Free Republic

Officers responding to a call of a burglary in progress Thursday afternoon at a house on St. Paul's East Side arrived to find a front window shattered, and a ladder propped there. And then came a strange and potentially deadly twist. From across the street came Donald W. Gehl, 27, armed with a sword and a knife. He confronted the officers and ignored commands to drop the weapons before he was shot at least once in the right arm and twice in the legs, police spokesman Tom Walsh said. Gehl, who reportedly has a history of mental illness, was taken...

CLEARWATER, Florida (AP) -- Lawrence Roach agreed to pay alimony to the woman he divorced, not the man she became after a sex change, his lawyers argued in a Florida court Tuesday in an effort to end the payments. But the ex-wife's attorneys said the operation does not alter the agreement. The lawyers and Circuit Judge Jack St. Arnold agreed the case delves into relatively uncharted legal territory. They found only a 2004 Ohio case that addressed whether or not a transsexual could still collect alimony after a sex change. "There is not a lot out there to help us,"...

Hillary Clinton has hired an "evangelical consultant” to help woo Christian conservatives in her likely 2008 presidential campaign. The move comes after a similar political operative successfully aided Democratic candidates in several states in the midterm elections. More than one-quarter of the nation’s voters identify themselves as evangelical — a voter bloc that has long been courted by Republicans. Clinton’s new hire is Burns Strider, an evangelical Christian who directs religious outreach for House Democrats and is the lead staffer for the Democrats’ Faith Working Group, headed by incoming Majority Whip James Clyburn of South Carolina. Incoming Speaker Nancy Pelosi...

A 380 million-year-old fossil found in Australia has filled a gap in the understanding of how fish evolved into the first land animals. John Long, lead researcher at Museum Victoria, said the perfectly preserved skeleton has revealed that fish developed features characteristic of land animals much earlier than once thought. Long said: "We've got a fish from the Devonian period about 380 million years ago and preserved in three-dimensional stunning perfection. "It has revealed a whole suite of characters that link it to the higher land animals or tetrapods, so it's filling in a blank in evolution we didn't know...

KANSAS CITY, Kan. – A convenience store clerk is going to be OK after he accidentally hurt himself during an armed robbery. The 21-year-old man said at 10 a.m. Thursday someone entered the store at 400 N. 10th St. in Kansas City, Kan., pointed a gun at him and demanded money. The clerk grabbed another handgun in an effort to scare the robber. The gun went off somehow hurt the man's hand. The clerk is expected to be OK. The would-be robber fled the scene without any loot.

Biologists at the University of California, San Diego have discovered that the presence of a key protein in the compound eyes of the fruit fly (which glow at center due to a fluorescent protein) allows the formation of distinct light gathering units in each of its 800 unit eyes, an evolutionary change to an “open system” that enabled insects to make significant improvements in visual acuity and angular sensitivity. In contrast, beetles (shown surrounding the fruit fly), bees and many mosquito species have the light-gathering units fused together into a “closed system.” In a paper published in this week's early...

!!EYES ONLY!! June 7, 2006 TO: Josh Bolten FROM: Karl Rove RE: Summer Event Coordination As you will recall from our discussion in April, we have certain “controllable events” that can be scheduled throughout the summer leading up to the election in November. In April, I expressed my preference for “backloading” – pushing these announcements into the fall and late summer. But I strongly agreed with your observation that we need to be ready to act sooner if it appears that the downward cycle of opinion is threatening to turn into a tailspin. My reading of the situation is that...

Hey guys, I work with a bunch of liberals who are always debating the war on iraq. I know that we removed a tyrant and I personally belive America is safer without him in power, but my co workers are always bashing bush saying how there was no immediate threat and we didn't have the proof we needed to invade the country. One guy always references things happening in the congo and other parts of the world, and always falls back on that when we get a little deep into the debate and asks why we only went into Iraq....

All my life, I believed in Republican values -- individual responsibility and limited government. Then it happened; I found myself with a small child, unemployed and disabled. I turned to my church, and after years of regular tithes, suddenly I just wasn't their problem. My Republican friends? I was now a pariah to them. My only relief was to turn to government assistance for housing, food, and other needs and I was able to survive with dignity. So chalk me up as one who no longer drinks the GOP koolaid.

Civil-rights protection OK'd for transgender individuals By Sharon Pian Chan Seattle Times staff reporter Transgender individuals will now enjoy the same civil-rights protections as other minorities under legislation passed by the Metropolitan King County Council Monday. The council added gender identity to laws already prohibiting discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations based on sexual orientation, sex, race and religion. The legislation will protect transsexuals, transvestites and any other individuals with a gender identity that differs from their sex assigned at birth. "It's going to make employers aware of discrimination," said supporter Smitty Petersen. "People generally don't do things if...

***SPOILER WARNING*** Rush discusses Monday night's episode in detail.

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005 10:27 p.m. EDT Mary Landrieu: School Bus Failure Bush's Fault It was the Bush administration's fault that hundreds of city school buses weren't dispatched to evacuate the hurricane-battered residents of New Orleans two weeks ago before floods swamped the city, Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu said Sunday. Asked on "Fox News Sunday" why New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin failed to follow the city's evacuation plan and press the buses into service, Landrieu blamed Bush administration cuts in mass transit funding. "Mayor Nagin and most mayors in this country have a hard time getting their people to work...

INDIANAPOLIS - A judge who ordered two Wicca believers to shield their son from their "non-mainstream" faith overstepped his authority, an appeals court said Wednesday in dismissing the order. The Indiana Court of Appeals said state law gave a custodial parent the authority to determine a child's upbringing, including religious training. A judge could find that certain limitations were needed to protect a child from physical or emotional harm. The parents' appeal, brought by the Indiana Civil Liberties Union, claimed among other issues that the decree was unconstitutionally vague because it did not define mainstream religion. But the appeals court...

Indian government rejects Muslim body's claim to Taj Mahal NEW DELHI (AFP) - The Indian government has rejected a Muslim body's claim to ownership of the Taj Mahal monument which sparked angry reactions among Hindus. Law Minister Hansraj Bhardwaj said there was no need for the Sunni Waqf Board to take charge of the world-famous monument which it claimed this week because it houses Muslim graves. "I am surprised about this declaration. The Sunni Waqf Board already has so much property and they do not know how to take care of it," Bhardwaj said on Friday. "There is no need...

Dear Freeper World, There was a bit of a misunderstanding in yesterday's post leading some to believe that the beloved Sean Hannity had died. We at theunfilteredtruth feel an explanation is in order as we had no choice but to consider Sean's death as a possibility when we noticed that we hadn't heard or seen anything from Sean for almost 5 hours. With his face and voice normally showing up 24/7 you could see how the need to get the jump on other news outlets, no matter how incredible or unsupported the liklihood. We're a blog. It's what we do....

It seems as if single men are discovering what single women have known since ancient Egyptian times: Cats are worthy of worship. At least unmarried British men say so, in a recent survey conducted by Cats Protection, a leading animal welfare society in the United Kingdom. And judging by the delirious worship that single men I know lavish on their kitties, I'd like to think American men -- those brave enough to stand up and be counted -- feel the same way.

A Serbian woman has been jailed for 18 months for marrying a dead man. Vinka Mijovic, 32, from Garas, was furious when wealthy Miodrag Tomovic, 68, died before he could marry her. So she bribed a local registrar to sign a marriage certificate saying the couple had both turned up for the wedding, and bribed two pals to be the best man and a witness to the fake event. She kept the death a secret for two weeks before suddenly announcing it and organising a lawyer to get his fortune turned over to her. But the scam was exposed after...

Rallying a party stung by presidential and congressional losses, the incoming Senate Democratic leader reminded fellow lawmakers on Saturday of their shared commitment to help the nation. In his party's weekly radio address, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid struck a positive message of bipartisanship and determination. "Americans are counting on their elected officials to be there for them, to pursue policies that will make it a little easier for them to realize their dreams," he said. Elevated to minority leader earlier this week, Reid succeeds South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle, who lost his re-election bid on Nov. 2. Senate Democrats head...

I live in a battleground state and I am thinking of voting for Kerry. Sure Bush is tough on the war on terror, but I don't think circumstances will allow President Kerry to be any less tough. Also, with the GOP keeping Congress, I think a divided government will be good fiscally, as Bush ddoes not seem to be able to control runaway spending with his own people in Congress. A divided government will really help to limit the size of government. What do you think, Bush or Kerry?

It recently occurred to me that the one-party democracy of the USSR is not much worse than the present system at home.Since Nader is not a candidate with a serious chance of victory, the choice is between Democrat or Republican, and in a 2000 debate, Bush and Gore agreed on 39 separate issues! Those who are further from the centre such as moderate socialists have no voice, which is sad considering that the combined Gore/Nader vote of centre-left held the majority over Bush. The people are always doomed to vote for the lesser of two evils. only in the democracy...

STOP THE WAR ON HEROISM As an American, I am very upset about how people are attacking Sen. John Kerry's (USN '66-'70) war record. I can't help but think about how these attacks will effect soldiers serving so bravely today. I am writing to show my support to ALL soldiers that server during a time of war, regardless of your service length, location or level of danger you are in. When critics refer to Kerry's service as "only 4 months," they are completely dismissing his first tour of duty on the USS Gridley. What message does this send to soldiers...

Hi Freepers. I don't usually post on the internet, but I just wanted to let you know I am also a solid Bush backer. One thing troubles me, though. I am upset that Bush would resort to the smears he is backing against Kerry's service record. This isn't right and I don't think this is the way we want to win. Come on Freepers, I know you'll stand with me in encouraging the President to once and for all, denounce these smears. Let's do the right thing.

The question is: "Is Kerry sticking his bony, well-manicured, girly, index finger in the chest of the Marine pictured here?" The answer is "No." After optimizing the pic with Photoshop and Image Optimizer, what looks like Kerry's finger is actually the top piece of a wooden frame that holds a mirror and is attached to the window. There is another mirror just like it behind the Marine, to the right of his elbow.

DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- An inmate found himself before a judge sooner than he expected when he fell through the courthouse ceiling into the judge's chambers while trying to escape, police said. Ben N. Rogozensky, 31, was one of about a dozen inmates awaiting hearings Monday when he was taken to the empty jury room to speak with his attorney. The inmate asked to go into the adjacent restroom and from there climbed into the ceiling crawl space, DeKalb County sheriff's spokeswoman Mikki Jones said. State Court Judge J. Antonio DelCampo was in the courtroom when the barefoot Rogozensky fell...

MONACO Jan. 22 — An American male nurse convicted in the arson death of billionaire banker Edmond Safra escaped from prison overnight, police said Wednesday.Ted Maher, originally of Auburn, Maine, was convicted of arson in a 1999 fire in Monaco that also killed one of Safra's other nurses, Vivian Torrente.Copyright 2003 The Associated Press.