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GOP presidential primary candidate Nikki Haley said Wednesday she had assumed it was a “given” that the Civil War was about slavery when giving her controversial answer on the topic last week. “What I should have said immediately was that the Civil War was about slavery, but I just assumed that that was a given, and I went on and said it was also about the role of government and about the rights of people economically, socially and otherwise,” Haley said in a Fox News interview Wednesday. The former United Nations ambassador and South Carolina governor faced backlash for her...

Ukraine hailed a major development in the level of support it has received from NATO at the weekend as the donation of F-16s went from ‘one day’ to ‘this year’, but the nation has gone right from that news to urging for more nations to pledge their own stocks of jet fighters, too. Denmark and the Netherlands both committed to give Ukraine F-16 fighter jets from their arsenals over the weekend, with Copenhagen saying they would send 19 planes and six of them this year, and Amsterdam promising aircraft without putting a specific number or timeline on deliveries. The Ukrainians...

8,000 prison inmates in Colorado have been given computer tablets with the ability to call loved ones from the inside, play games, read books, and listen to music. “Until February, Andrew Stiern could only speak with his girlfriend on a phone in a prison day hall while 10 other inmates listened in and waited impatiently in line behind him,” reported The Denver Post . “Now the 29-year-old inmate can kick back in the limited privacy of his cell at Four Mile Correctional Center in Cañon City and call his girl on a new computer tablet anytime between 6 a.m. and...

Kim Clement's Prophecy for the next 8 years. The prophecy given in 2007. Join Zach Drew and Sasha Volz as they go over the MOST shocking prophecy that deals with the next 8 years of America’s future that was originally given in 2007

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7/7/2006 - WASHINGTON (AFPN) -- The Air Force chief of staff announced Lightning II as the F-35 name during a Joint Strike Fighter Inauguration Ceremony today at the Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Co. at Fort Worth, Texas. Gen. T. Michael Moseley made the final decision after an extensive nomination and review process, coordinated with the other services and partner nations. In naming the F-35, General Moseley said, "Today, the enemies of peace and freedom have been put on notice. They have feared this day because the F-35 provides the coalition warfighter the perfect blend of speed, precision and stealth. "In my...

Turkey is given EU warning By David Rennie in Helsinki (Filed: 01/07/2006) Turkey was yesterday given a blunt warning that its accession talks with the European Union could be halted. Matti Vanhanen, the Finnish prime minister who takes over the rotating presidency of the EU today, said it was clear Turkey was going to be "a very difficult issue" in the next six months if it did not drop its blockade on Cypriot shipping. He endorsed warnings from the European Commission that there would be a "train crash" in Turkey's entry talks if it does not open its ports and...

FORT HUACHUCA — More than 60 years ago, a young Benson man went off to war. Art Shilling returned six decades ago from island hopping campaigns in the Pacific and a stint as a member of the Japanese occupation force. The 81-year-old Shilling, who still lives in Benson, was a member of the 27th Engineer Construction Battalion. Shilling took part in four invasions of different New Guinea islands and two in the Philippine island chain. For many today, memories of World War II are just a part of America’s fading history. But to former GIs, those days of their youth...

SACRAMENTO - Less than two months after giving $10,000 to an initiative campaign committee tied to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a well-connected private prison company was tentatively awarded a $20 million contract by the state of California to operate a San Joaquin Valley correctional facility. Altogether over the past two years, GEO Group has donated $68,000 to various Schwarzenegger committees, according to campaign reports. Officials with the state prison system insist there is no tie between the donations and the contract, which is part of a broader strategy to use less-expensive private beds to relieve severe overcrowding in the 33 state-run...

LONDON (AP) - The British government said Friday it has been granted more time to decide whether to extradite a British man facing terrorism charges in the United States. A judge ruled May 17 that Babar Ahmad could be sent to the United States to face charges of supporting terrorism, conspiring to kill Americans and running a Web site used to fund terrorists. Home Secretary Charles Clarke, the top British official in charge of law and order, had 60 days to decide whether Ahmad would be extradited. That period expires Friday, but the Home Office said Clarke had obtained an...

A schoolboy who murdered a pizza shop worker by stabbing him through the heart in a row over a special offer has been given a life sentence. Hakeem Johnson, 14, of Highbury, north London, attacked Noor Kasimi, 32, at the Twin Star shop when he was refused a £1 pizza after the offer had ended. Old Bailey Judge Gerald Gordon named Johnson on Friday, in an attempt to deter others from carrying knives. He ordered Johnson stay in custody for at least eight-and-a-half years. Johnson, who was 13 at the time of the murder, had been excluded from Homerton College...

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) - A former school board president was sentenced Thursday to five years in state prison for welfare fraud, violating campaign finance laws and lying about her academic background. Cresia Green-Davis also was ordered to make about $200,000 in restitution and, unless her conviction is overturned she is barred from holding elected office in California. She could have been sentenced to as much as 16 years in prison. Green-Davis, 52, told Superior Court Judge Bob S. Bowers Jr. that she made bad choices out of a desire to help her family. "I thought I did what I had...

TACOMA, Wash. - A teaching assistant gave some preschoolers dog food to eat during a play-acting exercise at Northeast Tacoma Elementary School. A Tacoma School District spokeswoman said the children spat out the dry dog food and no one suffered any ill effects. The teaching assistant has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. District spokeswoman Patti Holmgren said it happened Monday in an early education class while the supervisor was out of the room. When a few of the students pretended to be puppies, getting down on their hands and knees and barking, the assistant attempted to encourage...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Assad given weapons ultimatum By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 07/01/2004) America and Britain rebuffed President Bashar Assad of Syria yesterday, telling him bluntly that Damascus must give up its weapons of mass destruction or face ostracism - even if neighbouring Israel keeps its nuclear arms. "Israel is in a unique position as the only state whose very existence is threatened," said a senior British Government source yesterday. "There is no point in asking for a WMD-free Middle East while there are countries parading missiles with a sign up the side saying Death to Israel."Isolated since the fall of...

Sold for a Mere Pittance Works of art worth tens of millions of pounds today have been sold off quietly by museums over the past 50 years for a few pounds. British art institutions such as the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge and the Exeter City Museum have disposed of pictures by masters such as Van Dyck and Henri Fantin-Latour. They were sold without public notice, dismissed as too unimportant to keep. Among the most serious cases is a painting by the 19th-century master, John William Waterhouse. In 1965, the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro sold it for £200 ($300) to...

France given EC deficit deadline Andrew Osborn in Brussels Thursday May 8, 2003 The Guardian France came under unprecedented pressure yesterday to stop flouting the rules that govern the euro after the European commission gave Paris less than six months to tackle its wayward budget deficit or face the consequences. In a humiliating swipe at the French government, the EC ordered Paris to take remedial action to bring its budget deficit below the maximum 3% threshold allowed under EU rules by October 3 at the latest. It also stipulated that any measures taken would have to bear fruit by 2004....