Free Republic

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Benazir Bhutto's husband, who took effective control of his slain wife's party Sunday, is a former Cabinet minister who spent eight years in prison on corruption accusations and is known as "Mr. 10 Percent" for allegedly taking kickbacks. In her will, read Sunday, Bhutto named Asif Ali Zardari her successor as head of the Pakistan Peoples Party in case of her death. But Zardari, who is viewed with suspicion by many Pakistanis, appointed his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, as official chairman of the party that the 19-year-old's grandfather founded in 1967. While the elder Zardari is a...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton trails five top Republican presidential contenders in general election match-ups, a drop in support from this summer, according to a poll released on Monday. Clinton's top Democratic rivals, Barack Obama and John Edwards, still lead Republicans in hypothetical match-ups ahead of the November 4, 2008, presidential election, the survey by Zogby Interactive showed. Clinton, a New York senator who has been at the top of the Democratic pack in national polls in the 2008 race, trails Republican candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson, John McCain and Mike Huckabee by three to five...

"GMUG" stands for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. Combined, they encompass some 2.9 million acres of National Forest lands in Central and Western Colorado. These three forests are home to some of the most outstanding recreational opportunity in the West. Right now, the forest's are revising their Forest Plans. These management plans provide broad guidance on what activities may or may not occur on these lands. The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national recreation advocacy group that champions recreational access and responsible use of public and private lands, is growing increasingly concerned about the influence several anti-access groups...

FORT HUACHUCA — At 14, Daniel Rich is one part site supervisor and another part worker. The Buena High School ninth-grader needs to be both, as he leads and does labor that hopefully will earn him the rank of Eagle Scout, as a member of Boy Scout Troop 431. Sunday, Daniel had the support of others from his Fort Huachuca troop, a couple of scouts from Troop 444 in Sierra Vista, family members, friends and soldiers from Company B, 305th Military Intelligence Battalion and Headquarters Company of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade in renovating trails on the post’s Heritage Park....

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Miniature motorcycles known as pocket bikes would be barred from roads, sidewalks and public trails under a bill approved Monday by the state Senate. The measure by Assemblyman John Benoit, R-Palm Desert, was approved 27-9 and returned to the Assembly for a vote on Senate amendments. Pocket bikes are about 18 inches high and 4 feet long and can travel at speeds of more than 50 mph. They don't meet federal or state safety standards or air quality requirements, but there is no clear-cut law banning them from public roads, supporters of the Benoit bill said. Law...

Happy (campaign) trails! As if John Kerry didn’t already have enough campaign trail troubles... now he and the missus were caught having a shouting match, which ended in separate hotel rooms for the night. Here’s an excerpt from DRUDGE :"Democrat presidential hopeful John Kerry and his wife got into a heated argument after a campaign rally in Arizona Sunday night -- a heated argument so hot they spent the night in different rooms! A well-placed law enforcement source tells DRUDGE how Kerry and Teresa Heinz moved to separate suites at Flagstaff's Little America Hotel." Yeah, yeah... but did she...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured , along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 7 The Star Trails of Kilimanjaro Credit & Copyright: Dan Heller Explanation: The night had no moon, but the stars were out. And camped at 16,000 feet on Mt. Kilimanjaro, photographer Dan Heller recorded this marvelous 3 1/2 hour long exposure. Here the landscape is lit mostly by the stars. Flashlights give the tents an erie internal radiance while the greenish glow of distant city...

Dominick Dunne began telling his tale of Gary Condit, Chandra Levy, the horse whisperer and the Middle Eastern procurer sometime in the fall of 2001. It was tantalizingly baroque; Mr. Dunne, the Vanity Fair columnist, mesmerized a group of New England newspaper editors with it over lunch at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut in November 2001. He also spun the story for Laura Ingraham, the lawyer, conservative commentator and syndicated radio host, over lunch. Ms. Ingraham promptly invited Mr. Dunne to repeat it on her show, which he did. As chronicler of the crimes of the rich, Mr. Dunne has...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 19 Leonid Meteors in 2002 Credit: Night Sky Live Project, Wise Obs., TAU, Michigan Tech. Explanation: All during today, APOD will be posting the best images of the Leonid Meteor Shower as seen by the wide-angle digital cameras perched around the world as part of the Night Sky Live (NSL) Project. The main APOD site will be updated several times with topical information and new images....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 15 Night Trails of Africa Credit & Copyright: LeRoy Zimmerman Explanation: Spanning southern to northern skies, stars trail across this panoramic view of the African night from equatorial Kenya. The three hour long exposure was made on a clear, dark, mid November evening facing due west and covers just over 180 degrees along the horizon. So, the South Celestial Pole is at the center of the...