Free Republic

Long story short: DUmmie Lady Freedumb showed off her paintings in one DU thread.A CC member created a thread. Parody image was created with Obama holding her painting.LF starts new thread, says someone looked her up and found her painting being shown in CC, ends up buying her painting for $16 or thereabouts. She ends up hotlinking to parodied image in the DU thread. Of course, that was MY image, and MY image account. Sooooo.... I edit image, with the following result: Actual DU threadShouldn't be long before she deletes her post, or someone at DU does it for her....

Each president and first lady sets a new tone for the White House, partly based on personal beliefs and private quirks, but few have so transformed the culture inside the building the way the Obamas have regarding nutrition and fitness. Gone are Tex-Mex Thursdays at the White House Mess and the least healthy vending machine options; calorie counts and hummus with vegetables are in. Working out with the Obamas’ personal trainer is one of the few acceptable excuses for being late to a meeting; the first family reserves desserts for weekend meals despite having a full-time pastry chef.

A very '90s-esque photo hit the Internet today of Bill Clinton and Al Gore jogging back in 1992. Love their matching short-shorts! We dug into the archives and found even more images from the presidential jog seen round the world. Enjoy the slideshow! And sorry, gents, but we're REALLY glad those teensy shorts have hightailed it out of style.

An operation targeting al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is under way in Abyan and Shabwa, Yemen, a high-level Yemeni government official who is being briefed on the strikes told CNN on Monday. The official said that the scale of the strikes against AQAP is "massive and unprecedented" and that at least 30 militants have been killed. The operation involved Yemeni commandos who are now "going after high-level AQAP targets," the official said. A day earlier, suspected drone strikes targeted al Qaeda fighters in Yemen for the second time in two days, killing "at least a dozen," the government official...

More than 160 inmates in five Colorado prisons are sick with a mysterious virus. The virus is affecting prisons in Denver, Pueblo, Buena Vista, and Canon City. Because of the illness all inmate visits at the Denver Women’s, La Vista, and Fremont correctional facilities have been canceled. The Department of Corrections says the inmates who are sick have been experiencing flu-like symptoms.

Original Title:Antonov 225 Mriya Departs Manchester Airport, 26th June 2013 Antonov 225 (UR-82060) finally leaves Manchester Airport after being delayed 24 hours. The huge aircraft is seen departing runway 23L on Wednesday 26th June 2013. The aircraft certainly pulled the crowds in. Just before the Antonov crosses onto runway two, Thomson 787 Dreamliner, G-TUIC lands on 23R. The Antonov 225 is currently the largest aircraft in the world.

Around 49 people have been infected in the past six days by the incurable Middle East Respiratory Syndrome virus, which has claimed 76 lives in Saudi Arabia. The country's Health Minister said he did not know the cause of the sudden rise in cases Saudi Arabia’s Health Ministry this weekend confirmed 20 new cases of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. All told, the MERS virus has infected 244 people in Saudi Arabia, with 49 confirmed cases in the past six days alone.

When Barack Obama took office, he pledged a new overture to the world’s emerging powers. Today each of the Brics – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – is at loggerheads with America, or worse. Last month four of the five abstained in a UN vote condemning the fifth’s annexation of Crimea. Next month India is likely to elect as its new leader Narendra Modi, who says he has “no interest in visiting America other than to attend the UN in New York”. As the world’s largest democracy, and America’s most natural ally among the emerging powers, India’s is...

On the Friday, April 18, All In show, during a discussion of the firing of former Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich for simply donating to a political campaign opposing same-sex marriage, guest Richard Kim of the far left The Nation magazine intoned that he found it "disturbing" that gay activist friends of his have expressed interest in "targeting" more people who have made similar donations, and who have declared they should "find out where they live." Kim: Here's a disturbing thing. I did ask some of my gay activist friends, I was like, "Look, here's a list; 6,500 people gave the...

Late in March, Health Minister Raymonde Goudou Coffie called for her compatriots to stop eating porcupines and agoutis, which look like large river-rats, "until we can be sure there are no risks". Bushmeat is known to be a vector of Ebola, the alarming haemorrhagic fever that has claimed at least 122 lives in Guinea, according to a UN World Health Organisation toll on April 17. Liberia, meanwhile, reports 13 deaths. Hunters and restaurant owners in the central Ivorian town of Bouake are upset that clients have begun to steer clear of the strong taste of the agouti, a beast with...

WV State Regional Jail Authority Director, Joe DeLong, confirms that four correctional officers and four other inmates are now charged after they plotted to kill another inmate. DeLong, who is currently Boston attending the marathon, says the information surrounding the investigation came out Friday when the indictment was unsealed in Cabell County, WV. DeLong adds the correctional officers involved in the incident which occurred in October of 2013 are no longer with the West Virginia Regional Jail Authority. Steven D. Adkins of Milton, WV is one of the correctional officers charged. He has been charged with accessory before the fact...

A civilian cargo aircraft crashed at Bagram Air Field near the Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, killing all seven people aboard. The plane came down shortly after take-off and crashed within the boundaries of the US-run airbase, a NATO spokesperson at the base said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility for the crash, but the coalition dismissed the claim as "false" in a statement to AP. The cause of the crash is being investigated by emergency crews, but no sign of insurgent activity in the area was spotted at the time, the statement added.

April 21, 2014Monday in the Octave of Easter    Reading 1 Acts 2:14, 22-33 On the day of Pentecost, Peter stood up with the Eleven,raised his voice, and proclaimed:“You who are Jews, indeed all of you staying in Jerusalem.Let this be known to you, and listen to my words. “You who are children of Israel, hear these words.Jesus the Nazorean was a man commended to you by Godwith mighty deeds, wonders, and signs,which God worked through him in your midst, as you yourselves know.This man, delivered up by the set plan and foreknowledge of God,you killed, using lawless men...

The world needs to see this.

by Brian Hayes | Top Right News Last month, Eric Holder’s Department of Justice went to court to battle two states to prevent them from verifying citizenship before voting -- before being slapped down by a Federal judge.Today we saw why they fought so hard:Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller says an illegal immigrant has been arrested on two felony charges for allegedly using a false identity to register to vote and casting ballots in two elections. Miller late Friday announced the arrest of Ortencia Segura in California.

Joe Biden, the US vice president, will meet with Ukraine's acting president, Oleksander Turchinov, and prime minister Arseny Yatseniuk during a visit to Kiev on Tuesday. Mr Biden arrives in Kiev on Monday afternoon local time. He will meet with members of Ukraine's Rada parliament from different political parties and regions as well as representatives from non-governmental organisations during his two-day stay, the White House said in a statement

What is it with the Mentalist show two weeks in a row targeting Texas? Anyone else notice this? Last week it was the death penalty and this week it's an all male country club, also sprinkling in lesbianism. CBS

APRIL 20, 2014 7:00 PM The Increasing Desperation of Democrats Slanders and lies may be part of a deliberate strategy to drive up turnout in November. By John Fund Harry Reid isn’t backing down from his claim that rancher Cliven Bundy’s supporters are “domestic terrorists.”It’s astonishing rhetoric given the White House’s characterization of the mass shooting by a genuine terrorist, Major Nidal Hasan, who killed 13 Americans at the Fort Hood Army base after yelling “Allahu Akbar!” (God is great.) Rather than labeling Hasan’s actions “domestic terrorism,” the Obama administration is prosecuting him for having committed “workplace violence.”Democratic rhetoric is...

"""(Graphic picture) Digging up 1 of the HUGE holes where they threw the cows that they had ran to death or shot. I feel that this NEEDS to be put out for the public to see."""

LONDON – In a nearly empty courtroom at the Southwerk Crown Court by the historic London Bridge, a hearing took place in a criminal case that not only has national security implications for the United Kingdom, but, curiously, is woven into the increasingly bizarre fabric of the controversy over Barack Obama’s presidential eligibility. When it came his time to speak, defendant Michael Shrimpton, a middle-aged London barrister by profession and self-proclaimed intelligence expert, politely issued to the judge a series of interrogatories that made clear he plans to launch a vigorous defense, representing himself before the court.

On the evening of Good Friday, a man on the run from a death sentence wakes up in a dark forest, lost, terrified and besieged by wild animals. He spends an infernal Easter week hiking through a dismal cave, climbing up a grueling mountain, and taking what you might call the long way home. It all works out for him, though. The traveler returns from his ordeal a better man, determined to help others learn from his experience. He writes a book about his to-hell-and-back trek, and it's an instant best-seller, making him beloved and famous. For 700 years, that...

GROTON, Conn. (AP) — With no sunlight to set day apart from night on a submarine, the U.S. Navy for decades has staggered sailors' working hours on schedules with little resemblance to life above the ocean's surface. Research by a Navy laboratory in Groton is now leading to changes for the undersea fleet. Military scientists concluded submarine sailors, who traditionally begin a new workday every 18 hours, show less fatigue on a 24-hour schedule, and the Navy has endorsed the findings for any skippers who want to make the switch. The first submarine to try the new schedule on a...

There is new real state to be seen in the Pompeii, Italy, archaeological site, with three restored houses open to the public. In time for Easter tourists, three additional houses in the ancient city of Pompeii, Italy, buried in a volcano eruption in 79 A.D., were opened Thursday. Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini inaugurated the three restored houses, or domus, in a ceremony at the celebrated archeological site. The houses were formerly occupied by the families of Marcus Lucretius Fronto, Romulus and Remus and Trittolemo, the office of Pompeii’s archeological superintendent said. Superintendent Massimo Osanna described them as “aristocratic houses.”...

DENVER – A college student eats more than the recommended dose of a marijuana-laced cookie and jumps to his death from a hotel balcony. A husband with no history of violence is accused of shooting his wife in the head, possibly after eating pot-infused candy. The two recent deaths have stoked concerns about Colorado’s recreational marijuana industry and the effects of the drug, especially since cookies, candy and other pot edibles can be exponentially more potent than a joint. “We’re seeing hallucinations, they become sick to their stomachs, they throw up, they become dizzy and very anxious,” said Al Bronstein,...

On the Sunday, April 20, Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC, as host Harris-Perry chastised Democrats for not bragging about ObamaCare for the year's midterm elections, she at one point mocked Americans angry about having their health insurance plans cancelled, which she referred to as "crappy plans," as she lamented that Democrats are not boasting about ObamaCare or declaring, "Yeah, you can't keep your crappy plans. Just deal with that!" Her mockery of the ObamaCare-induced insurance cancellations came as she compared Republicans to people who flip houses and brag about doing only a little work, as she characterized Democrats, by contrast,...

---SNIP-- After almost two decades of judge-shopping, Carter's defense team finally had the good fortune to come up before federal Judge Lee Sarokin, the most criminal-friendly judge in the nation. Sarokin ordered a new trial on the grounds that the prosecution should not have been permitted to argue that racial revenge was the motive. "For the state to contend that an accused has the motive to commit murder solely because of his membership in a racial group is an argument which should never be permitted to sway a jury or provide the basis of a conviction." Sarokin wrote. By that...

A Good And Blessed Happy Easter! Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed!

(Reuters) - Hollywood has embraced God in a big - and lucrative - way. The movie "Heaven is for Real," which depicts the story of a young boy who claims to have visited heaven during a near death experience, is the fourth faith-based film this year to stir movie-going audiences with impressive box office numbers. Made for $12 million, the film, which stars Greg Kinnear, collected $21.5 million over the Easter weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters, finishing third at the box office behind bigger budget films "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" from Walt Disney and "Rio 2" from Fox....

Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 - http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/tex... BLM Energy Page - http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/ener... Oregon Clear Cutting - http://org.salsalabs.com/o/1780/p/dia... http://www.blm.gov/or/plans/rmpsweste... http://kswild.org/get-involved/blm-pr... Misuse of Funds - http://www.deseretnews.com/article/86... Abuses of Wild Horses - http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/n... http://www.wildhorsepreservation.org/... http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/whbp... ----------------------------------------­­­­­-----------

Another bizarre Obama holiday address… In his Easter Address this year Barack Obama reminds us that the great religions, including Islam, teach us to “love our neighbors as we love ourselves.” From the White House website: Hi, everybody. For millions of Americans, this time of year holds great meaning… …For me, and for countless other Christians, Holy Week and Easter are times for reflection and renewal. We remember the grace of an awesome God, who loves us so deeply that He gave us his only Son, so that we might live through Him. We recall all that Jesus endured for...

The Armed American Radio broadcast with Mark Walters is on every Sunday 8PM Eastern, 5PM Pacific. Coming to you live from the Crossbreed Holsters Studio. Find AAR on your local stationFacebookListen Live Are you sad because the GunTalk radio show with the awesome Tom Gresham ended it's last few minutes, and you have to wait a week for another firearms-related radio show to appear so you can listen? Do you crave to hear from the experts across the nation about our current problems regarding twisted politicians inflicting their anti-gun agendas on free Americans? Do you fear the way certain government...

What stops the Earth from looking like Pluto is energy from the Sun. The quantity and type of energy coming from the Sun varies over cycles that range up to 1,500 years long. The cycle we can see with our own eyes, in our own lifetimes, is the sunspot cycle that is normally eleven years long. A decade ago there was a wide range of predictions from the solar physics community about how strong the current cycle, No 24, would be. One list of 45 predictions ranged from a sunspot number of 50 at the low end to 190 at...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do! For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~   Real Hollywood Heroes Part 2 Info from here.               "Armies do not fight wars; nations fight wars. War is not a military activity conducted by soldiers, but rather a social activity that involves entire nations. . . ." ~ Lt. Col. Paul Yingling, U.S. Army   There...

Kisumu, Kenya: Mama Sarah Obama has announced the date of her daughter’s burial. Zeituni Onyango who died in the US will be laid to rest at Kisumu County’s Muslim Cemetery on April 24. The late Zeituni’s body will arrive early morning on Thursday at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, will be flown to Kisumu and then taken to the mosque for prayers.

(Screenshot: Comedy Central)As we mentioned, Stephen Colbert, heir to David Letterman's chair on "The Late Show," openly talks about his Catholic faith. It's a surprise to those who know the comedian only as the satirical conservative host of "The Colbert Report."In this April 2009 episode on Maundy Thursday, Colbert hosted Bart Ehrman, a prominent New Testament scholar and biblical critic.As Ehrman points out contradictions he's found in the Bible, notably in the crucifixion of Jesus, Colbert takes him to task in his usual acerbic tone. But under the caricature, Colbert presents the divinity of Christ in ways that leave...

Posting from The Independent prohibited so click HERE for the full article.

Johnny Depp’s “Transcendence” bombed last night as expected, taking in just $11.5 million. That’s a disaster for a $150 million movie. This is Depp’s second major flop at the box office, following the catastrophic “Lone Ranger.” And now this poses an important question: can Depp open a movie that isn’t “Pirates of the Caribbean”? The answer is No. He’s made zillions from the Disney adventure movies.

The number of Christians in Communist China is growing so steadily that it by 2030 it could have more churchgoers than America It is said to be China's biggest church and on Easter Sunday thousands of worshippers will flock to this Asian mega-temple to pledge their allegiance – not to the Communist Party, but to the Cross. The 5,000-capacity Liushi church, which boasts more than twice as many seats as Westminster Abbey and a 206ft crucifix that can be seen for miles around, opened last year with one theologian declaring it a "miracle that such a small town was able...

With JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank having exited the commodities business (and numerous other banks discussing it ahead of the Fed and regulators' decisions over banking rules of ownership), it appears a few short months of regulatory scrutiny is enough to warrant more broad-based cuts across bulge-bracket banks historically most manipulated and profitable business units. As The FT reports, Barclays, one of the world’s biggest commodities traders, is planning to exit large parts of its metals, agricultural and energy business in a move expected to be announced this week. This comes on the heels of Barclays shuttering its power-trading operations...

<p>In 1867, Russia sold the territory of Alaska to the U.S. for $7.2 million. A mere 50 years later, the Americans had earned that amount back 100 times over. How could the imperial officials have given up such a choice parcel? RBTH sorts out the muddled story of the sale of Alaska.</p>

Of all the many absurdities of the great climate change non-crisis which has been pointlessly obsessing our planet this last three or four decades, surely the most egregious is the way it has ignored one basic fact: global warming is good. No really, it is. As a few bold heretics - such as Australian geologist Ian Plimer in his book Heaven And Earth - have long been trying to tell anyone prepared to listen, the human species is designed for warmth not cold. Ice ages are something we should naturally fear; warming periods are something which for which we should...

Seems that in a few places around the country, including Las Vegas, there are SECRET COURT CASES going on.Some of the people involved are Jared Shafer (possibly tied to Harry Reid), Harry Reid, Sheldon Adelman, and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Las Vegas, among others.From the Las Vegas Review Journal -- As if written with invisible ink, dozens of lawsuits filed in Southern Nevada courts virtually have disappeared after judges decided they should be hidden from the public. Along with the dispute described in each lawsuit, also kept secret are the outcomes of each lawsuit, the name of the judge...

In the small town of Lake Station, Ind., the news that the mayor, his wife and stepdaughter have been indicted on federal corruption charges this week came as little surprise. Residents in Lake Station, one of many working-class towns that fringe the northwest Indiana industrial centers of Gary and Hammond, have seen FBI agents leaving the town hall several times in recent years. On Thursday, Keith Soderquist and his wife and personal secretary, Deborah, were in federal court in Hammond to face charges of wire fraud and filing false tax returns, after allegedly using money from Soderquist’s campaign fund and...

At $3.67, US Regular gasoline prices are their highest since March 2013 having risen over 12% (40c) in the last 2 months. This must be great news, right? It must mean world demand is picking up and driving up prices of crude oil as global trade soars (amid a collapsing Baltic Dry and decelerating Chinese growth). This can't be related to "war premia" right? - as we noted here - because stocks (which always know best) have discounted all this tomfoolery. However, as the following chart shows, each time gas prices have surged up toards the Maginot Line of $3.80,...

…For me, and for countless other Christians, Holy Week and Easter are times for reflection and renewal. We remember the grace of an awesome God, who loves us so deeply that He gave us his only Son, so that we might live through Him. We recall all that Jesus endured for us – the scorn of the crowds, the agony of the cross – all so that we might be forgiven our sins and granted everlasting life. And we recommit ourselves to following His example, to love and serve one another, particularly “the least of these” among us, just as...

While the White House has continually threatened further sanctions against Russia for non-de-escalation (even as it un-de-escalates itself), the specifics of the additional sanctions have been sparse. German CEO warnings over blowback from economic sanctions... the "nonsense" of replacing Russian gas with US gas... the Russian warnings of "interdependence" and "boomerangs"... all reduce the West's arsenal of financial sanctions. But, as The Times of London reports, perhaps the US has found a crucial pain point for Putin - a sanctions regime that would target Putin's personal wealth, which includes a reported $40 billion stashed in Swiss bank accounts. As The...

Putting a can of beer in a brown paper bag is about to look like child's play. A new product that's somehow been approved by US regulators makes booze as discreet as a packet of sugar. It's called Palcohol, and it transforms a shot of vodka or rum into a pocketable pouch of powder. Tear it open, add some water, mix, and you've got hard liquor. Considering the age group that Palcohol is going to appeal to, however, the sweet, pre-mixed powders are probably going to be far more popular. To start off, the company plans to make margarita, mojito,...

In 2013, freshmen senators Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) seemed like two peas in a pod. Both railed at the NSA, backed the government shutdown, opposed intervention in Syria and championed the tea party faithful. But 2014 has been a different story. Cruz has become a serious, vocal proponent of a tough foreign policy and harsh critic of President Obama’s approach to Iran and Russia. He gave serious speeches on the importance of standing up to Vladimir Putin and on the folly of expecting Iran to give away its nuclear weapons program without stringent sanctions and/or the threat...

Yale’s Agony Over Social Justice The unsettling pro-life witness by Matthew Gerken 4 . 17 . 14 Last night Yale’s campus pro-life group—after a year in which they participated in meetings and even helped raise money for the organization—became the first group in living memory to be denied membership in the Social Justice Network of Dwight Hall. Billing itself as an “independent” and “non-sectarian” center for public service and social justice, Dwight Hall at Yale is a group that seeks “to foster civic-minded student leaders and to promote service and activism in New Haven and around the world.” Though legally...