Free Republic

by Daniel T. Zanoza, Chairman, Springfield Nativity Scene Committee & Executive Director, RFFM.org ... On December 1st 2008, the Springfield Nativity Scene Committee (SNSC), received permission from the Secretary of State's office to display a Nativity scene, for the first time in state history, in the state Capitol Rotunda Building. The opening day ceremony attracted a great deal of media and the religious display attracted those with dissenting opinions regarding the expression of religious liberty in the public square as well. This year, a standing room only crowd attended the 2nd annual opening day ceremony for the Springfield Nativity Scene....

This is kind of like asserting executive privilege to block disclosure of the White House chef’s recipe file. Even lefties can’t believe it: [I]t is literally inconceivable that anyone drafting the Constitution would have imagined the position of White House Social Secretary, paid for with taxpayer funds, and that the majesty of separation of powers rhetoric would apply to a situation like this…. This is simply yet more evidence that all presidents, regardless of political party and ostensible commitment to “transparency,” take on royalist airs when taking their oath of office. Congress wants to talk to her about how the...

"Members of the Health Access protest group stage a crime scene-like 'body pile-up' as part of their campaign against what they say is the poor state of US Healthcare in Los Angeles"

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Octomom Nadya Suleman has found a way to turn the spotlight back on her this Halloween. The controversial unemployed single mother dressed up as a pregnant nun and had her octuplets don red devil costumes earlier this week.She was all smiles for the camera while her 9-month-old octuplets were visibly restless, with some even photographed crying. Their trick or treat parade was completed by two big strollers draped in spider webs. Suleman, who has six other older kids, created a public uproar in January when she gave birth to her octuplets via in-vitro fertilization, while...

Red-faced United Nations officials on Monday admitted to a major security lapse after a UN guard helped Kentucky Fried Chicken's "Colonel Sanders" gain access to restricted areas. The guard escorted the white-suited intruder past security barriers, where he got a handshake from the UN General Assembly president, Dr. Ali A. Treki of Libya. The faux fast food chain founder also posed for a picture beneath the assembly's giant UN logo, which overlooks the spot where world leaders address their international counterparts. "It should not have happened -- that I will stress, and very strongly," said Michele Montas, spokeswoman for UN...

There is allegedly proof that the story of balloon boy Falcon Heene was a stunt to help pitch a television show. But the purported proof will cost you thousands of dollars to get. Today, we spoke with a Denver-area student who claims to have worked with Falcon's father, Richard Heene, on a reality show proposal for ABC. The student wants to sell the information and says the National Enquirer is considering buying it for between $5,000 and $8,000. The student claims to have been hired by Heene, and says the two worked together from March until May 2009 to prepare...

Speculation is mounting that the story of six-year-old American boy Falcon Heene who was feared to have floated away on a home-made weather balloon was a hoax organised by his family to gain publicity.

As the homemade balloon took to the air, Richard Heene blasts wife about tethering. • While world worried, 'balloon boy' was safe in attic http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7e7_1255709203

A sheriff’s office that helped chase down a saucer-shaped balloon that officials feared was carrying a six-year-old boy over Colorado is now considering billing the child’s family hundreds of thousands of dollars to pay for a rescue effort that turned out to be needless, Canwest News Service reports: A spokeswoman for the Weld County Sheriff’s Office said all of the county’s on-duty resources were expended in the balloon chase Thursday, which ended when the sliver, UFO-likecontraption floated to the ground without a child aboard. It was later discovered the child was hiding in the attic of his family’s garage. Deputy...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. — The 6-year-old Colorado boy thought to have floated off in a homemade balloon has raised questions whether it might have been a family stunt. During a live interview on CNN, Falcon Heene said he heard his family calling his name as he hid in the rafters of their garage. At the time, there was a frantic effort to bring down the balloon safely. Falcon's father asked, "Why didn't you come out?" The boy answered, "You had said we did this for a show." After the CNN interview, the father said he didn't know what his son...

A reporter for a small newspaper was forcibly removed from a press area near Air Force One shortly before President Barack Obama arrived at Los Angeles International Airport to depart California early Thursday. Airport security officers carried the woman away by the feet and arms as she protested her removal. She later identified herself as Brenda Lee, a writer for the Georgia Informer in Macon and said she has White House press credentials. The newspaper's Web site says it is monthly publication a Brenda Lee column is posted on it. Calls to the newspaper and the White House press office...

The History Channel has been running an unusual 14-second ad that simply says: "May 25, 2009. A Global Event. This Changes Everything." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Eg7ICKJrhg Maybe this? ISBN:9780316070089 Library Bound #: 619216 Format: Hardcover Price: $28.99 Pub Date: May 2009 Lying inside a high security vault, deep within the heart of one of the world’s leading museums, is a discovery that will change textbooks, change science, and change how we understand the human race. The author of Untitled has been given exclusive access to all of the research and the team of top scientists who have been validating the discovery, the announcement...

A photo shoot involving a 747 used as Air Force One and two fighter jets flying at low altitude led to hundreds of frightened calls from residents and workers in Lower Manhattan this morning, triggering memories of 9-11 as many evacuated their offices... According to officials, the flight -- authorized by the FAA -- came in as low as 1000 feet to 150 feet above the city as it made a large circle over Manhattan, Staten Island, and New Jersey... Other officials noted that they were led to believe the flight would be limited to the area near the...

FAA says low-flying plane over Staten Island is 'pre-planned' flight to take photos by Staten Island Advance Monday April 27, 2009, 10:03 AM A plane, that appears to be a commercial jet tailed by fighter jets, is a "pre-planned" military flight taking photos of the Statue of Liberty, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Reports indicate it may be Air Force One. "It is pre-planned, pre-coordinated with everyone involved," said FAA spokesman Jim Peters. "It's a military flight over New York to take photos." Peters, who stressed it is not an emergency, said the flight is circling the Statue of...

"If you telephone me on the mobile, I would be able to speak to you through my 'ear.'"

Now, this has occurred before with Bill Clinton, and it quite possibly could have been the same with Bush - the issue is how the MSM spins this and how it will report one way if you are affiliated with one party versus the other way when you have the “scarlet” R next to your name. From Flopping Aces: “Cheered wildly by U.S. troops,” begins Jennifer Democratic Operative Loven’s AP report on Obama’s surprise visit to Iraq on Tuesday. Quite a contrast to the silent treatment Marines gave Obama at his Camp LeJeune speech in late February. Just how did...

Her former GF changed the locks on their house and asked the cops about a restraining order. Thats some breakup. Lohan has fallen so low that apparently Nicole Ritchie walked by her and said "Uck". Can it get any lower than that??

A new bill is being introduced called, Camera Phone Predator Alert Act, which would require any mobile phone containing a digital camera to sound a tone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera's phone. It would also prohibit such a phone from being equipped with a means of disabling or silencing the tone. While its a good gesture, I do not believe having such a law would deter criminals from hacking their camera phones to take pictures in inappropriate ways. Also, the real criminals would not even use a camera phone but would probably use other devices such as...

Jim Matthews, Republican chair of the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners and former candidate for lieutenant governor, says he would be surprised if brother Chris, a Democrat, would leave "hardballing" to run for the Senate. Matthews told the the AP that his brother loves his job as the anchor of MSNBC's Hardball, and is currently weighing a contract offer from the network. Rumors and polls have been flying at the possibility of a Matthews/Arlen Specter match-up if both men made it through their primaries in the race for the U.S. Senate in November 2010.

HONOLULU -- A tribute service for President-elect Barack Obama's grandmother has been scheduled for the public to attend. The service to honor Madelyn Dunham will be held on Friday at 5 p.m. at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl.

Obama is so close to his Grandmother, he's flying to Hawaii to visit her. But according to this article, the most recent picture of them together is 25 years old. And since Obama thinks so highly of Grandma, wouldn't you imagine that he would want his daughters to visit and get to know their great-grandma?

(IsraelNN.com) Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign seems to have purposely leaked the contents of the note that he placed in the Kotel, web magazine Israel Insider wrote Tuesday. While Israel's Hebrew newspaper Maariv came under fire for publishing the note, "it now appears that Maariv had collaborated with the Obama campaign in getting the 'private' prayer, with its 'modest' supplication to the Lord, out to the public, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his "humility," the web magazine said.

WASHINGTON, July 22, 2008 – After matching servicemembers re-entering the civilian work force with military friendly employers, “Hire a Hero” is stepping outside its box and trying some matchmaking of a different kind. The troop-support organization has teamed with Dreamworks Television and Mark Burnett Productions to help two deserving military couples have their dream weddings. The gesture is a thank you for their service and commitment to the country, according to the Hire a Hero Web site. “Providing something like this is just great,” said Rob Barr, a Hire a Hero representative. “It’s showing support for the troops, and...

Washington - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama said Wednesday that he regretted having put his two young children through an extensive interview on a US entertainment show - an extremely rare occurrence for politicians. Obama, who has typically been very protective of his children's public profile, appeared Tuesday night on NBC's 'Access Hollywood' with his wife Michelle and daughters Malia and Sasha. The interview had been taped during Malia's 10th birthday party in Montana on July 4, US Independence Day. (snip) Obama on Wednesday morning admitted he may have gone too far in allowing his children to speak on national...

Is Battlestar Galactica being sacreligious with this picture? I myself say no, but I realize than some people get offended at just about anything!Source

Former The Brady Bunch star Christopher Knight threatened to leave his model wife Adrianne Curry when she posed for sexy lesbian photos - as a birthday gift. The incident, which was caught on camera for upcoming reality show "My Fair Brady... Maybe Baby," left the upset actor suggesting the couple separate. The girl-on-girl photos, which Curry has since repeated with a pal for Playboy magazine, were supposed to end a feud over baby plans - but they started a new one. In the tense episode, which will air in January, Knight says of the photo gift, "It is the physicalization...

Did Morgan Spurlock find Osama bin Laden? 15 minutes of footage shown at film fest sparks bidding war, speculation MSNBC News Services updated 1:59 p.m. ET, Wed., Dec. 5, 2007 Rumors are flying that filmmaker Morgan Spurlock of "Super Size Me" fame may have done what the United States government has failed to do for the last six years — find Osama bin Laden. The speculation first began at the Berlin International Film Festival in February, where Spurlock showed a select group of potential buyers 15 minutes of footage from his new documentary, "Where in the World Is Osama bin...

...former President Bill Clinton told off some 9/11 truthers that were heckling him during a 50-minute speech he was giving at a fundraiser for his wife in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tuesday. Sadly, he didn't say anything about Rosie O'Donnell. However, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, what the former President did say -- as shouts came from the crowd about 9/11 being an inside job -- was rather delicious...Early in his speech, Clinton was sporadically heckled. One heckler shouted that 9/11 was a fraud, and Clinton bristled. "No, it wasn't a fraud. I'll be glad to talk about it if...

Kathy Griffin, the star of the Bravo show "My Life on the D-List," used her appearance on the Emmy awards program to tell Jesus to "suck it" and to claim full credit for the honor for herself. Griffin, at the 59th annual Creative Arts Emmy Awards held recently, was honored for having the Outstanding Reality Program, overtaking ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" after several attempts. "I guess hell froze over," Griffin announced. "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this. He had nothing to do with this. ... Suck it, Jesus! This award is my god...

CBS sending Couric to Iraq 'Evening News' anchor sets Mideast trip By MICHAEL LEARMONTH Get ready for Katie Couric -- Phase II. One year after Couric jumped from NBC's "Today" to CBS in a big-money talent deal, the "Evening News" anchor is embarking on a high-risk tour of Iraq and Syria to revive the broadcast. Announcement comes just days after an Iraqi translator working for CBS was killed in Baghdad. CBS said Monday the translator had been found dead following his abduction just hours after leaving work at CBS News' Baghdad bureau. Couric has never been to Iraq, and she...

DETROIT (AP) - There was no mourning at this funeral. Hundreds of onlookers cheered Monday afternoon as the NAACP put to rest a long-standing expression of racism by holding a public burial for the N-word during its annual convention. Delegates from across the country marched from downtown Detroit's Cobo Center to Hart Plaza. Two Percheron horses pulled a pine box adorned with a bouquet of fake black roses and a black ribbon printed with a derivation of the word. The coffin is to be placed at historically black Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery and will have a headstone. "Today we're not...

WASHINGTON — Hillary Clinton has chosen her campaign song, and it's an homage to two Sopranos — Tony and Celine. In a video spoof of the famous last scene from the final "Sopranos" episode, Hillary and Bill Clinton sit down at a table in a diner and thumb through the jukebox selections before choosing the song. And the winner is — Bada-Bing! — Celine Dion's "You and I." The announcement comes after weeks of suspense and submissions from her supporters. Click here to view the video on Clinton's Web site and the announcement. In the video, Hillary Clinton is seen...

<p>A Harlem man has filed suit against the makers of the nutritional drink Boost, charging that the protein shake gave him the wrong kind of lift. Christopher Woods said that drinking cans of Boost Plus Nutritional Energy Drink left him with an erection that wouldn't go away. He said he had to undergo two medical procedures and as a result, he's now partially impotent. The case dates to June 2004, which is when he said his mother bought him a case of the protein drink in hopes he would bulk up. "It was supposed to be a health supplement," he said....... - and soon had a very visible side effect..."It was awful. It was painful. I would always wear jeans, but it was hard to go out, so I had to buy some sweatpants"</p>

A California company that makes technology designed to prevent ripping of digital audio streams has accused Apple, Microsoft, RealNetworks and Adobe Systems of violating federal copyright law by "actively avoiding" use of its products. Media Rights Technologies and its digital radio subsidiary BlueBeat.com said in a press release Thursday that it had issued cease and desist letters to the high-tech titans. It argues that the companies have manufactured billions of copies of Windows Vista, Adobe Flash Player, Real Player and Apple's iTunes and iPod "without regard for the DMCA or the rights of American intellectual property owners." DMCA refers to...

due to a threat.

Shock rocker Marilyn Manson fears his music will be held responsible for the Virginia Tech massacre on Monday, just like it was after the Columbine shootings in April 1999. The Antichrist Superstar hitmaker worries his music is going to come into question again as people look for someone to blame for the drama that unfolded on campus at the university on Monday, leaving 33 people dead. In a BBC radio interview last night, Manson said, "I was watching it in the same way that I can remember watching the TV when Columbine happened, and just seeing it take place as...

What did he expect? MySpace announced today it will begin searching its 100 million-plus user list for people listed in a national database of sex offenders. [...] That leaves just one real disappointment in this announcement: How MySpace plans to use the data. With all that information at its disposal, and a "24-hour-a-day dedicated staff" using it, MySpace could seriously enhance its policing. Instead, the company is taking a sophisticated database and wielding it as a blunt instrument, simply banning everyone on the list from registering or keeping a MySpace account, regardless of who they are or what they did....

THE African family of Madonna’s newly adopted child has demanded an invitation to her multi-million-pound mansions to check on his welfare and living conditions, write Steven Swinford and Christopher Thompson.Pofera Banda, the baby’s uncle, expressed concern that the singer was “taking advantage” of his family. He said they wanted to come to England to see the baby’s new home. His criticism came after Madonna was granted a controversial adoption order for David, a 13-month old boy from a Malawi orphanage, on Thursday. He may fly to Britain to begin his new life this week. His uncle said: “What I want...

SNIPOscar-winning doc filmmaker Barbara Kopple ("Harlan County USA," "American Dream") teamed up with collaborator Cecilia Peck to co-direct a behind the scenes look at the best-selling female group of all time, "The Dixie Chicks." The film, "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing" was initially envisioned as a much more modest project, according to the band's Natalie Maines who spoke at a press conference this week at the Toronto International Film Festival. "We originally thought of having a filmmaker [to capture footage] for ourselves or as a supplement to some concert DVD release," said Maines. But Maines' now famous off-handed comment...

1 hour, 7 minutes ago Brad Pitt, ever the social activist, says he won't be marrying Angelina Jolie until the restrictions on who can marry whom are dropped. "Angie and I will consider tying the knot when everyone else in the country who wants to be married is legally able," the 42-year-old actor reveals in Esquire magazine's October issue, on newsstands Sept. 19. In the article he reflects on "fifteen things I think everyone should know." Though Shiloh, the world-famous daughter of Pitt and girlfriend/earth mother Angelina Jolie, hogged much attention upon her birth in May, Pitt says he "cannot...

On Saturday, Gibson released a statement apologizing: "After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the L.A. County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am...

CHARLOTTE, VT. — Dave Matthews Band announced today that it has arranged for NativeEnergy and Clean Air-Cool Planet to offset 100 percent of the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from all of its touring activities since 1991. By offsetting the CO2 pollution that touring activities, such as transporting gear, powering stages and air travel generate, Dave Matthews Band is taking a proactive role in fighting global warming and helping Native America begin to restore sustainable homeland economies in balance with the Earth. This announcement comes at the beginning of Dave Matthews Band 2006 summer tour, which kicked off on May 30th...

Topeka, Kan. — Hoping to prompt Topeka’s lunch crowd into realizing that whether fish, foul—or even Frank!—a corpse is a corpse, PETA will slather a 10-gallon-hat-wearing effigy of a cowboy with barbecue sauce and pretend to cook "him" on a mock grill downtown tomorrow. PETA’s point? That all animals are made of flesh, bone, and blood, just as humans are, and that eating meat entails eating the corpse of an animal who was an individual with feelings, a family, and a distinct personality. In addition to the "human barbecue," activists will hold signs that read, "Meat Is Murder," and give...

Former hostage Jill Carroll strongly disavowed statements she had made during captivity in Iraq and shortly after her release, saying Saturday she had been repeatedly threatened. In a video, recorded before she was freed and posted by her captors on an Islamist Web site, Carroll spoke out against the U.S. military presence. But Carroll said the recording was made under threat. Her editor has said three men were pointing guns at her at the time. "During my last night in captivity, my captors forced me to participate in a propaganda video. They told me I would be released if I...

Immigration March Draws 500,000 in L.A. By PETER PRENGAMAN LOS ANGELES (AP) - Thousands of immigration advocates marched though downtown Los Angeles in one of the largest demonstrations for any cause in recent U.S. history. More than 500,000 protesters - demanding that Congress abandon attempts to make illegal immigration a felony and to build more walls along the border - surprised police who estimated the crowd size using aerial photographs and other techniques, police Cmdr. Louis Gray Jr. said. Wearing white T-shirts to symbolize peace, the demonstrators chanted ``Mexico!'' ``USA!'' and ``Si se puede,'' an old Mexican-American civil rights shout...

BOISE - Stickers saying "Heterosexuals Only" were placed on bus benches and public drinking fountains in downtown Boise and at the Statehouse Monday morning. A group of gay and lesbian activists, who spoke to KBCI-Local 2 News on condition of anonymity, put up the 150 stickers to protest the legislature's passage of a proposed constitutional amendment banning same sex marriage in Idaho, which voters will face in November. "This was an issue we cared a great deal about," one activist told Local 2 News. "It affects us personally, it affects friends and family of ours." The group says it used...

Haunted happenings Jerry Storey TRIBUNE-REVIEWSunday, February 12, 2006 A hotel-restaraunt in Mt. Pleasant that was built in 1883 is believed by some to have had customers that checked in more than 100 years ago who remain there today. They're ghosts. Sherry Wingrove, owner of the R&R Station, said she began noticing strange things happening soon after she and her husband, Ray, bought the business. "Things would disappear and then reappear later. You heard footsteps when no one was there, and you could hear children bouncing a ball upstairs and pots and pans would fly off the racks," Wingrove said. "For...

ASTONISHED onlookers told last night how they saw movie megastar George Clooney brawling in the gutter with a film producer. The raging actor — famed for his super-smooth image — was said to have flipped after movie boss Simon Franks criticised his acting in his latest flick. The pair began grappling as they waited in an alley for a car to pick them up from a party following the premiere of the film Good Night And Good Luck in London’s Soho. [PICTURE] One witness said: “It wasn’t knockabout fun, it was the real deal. George was livid and trying to...