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The Senate lent strong support today to a simply worded resolution calling on Iran to let four Americans come home. The bipartisan resolution from Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) passed 90-0. It states that it’s the policy of the United States that “the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran should immediately release Saeed Abedini, Amir Hekmati, and Jason Rezaian, and cooperate with the United States Government to locate and return Robert Levinson; and the United States Government should undertake every effort using every diplomatic tool at its disposal to secure their immediate release.” Washington Post bureau chief Rezaian, a California...

1787-1800 February 5, 1798 To Arrest an Impeached Senator WilliamBlount When barely nine years old, the Senate confronted a crisis of authority. An impeached senator refused to attend his trial in the Senate chamber. Unlike the House of Representatives, or the British House of Commons, the Senate lacked a Sergeant at Arms to enforce its orders. On February 5, 1798, the Senate expanded the duties, title, and salary of its doorkeeper to create the post of Sergeant at Arms. It then directed that officer to arrest the fugitive senator—the Honorable William Blount of Tennessee (pictured). A signer of the U.S....

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon suspended running back LeGarrette Blount on Friday for the remainder of season for punching Boise State defensive end Byron Hout. As Boise State began celebrating on their famous blue turf, Hout yelled in Blount's face and tapped him on the shoulder pad. Before Broncos head coach Chris Petersen could pull Hout away, Blount landed a right to Hout's jaw, knocking him to his knees. Blount also had to be restrained by police officers from fans heckling him on the way to the locker room after No. 16 Oregon's 19-8 loss Thursday to the No. 14 Broncos....

A Maryville woman who went to court on Aug. 14 for a child custody hearing says she was persecuted because of her religious beliefs at the hands of the Blount County judicial system. According to Jo Anne White, what was supposed to be a standard child custody hearing turned into an almost hourlong “Bible study” in the courtroom in spite of the repeated protests of her attorney, Kevin W. Shepherd. After a detailed discussion of her religious beliefs — documented in court reporter transcripts obtained by The Daily Times — and a brief recess to chambers, Blount County Circuit Court...

Gen. Bolger also told me that a new soldier in the Iraqi Army makes around $300 a month, while the terrorists are offering about $300 per night for anyone willing to plant an IED. Yet Iraqi Army boot camps are turning out around 1,650 brand new soldiers every five weeks. That number is growing weekly, and is slated to double in 2006. Like the throngs of voters who queued up to the ballot box last week, volunteers who stand in the Iraqi army recruiting lines are not stupid. Nor are they so desperate for work they'll risk death for a...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Memo to (NCGOP) Executive and Central Committee From: Thomas Farr [mailto:taf@ral.haynsworth.com] Sent: Wednesday, July 23, 2003 3:52 PM Steve: I am writing you as lead counsel for the Chair of the Republican Party and other plaintiffs in the legislative re-districting case of Stephenson v. Bartlett. I urgently request that this memo be conveyed to all members of the NCGOP central and executive committees. To date, we have prevailed in all major rulings in this case including two decisions on the merits by the North Carolina Supreme Court. Because the courts ordered the state to use constitutional and fair districting plans...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- May 18, 2003 Bored With Baghdad — Already By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN AGHDAD, Iraq Last Wednesday two top U.S. generals in Iraq held a news conference in Baghdad's half-wrecked convention center. The subject was deteriorating security and the two officers, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan and Maj. Gen. Buford Blount III, were pummeled by the press about why they weren't doing more to make Baghdad safer. It was 102 degrees, and in the middle of the session all the lights went out. The two generals looked like they were enjoying this encounter about as much as a root canal. At...