Free Republic

<p>The emerging plans to grill administration officials on the conduct of the war are part of a pledge for more aggressive congressional oversight on issues such as prewar intelligence, prisoner treatment at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, and the government's use of warrantless wiretaps.</p>

PETALUMA -- Rat lovers were furious Wednesday that a Petaluma animal shelter had euthanized more than 1,000 of the rodents taken last week from a man who had been hoarding the creatures inside his home. Roger Dier, 67, was cited for misdemeanor animal cruelty last week after animal control officers found hordes of squealing rats inside his dingy one-bedroom house in Petaluma. Nancee Tavares, the city's Animal Services manager, had promised to find homes for as many rats as possible but admitted Wednesday that some 1,020 of them had to be put down. "We euthanized all of the adults except...

Democrats Push to Delay Alito Hearings Until 2006 By David Espo The Associated Press Published: Nov 1, 2005 WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats pushed on Tuesday for a 2006 date for hearings on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, challenging President Bush's call for confirmation by year's end. "There's no way you can do an honest hearing by the end of December, or a fair hearing," said Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee. In a jab at the White House and the Senate Republican leadership, Leahy said he and the panel's chairman, Sen. Arlen...

Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager asked a judge on Wednesday to dismiss a lawsuit seeking benefits for the domestic partners of gay and lesbian state workers. Lautenschlager, a Democrat who personally supports domestic partner benefits, has been accused by conservative lawmakers of not vigorously defending the state against the lawsuit brought by six lesbian employees and the American Civil Liberties Union. The criticism increased after news that Lautenschlager appeared at a gay pride rally in Madison alongside the ACLU lawyer handling the case and two of the plaintiffs. The lawsuit seeks state-funded health insurance for the domestic partners of gay employees,...

PEARISBURG, Va. (AP) -- A cargo van filled with cages carrying more than 700 gerbils, rats, mice and other rodents overturned Thursday, sending the animals scurrying onto a highway and sparking a bizarre large-scale rescue of the small animals. The accident occurred when the van, driven by Thomas Marcinko of Zanesville, Ohio, hit an icy patch of U.S. 460 and ran off the left side of the road, hit a guardrail, overturned and slid onto the shoulder. The animals, being transported in plastic cages, made a break for freedom. "We caught probably 20 or 25 outside the vehicle. We caught...