Free Republic

RANDSBURG - Heaps of toxic mine waste rise like church steeples over this wind-swept desert town, threatening the health of residents and of thousands of off-road bikers. Tests on dust samples have revealed some of the highest arsenic levels in the country - as much as 460,000 times the level deemed safe by the federal government. But while the poison can cause cancer in people and harm wildlife, little has been done to remove the costly waste here or similar hazardous waste at thousands of other abandoned mines around the nation. "Worst-case scenario, we'll have to clean up everything, which...

RIVERSIDE-- Sheriff's deputies arrested L.A. County Fire Chief Glynn Johnson today in connection with the beating death of a neighbor's dog. The Riverside County District Attorney's office filed felony charges against Johnson for a Nov. 3rd incident in which Johnson allegedly beat a neighbor's six-month-old puppy. Johnson is said to have hit the puppy, named Karly, with his fist and a 12-pound rock. Karly was later euthanized because of the severity of his injuries.Johnson says the dog nearly bit off his thumb and that he acted in self-defense. But a witness says the attack was the result of a violent...

<p>LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- Former football great O.J. Simpson, convicted of armed robbery and kidnapping, deserves leniency in sentencing as he is a first-time offender who showed no criminal intent, his attorney says in court papers.</p> <p>O.J. Simpson should receive a six-year sentence in a 2007 hotel room confrontation, his attorney says.</p>

Hey mom, how clean is that Chuck E. Cheese? The answer is "not very". MomLogic.com conducted a down and dirty investigation with the help of "Dr Germ" himself, famed microbiologist Charles Gerba. Dr. Gerba went to three locations in California and swabbed a variety of surfaces in the restaurant and arcade areas, such as play mats, trays, chairs, tables, and games. Among the discoveries from the analyses were: --Serratia Rubidaea, a rare cause of respiratory tract infections, wound and blood infections, found on the Yellow Bus Ride in Pasadena. --Enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause necrotizing enterocolitis, bacteremia, and infant meningitis,...

ST. LOUIS - Under the Gateway to the West, the St. Louis arch, Barack Obama addressed an estimated 100,000 people in the “red” Show Me State just 17 days before the general election - his biggest rally to date in the United States.

Civil rights icon and Georgia congressman John Lewis is accusing John McCain and Sarah Palin of stoking hate, likening the atmosphere at Republican campaign events to those featuring George Wallace, the segregationist former governor of Alabama and presidential candidate. "What I am seeing reminds me too much of another destructive period in American history," Lewis said in a statement issued today.  "Sen. McCain and Gov. Palin are sowing the seeds of hatred and division, and there is no need for this hostility in our political discourse." Lewis didn't accuse McCain of imitating Wallace, but suggested there were similarities. "George Wallace...

Snip........Obama continued to be critical of Sen. John McCain’s reaction to the economic crisis– and for the first time today had tougher words, saying McCain’s response was similar to Bush’s response during Katrina. "I think Senator McCain just doesn’t get it – he doesn’t understand that the storm hitting Wall Street hit Main Street long ago. That’s why his first response to the greatest financial meltdown in generations was a Katrina like response. Sort of stood there. Said the ‘fundamentals of the economy are strong.’" Obama said that McCain’s just been shifting positions over the last two weeks and looking...

Today, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress, working with my Administration, reached agreement on economic rescue legislation that is urgently needed to address a crisis in our financial system that threatens the entire U.S. economy. I appreciate the leadership shown by Members on both sides of the aisle, who came together to write a very good bill. This bill provides the necessary tools and funding to help protect our economy against a system-wide breakdown. The bill will help allow access to credit so American families can meet their daily needs and American businesses can make purchases, ship goods, and...

ABC News has learned that President Bush called Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., this evening and invited him to participate in a meeting about the Wall Street bailout bill tomorrow afternoon in Washington, DC, with other congressional leaders, including Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. Obama accepted the president's invitation, a source tells ABC News. The invitation comes at an interesting time. The President has not been in the middle of negotiations with Congress, leaving that task to his Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. McCain earlier today announced he was suspending his campaign -- and his participation in the first presidential debate Friday night...

Watch video here.

Video of this pathetic excuse for a presidential candidate is here

Following is the unofficial transcript of a CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with Vice Presidential Candidate and Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin on CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo." During the interview with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, Palin discusses ANWR, drilling, oil and jobs and energy independence, among other topics. Transcript and video of interview at the source link.

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Los Angeles, California, police detectives are looking for a serial killer who they believe killed at least 11 people, many of them prostitutes, over a 23-year period. Los Angeles Police Deputy Chief Charlie Beck said DNA evidence and ballistics tests have convinced detectives that the same killer is connected to the slayings in Los Angeles and Inglewood. The victims were prostitutes or drug users who were sexually assaulted and then shot and dumped in alleyways or inside dumpsters, police said. "We have a lot of evidence and the connection between so many cases of DNA...

PORTLAND, Oregon (AFP) — The LPGA Tour is going to force its burgeoning South Korean contingent of players to learn to speak English or risk losing their playing privileges.Starting next year, the Tour announced that players who have been on the tour for two years must pass a oral English test or face suspension.

Michelle Obama, in tonight's speech that she allegedly wrote herself, said the following phrase..........Where the current of history meets this new tide of hopeThat's pretty good, I said to myself after hearing that line......let me plug that into Google.Well, I found this from a website detailing a quote by a Sir Paul Alfred Reeves of New Zealand........where the river of history meets the tide of the futureFor some reason, now I can only reach the cached Google page where the eerily similar phrase is referenced. If the two phrases seem like too much of a coincidence, a better source for...

Breaking on MSNBC now.........

MOSCOW (AP) _ Russian news agencies report that a Boeing passenger plane on its way to Iran has crashed while taking off in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Interfax news agency cites an unidentified source as saying there are casualties and identifies the plane as a Boeing-737.

MOSCOW (AP) _ Russian news agencies report that a Boeing passenger plane on its way to Iran has crashed while taking off in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek. The Interfax news agency cites an unidentified source as saying there are casualties and identifies the plane as a Boeing-737. RIA-Novosti says cites an unnamed spokesperson at a U.S. air base near the airport in Bishkek as saying a passenger liner crashed. Officials at the airport and the base could not be reached.

McCain camp cites Biden's experience critique of Obama With Biden emerging as a  veep favorite in recent days, the McCain camp has had plenty of time to shape their first attack. And right out of the gates tonight, they're using the Delaware senator's primary season criticism of Obama's inexperience to drive a wedge between the yet-to-be announced Democratic ticket.  “There has been no harsher critic of Barack Obama’s lack of experience than Joe Biden," said McCain spokesman Ben Porritt in a statement.   "Biden has denounced Barack Obama’s poor foreign policy judgment and has strongly argued in his own words what Americans...

Breaking on CNN