Free Republic

It used to be a high point of Goldy Anthony's life. Every six weeks or so, as a kind of personal morale booster, she and a group of girlfriends would make appointments to see a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon for little touch-ups -- getting lips plumped and frown lines on the forehead smoothed out. He was "an artist" with Botox and Juvederm, she said. Afterward, in a carefree mood, the ladies would dine at a popular restaurant on the Sunset Strip. No more. The sub-prime loan crisis, the housing slump and the general decline of the economy have claimed another...

Former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was an avid reader, fed birds and told jokes while he was in US custody, an American military nurse who looked after him said in interviews with US media. Robert Ellis, 56, an operating room nurse assigned to Saddam during his US military detention, described a courteous, contemplative figure in stark contrast to the brutal reputation Saddam earned during his rule over Iraq. "He basically talked about his wife, and his children," Ellis told CNN on Monday. "He was an avid reader. Loved to read and write. He had a lot of stories that he...

Reacting to Samuel Alito's confirmation to the U.S. Supreme Court, pro-abortion groups are issuing statements of outrage, one organization calling the confirmation "a blow to the ideals of freedom and privacy that Americans value." Yesterday, the Senate confirmed President Bush's choice to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor by a 58-42 count. Only four Democrats backed Alito, joining 54 of the chamber's 55 Republicans. The National Organization for Women accused senators who confirmed Alito of giving in to the "despicable agenda of the right wing," and condemned their "unrelenting determination to undermine our rights and liberties." Karen Pearl, interim president...

Mexico thinks it has a right to criticize the U.S. plan to build a 700 mile wall on our southern border to keep out people entering our country illegally. Mexican Foreign Secretary Lois Derbez says that Mexico has asked the governments of Central American nations along with Columbia and the Dominican Republic, "To join in the fight and to denounce the measure passed by the U.S. House of Representatives to build a wall," on our side of the border with Mexico. I find it to be the height of arrogance for the foreign ministry of any nation to criticize what...

Baghdad - Two years after being pulled from a "rat hole" in Iraq, former strongman Saddam Hussein is demanding clean clothes and new shoes, while his countrymen focus on this week's crucial election. "I am Saddam Hussein, I am the president of Iraq and I want to negotiate," were his first words on December 13 2003 when US special forces pulled the dictator from a cramped underground space in Ad Dawr, near his hometown Tikrit. Saddam narrowly escaped sharing the cache with live grenades according to US Colonel James Hickey, who told reporters at the time: "He was wise not...

Amid the heart-wrenching moments of devastation from deadly hurricane Katrina, there is at least one bright spot. Snowball, a small white dog taken by police from a sobbing little boy as he and his family were boarding a bus at the Superdome, has been located, USA Today reported Thursday. Snowball is now at the Louisiana SPCA in Gonzalez and will be reunited with his owner, U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian Terry Conger told the newspaper. The Humane Society of the United States and the Louisiana SPCA rescued 43 dogs and 16 cats from the Superdome and delivered them to a...

To: David Hunter I just stepped away from the computer for a while - I had to cook dinner and watch the final results. I'm overwhelmed by what I'm seeing on my return...OK, I'll stay. :) Regards, Ivan 547 posted on 05/06/2005 2:56:23 PM EDT by MadIvan (One blog to bring them all...and in the Darkness bind them: http://www.theringwraith.com/) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 507 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

Well, that time has come for me. I’m leaving FR. However, I do not consider this an “opus”, as I am NOT going to use it to rehash old slights or arguments, or to give my personal opinion of what “should be done around here”. As has been so often pointed out, this is Jim Robinson’s site, and he runs it as he sees fit. Rather, all I’m going to do here is give a general reason for my departure, and say a hearty-but-sad “GOODBYE!” to all the folks here who have enriched my life in the past four years....

The new "taglines" after people's usernames are really distracting to me. Is it the intense pressure to think up something too cute? Is it the odd little eye-pulling font that makes it less comfortable to read the article? I can't say for sure. It just doesn't seem to detract from the message board format, at least for me. Does anyone else think so? I love FR but find this new tagline thing a little annoying. Maybe Jim could give us the option to view or not view taglines as part of our user preferences.