Free Republic

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Summer is settling onto Missionary Ridge overlooking this southeast Tennessee city. Swallows glide on the warm breeze rustling the hackberry trees, kudzu vines sprout along the hillside and the goats are back at work. Chattanooga’s goats have become unofficial city mascots since the Public Works Department decided last year to let them roam a city-owned section of the ridge to nibble the kudzu, the fast-growing vine that throttles the Southern landscape. The Missionary Ridge goats and the project’s tragicomic turns have created headlines, inspired a folk ballad and invoked more than their share of goat-themed chuckles. “Usually,...

Larry Ward and Interactive Political Media to Host First-Ever Video Campaign Contest for Individuals at CPAC 2005Date: Wednesday February 16, 8:30 am ET "Conservative Idol" From February 17 - 19 Will Feature $2,500 Cash Prizes Winning Commercial to be Broadcast on Radio America WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Larry Ward and Interactive Political Media, Inc. (IPM), one of the most sought after interactive marketing firms in Washington, will be hosting a contest for activists at The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), the country's oldest and largest annual gathering of grassroots conservatives. "There is a tremendous amount of untapped creativity within...

THAILAND, BANGKOK -- Police suspect an Islamic group was involved in the bombing of a train in southern Thailand, the national police chief said Tuesday -- suggesting for the first time a link between Muslim activists and a rash of violence in the area. The small bomb, left in a box on the train, exploded Monday when the train was at Yala station. Two security guards who were inspecting the suspicious package were wounded when it blew up. Muslims are a majority in the south of Thailand, but make up just 4 percent of the country's 62 million people, who...