Free Republic

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...