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Michael Vick signs a two year deal with the Eagles.

Great video example of government healthcare. See link...

Four Jewish Defense League members were arrested on Wednesday, according to Agence France Presse, in connection to last week's attack on a Paris bookstore. Judicial officials were quoted in the report as saying that the shop is run by pro-Palestinian activists, and has fallen victim to several such attacks.

Police in Massachusetts said a 31-year-old pregnant woman was miraculously unharmed after accidentally backing her car off the fourth story of a parking garage. Springfield Police Lt. Rupert Daniel said the woman, who was alone in her car at the time, accidentally put her Hyundai Sonata in reverse and drove off the fourth story of the downtown garage, plunging 40 feet to the sidewalk below, WWLP-TV, Springfield, reported Tuesday. The woman was treated for minor injuries at Baystate Medical Center and released.

CNSNews.com ) - When President Obama said last week that he wants a government-run, government-owned health insurance provision to be included in the health-care reform bill being readied by Congress, only one of the nation’s top five, large-circulation newspapers thought it was worthy of front-page coverage.

(IsraelNN.com) Hamas actors, several days before the Passover holiday, performed in Gaza its version of an old blood libel against Jews, who previously have been accused of using Christian blood to drink and to make matzo, the unleavened bread eaten on the Passover holiday.

(IsraelNN.com) Terrorists attacked outside an historic mosque in Cairo Sunday evening, killing at least four people and wounding approximately 17 others, including French and German tourists. Police have not identified the explosive device, but it may have been a hand grenade or homemade device, police said. No terrorist group has yet taken responsibility for the attack. Sappers neutralized a second explosive device in the crowded bazaar area. The Egyptian tourist minister denied that anyone died in the blast, but major foreign news services reported that a French woman was among those killed. Eleven French and three German tourists suffered injuries,...

(IsraelNN.com) The heart, lungs, liver and kidneys of an 8-year-old were transplanted into four Jewish children. The boy's father said: "It’s as if he’s still living." A week ago, eight-year-old Anwar Abu-Arar from the Israeli-Arab town of Kalansua, east of Netanya, was hit by a car on a busy street near his home. Though doctors labored to save his life, a two-doctor committee determined after several days that Anwar had suffered respiratory brain death. His father was asked if would agree to donate Anwar’s organs, and he immediately agreed.

DENVER--Police in Denver arrested an ABC News producer today as he and a camera crew were attempting to take pictures on a public sidewalk of Democratic Senators and VIP donors leaving a private meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel.

While the news of chief political strategist Mark J. Penn's abrupt departure from Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign this evening took many in the Democratic political world by surprise, talk soon turned to how the move would impact the overall message of the campaign. One Democratic consultant, granted anonymity to speak candidly, predicted "a less combative campaign and more focused on her strengths." Penn was a major influence in Clinton's decision to focus on her toughness and readiness to be commander in chief during the campaign. He was one of the guiding forces behind the now-infamous "3 am" telephone ringing at...

NEW YORK — A federal grand jury on Tuesday indicted Norman Hsu, a top Democratic fundraiser accused of cheating investors of at least $20 million and using some of the money to make illegal donations to political campaigns.

WASHINGTON — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for violating election laws.

Abu Sayyaf militants have decapitated seven hostages and sent their heads to troops on the southern Philippine island of Jolo, the military says. The men - six construction workers and a factory worker, all of whom were Christian - were seized on Monday near the town of Parang in Jolo. The military has vowed to intensify its efforts to track down the group. Philippine troops have been fighting Islamic militants holed up in Jolo's mountainous terrain for several months. Abu Sayyaf is the smallest of four Muslim rebel groups in the Philippines, with about 400 members. The group is thought...

April 17, 2007 — Global climate model simulations for the 21st Century indicate a robust increase in vertical wind shear in the tropical Atlantic and East Pacific Oceans, which could act to inhibit the development or intensification of hurricanes in these regions. Historically, increased vertical wind shear has been associated with reduced hurricane activity and intensity. This new finding is reported in a study by scientists at the NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory in Princeton, N.J., and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, scheduled to be published April 18 in Geophysical Research Letters....

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The slow pace of New Orleans' post-Katrina recovery is part of a plan to change the city's racial makeup, Mayor Ray Nagin told a national newspaper publishers' group last week. According to The Washington Post, Nagin made those remarks at a dinner meeting Thursday of the National Newspaper Publishers Association, a trade group for newspapers that target black readers. He told editors and publishers that the slow recovery is part of a plan to change the racial makeup, and hence the political leadership, of the city.

MINNEAPOLIS - A North Pole expedition meant to bring attention to global warming was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen, on Saturday called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment. "Ann said losing toes and going forward at all costs was never part of the journey," said Ann Atwood, who helped organize the expedition. On Monday, the pair was at Canada's Ward...

A Pakistani minister and woman’s activist was shot dead Tuesday by an Islamic extremist for refusing to wear the veil. Zilla Huma Usman, the minister for social welfare in Punjab province and an ally of President Pervez Musharraf, was killed as she was about to deliver a speech to dozens of party activists, by a “fanatic”, who believed that she was dressed inappropriately and that women should not be involved in politics, officials said.

OSLO, Norway (AP) -- Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday. "A prerequisite for winning the Nobel Peace Prize is making a difference, and Al Gore has made a difference," Conservative Member of Parliament Boerge Brende, a former minister of environment and then of trade, told The Associated Press.

District Attorney Mike Nifong has requested that he have himself removed from prosecuting the Duke Lacrosse rape investigation, ABC News has learned. A source close to the investigation said Nifong sent a letter to North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper asking his office to assume responsibility of the case.Calls to the Attorney General's office and Mike Nifong's office were not yet returned. Three Duke Lacrosse players, Reade Seligmann, Collin Finnerty, and David Evans were indicted in 2006 on charges of rape, sexual assault, and kidnapping. The rape charges were dropped in December after the accuser could not recall key details...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2006 -- Iraqi officers will soon command all four Iraqi army divisions operating in northern Iraq, a senior U.S. officer said today. “By February, all four Iraqi divisions in Multinational Division North will be under Iraqi ground-force command,” U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin R. Mixon told Pentagon reporters during a satellite briefing. Mixon is the commander of Multinational Division North as well as commander of the 25th Infantry Division. The two-star general’s area of responsibility covers six Iraqi provinces in northern Iraq that include the cities of Kirkuk, Balad, Tikrit, Mosul and Samarra. The general said...

Four shot at Annapolis mall By RYAN BAGWELL and JOSHUA STEWART Staff Writers Secret Service agent wounded when he tries to stop fight. At least four people were shot at the crowded Annapolis mall last night, including an off-duty Secret Service agent who opened fire on a teen involved in a food court gunfight. At least six shots rang out just after 7:15 p.m. near the Cingular wireless store in the Westfield Annapolis mall, police and witnesses said, sending hordes of panicked shoppers running for cover. The gunfire erupted after a group of young men started fighting with another young...

When Laurie-Ann Fuca told loved ones she was planning to become a soldier, some doubled over and laughed until their stomachs hurt. They hooted that she'd never pass the physical at her age, that she'd wilt without luxuries like manicures and martinis. No one's laughing now at the 41-year-old Tucson soccer mom, who is making history as the first Arizona woman to join the Army past her 40th birthday. The mother of four leaves for boot camp Monday, three weeks after her eldest son, a 19-year-old soldier, was sent to Iraq. Until recently, the scenario would have been impossible. But...

Four police and eight robbers die in S Africa shoot-out By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 26/06/2006) Paramedics rushed to the scene of a "bloodbath" in central Johannesburg yesterday when a daylight gun battle between South African police and armed robbers left 12 dead. Four of those killed were policemen. The other eight were among a gang of 20 criminals. The shooting raged in the suburb of Jeppestown, east of the city centre and barely half a mile from Ellis Park stadium, one of the largest sports venues in South Africa and a key location for the next World Cup...

One in four shops is caught selling knives to children under 16 By David Derbyshire, Consumer Affairs Editor (Filed: 21/06/2006) More than a quarter of shops that stock knives are illegally selling them to children under 16, according to a survey by trading standards officials. Despite concerns about rising knife violence, a significant number of shopkeepers are failing to check the ages of teenage customers or are wilfully turning a blind eye. Richard Beckett, 14, shows knives bought by teenage volunteers However, there was some evidence that the recent spate of stabbings and the Home Office amnesty may finally be...

Four Mexicans accused of sneaking across the border pleaded guilty Tuesday under a new state law targeting immigrant smugglers. They were among the first 48 alleged customers of smugglers to be charged as conspirators to the crime. The four, who pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit immigrant smuggling, were sentenced to two years supervised probation and expected to face deportation proceedings. Critics say the law was intended to be used against smugglers, not their customers. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas has said the customers of smugglers need to be held accountable. In all, 19 of the 48 have pleaded guilty...

London - Iran could be able to produce between 20 and 25 kilos of highly-enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon by 2010, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London said Wednesday. 'The IISS estimate of 2010 remains valid,' the institute said in its report The Military Balance 2006 published Wednesday. Other estimates of an Iranian nuclear weapons capacity by 2009, or even 2008, were 'within the margin of error, given the number of unknowns', the report said. It stressed that the limited access of the IAEA nuclear watchdog to Iran's facilities required policymakers 'to rely on worst-case assumptions...

HADITHA, Iraq (May 5, 2006) -- A Marine sat on a collapsible metal chair with several other warriors seated around him and stared at four sets of dog tags, combat boots, rifles and Kevlar helmets. Tears welled up in his eyes as he slowly let his head drop into his hands. The tears fell, splashing the concrete floor. This Marine is one of hundreds from the Hawaii-based 3rd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment who are still mourning the loss of Staff Sgt. Jason C. Ramseyer, who was killed two weeks ago in an explosion from an improvised explosive device. IEDs –...

WASHINGTON (NNS) -- The Navy announced April 27 that the first four Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) will be homeported at Naval Station San Diego, Calif. Key in the success of implementing these new concepts is the ability to colocate these ships to achieve readiness alignment and economy of scale. This colocation is especially important for the first ships in the class as waterfront facilities, infrastructure, training and maintenance efficiencies are developed. San Diego was chosen as the initial homeport because of the Navy’s increased emphasis on the Pacific theater based on the Quadrennial Defense Review. “Homeporting the first four ships...

PALOMINAS — The Naco Border Patrol Explorer post added four new members Wednesday with a ceremony at Valley View School honoring the newest graduates of its training class. “You came in as individuals and now you graduate as a team,” Darcy Olmos, Patrol Agent in Charge at the Naco Border Patrol station, told the graduates. The new Explorers are Alexalyn Hardgrave, 15, of Sierra Vista; Sammy Collins, 16, of Sierra Vista; Devin Humphries, 16, of Hereford; and Christopher Tillman, 15, of Sierra Vista. Humphries was honored for having the group’s highest test score average at 91 percent. Hardgrave also was...

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2006 – Four brothers, all Army Reserve officers, are deploying to Iraq with the same division and are planning to chronicle their experiences in a forthcoming book. (Clockwise from top left) Army Reserve Maj. Matt Holbert, Capts. David and Carlton Holbert, and Lt. Col. Buddy Holbert pose together Feb. 28 prior to their mobilization. The four brothers will deploy to Iraq soon as part of the 108th Division. Courtesy photo   The book's working title is "An American Story -- The Holbert Family: Four Brothers Who Serve." Its publisher, Linda Dennis, hopes to tell the story of...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2006 – Coalition and Iraqi forces killed four terrorists and detained 16 in a series of operations in the past 24 hours, and coalition forces also found several weapons caches yesterday, military officials in Iraq said. Soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, came under small-arms fire from insurgents south of Baghdad early this morning. A firefight ensued, and one insurgent was killed. Two other suspected terrorists were detained. The patrol also confiscated two AK-47s. Three more insurgents were killed and 14 others detained in several operations yesterday: A...

/13/2006 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- The Air Force Manpower Agency activated four new manpower squadrons to more effectively meet the needs of today’s expeditionary Air Force and to better position itself to support future capabilities. The 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and the 4th MRS at Buckley Annex, Colo., held formal activation ceremonies in January. The 2nd MRS at NASA-Langley Research Center, Va., and the 3rd MRS at Scott AFB, Ill., will have formal activation ceremonies later this spring. “These new squadrons have a clear mission: to determine Air Force manpower...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 4, 2006 – A combined U.S. and Iraqi patrol killed four insurgents yesterday, and in separate incidents Feb. 2, a U.S. team seized a weapons cache west of Fallujah and Multinational Division Baghdad forces detained three suspected terrorists, Multinational Force Iraq officials reported today. The insurgents were killed after they opened fire on U.S. Marines and Iraqi soldiers patrolling along the Euphrates River south of Hit. The combined patrol was conducting a cache sweep when the insurgents attacked with small-arms fire, officials said. U.S. and Iraq troops returned fire, killing four insurgents and detaining three others for questioning....

'Four mothers' for Europe's Jews There are now some 8m people of Ashkenazi origin around the world Almost half of Europe's Jews are descended from just four women who lived 1,000 years ago, a study says. Scientists studied the mitochondrial DNA - passed from mother to daughter - of 11,000 women of Ashkenazi Jewish origin living in 67 countries. The Ashkenazis moved from the Mid-East to Italy and then to Eastern Europe, where their population exploded in the 13th Century, the scientists say. One of the authors said the study shows the importance of Jewish mothers. "This I could tell...

Father imprisoned four girls in flat to 'teach them Islam' By Henry Samuel in Paris (Filed: 07/01/2006) A Moroccan father of four girls who imprisoned his wife and children in their flat "in the name of Islam" received a 10-month suspended sentence and was stripped of his parental rights yesterday. The unidentified 45-year-old was found guilty of breaking French law on compulsory schooling for children over the age of six, which applies to three of the four girls - aged four, 10, 13 and 14. The man, from the town of Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme region, said he had refused...

"The transformation of a traditional society could only be achieved extremely slowly, and certainly not by wrecking its existing structure and relationships. Even in the Soviet Union there had been the 'great mistakes' of the 1920s and 1930s. As a Soviet official in Moscow was also reported as saying [in 1981], 'If there is one country in the world where we would not like to try scientific socialism at this point in time, it is Afghanistan.'" - Martin Ewans, Afghanistan (2001)

AMMAN, Jordan - Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Friday that four Iraqis, including a husband and wife, carried out the suicide bombings against three Amman hotels, and police arrested 120 Jordanians and Iraqis in the hunt for anyone who might have aided them. Thousands of Jordanians protested in Amman for a second straight day, condemning the attacks that killed 57 people, excluding the bombers, and denouncing al-Qaida in Iraq's leader, Jordanian-born Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "Al-Zarqawi, you are a coward! Amman will remain safe!" chanted 3,000 protesters who marched through the capital, past its al-Husseini Mosque after midday prayers. The toll rose...

10/25/2005 - ABOVE IRAQ (AFPN) -- Tuskegee Airman Col. Richard Toliver (left) chats with Maj. (Dr.) Vanessa Williams as their C-17 Globemaster III makes its final approach to Balad Air Base, Iraq. Five of the original Tuskegee Airmen -- the first African-American aviators of World War II -- are visiting the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Balad. The unit is a descendant of the "Red Tail Angels" of the Tuskegee Airmen's 332nd Fighter Group. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Andra Higgs)

WASHINGTON, Oct. 6, 2005 – Four years ago, America launched its counterattack against terrorism, hammering terrorist targets in Afghanistan and ushering in Operation Enduring Freedom and the global war on terror. That volley, launched Oct. 7, 2001, targeted far more than al Qaeda training camps and facilities and the repressive Taliban regime in Afghanistan, President Bush noted in announcing the attacks during a White House address. It sent an unmistakable message to terrorist organizations worldwide that the United States and its coalition partners refuse to live under a cloud of fear and intimidation, he said. Bush emphasized that the action...

BINGHAMTON NY--the Ithaca New York antiwar protesters who threw blood on a recruiting center, a soldier and the American flag in 2003 have been found guilty of three counts by a federal court.According to the Ithaca Journal, the group, which calls itself “ the St. Patrick’s Day Four,” was found guilty of three counts of damaging federal property, but acquitted of the most serious conspiracy charge.The group was accused of going to a Army recruiting center near Ithaca on March 17, 2003, and throwing their own blood on the walls, the floor, the United States flag and Staff Sgt. Rachon...

Police keep watch as Iraq war protest case goes to jury BINGHAMTON, N.Y. A large contingent of local, county and state police remain positioned outside a Binghamton federal building as the case against four Iraq war protesters goes to the jury. There's been a highly visible police presence around the downtown building since the trial started Monday. Two men and two women are being tried on federal conspiracy charges for spilling blood at an Ithaca-area military recruiting office in 2003. Binghamton Police Chief John Butler today said he feels "pretty good" with the way things have gone this week. People...

BINGHAMTON, NY—A U.S. soldier has testified in federal court Tuesday (September 20) that he was splashed with human blood by anti-war protesters during a 2003 protest.The soldier, Staff Sgt. Rachon Montgomery, was working as an army recruiter on March 17, 2003, the day that four protesters threw their own blood around a recruiting center in Lansing, NY, a suburb of Ithaca. As a result of the incident, press reports indicate, Montgomery was tested for blood-borne illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis.In addition to Montgomery, the protesters also poured blood on the American flag, a military banner and the walls and...

Schoolgirls riot at tourist spot By NIGEL ADLAM 17sep05 HUNDREDS of people watched in horror as a mob of schoolgirls rioted at Darwin's biggest tourist attraction. Most of the youngsters were in their teens. But several witnesses said a few were as young as six. About 20 girls threw sticks and stones, and even pulled out a street bollard, as they fought with security guards. Fighting between rival gangs of boys and girls has been escalating at Mindil Beach markets (pictured). Market manager Tim Robinson said four guards were beaten. Security and market managers are to hold a crisis meeting...

Minnesota waterfowlers will be allowed two fewer ducks in the bag this fall than last, and the limit on hen mallards during a 60-day season has been cut from two to one, the Department of Natural Resources said last week. The reduction from last year's six-duck daily bag limit was due in part to a drop last year in the Mississippi Flyway duck harvest of about 1 million birds from 2003. Minnesota's 2004 harvest declined 23 percent. Additionally, Minnesota's breeding duck population this spring was the lowest since the drought years of the 1980s. Mallards, down 37 percent from 2004,...

One in four Muslims sympathises with motives of terrorists By Anthony King (Filed: 23/07/2005) The group portrait of British Muslims painted by YouGov's survey for The Daily Telegraph is at once reassuring and disturbing, in some ways even alarming. The vast majority of British Muslims condemn the London bombings but a substantial minority are clearly alienated from modern British society and some are prepared to justify terrorist acts. The divisions within the Muslim community go deep. Muslims are divided over the morality of the London bombings, over the extent of their loyalty to this country and over how Muslims should...

Just asking... anyone see it? I'd like to know how any FReepers liked it. I read a ton of their comic books, esp. the John Byrne ones, many moons ago. So... flame on! -- Joe

BEIJING -- State-run media said Thursday Zhang Chunqiao, a member of the Gang of Four which terrorized China during the Cultural Revolution, died. He was 88. Xinhua reported Zhang died of cancer on April 21. The news item did not mention where his death took place or why the announcement was delayed. Western academic sources had believed Zhang died in 1991. The Chinese agency inaccurately described him as "one of the culprits of the Lin Biao and Jiang Qing counter-revolutionary clique." Lin Biao died in 1971 in a plane crash under mysterious circumstances, possibly after a failed coup. The Gang...

Australians in the country's Northern Territory should start smashing cane toads to death with golf clubs and cricket bats in a bid to stop the spread of the toxic creatures, a government politician has urged. Reuters Photo David Tollner, the member for the Northern Territory seat of Solomon, said on Monday the cane toads -- which have highly poisonous sacs behind their head that quickly kill native animals that prey on them -- should be eradicated by "any means possible". Australia has for decades fought unsuccessfully to stop the spread of cane toads, imported from Hawaii in 1935 in a...

Four Israeli kids were killed and 30 wounded today by a Palestinian homicide bomber. The young Israelis’ crime? They were waiting in line to get into a nightclub in Tel Aviv. This is the Palestinians’ idea of “peace?” According to the BBC, Alon Kotler, a paramedic who treated several of the wounded told the Israeli newspaper Haaretz that rescuers had found "young people lying on top of each other, most of them moderately to seriously wounded". What happened to the “truce” the Palestinian Authority (PA) agreed to with Israel at the summit in Egypt on February 8? What has the...