Free Republic

In 1915, the US Marines invaded Haiti, occupying the country until 1934. US officials rewrote the Haitian constitution, and when the Haitian national assembly refused to ratify it, they dissolved the assembly. They then held a "referendum" in which about 5% of the electorate voted and approved the new constitution – which conveniently changed Haitian law to allow foreigners to own land – with 99.9% voting for approval. The situation today is remarkably similar. The country is occupied, and although the occupying troops wear blue helmets, everyone knows that Washington calls the shots. On 28 November an election was held...

The United Nations says it can end poverty, stop global warming, and end the threat of contagious disease while also unlocking $7 trillion of hidden wealth from developing nations in the process. If this sounds too good to be true, that’s because it is. In a new book launched with great fanfare at last month’s World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, The New Public Finance: Responding to Global Challenges, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) claims to offer “innovative financial mechanisms that could dramatically reduce the cost of managing global risks can now be implemented by governments across the world.”...

The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for sustainable development informs government policies to restrict farming and transform the food systems in different parts of the world, said Alex Newman, an award-winning international journalist who has covered this issue for over a decade. The 2030 Agenda is a plan of action devised by the United Nations (U.N.) to achieve 17 sustainable development goals (SDG). The goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development were adopted by all UN member states in 2015. Then-Secretary General of the U.N. Ban Ki-moon called the 2030 Agenda “the global declaration of interdependence,” (pdf) Newman said in...

In the 1970's Santa Cruz was a sleepy seaside town, mostly retirees, but there were plenty of young people as well. The University was starting to grow. Students and residents alike appreciated the open space and uncrowded beaches. They surfed, swam, hiked, biked and enjoyed the natural beauty and mild climate of the area. The Victorian-style buildings in the downtowns were reminiscent of any small town in America. In the city of Santa Cruz, a variety of shops catered to the students and the county -- on a trip downtown you could drop into a hardware store and pick up...

Where others see worthless land or no land at all, Don Connolly sees opportunity. It may be a strip of land a few feet wide in Palm Harbor. Or a vacant lot in a poor neighborhood in St. Petersburg. Or a sliver of lake in Ozona. In a six-month period beginning last November, the Valrico land speculator acquired a combined 22 acres by paying delinquent tax bills or attending tax deed sales in Pinellas County. He spent $184,600. A St. Petersburg Times review of the 49 Pinellas properties Connolly bought reveals an investor with eclectic tastes. He likes well-placed strips...

Macedonia: No Denationalization SKOPJE (Tanjug) - The Skopje Government will not accept the Bulgarian proposal that Bulgarian citizens be given their property in Macedonia back, Tanjug learns. If the property is returned to the Bulgarians, that would cause the domino effect and others will demand the same thing, Serbia and Turkey before all. If Macedonia accepts this, then at least a third of the country's territory would be lost, say some Skopje experts. Many foreign citizens would claim their property, which had been acquired by their families at the time when Macedonia was not an independent country. The Karageorgevitchs...