Free Republic

Somali Islamists clash over port. Two Islamist groups who were previously working together in Somalia have become embroiled in a fierce fight for control of the southern port of Kismayo. At least 12 people have been killed and hundreds have fled their homes.

A highly-anticipated hockey video game that features realistic fighting scenarios and black eyes is a useful tool to teach children that brawls are part of the game and in some cases can help you win, says a former NHL captain. Retired Vancouver Canucks player Trevor Linden, well-loved in the city and not known for getting into frequent dust-ups, endorsed "NHL 10" Monday prior to its next-day launch across North America. "Fighting in hockey is not something you necessarily want to promote, but at the same time, you want to make children understand that it is part of the game and...

Michael Vick's dog fighting was hideous, but what would you say to a blood sport that features animal combatants that are subjected to electrocution, burning and near drowning? Even more amazing, contestants fighting their animals are as young as 12! NOTE: The author of this comic requests that you visit his web site and please refrain from copying the comic within this thread. Thanks a bunch!

GAZA CITY (AFP) – A radical sheikh was among 24 people killed and 130 wounded after Hamas police stormed a Gaza mosque when he declared an Islamic emirate in the Palestinian enclave, medics said on Saturday. The shooting erupted on Friday afternoon following weekly prayers in Rafah, on the Egyptian border, and continued until dawn on Saturday. "Clashes... between Hamas and an extremist group in the southern Gaza Strip left 24 people dead and at least 130 wounded," a spokesman for the Palestinian emergency services told AFP. Four of the wounded were considered to be "clinically dead" and many more...

Which of these acts are illegal in the USA? Defending your country against suicidal terrorists who have no compunction about killing anyone who gets in their way, OR, Being the nobel prize winning co-founder and spokesman of a cult? I'll be really curious to see if anything comes of this, but I will say this: We have come to a place where some judge is going to rule on the legality of defending yourself and your country against bloodthirsty barbarians. But it's apparently OK to try to wreck the economy and indoctrinate our children into some pseudo-religious nonsense like a...

At Issue: The selection of a new board member, and the meeting turns ugly HUNTINGTON W.Va.-- The selection of a new Cabell County school board member turned into an argument Wednesday Night. For several weeks, school board members have tried to select a member to replace another one who resigned. But members can't come to an agreement. And the discussion turned into a shouting match. The board meeting turned to an argument when members could not decide on a new board member. They had the candidates narrowed down to three, but when they couldn't decide, shouting erupted from the board...

A man has died in Blackpool after he tried to intervene in a fight between two dogs. Police said the 21-year-old victim was bitten by both animals when he tried to separate them at a house in Reads Avenue on Friday evening. The man fell over and may have banged his head, said officers. He was treated by paramedics but died later. The dogs, which were both German shepherds, have been destroyed at the direction of the owner. 'Puncture marks' Lancashire Police said the victim was attacked in the house he shared with the owner in Reads Avenue at about...

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Pirates and the United States have a long history. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. When the infant country declared independence it had no navy, so battling Britain at sea was a problem. The time-honored solution: Hire private warriors — known as privateers to some, pirates to others — to do the fighting.

An unlikely alliance of the American Civil Liberties Union and the Alliance Defense Fund, a Christian lawyers’ group that usually fiercely opposes the ACLU, along with several other groups, is contesting a proposed Bureau of Prisons rule that prohibits “materials that could incite, promote, or otherwise suggest the commission of violence or criminal activity” from being placed in prison chapel libraries. It would enable prison officials to remove from libraries books that they deem to be “advocating or fostering violence, vengeance or hatred toward particular religious, racial or ethnic groups” or advocating “the overthrow or destruction of the United States.”

Generally, political issues are solved through negotiations, but sometimes the real battle begins.Mexico Italy India Turkey Russia Ukraine Taiwan South Korea Somalia

AT SEA ABOARD USS SAN ANTONIO, Jan. 21, 2009 – Navy and Coast Guard boarding teams are working together to ensure safe operations in the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Red Sea and Indian Ocean as part of Combined Task Force 151, a multinational counter-piracy task force. Coast Guard and Navy teams board suspect vessels to detect, deter and disrupt piracy activities. "This is a law-enforcement operation to deter piracy and make the waters safe for all nations," Coast Guard Lt. j.g. Greg Ponzi, officer in charge for Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment 405, said. Each boarding team for CTF...

Watch Former Ambassador Dore Gold's interview on the BBC about the Israeli ground operation in Gaza.

CORONADO, Calif., Nov. 4, 2008 – As Navy Secretary Donald C. Winter last week praised Navy SEALS as “the ultimate warriors,” officials at the Naval Special Warfare Center here said they’re holding fiercely to stringent training standards as they strive to produce more of the elite special operators. A Navy SEAL instructor watches as BUD/S students participate in surf drill training at the Naval Special Warfare Center in Coronado, Calif. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Eric S. Logsdon  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Winter, speaking at the Navy SEAL Warrior Fund dinner in New York,...

Those of us who have read Ayn Rand can sometimes get too caught up in applying fiction to current reality. Yes, the state is overburdening, yes it will get larger and more obnoxious in the decade from 2010 to 2020. Finally, the man who would lead said state into a new era of statist dictates, doesn’t exactly surround himself with people who view America through a positive frame of reference. All of that stipulated up front, its enough to make paranoid people, well, more paranoid and more and more ready to Chuck the whole thing and light out for The...

How has Moslem opinion and support of Terrorism changed since the WOT began? I ask this question because I think it has the greatest bearing on whether we are winning or not. Let me explain, I remember Rumsfeld saying at the beginning of the war in Iraq that we needed better metrics in order to find a better strategy in Iraq, which we were losing at the time, he never did find them. It was eventually Gen. Petreus that developed the winning strategy, but a strategy that’s working in one theater of the War, doesn’t answer the real question of...

Family Claims to See Jesus in Cat Fur Family Claims to See Jesus in Cat Fur You could call her a holy cat or a feline with Jesus on her side... An Indiana family says if you look closely at their pet, you can see the face of Christ. "In this window well down here was 4 baby kittens... stuck together." Lori Johnson couldn't help but take in two kittens, she found abandoned outside her house on mother's day. "Oh no, i couldn't imagine giving them away now. I've worked too hard. They are a part of me now. I...

For those familiar with the antics of shock comic Sacha Baron Cohen , it was a case of déjà vu, all over again. On May 28, he outraged a crowd of unsuspecting guests at a Carrollton office park by luring them to what they thought was a new talk show on "family values." [Click image for a larger version] Hello, Arkansas. As an encore early last month, he outraged a crowd of 1,600 by luring them to what was billed as cage fighting. Police say the show was designed instead to capture the reactions of the unsuspecting to the sight...

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Heavy fighting broke out Monday between government supporters and opponents in Lebanon's second-largest city, where the two sides battled with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy machine guns and mortars, security officials and residents said. Residents said they heard strong explosions reverberating through Tripoli. At least six people were wounded, security officials said. The fighting had stopped Sunday morning after Lebanese troops deployed between the two sides, then flared again Monday after soldiers pulled back when the situation calmed. The fresh clashes erupted when pro-government forces thought opponents gathering for a funeral in a nearby neighborhood were preparing a new...

Results: Brian Stann def. Doug Marshall KO (Punches) 1 1:35

Whenever the subject of hockey comes up, I'm the pansy who prattles on about how much he likes the European game — the big rinks, the passing, the fast players, and — most importantly, a lack of fighting. The fighting in North American hockey is one of the main reasons I stopped paying any attention to the sport a decade ago. What kind of legitimate sport has "enforcers" — whose mission is to engage other "enforcers" in the sort of activity that would get regular people arrested if they did it outside of a bar? I guess the closest analogy...

CAMP RIPPER, AL ASAD, Iraq (Jan. 22, 2008) -- Regimental Combat Team 5, the Marine Corps’ most decorated regiment, assumed control of a large portion of the western Al Anbar province during a transfer of authority ceremony here Jan. 22. RCT-5, which is from Camp Pendleton, Calif., replaced RCT-2, which will return to Camp Lejeune, N.C., after serving 13 months here. During the ceremony, Col. Patrick Malay, commanding officer, RCT-5, assumed control from Col. Stacy Clardy, commanding officer, RCT-2. Malay is returning to Anbar after commanding 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, during the Battle of Fallujah in 2004. RCT-5 will oversee...

THE NOTE: Alright for Fighting Obama, Romney to be Targets in ABC's Saturday Night Debates Coming out of the Iowa Caucus and into the New Hampshire Primary, Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Republican contender Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass., are sure to be targets within their own parties heading into Saturday night's debates. (ABCNEWS) By RICK KLEIN with MIKE ELMORE and LAUREN EFFRONJan. 5, 2008 Font Size E-mail Print Share MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Ten presidential candidates (six Republicans, four Democrats) will pull up swiveling chairs and take to the very same debate stage Saturday night in Manchester for two...

(AP) -- Michael Vick declared, "I am not the bad person or beast I've been made out to be" and asked for leniency in a letter to the federal judge who sentenced him to 23 months in prison for a dogfighting conspiracy. Vick wrote: "I was suffering from a deep state of depression, and after my father attacked me in the media, I was heartbroken. ... That's no excuse for using marijuana, but I didn't know how to cope with all the difficulties I was facing because it was all new to me."

PRISTINA, Kosovo, Dec. 12, 2007 – Just after the Dec. 10 deadline for the conclusion of negotiating the status of Kosovo, servicemembers assigned to NATO’s Kosovo Force sat back in their chairs and enjoyed the fighting and shooting. Servicemembers gathered at Camp Film City’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center in Kosovo on Dec. 12, 2007, to watch a live National Hockey League telecast on the American Forces Network that featured their pictures. Versus, the U.S. cable home of the NHL, arranged to show the servicemembers’ pictures during the game after network officials heard they’d gathered to watch a previous...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 16, 2007 – Iraqi communities, once lawless and infested with terrorists, are safer today thanks to a just-completed mission, a coalition commander said today. “Through full-spectrum operations, we were able to utilize Iraqi security forces and the assistance of concerned citizen groups to seek out and kill or capture al Qaeda that operates in our area,” Army Col. Terry Ferrell told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from Iraq. “Al Qaeda has suffered a significant blow.” Ferrell commands 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, from Fort Stewart, Ga., the last of the U.S. troop surge...

ROME (AFP) - A convent in southern Italy is being shut down after a quarrel among its last three remaining nuns ended in blows, press reports said Sunday. Sisters Annamaria and Gianbattista, reportedly upset about their mother superior's authoritarian ways, scratched her in the face and threw her to the ground at Santa Clara convent near Bari in an incident in July that was kept quiet until now. Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri tried to reconcile the nuns but finally decided in late August that they had "clearly lost their religious vocation" and asked the Vatican for permission to close the...

St. Paul man was catching a bus to his anger management class when a fellow bus rider reportedly ticked him off. Justin John Boudin's anger management class didn't help him avoid the confrontation, police say. But his paperwork from the class helped authorities nab Boudin on suspicion of assault, according to a criminal complaint. Ramsey County prosecutors charged Boudin with felony fifth-degree assault, alleging he hit a woman at the bus stop. Police identified him after he dropped his class paperwork at the scene.

Dog fighting case unmasks fixers' of US sport By Tim Shipman in Washington, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 1:42am BST 26/08/2007 When American football star Michael Vick enters a guilty plea in a Virginia courtroom tomorrow on dog fighting charges, he will not be the only one facing judgment. Michael Vick arrives at court in Virginia last month The disgrace of one of the sport's most exciting young players - who plays for the Atlanta Falcons in the National Football League (NFL) - has drawn attention to what critics say is a culture of criminality and cover-up in US professional sport....

ESPN is reporting, according to an unnamed source, that Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick will not admit to killing dogs or gambling on dog fights when he enters a guilty plea in a Richmond, Va., federal court Monday. The count of conspiracy Vick will plead to admits guilt on the charge of interstate commerce for the purpose of dogfighting. Vick reportedly will say that he was present when dogs were killed but will maintain he did not personally kill any of the dogs.

Head, a six-month-old pit bull with tattered ears and a passive demeanor, learned to sit on Saturday, a small but notable achievement for a dog once bred to fight. On a sidewalk in Humboldt Park, Head was part of a small group of neighborhood pit bulls participating in a dog obedience class taught by Tony Gordon, whose mission is more than just turning around a few hostile canines. Gordon, a disciple of Pavlov, said he also hopes to educate pit bull owners and transform public perception about a breed that has been maligned by the media in high-profile attacks on...

MOSCOW - Advantages of Russia's firefighting fleet of aircraft over foreign competition are apparent, Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu told a press conference at RIA Novosti Tuesday as he spoke about Russia's recent effort to help several European nations fight rampant fires. "One Ilyushin 76 tanker carries seven times more water than a Canadair. It takes 42 tons of water on board, while a Canadair carries only 6 tons," Shoigu said. The minister also mentioned outstanding performance features of Russia's B-200 plane and MI-26 helicopter, which alongside Il-76 play a key role in the ministry's firefighting campaigns. "B-200 takes...

Embattled NFL quarterback Michael Vick made an appearance today on the Atlanta-based Porshe Foxx radio program. Calling into the program, Vick gave his first interview since charges were filed against him July 17. During the brief spot Vick thanked his fans and all those who continue to support him, and expressed regret over the negative impact the dogfighting scandal is having on the Atlanta Falcons franchise.

A relationship is like a cable TV package. There's plenty of comedy, plenty of action, and maybe even the occasional bit of dirty programming on demand. But there are also a lot of dead spots on the dial that you wish you could just skip over. Those dead spots typically come as the relationship equivalent of the WWE channel - highly predictable fights, skirmishes, and verbal sparring you've seen too many times before. These fleeting spats and lingering problems can wound a relationship. The source of relationship fights certainly varies from couple to couple; in a survey of more than...

MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - Russia will airlift additional water bombers to Greece to battle fires in that country, President Vladimir Putin said, according to the Kremlin's press service. Greek Prime Minister Konstandinos Karamanlis asked Russia for additional assistance in fighting forest fires in telephone talks with Putin on Thursday, the press service said.

Jul 22 2007 9:47AM MOSCOW. July 22 (Interfax) - A Russian Ilyushin Il-76 TD water- bomber, urgently dispatched to Bulgaria's Staraya Zagora, began a fire- fighting mission at 8 a.m. on Sunday, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov told Interfax. "At the request of the Bulgarian government, the ministry has sent an Il-76 water bomber capable of carrying 42 tonnes of water to Bulgaria," Beltsov said. Forest fires raging near Staraya Zagora are threatening to spread to populated areas, he said. The ministry will dispatch helicopter water bombers to Greece on July 24 and 25 to battle forest fires outside...

Feds: Falcons QB, cohorts executed pit bulls that failed fight tests JULY 17--NFL star Michael Vick was indicted today on a federal conspiracy charge for his alleged role in a dog fighting venture that operated from a Virginia property owned by the Atlanta Falcons quarterback. A copy of the indictment, filed today in U.S. District Court in Richmond, can be found below. The 27-year-old Vick, whose nickname is listed as "Ookie" in the indictment, allegedly established the Bad Newz Kennels in early-2001 in Smithfield, Virginia. It was this property, for which Vick paid $34,000, that the star athlete and his...

Fresh fighting at Pakistan mosque Pakistani troops have restricted access to the mosque buildings Fresh fighting has erupted at the Red Mosque in Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, where a government siege of radical Islamists is in its fourth day. Troops launched an assault as a group of students tried to leave the complex. Two students were killed, bringing the death toll to 21. But President Pervez Musharraf has held back from a full assault, fearing casualties among women and children. Earlier the mosque's deputy leader said he would rather die than surrender. The BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Islamabad says a group...

TRIPOLI, Lebanon - Lebanon's army stepped up its assault on Islamic militants hiding inside a Palestinian refugee settlement on Saturday, launching artillery barrages and sending in armored carriers and special forces. Witnesses in the Nahr el-Bared camp reported some of the heaviest army shelling since June 1, when the Lebanese army — using tanks and artillery — launched an offensive to drive out the Fatah Islam militants. Security officials said five soldiers were killed Saturday and 15 wounded, some seriously. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to give official statements. Local and Arab television...

Feds use warrant, search Vick's property Associated Press, Updated 9 minutes ago SURRY, Va. (AP) - Federal law enforcement officials descended on a home owned by Michael Vick on Thursday armed with a search warrant that suggests they're taking over an investigation into the Falcons quarterback's possible involvement in dogfighting. More here..http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/6899670

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Heavy fighting resumed Friday between the Lebanese army and Islamic militants at a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Tanks could be seen moving down the streets outside the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp as heavy shelling could be heard in the background, according to an AP Television News crew at the scene. Plumes of smoke rose out of the camp where Fatah Islam militants have been holed up in a 13-day siege by the Lebanese army. This is a breaking news update. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below. BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) —...

47 dead as Lebanese army lays siege around Palestinian camp Tripoli (Lebanon), May. 21 (AP): Lebanese troops tightened a siege of a Palestinian refugee camp today, pounding the camp with artillery as new signs emerged that their target, a shadowy militant group that follows al-Qaida ideology had been training fighters inside the camp for attacks on Europe and perhaps the United States. One militant killed in the two days of fighting, Saddam El-Hajdib, the fourth-highest ranking official in the Fatah Islam group that began operating from the refugee camp last fall was a suspect in a failed German train bombing...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas gunmen riddled a Fatah police jeep with gunfire at close range Tuesday, killing eight policemen in the most ruthless round yet of factional fighting, pushing the Palestinian unity government closer to collapse. Gunmen in black ski masks took up positions in the streets and terrified residents huddled in their homes. Israel, too, was briefly drawn into the battle. "I don't know when it's going to end and what the future will bring," said Salman Abu Arafeh, 42, a Gaza City interior decorator who was pinned down by gunfire in his apartment for hours, along...

SURRY -- Property in Surry County owned by Atlanta Falcons quarterback and Newport News native Michael Vick was searched Wednesday as part of a State Police narcotics investigation -- and now there are allegations of dog fighting, too. Vick does not live there in the two-story brick house on a couple of acres, but his nephew does, State Police spokesman D.S. Carr said. Vick is not a suspect in the drug investigation, Carr said. After the State Police arrived at the Moonlight Road property, they called in Surry Animal Control. Dogs on the property appeared to be neglected, Surry County...

Fighting brings fresh misery to Somalia By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi Last Updated: 4:07am BST 26/04/2007 A new humanitarian crisis is rapidly taking shape in the Horn of Africa where eight days of heavy fighting in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, has forced about 350,000 people to flee. Artillery fire has devastated large areas of the city, forcing about one third of its population to leave. Yesterday Mogadishu's main hospital was shelled. The plains around Mogadishu are filled with refugees enduring desperate conditions with little food or shelter. The fighting began when Somalia's internationally recognised government, supported by Ethiopian troops,...

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2007 – The global war on terror is more than a military fight; it is a war that will require the work of many U.S. and coalition agencies, a senior military official told a group of civilian leaders attending the Joint Civilian Orientation Conference here yesterday. Army Lt. Gen. Douglas E. Lute, the Joint Staff’s director of operations, briefed 45 civilian business, academic and community leaders before their weeklong trip to several countries in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, including the Horn of Africa. Terrorists use a flat, open network of communications and pass...

A mother and her three daughters who forced two toddlers to take part in a "dog fight" and filmed it walked free from court yesterday. The women, including the children's mother, goaded the tearful brother and sister to punch each other and even use a magazine and hairbrush as weapons. When the boy, who was in a nappy, stopped fighting they called him a "wimp" and "bloody faggot". Passing sentence at Plymouth crown court, Judge Francis Gilbert said the video taken of the fight was "shocking". He said: "You laughed at them, you mocked them, you swore at them. You...

KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S.-led coalition and Afghan forces clashed with Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan, killing 24 suspected militants, while three more died in an ambush in the west, the coalition said Thursday. Pakistani troops, meanwhile, fired at Afghan soldiers as the Afghans pulled up a disputed fence supposed to prevent Taliban militants from crossing their common border, the Afghan Defense Ministry said. While there were no reports of casualties, the incident marks an escalation in the battle between Kabul and Islamabad over Pakistan's plan to fence and mine sections of the long, mountainous frontier. The joint coalition and Afghan...

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) -- Mogadishu's dominant clan said Sunday it has brokered a truce with Ethiopian military officials who are supporting Somalia's government, even as mortar shells continued slamming into the capital for a fourth day. Ahmed Diriye, the Hawiye clan spokesman, said fighting in Mogadishu should end within hours. Ethiopian officials were not immediately available for comment. Somali government troops and their Ethiopian allies have been waging a fierce offensive since Thursday to wipe out Islamic insurgents, sparking some of the heaviest fighting in 15 years in the capital. Untold numbers of civilians have been killed and hundreds wounded....

Source: University of Utah Date: March 12, 2007 These Legs Were Made For Fighting: Human Ancestors Had Short Legs For Combat, Not Just Climbing Science Daily — Ape-like human ancestors known as australopiths maintained short legs for 2 million years because a squat physique and stance helped the males fight over access to females, a University of Utah study concludes. This drawing of a male gorilla skeleton illustrates their very short legs. Male gorillas fight to gain access to reproductively mature females. Relatively short legs increase the stability and strength of great apes, and should therefore increase fighting performance. A...

Source: American Chemical Society Date: March 5, 2007 Red Pepper: Hot Stuff For Fighting Fat? Science Daily — Food scientists in Taiwan are reporting new evidence from laboratory experiments that capsaicin — the natural compound that gives red pepper that spicy hot kick — can reduce the growth of fat cells. The study is scheduled for the March 21 issue of the ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. In the report, Gow-Chin Yen and Chin-Lin Hsu cite previous research suggesting that obesity can be reduced by preventing immature fat cells (adipocytes) from developing into mature cells....