Free Republic

Throughout the world, antiwar activists are encouraging their followers to intensify their efforts to end the war in Iraq and the overall war on terrorism. Some activists have even traveled to Iraq just to say, "I was there," in order to give their rhetoric more credibility. Unfortunately for four Western peaceniks, their journey brought them face-to-face with the enemy Americans face in this war -- the Islamofascists. These four activists were abducted by a group of terrorists who apparently mean business: they say they will execute their hostages if their demands are not met. < SNIP > Unfortunately, these peacemakers...

Sir Isaac Newton did a number on the Interstate 10 bridges in New Orleans, according to a team of researchers at the University of Missouri-Rolla that helped document some of the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The team believes Newton’s theory of gravity can explain why the 65-foot concrete slabs dropped off their supports into Lake Pontchartrain. “The bridge’s design created structures in the shape of an upside-down rice bowl in each span, with the opening faced downward to the water,” explains Dr. Genda Chen, associate professor civil, architectural and environmental engineering at UMR. “Our preliminary analysis shows that the...

IT IS the kind of story you hear from a friend of a friend — how, after a long night in a rural hostelry and at a loss for entertainment in the countryside, they head out into a nearby field. There, according to the second-hand accounts, they sneak up on an unsuspecting cow and turn the poor animal hoof over udder. < snip > Ms Boechler, now a trainee forensics analyst for the Royal Canadian Mounted Corps, concluded in her initial report that a cow standing with its legs straight would require five people to exert the required force to...

I know my fellow FReepers are a well travelled bunch so I am turning to you for help.

MIAMI -- Suspended Miami Commissioner Art Teele shot himself in the Miami Herald building late this afternoon. Former Commissioner Arthur Teele Teele survived the shooting, and was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. Teele has one gun shot wound to the head and he had lost a great deal of blood, according to witnesses. According to witnesses, just after 6 p.m., Teele held a gun to his head, and spoke calmly with a security guard. Then when police arrived, he pulled the trigger.

BENNINGTON -- Another moose has been vandalized, this time in front of Star Electric. Officers from the Bennington Police Department found the Salvador Dali "Sal" moose lying on its side with damaged antlers Monday at about 1:15 a.m. Three out-of-town men admitted to knocking over the Main Street moose, police said. Marshall Lacroix, 22, and Tyler Lacroix, 22, both of Hammondsort, N.Y., and Nathan F. Efinger, 23 of Andover, Mass., were issued citations for unlawful mischief and ordered to appear in Bennington District Court on Aug. 22. One was beheaded This is the fourth incident of moose vandalism since the...

I am trying to put a Korean War (Army) collage together for my Father in Law for his 75th birthday. I want to include the medals he is entitled to wear. I need help decoding the DD214. I've been to several medal websites. Most of it is understandable but some is confusing and I don't want to make any mistakes. See below for the information exactly as it appears on the DD 214.

Here’s another wonderful thing about being Americans, the luckiest people on the face of the earth: We have the time and the resources to fret about the squirrels that may have insinuated themselves into our lives. It’s possible to feel a fuzzy affection for these bushy-tailed rodents, whose presence on the planet will be celebrated Friday with the fifth annual Squirrel Appreciation Day — an occasion, suggests North Carolina-based founder Christy Hargrove, to put out extra food for the critters. In North Carolina and Kentucky as well, the gray squirrel is — no kidding! — the official state animal. But...

HOPPY NUDE DEAR!

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Louisville football coach Bobby Petrino has met with LSU officials about the Tigers' job but refused to say if he expected further talks. "There's no offer on the table," he said Tuesday. The LSU job opened when Nick Saban left for the Miami Dolphins. Petrino, who called his session with LSU a "preliminary meeting," is in Memphis, where the No. 7 Cardinals play No. 10 Boise State in the Liberty Bowl on Friday. "We agreed my focus would go to the bowl game and to finish the season -- the great season that we've had," Petrino said...

12/10/04- A spokesman for Daimler-Chrysler says federal safety regulators are asking the company to recall 600,000 2000 to 2003-model-year Dodge Durango and Dakota trucks, because their wheels could fall off. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is making the recommendation after investigating upper ball joint separation on dozens of vehicles. The Government says it has several reports of crashes, but no injures. The company spokesman says the company plans to respond to the Government's request early next week.

More than 181,000 dead people were listed on the rolls in swing states for the Nov. 2 U.S. presidential election, the Chicago Tribune reported Sunday. The Tribune reviewed voter data from New Mexico, Florida, Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Minnesota. The newspaper found numerous errors in the integrity of voter rolls. In addition to the registered deceased, thousands of voters were registered to vote in two locations, which could have allowed them to cast more than one ballot. More than 90,000 other voters in Ohio cast ballots without a valid presidential choice. Either they decided not to choose a candidate, the...

Berlin - An international legal team filed a criminal complaint in Germany on Tuesday against US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and other top US officials over the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal in Iraq. The New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Berlin's Republican Lawyers' Association said they and five Iraqi citizens mistreated by US soldiers were seeking a probe by German federal prosecutors of leading US policymakers. They said they had chosen Germany because of its Code of Crimes Against International Law, introduced in 2002, which grants German courts universal jurisdiction in cases involving war crimes or crimes...

Hey it's always a slow news week before Thanksgiving.

This may have been posted before but it deserves a repost. Glenn Beck just announced a phone number where you can send phone cards to the troops. The number is 877-522-7000.

Although it may not be noticeable to the casual observer, the new Clinton Presidential Library Building has a slight flaw. The piers supporting the cantilevered portion of the building are leaning slightly causing that part of the building to crook to the left. Famed mobile home architect and inventor of the doublewide trailer Cleetus T. Cornpone, who designed the building, said that the contractors failed to build the pier foundations according to specifications. “We built her jest like he drew her,” Said general contractor Bubba Thugley, owner of Fly-by-Night Construction. He blamed Hillary Clinton for the failure of the foundations....

I've never had a thread pulled before......

Any Freepers going to the Allen Bradley Automation Fair?

The following evidence from a forensic examination of the Bush memos indicates that they were typed on a typewriter: 1. The specific font used is from a typewriter family in common use since 1905 and a typewriter capable of producing the spacing has been available since 1944. 2. The characters “e,” “t,” “s,” and “a” show indications of physical damage and/or wear consistent with a well used typewriter. 3. The characters that are seldom used show no signs of damage or wear. 4. The quality of individual characters is inconsistent throughout the memos beyond expectations from photocopying and/or digitizing but...

No it's not a new species - nor a character from a Dr. Seuss book. The blue-striped, red-legged moose that hunters may encounter today as the first of two moose hunting periods begins is actually the product of the Utah Division of Wildlife Services. Officers on Friday encountered the animal in the Federal Heights area of Salt Lake City, where it was running loose and causing some concern for neighbors and patrons at nearby University Hospital. After drugging the bull, the officers cut off its horns and used spray paint to give it a new look, hoping to alert hunters...