Free Republic

Certainly, it's hard to know whether to trust the allegations in the writings of Tacitus. Yet, what about the explanation offered by Nero, that the Christians were to blame? At least one scholar believes Nero was on the mark. Professor Gerhard Baudy of the University of Konstanz in Germany has spent fifteen years studying ancient apocalyptic prophecies. His studies have shown that in the poor districts of Rome, Christians were circulating vengeful texts predicting that a raging inferno would to reduce the city to ashes. "In all of these oracles, the destruction of Rome by fire is prophesied," Baudy explains....

<p>What you see on TV is often staged and biased. This video (17 mins) will help you get an idea of what lies beneath.</p> <p>Hope you guys will feedback...</p>

WASHINGTON — Former Education Secretary William Bennett (search), harshly criticized by Democrats and repudiated by the White House for a comment he made suggesting that, in theory, crime would go down if more black babies were aborted, fired back at his critics Friday.

Noam Chomsky is often hailed as America's premier dissident intellectual, a fearless purveyor of truth fighting against media propaganda, murderous U.S. foreign policy, and the crimes of profit-hungry transnational corporations. He enjoys a slavish cult-like following from millions leftist students, journalists, and activists worldwide who fawn over his dense books as if they were scripture. To them, Chomsky is the supreme deity, a priestly master whose logic cannot be questioned. However as one begins to examine the interviews and writings of Chomsky, a different picture emerges. His books, so vociferously lauded in leftist circles, appear to be calculated disinformation designed...

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita packed a wallop — not just with weather that ravaged a region, but also in lessons of hysteria and the power of fear. Now that winds have calmed and the hot air of punditry has found new objects of bloviation, we learn that much of what we thought we knew was wrong. That sentence has a familiar, and unwelcome, ring to it. We know what comes next:

The flow of negative news about the administration will do much of the Democrats' work for them. Solving the party's larger intellectual and tactical contradictions will take more time. That means its leaders will have to brace themselves for more criticisms from their impatient, not-quite-so-loyal loyalists.

Click photo below to watch the debate: On Hardball [Only if You’re a Republican] tonight Chris Matthews discussed “no bid” contracts with Rep. Pete King (R) and Rep. Bennie Thompson (D). When questioned about Chertoff and the President taking Katrina seriously, King doesn’t take any crap from Chris: KING: As far as President Bush, it’s wrong for you to say he wasn’t caring, he certainly was caring. What he was not equipped for was to explain for the incompetency of the local officials or to explain the hysteria… to anticipate the hysteria of people like you in the media...

The following photo is now showing up on the wires: Here’s another. But don’t miss the view from the other side of this America-hating mime, at Getty Images. (NOTE: Getty images are protected by copyright and cannot be posted here.)

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 23 2005 Five years after the controversial 2000 presidential election, ex-President Jimmy Carter now says he's certain Al Gore defeated George W. Bush. "Well I would say that in the year 2000, the country failed abysmally in the presidential election process," Carter told a panel Monday at American University in Washington, D.C. "There's no doubt in my mind that Al Gore was elected president." Those in attendance broke out in applause for that statement. "[Gore] received the most votes nationwide, and in my opinion, he also received the most votes in Florida," Carter continued. "And the decision was...

In reporting on a Chinese company marketing condoms under the brand names Clinton and Lewinsky, USA Today notes that Clinton "was accused of having a sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky, a former White House intern." Accused? Clinton himself ultimately admitted he "did have a relationship with Ms. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong." Moreover, a Federal judge fined Clinton more than $90,000 for providing ""false, misleading and evasive answers" about his relationship with Lewinsky. No, Clinton was not just "accused" of intimacy with a White House intern. Simple justice requires an accurate account of what he...

The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, loves to profess how they are the staunchest defenders of American freedom. They love to pound their chests and proclaim that they are the only thing keeping America from becoming a theocratic nation. Listen to an ACLU attorney and they will be all too glad to tell you they are busy defending innocents who are having religion imposed on them. They simply revel in their rhetoric don’t they? Yes, yes, they sure do love to toot their own horns and build themselves up as the cornerstone of what America is. What a complete...

Column on Arabs strikes a nerve at UNC Student paper at UNC fires writer By JANE STANCILL, Staff Writer CHAPEL HILL -- The dismissal of a writer from a student newspaper over a controversial column usually would stir a tempest only on campus. But not at UNC-Chapel Hill, a frequent battleground in the national culture wars. In the first sentence of her opinion column Tuesday in The Daily Tar Heel, Jillian Bandes wrote: "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport." Referring to conservative writer Ann Coulter's comment that...

TORONTO - Actress Shirley MacLaine denounced US leaders while promoting her latest film, calling it an antidote for the angst and confusion felt by some of her compatriots. "In a country where we're all having trouble and struggling with what is the truth and who we are and why everybody is lying to us, I liked the idea of making a really honest picture," the Academy Award-winning actress said at the Toronto International Film Festival. In Her Shoes" by director Curtis Hanson ("8 Mile" and "L.A. Confidential") stars Cameron Diaz ("There's Something About Mary" and "Charlie's Angels") and Toni Collette...

This article should read 965 dead in Bridge Collapse, but CNN has it under their World: Iraq: Transition of Power section, so it HAS to look like it's a result of poor US leadership and intervention. I'm surprised they didn't blame the bridge collapse on Bush and the presence of American troops.

Neil Conan interviewed Cindy Sheehan on Talk of the Nation yesterday. In this interview Ms. Sheehan is evasive, deceptive and appears to lie or make things up. In the end, she quickly pretends she has phone problems and informs Neil she has only 2 minutes left. NPR had booked her for the entire segment. She ended the interview when she got mad at a question Neil asked her about her first meeting with President Bush. I recorded the interview from this link and amplified the off phone comment she appeared to make to someone with her in crawford. Her cheapshot...

Here’s a touching scene, featuring Cindy Sheehan and the Reverend Al Sharpton, in front of crosses, looking solemn and sad.Now let’s zoom out and see the media swarming around this manufactured event: (Hat tip: Bill P.) UPDATE at 8/28/05 5:36:04 pm: More pictures of this moving tableau at Getty Images. Co-starring “Army Mom.”UPDATE at 8/28/05 5:42:51 pm: Several LGF readers point out the Jewish star at lower right of the second photograph. Somebody tell CODEPINK not to let the Nazis know.

To parents concerned about public education leftist bias: here is the exact content of an email I just sent to my kid's freshman History teacher. I welcome any comments in case I receive a backlash from the principal, to whom I cc'ed in on the message, and possibly the teacher himself:Hello Mr. ____: I am ____ ____'s mom. He shared some things from your class presentation today that concerned his father and me. He said you stated, upon displaying an image on the overhead projector of a person crying, that the man was reacting to the assasination of a Kennedy...

A front-page story concerning Iran in Tuesday’s Washington Post was clearly intended to thwart American efforts preventing that country from obtaining nuclear weapons, as well as to embarrass the Bush administration with more implications of faulty intelligence. In an article entitled “No Proof Found of Iran Arms Program”, Dafna Linzer states: Traces of bomb-grade uranium found two years ago in Iran came from contaminated Pakistani equipment and are not evidence of a clandestine nuclear weapons program, a group of U.S. government experts and other international scientists has determined. "The biggest smoking gun that everyone was waving is now eliminated with...

Quick story. In the mid 1980s I went to a fancy Fifth Av. party for Senator Ted Kennedy. There were journalists there and lots of other bigwigs. The only time I'd seen Kennedy before was at a campaign stop in 1979 when he'd been seeking the Democratic presidential nomination. He might have won, but I realized at the party that it would have been a terrible thing because he was the drunkest human being I had ever encountered in my life, and chances were that it hadn't just started that night. Sure, he already had this reputation, but it was...

The Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club has been duped out of a reported $875,000 meant for poor children and elderly Alzheimer's patients. Evan Montvel-Cohen, the former chairman of the much-hyped liberal radio network Air America, is at the center of the erupting scandal. Air America radio host Al Franken, punctuating his discussion with nervous laughter, called Cohen a "crook" on his show last week and confessed to his left-wing audience that "I think he was robbing Peter to pay Paul."