Free Republic

WEST ASHLEY, S.C. (WCIV) — The signs of a graduation party are still left around the house of the Koscinski family. Jacob graduated Saturday with the highest honors from a Christian-based home-schooling program. So, his mom ordered a cake. "He did not know we were getting a cake because he's not a big cake eater. So we were all standing there waiting to see it and when we opened it, it was a huge shock to all of us," said Cara Koscinski. She explained how she ordered the 3/4 inch sheet cake online through Publix. But when she requested the...

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KYIV, July 17 /Ukrinform/. In the town of Gukovo in Rostov region, near the border with Ukraine, a local resident filmed a video with BM-21 Grad multiple rocket launcher shelling the Ukrainian territory. The video is available on YouTube. The video clearly shows how the Grad launcher shells the territory of Ukraine. "This is so much fun in Gukovo! Guys, Grad is shelling," a man is commenting on what is happening. According to the by24.org website, experts have compared this movie with a map of the area. On the map it is seen where a man with the camera stands,...

EASTON, Pa. — Talk about grade inflation. Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings. Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change. A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss...

It was a star-filled night in Chechnya's besieged capital of Grozny. The snow crunched under my feet as I walked with the Chechen rebel commander away from the warmth of our safe house. When we entered a bombed-out neighborhood 15 minutes away, I put the battery in my Iridium satellite phone and waited for the glowing screen to signal that I had locked on to the satellites. I made my call. It was short. Then the commander made a call; he quickly hung up and handed me back the phone. "Enough," he said, motioning for me to remove the battery....

Israeli political officials have been taken aback by the rocket attacks from Gaza over the past few days, considering that the deal with Hamas for the release of Gilad Shalit has not been completed. Israel is supposed to release another 550 terrorists in the coming weeks, but some MKs have begun calling for that part of the Shalit deal to be cancelled if Hamas continues to allow rocket attacks on Israel. Attacks began last Wednesday, when a Grad Katyusha rocket was fired at Ashdod, setting off Red Color warning sirens throughout southern Israel, as far north as Rishon Lezion. The...

Gaza terrorist squads fired three Grad medium-range missiles and three mortar shells into Israeli territory Sunday evening. The rockets and shells exploded in open areas within the Eshkol and Hof Ashkelon local authorities. No one was hurt and no damage was caused. Security sources said that the Iron Dome systems successfully intercepted one rocket. Three missiles salvos were fired at Be'er Sheva and two at Ashkelon Sunday morning. One Grad missile hit a gymnasium in a high school. No one was hurt but the structure was damaged. Another Grad missile was intercepted.

Terrorists from the Gaza Strip fired at least three Grad missiles at southern Israel early Friday morning. The Iron Dome missile interceptor was successfully employed against some of the Grads, but one missile, fired later in a second round of launchings, hit a synagogue in Ashdod at 8:15 a.m. Three were hurt moderately, but since the morning prayers had just finished, most congregants had left the bulding. One of the early morning missiles exploded in the vicinity of the city of Be’er Sheva. Two other missiles exploded near Ashdod. At that point, there were no reports of physical injuries or...

Rockets explode near Ashdod, can be heard in Yavneh; at least five mortars and two Qassams strike western Negev; attacks come after day of IAF strikes on militant targets in Gaza. Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two Grad rockets at southern Israel on Thursday, as cross-border tensions continued to escalate. Tne of the rockets struck south of of Ashdod and the other just north of the city. It was not exactly clear where the second rocket hit, but the explosion could be heard in Yavneh, some 25 kilometers from Tel Aviv. A Grad rocket hit Ashdod and another...

Tensions continued to rise along Israel's border with the Gaza Strip earlier Wednesday, as Gaza militants fired a Grad-type Katyusha rocket at the southern city of Be'er Sheva early Wednesday, mere hours after another Grad exploded south of the coastal city of Ashdod. According to initial reports, the Grad rocket struck a street in the middle of one of the city's residential areas. Upon impact, a piece of shrapnel penetrated a nearby third-floor apartment, moderately wounding one man. The attack came after a Grad rocket fired from Gaza exploded south of Ashdod on Tuesday, following after a day of escalation...

A Grad rocket which was fired on Monday evening from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory exploded in the southern Israel town of Netivot. The rocket hit a parked car. There were no reports of casualties but four people were treated for shock, the Negev District Police said. Residents in the area reported that the “red alert” alarm that is usually heard before a rocket explosion did not work this time. Several minutes after the rocket attack on Netivot, a second Grad rocket fired from the Gaza Strip exploded in the city of Ofakim. There were no reports of injuries...

SNIPPET: "Police are working to figure out the origin of the rocket that was fired from the Gaza Strip Saturday evening and exploded near Kibbutz Nahal Oz, without causing damage or injures. A total of four rockets and two mortar shells were fired at Israel on Saturday, causing no injuries. An initial examination revealed that the rocket fired at Nahal Oz was manufactured using professional means, most likely outside of the borders of the Gaza Strip. The rocket had a diameter of 115 millimeters, and police sappers were working to locate fragments of it to be tested."

Obama amputates our nuclear arms By: Charles Krauthammer ...snippet...Under President Obama’s new policy, however, if the state that has just attacked us with biological or chemical weapons is “in compliance with the Non-Proliferation Treaty,” explained Gates, then “the U.S. pledges not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against it.” Imagine the scenario: Hundreds of thousands are lying dead in the streets of Boston after a massive anthrax or nerve gas attack. The president immediately calls in the lawyers to determine whether the attacking state is in compliance with the NPT. If it turns out that the attacker...

"Air Force strikes in Gaza" SNIPPET: "IDF retaliates for deadly Qassam attack: Air Force hits several Gaza targets, including metal foundry, smuggling tunnel; Vice PM Shalom says Israel to offer strong response to rocket attack that killed Thai worker Thursday" SNIPPET: "IDF aircraft struck at least four targets in the Gaza Strip on Friday, a day after a rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave killed a Thai worker in Israel, Hamas security officials and witnesses said." SNIPPET: "Israel also sent a letter of complaint to United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who is due to visit Israel at the weekend,...

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2009 – Summiting the highest peak in North America, will make Marc Hoffmeister’s other challenges, like earning his commission as an Army officer by graduating from West Point, seem like a mole hill, by comparison. Army Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister is among four wounded warriors attempting to summit Alaska's Mount McKinley, or Denali, the highest point in North America, June 1, 2009. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Mount McKinley, known simply as ‘Denali,’ in Alaska’s Denali National Park, challenges even the most expert climbers. Hoffmeister and three other veterans will face those difficulties,...

Israel's air force fired around 20 missiles at targets in Gaza City on Saturday, causing heavy damage, a Reuters witness said. The IDF has confirmed the report. (Hanan Greenberg and Reuters)

(IsraelNN.com) The cabinet has voted to accept a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza. Two ministers voted against the proposal and one abstained from voting.

"HAMAS AND THEIR SYSTEMATIC VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAWS (NOT TO MENTION BASIC HUMAN DECENCY)" "Video follows"

"IT'S NOT SO MUCH THAT THE HAMAS OFFICER WAS KILLED... ...it's that he was killed operating a mortar that his subordinates were not firing, because they refused to come out of hiding."

SNIPPET: "The fundamental truth is that Hamas' road to Iran runs through the international Muslim Brotherhood, and has for two decades. What is often missing in the discussion of the Muslim Brotherhood is that Hamas, according to its own founding charter, is an integral and armed part of the Ikwhan, not separate from it."