Free Republic

This man must not be elected.

Ugggh I am livid. I just found out Google did a street view of my neighborhood, not only that they got me outside in the picture. They should be required by law to give forewarning that they are taking pictures in your neighborhood.

Newcastle, ME, Jul 11, 2008 / 03:15 am (CNA).- St. Patrick Catholic Church in Newcastle, Maine will celebrate its bicentennial this weekend. The church, whose building was completed in 1808, is the oldest continuing parish on the Atlantic Seaboard north of St. Augustine, Florida.The celebrations will begin at noon on Saturday with the ringing of the church bell, one of the last church bells to be cast by the American hero Paul Revere, the Bangor Daily News says.Parishioners will conduct tours of the church cemetery and portray in costume some of the historical personages buried there.Bishop of Portland Richard J....

WASHINGTON - Homeland security officials on Friday hinted at a possible face-saving deal to end their standoff with a handful of states over new driver's license rules — a dispute that, left unresolved, could cause big air travel headaches. For weeks, the Homeland Security Department has been headed toward a showdown with some states over a law called Real ID, which would require new security measures for state-issued driver's licenses. Yet a late Good Friday letter from a top DHS official suggested Washington may be backing away from a messy fight. South Carolina, Maine and Montana are the only states...

This is driving me nuts. When I go into a specific forum, such as religion, I want to hit the comment button and ONLY see the comments for the religion forum. Not every other forum. I like being able to see what's being talked about the most and being able to see the latest comments from individuals is the best way. Is this going to be fixed or is this it? If this is it, then the site is unusable for the way I've been used to using it for the the last 10 years. Has anyone figured out a...

Of cables and conspiracies Feb 7th 2008 The Economist An online frenzy that seems way out of line WHEN two undersea cables were damaged, apparently by ships' anchors, five miles north of Alexandria on January 30th, it seemed like a reminder of the fragility of the internet. The cables—one owned by FLAG Telecom, a subsidiary of India's Reliance Group, the other (SEA-ME-WE 4) by a consortium of 16 telecoms firms—carry almost 90% of the data traffic that goes through the Suez canal. When the connections failed, they took with them almost all internet links between Europe and the Gulf and...

We dont have tv but we have cable modem. How do I find and link to the Game? for the children? Please?

...Speaking on Social Security, Democrat hopeful Barack Obama boasted that "here's an area where John (Edwards) and myself were actually quite specific." A few minutes later, Bill Richardson wondered, "What is wrong with having been like myself -- 14 years in the Congress, two Cabinet positions?" ...The new verbal tic is part trend and part defensive posture. Since the Me Generation, "I" and "me" have become increasingly tangled up as Americans have looked for ways around tricky constructions. As sportswriter Red Smith once put it, "Myself is the foxhole of ignorance, where cowards take refuge, because they were taught that...

ST. ANDREWS, Canada -- When the people of this tiny seaside resort town learned that tankers filled with liquefied natural gas might some day sail near them toward proposed terminals in two Maine towns, they mobilized opposition to the plan... That isn't a surprise, given the opposition that has met proposed terminals for liquefied natural gas, or LNG, in many coastal towns in the U.S. Canada's opposition has drawn protests from the U.S. government. In part, U.S. officials complain that Canada seems to have no problem with another proposed LNG terminal on Canadian soil 30 miles to the east of...

WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON, Saad al-Hariri's Mostaqbal party agreed to a constitutional amendment that would allow Lebanese Armed Forces Commander Michel Suleiman to be elected president. Up until now, Hariri and his March 14 allies (the date of the 2005 Cedar Revolution) had resisted Suleiman's candidacy; Lebanese democrats are generally loath to have military men serve as President of the Republic, especially after the last nine years of former commander Emile Lahoud's presidency. But more importantly, Suleiman is Damascus's number one choice to fill the now vacant spot. So why have Hariri and his colleagues, including Druze chieftain Walid Jumblatt and leader...

Ex-president Bill Clinton, seen here 19 Novemeber 2007 and his latest campaign trail appearance for his wife Hillary's Democratic White House bid threw an unwelcome spotlight Wednesday back on her vote to authorize the Iraq war.(AFP/File/Pierre-Philippe Marcou )

A British teacher is facing 40 lashes in a Sudanese jail if convicted of insulting Islam's prophet by letting children name a teddy bear Mohammed. Gillian Gibbons, 54, from Liverpool, was arrested on suspicion of blasphemy on Sunday. Ms Gibbons allowed her class of seven-year-olds at the Unity High School in Khartoum to name a teddy bear Mohammed as part of a lesson about animals' habitats. Mohammed is sacred to Islamic philosophy and the penalty for blasphemy is 40 lashes, a large fine or a jail term. The British Embassy in Khartoum confirmed the arrest. A source close to the...

Source: University of California, Davis Date: August 16, 2007 Handsome By Chance: Why Humans Look Different From Neanderthals Science Daily — Chance, not natural selection, best explains why the modern human skull looks so different from that of its Neanderthal relative, according to a new study led by Tim Weaver, assistant professor of anthropology at UC Davis. Model of the Neanderthal man. Exhibited in the Dinosaur Park Münchehagen, Germany. (Credit: iStockphoto/Klaus Nilkens) "For 150 years, scientists have tried to decipher why Neanderthal skulls are different from those of modern humans," Weaver said. "Most accounts have emphasized natural selection and the...

This is not my opus with respects to Free Republic, but it is my opus with respects to NJ. I hated that place since I left it 30+ years ago, when I joined the Marines vowing never to return (we all know that tune) HA! But being a responsible carbon unit I accepted a position back there not really wanting to but as my Rice Krispies whisper to me each and every morning, (besides clean your weapons) "it is better to be employed in NJ than un-employed in Missouri". They (the Krispies) repeated the same thing in Baghdad & Afghanistan...

The conflict in Lebanon, escalation of sectarian violence in Iraq, and growing tensions between Iran and the United States have all drawn attention to the growing importance of the divide between Shias and Sunnis in shaping Middle East politics. In The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future, Council Adjunct Senior Fellow Vali Nasr offers an in-depth analysis of the various causes and forces that have contributed to this long-born political struggle for the soul of Islam and sheds light on historic moments of Shia-Sunni competition. With the war in Iraq and a Shia majority rule there,...

Two U.N. reports issued last week clearly underlined the growing danger. One, by the secretary general, reported evidence of rearmament by Hezbollah as well as by extremist Palestinian factions and of shipments of heavy weapons across the Syrian-Lebanese border. It said that the Lebanese government had reported seizing a truckload of weapons belonging to Hezbollah, including Russian Grad rockets, and that the Lebanese army had observed four truck carriers bearing eight missile launchers across the border last month. A second report, by an independent group of experts assigned to inspect the border, found no effective controls to prevent arms smuggling...

Egyptian security forces barred voters from entering polling centers in opposition areas Monday during the first national elections since the U.S.-backed government of President Hosni Mubarak pushed through constitutional changes that analysts say were intended to keep the Muslim Brotherhood from power. In Awseem, a dusty town north of Cairo that is a Brotherhood stronghold, security officers lined up behind chest-high plastic riot shields to block all entrances to a locked polling place. Officers clenching automatic rifles alongside a row of police wagons effectively sealed off another voting site. Residents in other towns around Egypt on Monday complained of police...

ARG is out with new '08 polling in three states: California Democrats Clinton 37 Obama 28 Edwards 15 Undecided 11 Republicans Giuliani 27 McCain 24 F. Thompson 12 Romney 11 Gingrich 5 Undecided 13 Florida Democrats Clinton 45 Obama 17 Edwards 15 Undecided 14 Republicans Giuliani 31 McCain 18 F. Thompson 13 Romney 11 Gingrich 8 Undecided 13 Michigan Democrats Clinton 38 Obama 25 Edwards 14 Undecided 14 Republicans Romney 24 McCain 22 Giuliani 19 F. Thompson 8 Gingrich 7 Undecided 15 Also, Strategic Vision has released a new poll on Wisconsin: Democrats Clinton 38 Obama 25 Edwards 17 Undecided...

WASHINGTON - The United States and the Iraqi government are launching a new diplomatic initiative to invite Iran and Syria to a “neighbors meeting” on stabilizing Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday. “We hope that all governments seize this opportunity to improve their relations with Iraq and to work for peace and stability in the region,” Rice said in remarks prepared for delivery to a Senate committee. Excerpts were released in advance by the State Department. The move reflects a change of approach by the Bush administration, which previously had resisted calls by members of Congress and by...

Legislators will consider a gun-control bill that would require anyone under 21 to wait 10 days before buying a rifle or shotgun. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Margaret Craven of Lewiston, is similar to one she proposed two years ago that mandated a 10-day waiting period for anyone under 22 wanting to buy a gun. Craven is sponsoring the bill with the support of Catherine Crowley of Lewiston, whose 18-year-old son killed himself with a newly purchased shotgun in 2004. Supporters of the bill say a waiting period could cut down on the number of young people who commit suicide...

India undecided about clash of civilisations, says global poll RASHMEE ROSHAN LALL LONDON: Indians are more pessimistic than the rest of the world about finding common ground between Islam and the West even as they remain marginally more optimistic than everyone else that violence will be avoided in the clash of civilizations, according to the first global poll on the issue. The 27-country poll, which collated the views of 28,389 people in large swathes of Europe, North and South America, West Asia, south-east Asia and India, found that 56 per cent overall believes there is no inherent incompatibility between Islam...

In October 2006, the Brandeis Middle East Review and the Middle East Forum at Brandeis invited me to speak at the University, and I quickly accepted. The hosts and I selected the date April 23 and the topic ("The Islamization of Europe?"), and everything appeared settled. But on Jan. 23, former President Jimmy Carter visited Brandeis, Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz quasi-debated him, and the ensuing contention prompted the University to establish a closed student-faculty committee to monitor speakers on the Middle East. (This committee comes on top of an already existing committee the provost created earlier in response to...

....In June, the Austin, Texas-based natural foods grocery chain said it would stop selling live lobsters and crabs — in the name of crustacean compassion. But it’s making an exception in Maine, a state synonymous with lobster

As Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meets with Mideast leaders to jumpstart the peace process, former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton called the attempt a waste of time. Bolton, who also said it's time another body replace the United Nations, told the Sunday Times of London the Arab-Israeli conflict was “not a priority," adding: “I don’t see linkage to Iraq, and Hamas and Fatah are in a state of civil war.” Now back at American Enterprise Institute, Bolton let loose on a variety of topics during the interview, from negotiating nuclear weapons with Iran to the reunification of...

FOR a long time, I let my hopes for a decent outcome in Iraq triumph over what I had learned reporting from Lebanon during its civil war. Those hopes vanished last summer. So, I'd like to offer President Bush my updated rules of Middle East reporting, which also apply to diplomacy, in hopes they'll help him figure out what to do next in Iraq. Rule 1: What people tell you in private in the Middle East is irrelevant. All that matters is what they will defend in public in their own language. Anything said to you in English, in private,...

Less than two weeks before her almost certain reelection to a third term, Olympia Snowe issued a fatwa against Exxon-Mobil and climate change policy skeptics who have had the audacity to openly question her advocacy of Kyoto derived mandatory greenhouse gas emissions controls. Senator Snowe urged Exxon-Mobil to stop resisting her efforts to pass symbolic, expensive and futile GHG regulatory legislation, and most especially to gag two vocal critics: the Competitive Enterprise Institute (headed by economic freedom advocate and 1996 GOP Vice Presidential nominee Jack Kemp) and techcentralstation, a web site devoted to markets, technology and entrepreneurial optimism, as opposed...

Homeowner Shoots Burglar Who Returns For Second Try (TX)Robbery attempt nets suspect a wound in the leg (TX)Pittsburgh Homeowner Opens Fire On Intruders (PA - Police: Body Found In Nearby Cemetery Fatal shooting in Greene County (TN)Armed robber outgunned (ME)Fatal domestic incident act of self-defense (MD)Store clerk shoots robbery suspect (TX)Concealed Weapon Keeps Man Safe in Attempted Carjacking (UT)Intruder shot, killed by homeowner (NM)Sisters Defend Store, Ward Off Would-Be Robber (TX)Shootout in Cape leads to 2 arrests (FL)Police Seek Customer Who Stopped Robbery In Progress (TX)

Canada takes pro-Israel stance at UNBy Steven Edwards CanWest News Service November 16, 2006 UNITED NATIONS — Canada voted on the side of Israel at the United Nations Thursday, demonstrating a marked shift in Middle East policy. Canada registered its third change in a row on more than 20 Arab- and Muslim-sponsored resolutions that are annually critical of Israeli policy, but light on Arab responsibilities. That’s a marked switch from the way former Liberal governments voted. The trend is expected to continue when Canadian diplomats join those of other UN member states to consider 10 more of the annual resolutions...

Four decades of change in the Roman Catholic Church have made the Latin Mass, the beloved rite of centuries, a stranger in its own house. So when an under-50 Catholic beholds the venerable ceremony for the first time, it's with the surprised and wondering eyes of a tourist. ''Introibo ad altare Dei,'' says the priest, his back facing the congregation, uttering Latin more familiar nowadays from fiction — the opening of James Joyce's ''Ulysses,'' where Buck Mulligan flippantly uses the phrase on his way to shave — than from exposure on Sunday. It means ''I will go in unto the...

Sitting on the edge of the water in the Gulf of Kutch on India's western shore is one of America's dirty secrets. A mass of steel pipes and concrete boxes stretches across 13 square miles (33sq km) - a third of the area of Manhattan - which will eventually become the world's largest petrochemical refinery. The products from the Jamnagar complex are for foreign consumption. When complete, the facility will be able to refine 1.24m barrels of crude a day. Two-fifths of this gasoline will be sent 9,000 miles (15,000km) by sea to America. India's biggest private company, Reliance Industries,...

Iran, Beijing's key to the Middle East By Dario Cristiani China's decision to send 1,000 soldiers to southern Lebanon with the United Nations peacekeeping mission is the latest example of Beijing's increased involvement in the Middle East. The overall importance of the broader Middle East for China's geostrategy is growing. China is searching for new regional allies because it wants to pursue strategic aims such as gaining privileged access to crude-oil reserves, finding new markets for its products and technology, and competing with the United States for supremacy in an area that is a fundamental part of the international system....

IRAQ POLL: Kurds Grateful for U.S. SupportA delegation of Iraqi Kurdish officials is currently traveling through the United States right now. The mission is to build upon the great friendship between the Kurdish people and the United States of America.Most specifically, the people of Iraqi Kurdistan wish to invite American businesses to come and help invest in the rebuilding of Kurdistan. It's a win for the people of Iraqi Kurdistan to have help in building a brighter future, and it's a win for American businesses seeking promising new opportunities.We have launched an advertising campaign called "The Other Iraq" because...

Iran’s mullahs have threatened an oil embargo in response to pressures exerted to accept curbs on its nuclear program – curbs that it has agreed to when it signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Pact. This agreement, and subsequent promises made to the International Atomic Energy Agency and to the European Union, have been broken repeatedly by Iran. A clandestine nuclear program was discovered to exist in Iran, outside the purview of international inspectors. Iran has benefited from the nuclear smuggling ring of Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan and from access to North Korea nuclear and missile technology. Clearly, Iran has a nuclear weapons...

I know FReepers will show restraint.

Last in a three-part series. Addressing a joint session of Congress on Sept. 1, 1990, President George H.W. Bush proclaimed the advent of the New World Order. A new era of peace, prosperity, transnationalism and integration was ahead for long-suffering humankind. The new system was based on the notion that nation-states are destructive to the progress of humankind because nationalism, like cancer, spreads and causes conflicts. Therefore, dominant and enduring international institutions should be empowered to coordinate worldwide efforts in the political, social and economic realms. The collapse of communism presented the world with unforeseen problems. As the Cold War...

Arizona's Counter-Terrorism Information Center has advised Arizona's law enforcement officials that there is a possible increase in suspicious purchases of prepaid cell phones. Tucson Police have been searching for two men, of Middle Eastern descent for allegedly trying to buy around 50 disposable cell phones at a local Sam's Club. Those men are wanted for questioning, but not criminal charges. The Counter-Terrorism center is also monitoring the case. Tuesday, two new claims. An inside source says at a Tucson Family Dollar store, two men have also been trying to buy cell phones from that chain. And there's news from Huachuca...

The probe comes after the 11 July serial train blasts in Mumbai in which over 180 people were killedNew Delhi, 9 August (AKI/Asian Age) - The Mumbai police, acting under a directive from the Maharashtra government, continued investigating prominent Muslims in the city who have been registered with them as frequent travellers abroad. Well-known dance choreographer Hameed Khan, who has been working with filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt, received a knock on his door in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon with the police demanding to see him. Khan, when contacted, said he was not at home at the time and his ageing father,...

'Jewish Indians will not desert Israel' [ 7 Aug, 2006 0922hrs ISTPTI ] HAIFA: Even as Hezbollah missiles are raining in this Israeli city, the Jews of Indian origin will not abandon their country. "This is our city and we are going to stay here till the end. We can't leave it and not at this crucial juncture", Herzl Penkar, said, as three rockets hit his neighbourhood, Kiryat Ata, on the suburbs of Haifa. "We are trying to follow the instructions given by the Home Front and hide in the shelter houses everytime the siren warns and believe that running...

For students of Bible prophecy, even the title of this communiqué should set off alarm sirens. I just received some electrifying intelligence data. First, from the Debka-Net-Weekly’s briefing. And second, from some personal intelligence sources (I carefully guard) that confirm Debka’s report. Russia, Iran and Syria have entered a defense pact that is in the process of altering the balance of power in the entire Middle East. Russia’s part in the pact has been kept relatively secret for a long time. But the facts reveal a long steady Russian commitment to the Iranian nuclear program and arms supply to Syria....

52 REASONS NOT TO MOW 37 WAYS TO HELP TREES Please download with 100% cotton, rice, recycled, or scrap paper Ron Howard, director of A Beautiful Mind and many other films,made his first film at age 8.. an anti mowing film which showed the nature of mowers' attacks on lawns. Art Buchwald: People shouldn't be judged by the length of their grass. In 2003 through now, the world has seen floods, famine, fire, mudslides, hurricanes, tornados and other disasters created by the unprecedented destruction of trees around the world. Trees are nature's weather stabilizers. We need trillions of trees.. new...

Press Trust of India Washington, July 18, 2006 Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf "provides aid and comfort to state sponsors of terrorists" who target the US by not allowing access to AQ Khan, a former analyst with Defence Department has said, while claiming that American officials knew about the disgraced top scientist's nuclear weapons activities "for three decades." Noting that Musharraf pardoned Khan in 2004 "in effect with US support," F Michael Maloof, a former senior security policy analyst in Defence Secretary's Office, said, "yet, the US reportedly cannot debrief Khan to do a threat assessment on the nuclear technologies and...

When I was growing up in Bellflower, Ca., I never, as a child with a good imagination, could have ever imagined that my life would take the peculiar turn that it has. I could not have foreseen giving birth to a child that would eventually be wrongfully and devastatingly killed in war or that I would be meeting with world leaders or be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. Along with the Vice President of Spain, Foreign Minister of Ireland, Attorney General of Australia and countless parliamentarians from all over the globe, one of the world leaders that I have...

From Israel, lessons for Mumbai ---- Facetious as it may sound, weeks like this one are ripe for bemoaning the limits to outsourcing, and the fact that the mandate for India's internal security cannot be contracted out to the iron-willed consciousness of Israel. In the past two days, Israel has bombed Beirut airport and begun a naval blockade of Lebanon, aimed at disrupting the supply lines of Hizbullah terrorists and weaponry. It has refused to negotiate following Hizbullah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers, recognised that outrage for what it is - an act of war - and gone on the...

A new Indian partner of San Ramon-based Chevron Corp. is planning to build the world's largest oil refinery. Reliance Industries Ltd. plans to become a global player in the energy market, the company's chairman said today. The Indian company plans to spend US$6.1 billion on the new refinery, which will be built alongside its existing refinery in the western Indian town of Jamnagar. Together, the two refineries will have a capacity to process 1.24 million barrels of crude oil per day, making Jamnagar the world's largest petroleum refining hub, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani told an annual shareholders' meeting in Bombay....

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

Washington, D.C. ­– Today, U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ) introduced the Consumers Having Options in Cable Entertainment (CHOICE) Act of 2006. The bill is designed to encourage broadcasters and cable companies that own cable channels to sell their channels individually to subscribers. It also promotes cable channel distribution over the Internet. Attached are Senator McCain’s floor statement that was submitted for the record today, a copy of the bill, the bill summary, and a copy of the of the opinion editorial by Senator McCain and FCC Chairman Martin as it appeared in the Los Angeles Times on May 25, 2006.

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Blair: I'll quit next year - trust me By George Jones, Political Editor and Brendan Carlin (Filed: 09/05/2006) Tony Blair abandoned his election promise to serve a full third term last night, indicating that he could stand down next summer. Although he refused to set a timetable for his departure, saying that it would paralyse government, he anointed Gordon Brown as his successor and promised to give him sufficient time to establish himself before the next election. Tony Blair was in no mood for compromise yesterday As the Labour Party stood on the brink of civil war over the timing...

LONDON, March 13 (IranMania) - Members of a radical Jewish sect have met with top Iranian officials in Tehran to show support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's call for the destruction of Israel, media reported. Leading rabbis of Neturei Karta, an 'anti-Zionist' group of ultra-Orthodox Jews who consider the existence of Israel an abomination, met with Vice President Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the top-selling Yediot Aharonot reported. Ahmadinejad has said the Jewish state "must be wiped off the map" or moved as far away as Alaska, comments that have provoked anger in the West and condemnation from the UN Security Council. The group's...