Free Republic

So last night the neighbor's dog is barking non-stop which it does any time they put it in the back yard and they are in the house. The problem was I hate noisey neighbors - it's an obsessive compulsive disorder of mine (or so I've concluded). About 10:30 PM I walk out to my driveway and they have their normal 4 cars parked. 2 in the driveway and 2 in front of the house. But this time there's a large extended passenger van with side-doors running at the end of the driveway with its lights on. I think nothing of...

America nervous as militant cleric's rallies attract mass support By Julian Coman in Washington and Sean Rayment in Kuwait (Filed: 20/04/2003) Every day, the rallies held by Battle to prevent Chalabi taking power grow bigger. Every day the American marines in the eastern Iraqi town of Kut, close to the Iranian border, become more nervous. Mr Abbas is a militant Shia cleric with an unnervingly fine grasp of the political possibilities of post-war Iraq. Some days ago, he walked into Kut town hall and simply took it over, accompanied by hundreds of supporters, many of whom had crossed the border...