Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2005 – Despite a desperate media battle in Iraq, terrorists are failing to stop Iraqis from advancing on the political and security fronts, a senior military official in Baghdad told reporters Oct. 30. "To the terrorists, the media is a vital force multiplier," said Air Force Brig. Gen. Donald Alston, director of strategic communications for Multinational Force Iraq during a briefing at the Combined Press Information Center in Baghdad. That's why terrorists targeted Baghdad's Palestine Hotel, a base for many media outlets, during an Oct. 24 car bombing, Alston said. He called the bombing a signature al...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2005 – U.S. soldiers with 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, killed one enemy and detained two others who were to trying to plant roadside bombs today in the Waza Khwa district of Afghanistan's Paktika province, military officials reported. The soldiers were patrolling from a forward operating base toward the Terwa Afghan border police site when they came across four individuals. U.S. forces killed one of them when he tried to escape and captured two others. The fourth man escaped. The soldiers discovered two signal mirrors and blasting caps on the dead terrorist. They questioned the detained...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2005 – President Bush opened a major speech about the war on terror today by praising the military and crediting veterans for the solid example they've set for today's troops waging a fight he said the United States won't abandon. "We will never back down, we will never give in, and we will never accept less than complete victory," Bush told a servicemembers, veterans and business leaders in Norfolk, Va. The president emphasized that the United States is not to blame for the violence it has suffered at the hands of terrorists. "No act of ours invited...

10/25/2005 - ABOVE IRAQ (AFPN) -- Tuskegee Airman Col. Richard Toliver (left) chats with Maj. (Dr.) Vanessa Williams as their C-17 Globemaster III makes its final approach to Balad Air Base, Iraq. Five of the original Tuskegee Airmen -- the first African-American aviators of World War II -- are visiting the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad. The unit is a descendant of the "Red Tail Angels" of the Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Andra Higgs)

Rejecting the advice of his own government efficiency commission and a nearly unanimous vote of the state Assembly, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this month vetoed a sensible bill that could have helped nudge California back on the road to fiscal sanity. --snip-- The bill - AB 518 - didn't get much attention in the Legislature and no headlines when the governor buried it. By itself, it wouldn't have balanced California's budget. --snip-- The bill would have required the state Department of Finance to compile five-year forecasts of projected spending in each department. --snip-- The authors of Schwarzenegger's California Performance Review,...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20, 2005 – Increased numbers of Iraqi security forces and government-implemented precautions combined to thwart insurgents' desire to stop the Iraqi Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, a senior U.S. military officer said today in Baghdad. Roughly 63 percent of registered voters -- about 10 million Iraqis -- went to the polls to vote on a new constitution, Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, a spokesman for Multinational Force Iraq, said. Officials reported "a significant reduction in the number of attacks" during the referendum compared to during the Jan. 30 elections, Lynch said. For example, he said, there were 299 attacks...

Dear Friends & Supporters: Our newsletter is running a bit behind for various reasons but it will be ready to go in a couple days, my apologies for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting it. There will be a lot of information in it. The following is copied from my home page which you may view if you have any difficulty reading it here. I will be on WRWL radio with Pastor Ernie Sanders to discuss the ACLU and our plans to cripple them. Pastor Sanders has the longest running radio show in Ohio (28 years per his...

'Help! Mom!' casts liberals as villains By Cheryl Wetzstein The Washington Times Published October 16, 2005 WASHINGTON -- Katharine DeBrecht, a married mother of three, wanted to make a point about the importance of conservative values. So, she penned a children's book -- "Help! Mom! There Are Liberals Under My Bed!" -- to stand up to the "liberal agenda that's being thrown at our kids from the left." **SNIP** Liberals have lambasted the book as "brainwashing" and "Nazi propaganda." The Democratic Underground Web site listed Mrs. DeBrecht as one of its "Top 10 Conservative Idiots" last month. "If ever there...

President Bush's push to give the military a bigger role in responding to major disasters like Hurricane Katrina could lead to a loosening of legal limits on the use of federal troops on U.S. soil. Pentagon officials are reviewing that possibility, and some in Congress agree it needs to be considered. Bush did not define the wider role he envisions for the military. But in his speech to the nation from New Orleans on Thursday, he alluded to the unmatched ability of federal troops to provide supplies, equipment, communications, transportation and other assets the military lumps under the label of...

Small brain did not stop Hobbit having big ideas By Nic Fleming and Roger Highfield in Dublin (Filed: 08/09/2005) A fossil of a diminutive human nicknamed "the Hobbit" does indeed represent a previously unrecognised species of early Man, according to a new technique that suggests it was a cultured little fellow. Sceptics had argued that the Hobbit, discovered in Indonesia and first announced last year, could have been an individual who suffered from microcephalya, a disorder that limits brain growth. The fossils' discoverers had suggested that the Hobbit was either a pygmy form of a known species or a previously...

Jefferson downplays stop at his New Orleans house By WILL SENTELL wsentell@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau During a National Guard-led tour of his hurricane-ravished district, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson asked to stop at his New Orleans home, a guard spokesman said Wednesday. Lt. Col. Pete Schneider, public affairs officer for the Louisiana National Guard, told news reporters that the guard was assisting Jefferson in his check of damage Sept. 2, four days after Hurricane Katrina struck. Guardsmen were getting around the Democrat's congressional district in a truck designed to navigate the high waters that crippled the New Orleans area for days...

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran will never again suspend conversion of uranium ore, but it is willing to pursue talks with the European Union about its uranium enrichment program, Tehran officials said Sunday. A spokesman also notched up the rhetorical battle with Washington, declaring that Iranians have the means to defend themselves should President Bush act on his warning that military force could be a final option if Iran doesn't halt its nuclear program. The comments came as Iran's new president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, nominated hard-liners for all his key ministries, signaling the likelihood of an intensified confrontation with the United States...

Senator vows to try to stop China-Unocal deal By Richard Cowan 2 hours, 42 minutes ago A Democratic senator said on July 15 he would try to get the Senate to pass legislation blocking the sale of Unocal to Chinese oil company CNOOC as it was against U.S. national interests. Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota said he was considering attaching his proposal to a foreign operations spending bill being debated by the Senate on July 15 and next week or to another bill. An aide delivers a message to Senator Dorgan (R) at the start of a hearing, November...

TUCSON, Ariz. (July 11) - A high school in Vail will become the state's first all-wireless, all-laptop public school this fall. The 350 students at the school will not have traditional textbooks. Instead, they will use electronic and online articles as part of more traditional teacher lesson plans. Vail Unified School District's decision to go with an all-electronic school is rare, experts say. Often, cost, insecurity, ignorance and institutional constraints prevent schools from making the leap away from paper. ''The efforts are very sporadic,'' said Mark Schneiderman, director of education policy for the Software and Information Industry Association. ''A minority...

BEIJING (AP) - China on Tuesday demanded that Congress "correct its mistaken ways" and stop interfering in the proposed takeover of the Unocal oil corporation by China's state-owned CNOOC Ltd. American politicians had warned the $18.5 billion takeover bid announced last month could pose risks to U.S. national security and called for a full review by the Bush administration. The Chinese company's officials have welcomed a security review and denied that CNOOC was acting on behalf of China's government, which is in the midst of a multibillion-dollar campaign to secure foreign oil and gas supplies to power its booming economy....

In the noble tradition of De clunibus magnis amandis oratio (Baby Got Back), I bring you: Gelu, O Gelu, CaraVANILLÆ GELUS doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo-doo doo doo doo, doo-doo-doo-doo... Etenim, siste, me iuva, auscultaque (Indeed: Halt, aid me, and take heed) Gelu redivit cum inventione novissima (Frost has returned with a very new invention) Nescioquid me constringit (Something constrains me) Fluo ceu hasta baleanarum necandarum noctu et quotidie (I flow in the manner of a whale-killing spear daily and by night) Umquam hoc desistetne? Ego dubito. (Shall this ever cease? I myself doubt it.) Lucernis restinctis luceam (When the lamps...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Move over Smokey the Bear. In California, thousands of goats are helping prevent wildfires. From hilly San Francisco to more rural settings, California landowners, business and officials have hired the voracious animals to devour the grass and brush that fuels wildfires. Last year, more than 5,500 fires blackened over 168,000 acres in the most populous U.S. state. "Goats are just another tool in the toolbox for California and we try to use as many tools as possible," California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Michael Jarvis said in an interview last week. Goats are munching...

    Columbia Pictures plans to turn the novel The Da Vinci Code into a major Hollywood movie.... and lots of people have sent me emails urging me to do something about it.     I agree. We do need to do something. That’s why I am launching a national e-protest to stop this book from becoming a movie. And you can participate by sending your protest e-message to Columbia Pictures. Click here.     This is what people will see if we fail to stop The Da Vinci Code:     • Jesus and Saint Mary Magdalene married.... with children…     • Saint Mary Magdalene as the first...

The first thought screen helmets were made in 1998 and used aluminum foil. They were sent to an investigator in Iowa. The investigator reported that one user tried it for a short time with no results. Afterwards, the investigator could not be reached and the whereabouts of the helmets are unknown. About 8 thought screens were made in early 1999 using a metalized plastic which is used in static shielding bags. Six users reported success but two users were overcome by telepathic commands from the aliens, removed the helmets and were taken. From 1999 to 2004 about 50 people abducted...

Mystery Object Encountered By Russian Phobos Spacecraft by Tom Van Flandern, Astronomer Meta Research Martian moon Phobos and "Phobos Mystery Object", photographed in 1989 by a Russian spacecraft not long before all contact was lost. March 15, 1992 was the cover date on the first issue of a new astronomy research publication, the Meta Research Bulletin (MRB). Its purpose was to draw attention to deserving astronomy findings and ideas ignored solely because they did not fit well into mainstream models of the field. Such mainstream models include the Big Bang, the primeval Destination: Space nebula, the Oort cloud, and the...

That's all I have so far.

The case of Terri Schiavo has been riveting public opinion for some time now. However, recent events have forced the issue into the foreground. Terri’s time may be running out. If her husband, Michael, has things his way, Terri’s feeding tube will be wrenched from her on Friday, February 25 at 5:00 pm, resulting in her starvation and death. Right now, Terri’s parents are praying and fighting in court to keep her alive. The American TFP is part of a groundswell of reaction and is petitioning Gov. Jeb Bush and others to intervene. Catholic teaching is very clear on the...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - It's time for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to knock off the jokes from his old movies, get off the campaign stump, and start negotiating with lawmakers over what seems to be an inevitable special election this fall on issues as sweeping as redistricting and public pension reform, the Assembly's top Democrat said Tuesday. "The time for name-calling and bad jokes is over," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, referring to the actor-turned-governor who last year labeled lawmakers "girlie-men" when they failed to do his bidding. Schwarzenegger's spokeswoman Margita Thompson responded that, "The speaker is an emblem for...

How does a registered forum member go about closing out/canceling their registration? Although I wasn't here much I am spending to much time online and I no longer wish to post anywhere on the net so I need to know how to do this?

WASHINGTON - The Federal Trade Commission said Tuesday it won a court order to shut down illegal advertising for six companies accused of profiting from thousands of X-rated e-mails directing people to their online pornography sites in the government's first legal case involving adult Internet spam. A federal judge in Las Vegas on Jan. 5 granted the commission's request for a restraining order against the companies, their executives and an affiliate for allegedly violating federal laws governing commercial electronic mail, commonly known as spam. The FTC on Tuesday will seek a permanent injunction shutting down the network's illegal e-mail ads....

If Ritter had been successful, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein could still be in power threatening his neighbors and the U.S. and rebuilding his capability for producing weapons of mass destruction with money stolen from the corrupt U.N. oil-for-food program. The Plan Unfolds The evidence shows some interest in the Ritter plan by former President Jimmy Carter and former Soviet dictator Mikhail Gorbachev—and support by Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. But were the media secretly supporting the ploy? Ritter says famed investigative journalist Seymour Hersh kept it confidential. Another key question: Was the leak of an Internet sex sting involving Ritter an...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center will stop using police officers to subdue agitated psychiatric patients, responding to threats from federal regulators to pull the hospital's funding. Last week, the hospital received its second warning in six months about Los Angeles County police using Taser stun guns to stop aggressive mental patients. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said the county-owned hospital was putting patients in "immediate jeopardy" by not first trying less extreme methods. Hospital officials told the Medicare agency on Wednesday that they would begin replacing police with mental health workers to...

DALLAS (AP) - Blockbuster Inc., the world's largest video rental chain, said Tuesday that as of Jan. 1, 2005, the company won't charge late fees on any movie or game rental at its more than 4,500 company-operated and franchised stores in the United States. Under the ``no late fees'' program, a customer has one week to return games and two days or one week for movies. Also, Blockbuster will give customers a one-week grace period at no additional charge. After that, Blockbuster will automatically sell them the product, minus the rental fee, or customers can return the product within 30...

Ukraine judges stop president taking office and launch election inquiry By Julius Strauss in Kiev and Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in The Hague (Filed: 26/11/2004) Ukraine's supreme court last night blocked the inauguration as head of state of Viktor Yanukovich, the pro-Moscow presidential candidate. The decision appeared to turn the tide in favour of the opposition challenging the validity of the presidential election last weekend. Viktor Yushchenko: 'This is only the beginning' The country's most senior judges also announced that they would review allegations that the results that gave Mr Yanukovich victory were falsified. The court will begin hearing the case on...

today's joke... brought to you by www.iowapresidentialwatch.com  

Emergency Communiqué to all Brother Knights and Pro-Life friends:Print Friendly First I want to say thanks and God bless each of you who helped get out the Vote on Nov 2. But now the Pro-Life advances we have made are in great peril. Your immediate assistance is needed and will take just a few minutes of your time. We can stop this disaster from crippling the future prospects of ending the Holocaust of abortion—but only if enough of us participate. Senator Arlen Specter is in line to become the next chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter is an...

We Want a Strong Leader on the Senate Judiciary Committee The reelection of President George W. Bush and the increase of 4 Republican seats in the Senate offer Republicans an opportunity to have judicial nominees approved by the full Senate. Self-proclaimed moderate Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) is in line to become chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Specter helped kill President Reagan's nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court and that of Jeff Sessions to a federal judgeship. On November 3, Sen. Specter issued the following blunt warning to the president concerning judicial nominees. "When you talk about judges...

National Right to Life URGENT CONGRESSIONAL ALERT This is an urgent congressional alert from National Right to Life in Washington, D.C., issued Friday, November 5, 2004, at 3 p.m. ET. For updates, go to our website at http://www.nrlc.org. Please forward this e-mail to any appropriate lists! Help Prevent Arlen Specter From Becoming Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee! It is likely that President Bush will have the opportunity to nominate two or more justices of the U.S. Supreme Court during the next four years. Pro-abortion advocacy groups are vowing to do everything in their power to block the President's nominees...

An 18-year-old female Palestinian suicide bomber blew herself up near a crowded bus station in Jerusalem Wednesday afternoon killing two border policemen and wounding 16 other civilians, including four seriously, police and rescue officials said. The explosion occurred at 3:40 p.m. at the city's northern French Hill intersection when Zeina Issa Abu Salem, from the Askar refugee camp in Nablus, blew up the 5kg explosive device in her possession. The French Hill intersection has been the scene of repeated bombings over four years of violence. The border policemen were identified as Mamoya Tahio, 20 from Rehovot and Menachem Komeni, 19,...

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today, has called the Sudanese rampage against Black Africans a “genocide:” We concluded that genocide has been committed in Darfur and that the government of Sudan and the Janjaweed [Arab militia] bear responsibility and genocide may still be occurring. The Sudanese government has been sponsoring a campaign of mass rape, mass murder, forced relocations, and forced starvation against Black Africans in Darfur. The BBC today tried to spin the usual “the U.S. is damned if it does and damned if it doesn’t” argument today: Critics point out...

<p>Billboards, posters and drink coasters will deliver a state campaign to try to dissuade older men from having sex with underage girls.</p> <p>The Health Department will bring the campaign to Northern Virginia, Richmond and Roanoke this month and next. The campaign is modeled on a pilot project that ran last July in Hampton Roads, which the department deemed a success.</p>

90 days to stop another disaster in Africa Unfolding crisis in Sudan could see 300,000 deaths Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor Saturday June 5, 2004 The Guardian (UK) A huge operation to tackle the world's worst unfolding humanitarian crisis will swing into action today following a warning that up to 300,000 people in Sudan could die within months even if essential aid gets through. The United Nations will launch a 90-day emergency programme after securing promises of funds from the US and other countries at a conference in Geneva. The UN yesterday described a developing catastrophe in the region of Darfur...

'Burying the mummy will stop the earthquakes' April 01 2004 at 06:33AM Moscow - Residents of Russia's Altai region say that a 25-century-old mummy that was dug up 11 years ago is causing earthquakes in their corner of Siberia and have demanded that it be reburied. "We must calm people down and bury the Altai Princess," which is being studied by researchers at an institute 600km away, said Aulkhan Jatkambayev, the administration chief in the area where the mummy was discovered. "We are having tremors two or three times a week, sometimes measuring up to four (on the Richter scale)....

Muslims: we are the new victims of stop and search Police accused of misusing anti-terror powers Rosie Cowan and Alan Travis Monday March 29, 2004 The Guardian (UK) British Muslims claim they are being victimised by police who, they say, are using their powers of stop and search to harass them in the climate of fear over terrorist attacks. Lawyers and groups representing the Islamic community say they are receiving a growing number of complaints from people who have never been in trouble with the police but who report being stopped in the street or in their cars, or having...

Sex, Lies, and... If a college professor graded Hil-LIAR-y's latest book, the grade should be......"INCOMPLETE!." It seems that this 'tell-all' memoir leaves out a few details that the American people deserve to know. For instance: TRAVELGATE: Hil-LIAR-y, along with David Watkins, moved to oust the White House travel office in favor of World Wide Travel, Clinton’s source of $1 million in fly-now-pay-later campaign trips. The White House fired seven long-term employees for alleged mismanagement and kickbacks. The director, Billy Dale, was viciously and wrongly charged with embezzlement, and was acquitted in less than two hours by a jury. The American...

Stop this witchhunt, senior staff warn BBC governors BY Chris Hastings, Media Correspondent (Filed: 29/02/2004) Some of the BBC's most senior broadcasters are threatening a revolt over the corporation's handling of the fall-out from the Hutton report. Leading figures, including Jeremy Paxman, the Newsnight presenter, Andrew Marr the BBC's political editor, John Humphrys, the Radio 4 Today programme presenter, and John Simpson, the world affairs editor, are furious that the BBC has decided to begin an investigation into the conduct of several of their colleagues that could lead to disciplinary action.They have likened the investigation, which is being conducted by...

Slovakian troops sent in to stop gipsy riots By Francis Harris in Prague (Filed: 26/02/2004) Slovakian troops were deployed on the streets yesterday for the first time since the fall of communism to stop looting by Roma gipsies protesting against welfare cuts. Thousands of police backed by 2,000 soldiers in the ghetto towns of eastern Slovakia appeared to have temporarily ended attacks by mobs forcing their way into food shops. Near 100 per cent unemployment has brought thousands of Roma gypsies out on the streets The rioting was the most serious social disturbance in the young democracy, forcing the authorities...

Source: Sandia National Laboratories Date: 2004-02-05 Sandia-developed Foam Likely Would Stop SARS Virus Quickly, Sandia/Kansas State Team Shows ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Researchers at the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration's Sandia National Laboratories and Kansas State University have shown that chemical formulations previously developed at Sandia to decontaminate chemical and biological warfare agents are likely effective at killing the virus that causes Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). Cecilia Williams (left) and Jill Bieker, two members of the Sandia/K-State research team, inject Sandia’s decontamination formulation into a flask containing a surrogate of the SARS virus. The team has demonstrated the formulation’s ability...

"Stunning Reversal:" Ford Foundation Agrees to StopFunding Anti-Israeli and Anti-Semitic Groups By Andrew L. Jaffee, November 21, 2003 Home   Search   Forum   Terms Because of pressure by a coalition of U.S. Jewsish groups and members of Congress, the Ford Foundation has agreed to stop funding anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic groups. The Foundation's activities contradicted its self-stated principles to "reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement". The organization at first denied charges it funded anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic groups. But Ford changed its tune after the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) published a series of articles exposing the Foundation's activities,...

<p>The 64-34 roll call by which the Senate voted to ban partial-birth abortion.</p>

Unsatisfied with its $390 million annual grant from Congress, PBS has begun interrupting Sesame Street reruns and documentaries on Armenian culture to continue its relentless pursuit for private donations. This year's efforts have been particularly intense, given the cost of complying with the Federal Communications Commission's requirement that stations convert to a digital broadcasting format. Congress provided an additional $48.7 million to aid that transition, but public broadcasting officials have estimated the conversion's total price tag at nearly $1.7 billion.

GRINNELL, Iowa (AP) -- Cars on both lanes of Interstate 80 stopped to weather a swirling blizzard, but it wasn't snow. It was cash. An eastbound armored truck somehow lost its load Tuesday night, sending money into the wind. Cars in both lanes stopped and tried to help recover the money. The truck crew realized the money was missing near a rest stop, said Lt. Rob Hansen, a spokesman for the Iowa State Patrol. "They knew they lost it and stopped immediately and attempted to retrieve it," Hansen said. "They don't know how or why (it was lost)." Officers stopped...

Most people vaccinated against smallpox decades ago still have some protection against the disease, according to a new study that supports the growing belief that the U.S. may be less vulnerable to a terrorist attack with the deadly virus than experts once feared. Some researchers doubt that vaccines given before 1972, when the U.S. stopped routine smallpox vaccination, still impart immunity, but even those who question the long-term effectiveness of the vaccine now say a return of smallpox would be unlikely to spark an epidemic. They cite the millions of vaccine doses the U.S. has stockpiled since 2001, intense efforts...

Time goes on for others, but our time has stopped. Words cannot explain the total devastation of our world ... -- from a poem by Katrina Nash's parents The last time Dottie Nash saw her daughter, the 15-year-old girl was on an Olympia hospital bed, trembling and twitching from a sudden onset of acute psychosis. Reluctantly, the worried mother agreed to leave the room only after nurses promised to watch the girl. But they didn't, court records say, and Katrina Nash ran away -- never to be seen again. Now, seven years later, the state Court of Appeals has told...

<p>Make no mistake about it: The lawsuit filed by Gov. Gray Davis' allies against the attempt to recall the governor is meant to slow the process and ensure that the inevitable election is held later rather than sooner.</p> <p>The recall campaign has collected more than 1.7 million signatures, nearly twice the required minimum of 897,000. And the county officials who have begun to verify them are finding an unusually high rate of accuracy. The Californians who signed the petitions are who they say they are, in other words, and they are registered to vote. There will be an election.</p>