Free Republic

With the scheduled execution of Stanley Tookie Williams approaching and no word from the governor on Williams' clemency request, prominent death penalty opponents gathered in San Francisco on Sunday to make final appeals for the gang co-founder's life. Assemblyman Mark Leno, D-San Francisco, and Sister Helen Prejean, whose work against the death penalty inspired her book and a movie, both called "Dead Man Walking," spoke during an American Civil Liberties Union event at the San Francisco Marriott Hotel. They said that executing Williams would destroy one of California's most effective advocates for keeping children out of gangs.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The California state Supreme Court has declined to block the execution of a co-founder of the Crips gang, Stanley "Tookie" Williams, set for Dec. 13. It's now up to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to decide whether to spare Williams, who was convicted of killing four people, by commuting his sentence to life in prison without parole. The governor has a clemency petition in hand and plans a hearing on the matter. Before the high court ruling, Schwarzenegger told reporters he wants to hear from both prosecutors and defense attorneys before making his decision because "a life is at...

LIES SO pervade the campaign waged to "save" convicted killer Stanley Tookie Williams that Williams and company don't even bother to cover their tracks when they say things they know aren't true. So, as Williams' Dec. 13 execution date looms and supporters are pressing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to grant him clemency, the Death Row inmate claimed in an interview Monday with MSNBC's fatuous Rita Cosby that he was convicted by an "all-white jury." That's not true, and Williams knows it. In fact, Williams' own clemency lawyers have stipulated that the jury that convicted him in the 1979 murders of Albert...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Crips co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams moved one step closer to the death chamber Wednesday when the California Supreme Court refused to reopen his case and halt the state's highest profile execution since the death penalty was reinstated. Williams, in a last-ditch legal move, alleged that shoddy forensic testing and other errors may have wrongly sent him to San Quentin State Prison, where he is scheduled to die by lethal injection Dec. 13. His lawyers asked that justices allow the re-examination of evidence that showed a shotgun registered to Williams was used to kill three people during a...

NEAR MIRANSHAH, North Waziristan, Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Pakistan More than a year of intermittent talks with Osama bin Laden's clandestine network in Pakistan led to a 750-mile journey through territory forbidden to foreigners and two of the country's four provinces. The UPI team, in native kameez shalwar dress, included a Pakistani media consultant and personal friend, who asked his name be withheld pending a meeting with bin Laden; a driver; our security chief; and a constantly changing member of the secret network, as we moved from one relay point to the next. It soon became clear the operatives...

“Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is no more the leader, having overstepped his legitimacy by not responding to his Islamic duties. He must step down”, says Iran’s most prominent political dissident Akbar Ganji. In a pathetic letter to the nation’s most senior dissident cleric, Grand Ayatollah Hoseynali Montazeri, Mr. Ganji cites a statement by the fonder of the Islamic Republic Grand Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini saying “every member of the population has the right to impeach publicly the ruling officials and if the impeached one has no satisfactory answer, otherwise and if having acted against his Islamic obligations, he must step down and...

New Weather Service Radars Saving Lives By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 28, 3:23 AM ET WASHINGTON - New radars installed by the National Weather Service in the 1990s are saving nearly 80 lives a year that would otherwise be lost to tornadoes, a study concludes. The radars allowed forecasters to issue warnings for 60 percent of tornadoes, up from 35 percent before the instruments were installed, and the average lead time rose from 5.3 minutes to 9.5 minutes, according to a study published in the June issue of the journal Weather and Forecasting. Kevin M. Simmons...

MIDI - SING SING A SONG - scroll down for the MIDI La la la la la... la la la la la la...la la la la la la la La la la la la... la la la la la la...la la la la la la la Sing, Reggie, sing...lots of grief may you bring You'll be under attack...but we'll cover your back Sing, Reggie, sing...telling truth you will see is a good thing Don't worry that she might have you whacked...we're keeping an eye on her So sing, Reggie, sing La la la la la... la la la la...

MIDI - WITCHITA LINEMAN I am a prosecution witness I spied on Hillary Got to now increase my life insurance policy Rosen talked into my wire He was spilling all the beans Now I worry what happens next That woman is mean I am a relative of Teddy So I'm crooked, of course I'm really sorry, Vicky, if this thing leads to your divorce No, I am not suicidal But I live each day in fear If my body's discovered soon Who did it is clear (short musical break) It's a deal I'm now regretting I've had nightmares ever...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. - A jury decided Monday that Scott Peterson (news - web sites) should be executed for murdering his pregnant wife, Laci, whose Christmas Eve disappearance two years ago was the opening act in a legal drama that captivated the nation. A cheer went up outside the courtroom as the jury announced its decision after 11 1/2 hours of deliberations over three days. The jury had two options in deciding the 32-year-old former fertilizer salesman's fate: life in prison without parole or death by injection. Peterson clenched his jaw when the verdict was read and leaned over to...

Fox News...

Police: Suspect Said He Wanted To Kill Someone WEST MANCHESTER TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- A Pennsylvania man is charged with shooting the pregnant wife of a soldier in Iraq, just because -- according to police -- he wanted to kill somebody. Police said Noel Gomez (pictured, left), 19, shot the woman late Sunday night.Julia Cook, 21, of New York, remains hospitalized at a hospital in York. She is listed in serious condition after being shot in the head with a shotgun.Cook's husband is currently serving in Iraq.Gomez said he didn't know the victim, but was just was looking for someone to...

A former Hillary Clinton fundraiser who has just been extradited from Brazil is promising blockbuster revelations against Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton -- revelations that could throw a monkeywrench into Hillary's presidential ambitions. Peter Franklin Paul, who has accused Hillary Clinton of failing to declare $2 million in campaign contributions to the Federal Election Commission, is just back in the U.S. after being extradited from Brazil and is promising to reveal fresh details of how he financed Clinton. Paul made some blistering criticisms of the Clintons to Brazil's Epoca magazine just before he was extradited. Paul was returned to the U.S....

Peter Paul is back in the United States. If you don't know who is is, read this from Newsmax on September 7th, and then read on to find out how YOU can help finish off the Clinton's once and for all: ___________________________________________________ The Bush administration has quietly done an about-face on allegations that New York Sen. Hillary Clinton broke campaign finance laws in 2000 - with the Justice Department preparing to extradite one-time Clinton fund-raiser Peter Paul to the U.S. as part of a plea deal for his testimony. Facing charges of stock fraud in the U.S. himself, Paul told...

<p>Associated Press Veteran investigator Mike Varnado sits recently in the Washington Parish Courthouse in Franklinton. Varnado is co-author of the newly released book, “Victims of Dead Man Walking.”</p> <p>FRANKLINTON (AP) — Nearly a quarter of century after Faith Hathaway was kidnapped, raped and killed, the case is still known best for its role in starting Sister Helen Prejean’s worldwide fight against the death penalty.</p>

Video shows Saddam walking down alleged Baghdad Street. Typical Iraqi celebration with Iraqis dancing on street with guns. Saddam embracing a kid. I think you can see a fire the background from an oil well. Overcast day.

Iraq begins imposing conditions on "unconditional return of UN inspectors Iraq said it would not accept any new conditions on the activities of UN arms inspectors, only six days after agreeing under threat of a US-led strike to their unconditional return. A government spokesman said Baghdad rules out additional conditions following "press reports that US officials are trying to get the Security Council to issue new, bad resolutions." "Iraq will not deal with any new resolution that would run counter to what was agreed upon with the UN secretary general," he said, speaking after President Saddam Hussein chaired a leadership...

Please post your Sharon press conference comments here.

MIDI - OH DANNY BOY Oh, Pali boy, we're weeping at your funeral It is so sad that Jews did this to you We make a vow that we'll avenge this one fine day The day that Yasser's finally coming through Oh, Pali boy, you've fallen in the street again Oh, no, I see a big dent in your head Dust yourself off, you are a goat-brained idiot Now close your eyes and keep pretending you are dead Oh, Pali boy, this is no rocket science thing A nincompoop could pull this off, you twit If we are caught,...