Free Republic

Ahem. Let's GO BLACKHAWKS. Finish this thing! That's all. NFP

The last thing the woman from Northeast Portland probably expected when she got up Tuesday morning was that she would be attacked by a sword-wielding elf. But that's what happened around 7 a.m. as she drove her red BMW by the intersection of Southeast 7th and Morrison. A man dressed in chain-mail with a helmet, shield and carrying a sword and staff ran into traffic and started attacking her car.

Sure it's fiction. But many Turks see fact in anti-US novel. Fiction or not, the tale of future war with US stirs Turks. By Yigal Schleifer, Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor ISTANBUL, TURKEY - The year is 2007. After a clash with Turkish forces in northern Iraq, US troops stage a surprise attack. Reeling, Turkey turns to Russia and the European Union, who turn back the American onslaught. This is the plot of "Metal Storm," one of the fastest- selling books in Turkish history. The book is clearly sold as fiction, but its premise has entered Turkey's public discourse...

PORTAGE, Wis. -- Sheriff's officials have arrested a woman for digging up her dead boyfriend's ashes more than 10 years ago and drinking the beer that was buried with him, possibly out of spite for his family. Karen Stolzmann, now 44, was arrested Tuesday in a case Columbia County Detective Wayne Smith calls ``twisted and bizarre.'' Sheboygan County District Attorney Joe De Cecco said Thursday he would likely determine this week if possession charges should be filed in his county since the urn was found at Stolzmann's Sheboygan home. A call to the Columbia County district attorney's office was not...

There are many conspiracy theories about who assassinated President John F. Kennedy. So many, in fact, the suspect assassinators would have to be standing shoulder to shoulder on the grassy knoll or perched on each other’s shoulders in the Texas School Book Depository. According to a 2001 Gallup poll, 81 percent of Americans believe the assassination was a conspiracy, while only 13 percent subscribe to the Warren Commission’s “lone nut” theory. “It’s preposterous on the face of it to believe that a mousy little guy with a $12.95 rifle could bring down the leader of the free world,” says Kenneth...

On Saturday, August 14th 2004, 24Karet became my wife. It was a perfect day, with close friends and family all gathered to celebrate with us. For all our FRiends here on FR, here are some pics of the joyous day. My best man asks me wether I would like to slip out a side door: My father and older brother with me before the ceremony: "You may kiss the bride!" At the park for pictures after the ceremony: The best man and maid-of-honor: All in all it was a glorious day, and I wanted to share a few moments with...

Okay this may have been posted before, but searching for it pulled up nothing. Freepers will appreciate this I think. All Your Iraq Are Belong to U.S. NFP

Whom Can You Trust in the Media? Back in the heyday of the Soviet Union, when Stalin was starving millions of kulacks to death and destroying Russian and Ukrainian agriculture, scores of politically correct Westerners were permitted to visit the U.S.S.R. Most of them came back with glowing reports -- "I have seen the future and it works." History tells us that these "observers" were spectacularly wrong. Yet they were among the most respected intellectuals of their day (and many are still respected, with this sordid little chapter carefully swept under the rug). How did Stalin manage to fool all...

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (Reuters) - Armed South African officials were hoping Wednesday for another attempt to board a Uruguayan ship chased for 20 days through Antarctic seas on suspicion it has been poaching the rare Patagonian Toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass. A South African salvage tug, the John Ross, came alongside the Uruguayan-flagged Viarsa late Tuesday, but waves of up to 33 feet and heavy snow prevented a boarding, according to Australian and South African officials. "We think it might happen (the boarding) at around 1600 our time (10 a.m. EDT) but we will see what happens. The...

PITTSBURGH-August 13, 2003 — Two teens who drove around Pittsburgh shooting passers-by with paintball guns were shot with real bullets for apparently targeting the wrong group, police said. Tracey Smedley, 19, was treated at UPMC Presbyterian hospital's emergency room and released Tuesday, said spokeswoman Jocelyn Uhl. She could not provide a condition for an unidentified 17-year-old. Smedley, the 17-year-old and an 18-year-old man drove around a city neighborhood armed with paintball guns and wearing helmets and paintball vests, Pittsburgh police Lt. Philip Dacey said. During their drive, the teens pelted children at a playground and shot at another group down...

A STRANGE-LOOKING marine species which provided the inspiration for blockbuster Alien films has been netted off the Irish coast. Global warming may have attracted the rare South American species, the Black Widow, into deep water fisheries off the south west. The bulbous black fish traps males for mating and they stay attached for the rest of their lives. The dead Black Widow was netted by trawler skipper Sean Conneely 200 miles off the coast. Normally, the fish can keep males alive on its body for 30 to 40 years by feeding them blood. The fish, hunted by deep sea anglers...

The 33-year-old boyfriend of former Time magazine reporter Julie Grace was charged late Thursday with killing her during an argument this week in her North Side apartment. George Thompson, of the 16700 block of South Elm Street in South Holland, was charged with first-degree murder for allegedly punching and pushing Grace, causing her to fall and strike her head against a bedroom dresser, said Chicago police spokeswoman Alice Casanova.

<p>A 3-month-old girl was killed by ants while she was napping in a crib at a baby-sitter's home Monday afternoon, Phoenix police said.</p> <p>The caregiver, who has not been identified, put the infant down for a nap about 1:30 p.m., police Detective Tony Morales said.</p>

The Radio FreeRepublic Chat Server is UP!Click here to chat!       Radio FreeRepublic now has a programming announcement/reminder email list!Don't miss another show!If you would like to be receive, by regular email, announcements concerning upcoming Radio FreeRepublic radio shows and dates/showtimes you can now sign up for the Radio FreeRepublic email list. All you have to do is send a blank email to the appropriate address and you will be sent a request to confirm your subscription. Simply hit reply to the confirmation request message and hit send. That's it. Unsubscribing is as simple as sending a single,...

ONTARIO -- Author C.A. Honey of Ontario calls himself a skeptic. Many others, he says casually, think he's a wacko. Honey, 74, has spent the last 45 years of his life seeking the truth about UFOs and "space people.' His new book "Flying Saucers: 50 Years Later,' published in yellow paperback by a Canadian company, was released earlier this year. Honey, a television repairman and a former design engineering supervisor at Hughes Aircraft Co. in Fullerton, wrote the book because he needed the money and wanted to promote his agenda, he said. "It's exposing about 95 to 97 percent of...

Respected Imam Saheb, Assalam Alaikum, Last week, as I was getting ready for work, Lisa Meyer (a writer for Time Magazine) was on CNN on a segment called INSIDE THE MIND OF A SUICIDE BOMBER. She was asked "What makes Palestinians blow themselves up inside Israel?" She replied with a couple of statements, out of which one was that "They are promised to be married to 72 virgins in heaven." When the surprised CNN anchor-person asked "72 virgins? Why not 71?", Ms. Meyer replied, "Ask Mohammad, I do not know." Please explain if this has anything to do with Islam?...

Patriots Rally Live thread here.

General Pervez Musharraf was wearing civvies when he cast his vote yesterday in Pakistan's first general election since 1997. Appearing out of uniform underscored the President's avowed aim to return Pakistan to civilian democratic rule. Yet the army leader looks bound to remain the country's main authority no matter what contorted ruling coalition this election might yield. General Musharraf promised to cede executive duties to a new prime minister around 1 November. Yet he retains the power to dissolve parliament and to sack the prime minister whenever he sees fit. A National Security Council, with military officers on its board,...

"What the hell happened to me?!"

Caption This: "And then I told Janet, with a butt this wide you'd never fit through the door of the Governors mansion!"