Free Republic

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...

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid collected a $1.1 million windfall on a Las Vegas land sale even though he hadn't personally owned the property for three years, property deeds show. ADVERTISEMENT In the process, Reid did not disclose to Congress an earlier sale in which he transferred his land to a company created by a friend and took a financial stake in that company, according to records and interviews. The Nevada Democrat's deal was engineered by Jay Brown, a longtime friend and former casino lawyer whose name surfaced in a major political bribery trial this summer and in...

What will hit the newspapers today around 3pm???

One hears not an encouraging word about US President George W Bush these days, even from Republican loyalists. Yet I believe that Bush will stage the strongest political comeback of any US politician since Abraham Lincoln won re-election in 1864 in the midst of the American Civil War. Two years ago I wrote that Bush would win a second term as president but live to regret it. Iraq's internal collapse and the president's poll numbers bear my forecast out. But Bush's Republicans will triumph in next November's congressional elections for the same reason that Bush beat Democratic challenger John Kerry...