Free Republic

It is more than interesting to me as I get older that the journey to get where I am going holds more fascination than the end result. For example, I can see with some clarity that Jim Robinson's goal of achieving a constitutionally based government is not likely to be achieved in my lifetime. The incremental erosion has been slowed but not refuted convincingly to the satisfaction of our fellow citizens. Abatement does not equal mitigation. We crow that we have made amazing progress, and we have. I will repeat that a reduction of slope does not equal victory. However,...

I live out in the country of No. Virginia. A short while ago I let my Australian Silky Terrier and a small cat out to roam for a while. I looked out a few minutes later and saw the terrier emerge out of the wood line with a red fox, roughly twice her size, alongside. I was uncomfortable with the set up and called the terrier into the house. The fox retreated into the oak trees and the cat came streaking across the yard to the relative safety of the deck. Has anyone any experience with a dog and a...

I love the idea that we are kicking butt in Iraq. I am grateful that Iraqis might get to have a normal life. I am sad that our own media services see a need to tear down Bush at every opportunity. We are at war and it is not too much to expect that we be supported by our reporters. Yet this is not the case. Our brave soldiers are ill served by snide remarks by our communistic press. Admin Moderator: Please Pull This if you think it to be unwarranted.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Five men whose convictions were overturned in the highly publicized 1989 rape of a jogger in Central Park launched a $250 million legal claim on Friday against New York, arguing the city should pay for their "false arrest" and "malicious prosecution." The five, convicted as teen-agers of beating and sexually assaulting the 28-year-old investment banker, say they were coerced by police and prosecutors into confessing to one of the city's most wrenching criminal cases. A judge last year overturned the convictions of the five, who spent between seven and 12 years in prison, after a confession...

CHINA WATCHBeijing rolls out death on wheelsMobile execution vans that dispense lethal injection deemed 'more humane' Posted: March 14, 200312:00 p.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Hailed by Chinese media as a significant advancement in China's judicial system, Beijing recently rolled out 18 mobile execution vans. The government took them for a test drive last Thursday, executing two farmers from Yunnan province who were convicted of heroin trafficking, according to Beijing Today. The newspaper reported the men "benefited" from a "more humane method of dispatch" and that Liu Huafu, 21, and Zhou Chaojie, 25, died peacefully within one minute of receiving lethal injections...

Health officials have issued a global warning about a virulent flu and pneumonia that has swept through hospitals in Hong Kong and Vietnam.One man has died, dozens of hospital workers have fallen ill, and some of these are reportedly in a critical condition. The precise origin of the infection is still unknown, but the key case involved an American businessman who died on Thursday morning in a Hong Kong hospital. He had arrived into Hanoi in Vietnam from Shanghai on a business trip already suffering from severe respiratory problems. When his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to Hong Kong for...

WATER WARSSalmon killed by illegal drug activities?Journalist's findings challenge official explanation of cause of death Posted: February 22, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern By Sarah Foster© 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Recently uncovered evidence strongly suggests that the deaths of 33,000 salmon and steelhead trout during last September's fall run within 20 miles of the mouth of the Klamath River in northern California was not due simply to a lack of sufficient water, as claimed by a California state agency and environmentalists, but may have been caused by contamination from illicit drug manufacturing operations near rivers in the area. A second overlooked factor appears to have been...

WASHINGTON - Departing Democratic House leader Dick Gephardt of Missouri has decided to form a presidential exploratory committee, kicking off his second run for the White House in 14 years at an event later this month, The Associated Press has learned. AP Photo An invitation obtained by the AP says Gephardt will raise money for the exploratory committee at an event Jan. 22, asking for donations of at least $1,000 — or half the maximum for presidential candidates. "Join us for a reception benefiting Richard Gephardt for President Exploratory Committee," the invitation said. A source close to Gephardt, who spoke...

I had an early medical appointment this morning so on the way back I tuned in WBAL (Rush Limbaugh's local affiliate). Their morning show hosts, two men (One named Andy Parks) and a female, were bantering about the subject of some fliers that were left on car windshields in a predominantly black county near DC. It seems that the fliers, sans letterhead, warned voters that if they had had outstanding warrants, parking tickets, etc. that those voters should avoid polling places because election officials would be cross checking names and it might result in an arrest. The hosts were treating...

Thousands of protesters are gathering in London for a mass rally against a war on Iraq.The Stop the War Coalition is predicting a huge turnout, claiming it could be one of the biggest anti-war demonstrations Europe had seen.The march, jointly organised with the Muslim Association of Britain, was also focusing on the Middle East peace process.Hundreds of coaches are ferrying protesters from across the country to join the rally.The protest will continue from Embankment to Hyde Park where speakers will include London mayor Ken Livingstone, anti-war Labour MPs, trades union leaders and the Bishop of Bath and Wells.The Stop the...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - Israel confirmed Friday that a top Hamas bombmaker survived an Israeli airstrike aimed at killing him, an operation that wounded 35 bystanders, including 15 children, and drew international criticism. Mohammed Deif, the intended target, was wounded when two missiles fired by Israeli helicopters in a crowded Gaza City neighborhood obliterated his green Mercedes, blowing apart two of his bodyguards. "The reports that I'm getting from our people are that he was indeed wounded, not an injury that he won't recover from," Israeli Science Minister Matan Vilnai, a former deputy military chief of staff, told...

<p>Andrew M. Cuomo did his best to sound gracious Tuesday as he withdrew his candidacy for the governorship of New York, a week before the Democratic primary.</p> <p>But the humiliated politician let out his true feelings later that day in a phone call to New York Times columnist Bob Herbert. In doing so, Mr. Cuomo cast a spotlight on the ugly racial politics for which the New York Democratic Party is becoming infamous.</p>

Brigadier Roger Lane was awarded a bronze star after impressing US commanders operating in Afghanistan, The Sun reports.The Brigadier had faced criticism while still in Afghanistan over his command of the Marines.He found himself the victim of anonymous Ministry of Defence officials who accused him of bungling missions.The Sun quotes a top marines officer as saying: "Hopefully this will lay to rest all the lies told about Roger Lane."As far as the Americans are concerned, he and his boys were top dogs."The fearsome reputation of the British commandos put the wind up the Taliban - that's why they all ran...

If the US and Iraq do go to war, there can only be one winner, can't there? Maybe not. This summer, in a huge rehearsal of just such a conflict - and with retired Lieutenant General Paul Van Riper playing Saddam - the US lost. Julian Borger asks the former marine how he did it Friday September 6, 2002The Guardian At the height of the summer, as talk of invading Iraq built in Washington like a dark, billowing storm, the US armed forces staged a rehearsal using over 13,000 troops, countless computers and $250m. Officially, America won and a rogue...

WASHINGTON (AP) - A leading American Muslim group is gathering in Washington for its most important meeting of the year, two weeks before the anniversary of Sept. 11 and in the midst of difficult times for their community. Organizers expect up to 30,000 people to attend the 39th conference of the Islamic Society of North America, which runs from Friday through Monday. Much of the convention will be dedicated to examining the impact of the terrorist attacks on Islam, civil liberties and political life in the United States. "As American Muslims, our destiny is linked to the rest of the...

Two speakers at a pro-Muslim rally have been arrested after their supporters clashed with Right wing protesters.Police moved in and detained the speakers and two counter protesters at the event in Trafalgar Square.A police spokesman says one arrest was for using threatening words and behaviour and another was for incitement to disorder at the "Rally for Islam".Scuffles broke out during the rally between police and the protesters who rushed towards the stage during one of the speeches.Sheikh Abu Hamza, leader of the Finsbury Park Mosque, who was one of the speakers, said afterwards: "It's not our priority to fight the...

PINE FLAT, Calif. (AP) - A ferocious wildfire fed by underbrush and weeks of dry weather roared toward a treasured grove of ancient sequoias, setting up potentially devastating scenario if flames reach the trees. The 48,200-acre blaze moved through the valleys of the Giant Sequoia National Monument and came within a few miles of the Freeman Creek Grove and Trail of 100 Giants. "If fire does get in the Trail of 100 Giants, we won't be putting firefighters in there to try to stop it. It will be a climax of 300- or 400-foot flames," said Jim Paxon, spokesman for...

I haven't heard anything on the health and welfare of FReeper TexanaRed who lost her house, truck, and pets a couple of weeks ago. Does anyone have any relevant information?

SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (AP) - The Reagan administration, struggling to save the doomed Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork, considered calling in movie star Charlton Heston to give him a boost, newly released presidential papers show. The strategy of using Heston, who played Moses in "The Ten Commandments," was spelled out in a 1987 memo titled "The Borker" and released Friday. It was written by White House staffer Jeffrey Lord, who suggested there needed to be more television ads aggressively promoting Bork and taking his critics to task. "Cut one spot with a great voice (e.g. Charlton Heston). Theme:...

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) - The chestnut sapling planted on this grassy hillside doesn't look like much - just a spindly stem bearing a handful of twigs and leaves that seem entirely too big for such a small plant. Researchers hope it is the start of a chestnut grove that will help restore a species all but eliminated from the continent over the last century. Most of the trees are expected to eventually succumb to the blight that has killed much of the rest of their kind. But from the survivors could come the stock for eventually repopulating Eastern forests...