Free Republic

President Barack Obama has held on to his lead over Republican Mitt Romney in the presidential contest in New Mexico, running 9 points ahead of the former Massachusetts governor in a Journal Poll concluded 12 days before the Nov. 6 election. The Democratic president had 50 percent support in the statewide survey of likely voters and those who had already voted, compared with 41 percent backing Romney. Obama picked up 1 percentage point and Romney gained 2 points in the Oct. 23-25 Journal Poll, compared with the Journal Poll conducted Oct. 9-11. Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson had support...

With 60-odd percent of the vote counted in West Virginia's Democratic primary, a man named Keith Judd can make a unique claim. He has won a greater proportion of the vote -- almost 40 percent -- than any other primary candidate running against Barack Obama. Who's Keith Judd? He's prisoner #11593-051, currently serving out a sentence for making threats at the University of New Mexico. In 2008, he caused a minor stir for making the Idaho primary ballot, confounding state officials, who thought they had rules preventing that sort of thing. Unbowed, he ran again this year, delivering FEC reports...

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson is campaigning to win the White House as a Libertarian after receiving scant attention in the Republican presidential race. Johnson easily became the party's presidential nominee at the Libertarian national convention in Las Vegas on Saturday. He hopes to appeal to voters fed up with the traditional two-party system this November. SNIP He won 74 percent of the vote on the first ballot in Las Vegas, an unusual showing of support. SNIP

Missing hiker found with cat in New Mexico forest Published March 10, 2012 ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Snuggling in a blue sleeping bag, Margaret Page and her cat survived 3 1/2 weeks in a rugged New Mexico national forest, even though temperatures dropped below freezing nearly every night. Family members reported her missing Feb 14. But for various reasons, authorities didn't start searching for her until this week. The 41-year-old Page, who has a history of mental illness, was found Wednesday emaciated and malnourished but well-hydrated. Relying on a creek for drinking water, Page and her cat named Miya lived on...

An Albuquerque man says he successfully registered his dog to vote in Bernalillo County. The dog owner said he saw a voter registration booth on the University of New Mexico's campus a few weeks ago and decided to see how easy it would be to register his dog to vote. He said he was trying to expose the problems with the registration system. He said he just received the dog's voter registration card in the mail Wednesday, and it was way too easy. "They should verify. Somebody should have verified this information and somebody should have come out and took...

A New Mexico man who said he was forced to pull his own tooth while in solitary confinement because he was denied access to a dentist has been awarded $22 million due to inhumane treatment by New Mexico's Dona Ana County Jail. Stephen Slevin was arrested in August of 2005 for driving while intoxicated, then thrown in jail for two years. He was in solitary at Dona Ana County Jail for his entire sentence and basically forgotten about and never given a trial, he told NBC station KOB.com Tuesday night. "'[Jail guards were] walking by me every day, watching me...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- Mexico border town mayor and congressional candidate Martin Resendiz was drunk when he signed nine contracts with a California company that is now suing the city for $1 million, according to a deposition in the case. "The day I signed, . I had way too much to drink. It was after 5 p.m. and I signed it (the contracts) and I didn't know what I was signing," Sunland Park, NM, Mayor Martin Resendiz wrote in response to questions from lawyers for the architectural design firm Synthesis+. "My sister had to pick me up."

LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - A 47-year-old man's friends set his prosthetic leg on fire after he lost a drinking bet, causing him to suffer severe burns to his buttocks and lower back. Dona Ana County sheriff's deputies found the man naked on the side of U.S. Route 70 with his prosthetic leg in flames. Deputies learned that the man and his friends were drinking Monday and bet that whoever drank the least would be set on fire. The man told investigators that at six beers, he drank the least, and agreed to let his friends set him on fire.

What goes around comes around -- even for Hollywood snobs and elitists. Big-mouth Hollywood actor Val Kilmer is finding that out in New Mexico, where a number of residents are upset over incendiary remarks the Hollywood pretty boy has made over the years about veterans and rural life in northern New Mexico. Now, they're giving Kilmer a hard time over his efforts to obtain permits needed to turn his sprawling ranch outside Santa Fe into an upscale bed-and-breakfast. What, especially, are the locals so upset about? The Wall Street Journal provides details in an article today, "New Mexico v....

AP) LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - Las Cruces police said a woman has been arrested for allegedly stabbing her ex-husband. Police said a 27-year-old woman was charged with three counts of aggravated battery against a household member and one count of battery. She was being held on $15,000 bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center. The woman's ex-husband was taken to a hospital for treatment of his wounds after the Thursday night altercation.

(Santa Fe New Mexican, The (NM) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 8--A Santa Fe man who says he suffers from electromagnetic sensitivity is suing his next-door neighbor for refusing to turn off her cell phone and other electronic devices. Arthur Firstenberg, who has actively opposed the proliferation of wireless systems in public buildings, claims he has been made homeless by Raphaela Monribot's rejection of his requests. "Within a day of (Monribot) moving in, I began to feel sick when I was in my house," Firstenberg wrote in his affidavit. "(Monribot's) house is located 25 feet from my house. Further, because...

New Mexico finishes at the bottom of the heap in PC Magazine's survey of Internet surf speed. Nevada, Virginia and Pennsylvania are home to the nation's fastest Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and New Mexico, with a Surf Speed of 322 Kbps (kilobits per second), is dead last, according to a new survey just posted on PCMag.com.

Cigar smoke seeps into sandwich shop Customers at a Northeast Heights sandwich shop have been getting a side order of cigar smoke with their meals since a cigar bar moved in next door. The problem began when an adjacent space in the strip mall at Louisiana and Menaul was occupied by the Albuquerque Cigar Club. “We’re losing business due to the smoke because people can’t stand the smoke,” says Renee Thomas, a waitress at The Cheese and Coffee Café. Thomas adds, though, that the owner of the cigar bar has been helpful. “They have tried to cooperate, but anything that...

I know FReepers will show restraint.

The Tijeras Motor Vehicle Division office was closed for several hours Tuesday after allegations surfaced that the office was issuing driver's licenses illegally. The MVD office was opened again on Wednesday, but Bernalillo County sheriff's deputies and state Department of Taxation and Revenue officials continued to investigate. Auditors and investigators from Taxation and Revenue were sent to Tijeras after reports that driver's licenses were being issued improperly to illegal immigrants, MVD spokesman David Harwell said Wednesday.Auditors found records of about 100 driver's licenses issued to illegal immigrants through the Tijeras office, he said. All of the license numbers have been...

When Bill Miera and his peers in the aerospace industry hit the same brick wall in their quest for new business, they knew it was time to knock the wall down. The demolition begins in late August with the launch of the New Mexico Hi-Tech Aerospace Suppliers, a coalition founded by Miera that will include eight local businesses banding together to tap into the aerospace industry. The new group's story is simple: There are plenty of local, high-tech businesses that can meet the aerospace industry's needs, so those in the business of airplanes and space shuttles should set up shop...

A Santa Fe man says he was humiliated and bullied when police raided an Albuquerque gay bathhouse Saturday night to serve a felony arrest warrant for liquor violations. Officers from the Department of Public Safety, state police and the Albuquerque fire marshal's office raided Pride Gym in northwest Albuquerque around 10 p.m. and arrested manager Ron Cordova on suspicion of selling and dispensing alcohol without a liquor license, DPS spokesman Peter Olson said. The DPS Special Investigation Division and local authorities have been cracking down on businesses around New Mexico that are selling alcohol illegally or selling to those who...

I am not certain what the legal ramifications would be in changing Free Republic from donations to a subscription service. It seems to me the switch may be detrimental to legal issues such as copyrights. If that is true I'd appreciate if someone could briefly explain that to me. However if that is not the case here is my suggestion: I have been wondering about this for some time now and have not seen any discussions about it. So I would like to ask: Is it time for Free Republic to become an online subscription service? Currently, the site is...

Fellow Americans, there comes a time every mans life when we must give up ourselves before we are worthy to recieve. There comes a time in this war on terror when in order to protect liberty, we have to give it up in the mean time for safty. That's right folks. Today, Americans have forsaken the creator for the creation and have decided that they would value our "civil liberties" than protecting western civilization and rich white people from the tender mercies of radical Islamic terrorists. Selfish liberals insist and whine that Bush has no right to spy on Americans...

After reading all of the crap that people have been saying regarding Adult Private Social Clubs, I felt that I had to post an article and give my opinion. I am sick and tired of all the religous groups that are saying that there are drugs, prostitution, minors, non-consenting people, and just immoral people at these clubs! First of all, who do these people think they are to decide what is morally right or wrong for me? I believe that I have a good set of morals. I am a law abiding, tax paying citizen, I work full time and...

Been here five years as of today. It's been great fun so far. Thought I'd post a vanity to give everyone an opportunity to mess with me in a centralized location for a change.

Story is from the Alamogordo News, which can't be posted here: http://www.alamogordonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051117/NEWS01/511170304

Yes, I know you were drunk. Must've been. Either drunk or on serious meds and/or you just didn't give much of a damn about anything anyway because you're just one of those people, one of those types who comes lurching around the city like a chunk of numbed pain in your big-ass mid-'80s burgundy car with the white top and chrome bumpers -- an old Cadillac? Monte Carlo? -- early last Sunday morning to wreak casual havoc. Is that about right? Do you remember any of it? Here is what I'm guessing: probably not. Let me tell you what happened,...

Gov. Bill Richardson spoke at a news conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, hours after rumors surfaced that he died in a Virginia plane crash. A plane did crash near Leesburg, Va., on Wednesday morning, killing the two people on board. Rumors quickly surfaced that Richardson was one of those two. Television stations along the East Coast ­joined television networks in trying to confirm the rumors, calling the governor’s office – which answered 20 calls in an hour. “We had to convince them seriously that he’s fine,” said Richardson spokesperson Pahl Shipley, who said he told them, “We just got...

Give me one reason why "judicial extraordinaire" Harriet Miers is qualified to sit on the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court. One.

OK, let it all out. What's eating you. Why are you angry? Who has mad you mad?

It's time for politicians to protect the film industry and implement stiff anti-piracy laws. According to the Motion Picture Association of America, "pirates are costing the film industry billions of dollars each year." Thank you, J. Scott Davis

ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - A 24-year-old dental student who sent a note and a wad of bubble gum with her fine for a speeding ticket has been found not guilty of two felony counts of mailing a threat. A federal jury on Wednesday found Rosemary Ho of Phoenix not guilty following a two-day trial and a few hours of deliberation. Ho was accused of mailing a note to the Santa Fe Motor Vehicle Division office in 2003 that read, “Caution: Touch at your own risk or use gloves. Ha-ha.” The word “caution” was highlighted in pink. The letter also contained an...