Free Republic

But underwriters are breaking down H1N1 applicants into three categories: those who currently have the flu, those who had a mild case and recovered, and those who were hospitalized. Those who have it now won't be considered for coverage until they get better, he says, while those who have recovered from a mild case have to wait two to three months. Those unlucky enough to be hospitalized may not qualify for life insurance for a full year.Marr's assessment is based on feedback from insurance industry underwriters. But when contacted by MoneySense, several insurance companies denied having such rules. One spokesperson...

10-year-old girl is brought to tears by surprise homecoming of her father. She thinks he is in Iraq! This short, 40 sec., video comes with a big time tissue alert!!

Police are searching for a man who tried to rob an off-duty police officer at gunpoint Tuesday morning, provoking a shootout near the intersection of Beach and Westminster boulevards. Around 6:48 a.m., a robber approached an off-duty police officer who was using the ATM at the Chase bank at 14041 Beach Boulevard, said Lt. Kevin Baker of the Westminster Police Department. The robber, described as a 5-foot-8, 160-pound man wearing a blue hoodie, pulled out a silver handgun and demanded cash, Baker said. The police officer pulled out his gun, and the men fired at each other, Baker said. The...

LANGLEY, B.C. -- Police in Langley are investigating after a woman kicked a man in the groin so hard he lost a testicle -- the latest in a series of similar assaults. "I just want to know what her problem is," victim Anthony Clark, 22, said this week. "People like her shouldn't be on the streets." Mr. Clark was walking in the Brookswood area of Langley in early September when he passed his assailant on the sidewalk. "I was looking down and then I took a passing glance and saw her walk up to me," he said. That's when the...

Forbes Magazine, famed for its exhaustive lists, has a new one: America's safest cities. The unusual thing about this list is that the list-makers used more than just violent crime statistics to assess the relative safety. Also among the data collected are the number of workplace fatalities, deaths by traffic, and deaths by natural disaster. San Francisco ranks #25 in the list of 40 major metropolis regions,behind New York (#8), Detroit (#12), Chicago (#15), and Los Angeles (#19).

U.S. President Barack Obama has sent a message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding that Israel not surprise the U.S. with an Israeli military operation against Iran. The message was conveyed by a senior American official who met in Israel with Netanyahu, ministers and other senior officials. Earlier, Netanyahu's envoy visited Washington and met with National Security Adviser James Jones and with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and discussed the dialogue Obama has initiated with Tehran.

5/7/2009 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Staff Sgt. Daniel Acosta woke May 7 thinking he was a senior airman. He was surprised to discover that he was promoted to staff sergeant without his knowledge. Lt. Col. Michael Glass, 59th Medical Support Squadron commander, advised Sergeant Acosta that Lt. Gen. Richard Newton, deputy chief of staff for Manpower and Personnel, approved the promotion with an effective date of Nov. 1, 2008. "I am really happy and excited about this promotion," said Sergeant Acosta. "It was such a surprise." Sergeant Acosta, an explosive ordnance technician from Hill Air Force...

Haven't done this for awhile; and this one might be a toughie (except, possibly, if you've been there and recognize it). One hint: it's an easy hike to the top.

Barack Obama's offhand approach to Gordon Brown's Washington visit last week came about because the president has facing exhaustion over America's economic crisis and is unable to focus on foreign affairs, the Sunday Telegraph has been told. Sources close to the White House say Mr Obama and his staff have been "overwhelmed" by the economic meltdown and have voiced concerns that the new president is not getting enough rest. British officials, meanwhile, admit that the White House and US State Department staff were utterly bemused by complaints that the Prime Minister should have been granted full-blown press conference and a...

HAVANA (AFP) – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was in Cuba on Saturday, paying a surprise visit to the island after a major poll win last Sunday. It is the Venezuelan leader's first trip abroad since winning a referendum on February 15 that removed term limits on his presidency. Standing arm-in-arm with Chavez on his arrival late Friday, Cuban President Raul Castro raised the Venezuelan leader's fist in victory, declaring "I do this in Fidel's name" -- a reference to his brother, a long-time friend of Chavez.

KopBusters rented a house in Odessa, Texas and began growing two small Christmas trees under a grow light similar to those used for growing marijuana. When faced with a suspected marijuana grow, the police usually use illegal FLIR cameras and/or lie on the search warrant affidavit claiming they have probable cause to raid the house. Instead of conducting a proper investigation which usually leads to no probable cause, the Kops lie on the affidavit claiming a confidential informant saw the plants and/or the police could smell marijuana coming from the suspected house. The trap was set and less than 24...

Anyone recall that "they' said there would be an October surprise before the election? Well my question is was it pre-arranged? Did a group of international bankers arrange this? They aren't hard to find just look in the cabinets of the Clintons, Bush and Obama. Strange isn't it the 'usual suspects' seem to show up in every cabinet regardless of what party gets in. As one expert said this surprise should not have been a surprise because many had known how fragile the financial system was for some time. Of course neither Greenspan or the new appointee to the Federal...

The Post asked pollsters and others what could turn out to be a surprise on Election Day. Included here are thoughts from: Dick Morris, Eileen McGann, Douglas Schoen, Linda Chavez, James Carville, Ed Rogers, Mary Beth Cahill and Heather Wilson.

Justice Minister Eisuke Mori announced on Tuesday that two death-row inmates have been executed, marking the first executions under the government of Prime Minister Taro Aso formed in late September and breaking a record high for the number of people executed per year. According to the Justice Ministry, the two are Michitoshi Kuma, 70, who was at the Fukuoka detention center, and Masahiro Takashio, 55, at the Sendai detention center. They were the first executions since Sept. 11. They bring the annual total of people executed by the government to 15, the most since 1999 when the government started publishing...

Go to link to read story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081027/ap_on_el_pr/skinhead_plot

I just want to say that there are too many stories on the blogosphere that would destroy Obama's chances of winning. One of them has to be true and one of them has to give... My question is which one will it be and when will it happen.. -Ed Hale is said to have 3 certified Kenyan Birth Certificates of Barrack Obama -There are now 4 court cases in 4 different states challenging the Obama campaign to produce documentation -There is a supposed taped call of Michelle Obama threatening African International. -There is a supposed "whitey" tape out there of...

Judah Benjamin’s analysis follows the Foreword. TD Foreword: Those who have followed this blog know that our working assumption has been that Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. We have asserted that Obama’s legal name and citizenship changed when he was adopted by Lolo Soetoro, and that the birth certificate image published on Obama’s campaign website does not reflect current records. You can read the previous articles referenced at the end of this post to catch up on our analysis. We now wonder if our assumption about Obama’s birth place was wrong. I have received an unverified tip that certified...

CBS News apparently had an October surprise of its own for President Bush. The network, already reeling from accusations of bias over anchorman Dan Rather's use of bogus memos to challenge Mr. Bush's Texas Air National Guard record, acknowledged yesterday in a statement that it had planned to air a story critical of the Bush administration's handling of Iraqi munitions Sunday on "60 Minutes," two days before the presidential election.

Why the Paulson Plan is DOA Posted by: Michael Mandel on March 30 Let’s see. In the middle of perhaps the greatest financial upheaval since the Great Depression, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson is proposing a change in financial regulations which basically amounts to a big wink to Wall Street. His plan will go nowhere, both for political and practical reasons. In fact, it does not even meet the minimum standard of improving transparency, which would reduce the possibility of a similar crisis in the future. The main point of the Paulson plan is to make regulation more efficient. It notes...

Everybody on the right is itching for McCain to destroy Obama and the Democrat Congress on this Fannie and Freddie scandal. There is the explosive video seen more than 1 million times on YouTube showing exactly how the Democrats are solely responsible for this mess. Here is a damning video showing Democrats from a couple years ago saying that everything was fine and dandy with Fannie and Freddie while Republicans and regulators pleaded for reform and oversight. Here is Bill O'Reilly from last night absolutely losing his mind yelling at Barney Frank for trying to cover this up. Even Britt...

Freepers, the Democrats have already launched their "October Surprise" and they have been planning it for a while. Democrats know they win when they can make the economy the #1 issue (Remember, "it is the economy stupid.") This whole economic crisis has been in the making for a while and the Socialists and Soros have decided to pour gasoline on the fire just in time for the election ("surprise, surprise." This could backfire on the Democrats if the House decides to reject the Bailout Package and the Republicans start to attack the Democrats on them creating this mess (Freddie Mac...

Convention Conversations presented by Yahoo, Politico and Pioneer Press. The topic, “The Media and conservatives Go to War – Again. Photo: Robert A. Reeder  1 of 2  John McCain’s announcement that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would be his running mate caught the country off-guard — and perhaps surprised no one more than the news media.Now that McCain’s selection has sunk in for a few days, the press is starting to make some judgments. “I do think that the choice of Sarah Palin was a real Hail Mary pass,” said Wall Street Journal columnist Peggy Noonan, echoing language used Friday by...

The US military was surprised by the timing and swiftness of the Russian military's move into South Ossetia and is still trying to sort out what happened, a US defense official said Monday. Russian forces surged into the breakaway region last week after weeks of clashes, threats and warnings between Tblisi and Moscow which culminated August 6 in a two-day Georgian offensive into South Ossetia. That the two countries were on a collision course was no surprise to anyone, but the devastating Russian response was not expected, officials said. "We were tracking it earlier in that week and we knew...

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - A man believed to have died in the Big Thompson flood has been found living in Oklahoma. Darrell Johnson, 63, didn't know he had been counted among the 144 people who died in the flash flood that swept down Big Thompson Canyon on July 31, 1976 until he was called by canyon resident Barb Anderson last year.

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canadian military and police are investigating after a package containing a brand new hand grenade, belonging to the army, was found in a suburban backyard, police said on Monday. A woman in the Western Canadian city of Edmonton, Alberta, discovered the suspicious package on Sunday and took it to her local police station, where officers told her to carefully place it on the lawn.

Well the last 36 hours of my life have been, to put it mildly, surreal. You see I'm a 60 year old guy who has been married twice for a combined total of 27 year. I had two children with each wife. My son with my first wife drowned at a youung age and the psychological damage to his mother was a major factor in the the end of that marriage. Well to make a long story short my 29 year old daughter from the first marriage called me yesterday. We had not spoken for a longer that average interval,...

The parents of the 11-year-old boy killed by a black bear last summer in American Fork Canyon are suing the U.S. Forest Service and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. They say more should have been done to prevent their son's death. Step-father Tim Mulvey, his wife Rebecca Ives and Sam’s father say they have lived with the horror of that father's day weekend every day since and now they want to make sure it never happens to anyone else's family. It is grief beyond comprehension for most of us; a child ripped away from his family in the middle of...

The Bush administration forecasts a $410 billion federal budget deficit for this year, an indication that, as the US saving rate is approximately zero, the US is not only dependent on foreigners to finance its wars but also dependent on foreigners to finance part of the US government's domestic expenditures. Foreign borrowing is paying US government salaries--perhaps that of the president himself--or funding the expenditures of the various cabinet departments. Financially, the US is not an independent country. A troubled currency and financial system and large budget and trade deficits do not present an attractive face to creditors. Yet Washington...

(CNN) -- Two masked and machete-wielding men who barged into a club in Sydney, Australia, couldn't have picked a worse night for their robbery -- a monthly meeting of bikers. About 50 burly bikers fought back with tables and chairs -- pretty much anything that wasn't bolted down. One would-be robber was tied up; the other in the hospital. Police arrested both. "These guys were absolutely dumb as bricks," Jerry Vancornewal, leader of the bikers, told CNN Thursday. "I can't believe they saw all the bikes parked up front and they were so stupid that they walked past in." Vancornewal...

Saddam Hussein initially didn't think the U.S. would invade Iraq to destroy weapons of mass destruction, so he kept the fact that he had none a secret to prevent an Iranian invasion he believed could happen. The Iraqi dictator revealed this thinking to George Piro, the FBI agent assigned to interrogate him after his capture. Piro, in his first television interview, relays this and other revelations to 60 Minutes correspondent Scott Pelley this Sunday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. ET/PT. Piro spent almost seven months debriefing Saddam in a plan based on winning his confidence by convincing him that Piro...

WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2008 – Simply communicating while deployed to Iraq can be challenging for servicemembers, but one airman discovered that trying to plan a surprise marriage proposal was nearly impossible. But help from several sources led to Air Force Senior Airman Robert Blackburn popping the question to his girlfriend, D’Ann Campbell, Jan. 18. “It was really hard for me to even get on the Internet over there,” said Blackburn, 22, who recently returned to his duty station at Hill Air Force Base, in Utah. But Blackburn’s moving request and a friend’s testimony submitted to “Dallas is Love,” a...

1/3/2008 - BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- Three Airmen deployed here from the 110th Fighter Wing at Battle Creek Air National Guard Base, Mich., received a welcome holiday message recently. Staff Sergeants Bryce Moore, Kevin Rynbrandt and James Liston received word on Dec. 21 that they all were selected for pilot training. "Our supervisor must have been pretty confident we would get accepted," Sergeant Rynbrandt said. "He purchased cigars ahead of time to celebrate." For the three selectees, it was the culmination of nearly three years of preparation. "I starting working on my package in college, and decided toward the...

WATERFORD, Wis. - Some people get surprise birthday parties. Ilda Ruth Southey gets surprise weddings. Twice in her life Southey was surprised with a wedding ceremony on Christmas Eve, both times to Francis Southey. Her future husband planned their original wedding for Christmas Eve 1942 while he was stationed in Sherman, Texas, awaiting orders to ship off to Europe during World War II. "I didn't know I was getting married, I just went to spend Christmas with him and I got down there, he had the wedding all arranged," said Ruth Southey, 85, who lives at the Waterford Senior Living...

When the U.S. Navy deploys a battle fleet on exercises, it takes the security of its aircraft carriers very seriously indeed. At least a dozen warships provide a physical guard while the technical wizardry of the world's only military superpower offers an invisible shield to detect and deter any intruders. That is the theory. Or, rather, was the theory. Uninvited guest: A Chinese Song Class submarine, like the one that sufaced by the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk American military chiefs have been left dumbstruck by an undetected Chinese submarine popping up at the heart of a recent Pacific exercise and close...

Over the years, as it became Exhibit A for critics of shareholders’ class action lawsuits, the law firm of Milberg Weiss often enjoyed the support of Democrats who called the suits an invaluable weapon in the universal conflict between big business and the little guy. The Democrats, in turn, enjoyed the support of Milberg Weiss and its partners, who together have contributed more than $7 million to the party’s candidates since the 1980s. Last year, the firm was indicted on federal charges of fraud and bribery. But the political partnership has not been entirely severed. Since the indictment, 26 Democrats...

N.C. Man Finds Human Leg In Smoker Purchased At Storage Facility Auction (AP) A man who bought a smoker Tuesday at an auction of abandoned items might have thought twice had he looked inside first. Maiden police said the man opened up the smoker and saw what he thought was a piece of driftwood wrapped in paper. When he unwrapped it, he found a human leg, cut off 2 to 3 inches above the knee. The smoker had been sold at an auction of items left behind at a storage facility, so investigators contacted the mother and son who had...

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3, 2007 – President Bush surprised servicemembers with a visit to this base in Iraq’s Anbar province today. The unmistakable blue and white coloring of Air Force One swooped in over the base and landed. Marines guarding the area where the day's meeting would be held looked and said, "This meeting just got a whole lot more important." The servicemembers based here only knew about the Secdef and Chairman coming in. As the plane unloaded, dust devils stirred the air. The temperature in pegged at 115. Servicemembers all over the base are sweltering in...

Bush holds 'war council' in Iraq Mr Bush is facing intense debate over his troop surge strategy US President George W Bush has met senior US and Iraqi officials at a US air base in Anbar province in Iraq.The talks at al-Asad air base were attended by the US secretary of state, defence secretary, the US ambassador to Iraq and the head of US forces there. They were joined by Iraq's PM Nouri Maliki and other senior Iraqis. Mr Bush is facing pressure at home for a US withdrawal, but he insisted any pull out will only result from...

American President George W. Bush made a surprise visit to Iraq on Monday. The White House said Bush had arrived at the al-Asad Air Force base, west of Baghdad in Anbar province. He was accompanied by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and national security adviser Steven Hadley. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was also there, Reuters reported. Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell said Bush, Rice and Gates would meet their top commanders, Iraqi leaders including Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and tribal leaders in Anbar. "This is very much the meeting of the war council," Morrell told reporters. "This will be the...

This video was taken when my son, Chris, surprised his Mom by not telling us when his mid-tour leave was starting. I figured out why his kid brother was acting strange one Saturday and had the camera ready. Later I took this video when his Mom came home from work late at night and walked in to find her "baby" standing in the living room.The next day, I was replaying the video upstairs in my office. Mom was downstairs with Chris and started complaining about the horror show Dad was watching with the volume turned way up. Chris said, "Mom,...

A father just back from serving in Iraq surprised his son with a visit to his kindergarten class.

WASHINGTON - Scientists taking their first "sniffs of air" from planets outside our solar system are a bit baffled by what they didn't find: water. One of the more basic assumptions of astronomy is that the two distant, hot gaseous planets they examined must contain water in their atmospheres. The two suns the planets orbit closely have hydrogen and oxygen, the stable building blocks of water. These planets' atmospheres — examined for the first time using light spectra to determine the air's chemical composition — are supposed to be made up of the same thing, good old H2O. But when...

Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Smith talks with a group of Iraqi army soldiers through an interpreter at a checkpoint near Balad during a sphere of influence meeting. The sphere of influence meetings are intended for meeting key military leaders in the area and gathering information on the type of training the Iraqi soldiers have received. U.S. Army courtesy photo Soldiers Surprise Iraqi Troops With Goodwill Visit U.S. soldiers meet with the Iraqi soldiers in the first stage of a new plan for training. By Spc. Amanda Morrissey 5th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment BALAD, Iraq, Jan. 17, 2007 -- Iraqi...

Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. Environmental groups allege that, before they won protection for the area in 2001, off-roaders destroyed the canyon by cutting trees, dumping boulders in the water and using winches to drag their Jeeps up the waterfalls.

Off-roaders, environmentalists vie for canyon near Death Valley By GILLIAN FLACCUS,12/18/06 00:52:32 Whoever named Surprise Canyon got it right. Mere miles from bone-dry Death Valley, the canyon cradles two unexpected jewels within its soaring, whitewashed walls: a gushing mountain stream and what's left of a once-bustling silver mining town. These treasures have attracted visitors going back decades - and now they're at the heart of a legal battle between two modern foes, off-road drivers and environmentalists. Five years ago environmentalists successfully sued to get the narrow canyon and its spring-fed waterfalls closed to vehicles. In response, more than 80 off-roaders...

Red-hot Healey scores vs. Deval in debate...finallyBy Kimberly Atkins and Dave WedgeThursday, November 2, 2006 - Updated: 02:35 AM EST Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey battled to pin down rival Deval Patrick on taxes, crime and immigration last night, demanding that he “tell the truth” as she saved her strongest debate performance for their final prime-time clash.     Throwing barbs and often ignoring the rigid rules limiting back-and-forth exchanges, Healey pointedly challenged Patrick’s criticism of her as a mere “criminologist” while touting his own prosecutorial experience.     “I’d like you to please name for us a case in which you were a criminal...

Media reality says that the Democrats are going to win — either a colossal win or at least a narrow win — in the House and Senate races November 7. Maybe. But I am sticking to my view, expressed last June 15, that the Republicans will actually gain seats this fall, both in the House and in the Senate. Well, maybe only in the Senate, while holding the House. Put another way, I am expecting a delicious “November Surprise.” I know, I know. Unrealistic. All my friends who are numbers crunchers and “realistic” think that the Republicans are toast. Some...

OK, we've all seen how cooperative the rats have been in handing conservatives issues with which to pound them senselessly just prior to the election. Still, we haven't seen them toss any real electoral "bombs" just yet. Perhaps we were able to defuse them as with the "Foley no-sex and tossed out on his sorry tail" scandal. OTOH, it's good to see John "Treason" Kerry working overtime to ensure the GOP GOTV effort is working at peak efficiency.I don't believe for a second that we've seen the sleeziest weapons in their arsenal revealed just yet. What are they planning? Are...

A teenage Dutch kickboxer gave birth to a baby girl - a day after being kicked in the stomach during a bout. Pamela Vughts, 17, was taken to the hospital Monday when she started bleeding and gave birth through Caesarian to a healthy baby girl named Charity. Despite being seven months pregnant and 17 pounds overweight, Pamela was unaware of the pregnancy. Her bout was part of a kickboxing event in Den Bosch, Netherlands. During the fight, a ring doctor suspected the young pugilist, who had a bulging stomach, was pregnant and put an end to the fight, according to...