Free Republic

An amateur cameraman claims he's got video proof that California Sen. Barbara Boxer's supporters enlisted day laborers to hold signs protesting her Republican opponent. Derek Broes, a supporter of GOP Senate nominee Carly Fiorina, has released a video he shot outside a Pasadena debate that showed two Spanish-speaking men holding a slapdash white sign accusing "corporate cash" of loving the Republican candidate. Though the audio is hard to hear, one of the men clearly says he did not make the sign -- another appears to say a "lady" was paying them to hold it.

Here's a fact you're not likely to see on tonight's evening news broadcasts: According to a recent poll, Arabs living abroad are more likely to be opposed to the "Ground Zero Mosque" than the American media are. According to a recent survey by the Arabic online news service Elaph (Arabic version here), 58 percent of Arabs think the construction should be moved elsewhere. And according to a Media Research Center study released last week, 55 percent of network news coverage of the debate has come down on the pro-Mosque side.The MRC study also found that on the question of whether

I'm Swedish. I recall being about 5-6 years old and visiting a family my parents knew who had been to America for holiday. I and my brother repeatedly demanded of them to show their super-8 films feauturing places they'd visited over there like Disney World ín Fla. As I grew older, I got to study at universities where I was taught America is evil and other bs. Today, I'm poor and my beloved parents and their friends are well off Swedish intellectuals. I don't care about their ideals and lifestyle, but please believe me when I say my country still...

Over the span of two days, the network morning shows have given just 20 seconds of coverage to the recess appointment of Donald Berwick, a pro-rationing doctor who will run Medicare. In contrast, Good Morning America, Today and Early Show devoted 52 minutes of coverage to every detail of Lindsay Lohan's sentencing. On Wednesday and Thursday's GMA, ABC hosts discussed Lohan for 14 minutes. CBS's Early Show managed 12 minutes to the important topic. Both programs had no mention of Berwick, who once told an audience in Great Britain, "Please, don't put your faith in market forces."

(IsraelNN.com) Security camera footage released by Israel Police Wednesday shows a group of eight Arabs assaulting two Jewish men at the Givati parking lot next to Jerusalem's Old City last Friday. During the incident, one of the Jewish men fired shots at the Arabs, lightly injuring two of them. Police arrested him initially and interrogated him. He claimed that he only fired after he and his friend felt threatened by the Arab group. The video appears to corroborate his version of the events.

The U.S. administration is prepared to show flexibility on construction in West Bank settlements, a government source in Jerusalem says. The Americans will apparently not demand a full freeze on construction, but will agree that projects now underway can be completed, Israeli officials say. A week from Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to meet with U.S. special envoy George Mitchell in Paris to discuss the details.

The 'biggest American car show in the world' opened in Västerås in central Sweden on Thursday. More than 10,000 cars are expected for the Big Meet 2008 show. The annual event started 31 years ago and was founded by Kjell Gustafsson who has seen it grow from the humble beginnings of 40-80 cars in a parking lot in Anderstorp. "Just to keep the show going over three days costs 1.5 million kronor ($252,000). 160 officials work with this. That is around the same as the Hultsfred festival," Gustafsson said to Di.se. The Big Meet 2008 show will take place over...

Our parents told us TV would melt our brains. While it's possible "Punky Brewster" and "A-Team" did just that, along the way we saw some genius art. Television can't play 90 minutes on the big screen and vanish into the bargain bin. And it lacks one author to take it from introduction to the final page. Yet within these boundaries, there are a small number of shows that capture our attention, our obsession, and create enduring stories. How many? 35. They're listed here.

Strikes Halting Production On 7 ShowsWriters Guild, Producers Deadlocked Over Revenue From DVDs and Downloads Nov 6, 2007 8:31 pm US/Eastern NEW YORK (CBS News) A producer of the hit ABC show "Desperate Housewives" says the show will stop production because it has run out of scripts due to the writers strike. Alexandra Cunningham says filming of the show's 10th episode of the season will finish on Wednesday. She says ABC will run out of new episodes to air before Christmas. Meanwhile, production has stopped on at least six sitcoms filmed before live audiences because of the Hollywood writers strike....

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - CBS and ABC fell to their lowest ratings among the coveted adults 18-49 demographic in two decades last week, as reruns and summer alternatives drove viewers from their couches. CBS managed to win the week in total viewership, while NBC and Fox -- the most successful last week with original reality -- tied in adults 18-49, according to Nielsen Media Research data issued Tuesday. NBC also had the top two shows for the week in the demo, "America's Got Talent" and "Dateline." CBS and ABC are the second and third networks to reach their lowest...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2006 -- Holiday shoppers turning to the Internet to avoid the mall crowds have an easy way to support servicemembers and their families this year thanks to a partnership between Sears Holdings Corporation and “USA Cares.”  America Supports You is a Defense Department program highlighting ways Americans and the corporate sector support the nation’s military. Sears Holdings is the parent company of Sears and Kmart department stores. “Sears has a longstanding commitment with the military, and we feel privileged to assist the troops and their families through this initiative,” Brenda Storch, a Sears Holdings spokeswoman, said. “We...

By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor. In clinging to theology and orthodoxy, the bookish Benedict has shown little regard for media management in getting his message across, unlike the communications-savvy John Paul II. Benedict railed Muslims when he quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things, portraying the Islam he founded as a religion which endorses violence,...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 11, 2006 – Foreign observers of the U.S. military often say what puts it above other militaries is the quality of the noncommissioned officer corps. Many other nations want the same for themselves. The Afghan National Army is learning from Western military trainers who stress the central role of NCOs in a world-class military. Afghan army Chief of Staff Gen. Bismullah Khan stressed the role of NCOs in the new military by recently appointing the nation's first sergeant major of the army, Roshan Safi. Senior American NCOs say the appointment is crucial to developing an NCO corps...

WASHINGTON, July 25, 2006 – "Operation: S.A.M.," or Saluting All Military, is working to ease servicemembers minds about how much support they have back home. Troops stationed in Iraq display packages they received from Operation S.A.M. The packages contain hygiene, snack, comfort and entertainment items. Servicemembers' gratitude is reflected in thank you letters S.A.M. receives, a representative said. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "Almost in all the communication we have with the troops, there seems to be an unspoken desire to know if their efforts are appreciated and supported by Americans," Penny Redmon, S.A.M.'s past president...

WASHINGTON - The Homeland Security Department wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars last year on iPods, dog booties, beer-making equipment and designer jackets, congressional investigators have concluded. More than 100 laptop computers and a dozen boats also bought by Homeland Security employees are missing, the investigators found. Poor training, lax oversight and rampant confusion over what employees are allowed to buy with government-issued purchase cards left Homeland Security "vulnerable to fraud, waste and abuse," according to a draft report by the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative and auditing arm. The report was to be released Wednesday by a Senate panel...

BAGHDAD, June 15, 2006 – The attack that killed Abu Musab al-Zarqawi demonstrates the flexibility that air assets give commanders, officials here said today. Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Hoog, an air planner with Multinational Force Iraq, gave a timeline of the operation that resulted in the death of the most wanted terrorist in Iraq June 7. An F-16 Fighting Falcon jet dropped two precision bombs on a safe house near Baqubah, killing Zarqawi and his spiritual adviser. Nothing indicated this day would be different from any other for Air Force pilots over the country, Hoog said. A flight of...

SOUTH TOLEDO -- A south Toledo man is using a replica of the Statue of Liberty to let the world know his thoughts on illegal immigration. Art Bollinger says he got this idea from an e-mail he received, and decided to duplicate the picture. From the front, you can see the Statue of Liberty. From behind, it shows Lady Liberty's behind, in a thong bikini. The nearby sign says "Kiss my American Ass." Bollinger tells News 11 he will accept anyone into this country as long as they come here legally, but he has no patience for those who sneak...

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2006 – The D.C. United Major League Soccer team will express its appreciation for the military June 3 with its 7th Annual Armed Forces Appreciation Day. The team, working with corporate sponsor IBM, will provide 1,000 free tickets to its game against the New England Revolution for active-duty servicemembers who get a kick out of the sport. It also has partnered with the United Service Organizations of Metropolitan Washington to distribute the tickets through USO's five outreach centers. The 7th Annual Armed Forces Appreciation Day will begin two hours before the start of the 7:30 p.m. game...

ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, Md., May 19, 2006 – The military showcased its personnel and equipment for its own today as the annual Joint Service Open House kicked off here. Duluth, Minn., Air National Guardsman Maj. John Klatt poses for photos with Abreanna Ball, 9, at the Joint Service Open House at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., May 19. Abreanna was touring the military displays with students from Benjamin D. Foulois Elementary School near the base. Photo by Samantha L. Quigley  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The festivities, open today for military and civilian defense security badge holders...

FORT TARIK, Iraq, May 7, 2006 – Flying to this fort illustrates the challenges the Iraqi border police face in securing the frontier. After leaving Baghdad and its rivers, the groves of palm trees give way to irrigated fields. These give way to a large swamp covered with reeds and crisscrossed by a myriad of trails. At the edge of the swamp, the green disappears and miles of open desert lay ahead. For miles in any direction there is no trace of life. Where water once stood, there are large pans of salt that reflect the sun and drive the...