Free Republic

As Congress and the Secret Service probe how Tareq and Michaele Salahi gained entrance to President Obama's state dinner last week without being on the guest list, I've learned that the Obama White House has 28 holiday parties planned over the few weeks with more than 50,000 people expected. And social office staffers--who were not posted near the entrance to check off guests coming into the state dinner--now will be more visible at the upcoming events.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Attorney General Eric Holder said Wednesday there may be 50 or more trials of Guantanamo Bay detainees as the Obama administration works to shut the detention center by early next year. Holder discussed the plan before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the senior Republican called him "too soft" on terrorism while a second GOP lawmaker said he was on the right track in handling detainees. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., criticized Holder for the release of Bush administration memos that authorized harsh interrogation techniques. Sessions said the memos gave important information to America's enemies.

I thought it might be interesting to see which right-of-center websites actually receive the most traffic. So, I went to Alexa.com and ranked the 50 sites on the right. Do keep in mind that... 1) Alexa doesn't distinguish between top level domains and their sub-directories. So, for example, a blog on Townhall and Townhall itself would have the same rating. Additionally, websites hosted at places like Blogspot, which list each blog on a sub-directory, can't be measured. My guess is that it only knocked 2-4 websites max off the list including Ace of Spades HQ, Gateway Pundit, & Big Hollywood....

Marg Helgenberger is an established dramatic actress whose prominence has been steadily increasing. Her work has been noted on stage, film and TV. Most of her career has been spent in dramatic roles on television, but she has also had a noteworthy presence in feature films.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Vinny Appice, Anita Baker, Jello Biafra, Andrea Bocelli, Simon LeBon, Kate Bush, Belinda Carlisle, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Shaun Cassidy, Darby Crash, Randy DeBarge, Bruce Dickinson, Thomas Dolby, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, Siobhan Fahey, Neil Finn, Bela Fleck, Martin Fry, Lisa Germano, Grandmaster Flash, Jools Holland, Ice-T, Alan Jackson, Michael Jackson, Tony James, Joan Jett, Al Jourgensen, Nik Kershaw, Sammy Kershaw, Limahl, Madonna, Bird McIntyre, Mike Mills, Thurston Moore, Alannah Miles, Gary Numan, Michael Penn, Vicki Peterson, Prince, Stacey Q, Will Sergeant, Nikki Sixx, David Sylvian, Toyah, Tanya Tucker, Paul Weller, Jane Wiedlin, Jah Wobble.

50 Cent's mansion goes up in smokeLast Updated: 30 May 2008 10:24 PM A "suspicious" fire has burned down a multimillion-dollar home owned by rapper 50 Cent. Arson squad investigators were on the scene of the blaze which injured six people. A lawyer for the Grammy-nominated rapper's former girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, said the woman lived in the Long Island house with two of her children. A fire service spokesman said all six people were taken to hospital where they are in a stable condition after suffering smoke inhalation. Earlier this year, Tompkins filed a lawsuit against 50 Cent, whose real...

Sydney residents 'must carry survival bags' By Mark Chipperfield in Sydney Last Updated: 2:12am BST 18/07/2007 The easy-going residents of Australia's biggest city are being urged to carry personal "survival bags" to help them cope with a future terrorist attack or natural disaster. The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, says citizens should pack a "Go Bag" containing such essentials as toilet paper, running shoes, spare keys, a torch, disposable gloves, adhesive tape, a transistor radio and sun cream before they leave home each day. Miss Moore, who has yet to pack her own Go Bag, says it is her...

FALFURRIAS, Texas - Federal agents at an inland immigration checkpoint found 50 illegal immigrants locked inside a tractor trailer, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. None of the immigrants required medical attention after they were found Tuesday, though agents said the trailer was not air-conditioned and many were sweating. All were being processed for deportation. The driver and passenger in the truck's cab were arrested and charged with alien smuggling. Their identities were withheld pending further investigation.

Movie star JANE FONDA kicked off a televised tribute to CNN anchorman LARRY KING by turning up in person to honor her pal. Wearing a white suit, the actress stunned the broadcaster during a special show to honor his 50 years in the business, which aired in America the other night. She said, "Hey Larry, I thought I’d just stop by and say, ‘50 years, you’ve gotta be kidding…’ He doesn’t look a day over 50." She then spoke fondly of her special friendship with the newsman, adding, "You’ve always been a real good friend and you’re one of my...

Nearly 900 police stations have closed in England and Wales in the past 14 years, according to government figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph, while the vast majority of those still operating are only open to the public for limited hours. A survey of opening times on the websites of a dozen forces, with more than 400 stations, shows that only 24 — fewer than six per cent — are advertised as open 24 hours a day. Most close during the night. The police service's retreat from open-door access at the times when criminals, particularly drunken thugs, are most active...

LOS ANGELES - Investigators said Tuesday they are trying to find at least 50 women they have linked to a photographer on death row for murdering two aspiring models in the early 1980s. Authorities are looking into whether the women were raped or killed between 1975 and 1984 by William Richard Bradford, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Web site. In the 1970s and '80s, Bradford posed as a freelance photographer in the West Los Angeles area, taking sexually explicit photos of women he met at bars and auto races, according to the site. The site showed women...

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Fifty airmen from the Kansas National Guard have been ordered to go to the U.S.-Mexico border to help with security and curbing the flow of illegal immigrants. Gov. Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that the airmen heading to Arizona were from the 184th Civil Engineering Squadron, based at McConnell Air Force Base in Wichita. It is the first use of Kansas National Guard members to assist with President Bush's plan to secure the border with Mexico. Bush announced in May a plan to deploy up to 6,000 Guard troops along the border for about two years. Sebelius said...

TORONTO (CP) - It could take half a century or more for someone infected with prions - the cause of mad cow-like diseases - to start showing symptoms, say researchers, who drew that conclusion after studying a similar illness among Papua New Guinean people who once feasted on their dead. Their findings suggest that the number of human cases of variant Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (vCJD) could end up being much larger than originally suspected, say the researchers, whose study is published in Friday's edition of The Lancet. With 160 cases, the United Kingdom has the highest number of recorded cases in...

Firm lent Jefferson at least $50,000Business pressed FCC to launch satellite Thursday, June 15, 2006 By Bill Walsh and Bruce Alpert - Washington bureau WASHINGTON -- Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, who is at the center of a federal criminal bribery probe, received a personal loan from a satellite radio executive who has had business before the federal government, financial records released Wednesday show. Noah Samara, CEO of WorldSpace Inc., loaned Jefferson between $50,001 and $100,000, according to Jefferson's financial disclosure form for 2005. The date of the loan is not given, but Samara's company was pressing the Federal Communications...

Was putting something together to do some audio when I realized how boring my voice is.... Let's start in California and the special election for the California District 50 House seat Tuesday. I refuse to call it Duke Cunningham's seat. It isn’t. He simply occupied it. The seat belongs to the people of California District 50. It is apparent that the Republican, Brian Bilbray, has defeated the Democrat Francine Busby. We’ve heard this mantra for weeks. This is a heavily populated Republican district (no it's not) and Bilbray should have walked away with the election. But because of the "culture...

SHANGHAI (AP) - Tropical Storm Chanchu swept into the East China Sea Friday leaving behind a path of destruction in southern China, where it killed at least 11 people and left 27 Vietnamese fishermen missing after their boats sank in Chinese waters. Chanchu, downgraded early Thursday from a typhoon, has killed at least 50 people in Asia, including 37 last weekend in the Philippines, where it destroyed thousands of homes. There were fears the death toll could rise dramatically. Chanchu hit China Thursday, flooding scores of homes and forcing the evacuation of more than 1 million people before weakening to...

The Church Report is pleased to announce this year’s list of The 50 Most Influential Christians in America. Thanks to the readers of the magazine as well as the online readers for contributing over 150,000 nominations. Each of the people on this list is most deserving of this recognition. As with all types of lists, there are those who are not on the list – not because they weren’t deserving – but simply because we did not have enough space to publish a list of the 100 most influential. The staff of The Church Report did not choose this list;...

Fifty ways to kill Zacharias Moussaui It looks like Zacharias Moussaui may have to be sent to meet the 72 virgins in hell. With that in mine, here are some the ways the Government can administer Justice to Zacharias Moussaui. 1. Place Zacharias Moussaui in a chair. Using an industrial strength crane, hoist 150 ft. above Zacharias Moussaui a 900 lbs. pot-belly pig. Drop the 900 lbs. pig onto Zacharias Moussaui. 2. Force Zacharias Moussaui to watch GIGLI, BASIC INSTINCT 2, ALEXANDER, CATWOMAN, SUPERBABIES: BABY GENIUSES 2, WHITE CHICKS, JERSEY GIRL, and other Razzie Award winning movies. This will force...

Time to dust off the whoopee cushions and hand buzzers. April Fools' Day is here and there's no better place for wisecracks and shenanigans than at work. In its annual April Fools' Day survey, CareerBuilder.com found 33 percent of workers have played a practical joke on a co-worker and 17 percent are planning office tricks for this year's holiday. Although it might be thrilling to finally one-up the office funnyman, pranks also help beat something that's no laughing matter: workplace stress. More than half of workers reported working under stress in another CareerBuilder.com survey. Stress and worry on the job...

THE 50TH FREEPTOON Welcome, welcome, welcome! Tonight we are celebrating the most monumental occasion in the history of the world: This is the 50th FReeptoon drawn and posted by the man of the hour, pcottraux. I can honestly say that when I first started, I didn’t think I’d make it this far. I’d like to thank everyone on my ping list, first and foremost, and all the kind words they like to give. I’d also like to thank everyone who didn’t like and/or insulted my cartoons, because it gives me a rush of righteous indignation to thank the detractors. Okay,...

Can someone comment on this picture of this M2 and it's ammo?

With “Powerful Rifle” article, journalist shoots self in the foot Michael Marks Director of Legislative Affairs Fifty Caliber Institute Nov. 29, 2005 Journalism is a venerable and timehonored profession, steeped in tradition and burdened with the singular responsibility to tell the truth. The very concept of freedom of the press is founded upon the belief that the public need for reliable information outweighs many of the barriers set up by individuals, companies and governments. It is therefore incredulous when members of this ostensibly noble brotherhood are so will to flush their profession, good name and credibility down the toilet. Nowhere...

Dog survives 50-mile ride clinging to front of car By Tom Peterkin, Ireland Correspondent (Filed: 25/11/2005) A dog has survived a 50-mile journey clinging to the front of a car as it sped down the motorway. The resilience of the black and white collie cross-breed has astounded vets, not to mention the driver of the car, who was astonished to discover the dog trapped in the grille at the front of his vehicle. The motorist, who was travelling from Coleraine to Belfast in Northern Ireland, remembered hearing a thump as he was driving his Peugeot 306. Thinking he had hit...

HOMESTEAD, Pa. - The new 50 Cent movie "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" has been pulled from a theater where a man was fatally shot even though officials said Thursday they do not know whether the film was a factor in the slaying. Loews Corp. decided to stop showing the rapper's bullet-ridden bio while the investigation is going on, said John McCauley, the company's vice president of marketing. "We're unclear whether there is a direct connection," McCauley said. He said the company is doing all it can to make sure patrons are safe at the 22-screen multiplex in a popular...

KARABILA, Iraq (Reuters) - U.S. forces launched their second major offensive in western Iraq in as many days on Saturday, ratcheting up the hunt for rebels and weapons in the Euphrates river valley that stretches to the Syrian border. Faced with slipping poll numbers, President Bush asked Americans to show patience, saying that since U.S. troops overthrew Saddam Hussein, Iraq had become a "central front in the war on terror" and a "vital test" for U.S. security. Around 1,000 U.S. Marines and soldiers, supported by Iraqi troops and backed by fighter jets and helicopters, launched Operation Dagger in the desert...

June 14th, 2005 Dear ****** We have important news to share with you to keep 50 caliber sniper rifles out of the hands of terrorists. Congressman James P. Moran (D-VA), author of the 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle Reduction Act, will be offering an amendment this afternoon during House consideration of the Science, State, Justice and Commerce (SSJC) Appropriations bill (HR 2862) that would prohibit the exportation of the 50 Caliber Sniper Rifle. Congressman Moran wrote the following letter to his House colleagues today about this important homeland security public policy measure: "Capable of inflicting a devastatingly accurate impact from well...

Big Rifle A Terrorist Tool? May 29, 2005 California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided there’s a weapon that’s too dangerous to be in the hands of private citizens. This year, a new law went into effect in California banning that weapon. It’s the .50-caliber rifle, the Rolls Royce of sniper rifles. It’s a big gun, a favorite of armies around the world, and it’s still available in 49 states in this country to anyone over 18 with a clean record. It is, without a doubt, the most powerful weapon you can buy. And, as Correspondent Ed Bradley first reported last...

For a company that packs so much heat, Serbu Firearms keeps a low profile. There's no sign on its front door. The place is unobtrusively tucked in a row of auto body shops in a no-frills industrial park next to the Veterans Expressway in Town 'N Country. Nothing would tip you off that, behind that unmarked door, local entrepreneur Mark Serbu and his crew are manufacturing powerful .50-caliber rifles, right on the edge of what's legal. "This is the biggest, baddest gun you can buy without a special license," said Serbu, 43. "It's like having control of lightning in your...

In the never-ending battle to destroy our constitution, more “big lie” propaganda is being dumped on our elected officials. The rhetoric given forth by the Violence Policy Center (VPC) so easily deceived the legislators of California resulting in the banning of fifty caliber rifles because they are powerful and their bullets punch holes when they strike. Even single shot .50 cal rifles were banned. It’s hard to believe we live in such a dark time that someone has actually banned a single shot rifle. But as you will see, this is the cleverest of all gun bans, and the end...

Sunday, May 1 All Times ET/PT 7:00 60 Minutes 8:00 Cold Case 9:00 Riding the Bus with My Sister Bay City News Wire FEINSTEIN SEEKS TOUGHER REGULATION OF RIFLE 05/01/05 12:40 PDT By Bay City New Service Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced Friday the introduction of legislation that would classify .50-caliber rifles in the same category as machine guns or sawn-off shotguns. The legislation would change the .50-caliber's classification as a "long gun,'' requiring all future sales to go through a licensed gun dealer and a background check on the buyer, Howard Gantman, a Feinstein spokesman, reported. If the legislation passed,...

Often comedy shows like "The Daily Show" come closer to the truth than the daily press. We urge you to review this commentary from Lewis Black, aired on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart, in which NRA Executive Vice President claims that he doesn't know what a terrorist watch list is and that it shouldn't prevent potential terrorists from buying guns, big guns, guns that can shoot down planes landing and taking off: http://www.50caliberterror.com/video/LewisBlack.mov Watch and listen here or go to http://www.50caliberterror.com where we have it posted. Also, if you missed the second "60 Minutes" piece on the terrorist danger...

CHICAGO, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Anti-Terrorism and Aviation Protection Act," (H.B. 1098), passed out of the Illinois House of Representatives Human Services Committee today, a homeland security bill to prevent a terrorist from using a .50 caliber sniper rifle to shoot down a civilian airliner during landing or takeoff. Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-57th) and Rep. Beth Coulson (R-17th), the two main sponsors, have launched a bi-partisan effort to keep the most deadly and powerful sniper rifles on the market out of the hands of terrorists to protect Illinois aviation and vulnerable industrial targets. .50 caliber sniper rifles were designed...

The wet panty liberals have taken the CNN fiction about .50 Caliber Rifles and run with it. Would you believe that they claim a civilian .50 Caliber Rifle can "take down" a airliner?

H.R.654 Title: To ban the transfer of 50 caliber sniper weapons, and otherwise regulate the weapons in the same manner as machine guns are regulated. Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] (introduced 2/8/2005) Cosponsors (18) Latest Major Action: 2/8/2005 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on the Judiciary, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COSPONSORS(18), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date) Rep Blumenauer,...

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Kline wants former President Ronald Reagan to adorn $50 bills, where we would replace Ulysses S. Grant, a Civil War general who went on to become president. Kline, who served as a military aide to Reagan, said the former president "was guided by unwavering principles and a steadfast character." Kline introduced the bill Thursday, to mark the week of what would have been Reagan's 94th birthday. Various efforts have emerged to put Reagan on the nation's currency, on the $10 bill or the $20 bill, or possibly the dime. But they've gone nowhere.

Then along came S&W with their .500 S&W Magnum and lots of people sat up and took notice. They can’t make them fast enough. Of course the big Smith is also largely an exercise in pain-tolerance unless it’s loaded down a bit, but there is a certain appeal to living up to the “bigger bullets are better bullets” philosophy. Big-huge lead bullets wandering along at moderate velocities are sure to get the attention of any critter that needs shooting. Fifty caliber handguns aren’t new. We’ve got the .50 Action Express which has been around a long time but doesn’t really...

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided there’s a weapon that’s too dangerous to be in the hands of private citizens. This past week, a new law went into effect in California banning that weapon. It’s the .50-caliber rifle, the Rolls Royce of sniper rifles. It’s a big gun, a favorite of armies around the world, and it’s still available in 49 states in this country to anyone over 18 with a clean record. It is, without a doubt, the most powerful weapon you can buy. And, as Correspondent Ed Bradley reports, it's powerful enough to kill a man or pierce armor...

NAJAF, Iraq - Iraqi authorities detained 50 suspects in connection with an explosion in the Shiite holy city of Najaf that killed at least 54 people and wounded 142, and thousands of mourners attended funerals for the victims on Monday. Car bombs tore through a Najaf funeral procession and a main bus station in the nearby Shiite city of Karbala on Sunday, where at least 13 people were killed and 33 were wounded. The deadliest attacks in Iraq (news - web sites) since July were a bloody reminder that the Shiite heartland in the south — and not just...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

50 ancient tombs uncovered From correspondents in Athens July 18, 2004 ARCHEOLOGISTS have discovered 50 tombs dating back to the late Minoan period, around 1400 BC, and containing a number of artifacts on the Greek island of Crete, ANA news agency reported today. The tombs were part of the once powerful ancient city of Kydonia, which was destroyed at the time but later rebuilt. The oldest among them contained bronze weapons, jewellery and vases and are similar to the tombs of fallen soldiers of the Mycenaean type from mainland Greece, said the head of the excavations, Maria Vlazaki. The more...

I was reading several of the threads here concerning the 50 worst songs of all time. I thought it would be fun to put together the list of 50 worst liberals. The worst liberal is the one who will hold his belief despite all evidence showing they are wrong, and not only are they wrong, but their ideas are harmful to others. Number 1 with a rocket would have to be a tie...Bill and Hillary Clinton. The Liar and the Carpetbagger. Their smug attitude of, "I'm better than you because I..." One claims to feel our pain but feels our...

They were about to leave for a huge gay-rights march in Washington, recalled co-founder Lisa Roth, "and we were dreading it. We were like, 'Oh, God, just another male-dominated queer event. How boring.' "

I stood behind the baracade next to a Vietnam Vet, a Marine who was crying between shouts of "God Bless You!", as young soldiers paraded by. Similar shouts of Thank You were heard all around, as the huge crowd clapped for active US military, reserves, WW2 vets, Vietnam vets, medal of honor recipients, flying aces and much more. He apparently felt this parade was for him, too, and it was. Obviously, the crowd was belatedly thanking all Viet-era vets for their service. When the annnouncer related of the drama of a 'Nam hero riding in a classic Detroit convertible, the...

<p>It's going to cost a little more to play at Mickey's house.</p> <p>Beginning Sunday, Disneyland and California Adventure will increase the admission price to $49.75 for guests over 10 years old -- a jump of $2.75, or nearly 6 percent, Disneyland Resort announced.</p>

Debate over who invented first phone hushed up for 50 years By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 01/12/2003) Evidence of a 50-year-old cover-up to curb public debate over whether a German science teacher invented the first telephone rather than the Scot Alexander Graham Bell has been discovered in the Science Museum, London. Alexander Graham Bell Tests conducted after the Second World War on a primitive German telephone that predates Bell's by 13 years were suppressed by a prominent businessman, ensuring that there would be no debate over whether the Scot really deserved to be called the father of modern communications....

Source: Emory University Health Sciences Center Date: 2003-11-12 Immune Memory From Smallpox Vaccination Lasts More 50 Years, According To Emory Research ATLANTA -- Immune memory after smallpox vaccination persists for at least 50 years in immunized individuals, according to research conducted by scientists at the Emory Vaccine Center and Emory University School of Medicine. This is good news, since the findings, published in the Nov. 15 issue of the Journal of Immunology, suggest that individuals vaccinated against smallpox prior to the end of the smallpox vaccination program in 1972 may still retain at least some protection against smallpox. Rafi Ahmed,...

Detonators have been found on a rail track near Mumbai after at least 50 people were killed and more than 100 injured when two large car bombs rocked the Indian city. Several sleepers had also been removed and used to block the tracks on a line being used by millions of pilgrims headed to a major Hindu festival, railway police have said. A trainload of pilgrims was halted after the detonators were found. Officials initially said there had been four blasts in the city, also known as Bombay, but it was later confirmed there had been two - one at...

FALFURRIAS, Texas (AP) -- Casimiro Naranjo III has some new memorabilia for his U.S. Marine scrapbook that chronicles the nine months he spent in Japan in 1957. It's all from the wallet he lost almost 50 years ago. Members of a Japanese construction crew renovating the theater at Camp Foster, once Camp Hague, found the leather wallet in May among some mud and rubble. The wallet apparently was in a ventilation duct at the Okinawa base where Naranjo was stationed as a 19-year-old. "It's so hard to believe that the wallet was there for so many years," Naranjo said in...

Briton wanted to sell 50 missiles to shoot down American commercial planes, prosecutors say By David Usborne in New York and Jason Bennetto in London 14 August 2003 A Briton caught in a sting operation in the United States while allegedly trying to sell a shoulder-launched missile to secret agents posing as terrorists intended to sell them at least 50 of the weapons, authorities said yesterday. A US judge last night ordered that Hemant Lakhani, 68, be held without bail. He was charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists, and dealing arms without a licence. Prosecutors...

Weakest 'drop like flies' as 50 die in French heatwave By Philip Delves Broughton in Paris (Filed: 12/08/2003) The elderly are dying "like flies" because of the relentless heat, French doctors said yesterday as undertakers warned that their mortuaries were full. Paris endured its hottest night since records began in 1873 early yesterday with temperatures of at least 76F (24C), following a day of more than 100F (37F). There was not even the slightest breeze to relieve the furnace conditions. Nuclear plants have been forced to reduce their electicity output by the intense heat and industry chiefs held an emergency...