Free Republic

The man who organized Wednesday's BART police protest said he broke down in tears when he saw his peaceful march turn violent as some participants began throwing bottles, spitting on police cars and setting small fires. Evan Shamar said he left the demonstration and saw the mayhem get worse on television. "I was devastated by it," said Shamar, 24, the organizer and a photographer who lives in Oakland. "I worked diligently for the past 72 hours, and for it to be destroyed by a group of anarchists was extremely upsetting. I felt like my integrity had been compromised." Shamar and...

This may be a knee-jerk reaction on my part - and I'm willing to concede the point - but in my defense, I have a long track record from which I can accurately draw this conclusion. I call it the "American Rule of Thumb." In short, whatever world opinion is, go with the opposite.Simple.Whatever the consensus from the rest of the world may be on any subject of relevance, go in the other direction.The United Nations Security Council has called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza - and, of course, because this is coming from the ever-reliable, always morally clear...

In December, I was asked to file a second report on an automobile accident that took place back in September, during a visit to Los Angeles. A truck slammed into my car from behind while I was stopped at a traffic light. As I sat down to write a new report, I tried to recall the details, beginning with where the accident took place, which I remembered as having been on Wilshire Boulevard. Fortunately, I had saved a copy of my first report on this same accident, which showed that it took place on Santa Monica Boulevard, not Wilshire, which...

Have a questions for President-Elect Barack Obama? Email me here and I may ask your question this Sunday on "This Week." Barack Obama on This Week (Reuters ) Join me Sunday morning for our exclusive interview with the president-elect -- his first Sunday morning interview since coming to Washington, D.C. Our exclusive one-on-one with the president-elect kicks off our series on the economy. I sit down with Obama just as Congress is on the verge of introducing the economic stimulus package. We'll cover all the big issues facing Obama in his first hundred days. We'll also find out how his...

Democrats and the media have the housing story wrong. Mythmaking is in full swing as the Bush administration prepares to leave town. Among the more prominent is the assertion that the housing meltdown resulted from unbridled capitalism under a president opposed to all regulation. AP Like most myths, this is entertaining but fictional. In reality, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were among the principal culprits of the housing crisis, and Mr. Bush wanted to rein them in before things got out of hand.Rather than a failure of capitalism, the housing meltdown shows what's likely to happen when government grants special...

A crisis doesn't build relationships. It reveals them. Little wonder, then, that California's budget fiasco has exposed the deep antipathy many state workers hold for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The animosity has been years in the making, built brick-by-brick from events large and small. It starts with state workers' contention that their wages haven't kept up with inflation. Many believe Schwarzenegger is using the budget crisis to weaken employee unions and tamp down pay and benefits. "He's really run state service into the ground," said state employee Bob Kelly. "People are upset. Where I work, they're leaving right and left." Schwarzenegger's...

Are Israel’s actions in Gaza justified? Point: Israel is justified By Ryan Meadows, Times Youth Correspondent Imagine a world in which terrorists were at our doorstep, launching rockets into our great nation. Sadly, this has been a reality for Israel since a cease-fire with Hamas expired last month. Even prior to the expiration, Hamas militants were tunneling into Israel with violent intentions. Israel resisted this invasion with force and was met with a barrage of rockets from Gaza. It was not the Israelis but Hamas, the internationally recognized terrorist organization, that ended the cease-fire in December. Every sovereign nation has...

I guess I heard about this before, but I just read that voting reopened. Go to the linked site for more information, and you can vote if you want to. With all deference to all of the wonders of South America, is there anything that can beat this: An even more spectacular shot is at the site below; can't use a shared link. Find Angel Falls and click to see the big pic. Waterfalls of the World One more:

Reporting from Washington — Attorney general nominee Eric H. Holder Jr. repeatedly pushed some of his subordinates at the Clinton Justice Department to drop their opposition to a controversial 1999 grant of clemency to 16 members of two violent Puerto Rican nationalist organizations, according to interviews and documents. Details of the role played by Holder, who was deputy attorney general at the time, had not been publicly known until now. The new disclosures are of particular interest because Republican senators have vowed to revisit Holder's role during his confirmation hearings next week. Holder had no comment for this article, but...

The info tech outsourcer shocks investors with a letter outlining balance-sheet misdeeds. Rival firms may benefit if customers still trust them Getty Image deleted B. Ramalinga Raju resigned on Jan. 7, 2009, admitting the firm had falsified accounts and assets and inflated its profits over several years. Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty ImagesOn the morning of Jan. 7, Ramalingam Raju, the chairman of troubled Indian IT outsourcing company Satyam Computer Services (SAY), sent a startling letter to his board and the Securities & Exchange Board of India. Raju acknowledged his culpability in hiding news that he had inflated the amount of cash on...

With Obama’s recent appointment of Carol Browner as the new energy czar, we can expect some radical changes in energy policy. Why? Well, she is a long time environmentalist and former head of the EPA under Clinton

The incoming administration, lead by head-honcho-in-training, Obama, is poised to take office and immediately hold talks with the terror group, Hamas. I offer my opinion of this dangerous policy.

WASHINGTON -- During the course of the past two months, President-elect Barack Obama and the presidential transition team have replaced their campaign maxim, "Change We Can Believe In," with a new mantra: "We Only Have One President at a Time." It is a slogan that already is worn out. PEBO and the PTT have used this phrase repeatedly in response to reporters' questions on the economy, federal bailouts, foreign policy, national security, the military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan, the future of "Gitmo," and the Russian decision to shut down the delivery of natural gas to Western Europe through Ukrainian...

UNSC votes 14-0-1 (US abstains) to ceasefire resolution. Full text of resolution and discussion at Update 325. NOTE: FOLLOWING ARE SUMMARIES OF STATEMENTS MADE TODAY TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL MEETING ON THE MIDDLE EAST. A COMPLETE SUMMARY OF THIS MEETING WILL BE AVAILABLE SHORTLY AS PRESS RELEASE SC/9567.

LOS ANGELES — In an announcement that launched a thousand unprintable puns, adult-entertainment moguls Larry Flynt and Joe Francis said Wednesday that they are asking Washington for a $5 billion federal bailout, claiming that the porn business is suffering from the soft economy.

Did Bush cause the financial crisis? By Greg Wood BBC North America Business Correspondent, New York "Consider the terrible consequences of the 'anything goes' Bush Administration, whose irresponsible non-regulation of financial institutions has led to this crisis." President Bush was not always a champion of deregulation Those words, from the Democratic Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, sum up the charge against George W Bush - that in the eight years of his presidency he actively pursued policies of deregulation which caused the biggest financial and economic meltdown since the Great Depression. It is a grim legacy for...

A 4.5 magnitude earthquake centered about a mile south of San Bernardino jolted Southern California briefly at about 7:50 p.m. Thursday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey and the Southern California Earthquake Center. The quake was felt in downtown Los Angeles, parts of the High Desert, San Pedro and and coastal and inland Orange County, but was not felt as far south as San Diego. There were no immediate reports of damage, according to authorities.

Tim Tebow took over for Florida and the top-ranked Gators grabbed a 14-7 lead over No. 2 Oklahoma after three quarters at the BCS national championship game Thursday night. With two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks and offenses that combined to average 99 points per game in the regular season, the Gators and Sooners were expected to trade scores most of the night at Dolphin Stadium. But the defenses came up with most of the biggest plays in the first 30 minutes, and Tebow was the show in the third and forth quarter. Florida wins 24- 14.

Obama Bans Funding From Corporations and Big Donors, but Financial Employees Put Up $5.7 Million♦WASHINGTON -- President-elect Barack Obama has banned corporations and big donors from funding his Jan. 20 inauguration. But 90% of donations received so far have been raised by well-heeled fund-raisers, including Wall Street executives whose companies have received billions of dollars in federal bailout money. A total of 207 fund-raisers have collected $24.8 million of the $27.3 million in contributions disclosed by Mr. Obama through Thursday, according to an analysis by nonpartisan campaign finance group Public Citizen commissioned by The Wall Street Journal.Wall Street employees, as...

The conspicuous absence of Howard Dean from Thursday’s press conference announcing Tim Kaine’s appointment as Democratic National Committee chair was no accident, according to Dean loyalists. Rather, they say, it was a reflection of the lack of respect accorded to the outgoing party chairman by the Obama team. Despite leading the party in consecutive triumphant election cycles – as well as through off-year races like when Kaine was elected Virginia governor in 2005 – Dean has become all but invisible since Election Day, passed over for the Cabinet position he coveted and apparently not in line for another administration post....

The FDIC took one Boston bank to task for its practices. Soon after, the Treasury offered up a $12 million check. -- Consider the case of OneUnited, a small Boston bank that was recently the subject of a federal enforcement action that questioned the bank's safety and soundness -- and was also the recipient of a $12 million TARP bailout. In October, OneUnited agreed to a so-called cease-and-desist order issued by its regulators, the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. -- The action also alleged excessive executive compensation. The FDIC ordered OneUnited to "sell all bank-owned automobiles,"...

A spinster who obsessively hoarded clothes died in her home after a mountain of suitcases fell on her, burying her alive. Joan Cunnane, 77, owned 300 scarves as well as thousands of trinkets and valuables. They took up so much space in her bungalow that she had only a 2ft-wide path to get around them, and her car and garage were packed with other goods. After she was reported missing earlier this week, it took police searching her home two days to sift through her possessions. Miss Cunnane was eventually found buried under a 3ft pile of cases in a...

WASHINGTON — Tom Daschle formally began the incoming administration’s arduous quest to overhaul the nation’s health care system on Thursday, telling former Senate colleagues that the task had become more urgent because many people were losing health insurance, along with their jobs, in the recession.

More than six years ago, I had a tough decision to make: where to go to college. Despite my grades, I didn't have many choices. I could either attend the University of South Carolina (USC) and become another nameless face identified by the last four digits of my Social Security number, or I could attend Morehouse College, a historically Black all-men's college in Atlanta, and join their legacy of global leaders and thinkers. Needless to say, I chose Morehouse. Today, I'm a 23-year-old journalist working for a national magazine, writing lead stories on crumbling financial institutions and discriminatory practices in...

For most, they are innocent tales that define childhood. But some parents are ditching fairytales, believing they are politically incorrect or 'too dark' to read to children, a survey has found. One in four mothers has abandoned the likes of Cinderella and Rapunzel in favour of The Gruffalo or The Very Hungry Caterpillar, written in 1969 by Eric Carle. One in ten parents even said Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs should be re-titled - because 'the dwarf reference is not PC'. Rapunzel is considered 'too dark' and Cinderella outdated, because she is forced to do the housework. The poll...

Last week, I received an email from a former 747 pilot named Thomas Young. In early August 1996, Young explained, he was laid up in a Hong Kong hospital with a back injury. His employer, Polar Air Cargo, flew his wife Barbara out to join him. They had little else to do but watch TV. Here is what they saw. The videotape began with people milling about on a deck facing a body of water. In the background, a streak of†light can be seen leaving a point below the edge of the deck, accelerating as it climbed; it passed behind...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The head of Al-Qaeda in Pakistan and his lieutenant were killed in the past days, a US counterterrorism official told AFP on Thursday, reportedly struck by a missile fired from an unmanned drone. The men are believed to be Kenyan national Usama al-Kini, described as Al-Qaeda's chief of operations in Pakistan, and his lieutenant Sheikh Ahmed Salim Swedan, said the source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "There is every reason to believe that these two top terrorist figures are dead," said the source, adding that the pair was killed "within the last week." Officials believe al-Kini was...

The time has come when the truth has to come out on what happened about the intended release of the now - much talked about - Michelle Obama tape and the Imam’s document on Obama. Many may have believed to this day that there was no deal between API and Fox News Network. We can now say there was a deal and API will take legal action against two Fox News Network employees who broke the agreement on the tape. API has investigated the case and has found out that the two officers did not inform their superiors about the...

Ireland's first farmers settled the island later than some sites from Ulster have long suggested, but did so in a short period which may also have seen parallel migration into western England and Scotland. Radiocarbon dates indicate that sites from Co Kerry in the South West to Co Derry in Northern Ireland were all settled within the century after 3700BC. The immigrants built rectangular timber houses up to a hundred square metres in area, cultivated cereals such as wheat and barley, used flint tools and made plain pottery bowls... They were not the first people in Ireland: Mesolithic fishers and...

When an old high school buddy offered Francisco Zavala money to be the driver on what he knew was a drug run, Zavala agreed. "It sounded like easy money to me," Zavala, 23, testified Wednesday in Pima County Superior Court. But it turned out not to be such a good deal. Fifteen minutes after Vincent Valenzuela, Andre Mays and Netzahualcoyotl Ramos went into a house on West Calle Colado, Zavala, who was waiting in the car, heard gunshots ring out, Zavala testified. All three men came running out, looking "very scared," Zavala said. Zavala was the first witness to testify...

John Zeigler maker of the soon to be released film Media Malpractice…How Obama Got Elected and Palin Was Smeared” appeared on tonights On The Record with Greta Van Susteren. Greta showed clips of Zeiglers interview with Governor Sarah Palin and then was interviewed by Greta. Zeigler gave a passionate arguement in defense of Palin and vows to correct all of the lies and smears made against her with his new film The show is a must see for Palin fans. Greta's show repeats later this evening. She'll robably post clips on her site later. Also keep an eye on her...

January 9, 2009                                         Christmas Weekday       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Jn 5:5-13 Beloved:Who indeed is the victor over the worldbut the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies,and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify,the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony,the testimony of...

It’s official: Border Patrol agent Nicholas Corbett won’t be tried again in an illegal immigrant’s shooting death. U.S. District Court Judge David Bury has granted a prosecution motion to dismiss second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide charges. They could be refiled if new evidence is developed. Two trials in 2008 ended with jurors deadlocked.

Archaeologists have uncovered a 3rd to 2nd century BC Celtic village four miles east of Krakow in Poland, where excavated artifacts may help to reconstruct the life and fate of the Celts. According to a report in the Krakow Post, archaeologists from the Krakow Highway Exploration Team had been exploring the area during preparatory archaeological works done on the future A4 highway premises, when they came across the finding. They found treasured coins, jewellery and everyday articles, thanks to which they will be able to reconstruct the life and fate of the Celts in the Malopolska district and make valuable...

Millions of internet customers are getting less than half the broadband speed they are paying for, restricting their ability to download music, film and games. About 60 per cent of broadband customers pay a premium for super-fast packages, but a survey conducted for Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, suggests that a typical household is receiving only 45 per cent of the speed advertised by their internet service provider (ISP). The research, based on ten million tests in 1,500 homes over 30 days, also confirmed suspicions of a growing digital divide between town and country. People in urban areas enjoy speeds up...

Abstract: ID (‘intelligent design’) is not science, but a form of creationism; both are very different from the simple theological proposition that a divine Creator is responsible for the natural patterns and processes of the Universe. Its current version maintains that a ‘Designer’ must intervene miraculously to accomplish certain natural scientific events. The verdict in the 2005 case Kitzmiller, et al. v. Dover School District, et al. (in Harrisburg, PA, U.S.A.) was a landmark of American jurisprudence that prohibited the teaching of ID as science, identified it as religiously based, and forbade long-refuted ‘criticisms of evolution’ from introduction into public...

CORNING, NY--Newly sworn-in congressman Eric Massa (D) tried to make a splash earlier this week by trumpeting his trip to the capitol in a hydrogen-powered car: [T]he 282 mile journey in a GM Electric Fuel Cell Equinox went off without a hitch. Massa took this zero emission, hydrogen powered vehicle [from Corning] to Washington to highlight sustainable energy technology. The vehicle was primarily researched and developed in Honeoye Falls, part of New York's 29th Congressional District. "I'm here to be the voice of the families of New York's 29th Congressional District and help take this country in a better direction,"...

POLITICS: Washington Supreme Court dismisses Obama lawsuit By Michelle Dupler, Herald staff writer OLYMPIA The Washington Supreme Court today dismissed a lawsuit alleging Secretary of State Sam Reed had failed to confirm that President-elect Barack Obama was eligible to run for president. A group of Washington residents filed the lawsuit in early December asking the state’s votes for Obama be set aside. James E. Broe of King County and 12 others claimed Obama never established that he is a natural-born American citizen as required by the Constitution, and that Obama ran under a false name. Obama’s election was certified by...

You have heard of the Egyptians, the Romans and the Greeks. Even the Sumerians may ring a bell. But the Trypilians? ...Well, you're not alone if you don't know who the ancient people of present day Ukraine were. Despite their incredible advances -- the 5400-2700 BC culture is credited at creating the largest settlements in the world during that time -- they quickly and mysteriously faded into obscurity, almost seemingly erased from the world's history books... Thanks to Ukraine's Orange Revolution five years ago, and further work done by a slew of the Eastern European country's museums, including the National...

Just had a small quake here in Rancho Cucamonga.... Stay tuned for more details

Just now

WASHINGTON – Vice President Dick Cheney said Thursday that he sees no reason for President George W. Bush to pre-emptively pardon anyone at the CIA involved in harsh interrogations of suspected terrorists. "I don't have any reason to believe that anybody in the agency did anything illegal," he said. In an interview with The Associated Press, Cheney also said that Bush has no need to apologize for not foreseeing the economic crisis. "I don't think he needs to apologize. I think what he needed to do is take bold, aggressive action and he has," Cheney said. "I don't think anybody...

The first people to arrive in America traveled as at least two separate groups to arrive in their new home at about the same time, according to new genetic evidence published online on January 8th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. After the Last Glacial Maximum some 15,000 to 17,000 years ago, one group entered North America from Beringia following the ice-free Pacific coastline, while another traversed an open land corridor between two ice sheets to arrive directly into the region east of the Rocky Mountains. (Beringia is the landmass that connected northeast Siberia to Alaska during the last...

I'm posting this for a friend and FR Lurker Go on to the Howey Political Report and vote for my predecessor as Harrison County GOP chairman (and the current 9th District GOP Chairman), Larry Shickles, in the poll for most influential political party chairman. Scroll down a bit, the poll is over on the right. Howey Political Report It'd be nice for a guy from Harrison County (and southern Indiana more generally) to do well in that poll. Larry is the only Republican from southern Indiana listed. This year, Larry has done a lot of work in the 9th District...

An eccentric loner in Britain hoarded so much trash he had to burrow through it to get around his home — then got lost in the maze of tunnels Friday and died of thirst. Human mole Gordon Stewart, 74, had filled his rooms up to the ceiling with 10 years’ worth of garbage and clutter, making it impossible to walk around. -snip-

national security should drive the meaning of an Article II "natural born Citizen"

Not the first time a Nazi analogy has tripped lightly from his lips in this area, although like Cardinal Martino, he doesn’t quite have the stones to own up to what he means. He’s not comparing Gaza to a German death camp, you see, just to your average, run-of-the-mill concentration camp. The fact that he coughed up the word “blitzkrieg” literally in the same breath is but an unhappy coincidence.

Emergency teams are trying to restore power to thousands of homes in the south of France after the worst blizzard conditions in two decades. The city of Marseille had to close its international airport on Wednesday as the freezing weather gripped much of Europe. Chris Bockman reports. > video

Although most of the nation's governors and mayors will have their hands out, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has already sent Congress a detailed plan for how he'll spend their money. Just call it two-part harmony -- President-elect Barack Obama wants to be the infrastructure president. "At this particular moment only government can provide the short-term boost to lift us from a recession this deep and this severe," Obama said Thursday. And Bloomberg wants to be the infrastructure mayor. He's even got a detailed plan. The city has billions of projects that are all set and ready just waiting for Congress to...

Following up on last night's show on WVOX-AM (archived here), I'll be appearing on host Patrick Gibson's show on Blogtalk radio at 11 P.M. EST (a half hour from now.)Click here to join the fun.Also appearing on the show will be Chris Logan from Islaminaction.