labeled "IraqBodi...rd.jpg." Clicking on that image took Higgins to the MSNBC/Newsweek site. On his...

It's a growing irony of today's Hollywood that, the more its filmmakers have come to rely on fact-based stories for their source material, the more inventive they've tended to become with the facts. These days, when we see that fateful kicker, "Based on a true story," experience tells us it's wise to be more than a little suspicious. Indeed, a kind of ritual has arisen in which a film will appear, gain media attention and critical credibility on the strength of its "true" story, and then spend weeks being cut down by people charging that the real story -- be...

"Could we do it?" one administration official who was deeply involved in planning the Iraq invasion said recently. "Sure. Could we manage the aftermath? I doubt it." Similar fears, he said, gave President Bill Clinton pause about launching a strike on North Korea in 1994. Later that year he reached an accord for a freeze on the North's nuclear production facilities. But in 2003 everything unfroze, and now the North, by C.I.A. estimates, has enough fuel for at least half a dozen bombs. The Iranians took careful notes then, and here in Washington today the Korean experience underlies diplomacy-versus-force arguments...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle illegally over the weekend when he collided with a car in his Brentwood neighborhood, the Los Angeles Police Department said Tuesday. Police Lt. Paul Vernon said Schwarzenegger does not have the proper motorcycle endorsement on his California driver's license, contradicting statements made by his spokeswoman since the Sunday accident that left the governor with 15 stitches in his upper lip. "He does not have the license," Vernon said. Police did not cite the governor because they arrived after the accident, Vernon said. Police referred their findings to the...

The film "Syriana" is based on the true story of a CIA operative sent to assassinate Saddam Hussein, and the agent's near murder by Palestinian terrorists from Hezbulah. But in the hands of actor/producer George Clooney, Americans are shown to be greedy and corrupt while suicide bombers are presented as freedom fighters.

"With Senator Boxer's blatant lie this morning, Democrats once again illustrated their clear commitment to distorting Judge Alito's record. What makes today's smear regarding reapportionment particularly stunning is that it was only two days ago that Sen. Specter clearly stated Judge Alito believes that one man one vote is 'very deeply embedded' and is a 'principle which is settled and beyond attack'. Every time the Democrats desperately attempt to misrepresent Judge Alito's record, they undermine their own credibility when it comes to the nomination." -- Brian Jones, Communications Director

TOKYO - Miyako Masuda is a 23-year veteran of public schools here. Like many Japanese history teachers of her generation, she dislikes new textbooks that frame Japan as the victim in World War II. It bothers her that books claiming America caused the war are now adopted by an entire city ward. In fact, Masuda disapproves of the whole nationalist direction of Tokyo public schools. Yet until last year, Masuda, who calls herself "pretty ordinary," rarely went out of her way to disagree. Few teachers do. But when a Tokyo city councilman in an official meeting said "Japan never invaded...

Just heard on Fox News that Walmart has abandoned their practive of greeting customers with "Merry Christmas." Also if you look for Christmas gifts on their web site, they send you to a Holiday Gift page. However, they have other gift sites tied to specific religions.

Ticket to Paradise? Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad's new film—fictional, but true to life—follows the journey of two young suicide bombers. What motivates them? Abu-Assad says it may be more than meets the eye. interview by Stefan Ulstein | posted 11/08/05 Paradise Now, opening in limited release on November 11, is the fictional but true-to-life story of two young Palestinians who ask to be sent together on a suicide-bombing mission in Israel. Saïd and Khaled have been friends forever, and to them, it seems only natural that they would arrange to die together. Languishing in dead-end jobs, they are trapped in...

WASHINGTON -- Pop quiz: Which of the following abortion regulations is more restrictive, more burdensome, more likely to lead more women to forgo abortion?(a) Requiring a minor to get the informed consent of her parents, or to get a judge to approve the abortion.(b) Requiring a married woman to sign a form saying that she notified her husband.Can any reasonable person have any doubt? A minor is intrinsically far more subject to the whims, anger, punishment, economic control and retribution of a parent. And the minor is required to get both parents involved in the process and to get them...

Link Wray's Border Blues Was the surf guitar legend the target of racial profiling? Surf rock legend Link Wray was to perform live at the unlikely venue known as The Yale Hotel this past Sunday. When I first saw the one lone poster slapped to a pole with electrical tape at the last minute, I figured it was nothing more than some mediocre Link Wray cover band. I reasoned if it truly were Link Wray, I would have known about it far in advance, and it wouldn’t be at Vancouver’s number one "greasy-white-guys-with-mid-life-crises-trying-to-play-the-blues" bar. When I discovered that Wray really...

/begin my translation China: A Large Riot Broke Out In Anhui Province [Epoch Times, 2005/06/28]  In the afternoon of June 26, 2005, a large riot broke out in Chi-zhou, Anhui Province, China, in which about 10,000 people attacked a police substation and set fire on police vehicles.  However, crowds at the scene disagreed with the Chinese media report, and explained the situation as follows:  "At 2 pm, Liu Liang, a middle school pupil was a riding a bicycle, and it happened to graze a car which the owner of Ren-he Clinic, a private hospital, is riding, resulting in a scratch. The argument from both...

Tom Friedman implores, "Shut it down.  Just shut it down." Friedman explains, "I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay.  Just shut it down and then plow it under.  It has become worse than an embarrassment.  I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down.  So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down." Friedman continues, "I believe the stories emerging from Guantánamo are having a similar toxic effect on us - inflaming sentiments against the U.S. all over the world and...

CBS News, once again displaying its total disregard for journalistic integrity, has distorted the news in a flagrant attempt to tarnish the Republican Party by using a sound bite that is so out of context as to be near criminal. CBS reported that Ken Starr said the Senate Republican's plans to stop the Democratic filibusters of judicial nominations was wrong. What Ken Starr really said, was that the practice of invoking judicial philosophy as a grounds for voting against a qualified nominee of integrity and experience was wrong. CBS presented a video clip on the Monday edition of the...

Can nothing spare us from the arrogance of liberal media figures, still parading around as Guardians of the Facts and Solely Anointed Professional Disseminators of the Truth? Washington Post reporter Dana Milbank, in what reads like an early April Fools' prank, has written an article for the Post's Sunday "Outlook" section presenting himself as an objective reporter. The headline was "My Bias for Mainstream News." In it, he complains that the "cottage industry" of watchdog groups on the right and left "are devoted almost entirely to attacking the press." The most priceless sentence is this: "Regardless of the merits, the...

"I Gave It Up for Lent"Harry R. OsborneA few years ago about this time of year, a story appeared in the newspaper about a strange occurrence in France. It seems that a thief cornered a man in a dark place. He threatened to slash the man's throat with his knife unless he handed over his money. As the Victim reached for his wallet, the light caught him in such a way that the thief saw his victim was a priest. The robber quickly apologized for his behavior explaining that he was unaware of the fact that he had preyed upon...

A liberal friend of mine sent me the following distortion of Bush's Resume that I found quite repugnant. I took the time to offer my refutation in parentheses. What caught my eye was this "Articles in the BuzzFlash Contributor section are posted as-is. Given the timeliness of some Contributor articles, BuzzFlash cannot verify or guarantee the accuracy of every word. We strive to correct inaccuracies when they are brought to our attention." How about if we all copy this "corrected" resume and paste it to the servers at BuzzFlash. Then perhaps we can show them who rules the blogosphere. This...

Stone Blames ‘Unsophisticated’ American Audience, Flees to Franceby William R Alford - Jan. 16, 2005 Apparently the ill-advised heat is coming to Oliver Stone from all sides in the United States, so he is abandoning us to our galling ignorance. Quoting the clearly exasperated director from a recent New York Post article: “The gays lambasted me for not making Alexander openly homosexual and in the Bible Belt, pastors were up in the pulpit saying that to watch this film was to be tempted by Satan.” It doesn't matter so much that Stone affixes a few arguably plausible character traits...

There are thousands of Operation Iraqi Freedom soldiers across the country like Joshua Peterson. They are coming home with minds twisted by what they've seen and done in Iraq.

For years, they followed the rules as best they could, attending Mass at least once a week, teaching religious education, helping in the office or the rectory. But for weeks now, in a quiet but extraordinary uprising against the church authority they had been taught to respect, hundreds of Catholics in eight communities in and around Boston have been occupying churches the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is attempting to close. They have taken over the roles formerly administered by priests and paid church employees, doing everything from leading worship to cleaning buildings. One major thing they cannot do, consecrate the...