Free Republic

Los Angeles - A Muslim woman arrested for riding a commuter train without a valid ticket has filed a federal lawsuit in the United States, claiming her religious freedom was violated when she was forced to remove her headscarf when she was taken to jail. Jameelah Medina also said she was intimidated by a deputy who accused her of being a terrorist and called Islam an "evil" religion, according to the suit filed on Wednesday in US District Court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.

DOVER, N.H. -- A congressional candidate staged a car crash, fabricated his disappearance and altered his appearance to gain publicity for his 2006 campaign, prosecutors alleged in court documents. Investigators said that Gary Dodds faked an accident and disappearance in April 2006 because he believed that the publicity would increase the visibility of his primary campaign for the U.S. House.

U.S. forces in Iraq are using a high-resolution, thermal/infrared sensor system that turns night into day and helps protect troops as well as bring security to towns and cities. The European-made system (the cheapest model is reputed to cost about $1 million) is called GBOSS, an acronym no one seems to know the meaning of. But troops call it a godsend.

When California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed two bills on Oct. 12 that essentially turn the state's public schools over to homosexual and transgender activists, there was virtually no media coverage outside California. There still isn't. Beginning in January 2008, California public schools must teach children as young as 3 to 5 years old that homosexuality is a normal, healthy lifestyle and that kids can choose their "gender." This means banning the terms "husband" and "wife" for the more progressively inclusive term "partner." "Moms" and "dads" will morph into sexually neutral "parents." Textbooks will be rewritten to blot out any reminder...

We started the day with schadenfreude, we end the day with schadenfreude. It looks like Rosie O’Blabbermouth has just lost her impending talk show deal with MSNBC because she “let it slip” publicly while negotiations were underway (I guess that’s the face-saving explanation for NBC finally realizing how radioactive she is in the wake of the public backlash of the rumored plan). She mourns her loss in trademark p(rosie) on her blog:

New York Times Public Editor Clark Hoyt's Sunday column, "Civil Discourse, Meet the Internet," delivered some piping hot news, circa year 2000: Web comments can often be rude and crude. "WARNING: This column contains rude and objectionable language not normally found in the pages of this newspaper but seen surprisingly often on its Web site.

John Edwards' campaign has fallen on such tough times that he has had to accept public financing. Do you think the damage that you did to him in the running feud you two have gotten into has something to do with that? If by "running feud" you mean the way Edwards cries every time I make a joke about him, yes, I think that has not made him seem more commander-in-chief like to most voters. I predict he's going to have a bad hair day in Iowa, and another one in New Hampshire.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Faced with increasing violence and unrest, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf declared a state of emergency Saturday, government sources told CNN. President Pervez Musharraf has faced a flurry of criticism from opponents in Pakistan. Musharraf issued an order proclaiming the emergency and suspending the nation's constitution, according to a statement read on state television, and declaring martial law. Musharraf is scheduled to address the nation at 1800 GMT (2 p.m. ET) Saturday. The Supreme Court declared the state of emergency illegal, claiming Musharraf had no power to suspend the constitution, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry told CNN.

The eight Madison City Council members who abstained from voting to recommend that Congress impeach President Bush and Vice President Cheney outweighed the nine citizens who made personal pleas to the council and presented more than 8,300 signatures demanding that the council recommend impeachment. Just before 4 a.m. this morning, after an hour of impassioned debate, the city council failed to muster the necessary 11 votes to recommend impeachment. The final vote was 8 to recommend impeachment, 3 opposing that recommendation and 8 abstentions.

Over the past week, with Iranian shells raining down on Iraqi villages in Kurdish areas along the border zone in the north, Iran’s leaders have engaged the United States in a high stakes game that has gone virtually unreported in the elite media. Iran has massed thousands of troops along its northwestern border in preparation for a ground assault against Iranian Kurdish fighters who have sought refuge in the rugged Qanbil mountains in northwestern Iraq.