Free Republic

TAMPA - The din of Room 168 at the Economy Inn on East Busch Boulevard occasionally drowned out conversation. Twelve children ranging in age from 6 months to 11 years old spent the past week there, scrambling across the floor, bouncing on beds. Their eyes filled with resignation Wednesday morning; they were hungry and dirty - wearing the same clothes as the day before and the day before that. Angel Adams, the mom, was asking for help as the children rambled about the room. She was homeless and hopeless, she said. A relative paid for the motel room for a...

They're going to have to change the name of the show again. The prolific Duggar family, stars of the TLC show "18 Kids and Counting," are adding another child to their already overwhelming brood. "We are thrilled to announce that we found out we're expecting our 19th child," mom Michelle Duggar told the "Today" show Tuesday morning. The 42-year-old Arkansas mom - who has been pregnant for an inconceivable 12 years of her life - was surprised to find out she was expecting again just eight months after giving birth to baby number 18. She grew suspicious when she had...

Alternative Energy: A government report says reliance on electric cars will do little to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and may merely shift our dependence on foreign sources from one set of dictators to another..."If you are using coal-fired power plants, and half the country's electricity comes from coal-powered plants, are you just trading one greenhouse gas emitter for another?" asks Mark Gaffigan, co-author of the GAO report. The report itself notes: "Reductions in CO2 emissions depend on generating electricity used to charge the vehicles from lower-emission sources of energy."

"The Smart's base price is $11,590, and a fully loaded Smart Fortwo Passion convertible goes for $16,950. The 1,800-pound car gets 40 miles per gallon."

Democrat Debate --- 7:00 pm EST MSNBC

SAN DIEGO – A van carrying suspected illegal immigrants overturned on an Otay Mesa freeway Saturday, injuring at least eight passengers, authorities said. The crash on State Route 905 and Otay Mesa Road was reported at 2:43 p.m., according to the California Highway Patrol. A San Diego fire dispatcher said eight people were taken to area hospitals. Border Patrol agents were investigating the crash, a CHP dispatcher said. A television newscast showed agents handcuffing some of the occupants and loading them into a Border Patrol van.

Coffee County authorities charged 27 suspected illegal aliens with criminal trespassing after the van they were in was stopped on Interstate 24, but they were later released after the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Department refused to deal with them. According to his report, Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Blackburn stopped a 1995 GMC van for reckless driving at the 100 eastbound exit on I-24 at 11:39 p.m. Tuesday. When Blackburn walked up to the vehicle, he discovered the driver did not speak English and had no driver’s license and that there were 26 others of Hispanic nationality packed inside. None of the...

ROLLA, Kan. (AP) - A pickup truck carrying 19 illegal immigrants from Mexico crashed on a rural highway after a rear wheel came off, killing three people and injuring 16, authorities said. The pickup flipped over and landed in a ditch, said Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper Ron Knoefel. Nine people were riding in the truck's extended cab - four on the front seat, four in the back seat, and one on the floor between the seats, Knoefel said. He said the 10 others were in the truck's bed, which was covered with a camper shell. At least one of the...

Eighteen illegal immigrants who bolted from the scene of a traffic stop Tuesday may have panicked out of fear they would be returned to Mexico, local immigration lawyers said. Mexicans typically pay thousands of dollars to smugglers, called “coyotes,” to get across the border illegally, and for many that is a life’s savings, Michael Brooks-Jimenez said. “I think they were most likely scared and worried about losing their life savings,” Brooks-Jimenez said. The decision to run probably was made without much thought by one or two immigrants and the others followed, said E. Vance Winningham. “It just takes a couple...

Even though it's Ferrari red, zooms from zero to 60 in four seconds, and has a sensuous black leather dash with the same Motech data display found in Grand Prix race cars, this is not your typical little red sports car. At stoplights, adjacent drivers often ask Rick Woodbury for a card and where they can buy his car. For starters, it's smaller. Or rather, smallest. At 39 inches wide and 8 feet 5 inches long, it's skinnier than some motorcycles and shorter than many a living-room couch. It runs on batteries, not gas. And, if the thing ever makes...