Free Republic

President Barack Obama is planning to host a televised meeting with Republican and Democratic congressional leaders on health care reform. The Feb. 25 meeting is an attempt to reach across the aisle but not a signal that the president plans to start over, as Republicans have demanded, a White House official said. “I want to come back [after the Presidents Day congressional recess] and have a large meeting — Republicans and Democrats — to go through, systematically, all the best ideas that are out there and move it forward,” Obama said in an interview with Katie Couric during CBS’s Super...

Rio Rancho police are looking for a man who went "fishing" inside a night deposit box at the Bank of America last month. John Francis, public information officer for the police department, said in a news release Friday that the man used fishing line and hooks on Jan. 26 in an attempt to retrieve night deposit bags from the Rio Rancho bank's night deposit box.

Poll of Republicans Met With Shock, Skepticism (Feb. 3) -- Most Republicans think Barack Obama is a socialist and Sarah Palin is more qualified than him to be president. Most either think Obama wasn't born in the U.S. or aren't sure. Nearly 40 percent want him impeached. Those are a few of the results in a Daily Kos poll that's shaking up the blogosphere. The liberal Web site commissioned Research 2000 to survey more than 2,000 self-identified Republicans last month. Site founder Markos Moulitsas -- the "Kos" in Daily Kos -- called the results "nothing short of startling." A few...

It's been a few years since the release of The 13th Warrior. The film was that rarity, an intelligent actioner. Adapted from Michael Crichton's novel Eaters of the Dead, it was a retelling, and rationalization, of the ancient Beowulf legend. In Crichton's version, the monsters of legend comprise a tribe of human cannibals preying on Viking settlements. The story is told through the eyes of an educated Arab visitor driven to the far north by circumstances. He witnesses an attack by the cannibals in which the Vikings panic and run for it, sustaining heavy casualties in the process. But then,...

Those who like to bury their heads in the sand won't want to read this. This is about Fox News and its march over the nation's news media, knocking off and steam-rolling other news channels while cementing its stranglehold at the top. Most of us who live in the blessedly enlightened Washington-New York-Boston corridor like to brush off Fox News as the home of the intellectually challenged. We mock its slogan, "First, Fair and Balanced," and laugh off its rabble-rousing commentators as neanderthal, bigoted, biased right-wingers. Fox's millions of viewers -- those little people in nowhere towns and backwater cities...

"If the enemy is in range, so are you." Infantry Journal "It is generally inadvisable to eject directly over the area you just bombed." US Air Force Manual "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered atomic weapons." General MacArthur "You, you and you... panic. The rest of you come with me." US Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. "Tracers work both ways." US Army Ordnance "Five second fuses last three seconds." Infantry Journal "Any ship can be a mine sweeper... once." "Never tell the Platoon Sergeant you have nothing to do." Unknown Marine recruit Clean it if...

SANTA FE — Members of a New Mexico family are suing an Española funeral home after they found their grandmother's brain in the bag of personal effects given to them after her death. The discovery was made the day after the interment, when relatives "smelled a foul odor coming from the bag" they received from DeVargas Funeral Home and Crematory of the Española Valley, according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of four family members in state District Court in Albuquerque. The bag had been left inside a family member's truck overnight. When family members opened it, they found, along...

Embattled Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd (D) has scheduled a press conference at his home in Connecticut Wednesday at which he is expected to announce he will not seek re-election, according to sources familiar with his plans. Dodd's retirement comes after months of speculation about his political future, and amid faltering polling numbers and a growing sense among the Democratic establishment that he could not win a sixth term. It also comes less than 24 hours after Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.)

(Jan. 4) -- It's a new year, but some things never change. People will see a photograph of someone -- especially a hot-button personality -- and suddenly they feel imbued with the power to read minds. They are sure they can tell exactly what the person in the picture is thinking. The latest example is a photo of President Barack Obama that triggered the first skirmish of 2010 between bloggers on the left and right. Instapundit's Glenn Reynolds fired the opening shot when he posted the image from the White House Flickr page Sunday and invited his readers to "analyze...

As the world continues to ponder the death of Brittany Murphy, many are curious as to exactly who her husband Simon Monjack is. While there's still absolutely no evidence to suggest he played a part in her death, many people and media outlets both past and present are raising a suspicious eye towards the British screenwriter. Monjack -- who penned and produced 2006's 'Factory Girl' -- wed Murphy in 2007 in a small, private ceremony at their house that seemed to come out of nowhere. The couple never announced their engagement, and hardly ever made public appearances together. Their nuptials...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 18 (UPI) -- A new book quotes one-time White House intern Monica Lewinsky as saying former U.S. President Bill Clinton lied about their relationship under oath. In the upcoming book, "The Death of American Virtue," author Ken Gormley writes that Lewinsky now believes Clinton lied about their relationship during his grand jury testimony, the Washington publication Politico reported Friday. "There was no leeway (there) on the veracity of his statements because they asked him detailed and specific questions to which he answered untruthfully," Lewinsky reportedly wrote to Gormley earlier this year. Clinton on Aug. 17, 1998, testified to...

MADISON, Wis. (Reuters) - A year after his historic election, President Barack Obama sought to remind Americans on Wednesday the biggest problems he is grappling with -- from the economy to the war in Afghanistan -- are the legacy of his predecessor, George W. Bush. With his approval ratings down from once-lofty levels and Tuesday's Democratic election losses raising questions about his political clout, Obama held no special ceremony to mark the anniversary of his election as America's first black president. He instead traveled to Wisconsin to appear before a friendly audience in a school gymnasium and promote education as...

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records

In a strange twist to an already complicated legal situation, artist Shepard Fairey admitted today to legal wrongdoing in his ongoing battle with the Associated Press. Fairey said in a statement issued late Friday that he knowingly submitted false images and deleted others in the legal proceedings, in an attempt to conceal the fact that the AP had correctly identified the photo that Fairey had used as a reference for his "Hope" poster of then-Sen. Barack Obama. "Throughout the case, there has been a question as to which Mannie Garcia photo I used as a reference to design the HOPE...

Pulls away in the 5th (whatever that means)

This is Smith ...the guy who tried to sell this on eBay .... Fake? OK I have no idea at this point Have at it Someone should save this in case it diasappears

JFK’S Secretary of State, Dean Rusk, was in France in the early 60’s when DeGaule decided to pull out of NATO. DeGaule said he wanted all US military out of France as soon as possible. Rusk responded “does that include those who are buried here? DeGaule did not respond. You could have heard a pin drop >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> When in England , at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, ‘Over the years, the United States...

WASHINGTON -- Central Intelligence Agency Director Leon E. Panetta has told lawmakers that CIA officials misled Congress "for a number of years" since 2001, according to a letter released Wednesday from six Democratic lawmakers. The lawmakers say the CIA also withheld information about unspecified "significant actions." The letter didn't identify when Mr. Panetta made the statements or to what they referred. "This is similar to other deceptions of which we are aware from other recent periods, " the letter continued. CIA spokesman George Little said "it is not the policy or practice of the CIA to mislead Congress." Mr. Little...

This is the latest messaging I have had with the seller on eBay >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dear colmado_naranja, I see the auction has been pulled (again), also I got a bunch of warnings that you might be trying to get my account info etc. I sure hope you are legit or at least not trying to cause harm If you can tell me anything about what is going on I'd appreciate it ____________ >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Dear ____ Hi. Don't worry, I'm not a scammer. You can check with other eBayers that have made posts all over the internet in support of me and...

For those keeping up (or trying to) with the eBay auction of the purported Obama birth certificate from Kenya I have communicated with the seller via ebay This is the last message I recieved: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Hi, thanks for your note. The Barack Obama Birth Certificate auction is up again, for a 4th time. The auction number is 160345151420. You'll probably have to search for it by the auction number as of right now. The auction is still new and might not show up in a listing name seach just yet. However, the listing is titled: Profoundly interesting document found in...

The wave of the future http://vimeo.com/1803735

This is a wonderful rare film of motorcycle board racing in 1920. Great fun to watch Indian Motorcycles are the Fastest in the World! http://www.jockeyjournal.com/?p=235

Eileen Bishop said she was "half asleep" when the scooter charged off An 87-year-old Cornish woman was rescued by police five miles from home when her mobility scooter sped off out of control. Eileen Bishop, from Perranporth, and her husband Anthony were on their way to church when, he said, she "disappeared off the radar". Officers later found her heading along the A3075 towards Newquay. A police community support officer (PCSO) rode the scooter back and said it appeared to be working correctly. 'Full tilt' Mr Bishop said the incident began when he and his wife set off for St...

Fidelity’s Edward “Ned” Johnson jumped into the controversial debate over President Obama’s “New Deal II” and what Johnson called government “make-work projects.” Without naming names, Johnson praised the administration’s effort to make economic recovery its top priority, saying it was “admirable.” But Johnson, sounding like he’s never been a big fan of the original New Dealers from the 1930s, warned of too much government involvement in the economy and indicated Fidelity is beefing up its government-affairs unit to fend off possibly burdensome new regulations. “We can only hope that the government’s cure doesn’t further sicken the patient,” Johnson wrote in...

Steve McQueen’s bike jump is an iconic movie moment, but is it as authentic as it looks? To find out, we recreated it. Nick Rufford reports Nick Rufford Two feet, four, six . . . 7ft off the ground. After repeated nervous, muddy attempts, Bud Ekins, a motorcycle stunt rider, coaxed the old Triumph into the air, flew over the strands of fake barbed wire and into the history books. The sequence helped make The Great Escape a cinema classic and turn Steve McQueen into an international star. It also made Ekins, who doubled as McQueen, a legend among fellow...

Bangkok: A hippopotamus swallowed a circus dwarf in a "freak accident" in northern Thailand according to a columnist in the Pattaya Mail. The Grapevine column reported" A circus dwarf nicknamed Od,died recently when he bounced sideways from a trampoline and was swallowed by a yawning hippopotamus waiting to appear in the next act" "Vets said Hilda the Hippo had a gag reflex which caused her to swallow. More than 1000 spectators continued to applaud wildly until they realized there had been a tragic mistake"

<p>The Second Chance drug rehab program was pitched to lawmakers and the judiciary as the missing link in a broken system that recycled non-violent drug offenders between jails, prisons and the streets.</p> <p>The past year, it has struggled through money problems and accusations that it is housing ineligible inmates. On Saturday, faced with a city-delivered Jan. 31 deadline to vacate, Second Chance officials moved the last of its inmates out. But throughout the program's two plus years of operation, an underlying cause of concern has been its close ties to Scientology.</p>

<p>That's what 14-year-old Raylene Jaramillo's mother says may have led to the death of her daughter early Saturday.</p> <p>The point-blank shooting of the former Valley High freshman occurred during an underage drinking party at a house in the South Valley where police have been called more than a dozen times before, Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said Monday.</p>

SANTA TERESA — Federal contractors are rushing to complete construction of the biggest barrier projects ever on New Mexico's southern border by the end of the year — nearly 90 miles of steel structures aimed at stopping vehicles and people from crossing illegally from Mexico. .....(skip).... contractors have nearly finished a stretch of about 49 miles pushing west from the Santa Teresa ......(skip...... 40 miles of vehicle barrier and 8.8 miles of pedestrian fence. That project is expected to be finished by the end of the month with the completion of the final two miles of the vehicle barrier. Where...

WASHINGTON — For the first time since .........(Bla) 2001 — the BlackBerry as we know it wasn’t on the market yet — the alumni of the Clinton Administration have returned to their old haunts. This time, they are members of “transition teams,” but several say they feel like more like political archaeologists. “The buildings look the same,” one said over coffee, “but everything inside is unrecognizable.” And as they dig, they have tripped across a few surprises. .........(BLA BLA BLA) In the Pentagon’s deepest crevices, the Joint Special Operations Command has mushroomed in size and influence because of the demands...

The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual and temporal leader, on Friday said sex spelt fleeting satisfaction and trouble later, while chastity offered a better life and "more freedom." "Sexual pressure, sexual desire, actually I think is short period satisfaction and often, that leads to more complication," the Dalai Lama told reporters in a Lagos hotel, speaking in English without a translator. He said conjugal life caused "too much ups and downs. "Naturally as a human being ... some kind of desire for sex comes, but then you use human intelligence to make comprehension that those couples always full of...

I wont post this as the original source is Ap ...but its funny http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202426219680

This guy seems to have seen it coming.... watch on you tube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I0QN-FYkpw&eurl=http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd should launch an investigation into the leaking of details of a sensitive phone call he had with US President George W Bush, former foreign minister Alexander Downer says. Details of the call to discuss the global financial crisis were reported last week in The Weekend Australian. During the call, Mr Bush reportedly responded to Mr Rudd's suggestion of a G20 summit to deal with the crisis by saying: "What's the G20?''. US officials and Mr Rudd's office have since denied Mr Bush made any such remark.

This is a non-sourced non-news thread but its about as accurate as anything else you will read today. While Im at it in case The Big 0 does win I want to start as soon as possible a IMPEACH OBAMA website. Of course I would rather not put any time, energy or money into this project so if there are any volunteers who would like to carry the burden I want you to get started as soon as possible ( dont contact me about it...just do it) Similarly we need a OBAMA IS STUPID website. dittos with my time and...

(CNN) — Scott McClellan, the former White House press secretary who sharply criticized President Bush in his memoir last spring, told CNN Thursday he's voting for Barack Obama. "From the very beginning I have said I am going to support the candidate that has the best chance for changing the way Washington works and getting things done and I will be voting for Barack Obama and clapping," McClellan told new CNN Host D.L. Hughley McClellan, a onetime Bush loyalist whose scathing critique of the president sent shock waves across Washington last spring, has long hinted he was leaning toward the...

This was recorded in 2007 ....amazingly prescient

Hillary, Ya wanna be President some day? Dont let this boob ruin your plans... Do something!!! We need you !!!!!! where is the dirt?

Housing prices would never have risen so high without multiple Washington mistakes. Many believe that wild greed and market failure led us into this sorry mess. According to that narrative, investors in search of higher yields bought novel securities that bundled loans made to high-risk borrowers. Banks issued these loans because they could sell them to hungry investors. It was a giant Ponzi scheme that only worked as long as housing prices were on the rise. But housing prices were the result of a speculative mania. Once the bubble burst, too many borrowers had negative equity, and the system collapsed....

This is a great and different Motorcycle Video From over the Pond correct title: Dougie Lampkin vs Goodwood House by the man who filmed it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iBSwdSf-yc

A rendering of the memorial by Tina Reames. The City Council plans to construct a cast bronze war memorial honoring soldiers who've died in Iraq and Afghanistan. Because the memorial would also include a visual connection to 9/11, the design—and the $300,000 price tag—are kindling controversy [Council Watch, “Easing Back In,” Aug. 14-20]. Five years after the U.S. invaded Iraq, 54 New Mexican soldiers have died in the conflicts overseas, according to the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services. The memorial is set to be completed by Memorial Day 2009 at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial grounds near Louisiana and...

How do people think that the next VP of the United States of America, Sarah Palin, should handle thie stuff about Trig being not her's but her 16year old daughter's baby? I think it should be addressed very soon and she should spell out the allegations so that all know what the left is busy working on. Then I would suggest she laugh it off with a remark like 'I dont know it sure felt like I had a baby." In short point out the absolute absurdity of these people and not dignify any of it with anger Any other...

Dear Mr Obama As I understand it George W Bush was wrong about Iraq... While Mr Bush seems like a decent man trying to make good decisions I understand from many of your supporters that he is really a Stupid person . Dick Cheney (who is Evil) and other Bad people really hated Saddam Hussein . They wanted to kill Innocent Iraqis ,maybe for their oil I guess. They talked Mr Bush, the US Congress and the American people into a disastrous WAR in IRAQ Gee, I guess that was really really Bad. It makes me really really mad at...

Barack Obama had no response to the over of the July 21st issue of The New Yorker Magazine, seen below, except to shrug incredulously and tell reporters, “I have no response to that.” The cartoon features Barack and Michelle Obama celebrating with a fist bump in the Oval Office in front of a portrait of Osama bin Laden and an American flag burning in the fireplace. Mrs. Obama is portrayed as a militant radical, while Obama appears foreign. The image reflects, some might say mocks, the rumors that have plagued the couple over the last 18 months.

Why did the Chicken Cross the Road?...Here's how they answered: BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The Chicken wanted CHANGE! JOHN McCAIN: My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road. HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure, right from Day 1, that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to...

(05-08) 18:49 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, the most prominent liberal voice on Bay Area talk radio for more than two decades, admitted Thursday to distribution of child pornography by e-mail in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Ward, 57, a former Roman Catholic priest, was a fixture on KGO-AM 810 for three hours every weeknight, known in recent years for his fervent denunciations of President Bush and the war in Iraq during his news talk show. He also hosted "God Talk," a Sunday morning program on religion, and was...

CLAYTON— The self-professed Messiah of a doomsday cult went from presiding over his compound to a cell at the Clayton/Union County jail on Tuesday, courtesy of the New Mexico State Police. Wayne Bent, aka Michael Travesser, was booked into the jail— where he turned down an offer of juice and a bologna sandwich— on multiple charges of sexual contact with minors. In an Internet posting before his arrest early Tuesday, he said he had committed no crime and compared his impending arrest to the persecution of Jesus. Bent, 66, had previously admitted having sex with adult followers and acknowledged "lying...

Sen. Bingaman Endorses Obama New Mexico Senator and superdelegate throws his support behind (Obama)

A woman is accused of chasing her boyfriend with a knife after thinking he was an actor in a pornographic movie they were watching together. The victim says it all started when he and his girlfriend were inside his southwest Albuquerque home watching a pornographic move at 10:30 Wednesday morning. That’s when the victim called 911 saying his girlfriend, 20-year-old Amanda Montoya, had a knife. “She almost shanked me and everything. She put the (expletive) knife right under my throat," the victim told a 911 operator. The victim, wearing only a pair of shorts took off down Five Points, begging...

The Bush administration will tell Congress tomorrow that a nuclear facility in Syria built with North Korean help was nearly complete when Israel bombed it in September, and that Pyongyang has not provided any further nuclear assistance to the hard-line Arab nation, at least at that site, U.S. officials said. CIA Director Michael V. Hayden and other intelligence officials are expected to brief several congressional committees in closed-door sessions, breaking the administration's silence on the issue. The Syrian facility has become a key issue in six-nation negotiations to end the North's nuclear programs. “The belief is that the reactor was...