Free Republic

The Republican primary debate charade, hosted by a hapless Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, revealed two things: Vivek Ramaswamy is a rising star, and Donald Trump dominated as the elephant not in the room. The Democrats and the media run a constant clown show, but the Republicans play along as useless puppets, willfully participating in a system designed to destroy them. The Republican party is allowing itself to be rigged by playing by the rules of an old system that no longer exists. The Democrats, bureaucracy, and media are vicious apparatchiks. They are a dirty and obvious enemy who clearly...

Trump wins landslide victory in Plymouth County fair poll By Tom Lawrence 21 hrs ago LE MARS — Former President Donald Trump is facing more legal trouble, but his political fortunes continue to shine. Trump, who was indicted on four criminal charges on Tuesday, has maintained a commanding lead in national and Iowa polls. That goes in this corner of the Hawkeye State, too. He was the overwhelming choice of Plymouth County Republicans, according to a straw poll held at the county fair. He received 61 percent of votes cast, far more than the seven other candidates listed. “The results...

<p>Authorities say a 45-year-old northwest Iowa man who was trying to shoot a caged raccoon accidentally shot himself.</p>

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A federal judge has ruled an Iowa sheriff violated a man's First Amendment rights when he denied the man's application for a permit to carry a weapon. U.S. District Court Judge Mark Bennett ordered Osceola County Sheriff Douglas Weber on Wednesday to issue a permit to carry a weapon to Paul Dorr of Ocheyedan. The ruling states that Dorr had received permits in previous years when he traveled the country to protest outside abortion clinics and had been arrested and that Weber, after becoming sheriff, only denied Dorr's request in 2007 after he began working...

Lowell Vos believes in playing fair. The rural Kingsley man also believes in standing up for his rights, even when the odds are against him. Vos waged a David versus Goliath battle last year when he refused to pay a fine levied on him by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). His problems began in January of 2007. That's when he received notice that manure from his cattle yard was supposedly running off into Elliot Creek, a charge he knew was unfounded. "I told my wife 'This isn't right. I did everything right,'" he explained. He was one of four Iowa cattle...

Bush visit draws praise, protesters By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer LE MARS, Iowa -- The first visit in history by a sitting president to the Plymouth County seat drew admiring supporters and some protesters as well. The stop of President George W. Bush in the Le Mars school gymnasium drew a few thousand people who were for the most part in thrall with his comments on turning out the vote to keep Republican majorities in Congress and to elect Jim Nussle as the next governor. Bush spoke primarily about continuing tax cuts and standing strong in the war on...

Reporting live from Tyson Event Center. Huge crowd 15,000?, Ricky Skaggs playing. Waiting for W.,--using my PDA. More later.

A 59-year-old Florida man died Sunday afternoon after he was struck in the head by lightning while riding his Harley low-rider in Park County, authorities said. It was the second strike involving people in Park County on Sunday.Colorado State Patrol trooper Laurence Thomas said that at 4:45 p.m., witnesses saw lightning strike the victim, who was riding east on U.S. 24 near milepost 267. Witnesses reported seeing lightning strike the right side of the man's helmet. He then veered off the left side of the highway. The 2003 blue Harley rolled and the driver was ejected into a culvert. The...

It was another Colorado prosecutor in the national spotlight. I was watching the scene in my mother's living room in Florida. Like the rest of the country, I was fascinated. Eagle County District Attorney Mark Hurlbert stepped before a crowd of reporters to announce that he would charge basketball star Kobe Bryant with felony sexual assault on a 19-year-old hotel employee. Then, in Los Angeles, Bryant wiped away tears as he proclaimed his innocence. Hurlbert insisted he has enough evidence to convict him. I'll believe that when I see it. Even if Hurlbert has a solid case - and with...

Published ThursdayJuly 17, 2003Nuclear meeting could be volatileBY ROBYNN TYSVER   WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER The nation's top nuclear scientists and experts will gather next month at Offutt Air Force Base to discuss the future of the nation's nuclear arsenal. The Aug. 7 meeting has galvanized the region's anti-nuke community into action. Leaders say at least 1,000 protesters are expected to descend on Omaha Aug. 1 to 3 to protest proposals to develop a new generation of nuclear weapons. There will be speeches from four survivors of Hiroshima, a concert from independent rocker Michelle Shocked and a "peaceful" protest at Offutt. Buses...

BIG SPRINGS, Neb. (AP) - A bridge over Interstate 80 just west of here collapsed Friday night, apparently after being hit by semitrailer, an aide to Gov. Mike Johanns said."There has been an accident, a bridge has apparently collapsed, forcing the close of interstate 80 lanes," said aide Chris Peterson.Neil Johnson, a dispatcher with the Keith County Sheriff's office, could not confirm the number of people injured, but said ambulances were taking people to nearby hospitals."Preliminary indications are a semi struck the support," Johnson said.Callers to Ogallala radio state KOGA said the bridge that collapsed was used by local traffic...

<p>Greg Kelly, the 32-year-old Fox News Channel correspondent who has been traveling with the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, has emerged as the breakout correspondent of Operation Iraqi Freedom.</p> <p>The former Marine, who was trained as a fighter pilot, has become as well-known for his exclusives - he was the first broadcast journalist to roam Saddam's presidential palace - as he is for an on-air plea to his dad, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, to make sure someone takes care of his taxes while he's on assignment. "I felt like if I ever wanted to go into journalism, I'd be in a better position to do it after being in the military," says Kelly, calling from Baghdad. "I mean, a 22-year-old asking a politician questions - what has that 22-year-old ever accomplished?"</p>

<p>Security is tighter than a new shoe. Concrete barriers force all traffic approaching the base to zigzag to the gates. Here, guards carrying automatic weapons check all identification cards. Escorts go with visitors. Officials open and inspect trucks. On the flight line, the ramps that would usually be occupied by a number of reconnaissance aircraft sit nearly empty, the planes and crews deployed around the world.</p>

<p>The Patriot anti-missile system — discredited star of the 1991 Gulf War — has had a mixed performance in the latest war against Iraq, according to a think tank critical of many Pentagon weapons programs.</p> <p>Of 14 Iraqi missiles launched into Kuwait, six reportedly were intercepted by Patriots, according to the Center for Defense Information in Washington, D.C.</p>

Kuwait City British and American soldiers are building an internment camp at a secret location inside Iraq to hold thousands of prisoners of war from Saddam Hussein's forces. They have not disclosed the location even to the Red Cross, which has a right under international law to visit the prisoners. About 500 soldiers from Britain's Queens Dragoon Guards are among the troops involved in building the camp in southern Iraq, close to the Kuwaiti border. It will include feeding stations, washing facilities and areas for providing medical care. American General Tommy Franks, the officer overseeing the US-led war, said this...

<p>David England, 50, was scheduled to appear in court this morning. Central Iowa drug agents said a search of England's home Wednesday turned up nearly 5 pounds of packaged marijuana and about 72 young plants in the basement.</p> <p>No one else was arrested.</p>

Lending a helping hand If this was Donald Rumsfeld trying to help Tony Blair, he had better not consider a career in the diplomatic service. With one brief comment he has managed to blow a series of massive holes in the prime minister's armour. He undermined the prime minister's claims he is a major influence on President Bush. He handed the prime minister's anti-war faction the opportunity to declare Britain now had a way out of conflict. And he allowed the dissenters to claim he had finally let the cat out of the bag and shown what they had been...

This war came from a think tankby Jochen Boelsche, spiegelIt was in no way a conspiracy. As far back as 1998, ultra right US think tanks had developed and published plans for an era of US world domination, sidelining the UN and attacking Iraq. These people were not taken seriously. But now they are calling the tune.German commentators and correspondents have been confused. Washington has tossed around so many types of reasons for war on Baghdad "that it could make the rest of the world dizzy", said the South German Times.And the Nuremburg News reported on public statements last week...

A French woman remained in critical condition Sunday after she and her sister were run over by a police sport utility vehicle on the beach a day earlier. The sister later died from her injuries. Sandrine Tunc, 26, was being treated at Jackson Memorial Hospital, said Nannette Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the City of Miami Beach. Tunc and her 27-year-old sister, Stephanie, were sunbathing Saturday afternoon in Miami Beach when police officer George Varon drove over them in a marked Ford Explorer along the crowded shores. Varon was following a dispatcher's instructions that robbery suspects were on the beach and...

<p>"I think it will happen unless (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein goes into exile or unless he decides to come clean" and disclose his possession of weapons of mass destruction, Grassley said in a conference call with Iowa reporters.</p> <p>The Iowa Republican said that, based on briefings he has had with military and State Department officials the past two weeks, chances of those developments happening are slim. "If you want to enforce the rule of law, you do it in the international scene through the military just as you do in New York City with police," he said.</p>