Free Republic

Al Franken joked about rape in a skit on SAturday Night Live while he was a writer on the show. EXCERPT "MN GOP Hits Franken Over Rape Joke In 1995 Article" ST. PAUL (AP) Democrat Al Franken's past work again complicated his present bid to become a U.S. senator, when Republicans on Thursday circulated 13-year-old quotes of him joking about rape while co-writing a skit for "Saturday Night Live............"

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Al Franken has taken the unusual step of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional 30 seconds to finish — a routine request — but Franken refused to grant the time.

Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) sparred sharply on the Senate floor Monday evening, a departure from the usually dormant speeches in the august chamber. Franken said he was struck by a speech in which he said Thune had refused to highlight when benefits to the health care bill would kick in and instead emphasized the negative parts of the bill. “You know, again, we are entitled to our own opinions, we’re not entitled to our own facts,” Franken said, his booming voice rising. And in a reference to a chart Thune held up, Franken said: “If...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken today urged the Senate to pass an extension of unemployment and COBRA benefits before the end of the year, citing the 10 percent unemployment rate and the annual rise in heating bills coming this winter. The Minnesota Democrats joined 22 other senators who signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, asking for a vote on the issue by Dec. 31. A 65 percent subsidy of premium costs for those with COBRA benefits, authorized by the stimulus bill, is set to expire at the end of the year.

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

Layton Ehmke/MEDILL Al Gore signs a copy of his new book at the Borders book store in the Loop on Tuesday. Hundreds of fans showed up but protesters took advantage of the event to tell the former vice president that his science was “bunk.” Protester from the We Are Change group shout after chasing Al Gore’s SUV down State Street in the Chicago Loop on Tuesday.

A man who Bessemer police said was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon as he attempted to rob a business has been identifed by the Jefferson County Coroner's Office as Kevin Dudley, 41, of Pleasant Grove. Dudley, armed with a shotgun, attempted to rob The Bait Shop at 729 9th St. N. in Bessemer, said Capt. Mike Roper. The owner shot and killed him, Roper said.

Senators have to find a balance between voting their conscience and voting as their constituents would like. If senators vote their conscience too heavily, constituents tend to get angry. When this happens, constituents may ask for a recall of their U.S. Senator. (The 5 steps are listed in detail) -- The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

Authorities finally released the name of the person killed in an attempted robbery Tuesday morning in Yantley, Ala. 19-year-old Daniel Law, Jr., was shot and killed Oct. 20 when officials say he tried to rob the Citgo store on Highway 10. Law was a 2009 graduate of Choctaw County High School. Investigators say the owner of the store fired the fatal shot. No charge was filed. The case will be presented to a grand jury. Sheriff James Lovette said officials don't think anyone else was involved in the robbery attempt.

A barrage of gunfire erupted during a robbery attempt in the Center Point area Tuesday night, authorities said today. Two employees of the Phone Store at 2111 Center Point Road were closing up for the night about 8 p.m. when a man came from behind a trash bin and pointed a gun at the female employee as she was getting in her car, saying "Give up your money; you might as well give it up." When the male employee tried to take cover, the gunman opened fire. The male employee returned fire, firing eight shots at the robber who took...

Police Report iconBROMLEY, Ala. -- A 13-year-old boy shot his father Tuesday night to protect his mother from harm, authorities said Wednesday. Joseph "Simp" Pruitt, 46, was shot in the arm and side after threatening his wife with a 9 mm pistol, according to Baldwin County Sheriff Huey "Hoss" Mack Jr. Pruitt remained in critical condition at the University of South Alabama Medical Center in Mobile, a hospital spokesman said Wednesday. "We believe Mr. Pruitt was attempting to shoot Mrs. Pruitt," Mack said. "Their 13-year-old son became aware of this and retrieved a 20-gauge shotgun." No one involved in the...

Dear Friend,Congressman Henry Waxman is trying to finish his "Cap and Trade" Energy Tax bill by today, in order to have it ready for a full vote by Memorial Day. And as Politico reports, he's had a "hidden helping hand" this week from Al Gore. They write that Gore has "mobilized his green grass roots, marshaled his well-endowed lobbying organization and even personally called Democratic committee members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee."So, we're launching a nationwide "Stop the Energy Tax" campaign to stop this. It's been estimated that the Waxman energy tax bill would raise an average...

On Tuesday, May 12, we will be escorting Spec. Ryan C. King from the funeral home in Dallas, Georgia to the National Cemetery in Canton, Georgia. Spec. King was killed in action in Afghanistan on May 1. If any FReepers would like to join us for this mission, you are more than welcome. You need not be a PGR member to ride with us, and you need not ride a motorcycle. Staging information for this mission is as follows: TUESDAY May 12 Staging at Ingles Supermarket (270 Merchants Sq. Dallas, GA 30132) at 0900. Kickstands up at 0945 We will...

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(IsraelNN.com) The emigration of Yemen’s remaining Jews comes in wake of increased anti-Semitism, a rise in Al-Qaeda activities in the country, and the terrorist organization’s targeting of Jews. Ten new immigrants arrived in Israel on Thursday afternoon from the Yemenite community of Raida, where Jews have recently been harrassed by Muslims. The group included Said Ben-Yisrael, one of the heads of the Raida Jewish community. Several weeks ago, Muslim extremists threw a grenade into the Ben-Yisrael family's courtyard. After receiving threats against his life, Said went to live in the capital city of Sana'a, taking his family with him. From...

BAY MINETTE — Cello Energy sprouted quietly here as a truly homegrown industry. But it won't stay that way, said David Bransby, professor of energy crops and bio-energy at Auburn University. The company has been in startup for about two months, making renewable diesel fuel from tires, hay, straw, wood chips and switchgrass. Full production should begin in March, with a goal of 20 million gallons a year, produced for well under a $1 gallon, company officials said. Created, built and financed by the father-and-son team of Jack and Allen Boykin of Daphne, the company will "shock the world," Bransby...

An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore has won the 2009 GRAMMY Award for Best Spoken Word Album. An Inconvenient Truth is read by Beau Bridges, Cynthia Nixon and Blair Underwood.

More on this tonight at 5pm on Fox News.. The audio is from the inauguration. Gore was speaking to a group of young children about Global warming and told them not to listen to their parents. AUDIO AT LINK

David Axelrod sent a statement out this evening via Obama transition team spokesperson Jen Psaki saying he was “mistaken.” Here are the entire two sentences of the statement: “I was mistaken when I told an interviewer last month that the President-elect has spoken directly to Governor Blagojevich about the Senate vacancy. They did not then or at any time discuss the subject.”

On top of everything else, we don't need a filibuster-proof supermajority, controlled by Dems, in the U.S. Senate. If that happens, there won't be anybody to filibuster on limiting abortion (including forcing pro-life doctors to perform abortions), stopping the so-called "Fair"ness Doctrine, fighting against higher taxes, etc.. In Georgia, conservative Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss is in a runoff on Dec. 2. They're still counting votes in Alaska and Minnesota, and in Minnesota they keep "finding" absentee ballots.

AUSTIN, MN (KTTC TV) -- With just ten days to go before voters hit the polls, U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken hit the campaign trail today. Franken teamed up with former Vice President Walter Mondale as the two made their rounds around southern Minnesota. The duo rallied supporters in St. Paul before driving the bus down to Austin Franken and Mondale got off the bus and shook hands with supporters and signed plenty of autographs. Today marks the anniversay of Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone's death, and Mondale compared Franken's enthusiastic attitude to Wellstone's. Mondale says, "He's got the guts to...

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...