Free Republic

OSCAR winner Kim Basinger has recently sent a curt email to her ex-husband Alec Baldwin. It did not contain even the most perfunctory of festive greetings -- she refuses to write or speak his name. The subject of this terse missive was their daughter, Ireland, 10, who is spending New Year with her father in New York. The handover must be planned with almost military precision so that her warring parents do not have to talk to each other or meet. The child-share deal was thrashed out almost two weeks ago at the Los Angeles County Superior Court. In an...

Days after 10,000 mink were released from a farm in southern Snohomish County, hundreds of the animals not yet captured have converged on local farms in search of food. The animals had killed at least 25 exotic birds and attacked other livestock in the area. "Over half our livestock was shredded. Murdered. Eaten alive," said Jeff Weaver, who discovered the dead birds on his farm Thursday. "These are not like regular farm animals. They're our pets." Weaver, who breeds Indian Runner ducks and Banny chickens, said his field was full of the animals Thursday morning. "One of the mink had...

Acting Patriotic We often hear from the "anti-war" crowd that "dissent is what America is all about." That by protesting against the war, they are not "unpatriotic," rather, they are the "true patriots." Not to mention the pat on the back they give to themselves because of their "bravery." Bravery has many definitions, "The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding go out to meet it." – Thucydides. More to the point, "Courage is doing what you're afraid to do. There can be no courage unless...