Free Republic

While the media is obsessed parsing the ad libs of someone on no ballot this fall, something truly ominous has just happened in Iraq. The commander-in-chief has abandoned an American soldier to the tender mercies of a Shiite militia.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Climate warming could spell disaster for much of the multibillion-dollar U.S. wine industry. Areas suitable for growing premium wine grapes could be reduced by 50 percent -- and possibly as much as 81 percent -- by the end of this century, according to a study Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

JEANINE PIRRO'S gaffe- marred announcement and her emphasis on liberal social positions has led to new unrest in some quarters of the state GOP, party insiders said yesterday. "A lot of people were unhappy with her boatload of mistakes, and they're starting to take another look at Ed Cox as a result," said a prominent Republican lawmaker, referring to the son-in-law of former President Richard Nixon who hopes to challenge Pirro in the GOP primary for the right to run against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"Congress finds and declares that wild free-roaming horses and burros are living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West," states a congressional declaration dated Dec. 15, 1971. Yet, in a surprising and highly protested move, Congress recently passed a bill that allows for the slaughter of the American wild mustang reportedly effective Wednesday, Jan. 5. Republican Senator Conrad Burns of Montana introduced the one-page Rider #142 into the 3,000-page Federal Appropriations Bill HR 4848.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The Bush administration expressed confidence in U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday and said he should stay in office, in a belated rebuff to demands from Republicans in Congress for his resignation. U.S. Ambassador John Danforth called reporters together to deliver the comments, saying that he had to clarify the U.S. position after his colleagues and the media believed the United States government was not supporting Annan. "We are expressing confidence in the secretary-general and his continuing in office," Danforth said, "No one to my knowledge has cast doubt on the personal integrity of the secretary-general....

....In an interview with The Citizen on Friday, DeLay called the subpoena part of the strategy by Democrats to "criminalize politics." "The Democrats are using the courts and the legal system to criminalize politics, for their political gain and character assassination," said DeLay via telephone. DeLay supporters have pointed to a calendar listing on the Morrison Web site as a smoking gun linking Morrison to the LaRouchians. "LaRouche is a con felon and all I can tell you is that Mr. Morrison has supported and campaigned with LaRouche followers and Mr. Morrison also has taken money and is working with...

NORFOLK, Va. (AP) -- Lawyers for the government and for a U.S. citizen captured on the Afghanistan battlefield informed a federal judge Wednesday they are negotiating the man's release from federal custody.In court papers filed jointly, the lawyers said they have been discussing terms of the release since the Supreme Court ruled on June 28 that the Bush administration could not indefinitely detain Yaser Esam Hamdi as an enemy combatant with no legal rights.