Free Republic

Kidman Tops List of Highest-Paid Actress Nov 29 7:56 PM US/Eastern Nicole Kidman is the queen of Hollywood when it comes to money. The Oscar winner, who earns as much as $17 million per movie, tops the fifth annual list of highest-paid actresses released Wednesday by The Hollywood Reporter. Kidman, 39, ranked second on last year's list behind four-time top- earner Julia Roberts, who didn't make the list this year. She spent time with her 2-year-old twins. In second place, with $15 million per movie, was Reese Witherspoon, 30, who won the best-actress Oscar this year for her performance in...

JERUSALEM - Nineteen Israeli soldiers were killed Saturday during an expanded offensive in Lebanon, the army said, making it the highest one-day toll for the Jewish state since the war against Hezbollah erupted. The deaths, which occurred in several battles in Lebanon throughout the day, brought to more than 100 the number of Israeli troops killed so far. In its statement Sunday, the military also said that a five-member crew of a downed helicopter was missing. The transport helicopter was shot down by Hezbollah guerillas. Only the crew were on board at the time, the army said. On Saturday, more...

Flood alert for the highest tides in 20 years By David Sapsted (Filed: 07/08/2006) Thousands of people living in coastal areas are being warned to prepare for mass evacuations next month because of floods. Similar conditions in 1953 led to a flood that claimed 300 lives With the highest tides in 20 years predicted during September and October, the Environment Agency is holding road shows to alert people in the most vulnerable, low-lying areas of East Anglia. Householders are being urged to register with the agency to receive direct flood warnings, and a new Precautionary Evacuation Notice (PEN) system, involving...

First Rail Line Into Tibet Opens With Environmental Warnings LHASA, Tibet, July 6, 2006 (ENS) - With the opening of the new railway line through the Tibetan Plateau on Saturday, and the increased number of travelers expected to visit the area as a result, WWF and its wildlife trafficking monitoring arm, TRAFFIC, are calling for conservation measures to protect the world's largest and highest plateau. Billed as the highest railway in the world, the final stretch of the Qinghai-Tibet rail line opened Saturday, running over 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from central China to the Tibetan capital Lhasa. Environmental groups are...

WASHINGTON, May 26, 2006 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld received scouting's highest honor from the Boy Scouts of America here today. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (right) receives the Silver Buffalo Award from the Boy Scouts of America in Washington, May 26. Photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley, USN   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "I'm very honored to accept scouting's Silver Buffalo Award," Rumsfeld said during a breakfast sponsored by the National Eagle Scout Association. "Since its earliest days, the Boy Scouts have cultivated leadership and good citizenship, a service that has been...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (March 2, 2006) -- A LaCygne, Kan. native was awarded the nation’s fourth highest distinction given for valor and meritorious service during a ceremony here March 1. Brig. Gen. Joseph J. McMenamin, 2nd Marine Division’s assistant commander, presented the Bronze Star Medal to Sgt. Maj. Ricky D. James, citing James’ superior leadership during his unit’s deployment to Iraq from January through June 2005. The 43-year-old James served as the senior enlisted man for 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment as they conducted six months worth of counterinsurgency operations in and around Fallujah. The unit arrived...

RIDGEFIELD — Gabriel Galanski is disheartened that more students from Ridgefield High School aren't considering a career in the military.

BOMBAY, India - An Indian textile millionaire apparently broke the world record Saturday for the highest flight in a hot air balloon. The record by Vijaypat Singhania is subject to verification, but his son Gautam Singhania said the 44-ton balloon climbed nearly 70,000 feet, beating the old mark of just under 65,000 feet. "This goes to show to the world that we are not bullock cart drivers, but we can compete against the best of the world," the balloonist said. One of the balloon's designers said the height will be determined by instruments sealed inside the capsule. Once verified by...

I was just wondering what the name of the highest mountain in New Zealand was, and I looked. In retrospect, I should have been able to guess. I would be unsurprised if Mount Cook is in the background sometime during the "Lord of the Rings" movie trilogy, even though they filmed the snow trek scenes on Ruapehu. And since I discovered through the process another nice outdoor photography site (link in header), below is a picture of a place I saw once, Porcupine Falls in the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming (my family was driving to Yellowstone NP).

It is time to repeal the District's gun laws. Just consider a few statistics: Five years before the D.C. Council banned nearly all firearms in 1976, the District's murder rate fell from 37 to 27 per 100,000 people. In the five years after 1976, the murder rate rose to 35 per 100,000 people. Between 1976 and 1991, the D.C. homicide rate rose 200 percent. The national homicide rate during the same 15-year period rose just 12 percent. According to the FBI, the District has the highest violent crime rate in the nation of any city over 500,000 people. Its homicide...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers in Scotland said on Monday they can tell who has the highest risk of heart disease and diabetes based on three of five measurements of obesity, cholesterol, blood pressure and glucose. In Yahoo! Health Overcoming Depression More from Yahoo! Health: • Check your symptoms • How is it diagnosed? • New treatments They said the tests might offer an easier way to tell which men are most in danger and most in need of drugs, weight loss and exercise. The five measurements are used to define metabolic syndrome, or "syndrome x." They are a measurement of...

Seven-year-old Ashlee Poole was enjoying her Easter jelly beans on her front porch with her cousin and her mother when bullets started flying. She scrambled for safety behind her mom, who was holding open a glass door shattered by the gunfire that erupted on South Hermitage Avenue in front of her home. Then Ashlee was struck by a bullet, and her body crumpled in the doorway. "Her cousin fell on top of her trying to get inside," said Ashlee's grandmother, Bessie Long. "Her mother dragged Ashlee inside and was screaming more than the child was. Ashlee said, 'Grandma, I've been...