Free Republic

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The across-the-board collapse of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's ballot propositions came down to this: They were ideas with narrow appeal, further damaged by a flat-footed campaign and an unpopular messenger, the governor himself. And that's just what Schwarzenegger's fellow Republicans said. California's celebrity governor was elected in 2003 as a centrist Republican - an essential pedigree in a state that votes reliably Democratic. But by the end of his initiative campaign Tuesday, Schwarzenegger had alienated Democrats and independents and allowed his opponents to paint him as an extremist. "What was defeated yesterday was a caricature of Arnold...

This Veterans Day we honor those men and women who have defended our nation in the Armed Forces. Today is an opportunity for Americans to recognize the tremendous accomplishments and proud heritage of all who have worn the uniform of the United States military. In our short history, tens of millions of Americans have served in uniform - and many have made the ultimate sacrifice in order to preserve the freedoms enjoyed by the people of the United States. Veterans have served with distinction to protect the founding ideals of this Nation and to extend those same ideals to those...

My father volunteered to serve in the Navy shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At 38, he was well beyond draft age, but he wanted to serve. When he passed away some years ago, I found a letter in his personal papers that he had received from then Secretary of the Navy, James Forrestal, who later became our country's first Secretary of Defense. Secretary Forrestal apparently sent such a letter to those who served, to arrive after they had returned to civilian life. Noting the historic achievements made by the U.S. military in World War II, Secretary Forrestal wrote:...

August 11, 2005 -- 'OH, no! Not him again!" This is how several Arab friends reacted as we watched a re-run of Ayman al-Zawahiri's latest "message" on al-Jazeera the other day in a café in Edgware Road, London's Arab quarter. A fugitive terrorist of Egyptian origin, al-Zawahiri is often identified as al Qaeda's chief theoretician and No. 2 to its paymaster, the Saudi-born Osama bin Laden. In his message he endorsed the 7/7 attacks in London and threatened more such operations against both Britain and the United States. The message merits attention for a number of reasons. To begin with,...

"Howard Dean gives Republicans credit for one thing: They have put the Democrats on the defensive and forced them to fight on their turf. That, he said, is about to change....Running away from issues is how you lose elections," said Dean, a former Vermont governor...Dean detailed his 50-state strategy to hire and finance from national coffers organizers in every state, saying that the party is on track to have organizers in every state by the end of the year."

WASHINGTON, Aug. 4, 2005 – President Bush today dismissed al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri's threats of more violence targeted toward the United States and Great Britain during a news conference at the president's Crawford, Texas, ranch. Facing reporters alongside Columbian President Alvaro Uribe, who is visiting the United States, Bush said al-Qaeda's goal "is to drive us out of the broader Middle East." During a videotaped broadcast on the Arab television network al-Jazzeera today, Zawahiri - second only to Osama bin Laden in the al Qaeda hierarchy -- allegedly said U.S. troops in Iraq would experience more deadly attacks. Bush...

In light of the delightful remarks made by Howard Dean this week regarding the Republican Party and conservatives in general. We’d like only to say: Hey, Howard? . . . .

Dean dishes out dirt in US Democrat fight to get a message out Thu Jun 16,11:23 AM ET WASHINGTON (AFP) - Democratic party leaders have scored important points in their battle against the Republican White House, but they are not getting a convincing message across to American voters, experts said. Even the acerbic attacks of new Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean are failing to fire up the public against an administration that is struggling to get key policies passed and top officials confirmed. "They have done somewhat better than one might have expected in the first 150 days of...

West infiltrates al-Qa'eda message boards in the war on terror By Aqeel Hussein in Ramadi, Saleh Al Jibouri and Colin Freeman (Filed: 29/05/2005) Before Abu Dajeneh drove out of the world to martyrdom in an Iraqi car bomb, he prayed, read the Koran and even sent a final email. On an internet message board for al-Qa'eda affiliates, he said farewell to his comrades and that he looked forward to their next meeting, not in cyberspace, but Paradise. The al-Qa'eda message board "We will ask each other: 'Are you such-and-such who used to write Allah the Almighty! in such-and-such a message...

The Democrats made huge errors in tactics and judgment during the last presidential campaign. But they thought that the patronizing contempt they held – and continue to hold – for the electorate would go unnoticed. Heady with the multimillions pouring into their coffers, with a monopoly on an old media that historically and unfailingly back leftists, and by mistaking their candidate's verbal contortions for substantive policy, they deluded themselves into thinking that the Oval office – as well as the Congress, Senate and a good many governorships – were theirs for the taking. What they failed to grasp was that...

Mr Osama, are you OK? By B Raman Dear Mr bin Laden, Are you OK? One has not heard from you since October 29, 2004, when you sent a recorded message through al-Jazeera on the eve of the US presidential elections. One knows that such periodic spells of silence are not unusual in the interest of your physical security. But whenever there are long spells of silence, the rumor mills start over-working. This had happened in the past and this is happening now, but this time, the rumors are stronger and more persistent than before. In the last week of...

SAN JOSE, Calif. (May 9) - The woman accused of fabricating a story about finding a finger in a bowl of Wendy's chili smiled, gave a thumbs-up sign and mouthed "I love you" to television camera crews during a brief court appearance on Monday. Anna Ayala, 39, also shouted an enthusiastic, "Thank you, judge!" when Santa Clara County Judge Jerome Nadler set bail at $500,000. She is due back in court May 18 and remains jailed on charges of attempted grand larceny and grand larceny. Ayala, who has maintained her innocence, faces a maximum seven-year sentence if convicted of attempted...

Soon after the November elections leading Democrats agreed that the party was ailing and in dire need of a new direction, a new focus, new ideas to lead it forward. "It's critical we realize why the electorate voted the way it did," Representative Bob Menendez, of New Jersey, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said of the party's devastating loss in the presidential election and its setbacks in both houses of Congress. In February, House Democratic lawmakers held a retreat in Virginia to hash out what to do next. Something miraculous happened. They recovered—or at least they're behaving that...

An operations manager for Jack in the Box was late for a meeting and called his boss to let him know he was running late. As the manager was leaving the voicemail message, he witnessed an accident and went on to provide a "play by play" account of the incident. This is the actual voicemail message. It was forwarded so many times within Jack in the Box that it crashed their voicemail server. Click Here For Audio

He took the name Benedict[1] from the co-patron of Europe who founded over 40,000 communities of monasticism to combat widespread corruption. It should be no secret what Pope Benedict XVI's papacy will be like. For those 'enlightened' Catholics who dissent from magisterial teachings and who are grieved by the election, we bid you peace. Barely one day before his election as the 264th Pope of the Church, Cardinal Ratzinger, a formidable intellect who will not yield to modernists, delivered a remarkable homily, calling for Catholics to be 'true Adults in the faith.' He explained: "Being an 'Adult' means having...

VATICAN CITY, APR 20, 2005 (VIS) - Following is the complete text of the first message of Pope Benedict XVI which he delivered in Latin at the end of this morning's Mass with the members of the College of Cardinals in the Sistine Chapel. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 264th successor to St. Peter in early evening yesterday. "Grace and peace in abundance to all of you! In my soul there are two contrasting sentiments in these hours. On the one hand, a sense of inadequacy and human turmoil for the responsibility entrusted to me yesterday as the...

State Controller Steve Westly on Thursday said he has decided to make a move toward running for governor because Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "has taken a conservative right turn." The former eBay executive, who will be eligible to run for re-election in his controller's post next year, announced that he is forming an exploratory committee in a first step to seek the Democratic nomination for governor in 2006. Westly had said in the past that he did not plan to run for governor if Schwarzenegger seeks re-election. But on Thursday, Westly said that has changed. "This year the tone and...

The Democrats, apres le deluge de 2004, are tinkering with a new approach to abortion rhetoric. This is to be distinguished, of course, from a new approach to abortion. Is it repentance or repackaging when Howard Dean (the Party's new chairman) starts saying things like "I have long believed that we ought to make a home for pro-life Democrats"? Is it substance or semantics when Sen. Hillary Clinton says abortions should occur "only in rare circumstances"? Is it from the heart or pandering to the heartland when a defeated John Kerry tells a pro-choice gathering in D.C. after Thanksgiving that...

Kids spend more time in high school sending text messages than reading textbooks, a New Jersey father discovered to his horror — after his 16-year-old daughter rang up a whopping $1,058 cellphone bill. The bill covered a month and a half, was more than 200 pages long and listed more than 12,000 text messages, said John Taylor of Oaklyn. His daughter Ashley had sent and received almost all those messages while she was in school, where students are supposed to stow their cellphones in their lockers before classes start. Ashley, a junior at Gloucester City HS, "no longer has a...

Code: ZE05032701Date: 2005-03-27John Paul II's 2005 Easter Message"Jesus, Crucified and Risen, Stay With Us!"VATICAN CITY, MARCH 27, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the message John Paul II wrote for this Easter, which was read on his behalf by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Vatican secretary of state, at the end of Easter Sunday Mass. The Mass was celebrated in St. Peter's Square. * * * 1. "Mane nobiscum, Domine!" Stay with us, Lord! (cf. Luke 24:29). With these words, the disciples on the road to Emmaus invited the mysterious Wayfarer to stay with them, as the sun was setting on...