Free Republic

Metal band Voidgazer's vocalist, and fellow beer swilling anti-Jihadist Kevin Montavon has just forwarded me a copy of an article from the Faith & Values section of the October 7, 2005 edition of the Columbus Dispatch entitled 'Islam’s Outreach,' written by Felix Hoover. The piece is well written, and offers details into the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The column thoroughly describes an interfaith gathering, including 'future leaders of Ohio farm and food industries', who visited 'Congregation Tifereth Israel' for an overview of Judaism, before heading to an Islamic center for 'an overview of Islam,' conducted by Abdonasser Abdouni, 'acting...

Fast-food restaurants hungry for workers One store offering $6,000 'signing bonus' By Keith Darc - Business writer A cutthroat, post-hurricane labor market has sent wages skyrocketing in the fast-food industry and prompted some of the New Orleans region's biggest chains to offer workers thousands of dollars in signing bonuses, perks typically associated with higher-paying white-collar jobs. Burger King recruiters have been visiting federal disaster recovery centers and newly reopened high schools offering a $6,000 bonus, paid in monthly installments, to anyone promising to work full-time at a metropolitan New Orleans restaurant for at least a year. New part-time workers are...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Monday called off a high alert for the city's subway system after the attack date cited in a federal warning passed without incident. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security had warned New York officials of a possible threat to New York's underground mass transit system on or about October 9, based on an uncorroborated claim to Iraqi authorities. Federal authorities had said the threat was of doubtful credibility but Bloomberg said it was serious enough to warn the public. "Since the period of the threat now seems to be...

ARLINGTON, Va. - The man with the video camera might take the subway, hoping that police who check passengers' bags won't notice that this particular piece of electronics actually is rigged with explosives. The second bomber might be lurking outside the nearest subway station, waiting for police and paramedics to respond to the underground disaster - and waiting for his chance to rush in and make it even worse. In the new age of the suicide bomber, hypothetical scenarios abound. When officials on Thursday disclosed a potential threat to the New York City transit system, possibly featuring baby strollers ready...

Martha Stewart Syndrome Days are Approaching... Yes, as fall's crispness begins to touch the air, I begin to nest. My hubby calls it "Martha Stewart Syndrome". Now don't think for a minute that he is upset by this. Rather, there are two times of the year my hubby is downright ecstatic: fall and spring. There's something about crisp mornings that makes me want to paint, clean, cook, bake and all RIGHT NOW! My favorite comedic author, Erma Bombeck, used to get the syndrome as well. She wrote that when she "came to" there was usually oxtail soup on the stove...

Below are the summaries of the interventions: - H. Em. Card. Lubomyr HUSAR, M.S.U., Archbishop Major of, President of the Synodm of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church (Kyiv-Halych, UKRAINE) I believe, first of all, I must express my gratitude to the Secretary General and to the Preparatory Commission who took into account the observations made by the Oriental Churches both in the Lineamenta and in the Instrumentum Laboris. I would like also to intervene on the Eucharistic practice (no. 22. 23. 24) in the Tradition of the Greek Ukrainian catholic Church, but, wanting to focus the present intervention on another problem,...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE - Planning for the upcoming open house on Oct. 22 and 23 is hitting a fever pitch as base officials finalize one of the most diverse air shows to hit the Antelope Valley and Los Angeles area in years. This year there will be just under seven hours of continuous flying featuring nearly 34 separate flight demonstrations; more than triple those of most shows common to southern California. Some highlights include a special performance by aviation legend Chuck Yeager flying a P-51 Mustang, the same type of aircraft Yeager flew when he became an ace in...

Don Stenberg lit a fire under his Senate campaign last week. First came a declaration of conservative principles that disassociated him from the Republican record in Washington and effectively erased any image of him as a rubber stamp for President Bush. Next, Stenberg sent letters to 525 Republican leaders and activists throughout the state addressing the question of “electability” that has been used against him. Stenberg lost an earlier challenge to Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson in 2000. However, it was “the closest U.S. Senate race in Nebraska history,” Stenberg wrote members of the GOP’s governing state central committee, delegates to...

NEW YORK - Arizona Sen. John McCain (news, bio, voting record) is considering a 2008 run for president but says it's unlikely he'd take the No. 2 spot. In an appearance Sunday at a fund-raiser for a local New York candidate, the Republican seemed to humorously rule out ever accepting a vice presidential post. "I spent all those years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, kept in the dark, fed scraps, why the hell would I want to do that all over again?" he said, the New York Daily News reported in Monday editions. McCain, who ran for president in...

So, Mr. Chief Justice, will it be us or them? Given his first case, we'll know soon enough if new Chief Justice John Roberts is with us or them. It's a control case, a who's-in-charge case. Us or them. The people of Oregon -- me and you, 'cept they live there and we live here -- have twice affirmed through referenda that if a mentally-with-it dying person wants to skip the last part, it's OK for the doctor to prescribe and the pharmacist to fill a fatal prescription. The Oregon Legislature, being the servant of the people that it is,...

THE NUMBERS ARE IN! - Final New Orleans death count: 964 French summer heatwave death count: 14,802

CHICAGO (AP) -- Anybody looking for the White Sox Nation is going to need more than a map. For one thing, the team barely owns its own neighborhood. For another, the White Sox don't offer enough tradition, romance, celebrities or even anguish for most tortured souls to latch onto. With the Red Sox shedding their lovable loser tag a year ago, the Cubs have that market cornered in Chicago and beyond. And third, even if there is such a thing as a White Sox nation, it's probably Venezuela. It's one of the few countries south of the city limits where:...

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Miami Gardens, Florida - Elidia Rodriguez of Miami Gardens had been looking for her year-old Siamese cat for two days when her son pointed out the bulging Burmese python slithering in her backyard. Experts say that bulge in the 12-foot snake is probably the missing 15-pound cat. Rodriguez got the cat last year as a post-hurricane gift. She named the cat Frances, after the storm. The snake was spotted in Rodriguez's backyard yesterday. Experts with the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue antivenin unit says Frances wouldn't have stood a chance against the larger predator. The snake was captured and taken to the...

The final count in Poland's presidential election confirmed Monday that the pro-market lawmaker Donald Tusk won more votes than conservative Warsaw Mayor Lech Kaczynski, but fell short of a majority needed for an outright victory in a first round of balloting. Tusk, the smooth-mannered deputy parliament speaker, had 36.3 percent of the votes from Sunday's election, while the outspoken Kaczynski had 33.1 percent. Tusk vowed to next take his campaign to small towns and villages to win over rural voters ahead of the runoff election Oct. 23. The race in the formerly communist country centered on the Europe-wide issue of...

Stephen G. Peroutka, chairman of the board of governors for the National Pro-Life Action Center (NPLAC), issued the following response to President Bush’s nomination of Harriet Miers to replace Justice Sandra Day O’Connor: “Pro-life and pro-family conservatives supported President Bush’s campaign because he promised to appoint judges in the mold of Scalia and Thomas. With 45 million children’s lives lost to abortion, the on-going threat to the definition of marriage, and the continuing attack on the family itself, the stakes are too high to gamble on another ‘stealth’ candidate. “While Ms. Miers may be satisfactory to President Bush, there is...

Three charged with battery on 64-year-old man Monday, October 10, 2005; Posted: 11:58 a.m. EDT (15:58 GMT) NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AP) -- Three New Orleans police officers pleaded not guilty Monday to battery charges based on a videotape showing two patrolmen repeatedly punching a 64-year-old man accused of public intoxication and a third officer grabbing and shoving an Associated Press Television News producer who helped capture the confrontation on tape. After a brief hearing, at which trial was set for January 11, the officers were released on bond. They quickly left in cars without commenting. They were suspended without pay...

BRUSSELS On a damp, gray day in March 2004, the Dutch traffic police stopped a Belgian driver for a broken headlight and accidentally stumbled onto a major investigation of Islamic radicals. The driver was Khalid Bouloudo, a sometime baker and former Ford autoworker born in Belgium. During a routine check, his name turned up on an Interpol watch list, for an international arrest warrant from Morocco charging him with links to a terrorist organization based in Morocco and involvement in suicide bombings in Casablanca in 2003. The arrest set in motion a cascade of events that underscored the extent of...

Maybe this Burmese python learned a lesson from the one that tried to eat an alligator but exploded because its prey was so big. This snake apparently took on an animal that never stood a chance _ Frances, a 1- year-old Siamese cat. Frances vanished last week from his owner's home, but his whereabouts were possibly revealed Sunday. A snake expert says Frances is the bulge inside the 12-foot-long Burmese python. "Poor baby. He was my favorite cat. I know Siamese (cats) are supposed to be distant, but he slept in my bed and everything," said a distraught Elidia Rodriguez,...

OUJDA, Morocco (AP) -- Morocco began deporting Africans who had tried to use the north African nation as a gateway to Europe, starting Monday with a flight carrying 140 Senegalese. Morocco has come under fire for its handling of a series of recent attempts by Africans to rush the fences at Melilla, a Spanish enclave in Morocco. Some Africans have died in the attempts at Melilla and Ceuta, another Spanish enclave further west. A Royal Air Maroc flight took off from Oujda, in northeast Morocco, and was headed for Dakar, the Senegalese capital. Moroccan police were also aboard the flight....