Free Republic

Military Strategy: What are the optimal siege tactics for taking Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle? What if the Mouse House rises up as an evil totalitarianism government, enslaving the masses and dooming us all to a life of hand-stitching Pluto plushies? Something would have to be done. And one pack of folks has outlined the perfect plan of attack on Magic Kingdom's Cinderella Castle. The story originates at Quora.com as follows ... Cinderella Castle is the the worldwide-recognized icon of the Disney empire. Physical representations of it stand at the center of two Disney Parks: Walt Disney World in Florida, and...

Historians in the future will undoubtedly find many and varied lessons from the war in Iraq. But we in the present do not have the luxury of waiting for all the evidence to be in before we start to understand what has gone wrong and what has gone right in Iraq. What has gone right is that the Iraq war is already over. Our troops won it. But our politicians may once more lose the peace -- and with disastrous consequences for us and for the world. Peace has not been achieved in Iraq, though pacification continues -- always at...

I have listened to the debates, pontificating, accusations and opinions regarding the incident with US Marines at Haditha, Iraq where Iraqi civilians died for the last weeks. At home, from local radio, from national radio, from the news, from politicians, from co-workers and from family. I decided today to weigh in with my own thoughts: The investigation is not complete. These soldiers are at war, they must be granted the same presumption of innocence that any of us should be afforded. Any thought of prosecuting, lamblasting, talking down to them, or making serious allegations and presumptions regarding them should wait...

<p>Gentlemen, forget the steak and french fries. And lay off the cheeseburgers, pizza, eggs, bacon and all the other hallmarks of he-man cuisine.</p> <p>It's soybeans you want, guys: We're talking tofu, edamame, soy butter, miso soup, soy milk, tempeh and that mysterious "textured vegetable protein" lurking in the freezer case at the supermarket.</p>

by Daniel Pipes New York Post December 3, 2002 http://www.danielpipes.org/article/980 http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/63398.htm Bush administration officials and leading U.S. senators responded very differently to the news that Princess Haifa al-Faisal, wife of the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States, had given many thousands of dollars to a person connected to two of the 9/11 suicide hijackers. Their difference highlights a problem that needs addressing through congressional legislation; ways to prevent undue Saudi influence through the spread of its money. Senators spoke out forthrightly and honestly on the issue raised by the princesss donations. * Joseph Lieberman (D-Conn.): "Either [the Saudis]...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Portland Police defended the use of rubber bullets during the demonstration against President Bush's visit Thursday, saying officers fired them at specific people committing crimes in compliance with police policy to protect officers in danger. Yet one type of munition is designed to hit the ground, bounce and strike several people to move a crowd -- an apparent contradiction to the bureau's own recommendation on less-lethal force after the May Day 2000 riots. "No less-lethal use of force is used to disperse crowds or is deployed at a crowd," the recommendation states. Portland Police Chief Mark...

In The Futurological Congress (1971), Polish writer Stanislaw Lem portrayed a future in which disobedience is controlled with hypothetical mind-altering chemicals dubbed "benignimizers". Lem's fictional work opens with the frightening story of a police and military biochemical attack on protesters outside of an international scientific convention. As the environment becomes saturated with hallucinogenic agents, in Lem's tale the protesters (and bystanders) descend into chaos, overcome by delusions and feelings of complacency, self-doubt, and even love. If the Pentagon’s Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate (JNLWD) has its way, Lem may be remembered as a prophet. (Austin and Hamburg, 1 July 2002) -...