Free Republic

Riverhead, N.Y. -- A man who let his dog starve to death in a basement closet while he took his 7-year-old daughter to Disney World was sentenced Tuesday to a year in jail.

March 2, 2006 -- The makers of the gay cowboy flick "Brokeback Mountain" were too rough on sheep, an animal-rights group charged yesterday. In a letter to director Ang Lee, The Humane Society also complained about the way the horses and elk were treated. "The excessively rough handling of the sheep and horses leaves viewers questioning whether anyone was looking out for the safety of those animals," the letter said. "And many also wonder how the filmmakers got the elk to lose its footing and crumple to the ground 'on cue' after being shot." A spokesman for the producer of...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- A hunting lodge with antler chandeliers and stuffed ducks on the walls seems a strange place to celebrate the comeback of the ivory-billed woodpecker, but wildlife officials are doing exactly that. They credit hunters in particular with helping bring the rare bird back from presumed extinction in the Big Woods section of Arkansas.

U.S. NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, Dec. 1, 2005 – The small number of involuntary feedings conducted at the U.S. detention facility here are done humanely and are well within common standards of medical care, officials said in an effort to counter allegations made by attorneys for some detainees here. Thirty to 33 enemy combatant detainees here are currently on a hunger strike -- which officials here call "voluntary fasting" -- to protest their continued detention. Of those, 22 are receiving liquid nutrition through a tube inserted through the nose and into the stomach. "We have an ultimate responsibility that...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld can authorize exceptions to a new Defense Department policy on military interrogations that bars torture and calls for "humane" treatment of detainees, a spokesman said. The new directive lays out broad policy governing interrogations of detainees in Defense Department custody, but leaves the definition of "humane" to a separate, yet to be released directive that is still being debated within the administration. A little noticed loophole in the directive, which was made public Tuesday, gives the secretary of defense or his deputy authority to override the policy. "Intelligence interrogations will be conducted...

This describes it typically, the "payback" of a 'Palestinian' patient, From Patient to Suicide Bomber When she's also using that sick excuse of the notorious Arab boy, which -- as turned out -- was only a "Palestinian" stunt & was in fact murdered by Arabs! - The Israeli Crime That Wasn’t) Video - Palestinian patient tried to blow up in the Israeli hospital where she was treated. "Palestinian" woman that wanted to blow up the very hospital was treated in. SUICIDE BOMBER WANNABE: Wafa al-Biri, a 21-year-old Palestinian woman, attempted to kill the doctor who had saved her life. But...

Today's NPR's Talk of the Nation hosted a call-in program for people affected by Hurricane Katrina. A woman who evacuated safely called to ask if anyone could assist her with getting hay and water to the carriage mules left behind in the evacuation. The caller said she was a carriage driver in the French Quarter and she was very concerned for the mules. She said three people stayed with the mules during the hurricane. They are stabled near the French Quarter. The woman thinks their supply of food and water must be gone by now. The NPR commentator responded that...

[The Enumclaw case, for those of you who don't know, refers to a man who died from having sex with a horse; an investigation by the sheriff's office found a farm which was a haven for bestiality perverts] The Enumclaw case highlights two increasingly important ideological debates. The first, and seemingly the more minor of the two (for the time being) is within the animal rights movement, and centers around whether animals should be treated as identical to humans. On the one side, stands PETA and Peter Singer, a founder of the animal rights movement. On the other stands the...

Judge critical of Bush, Congress One of the appeals court judges rebuked the White House and lawmakers Wednesday for acting “in a manner demonstrably at odds with our Founding Fathers’ blueprint for the governance of a free people — our Constitution.” “Any further action by our court or the district court would be improper,” wrote Judge Stanley Birch Jr., appointed by President Bush’s father.

IDF engineering, munitions and medical teams in coordination with the Civil Administration, assisted in the rescuing and treatment of a Palestinian child injured in Dir Dabuan east of Ramallah. IDF forces came to the aid of the child following a Palestinian request to the DCO in Ramallah. The child's hand became caught in an olive oil manufacturing machine. The IDF forces freed the child, gave him medical treatment at the scene, and evacuated him to an Israeli hospital in moderate condition.

I've just returned from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba Naval Air Station base where we did three shows for the troops and toured several locations around the post visiting with some of the finest military personnel on planet earth. The kids seemed to really enjoy the shows and especially liked "This Ain't No Rag, It's A Flag" and "In America". We had a great time with them. We saw Camp X-Ray, where the Taliban detainees are being held only from a distance, but I picked up a lot of what's going on there from talking with a lot of different people....

<p>Angry and depressed by win-at-any-cost legal work, a growing number of lawyers are seeking peace of mind — for their clients and themselves — by bringing spiritual alternatives to the practice of law.</p> <p>When Rita Pollak became a lawyer 23 years ago, she envisioned herself in a noble profession that would improve people's lives. Instead, she discovered the legal system brutalized everyone it touched: clients, judges, lawyers. Law practice wasn't about seeking justice or finding reasonable resolutions to conflict. It was lawyers focusing on destroying their opponents by any means possible: nasty fights, vicious accusations, twisting the truth.</p>

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian mother said that conditions in Russian jails are so awful that she would prefer her son remain in the "humane" conditions of the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay. A number of governments, including Russia's, are in talks with the United States to extradite their nationals from the prison camp in Cuba, which was set up to house Taliban and al Qaeda suspects after the war in Afghanistan (news - web sites). "I am terribly scared of a Russian prison or Russian court for my son," Amina Khasanova was quoted as saying by Gazeta newspaper...

<p>A FRIENDLY HAND: A wounded Iraqi prisoner of war, center, greets a U.S. Marine medic Saturday during his evacuation by helicopter from a Marine field hospital in southern Iraq near the town of Al Basra.</p>

Hotel chain quits animal rightists The national Accor Economy Lodging hotel/motel chain has responded to a flood of calls and letters from U.S. sportsmen and is discontinuing its partnership with the nation's largest animal rights group, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). So says the U.S. Sportsmen's Alliance, a hunting advocacy organization that has led the fight to get Accor Economy Lodging to stop helping HSUS. Hunters and anglers might want to thank Accor Economy Lodging for its decision. Contact George Le Mener, President and CEO, Accor Economy Lodging, P. O. Box 809092, Dallas, Texas 75380-9092, or send...

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- After much debate, more than 40 pit bulls seized from an alleged fighting ring have been put down. Officials at the SPCA said they had no choice because the dogs were raised to kill. Authorities believe there are more fighting rings in the state and said that all pets are at risk. The Newton, N.H., case was one of the biggest and most controversial animal cruelty cases the state has seen. Forty-three pit bulls were seized from an alleged fighting ring in Newton. "We strongly believe that any dog that has been specifically bred or conditioned for...

My Side of the Story Humane Society Not Affiliated with Local SPCA Although the name would lead one to believe that the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is affiliated with your local Humane Society, this is not the fact. Even the HSUS’s own documents state that “The HSUS does not oversee local animal shelters or societies.” They do set up recommended policies and guidelines that local Humane Societies may or may not decide to follow. The HSUS does affect local Humane Societies in other ways though, and that is through their fundraising efforts. With twenty eight percent of...

The IDF said it lifted the curfew on Ramallah, except for the compound of Palestinian Chairman Yasser Arafat in the afternoon Tuesday to allow civilians to obtain supplies. Dairy products, gas and fuel have also been distributed. Arafat's offices were also provided with food, water and medical supplies, including: cheese, pita bread, halva, sardines, tuna, humus, cases of mineral water, coffee, medicines, antibiotics, painkillers and syringes.