Free Republic

DAVENPORT, Iowa - To hear Mitt Romney tell it, Republican Mike Huckabee shares more with Democrat Bill Clinton than a hometown in Hope, Ark., and a stint as Arkansas governor. Both men, Romney suggests, have left-leaning governing philosophies, particularly on taxes and spending. "Governor Huckabee's record is more liberal than our nation needs right now," the former Massachusetts governor said in Iowa last week, seeking to link his GOP presidential rival to the former Democratic president who is loathed by many Republican loyalists. Retorted Huckabee: "This nonsense about being a liberal is pure nonsense." Romney started giving Huckabee that brand...

MIAMI - A Cuban father allowed his young daughter to emigrate legally to the United States with her mother to find a better life. But months later, the mother has become incapable of caring for the girl and the father wants to take the child home. It would seem a simple case, especially since the mother agrees her daughter should return to Cuba. Yet on the eve of the trial, a judge has warned that it could "inflame the community," where the battle over Elian Gonzalez nearly eight years ago divided the city and became an international incident. Testimony is...

Below are all the biblical references to Mary, the mother of Jesus that I could locate. Anything beyond Scriptural references is conjecture, the philosophies of men and not God. Would anyone care to construct a Scripturally accurate portrait of Mary, leaving behind extra-biblical sources? Please include your Scriptural references in support of your description. Isaiah 7:13-14 Matthew 1:13-25; 2:11, 14, 20-21; 12: 46-50; 13:54-56 Mark 3:31-35; 6:3 Luke 1:26-56; 2:1-7, 16-19, 27, 33-35, 39, 41-51; 8:19-21 John 2:1-12; 6:41-42; 19:25-26 Acts 1:14

Americans see no easy exit from Iraq: Just 9 percent expect the war to end in clear-cut victory, compared with 87 percent who expect some sort of compromise settlement, according to the latest AP-Ipsos poll. The numbers evoke parallels to public opinion about the war in Vietnam four decades ago. In December 1965, when the American side of the war still had eight years to run, a Gallup survey found just 7 percent believed it would end in victory. Dissatisfaction with President Bush's handling of Iraq has climbed to an all-time high of 71 percent, according to the AP-Ipsos survey,...

Is Ahmadinejad Another Hitler? "Ahmadinejad--I call him Ahmad-in-a-head--I think he's a Hitler type of person," Ohio Republican Sen. George Voinovich said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "He has made it clear that he wants to destroy Israel. He has made it clear he doesn't believe in the Holocaust. He's a, he's a--we all know what he is," the senator added.

Chávez rolls into Damascus to charm another US foe Albert Aji in Damascus Thursday August 31, 2006 The Guardian (UK) The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, said yesterday he and Syria would "build a new world" free from US domination. "We have decided to be free. We want to cooperate to build a new world where states' and people's self-determination are respected," Mr Chávez said after a two-and-a-half-hour meeting with the Syrian president, Bashar Assad, at his presidential palace in Damascus. "Imperialism's concern is to control the world, but we will not let them despite the pressure and aggression," the...

WASHINGTON, July 17, 2006 – Iraqi forces captured an insurgent cell leader in Baghdad July 13 and killed another insurgent leader in northern Iraq July 14, military officials reported. The Iraqi forces captured an insurgent cell leader, planner and organizer in a southern Baghdad mosque compound during a security operation July 13. The Iraqi forces received small-arms fire almost immediately upon arrival at the mosque compound in the Al Rasheed district of Baghdad. Soon after arriving, they captured the insurgent leader, who is known for purchasing weapons and coordinating attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, officials said. A coalition force...

U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. Rick Posselt Lieutenant Risks Life to Save Another in Iraq By Sgt. Roe F. SeigleRegimental Combat Team 7 HADITHA, Iraq, June 27, 2006 — Marines here say a lieutenant who was leading Marines and Iraqi soldiers through the volatile streets of Haditha, Iraq, June 14, showed uncommon valor when he ran into a barrage of enemy gunfire to pull a wounded Marine to safety. 1st Lt. Rick Posselt, a 25-year-old from Crystal River, Fla., said he is not the Marine who deserves the recognition. Cpl. Michael Estrella, who was killed by sniper fire during...

Toxic Tides: Another reason to worry about hurricanes Sid Perkins When Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne struck Florida in the summer of 2004, they killed 116 people, left thousands homeless, and caused billions of dollars in damage. Now, scientists suggest that the storms may also have triggered an intense, widespread Gulf of Mexico algae bloom that afflicted the state's western coast throughout 2005. DANGER ZONE. The red-and-yellow patch of Gulf of Mexico water off Tampa Bay shows the origin of last year's huge red tide, which may have been fueled by nutrient-rich groundwater discharges boosted by 2004 hurricanes. Hu,...

SAN FRANCISCO - University of California President Robert Dynes gets to keep his job, butthe Board of Regents pledged Thursday to watch him more closely after outrage about millions of dollars in overpayments to top administrators that prompted calls for his resignation. The regents met in closed session for much of Thursday morning, discussing the situation with Dynes, before announcing their decision to allow him to stay. They pledged to increase their oversight of UC pay practices and policies. Dynes has been under fire since last fall, when reports emerged saying that UC administrators withheld information from regents and the...

How bout this? Money makes the world go around so... 1. Pay a bounty to professional bounty hunters for capturing illegals and delivering them to law enforcement. 2. Pay a reward to private citizens for information that leads to the capture and deportation of illegal immigrants. 3. Pay a reward to private citizens for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of anyone employing, aiding or abetting illegal immigrants. 3. Create a system of fines charged to private individuals and businesses that employ, aid and abet illegal immigrants to offset the paying of the above said bounties and rewards....

RAMADI, Iraq, March 25, 2006 – One newly graduated 196-member Iraqi police unit returned here for duty yesterday, while another group -- about 220 Iraqi police recruits -- left here and arrived safely at the Baghdad Iraqi Police Basic Training Academy yesterday. The Iraqi police unit, made up of 196 Iraqis known as the Sons of al Anbar, successfully graduated from the Baghdad Police Academy on March 23. This Iraqi police class left Ramadi for the Baghdad Police Academy on Jan. 13, and they represent the first trained group of Iraqi police officers to graduate and secure the neighborhoods of...

Wings could be a passing phase for the giant prickly stick insect The big wing switchThe lowly stick insect has forced a rethink of one of the key rules of evolution - that complex anatomical features do not disappear and reappear over the course of time. Researchers have discovered that on a number of occasions in the past 300 million years, stick insects have lost their wings, then re-evolved them. Entomologists have described the revelation as "revolutionary". Michael Whiting, an evolutionary biologist from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and his team stumbled upon the finding while examining the DNA...

Normally new rivers, seas and mountains are born in slow motion. The Afar Triangle near the Horn of Africa is another story. A new ocean is forming there with staggering speed -- at least by geological standards. Africa will eventually lose its horn. Geologist Dereje Ayalew and his colleagues from Addis Ababa University were amazed -- and frightened. They had only just stepped out of their helicopter onto the desert plains of central Ethiopia when the ground began to shake under their feet. The pilot shouted for the scientists to get back to the helicopter. And then it happened: the...

A recently discovered fossil of Laonastes matched the "living" specimen in skull shape and overall size. The only difference is that the "living" specimen's teeth are slightly more pointed. "It looks like possibly one of the things that's been changing in family is improved cutting of vegetation," Dawson told LiveScience. "But over 11 million years you'd expect some differences in the structures."

Peru's dynasty-in-waiting prepares to deliver another anti-US president By Jeremy McDermott in Lima (Filed: 09/03/2006) One of Latin America's most extraordinary political families is poised to produce another of the continent's Left-wing authoritarian leaders with no love for Washington. Ollanta Humala is one of two favourites to become Peru's next president, a role for which, to believe his mother, he has been groomed from birth. Ollanta Humala: ‘I am a nationalist and anti-imperialist’ "We have been preparing our children to take power since they were born," Elena Tasso has said of her eight progeny. "If the boys are not successful...

Do you remember Chuck Quackenbush? He was the insurance commissioner who lost his job because he used fines that he collected from insurance companies to buy television commercials to promote his political career. It was a huge scandal at the time, and Quackenbush, who was a colleague of mine in the Assembly, left his job in disgrace, having been run out of office by Legislative Democrats for abusing state money. Another boondoggle is brewing, only this time Legislative Democrats are strangely silent. A few years ago, Rob Reiner (“Meathead” from the old television series, “All in the Family”) sponsored an...

Headsup to Newsbusters for this CBS Slants Bush Poll in Favor of Democrats In its classic "fair and balanced" tradition, CBS slanted in favor of Democrats its poll that found Bush has a 34 percent approval rating and a 59 percent disapproval rating, an all-time high for a CBS poll. On the bottom of the PDF version of the poll (page 18) it says how many Democrats versus Republicans were contacted. "Total Republicans" contacted: 272 unweighted and 289 weighted. "Total Democrats" contacted: 409 unweighted and 381 weighted. "Total Independents" contacted: 337 unweighted and 348 weighted.

Feb. 23, 2006 - Four months ago, Bode Miller sat across from me in the bar of a New York City hotel and shared his idea of what a perfect two weeks in Torino would look like. “For me,” he said, “the ideal Olympics would be to go in with all that pressure, all that attention and have performances that are literally tear-jerking, that make people put their heads down because they’re embarrassed at how emotional they’re getting, that make people want to try sports, talk to their kids, call their f---ing ex-wives—and come away with no medals. I think...

Ballance to hold another fundraiser before prison term starts Dec 26, 2005 : 3:37 pm ET RALEIGH, N.C. -- Former Rep. Frank Ballance is holding one last fundraiser before he begins serving a four-year prison term at the end of this week. Ballance, a Democrat from Warrenton who represented the First District of North Carolina, resigned in June 2004 for health reasons before completing his first term. He was sentenced to prison in October after pleading guilty to funneling tax dollars into his foundation and using $100,000 for himself and his family. He will be honored Wednesday at the Roanoke...