Free Republic

Jason Atkins is going to court to fight for the right to webcast cockfights. By KEVIN SITES, FRI SEP 7, 4:38 PM PDT MIAMI - Ask Jason Atkins about the Michael Vick dogfighting scandal, and his reaction is anger and disgust. "I just thought, you know, [he's] gotta be the worst criminal I've ever seen," he says. 'Girls and Guns' is among the features on Jason Atkins' ToughSportsLive Web site. Animal rights advocates might find that response surprising, because Atkins's Web network, ToughSportsLive.com, features live cockfighting from Puerto Rico — which, while legal there, is banned now in all 50...

By unwittingly angering Muslims with his comments on Islam, Pope Benedict XVI has shown that he has yet to shake off his academic theological roots and master the global media machine with the same deftness as his predecessor. In clinging to theology and orthodoxy, the bookish Benedict has shown little regard for media management in getting his message across, unlike the communications-savvy John Paul II. Benedict railed Muslims when he quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor who said the Prophet Mohammed had brought the world only "evil and inhuman" things, portraying the Islam he founded as a religion which endorses violence,...

Israel Says It Has Captured Guerrillas Wednesday August 2, 2006 4:01 AM By HUSSEIN DAKROUB Associated Press Writer BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) - Israel poured up to 10,000 armored troops into south Lebanon Tuesday, and separately dropped helicopter-borne commandos deep into the eastern Bekaa Valley where they raided a Hezbollah-run hospital and fought pitched battles with guerrillas, in a major escalation of the three-week-old war. After the raid on the ancient city of Baalbek ended, the Israeli military said it had captured some guerrillas and hit others. The military statement said all its soldiers returned unharmed to their base, but gave...

May 30) — The graduating senior looked unassuming recently as he strummed his guitar on the campus of Harvard University. But he was no average student, and it was no average song. Rivers Cuomo, 35, is lead singer of the band Weezer , and he was strumming "Beverly Hills," a recent chart-topping, Grammy-nominated hit. Six months ago, after completing an 80-city tour in support of his latest platinum album, Cuomo traded in pop hooks for books -- and five-star hotels for a 14-by-9-foot dorm room. "At first, I was a little nervous about living in dorms," Cuomo said, "because I...

Ancient American Skeleton Has European DNA Link[Original headline: Sinkhole Skeleton Skeleton’s DNA Could Shed Light on American Migrations] Vanlue, Ohio [AP] — The discovery of prehistoric tools from an Ohio cave is one of several finds that has scientists questioning the identity of settlers thought to have moved in 11,000 years ago. A just completed excavation of Sheriden Cave in Wyandot County, 100 miles southwest of Cleveland, revealed tools made from flaked stone and bone. The items are scheduled to go on display next year at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Kent State University archaeologist Kenneth Tankersley, who led...

FDA Statement FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Statement April 20, 2006 Media Inquiries: FDA Press Office, 301-827-6242 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA Inter-Agency Advisory Regarding Claims That Smoked Marijuana Is a Medicine Claims have been advanced asserting smoked marijuana has a value in treating various medical conditions. Some have argued that herbal marijuana is a safe and effective medication and that it should be made available to people who suffer from a number of ailments upon a doctor's recommendation, even though it is not an approved drug. Marijuana is listed in schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), the most restrictive schedule. The...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – The federal response to Hurricane Katrina demonstrated that the Defense Department is one of the only federal departments capable of playing a critical role in the nation's response to catastrophic events, a government report released today stated. In September, President Bush asked Fran Townsend, his homeland security adviser, to conduct a review about the federal response to Katrina. The result is a report titled "The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned," which outlines what was learned from the government's response to the hurricane and how to better prepare and respond to future domestic...

'Europe has no hope of eradicating bird flu' By David Rennie and David Derbyshire (Filed: 23/02/2006) Europe has "no hope of eradicating" the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus in the foreseeable future, now that there are infected wild birds across the European Union, a senior bird flu expert said yesterday. Although the virulent strain of avian influenza arrived inside the EU less than two weeks ago, it is now a fact of life, European Commission officials said. The warning came as EU officials approved plans by France and the Netherlands to vaccinate millions of birds against the disease. The British...

MADRID, Spain - A Colombian woman has given birth to a 15-pound baby, the largest in 40 years in Madrid's main maternity hospital. The 38-year-old mother, identified only as Rosario, had gestational diabetes _ which can cause women to give birth to larger-than-usual babies _ and a track record. Her first daughter, now nine, weighed 10.2 pounds at birth. The new baby's father, Juan Carlos, said that with another woman he had a daughter that weighed 17 pounds at birth. "They told me it is genetic," he told reporters. The proud parents showed off their daughter Arancha on Monday. She...

Cold and Deep: Antarctica's Lake Vostok has two big neighbors Sid Perkins GREAT LAKES. Lake Vostok and the newly described 90°E and Sovetskaya Lakes lie beneath a kilometers-thick blanket of ice. The black square in the inset shows the outline of this satellite image on a map of Antarctica; the cross indicates the South Pole. R.E. Bell, et al. Trapped beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet are two bodies of water that rival North America's Great Lakes, new analyses suggest. The geological setting of these huge, unfrozen lakes hints that they may harbor ecosystems that have been isolated for millions of...

The intelligent-design movement is a small but growing force on US university campuses. For some it bridges the gap between science and faith, for others it goes beyond the pale. Geoff Brumfiel meets the movement's vanguard. For a cold Tuesday night in March, the turnout is surprisingly good. Twenty or so fresh-faced college students are gathered together in a room in the student union at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, the state's largest public university. They are there for the first meeting of Salvador Cordova's Intelligent Design and Evolution Awareness (IDEA) club.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2005 – President Bush's decision to support a congressional measure that bans "cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment" of terror suspects in U.S. custody or under U.S. control won't change military operations because the military always has upheld those principles, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said during a Dec. 15 television interview. Bush announced his endorsement Dec. 15 of the so-called "McCain Amendment," championed by Arizona Sen. John McCain, who underwent torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. "Senator McCain has been a leader to make sure that the United States of America upholds the values of...

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas Medical tests today showed that cancer has returned to a 12-year-old girl whose parents were in court to fight radiation treatment because they believed her illness was in remission. The new tests were revealed by state attorneys during a hearing that was supposed to determine whether treatment for Katie Wernecke was necessary in the days leading up to a custody hearing next Wednesday. Texas Child Protective Services removed the girl and her siblings from the home of Michele and Edward Wernecke last week after doctors said discontinued treatment could be life-threatening. Katie was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease...

Robby Gordon accused Danica Patrick of having an unfair advantage in the Indianapolis 500 and said Saturday he will not compete in the race again unless the field is equalized. Gordon, a former open-wheel driver now in NASCAR, contends that Patrick is at an advantage over the rest of the competitors because she only weighs 100 pounds. Because all the cars weigh the same, Patrick's is lighter on the race track. "The lighter the car, the faster it goes," Gordon said. "Do the math. Put her in the car at her weight, then put me or Tony Stewart in the...

NEW IPSWICH - In the latest twist of his public battle against illegal immigrants, Police Chief Garrett Chamberlain has taken what may be a unique legal approach: He has charged a man from Mexico with criminal trespass because he was in town without legal documents. As defined in state law (RSA 635:2), a person is guilty of criminal trespass “if, knowing that he is not licensed or privileged to do so, he enters or remains in any place.” “If we’re going to have immigration, it needs to be controlled and we need to know what’s happening on our borders. Nobody...

Editor's note: Readers may also be interested in New Jersey: An Islamic Murder of Coptic Christians?.Anyone following the investigation into the mid-January slaughter of the Armanious family (husband, wife, two young daughters), Copts living in Jersey City, N.J., knows who the presumptive suspects are: Islamists furious at a Christian Egyptian immigrant who dares engage in Internet polemics against Islam and who attempts to convert Muslims to Christianity.The authorities, however, have blinded themselves to the extensive circumstantial evidence, insisting that "no facts at this point" substantiate a religious motive for the murders.Somehow, the prosecutor missed that all four members of this...

Braving bullets and bombs, millions of Iraqis cast their ballots yesterday in Iraq's first free elections in half a century. First reports suggested turnout in excess of 70%. While the Independent Election Commission of Iraq will not announce the official results for another two weeks, the encouragingly high voter turnout undercuts the cynicism of a press corps that questioned the election's legitimacy before the first ballots were even cast. The Associated Press, for example, opined, "If the vast majority of the Sunnis shun the polls--either out of fear or lack of confidence in the process--it would undercut the new government's...

Federal Appeals Court Judge Michael Chertoff’s ties to the financiers of the Sept. 11 attacks may prevent his confirmation as Homeland Security Chief. According to a June 20, 2000 article in the The Record of Bergen County, New Jersey, Chertoff defended accused terrorist financier Dr. Magdy Elamir. Elamir’s HMO was sued by the State of New Jersey to recoup $16.7 million in losses. At least $5.7 million went “to unknown parties... by means of wire transfers to bank accounts where the beneficial owner of the account is unknown,” according to the article. Foreign intelligence reports given to then chairman of...

Mitch Goodrich: Christian school teacher, competitive marksman, soldier who recently returned from active duty in Afghanistan, martial artist ... and Libertarian Party member. As attempts to stereotype Libertarians have proven, generalizations are futile. It's no more reasonable to say members of the Libertarian Party are politically far right than it is to say they're far left -- although party members are frequently hit with both labels. And you can't safely say Libertarians are anti-military -- assuming the military is being used properly for national defense. In fact, there are hundreds of military personnel in the party's membership -- many of...

Pressure Cooker A Recipe for Chief of Staff Andrew Card is talking about his kitchen. "I know my kitchen really well, as evidenced by my rotund being," Card says, patting his belly. "I know where the oven is and I know where the microwave is and I know where the sink is and I know where the refrigerator is and the freezer and the cupboards and the table and the chairs." Card, 57, is sprawled on the couch of his West Wing office, describing the kitchen from his mind's eye. It is from here that the White House chief of...

WASHINGTON — Every American is just a few steps away from committing a crime. That point is raised in new publications that seek to cast a critical eye on lawmakers for their aggressive approach to going after supposed wrongdoing. "I think we should be alarmed on a number of different levels," said Bob Barr, a former Republican member of Congress from Georgia who also used to be a U.S district attorney. "We’re changing the very nature of society — the over-criminalization of society."

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Don't waste your time, girls - some romances are not meant to be, writes Caroline Overington. Is there a woman alive who hasn't sat on the couch, sobbing and saying: "Why doesn't he call?" Well, now we know: he's just not that into you. Sounds simple, no? Yet a guide for women that explains this basic concept has taken the book world by storm. The book, He's Just Not That Into You: The No-Excuses Truth to Understanding Guys, has reached the top of the bestseller lists in The New York Times, USA Today and The Wall Street Journal. It was...

Has Genghis' Tomb Been Found? After four years' work, a joint team of Japanese and Mongolian archaeologists announced on October 4 that they had found what they believe to be the true mausoleum of Genghis Khan (1162-1227). The ruins, dated to between the 13th and 15th century, were found at Avraga, around 250 kilometers east of Ulan Bator, the capital of the People's Republic of Mongolia. Team members said that they expect the discovery to provide clues to the whereabouts of the khan's actual burial site, which they believe may be within 12 kilometers of the mausoleum. There is a...

CHARTED: Yoko Ono, 71, has the No. 1 single on the dance chart, "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him"/"Every Woman Has A Woman Who Loves Her," a mix of techno beats and her somewhat off-key vocals that delivers a message in favor of same-sex unions. "This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans who are against the administration's decision to ban gay marriage," Ono says about the success of the tune, as quoted by the BBC.

OBL and Al-Qaeda Warnings: An Update Compiled By: Ryan Mauro tdcanalyst@optonline.net As expected, WorldThreats.com come under fire for my warnings of Al-Qaeda plots in February. First, let me clear up, we never said an attack would be successful. That would be extremely irresponsible. We still believe my warnings were accurate. The efforts of WorldThreats.com and the Northeast Intelligence Network (HomelandSecurityUS.com) showed a dramatic, and quite frightening, increase in terrorist “chatter”, along with many signs of terrorist attacks. We saw increased overseas attacks, terrorist propaganda, and suspicious activity in the US by law enforcement signaling to us that terrorists had attempted,...

No smoking . . . Dr Bolton with his hemp crop. Photo: Jeff Dawson If Keith Bolton has his way, hemp - the great symbol of the hippy North Coast - will be coming to a sewage treatment plant near you very soon. And to your wardrobe, your pantry, your car and your medicine cabinet. Interestingly, the strongest opponents of the Southern Cross University academic's dream are the drug dealers in nearby Nimbin. Man has cultivated hemp for fibre, food and medicine for at least 6000 years and Dr Bolton says that, after a 70-year "blip in history" caused...

Tokyo (dpa) - Five school girls forced another female student to work as a prostitute so they could pay for a mobile phone bill, police said Thursday. The five grammar school girls between 14-16 years old were arrested after allegedly beating the 16-year-old fellow student while keeping her at an apartment for three days. They arranged sexual liaisons with three men through a personals service and the men paid the 16-year-old victim to have sex with them. The girls had said they needed pocket money and also needed to pay off a mobile telephone bill costing more than 450 dollars....

Has anyone else seen the life size displays of George W. Bush? They are using them to sell The Faith of George W. Bush. They set the books on the George W. Bush display and sell them off of it. Anyways as soon as I saw this I asked my manager if I could have it. He told me to call the number on the back of the display. This man apparently distributes religious books for the Publisher Charisma House. I called him and he said that if I wrote my name on the back of the display that I...

<p>VaxGen's experimental AIDS vaccine couldn't block HIV infection among volunteers in Thailand, the Brisbane company said Wednesday, in another blow for the closely scrutinized drug.</p> <p>The vaccine, dubbed AIDSVAX, had no noticeable effect on infection rates among the 2,546 intravenous drug users in Bangkok who volunteered for the study. Nor did it slow the disease's progress among volunteers who took the vaccine and later contracted HIV.</p>

Official Says U.S. Has Advantage in Iraq Sunday November 9, 2003 2:01 AM By SLOBODAN LEKIC Associated Press Writer BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A senior U.S. official insisted on Saturday that the U.S. military has the upper hand in the escalating war in Iraq, on a day when two paratroopers died in a roadside ambush and the international Red Cross said it was closing two main offices due to deteriorating security. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage described Iraq as a ``war zone,'' but noted that ``we have the momentum in this process.'' ``I'm absolutely convinced we have a very...

Proud grandfather says child will have ‘traditional family’ The 5-pound 2-ounce baby girl born one minute after midnight on New Year’s Day in a Virginia hospital was greeted with the usual accolades and awe poured over newborns. “She’s adorable. She’s perfect. She’s brilliant,” her mother, Helen Rubin, told reporters who gathered to see metropolitan Washington’s “First Baby of the Year.” But for this New Year’s baby, there’s a twist: She has two mommies. “We eventually decided it was time to go ahead and have kids, like everyone else would,” Joanna Bare, Rubin’s partner of 12 years, said at a news...