Free Republic

VIDEO only

A PYTHON has been filmed trying to swallow a wallaby whole at a Cairns university. Posted on break.com and believed to have taken place at James Cook University, students can be heard squealing with fear as the python clamps its huge jaws around the creature and begins to swallow.

The Boston Red Sox, down 7-0 in the 7th inning, score 4 in the 7th, 3 in the 8th inning, and one in the bottom of the ninth to survive in their series against the Tampa Bay Rays. The series now switches to Tampa for Game 6 on Saturday, and - if necessary - Game 7 on Sunday. Tampa now leads 3-2.

LOS ANGELES – After 72 hours of having the game’s showcase event consumed by talk of conspiracy, the Lakers brought another ugly word to the NBA Finals. Collapse. As Kobe Bryant and his LA teammates watched helplessly, the Celtics came from 20 points down in the third quarter to take an improbable, amazing 97-91 win in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night at the Staples Center. Boston leads 3-1 in the best-of-seven series. Game 5 is Sunday night as the Celtics will have a chance to win the 17th championship in franchise history. For the Lakers, the...

There was a moment toward the end of the Democratic presidential debate in Cleveland last Tuesday when it was easy to feel sorry for Hillary Clinton. The former First Lady hadn't done much since the top of the show to endear herself to anyone who wasn't already voting for her, what with the health care hectoring and the whining about always going first and the old evil eye trick. But as Barack Obama was talking about how Mrs. Clinton doesn't owe anyone an explanation as to why she's a worthy opponent, the sad reality of Hillary Clinton's predicament conjured a...

Hillary Clinton is filling the airwaves with negative ads attacking Barack Obama as the race for the Democratic nomination enters a decisive three-week period. But her strategy of going on the offensive against a likeable candidate is causing disarray insdie her campaign team. Spats between her senior staff have leaked to the press and are causing embarrassment for Mrs Clinton as she struggles to find a message that resonates with voters and blocks Mr Obama's progress in the crucial states of Ohio and Texas. Mrs Clinton badly needs to come up with a successful advertising strategy if she is to...

Sen. Hillary Clinton, viewed last year as virtually unstoppable in her bid to become the U.S. Democratic presidential nominee, is now seeking to portray herself as the underdog against rival Sen. Barack Obama. The Clinton campaign has labeled the Illinois senator the "establishment" candidate as she tries to wrest from him the message of a vow to bring change to Washington. But political analysts saw some irony in the New York senator's effort to seek the status of a challenger to the establishment, given that she has been a household name since her husband, Bill Clinton, ran for president in...

**EXCERPT** Hillary Rodham Clinton had hoped her strong showing on Super Tuesday would halt Barack Obama's momentum - but that notion was shattered yesterday as Obama scored blowouts in Washington state, Louisiana and Nebraska. The Clinton camp had tried to downplay the widely anticipated losses as old news - and her campaign had ceded Louisiana and Nebraska to save their resources for the bigger March 4 contests in Texas and Ohio. But the big wins for Obama could fuel the perception that he's on a roll, and victories could be scarce for Clinton over the next few weeks if she...

Democratic Sen. Hillary Clinton is losing ground to Sen. Barack Obama in a national CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released on the eve of critical Super Tuesday presidential primaries and caucuses. The two are virtually tied in Monday's survey, which shows the New York senator has lost a comfortable national lead she's held for months over Obama and other rivals. The survey also shows Arizona Sen. John McCain as the clear Republican front-runner. Obama, who trounced Clinton in January's South Carolina primary, garnered 49 percent of registered Democrats in Monday's poll, while Clinton trailed by just three points, a gap well...

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- The curse of No. 2 claimed another victim. West Virginia is out of the national title race. Ohio State is in. In a season defined by upsets, Pittsburgh came up with an enormous one, beating the second-ranked Mountaineers 13-9 Saturday night to throw another curveball at the BCS. A win away from playing for the national championship, the Mountaineers were expected to roll over rival Pittsburgh (5-7) on their way to New Orleans for the Bowl Championship Series title game.

General election match-ups show the New York Senator would lose against every top Republican UTICA, New York – A new Zogby Interactive survey shows Democrat Hillary Clinton of New York would lose to every one of the top five Republican presidential contenders, representing a reversal of fortune for the national Democratic front–runner who had led against all prospective GOP opponents earlier this year. Meanwhile, fellow Democrats Barack Obama of Illinois and John Edwards of North Carolina would defeat every one of the Republicans, this latest survey shows.

During several weeks of calls to possible clients of the woman dubbed the D.C. Madam, Brian Ross of ABC confirmed that some fairly important people had used her escort service. But when he put together last night's segment for "20/20," the network's chief investigative reporter decided against outing anyone beyond the two people who already had been identified. "They just weren't newsworthy enough," ABC's Brian Ross said of the names. (By Donna Svennevik -- Abc) "Their names won't mean anything to our audience," Ross said in an interview. "They just weren't newsworthy enough." Instead, he said, "what we really wanted...

Since it now seems very imminent, I decided that it was an appropriate time to start this up. Links to information and pictures (if we get them) can be posted here.

Top Republicans in Washington will give Sen. George Allen a few days to take stock of his legal and political options before beginning to pressure him to concede to James Webb. Senior Republican officials and White House aides believe that Webb won the race. Several outside advisers to Allen want him to make the decision quickly; others in his campaign want to make sure that there's no chance a cache of new votes will turn up. One question: when will (will?) the AP call the race? [MARC AMBINDER]

August 19, 2006 -- The Mets will honor the 1986 championship team tonight in a pregame ceremony that will feature the majority of that memorable squad. It has been 20 years since the Mets last won the World Series and many believe this year's team has the ingredients to end a 20-year title drought in Flushing. Tonight's ceremony, set to begin around 7 p.m., will welcome back many familiar faces from that memorable team, and the energy inside Shea could serve as a reminder to this year's team what they're playing for. It will be the first time in years...

U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) gestures during a news conference on Capitol Hill to discuss same-sex marriages June 6, 2006. The Senate is debating a constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage and are expected to vote on it this week.

Several Martinsville High School students say teachers stopped their calls to 911 while a fellow student was choking, because cell phones aren't allowed on campus. Witnesses tell police the victim was rushing to finish his lunch before leaving the cafeteria, because you can't bring food outside. That's when they say he started choking, went into cardiac arrest, and died at the hospital. Multiple 911 calls went out from Martinsville High School. Witnesses say Jesse Tucker choked on a hamburger. Paramedics rushed the 15 year-old freshman to the hospital, where he later died. "It's really hard to grasp the fact that...

Being George Steinbrenner Biggest choke in sports history by the team with the biggest payroll in the biggest rivalry in sports. Needless to say it's a safe bet that George Steinbrenner is well on his way to insanity. Page 2 looks inside Steinbrenner's head to find out just how far along he is:

NEW YORK (AP) -- One chance left. Otherwise, infamy. On the brink of the biggest collapse in postseason history, the New York Yankees have one opportunity remaining to pull themselves together and finally finish off Boston. If not, this storied team with 26 World Series titles also will be remembered for the biggest October choke ever. Against its bitter rival, no less. Talk about a painful winter of wondering what if. Talk about an angry George Steinbrenner. Time to panic in pinstripe city. ``If you've got nerves, you shouldn't be there,'' star closer Mariano Rivera said. Curt Schilling shut down...