Free Republic

ANOTHER MUSLIM SNIPER? By Michelle Malkin · July 28, 2004 05:05 PM "Michael Wagner" is a black Muslim convert who was pulled over by an Iowa State Trooper for not wearing a seatbelt. No doubt the professional grievance-mongers are rushing to provide their pro bono services to an innocent man wrongfully profiled by racist cops. Never mind what was in his car: A 9mm pistol Three bulletproof vests Hundreds of rounds of ammunition A flight simulator and a bag of flight manuals dating to 2001 A 5-foot telescope hooked to camera equipment Night-vision goggles and a night-vision rifle scope found...

Michael Wagner lied about his name. He told the trooper who stopped him for not wearing a seat belt that he couldn't find his identification. Then, Iowa State Patrol Trooper Kenneth Haas found a gun, three bulletproof vests, hundreds of rounds of ammunition, a flight simulator and a bag of flight manuals dating to 2001. Haas testified at a federal court hearing Tuesday that he also found a 5-foot telescope hooked to camera equipment, night-vision goggles and a night-vision rifle scope when searching Wagner's sport utility vehicle on July 14 on Interstate 80 near Council Bluffs. The materials, said Assistant...

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - A driver stopped on an Iowa highway this month was found with flight-training manuals, Arabic documents and night-vision goggles, and he told troopers he knew of terrorist plans to shoot up trains in San Diego, according to court papers. Michael Wagner, 44, of San Diego, said he had knowledge of terrorist activities and people and groups tied to al-Qaida and the Taliban. Wagner also said that he knew about things in the Muslim communities in San Diego that would interest federal authorities.

London-AP -- Head-banging heavy metal music may be o-k to listen to while driving -- but stay away from some of the older classical stuff.Britain's R-A-C Foundation has named Richard Wagner's (VAHG'-nurz) fast-paced "Ride of the Valkyries" (VAL'-keer-eez) as the top tune not to listen to while behind the wheel -- because it says research shows loud music can cause accidents.Three modern songs also made the top five, including "Firestarter" by the Prodigy.The foundation also provided a top-five list of songs that can be played safely while driving -- though it cautions the volume should be kept down.That list includes...

Hans Hotter, the Austrian bass-baritone who has died aged 94, was famous for his portrayal of Wotan in Wagner’s Ring Cycle; he sang the part for more than 30 years - longer than anyone else - and performed it for the last time at Covent Garden in 1967, when he decided to retire.With his tall, imposing figure, impressive, beaky profile and voluminous voice, Hotter was the very epitome of the impassioned, anguished god. But his abilities in the role went beyond that into an instinctive understanding of Wotan’s tortured psyche. “Sometimes,” he confessed, “Wotan became a burden to me.”Hotter was...

Buenos dias, salem aleikum... I am writing this message to you two great leaders from cold Germany (snow flurries, 28 degrees Fahrenheit) because the U.S. Secretary of Insults Rumsfeld put my country at the same level as your countries. My mind was outraged, but my senses were delighted. Under the soles of my bare feet I felt desert sand. Palm trees gave shade in a flourishing oasis. Veiled Beduin women presented me with dates tasting like sweet liquorice. You could do worse than being a Libyan. However - sorry, Col. Gaddafi - I would like being Cuban even better. Salsa...

The most important cultural event of the past decade is the ongoing release of the film version of J R R Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. No better guide exists to the mood and morals of the United States. The rapturous response among popular audiences to the first two installments of the trilogy should alert us that something important is at work. Richard Wagner's 19th-century tetralogy of music dramas, The Ring of the Nibelungs, gave resonance to National Socialism during the inter-war years of the last century. Tolkien does the same for Anglo-Saxon democracy. Tolkien well may have written...