Free Republic

Although the U.S. Senate approved his nomination as a federal judge this week, Republican Ron Clark said he's still concentrating on the race to keep his seat in the Texas House of Representatives. Clark's opponent, Democrat Donnie Jarvis, said Clark should stop campaigning and focus his efforts on getting ready for the federal bench. Jarvis and his campaign staff say Clark became a judge the instant that the Senate confirmed his nomination. They contend that Clark's continuation in the race for a seat he does not intend to keep will cost tax payers additional money in the form of a...

<p>Sixty-five-year-old Bill Neel wanted to needle President Bush in the spirit of the First Amendment.</p> <p>So Neel concocted a protest sign, picked up his sister and drove to Neville Island, where they planned to spend Labor Day criticizing Bush in public. The president was in town to make a speech to unionized carpenters.</p>

BONHAM -- Paul Cardwell says necessity and desperation led him to rally a Fannin County Green Party. The organizational meeting will be held at 2 p.m. Aug. 31 at the County Courthouse Annex. Cardwell is urging anyone interested in progressive politics to attend, regardless of current or previous party affiliations. "I just don't like the way the country's drifting," he said. "Sam Rayburn's whole legacy to the nation has been dismantled. We've got a top corporate lobbyist heading the Securities Exchange Commission. No wonder we've got the stock market collapsing." The Green Party is based on its "10 Key Values"...

DURANT -- Hate and racism might have been the cause behind a church fire in Durant Sunday night. That day before the fire, First Assembly Pastor Michael Bradley said he received a disturbing phone message on the church's answering machine. "The call came from someone saying they were the KKK," he said. "They used the 'N word' and everything, saying we better watch out." The reason why Bradley says he thinks the church got a racist call is because they have several minority members, and are planning to host an assembly and choir session with "Charles Johnson and The Revivers"...

DURANT -- Hate and racism might have been the cause behind a church fire in Durant Sunday night. That day before the fire, First Assembly Pastor Michael Bradley said he received a disturbing phone message on the church's answering machine. "The call came from someone saying they were the KKK," he said. "They used the 'N word' and everything, saying we better watch out." The reason why Bradley says he thinks the church got a racist call is because they have several minority members, and are planning to host an assembly and choir session with "Charles Johnson and The Revivers"...

I just saw on VH-1 moments ago a program regarding the personal lives of rock stars. They mentioned several who are into "dangerous" sports. They showed some riding dirt bikes, some sky-diving, some driving race cars and speed boats. Then they got to what they called "the most dangerous of all" which is enjoyed by the madman from Detroit - "KILLING" as they put it. They showed pictures of Mr. Nugent aiming a bow at some large animal. Then they berated him for making a business out of it by selling jerkey and writing a wild game cookbok. It just...

<p>DALLAS - For the first time in four decades, Democrats have a shot at winning the Texas Senate seat soon to be vacated by Republican Sen. Phil Gramm.</p> <p>"To see a Democrat making a run for it is just something we haven't seen for a long time," said political analyst Jonathan Smaby.</p>

Kill Metcalfe voter plan In the most blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters since the “Jim Crow” laws of the old South, the Republican majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives rammed through a late-night measure sponsored by Rep. Daryl Metcalfe of Butler County, by a vote of 100-99, that could prevent thousands of registered Pennsylvanians from voting in the fall election. If this measure is enacted, Pennsylvania would join South Carolina as having the most restrictive voter identification requirement in the nation. The amendment requires voters to present either their voter registration cards or “valid” photo identification prior to voting...

IRVING - Fourteen Irving police recruits were fired Monday for cheating on exams, city officials said. City Council members said they were notified of the firings by city management Monday. The Irving Police Department confirmed the dismissals Tuesday morning. "There is no doubt in our minds that all 14 were involved," police spokesman David Tull said. "This investigation is complete. That's why we waited until this morning to come out and give all the information that we had." The cheating surfaced after an internal audit, which found recruits were giving all the same answers - right and wrong - on...

Every year since 1995, Pennsylvania’s taxpayers have written a check ranging from $2.25 million to $4.3 million that has benefited one of the most radical special-interest groups in the world — Planned Parenthood. What is Planned Parenthood? It is a billion-dollar, international agency that is, according to its official Web site, “a powerful lobbying arm for abortion advocates and political causes.” Those who peruse the organization’s Web site will find an encyclopedic list of attacks on United States Attorney General John Ashcroft, President George W. Bush and various pro-life leaders. Why are Pennsylvania’s taxpayers feeding this immensely partisan, politically motivated,...

All day today, WBAP has been running ads that go something like this: If our greatest need were education, He'd have sent a teacherIf our greatest need were money, He'd have sent an accountantBut since our greatest need is forgiveness, He sent a saviour.These are in the voice of one of the news anchors. They might be sponsored by some church, but appear to be sponsored by the station itself. This station is home to the Mark Davis show and is the local affiliate for Rush, Hannity, and Mike Gallagher, and Drudge. I can't help thinking "Can they say that...

ORT WORTH - A victim of a hit-and-run lived at least two days trapped in the windshield of the car that struck him, according to a published report. Police told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in Thursday's editions that the driver ignored Gregory Glenn Biggs' pleas for help and the victim later died. "I'm going to have to come up with a new word. Indifferent isn't enough. Cruel isn't enough to say," Richard Alpert, a Tarrant County assistant district attorney, told the newspaper. "Heartless? Inhumane? Maybe we've just redefined inhumanity here." Police on Wednesday arrested Chante Mallard, a 25-year-old nurse's aide, ...

<p>KITTANNING - President Bush's oft-criticized Alaska oil drilling proposal may have won some converts during a town hall meeting Saturday with U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.</p> <p>But an ideological rumble on the environmental issue may come later this month when the Senate reconvenes after President's Week.</p>

The “Retroreagan” administration has accomplished its goal in less than a year. The dreaded welfare state has been replaced with the “tres chic” police state. The Enronian Candidate occupying the White House is asking Congress for an extra $48 billion to be given to the Defense Department and a doubling to $38 billion of the secret police budget. The increase is probably more than the rest of the world spends on defense, and many times the total military budgets of the administration-defined “evildoers.” The gargantuan defense budget will be financed by deficit spending and a raid on the Social Security ...

I heard on the Darrel Ankarlo show on KLIF radio (Dallas/Fort Worth) this morning that some students in Iowa are launching a letter-writing campaign to protest the actions of Dallas based Dr. Pepper. It seems on a recently issued can with a patriotic theme including a picture of the statue of liberty that they printed the Pledge of Allegience to the Flag in which they omitted the phrase "under God". When inquired as to the reason, the company representative said that there was not enough room. Anyone else hear this story?SL

WASHINGTON -- At the urging of Rep. Ralph Hall, D-Rockwall, the U.S. State Department is working to assist a Texas organization seeking to aid a poorly treated African lion housed in the Afghanistan zoo. The executive director of The Tiger Missing Link Foundation, based in Tyler, Texas, said Wednesday the government is searching for ways to help its organization deliver food and equipment to animals at the zoo in Kabul. "They are trying to pave the way for us to go in and assist us or ensure anything we're doing here will get through," said Brian Werner, the foundation head. ...

Here is an excerpt. For whom did you vote in the 2000 Presidential election, Democrat Al Gore, Republican George W. Bush, Reform Party's Pat Buchanan, Green Party's Ralph Nader, or Libertarian Party's Harry Browne? First # is for Phone Poll. Second, for Online Poll Gore 39 40 Bush 45 49 others...

A long-shot Butler mayoral candidate remains jailed on charges he assaulted his live-in girlfriend early Tuesday morning at the couple's Virginia Avenue home. Shawn Morin, 29, a Libertarian candidate in the race for Butler City mayor, allegedly struck 27-year-old Tanya Bowser in the face and head following a night at a city bar, police said. Bowser suffered bruises and cuts to the face in the assault, city police said. She refused medical treatment for the injuries. Morin, a first-time candidate for elected office and chairman of the fledgling Libertarian Party in Butler County, was arraigned before District Justice Kevin ...

Shrinking surplus According to revised estimates, the federal surplus budget has all but vanished. Democrats say President Bush will now be forced to dip into social security to pay for his tax cut. What do you think? Given the new budget surplus projections, do you still think President Bush's tax cut was a good idea?

WASHINGTON - When the federal tax-rebate checks start coming in starting Friday, they'll ultimately end up as lines in credit-card bills, on receipts for back-to-school books and on casino tables. Some 92 million tax-rebate checks worth a collective $38 billion will be mailed over the next 10 weeks. This week, the IRS is mailing out notices telling people how much to expect and when. But the important thing may be that final destination of the hundreds of dollars making their way back to Americans' pockets - up to $300 for singles, $500 for heads of households and $600 for ...