Free Republic

A Soldier's Christmas Poem 'Twas The Night Before Christmas, He Lived All Alone, In A One Bedroom House Made Of Plaster And Stone. I Had Come Down The Chimney With Presents To Give, And To See Just Who In This Home Did Live. I Looked All About, A Strange Sight I Did See, No Tinsel, No Presents, Not Even A Tree. No Stocking By Mantle, Just Boots Filled With Sand, On The Wall Hung Pictures Of Far Distant Lands. With Medals And Badges, Awards Of All Kinds, A Sober Thought Came Through My Mind. For This House Was Different, It...

This is only the TV story, which is all I was able to get. Sorry for the lack of true detail, but these bastards are every bit as evil as Cindy Sheehan....

This will probably get shunted off to general chat, but what the hell? I'm bored. So, let's list some irrelevant things and have a conversation about them. 1. All Time Favorite Movie 2. All Time Favorite War Movie 3. All Time Favorite TV show 4. All Time Favorite James Bond 5. All Time Favorite Author 6. All Time Favorite Detective(TV, Movie, or Book) 7. All Time Favorite Book That should be enough to get us started.

Back when, a few friends and I had a serious dispute: they thought Paul Newman infinitely more handsome and interesting than Steve McQueen. I suppose it came down to class and politics. Newman was a smug self-important lefty. McQueen was a rather nondescript, close-mouthed loner. In any event, the only time Newman ever came close to being cool was in a movie named Cool Hand Luke, in which he failed to communicate. McQueen, by most accounts, epitomized cool. As with jazz, if you had to ask what the quality amounted to, you'd never know. McQueen simply had it: looks, distance,...

In honor of the 60th Anniversary of D-Day this weekend, and lest it be forgotten, the 62d Anniversary of the Battle of Midway(which is always ignored for some reason) which is today: I just figured it would be a fun topic to discuss for a Friday night. Ground rules: Movie Name, and why you think it's the best. I'll get the ball rolling and nominate one that isn't so well known: Battleground, 1950, starring Van Johnson, (and a very young Ricardo Montalbam). Band of Brothers might be the best made for TV mini-series ever made, but they had to have...

Politically Incorrect Movie Reviews Lord Of The Rings Return Of The King By RadioFree Rocky D Cast: Elijah Wood (Frodo) – weepy Hobbit. Sean Astin (Samwise) – weepier obbiHoHobbit. Andy Serkis (voice of Gollum) – wacky Hobbit. Ian McKellan (Gandalf) – big white Ian and his big white stick. Orlando Bloom (Legolas) – um … was he in this one? John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) – dwarf with a ‘tude. Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) – King want smoochy-lips hottie. Liv Tyler (Arwen) – smoochy-lips hottie want King. Hugo Weaving (Elrond) – hey look … it’s the Matrix guy again. Want to make a...

Tyrone Willingham finally gets to coach in a game impacting the national championship. Notre Dame's second-year coach hasn't been close in his nine years as a head coach at Stanford and South Bend. But it looks like the Notre Dame game against Syracuse on Saturday at the Carrier Dome will have a huge say in who plays Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. Southern California will stay at No. 2 and Louisiana State at No. 3 this week but things could become considerably tighter this weekend. Strength of schedule might be the determining factor between the two programs. LSU plays in...

<p>They would come from all spheres of success, gathering whenever the tie that binds them was -- or was in danger of -- being demeaned. They are corporate executives, artists, politicians, writers and moguls, and all attended one of the nation's nearly 100 public and private historically black colleges and universities. You've heard of some of them: Oprah Winfrey (Tennessee State) and Vernon Jordan (law degree from Howard), Branford Marsalis (Southern) and director Spike Lee (Morehouse), writer Alice Walker (Spelman) and poet Nikki Giovanni (Fisk).</p>

Is a Howard Dean-Wesley Clark ticket the Dem dream team for '04? The two have met, and Dean has publicly asked Clark to join the race, if not yet his ticket. Clark is about to announce that he will run for president, and an alliance with Dean seems illogical. Why would a four-star general who is banking on his military record want to link up with a man like Dean who has the needle pegged on the whackometer? All you need to know is that Clark -- whatever else he may be -- is a member of Team Clinton. It's...

<p>The 1994 ban on assault weapons expires next year and with its renewal hardly guaranteed, gun-control advocates plan to keep the pressure on Congress.</p> <p>But so far, none of the Democratic Party's presidential candidates has made gun-control a major thrust of the campaign, further dimming the prospects of passage of a tougher ban.</p>

<p>I don't want to listen to Rush Limbaugh. I just don't need the aggravation. We simply disagree on too many issues. The bombastic, nationally syndicated radio talk show host has pummeled just about anyone who isn't a card-carrying citizen of his vision of good ol' white-bread U.S. of A. That would include feminists, gays, blacks, immigrants -- if I left anyone out, please raise your hand!</p>

Qualifying for the Oct. 4 election began Tuesday, and six of the seven major candidates for governor crowded the Secretary of State's Office to sign up. None of the three potential Republican candidates lurking on the sidelines of the race stepped up. One, former Commissioner of Administration Dennis Stine, said Tuesday afternoon that he would not run. Ten candidates have so far signed up to run for the state's highest office. Candidates for hundreds of other state and local offices have until 5 p.m. Thursday to put their names on the Oct. 4 ballot. Republican gubernatorial candidate Hunt Downer showed...

Today we can be thankful we live in a country where we're free to choose our allegiances: Republican or Democrat, Mac or PC, Leno or Letterman. Saints or winners. Oops. We meant sinners, of course. But as you grill those hot dogs and enjoy fireworks on Independence Day, consider how some longtime Ole Miss fans are feeling these days. They've had their last hotty toddy with Colonel Reb -- and they didn't get the chance to say a proper farewell. A few weeks ago, the university said it will sideline its Colonel Rebel mascot, the familiar Southern gentleman with the...

kevinm-4 Joplin, Missouri Date: 23 December 2002 Summary: Not like the book... I am a "Tolkien geek" who thinks Tolkien would hate Peter Jackson and his films were he alive today and watching them. I live and breathe Middle Earth and I cannot even begin to fathom the injustice that Jackson has done with his movies. For example, in the 89th minute of the film, Aragorn lifts his left arm and points off into the distance. When I saw this I thrashed about in my seat because EVERYBODY knows that in the book, Aragorn raises his "right" arm and points....

NEW YORK -- On Thursday, competitive eating made a lot of progress in proving that it is indeed a sport. Like the NFL, NHL and NBA, it apparently needs instant replay. Takeru Kobayashi, center, won the title with 50½ hot dogs, while Eric Booker, right, finished second with 26. Japanese professional speed-eater Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi destroyed the competition for the second consecutive year at the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July international hot dog eating contest, scarfing down 50½ hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. The 24-year-old Kobayashi, who weighed 113 pounds before the contest and almost 120 pounds...

PHOENIX -- Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman is giving up the NFL for the Army. Tillman said Thursday he is enlisting in the Army for three years. Cardinals coach Dave McGinnis said Tillman, a two-year starter at free safety, wants to go through boot camp and join the elite Rangers program with his younger brother, Kevin, an infielder who spent last year with the Cleveland Indians' organization. "This is very serious with Pat," McGinnis said. "It's very personal, and I honor that. I honor the integrity of that. It was not a snap decision he woke up and made yesterday....

Redneck Guide to Etiquette ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOMEA centerpiece for the dining table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist. Especially if it's more appetizing than the meal. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table--no matter how good his manners are. Be considerate of your guests. Point out in advance where the injury-threatening springs are located on the sofa. DINING OUTWhen decanting wine, make sure that you tilt the paper cup and pour slowly so as not to "bruise" the fruit of the vine. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your fingers...

Posted on Sun, Mar. 31, 2002 Have you ever wondered how professional journalists cover an international sporting event? Well too bad, because I'm going to tell you. In February I spent three weeks at the Winter Olympics in Utah (``Where the Party Never Stops Until 8:30 p.m.''). I was part of the press corps swarming around Olympic events in thermal underwear, asking penetrating questions such as: (1) Who won this event? (2) How can you tell? (3) What is this event called again? As you can see by these questions, the Olympic press corps does not always have a solid...

Carry on. Deej, the stars should be to the upper right while in front of the flag. The Black Knight...etc.etc.

In the annals of military history, there have been some great ideas, and there have been some duds. Here's an example of the latter: Thread II