Free Republic

At Berkeley Bowl, the nuts are off the shelf Brothers Juno, 20 months, left, and Cyrus Soltani, 5, sample fruit at the Berkeley Bowl market, famous for its exotic produce. For those caught tasting food or beverages without paying, the penalty is severe: a lifetime ban. By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer September 22, 2008 BERKELEY -- As most veteran customers know, it takes a pretty thick skin to successfully navigate the Berkeley Bowl, this strident city's most popular grocery store. Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the...

Climate modelers see modern echo in '30s Dust BowlApril 29, 2008 Goodwell, Oklahoma, June 4, 1937. Climate scientists using computer models to simulate the 1930s Dust Bowl on the U.S Great Plains have found that dust raised by farmers probably amplified and spread a natural drop in rainfall, turning an ordinary drying cycle into an agricultural collapse. The researcher say the study raises concern that current pressures on farmland from population growth and climate change could worsen current food crises by leading to similar events in other regions. Recent studies indicate that periodic droughts in the western United States are...

A distraught Tempe man was within sight of the Super Bowl on Sunday with an assault rifle, but a change of heart kept him from unloading 200 rounds of ammunition on the crowd, court records show. Kurt William Havelock, 35, turned himself in Sunday to Tempe police and the FBI at the urging of family and confessed his plan, which he hatched in retaliation for the Tempe City Council rejecting a liquor license application for a restaurant and bar he owns. According to court records, Havelock is charged with mailing threatening communications in the mailing of eight copies of a...

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (NNS) -- The Naval Academy football team will play in the third annual San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. (PST) at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, against a Mountain West opponent. The Poinsettia Bowl game, which will be televised nationally by ESPN, is Navy's fifth straight bowl game. The Midshipmen are 7-4 after defeating Northern Illinois University, Nov. 17. "A beautiful setting in a Navy city at one of the finest football venues in the country has everyone excited," said Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk. "Five bowl games in...

FR CANTEEN MISSION STATEMENT Showing support and boosting the morale of our military and our allied military and the family members of the above. Honoring those who have served before. FOOTBALL FACTS Thanks for joining us once again as we look at some football facts. This time we’ll look at "From a regional to a National sport. From 1930-1958" In the early 1930s, the college game continued to grow, particularly in the south, bolstered by fierce rivalries such as the "Third Saturday in October"—a rivalry between Alabama and Tennessee. While prior to the mid-1920s most national powers came from...

Col. David Sutherland, commander of 3rd brigade combat team 1st Calvary Division, discusses the details of Operation Turki Bowl via video tele-conference at the Combined Press Information Center. Photo by Army Spc. Alexander Burnett Combined Press Information Center. BAGHDAD -- American and Iraqi military leaders held a joint press conference at the Combined Press Information Center in the International Zone Monday via video teleconference to discuss Operation Turki Bowl. Commanders on the ground explained details of the operation.“Our division led many successful operations in the Diyalal and Balad Ruz, Baqubah,” said Maj. Gen. Shakur al - Kaabi, commander, 5th Iraqi...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2007 – U.S. and Iraqi forces killed 100 terrorists, detained 50, and dismantled a large terrorist group in January during Operation Turki Bowl, the senior U.S. Army officer in Iraq’s Diyala province said yesterday. The operation, conducted from Jan. 4 to 13, occurred south of Balad Ruz in the Turki Village, Tuwilla and 30 Tamuz areas of the province. During the operation, U.S. Army and Iraqi soldiers isolated and defeated a terrorist group known as “The Council,” Col. David W. Sutherland, commander of 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, told reporters via satellite connection from...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2006 – Members of the U.S. military will be honored during the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl to be held Dec. 23 in Fort Worth, Texas. The University of Tulsa and the University of Utah will square off for the fourth annual Armed Forces Bowl that will be aired at 7 p.m. CST on ESPN television and ESPN Radio to over 200 stations in 44 states. Deputy Secretary of Defense Gordon England, a Fort Worth native, will flip the coin at the start of the game and administer the oath of enlistment to recruits from each...

Wing Bowl 15 will be 'Philly vs. the World' Sold-out event planned for Feb. 2 at Wachovia Center Wing Bowl, that home-grown sauce-slobbering extravaganza, will have some new wrinkles for its 2007 incarnation, Angelo Cataldi of WIP (610 AM) announced last Monday. With its theme of "Philadelphia Vs. the World," the Feb. 2 event will try harder to produce a local hero. Only five professional eaters will be allowed in the 15th annual celebration of poultry and pulchritude. They'll be chosen by the International Federation of Competition Eating.

LAS VEGAS (Army News Service, June 12, 2006) – Members of Las Vegas's 6th Recruiting Brigade celebrated the Army’s 231st birthday a few days early at the Arena Football League’s Arena Bowl June 10. In pre-game festivities, 48 newly enlisted Soldiers were sworn into the Army by U.S. Army Accessions Commander Lt. Gen. Robert Van Antwerp. “Our mission is recruiting, and today we’re here to help educate and create awareness about the opportunities the Army offers,” said Col. Stephen Wilkins, commander of the 6th Recruiting Brigade. “It’s a good reminder to the public of the freedoms and democracy that we...

NEW YORK - Former Giants lineman Roy Simmons and celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred want an investigation into whether Simmons was denied access to the Super Bowl media center because he is gay and HIV positive. Simmons and Allred held a news conference outside NFL headquarters Thursday before delivering a letter to the league asking it to look into why Simmons wasn't granted a media pass. Simmons requested a credential for the center Feb. 2, three days before the Super Bowl. He also asked for two tickets for the game, which the Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-10 over the Seattle Seahawks, and...

Task Force Fury and Task Force Catamount soldiers gathered to cheer on their teams or simply enjoy "a small slice of home." FORWARD OPERATING BASE ORGUN-E, Afghanistan, Feb. 8, 2006 — As the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks battled for American football supremacy in Detroit, around 60 of the U.S. soldiers in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika Province celebrated the United States’ biggest sports spectacle halfway around the world early Feb. 6. "Of course, you’d have your family and friends with you if you were watching the game in the states, but this is great too. I have no complaints at all."...

Rolling Stones Decry Super Bowl Censorship By DAVID BAUDER Tuesday, February 7, 2006 8:50 PM EST NEW YORK - Nobody turns off the microphone on Mick Jagger without a fight. Censorship of their songs during the Super Bowl halftime show was "absolutely ridiculous and completely unnecessary," the Rolling Stones said through a spokeswoman on Tuesday. The NFL, which produced the show seen on ABC Sunday night, silenced Jagger's microphone during sexually suggestive passages of two of the three songs the band performed before an audience of 90 million television viewers. The football league, still nervous over the Janet Jackson wardrobe...

Former NFL players Keith Byars (left) and Bryan Cox sign posters for waiting soldiers at Forward Operating Base Speicher, Iraq. Photo by Pfc. Cassandra Groce, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Soldiers viewing Super Bowl XL live at 2 a.m. local time yesterday were joined by an entourage of traveling football players at Forward Operating Base Speicher here. New England Patriots running back Keith Byars, who played in Super Bowl XXXI; linebacker Bryan Cox, who helped the Patriots win the Super Bowl in 2001 for the first time in franchise history; kicker Nick Lowery, who broke virtually every...

DETROIT -- Three weeks ago, after the Steelers held on to upset Indianapolis, Joey Porter was unhappy about the overturning of Troy Polamalu's fourth-quarter interception that could have sealed the win much earlier. Believing that deep down the league preferred Peyton Manning and the Colts to win, Porter publicly criticized the game officials, asking them not to "take the game from us." Well, the Steelers can call it even now, as the officials who performed well enough throughout the season to earn the privilege of working Super Bowl XL performed Sunday as though they were trying to make it up...

With strong wind and 5 to 8 inches of snow forecast, snow removal crews girded for a winter storm as thousands of fans headed downtown on Super Bowl eve. There also are hundreds of city workers and volunteers ready to work through the night to clear sidewalks so fans can get to Sunday's title game at Ford Field, which has a steel roof.The National Weather Service issued a winter storm warning for Detroit through noon Sunday, predicting 5 to 8 inches of snow before the storm passes. The heaviest amounts were to fall Saturday night, with gusts up to 40...

Well, we were right about the fact that there isn't sufficient security at this weekend's Super Bowl festivities. Michigan/Ohio Homeland Security "leader" Brian Moskowitz a/k/a "Abu Moskowitz" is too busy sending agents to seize t-shirts and protect NFL owners, and FBI Michigan chieftain Daniel Roberts is too busy glad-handing reporters and giving them media tours so he'll get that new FBI Detroit palace built. And the head of DHS? Michael Chertoff a/k/a "Mr. Burns" is too busy changing facial hair (he's now sporting a Grecian Formula mustache to hide his resemblance to "The Simpsons" character) to pay attention to the...

February 1, 2006 -- U.S.-Mexican tunnel worries senior U.S. intelligence officials. The recent tunnel discovered between Tijuana and Otay Mesa, California has some U.S. intelligence officials extremely concerned, according to informed U.S. intelligence sources. Senior U.S. intelligence officers are concerned that the sophisticated 1.4 mile tunnel, complete with ventilation, electrical, and water systems, as well as cement flooring, that connects two warehouses on each side of the border, could have been used to secretly transport nuclear devices or material into the United States. Argentine intelligence sources have previously reported that Al Qaeda smuggled nuclear devices into the United States using...

MARITIME SECURITY FOR SUPER BOWL XL     Sector DetroitU.S. Coast Guard Press Release Date: January 25, 2006Contact: LT Catherine Mellette(313) 568-9615 MARITIME SECURITY FOR SUPER BOWL XLDETROIT -  The U.S. Coast Guard as the designated lead agency for maritime security during Super Bowl XL has established and will enforce a security zone 1mile by 300 yards along the waterfront from Joe Louis Arena to north of the Renaissance Center (see chart for more details).  Vessels are not allowed to enter the designated security zone.  The word Vessel includes every description of watercraft including; canoes, kayaks, personal watercraft, sailing, power, non-displacement...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Feb. 1, 2006) -- Every day, service members in Iraq put on their gear and prepare for battle in the war on terror, but one day a year the two top teams in the National Football League suit up and battle to see who will be the next Super Bowl champion. In Iraq, fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Seattle Seahawks hope their schedules will allow an opportunity to watch the game and support their team. They may not be home with their immediate family to watch the game, but from thousands of miles away a few...

Star search: Why so few Cowboys in Hall? By Brad Townsend Many Cowboys fans are among the suspicious. They believe that only bias and conspiracy can explain the relatively paltry number of Cowboys in the Hall of Fame. No franchise has won more playoff games (32) or played in more Super Bowls (eight), and only one other team has won as many championships (five). But only five Cowboys players are in the Hall. No Cowboy has been elected since Mel Renfro in 1996, but that could change Saturday. Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin and Rayfield Wright are among the 15 finalists....

<p>Ben Roethlisberger reiterated a statement he made in the preseason when the second-year quarterback said the Steelers might have a worse record than last year but be a better team in 2005.</p> <p>Speaking yesterday at an AFC championship game news conference that was televised by NFL Network, Roethlisberger said the Steelers (13-5) might be better than last season when they were 15-1, had the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and lost to the New England Patriots in the conference championship game.</p>

SAN ANTONIO (Army News Service, Jan. 7, 2006) -- The Army's top chief for human resources paid tribute to two Army veterans, a Soldier's wife, and a Soldier's parent during a Freedom Team Salute presentation at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel here Jan. 6. John P. McLaurin, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, conducted the Freedom Team Salute pinning for two members of the legendary "Titans" football team, as well as the spouse of an All-American Bowl Soldier hero and parent of a Soldier supporting the war on terror. Two Army veterans, both members of the...

SAN ANTONIO (Army News Service, Jan. 7, 2006) -- America's top high school athletes shared center stage with America's top Soldiers during the 2006 U.S. Army All-American Bowl high school all-star football game held in the Alamodome January 7th. East versus West players battled in front of a nationally televised audience and in front of 31,565 fans, the largest in the Army's six-year history of hosting the event. The East won the contest 27 – 16. During pre-game activities, 78 Soldiers, who were awarded either the Distinguished Service Medal, the Silver Star, the Bronze Star or the Purple Heart, were...

SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Army News Service, Jan. 5, 2006) -- Even for a city known by many as "military city USA," the welcome ceremony for the Soldier Heroes of the upcoming "All-American Bowl" football game stood out as one they'll very likely never to forget. Close to 80 Soldiers, who will represent the Army in this Saturday's premiere high school football contest, were honored with a fanfare celebration at the Sheraton Gunter Hotel in San Antonio. With the U.S. Army Field Band's "Brass Quintet" providing a musical background, each of the Soldier "heroes" were introduced to the cheering crowd outside...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (Jan. 6, 2006) -- Ticket donations from a nonprofit public benefit corporation allowed depot Marines to attend the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl, Oklahoma Sooners vs. Oregon Ducks, at Qualcomm Stadium, Dec. 29. Jim Dillon, the founder and president of the Dillon Foundation, donated 25 Holiday Bowl tickets to the Marines, as well as 127 Poinsettia Bowl tickets the previous week. "I look at it as an opportunity for people - men, women, young, old-to go out and experience. I'm just trying to create happy memories for these people. You're not putting somebody on the...

1/5/2006 - LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- A B-1B Lancer kicked off the national college football title game Jan. 4 with a flyover of the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. Gen. Ronald Keys, commander of Air Combat Command and Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, commander of the Space and Missile Systems Center here, represented the Air Force at several Tournament of Roses week events leading up to the game between the University of Texas and the University of Southern California. Events included Fan Fest Expo Village, a family festival where the 369th Air Force Recruiting Squadron, Los Angeles,...

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Jan. 4, 2006) -- The 6th annual U.S. Army All-American Bowl will showcase the best high-school football players in the nation as it airs nationally on NBC beginning at noon (Central Standard Time) Jan. 7. The game will also be streamlined live on the Web through Army Knowledge Online at www.us.army.mil. AKO access requires an account, officials pointed out, and they added QuickTime software will also be required to view the game. All Soldiers and Army civilian employees are authorized AKO accounts. Family members and others can receive guest accounts if sponsored by an AKO account...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 2, 2006 – Faith Jarvis, of Winston-Salem, N.C., traveled to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, in Tempe, Ariz., to try to do her bit to support the United Service Organizations, a charity that has supported America's servicemembers for generations. She did help the USO, but Jarvis left with her own prize -- a diamond ring and a surprise reunion with her boyfriend-turned-fiancé, Army 1st Lt. Raymond Vera, a California National Guardsman with the 49th Military Police Brigade who has been serving in Iraq. Jarvis attempted to throw a football through a target 15 yards away. If she made it,...

NFL planting trees in Detroit to offset Super Bowl emissions The Associated Press DETROIT — The National Football League says it plans to plant acres of trees in metropolitan Detroit to offset carbon emissions caused by traffic generated by next year's Super Bowl. NFL environmental director Jack Groh says he will visit Detroit this spring to meet with the host committee, foresters and community groups about the tree planting. It will be similar to what the NFL sponsored at this year's Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. "We have talked with the host committee and they're very excited about the possibility...

2005 U.S. Army-All American Bowl The 2005 U.S. Army All-American Bowl will kick-off the U.S. Army All-American Selection Tour in early September. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl gears up each season for the Bowl as it tours throughout the country and officially invites athletes to the Bowl. Check out the Selection Tour page as it is updated weekly with the latest selections to the game. The U.S. Army All-American Bowl is more than one game it is a week of great activities for athletes and fans of all ages. Each year the nation's top underclassmen travel to San Antonio to...

Inaugural Security Draws on Latest Technologies Command Post to Receive Streaming Intelligence From 50 Police Agencies Aloft and on the Ground The nerve center for the most heavily guarded presidential inauguration in history will not be in Washington, where President Bush will take the oath of office, but 25 miles away in a futuristic command post in Northern Virginia. Inside a gleaming steel-and-marble complex, the Secret Service and 50 federal, state and local agencies will monitor action in the sky, on the ground and in the subway system. Giant plasma screens will beam in live video from helicopters and cameras...

The Bowl Championship Series must go! Nearly every other sports system has a playoff and yet Division 1A football does not. Help us fix the problem by checking out BCS Must Go! We need your help to put an end to this system.

Texas Coach Mack Brown, arguably the biggest choke artist in organized sports, got his team into the Rose Bowl by publicly begging to be put in the game and lobbying his friends in the coaches' poll. For the third time in 4 years, the NCAA has burned the PAC-10 in favor of the BIG-12. Last year, USC was ranked #1 in BOTH polls, yet did not play in the national championship game. Two years before that, #2 Oregon did not go to the national chamionship game when NEBRASKA was picked to go despite that fact that Nebraska didn't even QUALIFY...

Please place your predictions, traditions, comments, jabs, and jokes on this thread for the 2004 Auburn/Alabama game...This is the thread...

If you've happened to stumble upon Howard Stern's radio show in the past 10-11 months, you know he's been bashing President Bush constantly. Attacking him for the war on Iraq, making fun of his supposed lack of intellect, basically doing everything those on the left do and have done for the past year or two. What you may not know is that Stern was supportive of President Bush prior to the whole FCC / Janet Jackson nonsense. Once his own personal finances and radio program came under fire by the FCC, he began blaming Bush and Republicans and claiming they're...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Terri Carlin wants to make Janet Jackson's bare breast into a federal case. Carlin filed a proposed class action lawsuit in U.S. District Court this week against Jackson, singer Justin Timberlake, broadcasters MTV and CBS and their parent company, Viacom. Carlin alleges in the Feb. 4 suit that she and others who watched the halftime show during the Super Bowl were injured by the performers' lewd actions when Timberlake ripped off part of Jackson's costume, exposing her breast. In the lawsuit, Carlin charges that the exposure and "sexually explicit conduct" by other performers during the show injured...

To: All Viacom Employees From: Mel Karmazin Date: February 03, 2004 RE: Super Bowl Half Time Show As you know, the incident during the Super Bowl's Half Time Show on Sunday has received a significant amount of attention both in the media and in Washington, D.C. Because of the speculation and misinformation about what transpired, I want to update you on the facts and also on what we are doing to prevent such incidents from occurring in the future. First let me say that everyone at Viacom, CBS and MTV was shocked and embarrassed about what transpired at the end...

<p>PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. (AP) -- Kansas State quarterback Ell Roberson was accused Thursday of sexually assaulting a woman at the team hotel, leaving his start in the Fiesta Bowl in question.</p> <p>Roberson told police he had consensual sex with the 22-year-old woman, who is a Kansas State alumna and acquaintance of the quarterback, Paradise Valley police Lt. Ron Warner said.</p>

<p>The press often treats politics like a game, and it's been no different with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's first foray into budget politics. He didn't get the Legislature to pass his $15 billion in pass-the-buck bonds or his proposed spending cap by last Friday's deadline for placing measures on the March 2 primary ballot. So has the governor lost and someone else won?</p>

CHICAGO In news that has electrified the music world, the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew announced Monday that it is reuniting and will soon begin work on its first new material since the seminal 1985 single Super Bowl Shuffle. Above: The Shufflin' Crew's classic 1985 line-up. Confirming the recent swirl of music-industry rumors regarding a possible anniversary reunion, Shufflin' Crew lead singer Willie Gault told reporters,After years of solo gigs and side projects, "we decided it was time for us to work together again." Gault went on to strongly deny rumors that the Crew was returning to the studio looking for...

What makes a Super Bowl winner? The cliche answer is great defenses, and the last three Super Bowl winners -- Tampa, New England and Baltimore -- support that logic. But before the 2000 season, the argument can be made that 12 of the previous 13 Super Bowl winners (the lone exception being the 1990 Giants) were offense-dominated teams. So great offenses also can win. In fact, it says here great offenses will win this season when the Rams beat the Raiders in the Arena, er, Super Bowl. What wins Super Bowls are transcendent players who redefine their careers at the...

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Division II Pioneer Bowl has been canceled because it lost investors and its promoter failed to meet two payment deadlines. Orlando-based Jericho Communications Media Group issued a statement Thursday saying it missed two payments of a combined $31,750 to the Tampa Sports Authority and the game's host, Raymond James Stadium. The Pioneer Bowl was moved to Tampa this year after five years in Atlanta. The game matches the champions of two historically black conferences, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. SIAC champion Tuskegee and CIAA runner-up Bowie State were set to...