Free Republic

As the jury in the trial of two Rochester Somali women accused of supporting terrorists overseas began deliberations late Monday, a large group of the women's supporters held a court of their own outside the courthouse in downtown Minneapolis. They decried the charges and the surveillance methods FBI agents used in their investigation of Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan, both U.S. citizens who are the first to be tried in connection with one of the most extensive counterterrorism inquiries since the Sept. 11 attacks. "All Somalis around the world are listening to this case," shouted Abdinasir Abdi, who...

Sometimes, especially in moments of national stress, one American flag isn’t enough to wrap around the country’s multiple points of view. As the Tea Party rallies have spread around the country this past year, they’ve brought with them a profusion of flags far beyond the usual Stars and Stripes. There’s been plenty of red, white, and blue at Tea Party events, certainly — but some of it is in different patterns than usual. Other flags are black and white; still others are bright yellow. There are letters and numbers and words in the mix. Also rattlesnakes. Lots of rattlesnakes. The...