Free Republic

Small dog vs. big cat: US farmer shoots mountain lion after terrier trees animal By The Associated Press (CP) COLMAN, S.D. — A 150-pound (68-kilogram) mountain lion was no match for a squirrel-chasing terrier. Jack the Jack Russell weighs only 17 pounds (8 kilograms), and yet he managed to trap the cougar up a tree on Tuesday on a farm in the north-central state of South Dakota. Jack's owner, Chad Strenge, told The Argus Leader that the dog "trees cats all the time," and that the plucky terrier probably "figured it was just a cat." Professor Jonathan Jenks, who tracks...

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." According media reports, this quote keeping Obama company on his wheat-colored carpet is from King. Except it's not a King quote. The words belong to a long-gone Bostonian champion of social progress. His roots in the republic ran so deep that his grandfather commanded the Minutemen at the Battle of Lexington. For the record, Theodore Parker is your man, President Obama. Unless you're fascinated by antebellum American reformers, you may not know of the lyrically gifted Parker, an abolitionist, Unitarian minister and Transcendentalist thinker who foresaw the...

The "heavy lifting is over" when it comes to the Obama administration's legislative priorities this year, Vice President Joe Biden said Thursday evening. Biden said that, now Wall Street reform is finished and signed into law, the administration could go out and make its political case for its accomplishment. “Now that the heavy lifting is over, we can go out and make our case,” Biden said at a fundraiser in North Carolina, according to a pool report.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Attorneys for a prison inmate accused of killing a guard while escaping from a Salt Lake City medical center are seeking to cover his neo-Nazi tattoos during his trial.

Vancouver, Washington. Beware the Beckies Dear Editor; I’m not quite old enough to be a hippie, but I have two older brothers who were; both went to Woodstock. It looks like we have a new anti-establishment movement, the Tea Party “Beckies.” Once they’ve smoked some Glenn Beck, had a dose of Rush Limbaugh, and gotten Sarah Palin-ized, they’re ready to tune-in (to Fox), turn-off (their brain), and reload. We’ve gone from Woodstock to Weirdstock, communes to militias, free love to open carry, long hairs to cross hairs, peace signs to the bird, from gurus to guns. We don’t sit-in; we...

"Does anyone recognize the red flag being carried at the Washington anti-health care demonstration in this video of the Rep. Emanuel spitting incident? I'm fairly sure this is a neo-Nazi flag, but haven't found the exact logo yet." --Charles Johnson Umm yeah, that's the Tennesee state flag...

In the 12 months since Governor David Paterson made Kirsten Gillibrand a senator, her poll numbers have done something rather remarkable: that is, nothing. There are several explanations for why Ms. Gillibrand’s statewide approval ratings have spent a year mired in the mid-20s, despite her superior title and elevated profile: Her appointment process was publicly bungled; her stance on issues like guns and gay rights evolved in disarmingly short order; and, since she’s never had to run a statewide campaign, many voters still don’t know who she is, or, for that matter, what she’s doing down in Washington.

Eating veggies shrinks the brain 14 Sep 2008 MELBOURNE: Scientists have discovered that going veggie could be bad for your brain-with those on a meat-free diet six times more likely to suffer brain shrinkage. Vegans and vegetarians are the most likely to be deficient because the best sources of the vitamin are meat, particularly liver, milk and fish. Vitamin B12 deficiency can also cause anaemia and inflammation of the nervous system. Yeast extracts are one of the few vegetarian foods which provide good levels of the vitamin. The link was discovered by Oxford University scientists who used memory tests, physical...

There’s a reason some of John McCain's conservative supporters avoid discussing his record. They want to talk about his personal story, his position on the surge, his supposed electability. But whenever the rest of his career comes up, the knee-jerk reply is to characterize the inquiries as attacks. The McCain domestic record is a disaster. To say he fought spending, most particularly earmarks, is to nibble around the edges and miss the heart of the matter. For starters, consider: - McCain-Feingold — the most brazen frontal assault on political speech since Buckley v. Valeo. - McCain-Kennedy — the most far-reaching...

Monday, December 11, 2006 Incoming House intelligence chief botches easy intel quiz WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Rep. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, who incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped to head the Intelligence Committee when the Democrats take over in January, failed a quiz of basic questions about al Qaeda and Hezbollah, two of the key terrorist organizations the intelligence community has focused on since the September 11, 2001 attacks. When asked by CQ National Security Editor Jeff Stein whether al Qaeda is one or the other of the two major branches of Islam -- Sunni or Shiite -- Reyes answered...

It was a win-win situation for former President Bill Clinton and Fox News on Sunday. Fox News (my employer) won by getting all the attention, the highest ratings since the capture of Saddam Hussein and the most views on YouTube. The former president won by taking control of the national dialogue on the war on terrorism, such that he has everyone comparing President Bush's pre-9/11 record on hunting down Osama with his own, and in the process undercutting the Bush administration's claimed strength (the only one left) at fighting terror, which is why Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is most...

MP George Galloway has congratulated Hizbollah on its "victory" in Israel. At a news conference in a Beirut hotel, the controversial politician said: "I came here to extend my congratulations to the Lebanese people on a great and historic victory against this aggression. "I want to congratulate the Lebanese resistance and their leading edge, Hizbollah, whose martyrs and her s have achieved this great victory. "And in particular to their leader, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, whose name now rings in joy around the world." Galloway is in Beirut to present a phone-in radio show for a British radio station. He also...

DANBURY — A speech by television journalist Catherine Crier turned the 108th commencement ceremony at Western Connecticut State University on Sunday into an impromptu forum on free speech. "What better place than in a university setting to bring up discussion?" said Paul Simon, director of WestConn's Student Center/Student Life. Crier, a judge, TV journalist and author, addressed the 1,060 graduates with a speech about the government and laws passed to protect people from terrorism that she feel take away citizens' rights to privacy and freedom. The star of Court TV's daily "Catherine Crier Live," which discusses legal perspectives on breaking...

Demo candidate accused of showing Bush-bashing video to his students Parent says West science teacher showed eighth graders video with obscenities By Kelly Kazek kelly@athensnews-courier.com Christy Jackson does not want a teacher showing her 13-year-old son a video calling the president of the United States an a—hole during class. Nor does she believe her son should be shown Internet videos — which are barred to students by school system controls —that use obscenities. But that is what West Limestone High School eighth grade science teacher Steve White, a Democratic candidate for the District 4 seat on the House of Representatives,...

President Bush's visit to Katrina-ravaged Louisiana Wednesday follows six months of bungling that threatens political catastrophe for the state's Republicans. He will boost his belated $4.2 billion plan finally to provide housing for people made homeless by the storm, but it may be too little, too late. The government's post-hurricane performance has been a mess, and Republicans get the blame. -snip-

Somedays, it seems like everyone around you has had one stupid pill too many. Feel free to borrow from this list when required. >THINGS YOU'D LOVE TO SAY OUT LOUD AT WORK 1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of crap. 2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce. 3. How about never? Is never good for you? 4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public. 5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my...

Governor Blanco releases email that proves she asked for federal assistance.

R.I. Liberal Joins Democrats to Oppose Refinery Bill Chafee Votes to Keep Gas Prices High Senate Democrats, sensing what they hope will be an opportunity to blame Republicans for the high price of gasoline, voted in unison Wednesday in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee to help defeat a bill that would have streamlined the building of new refineries. The eight committee Democrats won over liberal Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R.-R.I.), whose vote against Chairman Jim Inhofe’s Gas PRICE Act (S 1772) means Republicans will have to take other steps if they want to push a refinery bill through the...

NOTE: I was not in a position to take notes, so this is the best report I can make from memory. KPFK, the quasi-communist radio station in Los Angeles, brought to its listeners the anti-war activities in Washington, D.C. A woman named Verna Avery Brown and some ***clown guy, whose name I didn't catch, were interviewing Jessica Lange, airhead actress and political and military commentator. I knew she was foolish, but it was even worse than I have seen before. The ***clown guy kept talking about a blacklist and how it must be difficult to get work in Hollywood. Imagine...

Everyone knows that liberals frequently troll these boards and for some reason one read my little FreepPage and emailed me about it. The following is that exchange. Liberal "joeandsally" : I see on your Freep homepage that liberals are "either willfully ignorant or evil" I am 61, father of three (a second grade teacher, a psychologist and a computer programmer) and grandfather of two. Sally and I have been married for 38 years I have both [b]achelor and master degrees as does my wife. I am a veteran (Captain, USAF) I am a liberal. Armed with this background, perhaps you...

<p>Thank you four allowing me to join your esteamed sight. i feel i am on the cutting edge of moderate republican progressive! i have been a life long republican. you have to believe me.</p>

Hey, you suckups to the twice selected Idiot in chief. Let me make a suggestion. Why don't you give the ultimate sacrifice to your Supreme Court/Diebold selected dunce? Why don't you sign up to go to Iraq and die for him? Your efforts won't go unappreciated either. I'll be sure and nominate all who do for Darwin awards.

Weve all seen and heard of a place called Free Republic, its full of divorced or wife-beating conservative slobs who have the hygene of John Goodman after a long picnic. They thrive on stupid,worthless topics that focus around the "wonder of life" and "lets keep people who cant feel or think alive because were to stubborn to admit that its pretty damn foolish". But above all other abominations in this world is the wretched "Admin Mod", a man of horrible values and the judgement of a meth lab. It is he who makes free republic, well not free at all,...

Esequiel Garcia, 32, received a 10-year sentence Monday from 137th District Judge Cecil Puryear on a charge of retaliation after a Dec. 21, 2003, arrest on a number of charges. Garcia of Lubbock was convicted April 20 for telling a police officer he would kill him and his family after being ordered out of bed at 2:30 a.m.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan ‘fully’ endorses the High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Changes "call for a definition of terrorism," according to his report: In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights For All, released yesterday. The 63-page report submitted to all 191 UN Member States is described as an, implementation of and follow-up to the outcomes of the major United Nations conferences and UN summits, and is part of Annan’s attempt to reform and enhance the role of the embattled United Nations. Expanding the UN Security Council, preventing catastrophic terrorism, ensuring environmental sustainability, freeing people from fear, and...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Dan Rather will be anchoring from Indonesia and the Navy released a photo of him on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in his flight suit. I find this hillarious after the way the left pilloried Bush for "wearing a costume" for his landing on the....ta da!....USS Abraham Lincoln! LOL! The Lefties...the gift that keeps on giving.

Why is the Right afraid of imposing a military draft? The number of troops in Iraq is below what is clearly needed. Additionally, many troops have had second and third tours of duty. A tired and disillusioned force is dangerous for all concerned. The National Guard troops are in great need of relief. The training most have received is minimal, at best. If the War on Terrorism is such a threat to America and our way of life the implementation of a military draft makes the most sense. Many from the right and left have compared the "War on Terror"...

Manager strip-searched teen Act ordered by caller claiming to be police 08:41 PM CST on Saturday, March 27, 2004 Associated Press FOUNTAIN HILLS, Ariz. - Authorities are investigating a report that a manager of a fast-food restaurant conducted a strip search of a teenage female customer. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio said an unidentified caller pretending to be a police officer directed the 39-year-old manager of a Taco Bell restaurant to conduct the search Monday after giving a general description of a theft suspect. The girl, a 17-year-old high school student, was taken to a back room. There, she was...

Captions Needed For This Kerry Photo.Thanks! E_C_N

My Thoughts On Freedom Of Speech Re: The Academy Awards Posted on March 24, 2003 By Barbra Streisand I pray for America's military servicemen and women and their families. I pray that this war is over quickly, that our troops come home safely and that there are few civilian casualties. I find it tragic that the Bush administration's attempts at diplomacy failed so miserably and have led us to the point of starting a war that might have been avoided. Thank God the constitution enables all citizens to exercise their freedom of speech to say what they believe. That's what's...

Returning to the United States following a week-long mission to Great Britain, Italy, Qatar, Pakistan and Afghanistan, U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. held a conference call Tuesday with media representatives to review the trip and answer questions on national security issues and other matters. Accompanying Rockefeller were sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., Carl Levin, D-Mich., and John Warner, R-Va., the chairman, ranking member and chairman, respectively, of the Senate's Intelligence and Armed Services committees. "In my opinion, al- Qaida, North Korea and the Kashmir region between Pakistan and India pose larger threats to the U.S. than Iraq," Rockefeller said. "Having said...

By agreeing to allow the unconditional return of weapons inspectors, Iraq has done well to expose – sadly, not halt – the Bush administration's unstoppable agenda. This gesture by Iraq was not so much a "stunning turnabout" – as the media characterized it – but a culmination of a plain (and quite reasonable) attempt by an economically desperate Iraq to tie the return of inspectors to the lifting of sanctions. This failed! Its predictably disgruntled response confirms that the Bush administration doesn't want Saddam to roll over, but wants, very plainly, to sock it to Saddam! During his address to...