Free Republic

Though his former law firm came under indictment more than a year ago and he himself appeared likely to face criminal charges, prominent trial lawyer William S. Lerach slipped past the vetting of John Edwards' presidential campaign and was permitted to raise large amounts of money for the Democrat's 2008 bid. Lerach, his family and members of his new law Lerach Coughlin law firm accounted for nearly $78,000 in donations to Edwards' campaign in the first half of this year, making the trial lawyer one of the North Carolina Democrat's leading "bundlers" of contributions. In the midst of that fundraising,...

<p>Amid the mountain of evidence released in the Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial, the most provocative has turned out to be a handful of previously classified evidence detailing Islamist extremists' ambitious plans for a U.S. takeover. A knot of terrorism researchers say the memos and audiotapes, many translated from Arabic and containing detailed strategies by the international Islamist group the Muslim Brotherhood, are proof that extremists have long sought to replace the Constitution with Shariah, or Islamic law.</p>

VERACRUZ, Mexico -- Mexican gas and oil pipelines were attacked in six places before dawn Monday, causing explosions, fires and gas leaks that forced the evacuation of thousands of people. The blasts reverberated for miles. No direct injuries were reported, though civil defense agencies said two women in their 70s who lived nearby died of heart attacks shortly afterward. The six blasts happened about 2 a.m. in the Gulf coast state of Veracruz, the Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, said in a statement. The company immediately shut down the affected lines as well as an extra line...

Republican 2008 presidential hopeful John McCain crooned the words "Bomb Iran" to a Beach Boys' tune in joking response to a question about any possible US attack over Tehran's suspected nuclear weapons programme. "That old Beach Boys song, bomb Iran...bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb," the Vietnam War veteran warbled softly to the band's Barbara Ann when he was asked when the United States would send an "airmail message" to Iran. The singing performance during a campaign stop on Wednesday in South Carolina drew chuckles from the audience and has already been viewed almost 11,000 times on the internet video sharing site...

Ulcers are hopefully growing in the collective stomachs of ABC executives as they learn just how out of touch and irresponsible Rosie O’Donnell is. Now, as a member of Barbara Walters’ chat show “The View,” O’Donnell has a new forum to spew her left wing rants, and hopefully viewers will send her back to the unemployment line. In a discussion of the events of September 11, 2001, O’Donnell acknowledged that Islamic terrorists killed close to 3,000 innocent people. She then said that “radical Christianity” is just as threatening as radical Islam. Addressing the 9-11 anniversary and talking about security, co-host...

Pakistan Denies Bin Laden Gets a Pass September 06, 2006 6:20 AM Brian Ross Reports: The government of Pakistan today denied it would allow Osama bin Laden to avoid capture under terms of a peace agreement it signed with Taliban leaders in the country's North Waziristan area. "If he is in Pakistan, today or any time later, he will be taken into custody and brought to justice," the Pakistani ambassador to the United States, Mahmud Ali Durrani, said in a statement. The ambassador said a Pakistani military spokesman, Major General Shaukat Sultan, had been "grossly misquoted" when he told ABC...

How DARE THEY!!!  CAIR to Host Dinner for Former President of Iran   How DARE the sob's at CAIR sponsor a dinner for the ex-president of a terrorist regime that has connections to alQaeda and allowed some of the 911 Terrorists to pass thru Iran on their way here to murder our citizens!!! "'The Dialogue of Civilizations: Five Years After 9/11' "...How Effing OUTRAGEOUS!!!    

BRISTOW, Okla. (AP) - A former judge convicted of exposing himself while presiding over jury trials by using a sexual device under his robe was sentenced Friday to four years in prison. Donald Thompson had spent almost 23 years on the bench and had served as a state legislator before retiring from the court in 2004. He showed no reaction when he was sentenced. At his trial this summer, his former court reporter, Lisa Foster, testified that she saw Thompson expose himself at least 15 times during trial between 2001 and 2003. Prosecutors said he also used a device known...

Terror plot A suitcase filled with bomb-making material has been found by police teams investigating the alleged plot to blow up aircraft over the Atlantic. The suitcase, containing chemicals and other equipment for a home-made bomb, was found in woods in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, close to addresses at which suspects were arrested last week. A police source said that the suitcase contained everything that would be needed to make an explosive device. This could include materials for creating an explosive, methods of concealment and a simple way of detonating the bomb. After police made arrests last week, Whitehall sources said...

Congressman John Kline, a Republican from Minnesota, was in the forefront of legislators this spring who expressed outrage at the incident in Haditha, Iraq, where 24 civilians were allegedly killed by U.S. Marines in November 2005. "This was a small number of Marines who fired directly on civilians and killed them," said Kline, after being briefed by Marine Corps officials. "This going to be an ugly story." But this week Kline backed off considerably from his earlier comments. Prompted by the threat of a civil lawsuit against him by Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the Marine who is a focus of...

"Should we be concerned about Iran, Islam's 12th Imam, and August 22? Bloggers have been reporting on this for some time now, today the Wall Street Journal has an op-ed on the subject. I have wondered for some time if our government pays any attention to this subject. Apparently they do. Last evening, one of our friends in the State Department happened to call. During our chat, I asked him, from the perspective of someone working amid diplomatic circles for the last 20+ years, what the biggest story of the year was. Biggest, as in frightening long-term troubles for us....

(AP) SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made his first public appearance since his country test-launched a barrage of missiles more than a month ago, official media reported Sunday. Kim visited a farm run by an army unit and was accompanied by top generals, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. As usual with such reports, the exact time or location of the trip were not given. Kim's last reported public appearance was July 4, a day before Pyongyang launched seven missiles, including a new long-range model believed capable of reaching the U.S. that...

RICHLAND -- Naveed Haq, now widely portrayed as a Muslim American so angry at Israel that he shot up a Jewish charity in Seattle, had recently converted to Christianity. His conversion is perhaps the most startling contradiction in a puzzling life. He had a degree in electrical engineering and was the son of a successful engineer. But he couldn't hold a job and recently worked as a security guard and retail clerk in the Seattle area. His father was a founding member of the Islamic center here. But the son was rarely seen at a local mosque for more than...

MEL Gibson was speeding, drunk and absolutely certain of how this episode would end when he was pulled over and arrested by a police officer in Malibu. Gibson, 50, told Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy James Mee he "owned" Malibu as he was driven, handcuffed, to the Los Hills sheriff's station early on Friday morning, and he would "get even" with him. "I'm going to f--- you," Gibson reportedly said. "You're going to regret you ever did this to me." What followed will cast a shadow over the remainder of the American-born, Australian-raised Gibson's career as one of Hollywood's most...

HILLARY CLINTON, MCCAIN HELD VODKA-DRINKING CONTEST Fri Jul 28 2006 19:19:50 ET On a congressional trip to Estonia, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton astonished her traveling companions by suggesting the group do what one does in the Baltics: hold a vodka-drinking contest! Delighted, the leader of the overseas delegation, Sen. John McCain, quickly agreed, the NEW YORK TIMES is planning to report on Saturday. The after-dinner game went so well -- memories are a bit hazy on who drank how much. McCain later told people how unexpectedly fun he found Hillary to be. TIMES reporter Anne Kornblut has filed a story...

A report from Texas popped in my email today: Cindy Sheehan (surprise, surprise) lied to buy her land in Crawford, TX. She bought it, naturally, as an outpost from which to stalk President Bush when he stays at his ranch.

In a surreal scene, police said a man purposely cut off one of his hands in a Springfield butcher shop Saturday evening. The grisly incident occurred in Super Halal Meat along the 7000 block of Spring Garden Drive, which bisects Brookfield Plaza, home to numerous Asian, Indian and Middle Eastern eateries and markets. "I'm still numb talking about it," said Vikas Sinsunwal, who saw the man after he severed his hand. Sinsunwal said he was outside his parents store, Niralla Sweets, when the man, announcing "I did this for Allah," approached his parents' shop lifting his bloody left arm into...

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The leftist contesting Mexico's July 2 election on the grounds of vote-rigging declared himself president on Wednesday and said his supporters would step up a campaign of civil disobedience next week. Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, who lost the vote count to conservative rival Felipe Calderon by a tiny margin, said in a television interview that a rally on Sunday in Mexico City would show his backers have the energy to keep up protests. "I am already president. I won the presidential election. I am president of Mexico by the will of the majority of Mexicans," Lopez...

Under questioning at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing, Assistant Secretary of State Chris Hill said there were one or more Iranians who witnessed North Korea's seven missile tests last July 4.

So, imagine you’ve been a U.S. Senator for more than two decades, and just two years ago were your party’s nominee for president. Would you spend time putting together a statement concerning the expressed opinions of a radio talk show host? Well, if you were John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), the answer would be yes, as the following was posted at the junior senator’s website Friday (hat tip to Ian at Expose The Left): “Rush Limbaugh’s ignorance and willingness to divide Americans knows no bounds. His latest statement about Israel is beyond offensive to all of us who have fought to protect...

Addis Ababa vows to ‘crush’ Islamic militants, support government MOGADISHU, Somalia - Residents of central Somalia said Thursday that hundreds of Ethiopian troops were patrolling the town of Baidoa in armored vehicles, less than a day after Islamic militants vowed a “holy war” against foreign soldiers looking to bolster the weak, U.N.-backed government.

Dear Family and Friends, They say that there is no smoke without fire and if that is true then there is a big bonfire burning somewhere very close to home this week. It has been a very confusing few days in Zimbabwe with a number of different media reports about diplomatic manoeuverings that are going on to help us. First we heard that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was putting together a plan to rescue Zimbabwe from its political and economic crisis. Then, insinuating that something was already well underway by Kofi Annan, South African President Thabo Mbeki said "We...

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, right, gathers with Cindy Sheehan Tuesday, July 18, 2006, at her campaign headquarters in DeKalb, Ga. (AP Photo/W.A. Harewood)

US 'could be going bankrupt' The United States is heading for bankruptcy, according to an extraordinary paper published by one of the key members of the country's central bank. A ballooning budget deficit and a pensions and welfare timebomb could send the economic superpower into insolvency, according to research by Professor Laurence Kotlikoff for the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis, a leading constituent of the US Federal Reserve. Prof Kotlikoff said that, by some measures, the US is already bankrupt. "To paraphrase the Oxford English Dictionary, is the United States at the end of its resources, exhausted, stripped bare,...

JERUSALEM (AP)--Israel has information that Lebanese guerrillas who captured two Israeli soldiers are trying to transfer them to Iran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. Regev didn't disclose the source of his information. Hezbollah guerrillas, who are backed by Iran, seized the soldiers Wednesday in a cross-border raid. Israel has since attacked Lebanon by air and sea, and has sent in troops to look for the captured soldiers.

New York City increased its transit security Tuesday, sending hundreds of additional officers to patrol subways and conduct random bag searches following deadly bombings on a busy commuter rail system in India. ADVERTISEMENT The New York Police Department said the measures were precautionary and there had been no specific threat to New York. "We take a terror attack in any place in the world, especially one on a public transport system, as a serious warning," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority also announced increased security on its rail lines, tunnels and bridges, and in Grand Central Terminal and...

McKinney Fails To Show Up At Two Debates Tue Jul 11 2006 11:10:09 ET Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D) failed to appear at two televised debates over the weekend, fueling criticism from two opponents who are challenging the controversial incumbent in a July 18 primary in the Georgia's 4th District. CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY reports: DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson and architectural firm project manager John Coyne, who are challenging McKinney, debated Saturday on WSB-TV and also participated in a second debate Friday that was sponsored by the Atlanta Press Club and which will air tonight at 7 p.m. Johnson's campaign said that...

A North Carolina man's condition deteriorated Monday after being injured last week in an event connected to an annual festival in Pamplona, Spain. Ray Ducharme's condition worsened since Sunday while he was in intensive care and he was receiving help breathing, Pamplona spokeswoman Begona Lopez told The Associated Press Monday. Ducharme was being treated for a collapsed lung and required a tracheotomy, according to a Web site maintained by his supporters. The latest update on the Web site www.pray4ray.com said Monday that Ducharme would be unconscious for three days while fluid was drained from his lungs. "This is a critical...

When it comes to internet connections we are quick to appreciate the importance of speed. Whether we're shopping, job hunting, or doing just about anything else, we recognize that our opportunities expand when broadband connections let us zip around this global network quickly. We'd never want to return to dial-up now, but that's what we're doing with another network -- our roadway system. Fifty years ago today President Eisenhower signed legislation that created the Interstate Highway System. Many years prior a young Ike endured a long lesson on the importance of mobility when he participated in coast-to-coast military convoy. Much...

Pull out of Iraq now, congressman urges Cover-up of Haditha killings wrong, he says By Elizabeth Baier South Florida Sun-Sentinel Posted June 25 2006 American presence in Iraq is more dangerous to world peace than nuclear threats from North Korea or Iran, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said to a crowd of more than 200 in North Miami Saturday afternoon. Murtha was the guest speaker at a town hall meeting organized by U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. Meek, D-Miami, at Florida International University's Biscayne Bay Campus. Meek's mother, former U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, was also on the panel. War veterans,...

By Robert MacMillan NEW YORK (Reuters) - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is donating a total of $37 billion -- most of his personal fortune -- to a foundation started by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and to several family foundations, making it the largest-ever individual charitable gift in the United States. Buffett, 75, is the chief executive of investment firm Berkshire Hathaway. He is worth an estimated $44 billion, according to Forbes magazine, making him the second-richest man behind Gates, who is worth about $50 billion. The $37 billion comprises about 85 percent of Buffett's fortune. In a letter to the...

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that police armed with a warrant can barge into homes and seize evidence even if they don't knock, a huge government victory that was decided by President Bush's new justices. The 5-4 ruling signals the court's conservative shift following the departure of moderate Sandra Day O'Connor. Dissenting justices predicted that police will now feel free to ignore previous court rulings that officers with search warrants must knock and announce themselves or run afoul of the Constitution's Fourth Amendment ban on unreasonable searches. Justice Antonin Scalia, writing for the majority, said Detroit police acknowledge...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A blueprint for trying to start a war between the United States and Iran was among a "huge treasure" of documents found in the hideout of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraqi officials said Thursday. The document, purporting to reflect al-Qaida policy and its cooperation with groups loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein, also appear to show that the insurgency in Iraq was weakening. The al-Qaida in Iraq document was translated and released by Iraqi National Security Adviser Mouwafak al-Rubaie. There was no way to independently confirm the authenticity of the information attributed to al-Qaida. Although...

Zarqawi 'survived initial strike' Pictures of Zarqawi's body were earlier put on display by the US Militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was still alive when Iraqi police got to the scene of the air strikes that targeted him, the US military says.But the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq died of his wounds shortly afterwards, Major General William Caldwell said. US planes dropped two 500lb (230kg) bombs on Zarqawi's safe house near the city of Baquba on Wednesday. Zarqawi had tried to move off the stretcher where he had been placed by Iraqi police, Maj Gen Caldwell said. "Everybody resecured...

Military scientists are putting the finishing touches to a Batman-style set of 'wings' that could enable troops to glide undetected into enemy territory. According to a statement by the developers of the new technology, German firm ESG, the wings can enable paratroopers to glide up to 25 miles after being dropped from a height of over 30,000 ft. "Parachutists can penetrate into areas that are difficult to reach without their transport planes having to fly into a danger zone," a spokesperson for ESG explained.

A former Republican congressman Brian Bilbray has won a U.S. House of Representatives race in California on Tuesday by narrowly beating Democrat Francine Busby in a conservative district north of San Diego. The two were contending to replace Randy Cunningham, a former Republican congressman who was imprisoned for taking bribes. Alabama, Iowa, Mississippi, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico and South Dakota also held primaries on Tuesday to select candidates for November, when all 435 seats in the House, 33 Senate seats and 36 governorships will be up for grabs. The news comes as the "first good dose" for the President...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - An exotic dancer who performed for Duke University lacrosse players the night of the alleged rape of a fellow dancer said in an interview the students behaved drunkenly, shouted racial epithets and made her feel unsafe.

Something frighteningly ominous has been happening on the Internet lately: Google, without any prior explanation or notice, has been terminating its News relationship with conservative e-zines and web journals.

While promoters of "The Da Vinci Code" have tried to downplay the film's challenge to Christianity, actor Ian McKellen took a shot at the Bible in an interview with the "Today" show, saying Scripture should carry a disclaimer that it is "fiction." McKellen, who played Gandalf in "The Lord of the Rings" triology, was responding to a question from host Matt Lauer about the requests by some Christian groups to insert a "fiction" disclaimer at the beginning of the controversial film, which suggests Jesus and Mary Magdalene were man and wife and that the divinity of Jesus was an invention...

Quotes from early reviews of "The DaVinci Code" at Cannes:"CANNES, France - "The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival.""One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder. Some people walked out during the movie's closing minutes, though there were fewer departures than many Cannes movies provoke among harsh critics. When the credits rolled, there were a few whistles and...

PRINCETON, NJ -- President George W. Bush's job approval rating has reached yet another new low for his administration, according to a new USA Today/Gallup poll. The poll, conducted May 5-7, 2006, finds that 31% of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling his job as president while 65% disapprove. Bush's approval rating is down three percentage points from last weekend, which is not a statistically significant drop, but has shown a six point decline from early April and a 12 point decline since the start of the year. The decline in Bush's approval rating has accelerated in the...

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and the Internet. The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation figures for the period ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group. The NAA reported that average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the last time circulation figures were reported....

One of the big problems in America today is that if you have the nerve to say anything derogatory about any group of people (except Christians) you are going to be screamed at by the media and called a racist, a bigot and anything else they can think of to call you. Well I’ve been pounded by the media before and I’m still rockin’ and rollin’ and when it comes to speaking the truth I fear not. And the truth is that the gutless, gonad-less, milksop politicians are just about to sell out the United States of America because they...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White House on Thursday disputed an account of President George W. Bush singing the U.S. national anthem in Spanish during the 2000 presidential campaign, saying his Spanish is not that good.

Hear the incredible MP3 of the exchange between KTTV news reporter Tony Valdez and KFI's John and Ken -- CLICK AND LISTEN "And here in California there's a monument to the Mormon Battalion, the great heroes who killed a lot of Mexicans, enough Mexicans so that this part of the world could be taken by force, by force by the United States." ...Tony Valdez, KTTV Newsman, 5-1-06 Simulcast on KFI radio and KTTV ===================================================================== I've spoken to the public affairs spokesman for the Mormon church in Los Angeles and sent them the clip. I suspect that the apology the station...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A technology executive pleaded guilty Wednesday to paying more than $400,000 in bribes to a congressman in charges stemming from an investigation of Rep. William Jefferson, a Louisiana Democrat. Vernon Jackson, 53, chief executive of the Louisville, Ky.-based telecommunications firm iGate Inc., admitted to bribery of a public official and conspiracy to bribe a public official during a plea hearing in U.S. District Court

Monday, May 1, 2006 9:06 p.m. EDT Dobbs: Radicals Running Immigrant Movement A leftist anti-war group has seized control of the immigrant movement that staged mass protests across the U.S. on Monday, says CNN's Lou Dobbs. Praising the Washington Post for being the only newspaper that has reported that the radical leftist group ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) was an active promoter of Monday's national boycott, Dobbs noted that the movement chose May 1, the traditional International Worker's day sanctified by the Soviet Union and Marxist movements throughout the year to stage their protest. Speaking on...

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell advised President Bush before the Iraq war to send more troops to the country, but the administration did not follow his recommendation, Powell said in an interview broadcast Sunday. Critics accuse Bush and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of failing to send enough soldiers to secure the peace in Iraq after the invasion three years ago. Powell said he gave the advice to now retired Gen. Tommy Franks, who developed and executed the Iraq invasion plan, and Rumsfeld while the president was present. "I made the case to Gen. Franks and Secretary Rumsfeld before...

When the free market does the exact thing liberals have been itching to do through taxation, they pretend to be appalled by high gas prices, hoping the public will forget that high gas prices are part of their agenda.