Free Republic

The hand-wringing over the Republican presidential field has not abated much since Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced he would not be seeking the GOP nomination, but a new name might soon be entering the fray, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, the guitar-playing, soul-searching libertarian from Michigan. Mr. McCotter has told Politico he’s seriously considering a run and will make his decision in the next two weeks. Never heard of him? Well, here’s a McCotter primer: His jams on a Fender Telecaster emblazoned with red, white and blue , although he has been known to pick up a Stratocaster as well. The conservative...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Detroit Police say a pizza delivery man was able to turn the tables on three men who tried to ambush him. It happened as he was delivering a pizza to a home on McCormick in Detroit at around 10:00 p.m. Sunday. Officers say in reality the house was abandoned and three men were lying in wait for him. When he arrived, officers say one of those men pulled a gun. Police say the delivery man, who has a CCW, pulled out his own gun to defend himself. He shot and killed one of the men. The others...

UAW mulls reopening contracts to aid Big 3

A Grosse Pointe Farms woman has doled out political tricks by refusing Halloween treats to children whose parents support Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Shirley Nagel passed out candy Friday — but only to those who shared her support for Republican presidential candidate John McCain and running mate Sarah Palin. Fox 2 News says a sign posted outside Nagel's house, about 12 miles west of Detroit, served notice to all trick-or-treaters. It read: "No handouts for Obama supporters, liars, tricksters or kids of supporters." Nagel tells WJBK-TV that "Obama's scary." When asked about children who'd been turned away empty-handed and...

DETROIT — General Motors is in preliminary talks about a possible merger with Chrysler, a deal that could drastically remake the landscape of the auto industry by reducing the Big Three of Detroit automakers to the Big Two. The talks between G.M. and Cerberus Capital Management, the private equity firm that owns Chrysler, began more than a month ago, and the negotiations are not certain to produce a deal. Two people close to the process said the chances of a merger were “50-50” as of Friday and would most likely still take weeks to work out. A merger would be...

EXCLUSIVE POLL: Michigan Up for Grabs (WXYZ) - Michigan voters are weighing in on the race for the White House. The latest results are in from an exclusive WXYZ-TV/Detroit News poll which shows that the presidential race is extremely tight. Experts say it could all come down to Michigan in this historic election. The exclusive poll shows the race getting even closer, with Barack Obama leading John McCain 43% to 42% with a 4 point margin of error. When Michigan voters were asked to consider both tickets, now that both running mates have been chosen, Obama’s lead jumps slightly to...

Information uncovered by Chief Investigator Steve Wilson is raising new questions about who's paying Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's soaring legal and PR bills -- and recent trips on expensive private jets. Wilson: It was seven years ago that the city of Detroit wrote into its charter and city law an Ethics Code for city officials. Its purpose is to see that they avoid conduct that has even the *appearance* of being improper. Even so, as we first told you earlier, Mayor Kilpatrick and the First Family are getting big personal benefits and refusing to disclose who’s really paying the bill...

Jury rules golf club beating was manslaughter By Jameson Cook Macomb Daily Staff Writer A jury Thursday found a 23-year-old man guilty of manslaughter for fatally striking his male neighbor in the forehead with a golf club. The Macomb County Circuit Court jury deliberated 5-6 hours before choosing manslaughter over second-degree murder for the actions of Alberto "Beto" Barajas-Enriquez in the death of Steven Tocco, 44. Barajas-Enriquez smashed the 2-wood golf club on Tocco's head about 6:50 p.m. Aug. 14 inside Tocco's Mount Clemens apartment. Tocco died two days later. The verdict disappointed Tocco's family members, several of whom attended...

Ran across this great video today of soldiers at Fort Benning signing "God Bless The USA" (Lee Greenwood) with Chelsie Boyd.

Vito asks, where are all the young Americans to fight off the illegal immigrants?

Mexican police on Friday arrested 70 illegal immigrants from Central American nations in the central state of Tlaxcala. The arrests took place near train tracks in the city of Apizaco, said Fernando Azael Mendoza Lopez, a delegate from the National Migration Institute. The immigrants, from Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua, were healthy but tired due to the wearisome trip from their native countries to Mexico, he added. Over the past five days, 159 immigrants from Central America have been arrested in Mexico. According to figures from non-governmental organizations, some 500 immigrants die every year in their attempt to seek...

Can not link to the Detroit papers here, but this is just breaking. See the Detroit News or Free Press for information. No link on any national websites that I can find yet.

Jerome Bettis' father dies The father of former Steelers running back Jerome Bettis died today of an apparent heart attack while driving home after a workout at the gym, said Bettis' manager, Jahmal Dokes, a long-time family friend. John Bettis, 61, was found in his car by Bloomfield, Mich., police after he apparently pulled over while being stricken. Mr. Bettis, who retired last year after working 31 years as chief electrical inspector for the city of Detroit, attended nearly every Steelers game in which Jerome, the youngest of his three children, played. He is survived by his wife, Gladys, and...

Sometimes, a hug is all what we need. Free hugs is a real life controversial story of Juan Mann, A man whos sole mission was to reach out and hug a stranger to brighten up their lives. In this age of social disconnectivity and lack of human contact, the effects of the Free Hugs campaign became phenomenal. As this symbol of human hope spread across the city, police and officials ordered the Free Hugs campaign BANNED. What we then witness is the true spirit of humanity come together in what can only be described as awe inspiring.

ROME (AFP) - Italy defender Marco Materazzi has broken his silence over the verbal exchange that led to his violent World Cup final clash with French star Zinedine Zidane. Materazzi was sent crashing to the turf by a Zidane head-butt near the end of extra-time of the July 9 final in Berlin following a verbal altercation. Mystery has surrounded the exact nature of the abuse directed at Zidane by Materazzi ever since the incident, which subsequently earned the Inter Milan centre-half a two-match ban from world governing body FIFA. But in an interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport here Tuesday,...

By James O'Toole, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Tom Rooney, a grandson of the late Steelers patriarch Art Rooney, is considering a run for the U.S. Senate in Florida. Mr. Rooney, a lawyer who is chief executive of an orphanage, said yesterday that senior Florida Republicans had urged him to consider running for the nomination to challenge Sen. Bill Nelson, the incumbent Democrat. He said he expected to make a decision within 10 days. "I would not get in this race to be an also-ran," said Mr. Rooney, 35, who is president of the Palm Beach County Republican Party. "The only way I...

FOODMAFIA.COM: HOW TO KILL A FAMILY BUSINESS Thank you for visiting our site. This is a classic David vs. Goliath story. Northern Food Service has kept the big guys in check for 50 years and saved Michigan taxpayers millions of dollars. What did we get for this? The State of Michigan breached our contract, cut our revenue in half, caused jobs to be lost, and has forced us to near bankruptcy. Amazingly enough, the primary beneficiary of these actions is one of the big guys, Gordon Food Service. All of this was done at the expense of Michigan taxpayers. Please...

Walter Herrmann, center, has one of the more tragic stories in sports. The Argentine player lost his fiance, mother and sister in a car accident last year. By Chris Sheridan THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro -- Nobody going to the Athens Olympics has a sad story quite like Walter Herrmann's. It's a horror story -- all of it true -- filled with death, grieving, resiliency and more death. Not many people outside of Argentina and Spain have heard of Walter Herrmann, a 25-year-old, 6-foot-9 reserve forward for the South American country. He's one of only two changes to the team...

Well, the ungrateful Iraqi soccer team won again, 1-0 against Australia in the Olympic quarterfinals. They will now play in the semis. Hopefully, the anti-US comments among the players are limited to the two or so Fallujah residents. There must be some pro-US players on the team and maybe they will eventually speak.

Berlusconi's wake up call to voters angers left John Hooper in Rome Saturday June 12, 2004 The Guardian The Italian left is crying foul after the office of the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, sent 56m text messages to mobile telephones urging their owners to turn out to vote in tomorrow's European and local elections. The ballot has assumed a much greater importance in Italy than in most other EU nations, and a high turnout traditionally favours parties of the right-wing ruling coalition, including that of Mr Berlusconi, Forza Italia. But last night some opposition politicians were comforting themselves with speculation...