Free Republic

  Cindy Thai Tai - Singer, songwriter, make-up artist  (After & before gender reassignment operation) We have all heard about the many nightmares associated with government taking over the health-care industry, but are we really ready for the actual consequences? Think about that for a moment and let the many possibilities sink into the gray matter inside your skull. When all is said and done there really are no limits. And please do not give me any of this foolishness about the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats forcing amendments into the final bill that will disallow certain procedures or conversely that...

What is surprising is that he is not afraid to go into the cage with predators and he treats them as if they were just dogs. Moreover, I would never put my child on the back of a big cat even if I was upbringing the animal myself.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CBS13) ― An unidentified military veteran was involved in a tense confrontation with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the group Code Pink at a rally at Travis Air Force Base on Saturday, November 28, 2009. CBS A Saturday rally led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan at Travis Air Force Base nearly ended in a brawl when a military veteran physically confronted the protesters. Anti-war group Code Pink demonstrated at the military base Saturday morning in the first of six planned protests against unmanned military drones currently in use in overseas war zones. Sheehan, a well-known anti-war activist...

Last month, the U.S. Air Force created four new UAV squadrons (29th Attack Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 16th Training Squadron and 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron). All these new units are actually training squadrons. The air force is training 220 operator crews (each with a pilot and one or two sensor operators) a year. In two years, this will increase to 400 a year, which will enable the air force to run 50 CAPs (Combat Air Patrol; UAVs in the air over a combat zone) simultaneously. The large number of new crews are needed because the pilots only operate UAVs for...

After what could be the first grizzly bear attack on a human in the Upper Green, a 46-year-old sheepherder was life-flighted to Idaho Falls early Monday morning after being seriously mauled. The grizzly began its rampage in the early hours in a sheep herd grazing near Forest Road 617, at the eastern edge of the Gros Ventre Wilderness near Tosi Creek. The herd is tended by Marcello Tejeda, of Rock Springs, and Jorge Mesa, both of whom were awakened by what they thought was a black bear in the sheep, according to their employer, rancher Mary Thoman of Fontenelle. Monday,...

WASHINGTON — From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees. The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said. The...

(CBS) It's not often the enemy tells you something you're doing - strikes by CIA drones against al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan - is working. But in this document posted on the Web, a top al Qaeda commander writes: "The harm is alarming. The matter is very grave." Both senior government officials and outside experts say it is an extraordinary confession, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin. "It exposes for the first time a level of paranoia and a level of self-consciousness and a lack of confidence in al Qaeda's leadership in their propaganda that we just haven't seen up...

Reportedly, Senator John McCain wants Predators to provide with uncensored Wi-Fi coverage to the people of Iran. I don't know if this is even technically possible, but its so preposterous and fantastically cool that I love the idea: "During the Cold War, we provided the Polish people and dissidents with printing presses. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are the modern-day printing presses. They are the way to spread information and keep the hope of freedom alive amongst the Iranian people." Of course, the Predators—or whatever other method—could be taken down with missiles or fighter planes, but the basic idea is spot...

As once-threatened animal populations including black bears, mountain lions and alligators rebound and people move into former wildlands, predators are showing up precisely where they don't belong: in backyards. And the wildlife isn't as afraid of us as we might think. Welcome to the food chain. It was the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon. Gary Mann and his girlfriend Helen were watching the sun go down after a satisfying day clearing brush in the backyard of Mann’s home in Sutter Creek, Calif. A pile of branches and twigs was burning merrily, throwing shadows into the growing darkness as the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an airbase inside that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counterterrorism collaboration with the United States. The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land. At a hearing, Feinstein expressed surprise at Pakistani opposition to the ongoing campaign of Predator-launched CIA missile strikes against Al Qaeda targets along...

Okay... I can't take it anymore. Who are all these so-called "Christians" with MySpace pages that are filled with profanity, filthy song lyrics, sexual inuendo, and some blatant sexual come-ons, and so forth? What kind of witness is that? Well, truth is I don't believe these people are Christians (you shall know them by their fruit) and I know of no truly repentant and on-their-knees Christian that would ever put that on there. They are smearing the name of Christ. It just infuriates me. One of my nieces is doing this very thing and I'm ashamed for her. She was...

ROCKLAND, Mass. – An elementary school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage boy pleaded not guilty to rape charges Friday. Christine A. McCallum, 29, of Rockland, is accused of having multiple sexual encounters with the boy that began when he was 13 years old. The alleged incidents occurred in Abington and Rockland. ... The married fifth-grade teacher has been fired ..

A married South Shore teacher was living a disturbed double life for nearly two years, police said, allegedly seducing a 13-year-old boy, plying him with booze and having sex with him on kitchen floors and couches, sometimes right under the nose of her husband. Christine A. McCallum, 29, who is on leave from her job at an Abington elementary school, was charged yesterday with seven counts of statutory rape for the serial liaisons in Rockland and Abington from February 2006, when she allegedly took the boy’s virginity, to November 2007. McCallum, a waifish bespeckled blonde who tightly clutched her husband’s...

Neighbors of a suburban schoolteacher who is accused of seducing a 13-year-old boy are still reeling from the shocking allegations lodged against the “clean-cut” woman who appeared to be dedicated to her husband and her job. “When you talk to her, she is quiet, really nice,” said Erica Mara, 20, who lives across the street from Christine McCallum, 29, who was charged Friday with seven counts of statutory rape. No one answered the door at McCallum’s home on Central Street in Rockland yesterday. Mara questioned how McCallum, a teacher at an Abington elementary school, would find time to have an...

Chilling game of hide and seek with a hungry polar bear ...These pictures show how close one man came to being a polar bear's dinner. Mmmm, looks like dinner time: The bear stands on its haunches and peers over the car roof at his prey, a surveyor returning to his vehicle in the Alaskan town of Barrow The chase is on: The man has his glove off, but not enough time to unlock his car door ...With no time to unlock the door of his vehicle and climb inside, he tried to duck out of sight. He's coming to get...

How the decline of hunting is changing the natural order of predator and preyTHE TWO WOLVES emerged like specters from the tree line and crossed a field of snow. From that moment, and even after everything that followed, no one disputed their penetrating beauty. Silver on white. Two men watched them approach. The men—a pilot named Todd Svarckopf and an aviation worker named Chris Van Galder—worked at Points North Landing, an outpost that serves local mining camps in Saskatchewan province, about 750 miles north of the U.S. border. On this particular day in November 2005 a low cloud ceiling prevented...

GLSEN founder part of Obama's team Jim Brown - OneNewsNow - The founder of a group that's been accused of promoting teen-adult homosexual relationships is the Obama campaign's fundraising co-chair for the "lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender" (LGBT) community. Kevin Jennings is the outgoing head of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), a group known for its efforts to establish so-called "Gay-Straight Alliance" clubs in public schools across the country. The longtime homosexual activist is also playing a prominent role in Barack Obama's White House bid. Linda Harvey, president of Mission America, says many parents would be frightened...

Barack Obama likes to refer to himself as a Christian. He is fond of quoting scripture when it suits his political needs. And he refers to anyone that questions his professed Christian faith as racists that are trying to distract the American people from the issues. But Senator Obama is the one trying to deflect our attention from probably the most important issue in this election. His character. What follows is an examination of Senator Obama's character based upon his record as a public servant. It is not a smear job. I am merely stating facts from open records available...

Senior US Department of Defense officials are considering an air force proposal to transfer the entire fleet of General Atomics Aeronautical System Inc (GA-ASI) MQ-1B Predators to the army’s control. The proposed inventory transfer, if approved, would enable the USAF to afford shifting to an all-MQ-9 Reaper fleet, also made by GA-ASI, said Kevin Meiners, assistant deputy under secretary for portfolio, programmes and resources. The issue is still being debated by senior defence officials as they prepare for the 2009 Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), a congressionally-mandated planning exercise that shapes the Pentagon’s spending priorities every four years. The chief advocate...

An eastern Idaho woman whose boyfriend impregnated her 9-year-old daughter has been sentenced to 10 years in prison. Isabel Chasarez, 27, must serve at least one year in prison before she is eligible for parole, 7th District Judge Brent Moss ordered Tuesday at the sentencing hearing.

The U.S. drone aircraft involved in strikes against Taliban and Al Qaeda militants across the border have enhanced tracking ability. WASHINGTON -- As part of an escalating offensive against extremist targets in Pakistan, the United States is deploying Predator aircraft equipped with sophisticated new surveillance systems that were instrumental in crippling the insurgency in Iraq, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters says a Springfield Township man, accused of running an "underwear con" to get near young children, is a predator who deserves to be locked up for a “very long time because he will continue to prey upon young children unless he is removed from the community”. Prosecutors today released new information in the case against 44 year old Ben Hawkins. Hawkins allegedly conned parents into thinking their children were participating in an "underwear survey" in order to get close to them for sexual contact. Prosecutors now say Hawkins had "unpermitted contact" with 11 children, boys...

Dale E. Schreiber ran a prominent civil and environmental engineering firm in Johnson City when he wasn't parked at a local park perusing child pornography on his laptop computer. Larry A. Hartmann, while acting as Great Smoky Mountains National Park chief, secretly filmed bathroom scenes of his 1-year-old adopted daughter at home and lusted over sadistic images of child rape at work. Kevin Bruce Cooper developed subdivisions, molested teenage boys and snapped photographs of them to add to his sizeable stash of child pornography. David Aaron Becker refereed high school sports, lured players into his home and raped them while...

5/1/2008 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- Air Force unmanned aerial vehicles continued to play a key role in supporting ground troops fighting the war on terrorism in Iraq. An MQ-1B Predator located a vehicle with loaded weapons in Sadr City in northeastern Baghdad April 26 and directed a Hellfire missile against the target. The Predator was conducting a reconnaissance patrol when it located a group of individuals loading weapons into the trunk of a car. The Predator then followed the car for about 20 minutes when the car stopped. The Predator crew waited for a collateral damage estimate to ensure...

Birds can tell if you are watching them - because they are watching you.In humans, the eyes are said to be the 'window to the soul', conveying much about a person's emotions and intentions. New research demonstrates for the first time that starlings also respond to a human's gaze. Predators tend to look at their prey when they attack, so direct eye-gaze can predict imminent danger. Julia Carter, a PhD student at the University of Bristol, and her colleagues, set up experiments that showed starlings will keep away from their food dish if a human is looking at it....

March 23, 2008: A year ago, the U.S. Army was only getting about a third of its requests for Predator missions filled. The surge campaign was under way, and the new Secretary of Defense got involved with the growing number of complaints from army officers about the Predator shortage. The air force had about a hundred Predators, but only a dozen were in Iraq. Questions were asked. The air force said it did not have enough Predators, and that there was also a shortage of Predator operators. A typical Predator crew consists of an pilot and a sensor operator. Because...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sexual reproduction may be nearly as old as animal life itself, according to researchers who discovered a new species of organism that lived 540 million years ago. The tube-like creatures called Funisia dorothea anchored themselves in abundant flocks onto the shallow, sandy seabed of what is now the Australian outback. Nothing appears to have evolved yet to eat them, so they lived peaceful lives, reproducing sexually at times and by asexual methods such as budding at other times, Mary Droser of the University of California Riverside and colleagues reported in the journal Science. They behaved very much...

French women 'are the sexual predators now' By Henry Samuel in Paris Last Updated: 2:50am GMT 07/03/2008 French women are becoming increasingly assertive in their sexual habits, while one-in-five younger French men "has no interest in sex", according to one of the most comprehensive surveys of the nation's love lives. Carla Bruni, wife of the French president, has talked publicly about her conquests Women now have more than twice as many partners as they did in the 1970s, according to the study by the French Aids research agency, which is backed by the government. "Are women just like men?" asked...

Schoolboys may have always harbored crushes on attractive teachers, but experts say more than ever before, flirtations between boys and women are developing into sexual affairs that lead to criminal charges, convictions and jail time. This month, Friendswood police arrested a 26-year-old private school teacher on charges that she had sex with a 17-year-old student along a deserted road. Days before, a 29-year-old Galveston City Hall worker was charged with sexually assaulting of 13-year-old boy who was a longtime friend of her stepson. Within the same week, a Deer Park High School teacher was charged with having sex with a...

Time served, sex offender who killed 6-year-old girl has come to live in Derry By PAT GROSSMITH AND NANCY WEST New Hampshire Union Leader DERRY – A man who strangled, then sexually assaulted a 6-year-old girl and stuffed her body into a storm drain in 1981 is living near the Derry Montessori School, a park and the public library. Douglas Allen Simmons, 47, moved into 71 East Broadway, Apt. 3, Derry, over the weekend, according to police. Yesterday, his name and photo were posted on New Hampshire's child sex offender Web site. Simmons was a 20-year-old sailor when he lured...

1/22/2008 - ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Taking center stage in helping win the war on terrorism in Iraq are unmanned aerial vehicles such as the MQ-1 Predator. Although the plane is small compared to the F-16 Fighting Falcon, it packs a punch with its vigilant purpose and silent victories. Since October 2007, the 361st Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron's two-man crews have successfully flown more than 300 sorties, helping to put a foothold on terrorist activities in Iraq. "We have made some close liaisons with the Army here on base and have helped them in a few very successful operations recently,"...

Western states grapple with how to address an increasing threat to livestock from wolves and big cats.Ashland, Ore. - Around the West and in various ways, efforts to wage war on wildlife predators are increasing. Some examples: ranchers and environmentalists are fighting over a proposal to have the Environmental Protection Agency ban the use of two poisons that kill coyotes. A successful wolf-reintroduction program means wolves are likely to be taken off the endangered species list soon, and critics of removal say this would leave them vulnerable to indiscriminate shooting, particularly in Idaho and Wyoming. And here in Oregon, hunters...

The military's reliance on unmanned aircraft that can watch, hunt and sometimes kill insurgents has soared to more than 500,000 hours in the air, largely in Iraq... the Air Force more than doubled its monthly use of drones between January and October... The dramatic increase in the development and use of drones across the armed services reflects what will be an even more aggressive effort over the next 25 years... For some Air Force pilots, that means climbing out of the cockpit and heading to places such as Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, where they can remotely fly the...

PRAY - For rancher Randy Petrich, the removal of gray wolves from the endangered-species list - a move that would open up the animals to hunting in the Northern Rockies for the first time in decades - couldn't come soon enough. Petrich has seen fresh wolf tracks almost every morning this fall - close enough to threaten his cattle. "I believe that any wolf on any given night, if there happens to be a calf there, they will kill it," ... Just 12 years since the wolves were reintroduced into Yellowstone National Park ... federal officials say the sharp rise...

I'm sorry, but if teachers or coaches seduce high school students, they ought to spend some time in jail. That's not been happening around here lately. - Erin McLean, 29, a student teacher at West High School, had an affair with a male student that led to his death. She left town, got another teaching job in Nashville, tried to seduce another boy, then skipped out when that came to light. Prosecution has not been pursued. - David Higgins, 51, a West High ROTC instructor, videotaped female cadets changing clothes and convinced them to disrobe and perform stunts. He got...

The father of an Ontario man killed in a wolf attack in northern Saskatchewan says it's a relief to finally have the truth come out. A coroner's jury in Prince Albert ruled Thursday that wolves killed Kenton Carnegie in November 2005. The 22-year-old University of Waterloo engineering student had been on a work-term ... An expert, who prepared a report for the coroner's office, said it was more likely a bear killed Carnegie. But in the end, the jury dismissed that notion, declaring it a wolf attack. "Kenton was an honest man," he said. "His life was honest, we didn't...

Well, it's official, "At the latest measuring session of the Boone and Crockett Club, Pennsylvania black bears taken in the past three years placed first and second in North America. One of those - taken by Andrew Seaman Jr. of Dunbar in 2005 - is now tied with a bear taken in California for the largest ever taken legally by a hunter in the world." http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?Q=172875&A=11

The overall vacancy rate for-rent single-family homes, condos and other non-apartment unit properties in metro Denver dropped to a six-year low of 4 percent during the second quarter, a state report released today shows.

Neighborhood alarmed to learn ice-cream truck vendor is registered sex offender 01:13 AM PDT on Saturday, July 14, 2007 By SARAH BURGE The Press-Enterprise A group of Perris homeowners has launched a campaign to run their local ice cream man out of the neighborhood. Anthony G. Toles, his neighbors discovered recently, is a registered sex offender who has been living and driving his ice cream truck in the Villages of Avalon, a newer housing development near Lake Perris. On the Fourth of July, about 10 neighbors distributed 500 custom-printed door hangers alerting residents to "a potential threat to our children"...

MEMPHIS, July 3, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Last week, the Fox News' O'Reilly Factor exposed the increasing trend of lesbian gang violence terrorizing neighbourhoods and schools, especially in large cities across the United States.  According to FOX News crime analyst Rod Wheeler there are some 150 such gangs in the DC area alone, including Washington, Maryland, and Virginia. The gangs, known as Dykes Taking Over (DTO) or Gays Taking Over, are forcing children into homosexuality. Wheeler told host Bill O'Reilly: "there is this national underground network, if you will, Bill, of women that's lesbians and also some men groups that's actually...

MURPHY, Texas — A sting in which police teamed up with "Dateline NBC" to catch online pedophiles was supposed to send a flinty-eyed, Texas-style warning about this Dallas suburb: Don't mess with Murphy. Instead, it has turned into a fiasco. One of the 25 men caught in the sting — a prosecutor from a neighboring county — committed suicide when police came to arrest him. The Murphy city manager who approved the operation lost his job in the ensuing furor. And the district attorney is refusing to prosecute any of the men, saying many of the cases were tainted by...

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- One Bloomfield Hills school is enforcing a new policy that will end the use of a popular Web site on the premises. St. Hugo of the Hills Catholic School students were informed recently that under a new school policy, Think First, Stay Safe, the use of MySpace.com will be prohibited at school and at home. The policy states that students enrolled in the school can't have a MySpace.com account or any similar type of personal site, according to a news release.

"Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." --George Washington Sometimes bad news travels in a pack. This was a week of trials, trickery and triumphs for three percent of the population who self-identify as "gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered" -- the small but vociferous "gender-bender" subculture. First up, the trial. Child psychiatrist Dr. William Ayres, former president of the prestigious American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry from 1993-1995, was arrested in California and...

A mountain lion found devouring a deer in a Boulder backyard has been relocated to the mountains northwest of the city. State wildlife officers tranquilized the 90 lb. cat and released it Thursday. A man who saw the mountain lion in his neighbor's backyard called wildlife officers. He had noticed that the deer were acting strangely. The man's wife told officers that the cat just stared at her husband. It's not unusual for mountain lions to be seen in Boulder...

PRO-GUN ANTI-ABORTION Feminism with a brain and a heart Author: Saundra Duffy As my Mom used to say: “They’ve got it bass-ackwards!” The so-called feminists believe that guns are bad for women and that abortion is good for women. Go figure. I’ll give it my best shot. GUNS What is the rapist’s worse nightmare? Answer: A woman with a gun! Yet the feminists act like scared silly little girls when it comes to defending their own bodies from a violent disgusting male culprit with an over-sized weapon. And there’s only one equalizer, gals - a gun. While doing research for...

HB 51 – AS INTRODUCED 2007 SESSION 07-0279 05/04 HOUSE BILL 51 AN ACT permitting adoption by 2 unmarried adults in a familial relationship. SPONSORS: Rep. Lockwood, Merr 6; Rep. Bouchard, Merr 11; Rep. Tupper, Merr 6; Rep. Blanchard, Merr 10; Rep. MacKay, Merr 11 COMMITTEE: Children and Family Law ANALYSIS This bill permits 2 unmarried adults in a familial relationship to adopt jointly. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -...

MOUNT PLEASANT -- A 33-year-old Mecosta County man, a registered sex offender, faces charges that he tried to solicit sex online. State police from the Mount Pleasant Post arrested Troy W. Dexter in Isabella County, said state Attorney General Mike Cox. Cox said troopers arrested Dexter, who lives in Rodney, about 6 p.m. Tuesday at Celebration Cinema, where the suspect arranged to meet a person he thought was a 13-year-old girl with whom he had carried on an Internet relationship for several months. The purpose of the meeting was a sexual encounter, Cox said. The person who had chatted online...

While you're out shopping, some people are looking to take advantage of you. News 4's Lupita Murillo looks at what you can do to stay safe for the holidays. ------ Graciel Mariscal's shopping cart is filled with Christmas gifts for family and friends. She and her mother are spending time Christmas shopping on one of the busiest days of the year. But as she loads up her vehicle with her purchases, she's also aware that the parking lot can be a perfect oppurtunity for criminals to do their Christmas shopping. Mariscal says, "I'm always looking out for my surroundings and...

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - A convicted child murderer who was paroled in March faces murder charges in the death of a 16-year-old girl, whose body was found the day after the two left a restaurant where they worked, a prosecutor said Thursday. Rouse was arrested and held without bond. Sheriff's Detective Tom Wallace testified at a probable cause hearing Thursday that Rouse admitted strangling Wagner and then stabbing her. Rouse was released from prison in March after serving more than 26 years for murdering a 5-year-old Kansas boy in 1979. He was convicted of first-degree murder in the slaying of...

The news abounds with declarations that leaders of the Republican party may have known about Representative Foley's emails to minor interns. The hue and cry is that if the communications were known to these leaders- that it was vile that action was not taken, and the sorry affair merits Congressional inquiry in front of the public. Many agree. But let's not take half measures. Let's explore those persons thoroughly, who would allow such a thing to continue unchecked. What vile occurence would it be... if Democratic operatives discovered the extent of Representative Foley's actions- and allowed them to continue until...