Free Republic

An unusually chilly March day and the snowstorm it spawned have shut down much of official Washington on Wednesday — including a hearing House Republicans had called to examine global warming. “Postponed due to weather,” read the notice from the House Science, Space and Technology Committee sent in the morning. The hearing was scheduled to give House lawmakers a comprehensive briefing on how well scientists understand the climate and humans’ effects on it as a means “to inform decision-making on potential mitigation options.” While the federal government reports that U.S. temperatures have been ticking up in recent years, freak cold...

There is a huge blogswarm going on about this photo, from Chicago Magazine, of Obama's unrepentant terrorist associate, Bill Ayers stomping on the American flag. The photo was taken in 2001, the same time Obama served on the Woods Fund Board with Ayers. This was also the same time that Ayers donated to Obama's campaign. ... many political bloggers are saying it is long past due for Obama to disown his association with this controversial radical. ... It's worthy of recycling this to further probe into Obama's judgment, the one thing he says he should be measured by.

Destroyer reportedly targets suspect in 1998 Africa embassy bombings WASHINGTON - The U.S. military launched a strike against a suspected al-Qaida target in northern Somalia Friday, a U.S. military official confirmed to NBC News. The official said assessments of the operation are still ongoing. He declined to provide additional details citing operational security. The strike was first reported by CNN. A U.S. Navy destroyer targeted the suspect from off the coast of the African nation, the cable news network said, citing unidentified sources.

  Venus Ramey (Photo: MissAmerica.org) Tough isn't a word necessarily associated with Miss America, but three thieves arrested after their truck tires were shot out by 82-year-old Venus Ramey might beg to differ. Ramey, who won the elite beauty crown in 1944, confronted one of the three robbers on her farm in Waynesburg, Ky., about 140 miles south of Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. "He was probably wetting his pants," said Ramey, who balanced on her walking stick as she pulled out a snub-nosed .38-caliber handgun. Ramey said thieves for some time have been breaking into a building on her...

ASPEN, Colo. -- Former Secretary of State Colin Powell was briefly hospitalized Friday after he fell ill at a restaurant where he was dining with former President Bill Clinton and others.

Steelers' Roethlisberger is in accident Associated Press PITTSBURGH - Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been in a motorcycle accident in Pittsburgh this morning. Witnesses are telling authorities that the player's motorcycle collided with a car near a downtown intersection and that Roethlisberger's head hit the windshield and was bleeding. Roethlisberger has said in the past that he prefers not to wear a helmet when riding. One witness told KDKA television that Roethlisberger was conscious but appeared disoriented before he was taken from the scene to Mercy Hospital. A Steelers spokesman is at the hospital and confirmed Roethlisberger is being...

Despite a cool reception from country radio, the Dixie Chicks returned to No. 1 on the pop and country charts with their first album since publicly criticizing the president three years ago. The album "Taking the Long Way" took the top spot on country albums chart and the Billboard 200 overall chart -- which are based on sales rather than radio airplay -- with 526,000 units sold in its first full week.

Facilities in a prison are being built so Muslim inmates do not have to face Mecca while sitting on the toilet. The Home Office said two new toilet blocks are being installed as part of a refurbishment at Brixton jail in south London. Faith leaders had told prison bosses it was unacceptable for Muslim inmates to face Mecca while using the toilet. "The refurbishment has been carried out with due consideration for all faiths", a Home Office spokeswoman said.

Whiny children, claims a new study, tend to grow up rigid and traditional. Future liberals, on the other hand ... Remember the whiny, insecure kid in nursery school, the one who always thought everyone was out to get him, and was always running to the teacher with complaints? Chances are he grew up to be a conservative. At least, he did if he was one of 95 kids from the Berkeley area that social scientists have been tracking for the last 20 years. The confident, resilient, self-reliant kids mostly grew up to be liberals.