Free Republic

US communists called for unity against McCarthy-style witch-hunts at the weekend. Their appeal came in the wake of a series of raids on the homes of 12 peace activists during which computers and photographs were seized. The Communist Party USA (CPUSA) said the September 24 raids had nothing to do with protecting the US people against terrorism and "everything to do with chilling the long-cherished tradition of the right to dissent." FBI and Joint Terrorism Task Force agents ransacked the activists' homes across the Midwest for evidence of "material support" for organisations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation...

Huge mosque stirs protests in Cologne By Harry de Quetteville in Cologne Last Updated: 12:39am BST 25/06/2007 The construction of one of Europe's biggest mosques near to a globally famous Christian landmark has sparked a furious row in Germany. Immigration and integration are hugely sensitive questions in Germany, which is home to a Turkish community of several million. But almost within the shadow of Cologne Cathedral, political correctness has now been replaced by bitter confrontation as the city's Muslims begin to build a 2,000-capacity mosque with twin minarets that will reach 170ft. "Muslims have been here for 40 years, yet...

Radicalism makes way to skepticism at London mosque LONDON (AFP) - Invocations of radical Islam no longer resonate in Finsbury Park mosque as it puts its militant past -- including its links with the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001 -- behind it. ADVERTISEMENT "A new beginning for the mosque," says a banner that hangs over the doorway of the north London mosque, which Friday drew Muslims of all ages, backgrounds and dress. But in the wake of the London bombings last month that killed 56 people, including four apparent Islamist suicide bombers, there is a degree...