Free Republic

originally appeared on album "The Tain".Horslips - Dearg Doom (1973) HQ | August 13, 2013 | lunarmountains

FULL TITLE: Muslim from Texas who joined the Islamic State: “I saw some crucifixions. You know, that’s just normal life there.” Of course it was normal life in the Islamic State, because the Islamic State adhered scrupulously to Sharia within its domains. And crucifixion is a Sharia punishment, based on the Qur’an: “Indeed, the penalty for those who wage war against Allah and His Messenger and strive upon earth corruption is none but that they be killed or crucified or that their hands and feet be cut off from opposite sides or that they be exiled from the land. That...

When 21-year-old Shifa Abuzaid decided in May to begin wearing a hijab, she said her parents worried it might bring about incidents like the one she says she recently experienced. A man passing Abuzaid, along with her younger cousins and siblings, called them a "bunch of terrorists" on Saturday in Sugar Land Town Square, Abuzaid recounted in a Facebook post that has since been shared on the medium more than 2,500 times. Abuzaid was the eldest of her family members present at the time. The youngest was 10. The group had been walking to their car after lunch when they...

Aafia Siddiqui is a MIT-trained neuroscientist who married a top Al Qaeda operative who intended to blow up gas stations or poison water reservoirs in the United States. She is known as “Lady Al Qaeda,” and was convicted of attempting to murder Americans in Afghanistan after she was found with plans for a “mass casualty attack” in the United States, along with a list of New York landmarks. Aafia Siddiqui named Farha Ahmed as her legal counsel in a handwritten letter in October of 2010. Farha Ahmed was running for office in Texas. Farha Ahmed was the leader of the...

INDIANAPOLIS - A stage has collapsed at a concert at the Indiana State Fair. The stage was set up for the Sugarland concert at the state fairgrounds. Rigging for the stage lighting reportedly fell around 8:50 p.m., before the main act took the stage. Police and fire crews believe they have everyone moved from the grandstand. A triage unit has been set up near the Hoosier Lottery exhibit at the fair. Other victims are also being transported to at least two area hospitals. Several ambulances can be seen entering and leaving the area. Fair and emergency officials are planning a...

Stage rigging collapsed after a storm gust Saturday night, trapping and injuring at least a dozen people at a concert at the Indiana State Fair, NBC station WTHR reported. The outdoor stage was set up for the Sugarland concert at the state fairgrounds. Medics and rescue crews throughout Indianapolis were converging on the State Fairgrounds after Hoosier Lottery Grandstand stage rigging fell. Dave Lindquist, music journalist for The Indianapolis Star, reported on Twitter, "Tragedy at fair concert. Entire stage collapses on track." He also wrote that "perhaps a dozen injured people have been removed from track on stretcher-type boards."

Sugarland, Sheryl Crow and Dave Matthews performed Sunday night (Aug. 24) near Denver during a kick-off concert for the Democratic national convention. The event at Red Rocks Amphitheatre was designed to call attention to environmental issues. During the concert, Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles told the crowd, "I wonder how many of you know who we are and what we do. We are here to support environmental awareness. ... Country music artists are stereotyped in so many ways. You think we don't care about the environment. We do." Nettles and Sugarland partner Kristian Bush have not endorsed a candidate and declined to...

HOUSTON -- Former major league third baseman Chris Brown died Tuesday, nearly a month after he apparently was burned in a fire at his home outside Houston. Brown, 45, died at 1:15 a.m. CDT at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Authorities say their investigation is continuing into the circumstances surrounding the house fire and how Brown was burned.

President Bush, his collar open and his sleeves rolled up, told 2,000 cheering Republicans in Sugar Land today that they should "bring your pencil" to the polls and write-in the name of Shelley Sekula-Gibbs to succeed Tom DeLay in the U.S. House. "I always feel better when I'm in Texas," Bush said to the crowd packed into a hangar at the Sugar Land airport, before urging them to take the extra steps necessary to vote for Sekula-Gibbs. Most voters won't really need a pencil to cast write-in votes because they'll use electronic voting machines. If they write in the councilwoman's...

Sugar Land star averaged 337.1 yards, 32.9 points senior season FREDERICKSBURG, Texas - Every football season, Ken Hall expects a call telling him that someone has broken his high school rushing records. More than 50 years later, he’s still waiting. “I am surprised,” said Hall, now silver haired and 70. “We didn’t need to know at the time we were setting records. It was just a bunch of kids out there having fun.” A lot of it. From 1950 to ’53, Hall rushed for 11,232 yards for Sugar Land High School. His senior season was downright ridiculous — he averaged...

SUGAR LAND — Mayor David Wallace will not run as a write-in Republican candidate for the congressional seat vacated by Tom DeLay. Wallace announced his decision about the Congressional District 22 race today at a news conference at Sugar Land City Hall. The decision comes after Republican party leaders from Fort Bend, Harris, Galveston and Brazoria counties selected Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as the party's choice to run in the November election as a write-in candidate. No Republican will appear on the ballot because DeLay stepped down after winning the nomination in March. A court ruled the party could...

Texas Republican Party leaders on Thursday announced they will be supporting Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs in the race for Congressional District 22. Sekula-Gibbs, who announced her wishes to run for District 22 in April, will now be mounting a write-in campaign and could see financial and organizational support from the local, state and national Republican Party. . . . . . "Tonight we start the grassroots Republican campaign that this district is well known for," she said. "It is a district that has over 60 percent Republicans and we will turn them out." She was chosen Thursday night at...

In a recent speech, I told the audience about the political landscape of the 2006 elections. It’s going to be much tougher for Republicans than in recent election cycles. As a political party, we must have our act together in order to be successful. Unfortunately, that task has become tougher. The congressional seat of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay is now in jeopardy thanks in part to a failure in leadership from party officials. Following a primary election victory, Rep. DeLay decided, through the advice of party officials, that because of the media circus that was surrounding his pending court...

Write-in candidate names are not on the ballot by design. To cast a vote for one on the electronic eSlate machines, which don't have a keyboard, you'll have to use the "select" dial to choose "write-in." Even then, the names won't automatically pop up, said Scott Haywood, a spokesman for the Secretary of State's Office. In each booth there will be a printed list of candidates who have been certified for the Congressional District 22 race. Using the dial and a picture of a keyboard on the screen, the voter will click the letters of the name they want. Potential...

Sugar Land Mayor David Wallace will be a write-in candidate for the seat House Majority Leader Tom DeLay abandoned, according to a member of Wallace's campaign team. Wallace made the decision after DeLay announced Tuesday that he would withdraw his name from the November ballot, leaving the Republican slot blank and opening up the race to a GOP write-in candidate. The state Republican Party lost its legal battle to replace DeLay with another candidate of its choosing earlier this week. Anyone can run as a write-in candidate. But the state Republican Party says it will back a single campaign. "Republicans...

Sugar Land police and volunteers with search and rescue organization Texas EquuSearch are looking for a 16-year-old Sugar Land girl missing since Friday night. Ashton Glover was last seen at 11 p.m. Friday at University and Commonwealth boulevards, “seen leaving with an unknown male in a white Toyota pickup truck,” according to information from Texas EquuSearch. EquuSearch spokeswoman Barbara Gibson said Glover’s family contacted the Dickinson-based non-profit group Friday night, and when they began a search, Sugar Land police already were on the scene looking for the missing girl. “The biggest thing is her truck hasn’t been found, either,” Gibson...

Two days before he leaves Congress, he's officially out of race because he moved to Virginia Texas Republicans took a key official step Wednesday toward replacing U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on the November ballot, as the state GOP declared him ineligible to run because he has moved his official residence to Virginia. Friday is the former House majority leader's last day in Congress. Republican Party of Texas Chairwoman Tina Benkiser notified Republican county chairs in the 22nd Congressional District that they can begin the process for selecting a new nominee. DeLay's successor as GOP nominee will be selected by a...

7 people vying to succeed DeLay answer questions in closed sessions Republican leaders from Harris County met in Pasadena Saturday to interview potential candidates for the 22nd District congressional seat that will be vacated by outgoing Rep. Tom DeLay sometime in May or June. The day drew seven hopefuls, who filled out a questionnaire detailing their political history and philosophies, including Houston City Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, state Rep. Robert Talton of Pasadena, lawyer Tom Campbell, who came in second to DeLay in the March primary, state Rep. Charlie Howard of Sugar Land, state Sen. Mike Jackson of La Porte, businessman...

SUGAR LAND, Texas - Supporters of U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay protested at an event Thursday held by the Democratic candidate for the congressman's seat, and the event quickly dissolved into a shouting and shoving match. Police were called, but made no arrests. "I got pushed. I got hit. I got a sign wadded up in my face and my hat pulled down over my eyes," said Marsha Rovai, 69, a supporter of Nick Lampson. "They just did it to be nasty." DeLay campaign manager Chris Homan said he organized the protest but DeLay, a Republican, didn't know about it. "Mr....

Supporters of US Representative Tom DeLay were not happy Thursday with Democratic candidate (and Beaumont-native) Nick Lampson`s call for the congressman to immediately resign. A group of DeLay supporters rallied outside Sugar Land City Hall at a 10 a.m. news conference called by Democratic candidate Nick Lampson, who demanded the outgoing congressman formally resign so that voters can chose their new representation during a special election on May 13. Lampson asked that DeLay vacate his office by Friday, which would allow Gov. Rick Perry to order a special election much earlier than the Nov. 7 election date. But the news...