Free Republic

Blessed with a nest egg of nearly $1.5 million, a Woodland Hills parish donated almost all of it, leaving just $1,000 in its savings account. An Encino church offered a $100,000 interest-free loan. And a Boyle Heights parish decided it could spare $500 after ruling out the idea of raising money with tamale sales. With gifts large and small, parishes across the sprawling Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles are answering an appeal from Cardinal Roger M. Mahony to help the archdiocese dig out of the financial hole resulting from its multimillion-dollar legal settlements with victims of clergy sexual abuse...

Rush Limbaugh:Referred to as "The new face of Fascis" Denver-- Following Rush Limbaugh's broadcast calling for violent riots in Denver, city officials issue a warrant for his arrest. Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper called Limbaugh a "dangerous domestic terrorist" that should be locked up. No stranger to controversy talk show host Rush Limbaugh made comments calling for riots in Denver during the Democratic National Convention this summer. As part of his "Operation Chaos" Limbaugh is expecting Republican rioters to burn cars, burn houses and kill children. "Riots in Denver, the Democrat Convention would see to it that we don't elect Democrats,"...

Taking the advice of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's top planning appointee, a Valley Village woman has sued the city over a new rule that allows developers to build taller, bulkier buildings if they include affordable units. Last month, city Planning Commission President Jane Ellison Usher sent an e-mail to community groups, criticizing the recently adopted density bonus ordinance and laying out a legal strategy to challenge it. On Thursday, homeowner Sandy Hubbard filed the first lawsuit using Usher's suggestions. A group of home and business owners is also considering a lawsuit. Usher and community groups have complained that the density bonus...

The New Hampshire Union-Leader has a new term for Granite State voters who gave Hillary Clinton her surprise victory over Barack Obama: suckers. In a scalding editorial, the state's most significant newspaper rips Hillary for breaking a pledge she signed in New Hampshire not to campaign in states that broke the scheduling rules or to seek to have their delegates seated. They bluntly call her a liar: COURTING VOTERS in Iowa and New Hampshire, last August Sen. Hillary Clinton signed a pledge not to "campaign or participate" in the Michigan or Florida Democratic primaries. She participated in both primaries and...

Fred Thompson quits presidential race Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states. "Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement. Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win. In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any...

Feeling guilty about the amount of carbon dioxide your upcoming flight will pump into the atmosphere? Soon you might be able to fork over some extra cash at Denver International Airport to invest in projects intended to help negate your share of the environmental damage caused by air travel. DIA is looking to become one of the first airports in the nation to offer passengers the ability to buy carbon offsets in its concourses. The offsets would pay for renewable energy and power-saving projects that help cut down on greenhouse gas emissions. The airport is soliciting proposals from companies interested...

MAKKAH, 30 December 2006 — Consider it the “drive-thru window” of the Haj for Muslims on the go. According to various Haj tour operators, known as tawafa organizations, a new Haj Express service is increasingly popular for busy, blue-collar Muslims with limited vacation time to fulfill their duty to God. Haj Express offers five-day packages, which offers a quick in-and-out option for those that don’t have a couple of weeks to spare looking at historical sites and buying Islamic kitsch as gifts for friends back home. Yasin Mahmoud, an Egyptian Haj operator, said the new service has been popular with...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Jill Cody used to feel guilty whenever she drove her car or flew on an airplane. She worried about pumping heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and contributing to global warming. But the San Jose professor found a way to ease her conscience. She paid a San Francisco company called TerraPass to offset emissions from her car and air travel by investing in wind power and reducing farm pollution. "I'm part of the solution, not the problem," said Cody, who sports a TerraPass decal on the decade-old Lexus she drives about 6,000 miles a year. "Now...

Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin yesterday tried to rally support among black Democrats in Prince George's County, while Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele campaigned with county Democratic leaders who broke ranks this week to endorse him. Mr. Cardin appeared with Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson and about 30 other lawmakers in Hyattsville, aiming to keep a diminishing lead in the polls. In his first public show of support for Mr. Cardin, Mr. Johnson ... But the rally turned sour later. State Sen. Nathaniel Exum, Prince George's Democrat, berated Mr. Cardin for excluding him and other local delegates from speaking...

Suicide bombers follow Quran, concludes Pentagon briefing Tasked with pinpointing motivation, analysts find terrorists 'rational actors' following 'holy book' Posted: September 27, 2006 © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com With suicide bombings spreading from Iraq to Afghanistan, the Pentagon has tasked intelligence analysts to pinpoint what's driving Muslim after Muslim to do the unthinkable. Their preliminary finding is politically explosive: it's their "holy book" the Quran after all, according to intelligence briefings obtained by WND. In public, the U.S. government has made an effort to avoid linking the terrorist threat to Islam and the Quran while dismissing suicide terrorists as crazed heretics who...

CANTON, Ohio - A widow rented a rotary dial telephone for 42 years, paying what her family calculates as more than $14,000 for a now outdated phone. Ester Strogen, 82, of Canton, first leased two black rotary phones — the kind whose round dial is moved manually with your finger — in the 1960s. Back then, the technology was new and owning telephones was unaffordable for most people. Until two months ago, Strogen was still paying AT&T to use the phones — $29.10 a month. Strogen's granddaughters, Melissa Howell and Barb Gordon, ended the arrangement when they discovered the bills....

CHICAGO, Illinois -- Living in Boston these past two years I have had many opportunities to visit the Old Granary Burying Ground, where several Boston Massacre victims are enjoying their final rest alongside John Hancock, Paul Revere and Samuel Adams. During my sole semester in the Emerson College Master's program last fall, these little forays became a near daily ritual. At this point I have tagged along on more of the free tours of the graveyard than I can count. In all that time, however, I don't believe I ever heard as much talk of Samuel Adams as I did...

Another name for lollipop by Mychal Massie There's a stench in the air that's covering the countryside. It isn't from farmers spreading manure as fertilizer. It isn't from factories, exhaust emissions or municipal landfills. The stench is the flatulence being produced from the decadent character of those who will say anything and promise anything to get elected or re-elected to national office. It's election time, and the landscape is littered with those who think you are dumb enough to believe whatever they say are the problems, believe whatever they claim it takes to address said problems, and that they are...

op stars donated to Sen. Hillary Clinton By DEVLIN BARRETT, Associated Press Writer 32 minutes ago If Hollywood has a "DaVinci Code," Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has cracked it. Top stars such as Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson donated to the New York senator in recent months, generating the kind of cash usually associated with a major box office opening — or a potential presidential bid in 2008. Clinton, who doesn't face much of a challenge in her re-election, received $4,200 from "The DaVinci Code" star Hanks, the Academy Award-winning actor, and his wife, Rita Wilson. The...

A former Republican congressman narrowly beat his Democratic rival early Wednesday for the right to fill the House seat once held by imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a race closely watched as a possible early barometer of next fall's vote. Republican Brian Bilbray emerged victorious after a costly and contentious race against Democrat Francine Busby, a local school board member who ran against Cunningham in 2004. With 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bilbray had 56,016 votes or 49.5 percent. Busby trailed with 51,202 votes or 45 percent. "I think that we're going back to Washington," Bilbray told a cheering crowd of...

WASHINGTON Bush III? Or has the dynasty run its course? Those are the questions some Republicans are asking themselves as political talk bubbles up yet again about President George W. Bush's brother, Governor Jeb Bush of Florida, and his interest in the White House. The chief driver of the mini-buzz is the current occupant of the White House, who has said twice this month that his younger brother would make "a great president." No one is suggesting, the president included, that the younger Bush will run in 2008, and Governor Bush, whose second term is up at the end of...

Seventh day adherents might just ponder that they resolutely hold to the day which was a main mark of the Old Covenant, identifying God's Old Covenant people who placed their trust in the sufficiency of that particular covenant to save them. The Christian, on the other hand, prefers to be associated with the Day of the Lord which identifies them as followers of Jesus Christ whom they look to as Saviour, Lord and Master - and who is fully sufficient for salvation. Despite all of the above, if Christians prefer to assemble on the seventh day (Saturday) they do no...

Polls: Citizens losing sympathy for illegal immigrants By Laura Crimaldi Monday, May 1, 2006 New national polls show Americans are feeling less sympathy toward undocumented workers and have serious doubts the government can fix the country’s massive immigration problem. Recent Zogby International polls show the immigration protests in March left three in five adults feeling less compassionate toward undocumented workers. Even 46 percent of the Hispanic respondents said they are less likely to be sympathetic to the cause of immigrants as a result of the protests. The Zogby poll also shows 18 percent of respondents believe Congress and President Bush...

<p>Legal, good. Illegal, bad. That's the whole immigration mess summed up.</p> <p>I know I'm vastly over-simplifying things here, but I think it's time we see this issue for what it is: more heat than substance. The heat is that somehow a nation concerned with its borders has forgotten its past. It hasn't.</p>

OMAHA, Neb. -- A product claims it will give red-light cameras a run for your citation money, but does it work? Is it legal? Television station KETV tested Photoblocker, which Monte Bowman plans to start selling in Council Bluffs, Neb., on Tuesday. It's a product that's supposed to make a car's license plate invisible to red-light cameras. That city has seven cameras mounted at five intersections. If a car runs a red light, a flash goes off and the camera takes a picture of the license plate. Then, the vehicle's owner gets a $65 ticket in the mail, regardless of...

CURSES FOILED AGAIN FOR STERN By DON KAPLAN Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps. High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks, The Post has learned. “It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said. Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program which he already has done.

EVRY, France (AP) - Prostrating himself and touching his forehead to the ground, Mathieu Pawlak put his demons to rest. Once a practicing Catholic tormented by a spiritual void and the searching questions of youth, Pawlak embraced Islam and, he says, found peace. "I'm the same on the outside, but inside everything has changed," said the 25-year-old restaurant cook who converted 4 1/2 years ago. He took a Muslim name, Abderrahman, and last year married a Muslim woman who cloaks herself in a dark veil. "I found the way that Muslims pray to be truly profound. It links the body...

I've come to see the pork chop. "Here it is," says Kevin Goodman, 43, as he reaches amid the coffee-table clutter in his Boca Raton apartment, presenting me a plastic bag with a cooked pork chop in it. "Looks like a dog," I confirm. The item in question is officially called "Smiling Pork Chop Dog," and in the plethora of weird items for sale on eBay, the online auction site, it has managed to rise in the ranks of the bizarre. This is no easy feat, considering that the dog head of pork is competing against a shower drain hair...

BEIJING (AP) - A Chinese general said Beijing might respond with nuclear weapons if the United States attacked China in a conflict over Taiwan, news reports said Friday. While the general has no policy-making role in China, his comments could add to tensions with Washington at a time of U.S. worries about China's military buildup and the proposed takeover of the oil company Unocal Corp. by a Chinese state-run company. "If the Americans draw their missiles and position-guided ammunition into the target zone on China's territory, I think we will have to respond with nuclear weapons," Maj.-Gen. Zhu Chenghu, a...

Nine percent of U.S. Internet users have lost money on e-mail scams, according to a survey of 791 users conducted by market research firm The Radicati Group. The study was conducted online in April and commissioned by Mirapoint, a vendor of e-mail appliances that block spam and viruses. "We didn't expect it to be nine percent, we expected it to be a lot lower than that," says Marcel Nienhuis, a senior analyst with Radicati. Nienhuis defines an e-mail scam as "any e-mail whose intent is to trick somebody out of money." The survey, however, left it up to respondents to...

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade surplus for June swelled five-fold from a year earlier as exports grew much faster than imports, offering more ammunition for foreign critics who argue that Beijing should let the yuan rise in value. The June surplus grew to $9.68 billion, exceeding forecasts of $8.0 billion and towering above the $1.8 billion surplus recorded for June 2004.

IN 1913, THE ARRIVAL IN AMERICA of a simple idea drastically revolutionized the Art World. The occasion was the Armory Show in New York, the first exhibition of Modern Art in this country, and the simple idea was this: The proper role of the artist is to express himself. That was utterly new. It turned all the preceding centuries of Art History on their head. Fast-forward to the end of the same century: that same simple idea, that the proper role of the artist is to express himself or herself, was being taught as gospel in virtually every college...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want to go back to this Hillary Clinton (news| website) and Newt Gingrich website) relationship here and give you three sound bites to put this in perspective. Newt has been making some appearances on the media to explain himself. Among other things he's saying is, "Hey, look. I mean if we can't put differences from ten years ago aside move forward jointly, there's not much hope for the country." I understand. Both Hillary and Newt want to be seen as unifiers because the country here is "a partisan cesspool." It's just constantly divided. It's getting worse...

With the help of a dime-size adhesive tag on a vehicle's windshield and cutting-edge technology that detractors equate with Big Brother, police soon could track Texas cars and trucks — if a legislator's bill makes it into law. Though the bill hasn't made it out of the Texas House of Representatives' Transportation Committee, it already has generated outrage among technophiles and privacy advocates who believe the technology, once introduced, will creep into other law enforcement areas. "Why don't they just tag us like cattle and be done with it?" said Scott Henson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Texas...

Former national security advisor Sandy Berger wasn't trying to conceal information when he stuffed five copies of a top secret terrorism report in his pants and socks during two trips to the National Archives in 2003 - before taking the documents home and cutting three of the copies "into small pieces." That was the claim yestderday of Noel Hillman, chief of the Justice Department's public integrity section, as he tried to explain to Washington, D.C. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson why Berger should be let off the hook with a minor fine and no jailtime. Story Continues Below Berger "did not...

You can find candles with just about every fragrance imaginable, from blueberry to ocean mist to hot apple pie. Now there's a candle that lets you experience the scent of Jesus, and they've been selling out by the case. "We see it as a ministry, " says Bob Tosterud, who together with his wife came up with the idea for the candle. Light up the candle called "His Essence" and its makers say you'll experience the fragrance of Christ. Bob Tosterud and wife Karen say the formula is all spelled out in Psalm 45. "It's a Messianic Psalm referring to...

A few years ago, a Houston, Texas, woman went with her mother to a Benny Hinn crusade. Her mother was suffering from lung cancer and hoped to be healed by Hinn – and she got her chance, even being allowed to go on stage in front of thousands and be healed. At least, that's what she thought. The mother gave hundreds of dollars to Benny Hinn's organization and quit taking her medication. Soon after the crusade, she was dead – another of "faith-healer" Benny Hinn's followers gone. Of course, the initial thought when someone sees the extravagant crusades of Hinn...

Thirty-five Greenpeace (search) protesters got more than they may have bargained for when they stormed the International Petroleum Exchange in London on Wednesday. According to "The Times" of London, they slipped into a closing door and then roared onto the trading floor, blowing whistles and sounding foghorns. They were hoping to paralyze oil trading at the exchange. But the traders, most of them under 25 years old, rushed the protesters, pushing filing cabinets on top of them and kicking and punching them until they retreated. Twenty-seven protesters were arrested. Two were hospitalized, one with a broken jaw and the other...

Science Fiction Authors Hoax Vanity Publisher "Atlanta Nights," by Travis Tea, was offered a publishing contract by PublishAmerica of Frederick, Maryland. Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 28, 2005 -- Over a holiday weekend last year, some thirty-odd science fiction writers banged out a chapter or two apiece of "Atlanta Nights," a novel about hot times in Atlanta high society. Their objective: to write a deeply awful novel to submit to PublishAmerica, a self-described "traditional publisher" located in Frederick, Maryland. The project began after PublishAmerica posted an attack on science fiction authors at one of its websites (http://www.authorsmarket.net/). PublishAmerica claimed "As a...

Sammy Sosa is close to taking his home run hop all the way to Baltimore. The Chicago Cubs are just a few steps away from trading the unhappy slugger to the Orioles, several high-ranking baseball officials told The Associated Press. Medical tests and approval from commissioner Bud Selig and the players' association remain unresolved, the officials said Friday night, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Cubs would pay a substantial part of Sosa's $17 million salary this season, the executives said. In exchange, Chicago would receive second baseman Jerry Hairston Jr. and at least two prospects. Sosa has 574 homers,...

BANGALORE: For three days now, the city has groaned under the weight of the Benny Hinn show. Many of the apparently healed have justified the need for the mega event despite the multitude of problems. But the jury is still out on whether Hinn is a fraud or someone with connections to the Lord. Questions on people's minds regarding Hinn's healing methods and utterances indicate that all may not have been above board. Sample these: Why were only those cured allowed on stage? Colonel Samuel (retd) suffers from immobility of the right side of his body. Hoping for a miracle,...

Jan. 19, 2005 18:20 | Updated Jan. 19, 2005 20:57 Security Cabinet decides to give Abbas a chance By JPOST.COM STAFF Israel will renew security ties with the PA a week after they were cut off, the National Security Cabinet decided Wednesday evening. Throughout the day, close associates of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met with senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem to request cooperation, Army Radio reported. Defense Minister Mofaz agreed to a Palestinian request to allow senior IDF officials from the Southern Command to meet with Palestinian security officials in order to present and coordinate security steps the Palestinians are...

Organizers of President George W. Bush's inauguration are confused by reports Kid Rock has been ousted from the list of performers - because he was "never booked" in the first place. Kid Rock, real name Robert Ritchie, was recently the target of outrage from several conservative groups when it was reported the star might be included in the president's festivities. The Campaign For Children And Families sent out emails to 2.5 million supporters decrying the appearance. But organizers insist the rocker was never set to join Jojo and Hilary Duff as a performer at the January 18 youth concert, which...

SEATTLE -- The day after King County released a list of nearly 900,000 voters who cast ballots Nov. 2, Republicans prodded election officials to explain why the list appeared to have about 3,500 fewer names than the number of votes that were actually tallied. In a response that all but said, "Settle down!" county officials stressed the list was preliminary, noting that records of voters who cast certain write-in ballots and people who wanted their addresses kept confidential still had to be reconciled with election data. King County Election Director Dean Logan said a full, updated list is expected to...

Afghan forces arrested three Americans, including a purported former Green Beret, after raiding a jail they were allegedly running in the Afghan capital and finding prisoners hanging from their feet, officials said Thursday. The U.S. military, facing a widening inquiry into prisoner abuse, quickly distanced itself from the three, who had been posing as American agents before being detained Monday. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Thursday "the U.S. government does not employ or sponsor these men." Afghan officials also dismissed claims by the apparent ringleader, Jonathan K. Idema, that he was a "special adviser" to their security forces, saying...

Suckers hang around restored wetland Monday, November 8, 2004 1:34 PM PST By DYLAN DARLING MODOC POINT - Tiny juvenile suckers foraged this summer in a shallow bog that once served as a cow pasture beside Upper Klamath Lake. The appearance of the endangered fish was particularly rewarding for the Nature Conservancy, which bought the land and breached a dike to let lake water flow in and out of the parcel to create sucker habitat. "It is showing us that if we open up areas, they will use them," said John Crandall, the Klamath Basin fisheries ecologist for the Nature...

Screens accomplish at least one big goalPublished November 7, 2004 The new $16 million fish screens at the headgates on the A Canal apparently have done a job. They had two jobs to do, actually, and while we don't know if they've done both of them, they've certainly done one. In building the fish screens, the federal government has eliminated a source of contention between irrigators on the Klamath Reclamation Project and the Klamath Tribes, to whom the suckers are an important part of their religion and culture, and, historically, as food. Two species of the sucker have come under...

British punters who backed US presidential candidate John Kerry heavily in a rush of bets are anxiously awaiting the election result. Hundreds of thousands of pounds were placed on Kerry to defeat Republican President George Bush as exit polls predicted victory for the Democrat. Ladbrokes spokesman Warren Lush said bookmakers were taking regular £10,000 bets on victory for the challenger. On Tuesday afternoon at 5pm Bush was still favourite to win at 8/11 with John Kerry at even money. But the late betting patterns led to odds on Kerry being slashed to 1/3 and Bush pushed out to 9/4. Mr...

<p>Nothig more yet...</p> <p>CBS NEWS executives have launched an internal investigation into whether its premiere news program 60 MINUTES aired fabricated documents relating to Bush National Guard service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.</p> <p>"The reputation and integrity of the entire news division is at stake, if we are in error, it will be corrected," a top CBS source explained late Thursday.</p>

Clinton book mania explodes on the Web By John Borland CNET News.com June 22, 2004, 3:13 PM PT Just hours after former U.S. president Bill Clinton finished a first round of book-signings for his new memoir, published Tuesday, autographed copies were selling on eBay for $250 and more. Some of those copies hadn't even been signed yet. One St. Paul, Minn., seller named Jason Gabbert, an eBay regular and longtime Clinton fan, promised that his family and he had tickets to next week's Los Angeles book signing and were guaranteed a few autographed copies to sell. "It's amazing the effect...

Clinton Book Lacks Salacious Details Readers Want 9 minutes ago By Mark Egan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Americans waiting to read Bill Clinton's take on the affair with Monica Lewinsky that rocked his presidency must wade through 773 pages of turgid prose to find a recollection remarkably devoid of details. Four-fifths of the way into his memoir "My Life," released on Tuesday by Alfred A. Knopf, the former president recalls his infamous affair with the White House intern. Clinton writes that in 1995, "I'd had an inappropriate encounter with Monica Lewinsky and would do so again on other occasions between...

MIDI - MY LIFE (intro) Got 10 million to write crap that I have called MY LIFE After all, that's become the great Slick Willy way I'll admit that I cheated a few times on my wife Then I'll go and collect my big paycheck today I laughed out loud...while I had been writing MY LIFE I laughed out loud...while I had been writing MY LIFE If you don't go and buy it then Knopf will be so screwed I'm afraid that they're looking at their bankruptcy They are hoping and praying the printing is renewed But I don't...

ENGLAND fans will be allowed to smoke dope before Sunday’s crunch clash with France — to keep them calm. Cops in Lisbon plan to crack down on drunk supporters while turning a blind eye to those spotted puffing on a spliff. Pot-smoking fans have been assured they will not be arrested, cautioned — or even have their drugs confiscated. Last night experts said the Portuguese police’s “Here We Blow” policy would reduce chances of a punch-up between rival fans. Alan Buffry of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance said: “If people are drinking they lose control, if they smoke cannabis they don’t....

Water quality, supply key to Klamath solutions By TAM MOORE Oregon Staff Writercappress@charter.net KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. — The Lost River and shortnosed suckers are tough, long-lived fish native to the Upper Klamath Basin. They’ve been on hard times at least since the 1980s. Sacred to American Indian tribes, once so numerous they supported a commercial “mullet” fishery, the two sucker fish ended up on the Endangered Species List in 1988. Last week after four days of talk about suckers, it appears the ancient fish are far from recovery even as some debate how to measure sucker recovery. In 2004, sucker...