Free Republic

Michael Crabtree celebrated his 22nd birthday Monday. As an unwanted gift, multiple reports surfaced that the 49ers are poised to drop their offer to the No. 10 overall pick out of Texas Tech. Citing team sources, Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports wrote that Crabtree's continued absence makes him less valuable to the 49ers on a prorated basis and added, "Translation: The team just reduced its offer and will continue to do so with each passing week." A day earlier, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports reported that the 49ers sent a letter to Crabtree "modifying" their offer. Responding to the Fox...

Palin to speak at conference in first trip to Asia Former Alaska governor set for initial commercial speaking engagement Aug 31, 2009 HONG KONG - Former U.S. vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, once questioned about her lack of foreign policy experience, will make her first trip to Asia in September. The former Alaska governor will visit Hong Kong to address the CLSA Investors Forum, a well-known annual conference of global investment managers, the host announced Monday.

Where in the world is Sarah Barracuda Palin? Alaska's sultry superstar has once again mysteriously disappeared right before she was scheduled to speak at one of her very important fundraisers, this one so slutty teenagers who get knocked up have no choice but to have the baby unless they want to get the ol' parental approval for an abortion. Now normally Sarah's habit of shirking her duties is limited to elected terms in office, but ever since becoming an unemployed publicity hound and Facebook junkie, Palin's erratic behavior has instead metamorphosed into canceling paid speaking engagements at the very last...

Must read article on the faux outrage over Palin "not showing up again" at an event she "agreed" to attend. Please read the whole thing at the link. ......... ~snip The invitation, as described by the Family Council, for the governor to be the first "official" signature on the petition, somehow became a public speech in the ADN's article. (Now this is special: The original invitation was for her just to sign a petition... now the ADN and MSM make it "a speech". How surprising!) ~snip It is clear that the facts are on Governor Palin's side: 1. Governor Palin...

Maybe President Obama is busy dealing with the stimulus package from the warmth of The White House, but it would appear his diss of hundreds of thousands of people without power (and heat) may not only show hypocrisy when it comes to his criticism of George W. Bush and the Katrina aftermath, but contempt for the people of the mid-South.

In some parts of rural Kentucky, they're getting water the old-fashioned way -- with pails from a creek. There's not room for one more sleeping bag on the shelter floor. The creative are flushing their toilets with melted snow. At least 42 people have died, including in Kentucky five from the storm and six others suspected to be storm-related, and conditions are worsening in many places days after an ice storm knocked out power to 1.3 million customers from the Plains to the East Coast. About a million people were still without electricity Friday, and with no hope that the...

/begin my excerpts Kim Jong-il Still a No-show [News Anchor] N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il is again a no-show today on the anniversary of (ruling) Worker's Party's founding. It has been 57 days since he went out of public view, and speculation on his health problem would not die down anytime soon. Yoon Kyung-min reporting: [Reporter] There has been a speculation of surprise appearance, but he did not show up in the end. The news at N. Korea's Central TV started with the headline that the messages of congratulation were sent to Kim Jong-il on the 63rd anniversary of Worker's...

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (AP) - Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu failed to appear Wednesday for a bail hearing and a judge issued a new warrant for his arrest. Hsu forfeits the $2 million bail he posted last week. Hsu had been a fugitive in California for 15 years during which time he became a top donor to Democratic candidates, including presidential contenders Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Hsu pleaded no contest in 1991 to a felony count of grand theft, admitting he'd defrauded investors of $1 million in a bogus investment scam. Prosecutors say he was facing up to three...

HAVANA - There was no sign of a convalescing Fidel Castro as hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched through Havana's Revolution Plaza to celebrate May Day, casting new doubts on his recovery and whether he will return to power. Tuesday marked only the third time in nearly five decades that Castro has missed the sweeping International Workers' Day festivities — a major celebration here and around the world. While recent images of Castro meeting with Chinese leaders indicated he had improved considerably since undergoing emergency surgery nine months ago, his absence at the parade through the Revolution Plaza raised questions...

Massachusetts Marine Mark Vecchione was killed last week. At the wake, the representative of John Kerry showed up with a flag and simply walked up to the funeral home and handed it to the funeral director. He was asked to present the flag directly to the family on behalf of the Senator, but refused and started to leave the building. A retired Colonel started after this rep to explain how it is protocol to present the flag to the family. Kerry's rep refused to stop and talk. In fact, Kerry's rep kept walking to his car with the Col following...

MARTINEZ -- A pathologist who testified that Felix Polk died of coronary disease did not show up in court Monday and a Superior Court judge renewed her order that he appear to provide documentation for his conclusion and to continue his testimony.Texas-based pathologist John Cooper had testified for most of Thursday on behalf of murder defendant Susan Polk, who is accused of stabbing to death her husband in 2002.But the defense did not hand over his case file to the prosecution as part of trial discovery. Cooper had said Polk sent him lengthy letters that led to his finding, but...

MBTA officials say rampant absenteeism is hurting bus and subway service, discouraging riders, and eating away at the agency's finances by forcing it to pay overtime. ...about 35 percent of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's roughly 6,000 employees were absent for 11 or more days in 2004, and 16 percent were absent 26 or more days. Khalida Smalls, coordinator for the watchdog group called the T Riders Union, said yesterday that excessive absenteeism directly affects passengers. ''People stand at their bus stop at 4:45 waiting for a bus that doesn't show up," ...

Caledonia, Mich. -- A woman who took an unpaid leave of absence from work to see her husband off to war with an Indiana National Guard unit has been fired after failing to show up for her part-time receptionist job the day following his departure. "It was a shock," said Suzette Boler, a 40-year-old mother of three and grandmother of three. "I was hurt. I felt abandoned by people I thought cared for me. I sat down on the floor and cried for probably two hours." Officials at her former workplace, Benefit Management Administrators Inc., a Caledonia employee-benefits company, confirmed...

Half-baked Barbara By John McCaslin October 7, 2005 It's not easy being the master of ceremonies for a roast when half of the roasters don't show up. Ask political commentator Mark Shields, who found himself in that uncomfortable position Wednesday evening as the Spina Bifida Association attempted to put TV personality Barbara Walters in the "hot seat" at the Hyatt Regency Washington. "This is more like a bake-off," a visibly embarrassed Mrs. Walters said after the roasting, expressing disappointment that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York and fellow roaster Sen. Mary L. Landrieu of Louisiana were no-shows. As it...

DALLAS -- The Dallas County courthouse was nearly without available jurors Monday after about 80 percent, or 3,000, of county residents called for jury duty ignored their summonses.

Kerry bolts D.C. and misses Bolton vote By Noelle Straub Thursday, June 23, 2005 - Updated: 10:38 AM EST WASHINGTON - Sen. John F. Kerry has been an outspoken critic of John Bolton's nomination as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, but the senator skipped a roll-call vote on the appointment Monday as he took a two-day leave from his Washington duties. Kerry missed four roll-call votes altogether on Monday and Tuesday, including one on an energy amendment he co-sponsored. Kerry spokesman David Wade refused to divulge where the Bay State senator had been, characterizing his absence only as a...

DALLAS -- Illegal immigrants in Texas disregarded deportation hearings last year at a higher rate than those in any other state, according to Justice Department statistics. Roughly 40 percent of illegal immigrants scheduled to appear in Texas courts failed to show up in 2004, compared with a national average of 23 percent, documents show.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - State Auditor Elaine Howle said Tuesday that the secretary of state's office is "headed in the right direction" to better manage millions of dollars in federal election funds, but she acknowledged it's still too early to tell if a lasting turnaround is in place. Howle, testifying one week before Secretary of State Kevin Shelley was scheduled to step down from the state's top elections post, said Shelley's office has showed progress toward removing a "cloud" over its operations. A consulting firm hired by the office also detailed its work toward tightening the scandal-tinged operation within the next...

The coming economic crisis. Unemployment. Health care for the poor. The almost 1,500 dead soldiers. The almost 100,000 dead Iraqis. Armstrong Williams and Maggie Gallagher. The Christian Conservative takeover of our nation. The missing 9 billion. The missing weapons of mass destruction. The impending invasion of Iran, and Syria. The total failure to protect us on 9-11.

NEW YORK – Mayor Curt Pringle, Anaheim's pitch man for bringing the 2008 Republican National Convention to Orange County, hit a bump in the road Wednesday. The governor didn't show for his party. And neither did the kind of influential Republicans Pringle needs to back the bid of the home of Disneyland to host the GOP in four years. Pringle had a lavish spread laid out late Wednesday afternoon at the Ritz-Carlton in lower Manhattan, a new hotel with a spectacular view of the New York Harbor. Carved meats, Caesar salad, pasta, an open bar and hors d'oeuvres. Beach Boys...