Free Republic

With easy primary victories behind them, Sen. Norm Coleman and his Democratic challenger, Al Franken, wasted no time Wednesday working to firm up the messages that will carry them through the general election. Franken criticized Coleman as beholden to special interests, while the senator's spokesman, Mark Drake, contrasted Coleman's service with Franken's "lack of any record to run on." ... Franken, the former "Saturday Night Live" star who put a talk radio career on hold to try his hand at politics, sealed the Democratic nomination in a seven-way primary. Coleman, the incumbent, trounced his only Republican opponent. At a rally...

000 WTNT32 KNHC 260258 TCPAT2 BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV ADVISORY NUMBER 4 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008 1100 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2008 ...GUSTAV STRENGTHENS...ALMOST A HURRICANE... AT 11 PM EDT...0300 UTC...THE HURRICANE WARNING IS EXTENDED FROM PORT AU PRINCE HAITI NORTHWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS. A HURRICANE WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM BARAHONA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS HAITI. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. AT 11 PM EDT...THE GOVERNMENT OF JAMAICA HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR JAMAICA. A TROPICAL STORM...

In fact, it took Franken, the DFL-endorsed candidate for the U.S. Senate, roughly 15 seconds before he was taking his first verbal roundhouse at Coleman, the Republican incumbent. In response to a question from an ag journalist about energy independence, Franken said, "Norm Coleman is in the pocket of Big Oil. He's received more contributions from Big Oil than any politician in the history of Minnesota.'' There was a hush in the massive tent at the annual Farmfest, which is being held near Morgan, about 100 miles west of the Twin Cities. One minute, people had been strolling through the...

(IsraelNN.com) The Arabic Al Jazeera television network has given its viewers an inside look at Hizbullah tunnels used in the Second Lebanon War, which the network noted was a military failure for Israel. The video clips revealed that the tunnels were equipped with showers, kitchens and "were planned like a house," according to the program's anchorman Ghassan Bin Jiddu. One clip showed a restroom with a water tank and a fan for ventilation. Bin Juddo explained that it took eight months to a year to complete a tunnel.

Hey Everyone King Vanity thought yall should have a heads up to a fantastic side splitting comedy documentary that is on right now on Showtime. An Inconveinant Truth by Al Gore.

MONTGOMERY The state Senate may have been locked down for most of the year, but it did find time to endorse a widely discredited urban legend spread by the John Birch Society. The upper chamber passed a joint resolution April 10 sponsored by state Sen. Rusty Glover, R-Semmes, claiming that Canada, Mexico and the United States are moving toward a "North American Union" and working on construction of a "NAFTA Superhighway" to link the countries and report edly destroy their sovereignty. "It's about retaining independence," said John McManus, the president of the John Birch Society, in a phone interview Mon...

A St. Louis-born U.S. Army colonel was killed in Iraq Sunday, according to his sister, Kathleen King of O’Fallon. Col. Stephen K. Scott, 54, was serving at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad where he was working with Iraqi leaders on weapons intelligence and defense. Scott, who was an avid runner, was in the workout facilities in the green zone when he was killed during a mortar attack, King said. -snip- After basic training, Stephen Scott worked at the Army Aviation and Troop Command facility on Goodfellow Boulevard in St. Louis until it was closed in 1997. He then moved to...

Archbishop-elect Thomas John Rodi Vatican City, Apr 2, 2008 / 10:08 am (CNA).- Today the Holy Father appointed Bishop Thomas John Rodi of Biloxi, Mississippi as Archbishop of Mobile, Alabama.  The archbishop-elect will also serve as the temporary Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Biloxi until another bishop is appointed.Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Bishop Rodi was ordained a priest in 1978.  He will be installed as archbishop on June 6, 2008.As the archbishop of Mobile, he will succeed Archbishop Oscar Hugh Lipscomb who submitted his resignation to the Vatican after reaching the retirement age of 75 over a...

"While US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama leads rival Hillary Clinton in the polls, Palestinians in Gaza are launching their own attempt to boost his campaign."

Does anyone know what has happened to Al Rantel, the evening guy on KABC talk radio in Los Angeles? Tammy Bruce is beginning her 3rd week of subbing for him, and I think I heard her mention last week that people were all wishing he pulls through. Is he seriously ill? I can't find out anything from any of their websites. I'd like to pray for him or send him a note, but I was wondering if anyone knows what is going on. Thank you.

Vatican City, Jan 14, 2008 / 10:54 am (CNA).- Yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Monsignor Joseph Martino as new Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh, making him an archbishop. Monsignor Joseph Marino was born in Birmingham, Alabama on January 23, 1953 and was ordained a priest in 1979 for the diocese of Birmingham.After obtaining a Masters in Cannon Law, he joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service working at the apostolic nunciatures in the Philippines, Uruguay, Nigeria, and at the division for the relations with States at the Vatican’s Secretary of State. His latest position was serving as counselor at the apostolic nunciature...

The group Alabama Alliance Against Abortion is protesting the use of taxpayer's dollars to fund abortions at a state university hospital. The pro-life group frequently conducts Freedom of Information Act requests for state health department documents in order to monitor the state's abortion industry. Group director James Henderson says one of those queries recently paid off. He claims that it was mentioned in conversation that the University of Alabama in Birmingham (UAB) aborts babies up to the middle of the second trimester or 22 weeks. "We had heard some rumors [to this fact], but this was the information that we...

Your Majesties, Your Royal Highnesses, Honorable members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Excellencies, Ladies and gentlemen. I have a purpose here today. It is a purpose I have tried to serve for many years. I have prayed that God would show me a way to accomplish it. Sometimes, without warning, the future knocks on our door with a precious and painful vision of what might be. One hundred and nineteen years ago, a wealthy inventor read his own obituary, mistakenly published years before his death. Wrongly believing the inventor had just died, a newspaper printed a harsh judgment of his...

From 1866 to 1965, less than 6,000 black Americans were lynched in America. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynching_in_the_United_States In currently times, the approximate number of blacks and whites killed by “black on black” and “white on white” crimes is equal to about the same number. Blacks = 6,000 per year; Whites = 6,000 per year http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/race.htm Therefore, about 5,000 black Americans are killed each year due to failures in black America. The questions becomes, “who’s responsible???”.

The economic outlook for Africa is improving after a decade of growth of 5.4% for the continent that matches global rates, the World Bank has said. The trend indicates that a fundamental change is occurring in Africa, a World Bank official told the BBC. But the bank's latest report, Africa Development Indicators 2007 (ADI), says ongoing investment is needed to sustain long-term development on the continent. Otherwise, a split may grow between affluent nations and stagnant ones. The report looked at more than 1,000 indicators covering economic, human and private-sector development, governance, the environment and aid. It concludes that growth...

Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman was flown in shackles to Michigan and New York, with bologna sandwiches to eat, before being placed in a small cell in Oklahoma City, one of his lawyers said Friday. Siegelman's chief attorney, Vince Kilborn, questioned his client's treatment and said the defense has been mostly unable to talk to him while preparing legal pleadings seeking his release on bond by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. "It's impossible to represent somebody on an emergency motion like this without being able to talk to him," Kilborn said. Kilborn said Siegelman has been assigned to...

Boycott Al Sharpton and His Mindless Minions!Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are destroying race relations in America. It seems that Sharpton and Jackson believe the first amendment only applies to the black population. Sharpton is a bigot, Jackson has a love-child, and neither of them believes in what their so-called reverend titles would imply. Reverends? Of what? The church of bigotry, hypocrisy, and hatred, maybe? Jackson’s phrase was “himeytown”, Sharpton’s was “white interlopers” and “jewelry merchants”, and Chris Rock’s phrase is “crazyass crackers”. Everything is fine and should not be punished if said by a black person. I for one,...

The Six Degrees of Separation and the Collaboration of Obfuscation.Politicians and the people that help them stay in power seem to be more closely related than we think. We just have to dig a little deeper to find out how. The “six degrees of separation” theory is more pertinent than previously believed. This “six degrees of separation” is a theory of the association of people through fewer and fewer connections, or the game based on how any actor can be related through six or fewer connections to Kevin Bacon. Well, as it turns out, this theory can also be used...

If you are feeling tired about supporting the war, if you are tired of standing for freedom, watch the video. Let Anger be our weapon.

rtsp://video.c-span.org/project/ter/ter050707_qaeda.rm Woodrow Wilson Center Speech on "Understanding Al Qaeda" Bruce Riedel, Brookings Institution, Senior Fellow and former NSC Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs, gives a speech on "Understanding Al Qaeda" at the Woodrow Wilson Center. 5/7/2007: WASHINGTON, DC:

Lawyers for Mohamed al Fayed today launched an astonishing bid to force the Queen to give evidence in the Diana, Princess of Wales inquest. They called for the monarch to be "directly approached" over conversations she allegedly had with former royal butler Paul Burrell. Mr Burrell, who previously worked for the Princess, claimed after the collapse of his Old Bailey trial for theft that the monarch had once warned him of "powers at work in this country which we have no knowledge about".Mohamed al Fayed has fought a long battle over the inquest of his son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess...

An al Jazeera journalist has been sentenced to six months in prison in absentia by an Egyptian court after producing a film highlighting police torture.Howayda Taha was not in Cairo to hear the court's sentence against her [AP] An al Jazeera journalist has been sentenced to six months in prison in absentia by an Egyptian court after producing a film highlighting police torture. The state security criminal court found Howayda Taha guilty of "harming Egypt's national interest" and ordered her on Wednesday to pay a fine of 30,000 Egyptian pounds ($5,200). She had been accused of planning to broadcast fabricated...

Al Gore Challenged to International TV Debate on Global Warming PERTH, Scotland, March 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a formal invitation sent to former Vice-President Al Gore's Tennessee address and released to the public, Lord Monckton has thrown down the gauntlet to challenge Gore to what he terms "the Second Great Debate," an internationally televised, head-to-head, nation-unto-nation confrontation on the question, "That our effect on climate is not dangerous." (http://ff.org/centers/csspp/docs/20070316_monckton.html) Monckton, a former policy adviser to Margaret Thatcher during her years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, said, "A careful study of the substantial corpus of peer-reviewed science reveals that...

CaloCredits© Explained Have your recently discovered that you eat more than twenty times as much as the average American? Are you feeling guilty that, due to your gluttony, you are consuming an unfair share of the planet’s food supply? Now, due to an innovative new product called CALORIE OFFSET CREDITS (CaloCredits©) you can absolve yourself of guilt - and here is the exciting part - with no need to change your life style one iota by becoming calorie neutral! How does this amazing program work you ask? When you purchase CaloCredits© from us we take your hard earned money and...

Al Gore won the Oscar last night. He was so proud. Read the short bios below of Al Gore and Michael Crichton, the author. The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park, State of Fear. Here is the bio of Al Gore. http://clinton4.nara.gov/WH/EOP/OVP/ovpbio_bottom.html Here is the bio of Michael Crichton. http://www.michaelcrichton.net/aboutmc/biography.html

$1 million cash found concealed in pickup Wednesday, December 13, 2006 By DAVID FERRARA Staff Reporter State troopers found $1 million cash stuffed inside a hidden compartment in a pickup truck, but authorities refused to say much Tuesday about why they seized the money and the vehicle. The driver was alone in a 2006 Ford F-350, registered in Washington state and headed west on Interstate 10 around 3:15 p.m. Sunday, when he was pulled over, initially under suspicion of speeding, just east of the Eastern Shore Centre, said trooper spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt. Working on a "saturation patrol" designed to investigate...

French police the target in urban guerrilla war By Jon Boyle Mon Nov 27, 11:29 AM ET PARIS (Reuters) - Stoned, beaten and insulted, their vehicles torched by crowds of hostile youths, French police say they face an urban guerrilla war when they enter the run-down neighborhoods that ring the major cities. "Our role is to guarantee the safety of people and property but the great difficulty today is that police are having problems ensuring their own safety," said Jerome Hanarte of the Alliance-Police Nationale union. Bedside television interviews with officers hospitalized after beatings in "les banlieues," or suburbs, support...

NEW YORK - Johan Santana won the AL Cy Young Award on Thursday for the second time in three years, and the Minnesota Twins' ace was a unanimous choice once again. Santana received all 28 first-place votes for a perfect total of 140 points in balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Chien-Ming Wang of the New

The installation of the first ethanol-and-biodiesel-blended-fuel pumps along Interstate 65 in Alabama should begin in early 2007, state officials said Thursday. State officials are talking with interested gasoline-selling convenience store operators and working quickly to make alternative-fuel purchase an option for drivers, said Kathy Hornsby of the Alabama Department of Economic and Development Affairs. "This will lead us down a path of energy security and improved environment," said Hornsby of ADECA's Energy, Weatherization and Technology Division. She spoke at a news conference sponsored by General Motors Corp. at the 2007 Birmingham Auto Show, where the automaker displayed its latest vehicles...

The Navy lawyer who led a successful Supreme Court challenge of the Bush administration's military tribunals for detainees at Guantanamo Bay has been passed over for promotion and will have to leave the military, The Miami Herald reported Sunday. Lt. Cmdr. Charles Swift, 44, will retire in March or April under the military's "up or out" promotion system. Swift said last week he was notified he would not be promoted to commander. He said the notification came about two weeks after the Supreme Court sided with him and against the White House in the case involving Salim Ahmed Hamdan, a...

The African continent - vast, remote, and perhaps strategically unimportant in the minds of many unknowing Americans – is one of the most critical fronts in the global war on terror. And it is for a variety of reasons beyond humanitarian concerns. ... Consequently, to ignore and ultimately lose Africa in the global war on terror would be nothing less than catastrophic...

David Ortiz, the American League leader in home runs and RBI, says Boston's fall from the American League playoff race should not disqualify him from the race for the AL's Most Valuable Player award. David Ortiz Designated Httr Boston Red Sox Profile 2006 SEASON STATISTICS GM HR RBI R OBP AVG 133 48 127 103 .402 .288 But Ortiz told reporters after the Red Sox's 9-3 win over the Royals on Sunday that he thinks that's what's going to happen. "I'll tell you one thing," Ortiz said. "If I get 50 home runs and 10 more RBI [which would give...

I don`t have a VCR or a DVD recorder, but AL Gore is coming up next on the MTV awards.. I highly suspect his psychosis will reveal itself and it must be recorded for poster---future bashing. If anyone has a VCR or DVD recorder, please record it!

Former US Vice President, Al Gore arrives at the International Television festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006 to talk about his award-winning American TV network 'Current TV'. (AP Photo/Ian Jacobs)

A global warming fund could succeed where Kyoto failedAuthor: Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Senior Fellow for International Economics August 16, 2006 Al Gore has been busy returning global warming to centre stage with terrifying warnings of disaster with his bestselling book, An Inconvenient Truth, and the popular companion documentary. Tony Blair has joined—even led—the renewed focus on global warming, charging Sir Nicholas Stern, the economist, with solving the problem. Alongside his successful initiative on Africa, this is to be his sure-fire international legacy as he ends his last term in office. Getting global warming on the radar screen is only half...

  Al Rasheed Renovation Nears Completion $5.8 million renovation to Baghdad's most-famous hotel should be completed before the end of the year. By Norris Jones Gulf Region Central District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD, Aug. 14, 2006 -- He’s been responsible for a variety of reconstruction efforts in Iraq – building sewers and water lines, electrical distribution networks, and roads. But project engineer Ross Warner says his work on Baghdad’s most-famous hotel has been both his biggest challenge and most rewarding experience during his six-month tour. “I’m proud of the progress we were able to achieve on the...

The arrest of twenty-one people by British police in connection with a terrorist plot to blow up a number of aircraft in mid-air, aircraft flown by US based airlines, including Continental American and United, and with the targeted flights flying to major US destinations like New York, Washington D.C. and Los Angeles, shows that the United States remains the main target for Islamicist terrorists. Read comments below from: * Ian M. Cuthbertson * W. Thomas Smith Jr. * Colonel Jeff Bearor (USMC, ret.)

... In writing my book on suicide attackers, I had researchers scour Lebanese sources to collect martyr videos, pictures and testimonials and the biographies of the Hezbollah bombers. Of the 41, we identified the names, birth places and other personal data for 38. Shockingly, only eight were Islamic fundamentalists. Twenty-seven were from leftist political groups like the Lebanese Communist Party and the Arab Socialist Union. Three were Christians, including a female high-school teacher with a college degree. All were born in Lebanon. ... Robert A. Pape, a professor of political science at the University of Chicago, is the author of...

In 1976, two U.S. Army officers trimming a view-blocking tree in the DMZ were attacked by some 30 North Korean soldiers who bludgeoned and hacked them to death with metal pipes, axe handles and the Americans’ own hatchets. In late 1984, a full-blown, albeit brief, gun battle erupted between the two Koreas in the DMZ’s Joint Security Area. In 1996, a North Korean submarine ran aground off the South’s coast. Twenty-six heavily armed commandos then disembarked, split up and moved inland on various deep-reconnaissance missions aimed at gathering intelligence on South Korean military bases. All this is just scratching the...

Hooper winner in bitter contest Wednesday, July 19, 2006 By BEN RAINES Staff Reporter Perry Hooper Jr. defeated John Amari in Tuesday's runoff election, earning the Republican nomination for the state Public Service Commission, Place 2. Hooper will face Democrat Susan Parker, a former state auditor, in the Nov. 7 general election. Amari and Hooper fought a bitter contest, notable for the rancor expended bashing each other, especially in the days before the June 6 primary. Hooper led the primary race, with Amari second and former PSC employee Jack Hornaday a close third. "I look forward to carrying my message...

.....Leftist leadership: A danger to AmericaPosted: July 7, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern This past week, liberals proved, again, that they are still unfit to lead this nation. Our nation is at war. An Islamic terrorist network that wants to topple the governments of Western nations and impose a strict code of Islamic fundamentalism across the globe has repeatedly attacked our nation and our people. But the left just doesn't get this. They are blinded by their own dark view of America: that our nation is the greatest threat to the world. I've spent the past few weeks personally involved in...

Long ago the prophet Yeshaya warned, "Your ruiners and destroyers will come from amongst you" (49:17). It is doubtful whether that the truth of those words has ever been more evident than today. Last week the leaders of the Presbyterian Church, meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, engaged in three days of searching debate over whether to rescind a 2004 resolution calling for divestment from Israel. Similar resolutions have been passed in recent years by the Anglican Church of England and the American Episcopalian Church. Divestment resolutions are of immense propaganda value because they embed in the public mind a connection between...

AL QAEDA in Saudi Arabia have rejected a renewed amnesty offer to repentent Islamist militants from Saudi King Abdullah, according to an Internet statement. "We say no surrender. It's either victory or martyrdom," said the statement signed by the al Qaeda Organisation in the Arabian Peninsula and posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamic militants. "This move shows the fear felt by the apostate government. The government is not in a position of power (because) this offer which has already expired has proven to be a failure," it said. Al Qaeda urged Muslims in the birthplace of Islam...

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghan President Hamid Karzai said Sunday his government will give weapons to local tribesmen so they can help fight the biggest increase in Taliban violence in years. [0] A U.S.-led coalition soldier and seven Afghan civilians were killed in the latest violence in the country's south, which has been hardest hit by the surge in insurgent attacks. Speaking to a group of tribal elders from eastern Afghanistan, Karzai said he did not want to form militias that could clash with rival tribes. "We just want to strengthen the districts to safeguard them from terrorist attack," he said....

The vehicle, if close enough to the blast, flips into the air, snapping necks and spinal cords. Heads and limbs are torn from bodies. Gasoline ignites and ammunition cooks off, burning any survivors to a crisp. Those soldiers and Marines (many of whom are still teenagers) who witness the action are instantly shocked, physically sickened, grief-stricken, and enraged over the horror of having watched buddies—who have become closer than any sibling might ever hope to be—torn to pieces. Badly wounded buddies are screaming in agony. Yet the ones uninjured or with minor injuries have to respond as trained. They are...

"Carbon dioxide... we call it life," TV ads sayBy Deborah Zabarenko Wed May 17, 6:58 PM ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A little girl blows away dandelion fluff as an announcer says, "Carbon dioxide: they call it pollution; we call it life," in an advertisement targeting global warming "alarmists," especially Al Gore. The television ads, screened for the press on Wednesday and set to air in 14 U.S. cities starting on Thursday, are part of a campaign by the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute to counter a media spotlight on threats posed by worldwide climate change. The spots are timed to precede...

WHEREVER TWO or three politicos gather in the US these days, you can be sure the talk turns pretty quickly to the 2008 presidential contest. The next contest always seems to come around sooner than you think and with the view rapidly gaining currency that the Bush presidency is already in effect over, the succession talk can’t come soon enough.But there’s something very odd about the conversations among Republicans and Democrats, a widening disconnect in the estimations of the prospects of the long-time Democratic favourite, Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, Hillary’s procession towards the Democratic nomination (and perhaps the...

BEVERLY HILLS HIGH SENDING 1500 STUDENTS TO SEE GORE'S 'GLOBAL WARMING' FILM **Exclusive** School is nearly out for summer, but before the break, students at Beverly Hills High will get a "Heat Day" -- when they get to ditch class to see Al Gore's new movie! On May 24, 2006, 1,500 Beverly Hills High School students will be boarding 30 gas-guzzling buses across town to see Al Gore's new global warming film 'AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH' at the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. Sarah Utley, a science teacher at Beverly Hills High School, explained in an...

If you go to a college campus, watch television or go into a bookstore, you’re like to see these suspects: people like Al Franken, Michael Moore, Noam Chomsky, and Ralph Nader. They talk about a whole host of issues. They talk about affirmative action. They talk about economic justice. They talk about the importance of regulating corporations and avoiding entanglements with corporations. We also have people like Hillary Clinton, Barbara Streisand or Nancy Pelosi. Some of these people on the liberal left actually are in positions of power and authority. When it comes to debating them and arguing with them,...

Yale now doesn't even attempt to claim that Mr. Hashemi has changed. In conversations with donors, president Richard Levin has fallen back on two arguments: that Mr. Hashemi currently is a nondegree student, and that the State Department issued him a visa. But Mr. Hashemi's application to become a sophomore in Yale's full degree program, the same type of program that Mr. Farivar graduated from at Harvard, is pending before Mr. Levin. That makes his continued presence at Yale especially relevant as Yale's Board of Governors, the body that supposedly runs the university, prepares to meet this week. Many in...