Free Republic

Hey all, I started up a Yahoo Freeper NCAA tournament league. Sign up and play against other Freepers, and pick the winners in the year's NCAA Basketball tourney. Go to fantasysports.yahoo.com, and click "sign up now". Then click "create or join group". Click "join existing group", and finally "join private group". The info you'll need: Group ID#: 86007 Password: jimrob Group name: freepers Join up, have fun. No prizes, apart from personal glory. :)

My mom has been in the hospital with a respiratory infection for almost a week, and we learned today that doctors have found cancer. We don't know what type at this point (I don't believe it's at all related to the infection), or how serious it is, but the news was devastating. In addition, she has to battle this respiratory illness, which has been bad. I'm praying constantly, as are the rest of my family. Cancer has killed two of my aunts and my grandfather, and this news hits everyone in my family hard. Relatives are coming to visit from...

ESPN.com ran this article, intending for it to be an amusing take on how to predict the winner of the National Spelling Bee. However, the last "formula" irked me. Here's what it says: "Stay away from home-schooled kids. It goes without saying that these kids don't get out of the house much. There are 34 home-schooled competitors in this year's bee, including speller No. 142 Jack Ausick and speller No. 217 Benjamin Zachary Walter. The first home schooler won in 1997 and others followed, including Lala in '99 and Thampy in 2000. But kids that actually interact with other children...

Sign up to play NCAA Tournament Pick 'em with other Freepers at Yahoo.com. Group name: FreeRepublicans The Group ID#: 45685 The password is: jimrob

Jan. 22 will mark the 32nd anniversary of the perpetually debated Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. In all those years, Roe has never been under attack as vehemently, nor has it ever faced more danger of being overturned than it does under George W. Bush's watch. For those of us who stood on the front lines of the battle for reproductive freedom for so many years, this crucial anniversary of Roe demands to be marked by a heartfelt renewal of our commitment to all women who value their personal liberties, and to the men who love those women.The fetus...

The Diamondbacks and Yankees have agreed on a deal that would send Randy Johnson to New York for Javier Vazquez, prospects and cash, major league sources told ESPN.The paperwork has not yet been submitted to the baseball commissioner's office, but that is the next step for the deal to be finalized.The Diamondbacks also will get left-handed pitcher Brad Halsey, catching prospect Dioner Navarro and $8 million to $9 million in exchange for the 41-year-old lefty, ESPN The Magazine's Buster Olney reports.

Red Sox only 2.5 games back. Pray for good weather! Go Sox!

Question: Who do you think would be the better first lady, Laura Bush or Teresa Heinz Kerry?Laura's losing this one! No surprise, considering it's CNN. The poll is here. Scroll down a bit on the page.

LUBBOCK, Texas (Reuters) -- The oldest bank robber in the United States, 92-year-old J.L. Hunter Rountree, was sentenced to over 12 years in prison Friday after he pleaded guilty to robbing $1,999 from a Texas bank last August. Rountree, who goes by the nickname "Red", said he robbed his first bank when he was about 80 because he wanted revenge against banks for sending him into a financial crisis. Rountree was sentenced to 151 months in a federal prison, which he will serve at the Federal Medical Center in Fort Worth, Texas. He appeared in court in a loose-fitting prison...

It's game time!

Couldn't find a thread for this. It's game time!

OK, my thread last week kind of flopped, BUT I AM NOT DETERRED! Here are the game times and channels:Carolina at St. Louis -Tomorrow, 4:30 PM- FOX Tennessee at New England- Tomorrow, 8:15 PM- CBS Indianapolis at Kansas City- Sunday, 1:00 PM- CBS Green Bay at Philadelphia- Sunday, 4:45 PM- FOX My predictions:Green Bay- 20 Philadelphia- 19 I'm not betting against Brett Favre. Call me superstitious, I don't care. Philly will probably lose on a missed extra-point or chip-shot field goal or something. I just won't bet against Green Bay and Brett right now. New England- 17 Tennessee- 9 My...

NEW YORK -- Paul Molitor and Dennis Eckersley were elected to baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday in their first year of eligibility. Molitor was picked on 431 of 506 ballots (85.2 percent) cast by reporters who have been members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America for 10 or more years. Eckersley was selected on 421 ballots (83.2 percent).To gain election, a player must be chosen by at least 75 percent of the voters (380). Molitor, a clutch hitter who played nearly half his games at DH, was with family and friends in Minneapolis when he got a telephone...

Hello football fans. If you haven't noticed, the Playoffs start tomorrow. Post your NFL Playoff predictions here. My Wild-card weekend picks and scores:Tennesee-28 Baltimore- 13 Denver- 34 Indy- 28 Carolina- 21 Dallas- 10 Green Bay- 38 Seattle- 16 Rest of playoffs: AFC Divisional PlayoffsNew England over Denver Tennesee over Kansas City AFC ChampionshipNew England over Tennesee NFC Divisional St. Louis over Carolina Philadelphia over Green Bay NFC ChampionshipSt. Louis over Philadelphia Super BowlNew England over St. Louis

NEW YORK (Reuters) -- The scene in one of New York's fabled Italian restaurants would have done "The Sopranos" TV scriptwriters proud -- a reputed mobster shot a man dead for heckling a woman singer. Police said Broadway chanteuse Rena Strober was singing "Don't Rain on My Parade" at Rao's, an East Harlem restaurant, Monday night when a patron, Albert Circelli, criticized her performance. Reputed Luchese crime family associate Louis Barone told him to watch his mouth but when Circelli swore in response, Barone pulled out a .38 caliber revolver and shot him in the back, police said. rest of...

OK ya'll, I'm planning on getting a telescope for home astronomy and I need some help. Does anyone here have tips for buying a home telescope? I know that there are some dealers just waiting to rip me off, so what, if any, kind of telescope can I get for a few hundred dollars? What would it be good for observing? (star gazing, planets, comets, galaxies, etc.) Please, keep the thread serious. This is a Christmas present and I need tips. Thanks.

The game's started, and I found no thread! If one exists then this can be deleted, but otherwise, it's game time!

Here's a clip from Mel Gibson's up coming film "The Passion". Thought you'd all be interested. I did a search and nothing for this clip came up. BTW, I don't think the clip works for Macs.

Hey y'all. My sister, a big movie fan and Civil War buff, got to go to the world premiere of the Civil War movie Gods and Generals. She said I could post her review, so here it is.... I had the pleasure of attending the World Premiere of this film in DC on the 10th. I was happy to discover that this film is what I would call I genuine movie going experience: one of those rare occasions where you can forget that you're watching film stock with actors and fancy yourself in the world created. I had my suspicions...