Free Republic

Mr. Lewis said there was one particularly moving exchange with the president that he wished he could have described in greater detail. But the White House nixed the idea, perhaps wary of having the commander in chief described as in tears. Mr. Lewis declined to delve into too much detail because he said he did not want to violate the ground rules he agreed to, but he did offer that the president explained to him how the job exacts a heavy emotional toll.

When Tears Flow in Court, It’s Pass a Tissue and Just Wait for the Agony to EndBy WILLIAM GLABERSON Published: December 22, 2011 Courthouse regulars know the signs: the trembling fingers, the sniffle, the telltale blow of the nose. **SNIP** The latest excruciating example came this week, as a previously powerful state senator from Brooklyn, Carl Kruger, sobbed his way through an admission of receiving bribes sufficient to have financed a shiny Bentley and a Mill Basin mansion originally built for a mob boss. Mr. Kruger’s wad of tissues emphasized the humiliation of the moment. But his defense-table crying was...

SIERRA VISTA — On a clear and calm morning, a giant American flag, suspended from two extended fire engine ladders, fluttered in the breeze as those below gathered to remember that fateful day in 2001. With somber memories but a unity that binds all Americans, they gathered to pay homage to the men and women who lost their lives and continue to do so for the ideals that make this nation great. On Sept. 11, 2011, 10 years after the attacks that took nearly 3,000 lives, more than of 250 people gathered in Veterans’ Memorial Park for a short ceremony...

Good morning! There are seventeen months left until we retake the country, until November 2012. As far as I know Caligula is the only one who has declared for the RATS. The GOP field is shaping up with many contenders. Sarah Palin is on a JERK THE MEDIA AROUND bus tour in the Northeast and elsewhere to call attention to America's founding documents and our founding fathers and principles. She has promised her radio talk friends in Alaska that she would tell them first of her decision to run. That hasn't happened yet. And in the hypocriscy department, Caligula's administration...

One by one, conservatives are expressing their displeasure in the way Speaker of the House John Boehner is leading the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives. Conservative talker Mark Levin has expressed his frustration on a nightly basis in recent weeks.

Marine Sgt. Garrett A. Misener's family will not be able to travel to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware tonight -- when his body is expected to return to the U.S. -- because of the blizzard that struck the East Coast and forced airlines to cancel flights nationwide. Misener's mother, Janne Zaccagnino, said a five-hour flight from Dover to Memphis will then bring her son home. Misener, a 25-year-old Marine squad leader, died in the early morning hours Monday in Afghanistan, fatally wounded by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in Helmand province, according to his family and the...

Shortage due to India increasing its export prices to meet domestic shortfallOnion is causing tears to flow freely in UAE kitchens as price of the most used vegetable in the world have almost doubled following a recent enhancement of maximum export price ceiling in India, one of the main sources of onions. Due to mounting shortage in the domestic market, the Indian government has increased the Maximum Export Price (MEP) of onion from $375 per tonne to $525 per tonne, an increase of $150 per tonne. Onion price per kilo in India has gone up from Rs15 to Rs40. Shortage...

Judging by the ground rules established by the political parties concerning how the Washington press corps covers today's election-related events inside the Beltway, Democrats are probably preparing for a tough night, while Republicans are gearing up for what could be an historic election.House Democrats and Republicans are each holding various press events today, but Democrats have been careful to control media access on election night, in anticipation of a vote count that analysts have predicted will result in a tumultuous evening for the Democratic Party.That's in stark contrast to the celebration kicked off when then-House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and...

While U.S. Army Maj. Frank Fair was away in Afghanistan, Iraq and Qatar, his 7-year-old daughter lost her front teeth and learned to write letters. Wearing a red, white and blue sundress, Katherine said she couldn't wait to give him a hug. His 4-year-old son had to have surgery after getting his hand caught in an escalator. Nikolas, who saved a spot on his cast for his father to sign, said he couldn't wait to play again with his dad. The two, with their 38-year-old mother, Kristen, gathered wi....

BEND, Ore. -- It was a time of mourning for a few dozen people who gathered at Bend's Drake Park Thursday evening for a memorial to honor 109 Canada geese that were euthanized last week. Those in attendance expressed their feelings, observed a moment of silence for their surviving companions and families, and discussed ideas of how to prevent this from happening again. Organizers arranged the memorial event with the intention of "bonding together to promote proven methods of non-lethal methods of goose control."

The funeral flowers were red, white and blue. The flag overhead was three stories tall. The salutes numbered in the thousands. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base paid somber tribute to two elite combat rescuers killed in action in Afghanistan, but amid the pomp, the tiny hand of a toddler hammered home the loss. Nestled in the arms of his tearful mother, 21-month-old Michael Flores Jr. reached out and petted a photo of his late father's face that overlooked an empty pair of combat boots. The moment capped an emotional morning at Thursday's on-base memorial for Tech. Sgt. Michael Flores, 32, a...

U.N. Special Envoy to Haiti Bill Clinton was stunned by the devastation. The former president remained hopeful that Haiti can recover and vowed to fight for more aid. PORT-AU-PRINCE -- As the United States moved to take over Haitian government-run aid distribution centers Monday, a teary-eyed former President Bill Clinton saw first-hand the destructive scars of Haiti's biggest natural disaster.

The environmental activism group Greenpeace, no stranger to controversy, is at it again. In conjunction with the start of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Denmark, the group has teamed up with TckTckTck to plaster the Copenhagen airport with advertisements featuring drastically altered images of famous world leaders participating in the summit. Though some industry observers have labeled the campaign "lame" and "dour," the group says the reaction to the ads thus far has been "phenomenal."

THIS sad face, eerily etched into melting Arctic ice, has been dubbed Mother Nature in Tears by astonished environment experts. The weeping image was "sculpted" by water pouring from a glacier retreating under the effects of global warming. ... Michael, from Arizona, US, regularly visits the area. He said: "Every summer there is less ice. I was struck by this image of a face - a saddened, motherly face, crying about our inability to reduce global warming." [PHOTO AT LINK]

A Tennessee teen has baffled doctors by regularly shedding tears of blood. Calvino Inman suffers bloody tears seeping from his eyes for up to an hour a day. The 15-year-old is being teased at school for being "possessed" and doctors have been unable to diagnose his specific condition

Daytime talk show diva and billionaire businesswoman Oprah Winfrey, who played a crucial early primary role in raising the prominence of her fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama, was so moved by her man's Democratic acceptance speech Thursday night that she cried off her false eyelashes.

OBAMA TAKES ALL 3; AS HILLARY CRIES AGAIN

I have just seen Hillary Clinton and her former Yale law professor both in tears at a campaign rally here in my home state of Connecticut. Her tearful professor said how proud he was that his former student was likely to become our next President. Hillary responded in tears. My own reaction was of regret that, when I terminated her employment on the Nixon impeachment staff, I had not reported her unethical practices to the appropriate bar associations. Hillary as I knew her in 1974 At the time of Watergate I had overall supervisory authority over the House Judiciary Committee's...

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Scientists in New Zealand and Japan have created a "tear-free" onion using biotechnology to switch off the gene behind the enzyme that makes us cry, one of the leading researchers said Friday. The discovery could signal an end to one of cooking's eternal puzzles: why does cutting up a simple onion sting the eyes and trigger teardrops? The research institute in New Zealand, Crop and Food, used gene-silencing technology to make the breakthrough which it hopes could lead to a prototype onion hitting the market in a decade's time. Colin Eady, the institute's senior scientist, said the...