Free Republic

Personnel surround the C-2 Greyhound checking to see why its landing gear wouldn't deploy. The plane landed at 7:15 p.m. on its belly at Norfolk Naval Station. bill tiernan/the virginian-pilot. NORFOLK — A Navy cargo plane made an emergency belly landing at Norfolk Naval Station on Monday after circling the airfield for more than two hours because its landing gear had malfunctioned.None of the 25 people on the plane were injured in the spark-filled landing, which Navy officials called “textbook.’’ The C-2 cargo plane took off from the Norfolk Naval Station at 5:10 p.m. It was one of six...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of interest groups on the right and left are poised to spend millions of dollars and mobilize thousands of activists in an expected fight over a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy that could tip the court's balance on hot-button social issues like abortion. With the retirement of ailing Chief Justice William Rehnquist widely anticipated, if far from certain, when the court ends its term next week, advocacy groups are planning for all possibilities and researching a long list of President Bush's potential replacement nominees. Both sides have extensive battle plans that feature the trappings of a modern...

Supporters of President Bush's judicial nominees have hired the same media firm used by Swift Boat Veterans for Truth for their efforts to defend the next nominee for any upcoming Supreme Court vacancy.     The aggressive media style of Creative Response Concepts (CRC) will be met by a "war room" already set up by the liberal People For the American Way (PFAW) on the other side, indicating that the next Supreme Court fight is likely to be one of the nastiest in history.     "There is nothing more important -- if and when it happens -- than a Supreme Court...