Free Republic

Somewhere in the middle of the Texas flatlands about 100 miles from Dallas, just as you pass Lake Waco, the earth takes a dip and woods spring up on either side of the road. Except for the tell-tale dryness of the earth, you feel like you've entered another state altogether. Then a clearing reveals a grain elevator with a sign on the top announcing "Bush Country." Soon you are passing humble clapboard houses with pigs and vehicles in the front yards and a trailer house to the side, until you find yourself at a railroad crossing and the top of...

<p>He has already signed big-hair rockers Poison, an alliance that cuts across stylistic boundaries about as far as you can go.</p> <p>"We make as much money if we sell 100,000 copies this way as we made when we sold a million copies through a major label," Poison bassist Bobby Dall told Billboard magazine.</p>

<p>Arrington plays a serious journalist on CBS, and now that seriousness is in jeopardy because of a four-picture spread that exposes her midriff.</p> <p>Serious journalists do not expose their bellybuttons to the masses.</p> <p>Instead, they wear sweaters. They say, "Courage." They go nuts after the U.S. Open spills into their newscast. They seek an answer to life's eternal question, which is, "What's the frequency, Kenneth?"</p>

<p>NEW YORK — George W. Bush comes from a serious, blue-blooded pedigree -- but there's another side to the first family.</p> <p>Some members of the clan hobnob with Hollywood's biggest stars and the fashion world's most influential designers.</p> <p>The president's niece, Lauren Bush, has graced the cover of Glamour and W magazines. As a correspondent for Access Hollywood, cousin Billy Bush interviews celebrities like Tom Cruise and Gwyneth Paltrow. And nephew George P. Bush, who has been compared to pop heartthrob Ricky Martin, made his modeling debut at the opening of the Tommy Hilfiger store in Manchester, England, in April.</p>

Karen Hughes, the president’s ‘high prophet’ and West Wing disciplinarian, heads to Crawford to aid Bush during ‘working vacation’ Aug. 7 — She’s back. Karen Hughes, the former “counselor to the president,” was at the White House Tuesday for the first time since she moved her family home to Austin, Texas, last month. She no longer has her grand title, her West Wing office or even her White House pass, but her clout is very much intact—and she’s putting it to use this summer. The Security Guards at the Northwest gate at 1600 Pennsylvania just waved her through yesterday without...

Article published 9 August 2002 for 12 August 2002 issue Women bound by grief hunt for their daughters’ killer Aug. 12 issue — Lynne Marino’s family and friends were working six mobile phones around her missing daughter’s kitchen table in Baton Rouge, La., when they received the news. Her middle child, Pam Kinamore, a 44-year-old antiques dealer, had been found dead near a highway exit ramp on the outskirts of town. Lynne's four-day campaign of phone trees and missing-person posters ground to a temporary halt while investigators tried to determine whether her daughter’s death was due to a lone act...

Early to bed and early to rise is a part of the health regimen at the White House that keeps President Bush and first lady Laura Bush able to handle not only the routine duties but also crises such as the tragic events of September 11. Looking trim and energetic, the first lady was in Lubbock on Saturday afternoon to view the "Medieval Frescoes from the Vatican Museums Collection" at the Museum of Texas Tech. She granted an interview prior to the tour. "September 11 affected everybody in the United States," including the presidential family, she said, "but we get...

<p>LANCASTER, Calif. — Two girls who were kidnapped at gunpoint from a lovers' lane early Thursday morning have been found alive and well, and the suspect in their abduction has been shot and killed, officials said.</p> <p>Police earlier in the day had launched a "life and death" manhunt throughout the Southwest for the kidnapper, who had taken off with the girls in a stolen car.</p>

<p>The words sting the ears of a disturbed public, which wonders how the man accused of killing little Samantha Runnion could have been acquitted by a jury two years ago of molesting two other girls.</p> <p>The answer could be as simple as that Alejandro Avila was innocent. But there is a darker possibility and one that forensic and legal experts say highlights the difficulties in prosecuting, incarcerating and monitoring child molesters.</p>

<p>The arrest of Alejandro Avila capped one of the largest manhunts in Orange County history. The FBI profiler who worked the case called it "an absolute model" of how to apprehend an elusive killer. Between 6:45 p.m. Monday, when Samantha Runnion was kidnapped, and 9:55 a.m. Friday, when Avila was arrested, federal, state and local law-enforcement agencies logged more than 60,000 hours of work to capture the suspect.</p>

MIAMI - The "Janet Reno Dance Party" isn't just a comedy skit anymore. Reno, the former attorney general who wants to become Florida's next governor, will be holding a dance party fund-raiser July 19 at Level, a trendy club on Miami's South Beach. NBC's "Saturday Night Live" had an ongoing skit featuring Will Ferrell dressed in drag as Reno and leading a dance party. Reno herself made a cameo appearance on 'SNL' before leaving Washington, breaking through a false wall and performing the twist with Ferrell, dressed as her lookalike. "Janet is not your typical politician, nor is her campaign...

April 29 — It’s in his blood, says Air Force Capt. Braxton Rehm. When he was nine, he got an aerial view of Abilene, Texas, in a plane his grandfather, a World War II pilot, built in the garage. BY 16, CAPT. REHM himself was flying. And before he could legally drink, he’d learned to fly fighter jets for the Air Force. The young pilot was dodging gunfire over northern Iraq a year ago in an F-16 Fighting Falcon when he was given his next assignment: flying robotic reconnaissance planes called Predators — from the ground. “You can’t even come...

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - President Bush put out the call to everyday Americans Wednesday to enlist in his new USA Freedom Corps and pitch in 4,000 hours apiece to the fight against terrorism: "Stand up to evil with acts of goodness and kindness." The president, visiting a community already at work on a local defense strategy, said he has gotten lots of questions since Sept. 11 about what regular people can do to help protect their country from further attack. "Some don't know where to start and I've got, obviously, a good idea," Bush said, fleshing out the $560 million ...

<p>November 29, 2001 -- THE squabble over military tribunals is giving me a headache.</p> <p>Thousands of our countrymen were slaughtered in their workplace. Our nation is at war. Yet from the yelps emitted from pundits and politicians who claim disproportionate access to our airwaves and brain waves, the biggest menace America faces today has nothing to do with hijackers.</p>

Hey, everybody, Rummy's back in town. Which, for the rest of the nation, can mean only a bitter disappointment: No Donald Rumsfeld news briefing from the Pentagon Friday. We'll see him here, reviewing graduating sailors at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center. He'll offer a "media availability," too. But don't hold your breath. No Rummy-isms expected. Rummy's Pentagon briefings have become as addictive as any soap opera and more inspiring than "Oprah." Rummy doesn't have to remind anyone, Oprah-style, about "Remembering Your Spirit." He oozes American's fighting spirit from every steely pore. Besides, nobody can compete with Rumsfeld's content. It's ...

President Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 last night, the first president to do so at a World Series at Yankee Stadium in 45 years. Bush, wearing a New York Fire Department windbreaker, walked to the mound, and fans burst out with applause. After giving a thumbs up to fans at the top of the mound, Bush threw the ball on a line to the Yankees' backup catcher, Todd Greene. Bush had asked for a chance to go to the batting cages before the game and warm up a little bit, a member of the stadium ...

<p>Former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright's contention in this space yesterday that the Clinton administration never had the public support — or the proper intelligence — it needed to root Osama bin Laden from his terrorist training grounds in Afghanistan has raised the ire of one CIA veteran.</p>

<p>Will you still support the bombing campaign in Afghanistan if it extends through the winter?</p> <p>The link is: Vote Here Scroll approx half-way the page, look to the right for Quick Vote.</p>

<p>Forget about winning hearts and minds. The real battlefield is . . . the battlefield.</p> <p>We've been hearing a lot lately about how important it is for America to win the propaganda war. True enough. But what on earth does that mean?</p>

The Fox News Channel anchor discusses the new brisk, conversational on-air style on his program. The following are extended excerpts of his interview with The NewsHour. The NewsHour Media Unit is funded by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts TERENCE SMITH: Your style of delivery has caught some attention. How did you develop it? What's going on in your head when you do it? SHEPARD SMITH: Usually, it's about how would I tell this story if I were telling it to a friend on street corner while waiting for the subway or waiting for a plane. We don't tell ...