Free Republic

ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) – A dozen neighborhood cats have recently died or disappeared in downtown Arlington, and many business owners are turning to police for help because they suspect foul play. “These cats of Main Street had a home,” said Sarah Hughes, who works nearby. A long row of white crosses covers two streets along Main Street in Arlington. Each cross represents a feral cat that has either gone missing or has been found dead in recent weeks. Hughes stopped next to a cross with the word “missing” crossed out. It has been replaced with “R.I.P.” “This was one of our...

A Florida election official is working to help confused voters after one person reported that a registration flier had been sent home for her dead cat. Seminole County Supervisor of Elections Michael Ertel said Thursday that he has set up a website to vet election mailings. He says he was motivated by the cat incident, in which a voter told him a Washington-based advocacy group had sent the mailing. …

Anybody remember John Anderson? Let’s not always see the same hands. John Anderson was a Congressman from Illinois who ran as an independent for President in 1980. I remember him well, because I was involved in his campaign from the beginning. Yes, all my life I’ve had a penchant for lost causes. Call it the Rhett Butler syndrome – Rhett joined the Confederacy only after the burning of Atlanta. I wrote a key memorandum to John Anderson urging him to drop out of the Republican Party and out of a debate in Dallas on 22 March as I recall, declare...

Hillary Rodham Clinton's recent comment in Iowa -- "When you're attacked, you have to deck your opponent" -- is examined in Ken Bode's weekly Indianapolis Star column. Bode, Eugene S. Pulliam Distinguished Visiting Professor of Journalism at DePauw University, describes the statement as, "Straightforward, clear, knife-fight simple. It typifies the Clinton style of politics." The professor -- a former network news political analyst for NBC and CNN -- writes of how Hillary and Bill Clinton have a history of countering attacks with return barrages that pack an even bigger punch. For the 2008 campaign, Bode writes, "the Hillary regime has...

This was both just too sad and very bizzare not to share here: BERLIN, Germany (Reuters)—A German inventor has angered animal rights activists with his answer to fighting the soaring cost of fuel—dead cats. Christian Koch, 55, from the eastern county of Saxony, told Bild newspaper that his organic diesel fuel—a homemade blend of garbage, run-over cats and other ingredients—is a proven alternative to normal consumer diesel. “I drive my normal diesel-powered car with this mixture,” Koch said. “I have gone 170,000 km (106,000 miles) without a problem.” The Web site of Koch’s firm, “Alphakat GmbH”, says his patented “KDV...

"White House officials hoping for a bounce in the polls from the killing of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and President Bush's surprise trip to Baghdad are having to make do with a flat line. Bush's performance rating has been statistically unchanged in some polls and up maybe 2 percentage points in others."

WAUSAU, Wis. - Wild cats prowl around the bird feeder outside Mark Smith's home, waiting to pounce on a wren or maybe a robin. About all Smith can do right now is watch. But if the La Crosse firefighter has his way, there will soon come a day when he can open his door, take aim and fire - and not worry about being prosecuted. Smith, 48, wants Wisconsin to declare free-roaming wild cats an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-game license could shoot the cats at will, legally. His proposal gets tested April 11...