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The Navy SEALs Allegedly Left Behind a Man in Afghanistan. Did They Also Try to Block His Medal of Honor? Jay was part of an elite reconnaissance team operating behind enemy lines, and he immediately recognized the call sign and voice. They belonged to his counterpart on another team: Air Force Technical Sergeant John Chapman. From his hidden perch, Jay responded again and again on his powerful satellite-capable radio. But he received no reply. The voice continued for about 40 minutes, he says, like a plaintive mantra—“This is Mako Three Zero Charlie…. This is Mako Three Zero Charlie….” Then it...

Big difference between the care and respect on Saturday, vs. Sunday.

This stuff ain't new, baby! Stand in support of these noble people! The most important thing in Sikhism is the internal religious state of the individual.•Sikhism is a monotheistic religion•Sikhism stresses the importance of doing good actions rather than merely carrying out rituals•Sikhs believe that the way to lead a good life is to: •keep God in heart and mind at all times •live honestly and work hard •treat everyone equally •be generous to the less fortunate •serve others

Five killer whales have been named as plaintiffs in a lawsuit which argues they deserve the same constitutional protection from slavery as humans. A US judge is considering a complaint by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals' (Peta) against SeaWorld. It is reportedly the first time a US court has heard legal arguments over whether animals should enjoy the same constitutional protections as humans. SeaWorld's legal team said the case was a waste of time and resources. The marine park's lawyer, Theodore Shaw, told the court in San Diego: "Neither orcas nor any other animal were included in the...

It’s a pizza based conspiracy! Herman Cain, head for the bomb shelter! We’ve got your back. A record has been broken here at Free Republic, 4 non-related pizza based threads in a matter of moments. I smell DU trolls... :) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2808090/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2808080/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2808091/posts http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2808086/posts

Last Sunday’s Bin Laden Compound Guard Night at the local disco in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Ooops.http://www.kontraband.com/videos/26116/Classic-Dance-Dubstep-Remix/#show

NEAR BREGA, Libya (AFP) – The United States warned Thursday that forces loyal to Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi were not about to break as his troops pursued rebels eastwards a day after a key regime aide defected. ... Gates said in prepared testimony to a key US House of Representatives committee. He also said it was highly unlikely Al-Qaeda would manage to "hijack" the uprising in Libya. "I think that the future government of Libya is going to be worked out among the principal tribes," Gates told the House Armed Services Committee. "So I think that for some outside group...

BIN — jawwad, Libyan government tanks and rockets blunted a rebel assault on Moammar Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte on Tuesday and drove back the ragtag army of irregulars, even as world leaders prepared to debate the country future in London. ... France, which has been at the forefront of the international campaign against Gadhafi in Libya, struck a more forceful tone, however, with the defense minister suggesting the strikes could go beyond their mandate of just protecting civilians. "We, the French and English, we consider that we must obtain more'' than the end of shooting at civilians, said Gerard Longuet...

TRIPOLI, Libya – Fellow Arab and African nations raised the international pressure Friday on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, with tiny Qatar flying the Arab world's first combat missions over his country and the African Union imploring him to move toward democratic elections. The military operation against Gadhafi, which on Friday included airstrikes by British and French jets, remains a U.S.-led operation, though NATO was preparing to assume at least some command and control responsibility within days. .

Urban Meyer is stepping down as football coach at Florida, the school's athletic director announced Wednesday. "I fully grasp the sacrifices my 24/7 profession has demanded of me, and I know it is time to put my focus on my family and life away from the field," Meyer said in a statement. "I will profoundly miss coming to campus every day to coach this team, but I will always be a Gator at heart." A news conference was scheduled for 6 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin should not stand in Russia's 2012 presidential election so that President Dmitry Medvedev can fulfill his modernization drive, the head of Medvedev's think-tank said on Thursday. Medvedev and Putin have both hinted that one of them but not both will run in the election, with the winner likely to guide Russia's development over the next 12 years due to the extension of the president's term in office. ... "I am sure he (Putin) can win this election in a breeze. But I am also sure that he should not stand," Yurgens said in...

So, it's nearly 10am and I'm looking out for the OFST with this pic of Cookie Monster burning a hole in my pocket. Figured I'd kick off a pre-party 'til the real deal shows up.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Former US president Bill Clinton is raffling off a day with himself in New York to help his wife Hillary pay off a still hefty debt from her 2008 White House bid. Anyone who fills in an online form or donates money by Monday on what used to be Hillary Clinton's campaign website -- hillarycampaign08.com -- will have their name put into a hat to win a day out with Bill in New York. The donations will go to pay down what Bill Clinton described in an email sent out earlier this week as "a few vestiges...

WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealand Prime Minister John Key found himself in hot water Thursday after joking about an indigenous tribe eating him for dinner. Key has been at loggerheads with a Maori tribe, the Tuhoe, over negotiations to settle their grievances over land confiscations by European settlers in the 19th century. During a speech to a tourism conference Thursday, Key joked about having dinner with the neighbouring Ngati Porou tribe, or iwi. "The good news is that I was having dinner with Ngati Porou as opposed to their neighbouring iwi which is Tuhoe, in which case I would have...

Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president well known for his marathon TV addresses to the nation, has taken to Twitter to share his thoughts. After he promised to "let loose" on Tuesday night, a Spanish-language tweet duly appeared on his new chavezcandanga account 14 minutes after midnight. It was a simple message to say he was off on a working trip to Brazil. By morning the leftist leader, a divisive figure at home and abroad, had nearly 29,000 followers on Twitter. With his popularity dented by a recession and soaring inflation, the Venezuelan leader has often been outmanoeuvred by opponents more...

(Reuters) - An Australian woman who ran down and killed a man who threw cheese-flavored snacks at her car was jailed Thursday for 25 years. "She clearly wanted to teach the young men a lesson," the Australian Associated Press quoted judge Howie as saying as he sentenced Ward to jail for a minimum 18 years. The jury was told Ward, 39, had drunk two bottles of wine and used cannabis, amphetamine drugs and anti-depressants before getting into her car in Sydney's northern suburbs on June 7, 2008. She decided impulsively to use the vehicle as a weapon after Westlake threw...

A British university is to hold a conference on Vampires in an effort to counterbalance the "Americanization" of the fictional genre. Delegates to the University of Hertfordshire's "Open Graves, Open Minds: Vampires and the Undead in Modern Culture" conference to be held on April 16-17 will have their food served to them out of coffins as part of a mission to encourage students of all ages to study literature. English lecturer Sam George, who has just launched a Master of Arts degree in vampire fiction at Hertfordshire, said the most famous vampire narrative of all, Dracula, was written by Irishman...

An Australian man has reportedly killed a wombat with an axe after the animal attacked him and pulled him to the ground in a 20-minute ordeal. The 60-year-old victim had stepped on the creature which then became "rather nasty" and bit the man's lower legs and arms. He was brought down by the wombat and also suffered injuries to his chest after finding it outside his caravan door. The man tried to get away from the creature but it "kept coming at him", said a paramedic. Eventually he managed to grab an axe and kill the animal, it is claimed.

A would-be saboteur arrested today at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland made the bizarre claim that he was from the future. Eloi Cole, a strangely dressed young man, said that he had travelled back in time to prevent the LHC from destroying the world. The LHC successfully collided particles at record force earlier this week, a milestone Mr Cole was attempting to disrupt by stopping supplies of Mountain Dew to the experiment's vending machines. He also claimed responsibility for the infamous baguette sabotage in November last year. Mr Cole was seized by Swiss police after CERN security guards spotted...

TARPON SPRINGS, Fla. – Nineopus. Novopus. Freak of nature. Whatever you want to call it, the nine-legged octopus probably had a leg up on all the other creatures in the Gulf of Mexico — until it was caught and found its way to Hellas Bakery and Restaurant in Florida. Head Chef Emmanuel Psomas says he was steaming the octopus Thursday when he discovered that it seemed, well, leggier than normal. Psomas says he's cooked octopus for 40 years — it's a Greek delicacy — and has never seen one with an extra leg. He says he counted the legs three...