Free Republic

MEXICO CITY – In politics, timing is everything – and pundits say the timing of President Vicente Fox's visit next week to California and the West couldn't be worse. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is deciding whether the California National Guard will participate in President Bush's plan to send 6,000 troops to the border. The Utah Minutemen are planning a protest in Salt Lake City, where Fox will meet with several hundred Mexicans during the first stop of a four-day trip that also takes him to Washington state. And as Fox is speaking to a joint session of the California Legislature on...

WASHINGTON, March 14, 2006 – The new Iraqi parliament is scheduled to convene March 16 for the first time since its members were chosen in the Dec. 15 nationwide election, a senior Defense Department official said here today. The inaugural meeting of the new parliament, or general assembly, "would be another step forward in seating the government," DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told Pentagon reporters. Having the Iraqi people gain confidence that their political process is moving forward "is vital to the security environment, too," Whitman said. Whitman said the security situation in Iraq appears to be improving since sectarian violence...

Gasoline tax slated to rise on New Year's Day Lawmakers scramble to freeze nearly 3-cents hike From staff reports Macon County motorists are bracing for a state gasoline tax hike that will greet them at the pump on New Year's Day. On Sunday, the state tax on gasoline will jump by nearly 3 cents to a total of 29.9 cents per gallon. The increase will boost the tax to its highest level in state history. And North Carolina's gas tax will become the highest per gallon in the Southeast and the sixth highest in the U.S. The automatic tax also...

FORT HUACHUCA, Ariz. – The U.S. Army Intelligence Center and Fort Huachuca will host a POW/MIA Walkathon, open to the public, 6-8 a.m. Sept. 16 at Chaffee Parade Field. The event pays tribute to the profound sacrifices POWs, MIAs and their families have made for their country. POW/MIA Recognition Day is customarily observed on the third Friday of September. The slated keynote speaker is Norm Wiseman, a former POW held for nine months by the German government during World War II. Military uniforms may be worn to display Esprit de Corps while walking the two-mile course. No individual support teams/vehicles...

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) -- Major marketers are ogling placement deals on the breakout hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy even as NBC plots an Aug. 14 special in which they will make over Jay Leno. Highest-ever rating Audience numbers for the July 29 Queer Eye, in its fourth airing on Bravo, shot up 62% from the prior week, according to Nielsen Media Research, earning the cable network its highest-ever rating. "This is the breakout show of the summer on any network, cable or broadcast," crowed Jeff Zucker, president-NBC Entertainment. "It's out of control right now." The Queer Eye premise:...