Free Republic

FreeRepublic.com, the eleven-year-old conservative granddaddy of political discussion websites, was rated the most popular political website by Hitwise, an Internet data tracking service, for the week ending November 17, 2007 with 5.14% market share. The liberal site, HuffingtonPost.com, founded two-and-a-half years ago, was the only site that came close to Free Republic in interest from net users, with 4.51% market share. In a distant third place, the five-year-old liberal site DailyKos.com, was left in the dust by Free Republic and Huffington Post, garnering only 2.57% market share.The others sites Hitwise listed were, in order, politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com with 2.17%; townhall.com with 2.1%;...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Jeepers, it was just one of those creepers. An investigator specializing in all things bizarre has debugged the mystery of the Santa Fe Courthouse Ghost — a specter captured on a blurry surveillance videotape.

At 4:46 p.m. ET today, Congressman Ron Paul's YouTube channel registered 10,001 subscribers! Dr. Paul now has nearly twice as many subscribers as Barack Obama who is in second place. Here are the current numbers: Paul - 10,001 Obama - 5,768 Clinton - 3,212 Edwards - 2,764 Romney - 2,014 Kucinich - 1,732 Giuliani - 1,389 McCain - 1,259 Gravel - 885 Richardson - 790 Biden - 589 Hunter - 402 Dodd - 230 Huckabee - 205 Tancredo - 190 Brownback - 96 Gilmore - 50

BE HERE, OR BE NOWHERE!

Saddam Hussein could be hanged within days after the rejection of his appeal by Iraq's highest court yesterday. The former Iraqi dictator was sentenced to death in November over the killing of 148 Shia Muslims from the town of Dujail in 1982. He is facing another trial accused of genocide against the Kurds - but that may now never be completed. The death sentence from the first trial must be implemented within 30 days, the chief judge, Aref Shahin, said yesterday, hinting that it could come even sooner: "From tomorrow, any day could be the day of implementation." Iraq's prime...

$1 million cash found concealed in pickup Wednesday, December 13, 2006 By DAVID FERRARA Staff Reporter State troopers found $1 million cash stuffed inside a hidden compartment in a pickup truck, but authorities refused to say much Tuesday about why they seized the money and the vehicle. The driver was alone in a 2006 Ford F-350, registered in Washington state and headed west on Interstate 10 around 3:15 p.m. Sunday, when he was pulled over, initially under suspicion of speeding, just east of the Eastern Shore Centre, said trooper spokeswoman Martha Earnhardt. Working on a "saturation patrol" designed to investigate...

WASHINGTON - Though Americans are increasingly pessimistic about the war in Iraq, the Pentagon said Tuesday it is having success enlisting new troops. The Navy and Air Force met their recruiting goals last month while the Army and Marine Corps exceeded theirs, the Defense Department announced. The Army, which is bearing the brunt of the work in Iraq, did the best. It signed up 6,485 new recruits in November compared with its target of 6,150 — meaning 105 percent of its goal. All the services turned in similar performances in October as well, meaning they so far are meeting their...

I have witnessed over the past 2 weeks the early voting of several areas here in tennessee and I have to believe that turnout will be almost as high as 2004. This, to me, bodes well for Corker at least and if I may, I would offer for your consideration that polls are going to be shown to be way off the mark this year. I have not met many depressed republicans nor have i met many energized democrats. My prediction is that the mainstream media has badly miscalculated this year's potential for democrats.

New $1 billion Yankee Stadium is on deckBy KAREN MATTHEWS, Associated Press Writer August 16, 2006 NEW YORK (AP) -- No tears were shed Wednesday for the historic stadium where Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio played out their storied careers. Politicians and baseball officials who gathered to break ground on a new Yankee Stadium shared memories of the old ballpark but said the new one would be even better. "Yankee Stadium is an iconic stadium, a place where Ruth and (Lou) Gehrig played, where popes and presidents have spoken," Gov. George Pataki said. "But so, too, will the...

THE world is hotter than it has been for four centuries - and probably the hottest for 2,000 years - the United States' most prestigious scientific organisation said yesterday. In a report to the US Congress, the National Academy of Sciences reported that the "recent warmth is unprecedented for at least the last 400 years and potentially the last several millennia". A panel of top climate scientists told politicians that the Earth is heating up and that "human activities are responsible for much of the recent warming". Their 155-page report said average global surface temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere rose...

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - One of two young boys allegedly abducted by their father was found dead in a lake Wednesday, and the other boy and their father were found nearby with knife wounds, authorities said. Katron Walker, 32, had cut his own throat and stabbed himself in the chest, Terre Haute Police Sgt. David Smith said. His 2-year-old son, Monte, was also hospitalized with injuries. Police were called to the lake early Wednesday after a resident recognized Walker's van from an Amber Alert and spotted him with the boys. "He was running from a trailer and had both boys...

BAGHDAD, Iraq – The Central Criminal Court of Iraq convicted 12 security detainees May 10 through May 16 for various crimes including organizing, heading, leading, joining armed groups, murder and possessing illegal weapons. The trial court found Mahdi Ahmed Musa Ali al Jabouri guilty of violating Article 194 and Article 406 of the Iraqi Penal Code for organizing, heading, leading, joining armed groups and murder, and sentenced him to death. Coalition Forces apprehended him for leading a terror cell in Mosul. The defendant said he believes in killing Coalition Forces, Iraqi Police and Iraqi National Guard members because he says...

Time to dust off the whoopee cushions and hand buzzers. April Fools' Day is here and there's no better place for wisecracks and shenanigans than at work. In its annual April Fools' Day survey, CareerBuilder.com found 33 percent of workers have played a practical joke on a co-worker and 17 percent are planning office tricks for this year's holiday. Although it might be thrilling to finally one-up the office funnyman, pranks also help beat something that's no laughing matter: workplace stress. More than half of workers reported working under stress in another CareerBuilder.com survey. Stress and worry on the job...

Shuttle from Selma taking marchers to New Orleans By Cassandra Mickens Tuesday, March 28, 2006 8:58 PM CST The Selma Times-Journal The Dallas County New South Coalition, the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, the 21st Century Youth Leadership Movement and the Dallas County Democratic Conference have joined together to shuttle area residents to the Return, Vote and Rebuild March in New Orleans Saturday, April 1. Those interested in marching will board charter buses at Memorial Stadium at 3 a.m. Saturday. The cost of the trip is $30 per person. Call (334) 418-0800 or (334) 875-3947 for more information. The...

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2006 – Millions of Shiite Muslims from around the Middle East recently were able to make a pilgrimage to the Iraqi holy cities of Karbala and Najaf with few security problems. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that this shows a lot about the capabilities of Iraqi security forces. At a Pentagon news conference, Rumsfeld and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marine Gen. Peter Pace also spoke about an operation in Baghdad that freed a hostage, confiscated arms and shut down an improvised-explosive-device factory. Arbaeen, which marks the death of Imam Hussein -- a...

Fourteen indicted in Appalachia election fraud probeFriday, March 03, 2006 By STEPHEN IGO Times-News WISE - Fourteen individuals, including the mayor/town manager of Appalachia, a town councilman, and two law enforcement officials, were indicted by a Wise County grand jury on multiple counts stemming from an alleged conspiracy to conduct election fraud during the 2004 town elections. The indictments show the investigation hasn't been just about pork rinds, Special Prosecutor Tim McAfee said during a press conference at the Wise County Courthouse. The investigation into allegations of voter fraud evolved from early reports of attempted vote buying before town elections...

Editor's note: The Supreme Court announced Feb. 17 that it would again hear arguments in the free-speech case of a whistleblower, apparently so that Justice Samuel Alito can break a tie. That case is Garcetti v. Ceballos. WASHINGTON — New Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito Jr. was sworn in Jan. 31, giving him five months to serve during the Court’s current term. But during that period, Alito will likely have only one chance to show his First Amendment stripes. That chance will be in an important one, and it begins Feb. 28, when the Court hears a trio of First...

Remember Cooter the New Orleans Looter? He became an Internet phenom after everyone photoshopped his image. See here: [url=http://www.cooterthelooter.com]Cooter the New Orleans Looter [/url] Imagine a website for a photoshop contest of Mohamed? I'd bet word of it would spread like wildfire and soon Drudge, James Toronto, Little Green Football would spread the word all over the Internet. Nothing would piss Muslims off more if the creativity is anywhere near what Cooter the Looter has attained. What do you think about it?

A pair of 26-year-old roommates from Texas are looking to cash in on the American dream by simply asking every person in the nation to send them a dollar, and have created a website called GiveUsABuck.com to reach a potential goal of $300 million. ... "Wouldn't it be great if every person in the United States gave us one buck? If you could get every person, then that would be $300 million," Rob Momary said. "Everybody's had this idea, but no one's really done it to make it work. If we only get 1 percent, that's still $3 million, which...

Katrina is gone -- and so are many kids Team pursues difficult search for more than 1,300 missing children TINA SUSMAN Newsday Posted on Sun, Dec. 11, 2005 Royce Osbourne, in a skeleton mask, marches in a protest for hurricane victims' rights in New Orleans December 10, 200. Protesters feared they would receive federal funds to rebuild their homes. REUTERS/Lee Celano NEW ORLEANS - Three months after Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf Coast, the fate of more than 1,300 children remains unknown. Until a few days ago, Lil Joe and Kolenik Williams, brothers from New Orleans, were among the...

Coloradans have no commonsense. Within one year we reelected a financially incompetent, liberal Ken Salazar, then raised our own taxes and legalized marijuana. What is wrong with my neighbors? Well, they want to smoke pot and pay more taxes. One problem explains the other. Drug abuse is a large cause of liberal thinking. This is proven historically as we look at the ‘60s and ‘70s. Drug abuse and modern liberalism are synonymous. Person becomes rebel. Rebel smokes pot. Pot affects mind, causing liberal thinking. Liberals raise taxes. Its simple! Fortunately state and federal law will ensure that nothing in Denver...

Is OBL dead?

SUN-SENTINEL INVESTIGATION FEMA does little to recover funds given to undeserving applicants By Megan O'Matz, Sally Kestin and Jon Burstein Staff Writers October 9, 2005 Federal officials, charged with disbursing billions of dollars in relief after one of the nation's worst natural disasters -- Hurricane Katrina -- are vowing to crack down on fraud by assigning about 350 auditors, investigators and inspectors to catch people and companies who try to cheat the government. But in a continuing investigation of disaster spending by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has found that the agency has rarely pursued individual...

1 million tires catch on fire in Wis. July 20, 2005 WATERTOWN, Wis. -- A massive fire erupted in a huge pile of tires at a recycling plant Tuesday, sending black smoke billowing for miles and forcing roads to be closed while firefighters tried to contain the blaze. The fire ignited in about 1 million tires at the Watertown Tire Recycling Co., said Lt. Doug Ninmann of the Dodge County Sheriff's Department. No one was injured and the cause wasn't determined, but people within a mile's radius were warned to take shelter if the smoke becomes too intense, he said....

Every so often, in the hushed galleries of Congress, history unfolds in a manner that casts the momentous business of Capitol Hill in stark, even humbling relief. Then there are moments spent discussing the Whizzinator. Yesterday morning in Room 2123 of the Rayburn Building, Rep. Bart Stupak, a sober-voiced Democrat from Michigan, held up an advertisement for the "drug-test subversion device," which received national attention last week when it was learned that an NFL player had been detained at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after authorities found the state-of-the-art prosthetic in his luggage (with a packet of dehydrated urine). The player...

Rosen goes to trial May 3 on charges of falsely underreporting the costs of the August 2000 gala — thus inflating the amount of campaign cash ostensibly raised for Clinton at the event.

Editorial: Raiding the tobacco till Friday, December 3, 2004 Three years ago, when the cash was flowing freely on Beacon Hill, Massachusetts led the nation in spending on anti-smoking programs. Voters had agreed to raise cigarette taxes to fund anti-smoking initiatives, and the state's share of the huge federal tobacco settlement brought in even more cash intended to mitigate the health effects of smoking. That investment was paying off. National polls consistently found Massachusetts teen-agers trailing teens from around the country in smoking rates. That was then. After years of budget shortfalls, Massachusetts has fallen to 40th place in tobacco-control...

CHARTED: Yoko Ono, 71, has the No. 1 single on the dance chart, "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him"/"Every Woman Has A Woman Who Loves Her," a mix of techno beats and her somewhat off-key vocals that delivers a message in favor of same-sex unions. "This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans who are against the administration's decision to ban gay marriage," Ono says about the success of the tune, as quoted by the BBC.

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. DETROIT - A factory worker attacked and killed a fellow employee with a sword the suspect apparently made himself at the metals plant where both men worked, police said Thursday. Witnesses told police the 30-year-old man had complained he was being bullied by another worker at Peerless Metals, which makes metal powders used in automobile brakes. The suspect had been working on the sword for several days, apparently at work, and when he finished Wednesday, he struck the 40-year-old victim in the neck, nearly decapitating him, said police spokesman James Tate....

In 1997, Kerry questioned the size of the intelligence community during a speech on the floor of the Senate:

US soldiers in Iraq say 1,000 death toll meaningless 2 hours, 30 minutes ago BAQUBA, Iraq (AFP) - The deaths of 1,000 American troops in Iraq since the 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein has only strengthened US resolve to restore security to the strife-torn country, soldiers said. Dismissing parallels with the 1961-75 war in Vietnam, officers lashed out at the media for playing the grim-reaper over the mounting casualty toll and failing to appreciate the sacrifices made by each soldier. "It sucks. The newspapers glorify it. Everyday, reporting the numbers going up and up, trying to push a point,"...

Pro-Troop Organization Set to Fight Back Against “Blame America” Crowd [New York] -- In just three weeks, thousands of Republican delegates from around America will descend upon New York City for the 2004 Republican National Convention. While convention delegates will announce their support for the re-election of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney, another constituency will also be making its way to New York with a very different agenda. Anti-war organizations have been planning for several months to organize the largest anti-war rally in U.S. history. And thousands of these “Blame America First” organizers have already arrived in...

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The Bronx Bombers and their big spending boss, George Steinbrenner, are closin in on a deal with city and state officials to build a gleaming new Yankee Stadium in a park next to the House that Ruth Built. The team is in the final sages of planning for a new $700 million "state of the art" stadium, a source close to the Yankees said yesterday. But the team denied a story in Crain's New york Business that an announcement can be expected in the next two weeks.

Today an individual time trial up the infamous l'Alpe d'Huez.

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

DEXTER, Mich. (May 7) - Russell Tanner better stay inside during a thunderstorm, because if somebody has a chance of being struck by lightning, it's him. The 78-year-old Dexter resident won his second $1 million scratch-off lottery game last week - the only known two-time winner of the game in Michigan. The retired custodian and factory worker who still lived in a manufactured home following his June 2002 winning ticket, said he was stunned to win again. "I couldn't believe that I could be so blessed. It just feels great to win," he said. The odds to win the game...

<p>Neal Easterbrook considers himself lucky for the number of deer he brought back to his Shelby Township home and the time spent with family during this year's hunting season.</p> <p>Easterbrook, who went hunting with his brother and father in Michigan's Thumb, bagged a 7-point buck and two does during the 15-day firearm season that concluded Sunday.</p>

PARIS, Dec 04, 2003 (Kyodo via COMTEX) -- One thousand and seven hundred U.S. soldiers have deserted their posts in Iraq, with many of them failing to return to military duty after getting permission to go back to the United States, according to the French weekly magazine Le Canard Enchaine. The magazine, known for its satires and exposes, said the French intelligence agency obtained the information from what it described an "American colleague." Citing a senior French official posted in Washington, the magazine also said that 7,000 U.S. soldiers have left Iraq allegedly due to psychological troubles and other illnesses....

1,000 missiles seized as US hits rocket site By Jack Fairweather in Baghdad (Filed: 15/11/2003) American forces struck at Iraqi insurgents outside Saddam Hussein's home town, Tikrit, yesterday, killing seven and destroying a rocket launch site in a helicopter attack, and uncovering a cache of more than 1,000 missiles. The US military said an Apache attack helicopter led the assault after identifying the site as a threat to a nearby US base. Troops from the 4th Infantry Division moved in and discovered a flatbed lorry carrying 50 missiles. A further search revealed two bunkers holding almost 1,000 missiles used in...

Getting a glimpse at SCO's evidence By Lisa M. Bowman CNET News.com August 19, 2003, 6:22 AM PT LAS VEGAS--When SCO Group first filed its lawsuit against IBM in March, critics characterized the move as the last gasp of an ailing company hoping to strike a series of lucrative licensing deals. Since then the company has come out swinging even harder, bashing its detractors, standing by its allegations, and most recently, posting a profit that SCO said would allow it to continue its aggressive intellectual property fight. At the SCO Forum here Monday, the company pulled out its latest weapon:...

<p>Backers of the recently filed Voter Reward initiative, which would offer $1 million to one lucky voter each election, added a twist Monday.</p> <p>They refiled the initiative with a retroactivity clause that would give $1 million to a winning voter in the upcoming 2004 election, provided the initiative passes on the same ballot.</p>

The design of one of the world's most versatile and celebrated architects Daniel Liebeskind, is expected to be chosen as the replacement for the World Trade Centre buildings, although some of the features are likely to be radically altered or left out. Both the governor of New York State, George Pataki and the city's Mayor Michael Bloomberg, prefer Liebeskind's jagged towers design to the other shortlisted proposal, a set of latticework towers designed by a rival practice, Think.Liebeskinds proposals have also gained favour with the New York Port Authority, which owns the World Trade Centre Site and the Lower Manhattan...

<p>''THE NOVEL is a Protestant art form, requiring the free play of the mind,'' George Orwell wrote. ''There are few Catholic novelists who are any good, and most of them are bad Catholics.'' Orwell did not know the work of Walker Percy or Flannery O'Connor. I'll leave assessments of my own novels to others, but in truth I can't read that phrase ''bad Catholic'' without a shudder. What is a bad Catholic anyway?</p>