Free Republic

I was at the Queens College Commencement this morning, and I saw the whole thing occur. I also called up the Post and spoke to a reporter immediately afterwards -- so it's possible that I helped trigger this. The context was this. There were lots of Democrat politicians there: Schumer, Hevesi, Jay Hershenson (CUNY Vice Chancellor), and Helen Marshall (Queens Borough President). Schumer spoke first, and they were all patting each other on the back, saying how great they all were and how important it was that graduates vote in the future. A few other not-so-subtle digs on Bush and...

His voice hoarse, his arms waving, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told a cheering crowd that Brazil's "elites" would not break him, that he had learned from his poor, illiterate parents not to lie or to steal. "With a lot of sacrifice, I earned the right to hold my head up high," he told an applauding oil workers union. Silva, a former union boss elected in a landslide with pledges to make Brazil a "decent country," is back on the campaign trail. But this time it's to save his presidency from corruption charges, regain the trust of voters —...

GONZAGA, Brazil -- Horse-drawn buggies still deliver milk door to door in this sleepy Brazilian town, while young men flush with dollars and euros open stores and buy fully loaded four-wheel-drive pickup trucks. Gonzaga, the remote hometown of the Brazilian electrician killed in London when he was mistaken for a suicide bomber, is at the center of a mostly illegal migration boom from Latin America's largest country to the United States and Europe. There's no end in sight, even with the death of 27-year-old Jean-Charles de Menezes, shot seven times in the head on the subway on his way to...

Ketchup Boy meanwhile accuses Bush of not armoring the Humvees. Did they forget the millions of Nazi comparisons we have had to put up with? "Misleading" into war? Worst administration ever? Support of Michael Moore? Dean's rhetoric in the primaries and now? Total hypocrites and pansies.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate's top Republican energy bill negotiator, risking a break with the White House over the global warming issue, on Friday said the United States must act to curb heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, chairman of the Senate Energy Committee, "is convinced that the science now indicates that climate change is occurring and we need to do something about it," said his energy advisor Alex Flint. The stance is contrary to the Bush Administration's opposition to mandatory measures. Domenici supports recommendations by the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP) for a mandatory cap-and-trade...

José Dirceu yesterday resigned as chief of staff in President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's left-leaning government amid allegations his ruling Workers' party bribed legislators for support. The leader of the PTB party, a key government ally, has accused Mr Dirceu of involvement in the alleged bribery scheme that has shaken financial markets. Mr Dirceu said he would return to his post as deputy in the lower house of Congress to clarify "unfounded accusations" against him and his party. "I will mobilise the [Workers' party] to combat those who want to destabilise the Lula government," he said. Mr Dirceu is...

Brazilian police have surrounded a jail in Sao Paulo state, where at least five inmates have been killed in riots between rival gangs. The victims were decapitated and their heads have been displayed on stakes on the jail's roof. The rioting prisoners are holding 11 guards hostage, but they have been negotiating with the state authorities. It is thought the prisoners are unhappy about the transfer of fellow inmates to a different jail. Much of the prison has been damaged, and officials say there could be more bodies inside. The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Sao Paulo says violence is common...

  Look at this ridiculous Reuters graphic.  Their 'source' for civilian casualties is the iraqbodycount website...  Very professional.   And why put Iraqi civilian casualties in a pie chart with coalition military causalties?  Why not insurgent casualties?  Or US/Foreign civilian casualties?   Al-Reuters is a dangerous place.

  

JAKARTA, Indonesia - Two bombs exploded Saturday at a busy market in central Indonesia, killing at least 19 people and wounding 20 in a volatile region marred for years by religious fighting, a police official said. The twin blasts occurred in the morning in the Christian-dominated town of Tentena, said Police Maj. Riky Naldo, deputy chief of police in nearby Poso, the coastal town where fighting between Muslims and Christians has claimed hundreds of lives since 2000. He said two policemen were among the wounded. Police in January discovered 60 homemade bombs stashed in an abandoned house in Poso, about...

   

The United States has announced the closure of all its diplomatic missions in Indonesia because of a security threat. A message on the US embassy website says the risk of terrorist attacks in Indonesia remains high, but does not give details of a specific threat. "Attacks could occur at any time and could be directed at any location, including those frequented by foreigners and identifiably American and other Western facilities or businesses in Indonesia," the message says. The closures come as the Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, is on a high-profile visit to the US. Islamic militants believed to be...

HUDSON, N.H. -- Police Chief Richard Gendron finds himself in the middle of a national debate centering on immigration laws after citing two illegal immigrants on charges of criminal trespass. Yesterday, moments before a group of about 20 protesters entered the police station to voice their objections to the policy, a delegation from the Statehouse presented Chief Richard Gendron with a plaque commending his actions. Applying a state law that governs criminal trespass, Hudson police cited two illegal immigrants on May 10 who were stopped for driving with a broken headlight. The pair, Sergio Robles Ruiz and Margarito Jaramillo Escobar,...

Antonio Villaraigosa's cell phone was trilling incessantly. Every Democrat in the nation, it seemed, wanted a piece of the newly elected mayor of Los Angeles, the first Latino to win the office in 133 years. John Kerry phoned to congratulate him, as did John Edwards, Howard Dean, Al Gore and Sen. Chris Dodd. Driving to city hall last Friday as he spoke by phone with a news-week reporter, Villaraigosa interrupted the interview to field yet another call on a different phone. "Yes, I would like to speak to Senator Clinton," he said. "Can I call you back?" he told the...

Well, we had our Protest at Newsweek offices led by the Tri-State Chapter. We only had a handful of people because we wanted to put the pressure on right away even on short notice, but we definitely achieved our objective. Depending on how the story develops, there may be need or demand for a further demonstration. We had some great signs: Newsweek Lied, People Died Flush Newsweek! There's Lies, Damn Lies, and then HOMICIDAL REPORTING! (I forget the exact wording) and And you still WONDER why they hate us!?! We also had some cut-out bloody hands that we offered to...

BERLIN - Russian President Vladimir Putin told a German newspaper that Allied forces can’t be absolved of blame for horrors during World War II, and he noted in particular the massive bombing of Dresden in the final months. Ahead of this weekend’s 60-year commemoration of Victory in Europe Day, Putin, in a joint interview with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, told Bild that the Western forces deserved to be criticized for attacking civilians. “The Western allies didn’t abound with any special humanity,” the Russian leader said. “It’s incomprehensible to me to this day why Dresden was destroyed. There was no military...

In the far north-eastern corner of Greece, along the sensitive border with Turkey, lie the killing fields of the European Union. It is not known exactly how many people have died or been maimed in this region since the Greek army planted thousands of landmines 30 years ago. But what is known is that the victims are not the invading Turkish troops that Greece once feared. Instead, they are some of the world's most desperate - asylum-seekers and economic migrants from Africa, the Middle-East and Asia in search of protection or a better life in the EU. Thirty-three-year-old Guma Nhdikumana,...

CAIRO, Egypt - A bomb was thrown from a bridge to the street below not far from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, killing an Arab man and injuring four foreigners, police said. A second explosion hit the capital less than two hours later. Senior police officials said casualties also may have been caused by the second blast, which happened in a historical part of Cairo that has with many mosques, but they gave no more details.

A lot of Bushes, Reagan, Bret Favre, Pat Tillman, Audie Murphy... But also some crazy libs like Michael Moore, Ellen DeGeneres, and Dr. Phil... The show will be hosted on the Discovery Channel, June 5, 8 PM --- hosted by Matt Lauer.

CARLISLE, Pa. - Surge blasted into the cola wars in 1997, billed as a "fully loaded citrus soda" and backed by TV ads that showed kids tripping over each other to grab a bottle. That year also turned out to be the peak year for sales of Surge — Coca-Cola Co.'s challenger to PepsiCo Inc.'s popular Mountain Dew. These days, Surge is the beverage equivalent of an endangered species: Coca-Cola stopped marketing it about five years ago and has no plans to boost production of the drink, which occasionally turns up in soda fountains but is no longer sold in...