Free Republic

Some lady in Texas found this creature dead near her ranch. She doesn't know what it is and is calling it a "Chupacabra." The head looks like some sort of dog, but the body resembles a boar. The weird thing is it's got very little hair and dark, wrinkly skin. Any ideas just what this strange thing is? (It's ugly--could be a campaign worker for Hillary)

Photo from Anglican Blogger Drell's Descants I follow the current saga in the Episcopal Church quite a bit. When I was LSU my most favorite place to study was the Student Center at the Church. My favorite place to pray was their Church at LSU which is called St Albans. In fact it it wasn't for the fact there was no Euchurist present it would have been the best place to pray in Baton Rouge. Anyway while I was there I would look throught their Episcopal's chruches nationwide publication. I could tell things were going off the rails then...

Remember those two Egyptian "students" arrested in South Carolina back in early August for possessing what CAIR spokesman Ahmed Bedier claimed were fireworks but turned out to be pipe bombs according to state authorities?  They've now been indicted by the Justice Department in Florida.Ahmed Mohammed is charged with teaching and demonstrating how to use explosives in support of terrorism.  Both he and his sidekick, Youssef Megahed, are charged with transporting explosives across state lines.  They had already been charged in South Carolina with possessing pipe-bombs.  At the time of their arrest, they were in Goose Creek, about seven miles away...

I am getting weary of fighting the battles for President George Bush. The Democrats, liberals and media want us out of Iraq. The Dems have the power to pull the funding, but not the stomach. The Dems have no alternate plans or viable solutions. If they cut funding and we leave Iraq and millions are slaughtered in a civil war---who’s to blame—the Dems who cut the funding. If they can force Bush to pull out—he will shoulder the blame. THE DEMOCRAT, LIBERAL, MEDIA PLAN- Let’s make the troops call for a pullout. If we persecute enough of the troops through...

Rick Rubin is listening. A song by a new band called the Gossip is playing, and he is concentrating. He appears to be in a trance. His eyes are tightly closed and he is swaying back and forth to the beat, trying at once to hear what is right and wrong about the music. Rubin, who resembles a medium-size bear with a long, gray beard, is curled into the corner of a tufted velvet couch in the library of a house he owns but where he no longer lives. This three-story 1923 Spanish villa steeped in music history — Johnny...

THE Pentagon has drawn up plans for massive airstrikes against 1,200 targets in Iran, designed to annihilate the Iranians’ military capability in three days, according to a national security expert. Alexis Debat, director of terrorism and national security at the Nixon Center, said last week that US military planners were not preparing for “pinprick strikes” against Iran’s nuclear facilities. “They’re about taking out the entire Iranian military,” he said.

On September 11 2005, Israel left the Gaza Strip. The next day, four synagogues went up in flames. A cheering alliance of young men from Hamas and Fatah hailed these desecrations as bonfires celebrating the future of an independent Palestine. Eighteen months later, fighters from the two organisations were still co-operating in attacks on their hated neighbour. By June 2007 their Kassam missiles had killed 11 Israelis. In that same period, some 600 Palestinians became victims of internecine warfare. Thousands more were wounded and half the population traumatised by a relentless chain of revenge slayings. Hidden behind masks, even brothers...

Like schoolchildren who left their summer vacation homework undone until this weekend, state lawmakers and Gov. Jim Doyle are under growing pressure to finish work on the state budget that Doyle introduced in February. Local schools and municipalities need to know soon how much state aid they will be receiving to set their own budgets, but a conference committee with members from both legislative houses has made little progress since convening in July, including a fruitless two-hour session Thursday. The political stakes are high for the governor as well as the leaders of the Assembly and the Senate as they...

One of the best essays I have ever read by Victor David Hansen on why we have to fight wars and an insight into today's problems with waging war. While it is long it is nonetheless a great read. While there are many references to past battles and generals, you don't have to be a history buff to understand what is being said here. Give it a read and comment. Why Study War?

Many people in the Madison area may never get the chance to hear for themselves what the experience of today's immigrant workers is like, says Rabbi Laurie Zimmerman. Some of them will get that chance this weekend. "Immigrant Workers in the Pulpit" is bringing local workers to 15 area churches and synagogues to share at worship services their experiences as immigrants on the job.In a variation on the Interfaith Coalition for Workers Justice of South Central Wisconsin's annual Labor in the Pulpits, the organization is focusing on immigrant workers to give them a voice in the midst of red-hot political...

BEIJING, Aug 30 (AP) -- Gay sex was punishable by death under Genghis Khan's rule. That was among the findings of Chinese researchers who spent more than a year compiling the legendary Mongolian conqueror's code of laws, the official Xinhua News Agency said Thursday. His early 13th century empire stretched across Asia all the way to central Europe. Article 48 of the code said men who "committed sodomy shall be put to death," according to experts at a research institute in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia. The experts at the Research Institute of Ancient Mongolian Laws and Sociology said...

Rudy Giuliani's top strategist sent out a chest-thumping e-mail to supporters last night, declaring the former mayor is in his "strongest position" to win the Republican primary and the general election. "We are positioned to both compete in and win the traditional early contests, Florida and key Feb. 5 states," Giuliani strategy director Brent Seaborn wrote. "Furthermore, public polling continues to prove we are the most competitive and viable general election candidate against Hillary Clinton." The unusually frank e-mail dismissed actor Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his GOP bid next week, as an untested pol whose "indecision may...

I’m posting this thread to share our recent adventure into the great state of Maine! It’s a Whale of a tale!

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Five people were wounded when a basketball player opened fire on his opponents during a pickup game at a community park, officials said. The incident happened Friday night after a verbal argument turned physical, and police believe gang ties may have played a role in the shooting, said Sacramento County Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Tim Curran. Two groups of about a dozen people each met around 8 p.m on the basketball court in Churchill Downs Community Park in South Sacramento, Curran said. Four men and one woman, all between 19 and 23 years old, were taken to...

September 1, 2007: The new A-10C is headed for Iraq and Afghanistan, as the first of the new models became available last month. That's because the U.S. A-10 "Warhog" ground attack aircraft is so popular with ground troops that even the air force brass took note of it. So they speeded up the plan to upgrade the electronics of the aircraft. The A-10 can fly low and slow, and is designed, and armored, to survive lots of ground fire. The troops trust the A-10 more than the F-16, or any other aircraft used for supporting the ground troops. The new...

Washington D.C.)- U.S. Rep. John Murtha today announced his outreach schedule for September in Armstrong, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Washington and Westmoreland counties:     Armstrong County: Kittanning – 450 East Market Street, Courthouse Annex, 9:00 to 12:00 p.m., Thursdays September 13, September 20 and September 27 Fayette County:  Belle Vernon – Borough Building, 10 Main St, 9:00 to 12:00 p.m. September 12 Brownsville – Borough Building, Second & High St., 9:00 to 12:00 p.m. September 5 and September 19  Connellsville – City Hall, 110 N. Arch St., 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. September 12 and September 26 Salt Lick Township Building, 147 Municipal Rd, Melcroft,...

          PRAYER Dear Lord, As we offer You thanks and praise, we realize how important it is to stay prepared for all the surprises in life. Daily, so many things catch us off guard, though they seem to happen over and over again. Would life be easier if we could begin the day with, "This is a drill. This is a drill?" Would we be any more prepared if there were drills for the many personal challenges we respond to daily? Besides a "general quarters" for missile hits, we'd prepare to take hits for all...

(CBS4) FT. LAUDERDALE -- Harley Davidson bikers along with former NBA Star Dennis Rodman geared up for the second annual South Florida charity ride. Hard-core bikers from all over South Florida came out to the 2800 block of North Federal highway. About 100 bikers started their ride on Saturday morning around noon, in Fort Lauderdale and made several stops in Broward County. People were able to enjoy taking pictures with Rodman, who said he is never too busy to enjoy the beautiful weather and people. “These are good people and I’m not too good to come and hang around with...

(AP) WASHINGTON -- Barack Obama and John Edwards joined three other Democrats in vowing to skip states that break party rules by holding early primaries, a move that leaves only a few candidates planning to compete in person in Florida and Michigan. The decision by Obama and Edwards is a major boost to the primacy of the four early voting states - Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina - and a welcome development to the Democratic National Committee, which has tried to impose discipline on a handful of unruly states determined to vote before Feb. 5. "As I have...

Now this is sad. "Toupie" is a serialized French picture-book ("for ages two through four"), of which I came upon a ten-year-old Christmas-themed issue. One of the vignettes (click here and here) shows a living-room scene with the kitten Pikou cozily enjoying Christmas Eve with Momma and Poppa cat. The following dialogue takes place: -- Why have Grandma and Grandpa gone out tonight? asked Pikou. -- Grandma and Grandpa go to Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve. -- Why don't we go with them, Momma? -- Because I don't share their religion, said Momma. -- What? There's more than one...