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'Tis the season — every year at this time — for the various renderings of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This year, the current animated version in the cinema — starring a computer-generated Jim Carrey in multiple roles — has won some plaudits for sticking with the spirit of the Dickens original. So it might come as some surprise to learn that when Dickens himself performed A Christmas Carol, he didn't do it as it's written. And during this holiday season, you can see the proof. In a small glass case at the New York Public Library, there sits...

Prof. Rick Trebino Georgia Institute of Technology School of Physics Atlanta, GA 30332 rick.trebino@physics.gatech.edu www.physics.gatech.edu/frog The essence of science is reasoned debate. So, if you disagree with something reported in a scientific paper, you can write a “Comment” on it. Yet you don’t see many Comments. Some believe that this is because journal editors are reluctant to publish Comments because Comments reveal their mistakes—papers they shouldn’t have allowed to be published in the first place. Indeed, scientists often complain that it can be very difficult to publish one. Fortunately, in this article, I’ll share with you my recent experience...

It's been a terrible week for Tiger Woods, but the golf star's moment of madness at the steering wheel has brought a surge in sales for a book written by a science writer teaching at Sussex University. A series of pictures released by Florida police of Woods's wrecked SUV includes a shot of the back seat, complete with waterbottle, towel and furled umbrella. But there among the shards of tinted glass in the footwell sits a well-thumbed copy of a paperback with the golf-appropriate title clearly visible: Get a Grip on Physics. This incidental role in Woods's domestic drama has...

The cover of the January 2010 issue of Golf Digest probably seemed like a great idea at the time. The issue is available on newsstands now and CNBC reports that Golf Digest says it has no plans to pull it. "10 Tips Obama can take from Tiger"? Huh. I can think of a few dozen. (Aside: "How to outsmart your buddies"? "Load it & let it go"? This cover is a gold mine of unintentional comedy.) Tiger and Obama have a history; Tiger spoke at Obama's inauguration and later visited the White House. Obama, of course, has begun embracing golf...

Cairo, December 2nd, 2009 – Egypt’s leading Egyptologist, Dr Zahi Hawass, has revealed that an excavation team under his charge are investigating an ancient tomb at the centre of claims regarding the alleged discovery of a cave underworld beneath the Pyramids of Giza. In August British writer and explorer Andrew Collins announced that he had rediscovered the entrance to a previously unexplored cave system, entered via a mysterious tomb several hundred meters west of the Great Pyramid. The cave entrance was found following clues left in the 200-year-old memoirs of British diplomat and explorer Henry Salt, who recorded how in...

If Tiger Woods wants a quick exit from the world of scandal he's entered, he might as well start listening to the Internet's No. 1 gossip "gangstar," Perez Hilton. The self-proclaimed "Queen of All Media" is in New York this week, celebrating the release of "True Bloggywood Stories: The Glamorous Life of Beating, Cheating and Overdosing." Until now, this is a world that the 33-year-old golf superstar has avoided. But had the book come out a few weeks later, Hilton might have had to stop the presses so he could include Woods' controversial car crash alongside the scandals of Jon...

London, England (CNN) -- It is a truth universally acknowledged -- or nearly so -- that Jane Austen, the author of "Pride and Prejudice," died of a rare illness called Addison's disease, which robs the body of the ability to make critical hormones. Katherine White doesn't believe it. White, herself a sufferer of Addison's disease, has studied Austen's own letters and those of her family and friends, and concluded that key symptoms just don't match what's known about the illness. The disease -- a failure of the adrenal glands -- was unknown in Austen's day, first having been identified nearly...

I'm seeking help finding a new author and/or book suggestions for my daughter for Christmas. She is 12 going on 13, and very smart (gifted student, genius IQ, home-schooled.) She is moving beyond her pre-teen books. I'm looking for books/authors that are early adult, without graphic sexual/horror situations. She enjoys mystery, history (fiction or non-fiction), adventure, and romantic comedy. She is a big fan of Brian Jacques and Gail Carson Levine.

I apologize in advance for the vanity, but I'd like to request some of the talents of the folks on Free Republic to assist in proofreading public domain books for Project Gutenberg.  Project Gutenberg is the original internet site for the publication and distribution of books that are a part of the public domain, and as such have no copyright. PG has published over 30,000 ebooks for free download in a variety of formats for anyone with an internet connection to enjoy at their leisure. The Distributed Proofers are producing over a hundred books a month for publication and, like...

NEW HAVEN — Reinhold Niebuhr, the famed Protestant theologian, will be credited with writing the Serenity Prayer in the next edition of the Yale Book of Quotations. “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference,” is the prayer that is ubiquitous with Alcoholics Anonymous, which uses it as part of its 12-step recovery program. Fred Shapiro, an associate librarian and lecturer at Yale Law School and editor of the Yale Book of Quotations, last year questioned the authorship of the prayer, based on...

Archaeologists are preparing to excavate the site of Shakespeare's final home to find out more about the history of the building. The New Place, in Stratford-upon-Avon, was built in 1483 and is thought to be where the playwright died in 1616. The building itself was demolished in 1759, but it is thought remains of the old house are still underground. Archaeologists will start initial tests on the site on Tuesday and a full dig could be carried out next year. The experts from Birmingham Archaeology will be searching for the foundations of the New Place and will be looking through...

Got to Valley View Mall at 8:30pm (our drive was about 90 min). Before eating dinner with family at Abuelo's Mexican, decided to swing by the Barnes and Noble. Asked my wife if she thought there'd be a line (the signing was next morning at 10am) -- she said "no way". She was surprised (she's a big Palin fan, but gets her news through me as English is not her first language) -- well there was of course a line of chairs and tents that was already very long. It made our dinner at Abuelo's more hurried than we planned....

William F. Buckley, Jr. Born November 24, 1925 Tribute To William F. Buckley With Rich Lowry, Richard Brookhiser, Jeff Greenfield, Garry Wills and Mona Charen

LONDON: A first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal On the Origin of Species will be sold this week after it was found in a family's toilet in southern Britian, an auction house said on Sunday.

“Fly by Wire” isn’t muckraking, exactly. Mr. Langewiesche doesn’t dispute the events of Jan. 15, 2009, when US Airways Flight 1549 successfully ditched on the Hudson River. Nor does he dispute that the flight’s pilot, Chesley B. Sullenberger III, a k a Sully, is,...a “superb pilot.” But Mr. Langewiesche does bang a few light dents into Sully’s hero aura. What the public doesn’t understand, he writes in “Fly by Wire,” is the extent to which advances in aviation and digital technology have made pilots almost superfluous, perhaps even “the weak link in flight.” Mr. Sullenberger’s airplane, an Airbus A320, was...

Question: Who was Gretchen Carlson's guest on FOX and Friends this morning 11/23/09? Gretchen had an author on the show this morning discussing his new book about marriage and relationships. I don't recall the book title or the author name, but the book sounded like it was funny. I think the book had something in the title like; how to get a good husband?

A first edition of Charles Darwin's seminal "On the Origin of Species" will be sold this week after it was found in a family's toilet in southern Britain, an auction house said Sunday. The book, which was first printed in 1859, was bought by a family for just a few shillings in a shop about 40 years ago, Christie's auction house said. The family has since kept the work on a bookcase in the guest lavatory at their home in the Oxford area, it said. The book will go under the hammer in London on Tuesday, to coincide with the...

"I couldn't understand what I was looking at," said the woman, whose identity the newspaper has agreed not to disclose. It was a work sheet called "Solving Equations using Multiplication and Division!" and it featured a photo of a black man wearing a straw hat, shirt and suspenders, with his mostly toothless mouth wide open. As if to underscore the man's stupidity, at the bottom of the picture was written, "NO WAI!!!" The mother learned that her son, the only black student in his eighth-grade pre-algebra class at Lenape Middle School, was teased by another student when the assignment was...

Finished 'Going Rogue' last night - and had a few observations. Be interested in reading other FReepers thoughts as well. 1. Loved the book; the story of the Heath family packing up and heading to Alaska mirrors what my father did, and what I did also.2. I think she was correct in getting her side of the story on her campaign experiences - get it in print unfiltered to the public. 3. No way she endorses Simcox over McCain in Arizona, her admiration and loyalty for McCain goes to the bone. 4. She is definitely running for President.

November 22, 2009 Sarah Palin: My Life With A Down's Syndrome Child In her memoir, US vice-presidential candidate tells of the problems and the joy of living with her special needs son A couple of years ago I began to notice some peculiar yet familiar physical symptoms, like the smell of cigarettes making me feel more nauseated than usual. For a few weeks, I brushed these aside. Then I began to suspect something. There was no way I could buy a home pregnancy test in Alaska. I was the state governor. The supermarket cashiers would know, the people in the...

The CDC now reports that nearly 4,000 Americans have been killed by H1N1 swine flu. This number is supposed to sound big and scary, motivating millions of people to go out and pay good money to be injected with untested, unproven H1N1 vaccines. "Conservative calculations estimate that approximately 107,000 patients are hospitalized annually for nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-related gastrointestinal (GI) complications and at least 16,500 NSAID-related deaths occur each year among arthritis patients alone." (Singh Gurkirpal, MD, “Recent Considerations in Nonsteroidal

Sarah Palin has breathed some life into the word "lamestream". We've been using "lamestream" here at Free Republic for quite some time. I looked up the word in the Urban Dictionary and found Sarahs use of the word was not defined. So I sent in this definition: "An insult directed at the dominant commercial news services for bias in covering politics". They turned it down!

Posted on Friday, November 20, 2009 6:16:55 PM by Steelfish Bay Area Not Maverick Enough To Read Palin Book Steve Rubenstein November 19, 2009 It might as well have cooties. Hardly anyone wants to touch the thing, or even get close to it. The new autobiography by moose hunter and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is harder to find in the Bay Area than a hockey mom. Some bookstores figure it's one of those grit-your-teeth First Amendment deals that principled booksellers must put up with from time to time. But many nonchain bookstores won't handle it. "Our customers are...

Round-up of stories concerning Sarah Palin, November 20, 2009!

Don’t jump to conclusions. It’s not that the retailers are closed-minded. It’s their customers who are closed-minded. Well, okay. Some of the retailers are closed-minded too. “Our customers are thinking people,” said Nathan Embretson, a bookseller at Pendragon Books in Oakland. “They’re not into reading drivel.” There’s not a single copy on the shelf. Embretson said no one has asked for it except for one guy, who was kidding. “He said he wanted to look at it but he also said he didn’t really want to read it,” Embretson said. “Anyway, he certainly didn’t want to buy it. I think...

For those of you who've already picked-up your copy of Sarah Palin's autobiography, have you finished reading your copy yet. I got mine this past Tuesday the 17 of November, started reading it that night and finished it today [Thursday November 19]. I'm slower than a 1-legged tortoise in a vat of Gorilla Glue....NOT !!!

Prominent among the problems of postrevolutionary America were the deficiencies of its fundamental charter, the Articles of Confederation. Beyond these difficulties inherent in the situation loomed a further range of problems attributable to, or at least exacerbated by, the government of the Confederation. There seemed to be no prospect of coping with the war debts that were overwhelming both nation and states; the British could not be compelled to honor their agreement under the Treaty of Paris to vacate the western forts; the western settlers increasingly felt they owed little to a government that could guarantee the security neither of...

Barack Obama promised to halve poverty within ten years. His Republican opponent, John McCain, vowed to “make the eradication of poverty a top priority of the McCain Administration.” Even in the current economic situation, in developed countries, this kind of rhetoric about cutting “poverty” is misleadingly outmoded—because it implicitly suggests that government income transfers can be the vehicle for achieving substantial reductions in poverty. > What is now called poverty is really “income inequality.” Many families earning too much to be considered victims of poverty but who lack the “human capital”, education, training, and family support systems to provide a...

Life decisions are often made when we feel that we are at a crossroads where the decision to turn to the left or to the right seems as clear for us to make as it is to breathe. Yet what about those times when the decision is not quite as clear where the variables that we are weighing are as cloudy and murky as a morning fog? Usually that is the time where the weight is heavy on our soul that we have truly to come to a decision that shoves us out of our comfort zone and that demands...

ANACONDA — The slim, white cartridges fit easily into the compact, black machine. With the push of a button, text becomes voice and reading becomes possible again. After five years of development, the National Library Service has perfected its new digital talking books. In Montana, three Anaconda World War II veterans were the first to receive theirs. The veterans, Svend Wind, 82, Sid Beausoleil, 86, and Clarence Jones, 87, gathered Wednesday morning at the Hearst Free Library, where members of the Montana Talking Book Library presented them with the new machines.

I'm going to be at the Sarah Palin Book signing in Cincinnati on Friday, and was curious if any other FReepers were going to be there? Would love to meet my fellow FReeps.

Former Velvet Underground members Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule will make an extremely rare joint public appearance on December 8 at the New York Public Library. The three will discuss the Velvet Underground's music and legacy with rock journalist David Fricke as part of the "LIVE from the NYPL" series. The reunion of the legendary New York band comes on the heels of the publication of "The Velvet Underground: New York Art," a compendium of previously unseen photographs, poster and cover designs by Andy Warhol, Lou Reed's handwritten music and lyrics, underground press clippings and other reviews, flyers,...

Bob Dylan Must Be Santa (c) (c) 2009 Sony Music Entertainment Category: Music Tags: Bob Dylan Must Be Santa Holiday Music Video

(My thoughts: My child brought home the Scholastic form home last night, and I had to break the news to her that we wouldn't be ordering from them. I told her that we would be boycotting them. This morning I broke the news to my wife and showed her this article. She shocked me and actually went the extra mile and printed the letter telling them we would be avoiding Scholastic as long as they were selling this trash. Scholastic has no right to sell books to my children indoctrinating them to believe that homosexuality is a acceptable lifestyle.) The...

I had an interesting discussion with my wife the other night. We were both curiouis as to why radio talk show people such as Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, do not promote or talk about Glenn Beck. I went to their various web sites and checked out what they recommend to read. It was interesting. Limbaugh - no Beck books. Levin - no Beck books. Hannity - no Beck books. Coulter - no Beck books. Ingraham - one Beck book. My wife and I came to the conclusion that the reason he is being shunned by the powers that be is due...

Okay - I don't really know if I want to share this, because I am going to have to leave work early, and get home late, and I really want to get my book signed, but...(major run on sentence alert) Glenn Beck is going to be at the Books a Million on Indiantown Road in Jupiter this Friday (11/20) rom 5-6 p.m.

“King David and King Solomon lived merry, merry lives, With many, many concubines and many, many wives. But when old age crept after them, with many, many qualms, King Solomon wrote the Proverbs and King David wrote the Psalms.” There are several versions of this anonymous rhyme, but the problem, some biblical archaeologists argue, is that there is little evidence that either king existed: archaeological remains have been assigned to their reigns on the basis of cryptic verses in the Old Testament, and then used to “prove” the date of similar buildings at other sites. Until 15 years ago, Professor...

The New York newspaperman says our founding document is especially vital today, in an age of expanding state power. Seth Lipsky has a knack for seeing the bright side of things. A nearly 20-year veteran of this newspaper, including its editorial page, he cheerfully acknowledges the obvious: This is far from a golden age of free-market conservatism. Of President Obama, he tells me over lunch, "I sense that he has a very leftist, socialist-oriented worldview." Yet this makes Mr. Lipsky anything but grim: "I for one find this very exciting. . . . We're just at a great moment." Why?...

50 Reasons why LORD OF THE RINGS sucks Fellowship of the Rings was shoved down our throats. I've heard some students are even forced to read some novelization of the movie in their literature classes. Ridiculous. Does Hollywood run our classrooms now? Greed. Hollywood can't make a movie these days without crapping out a sequel the next year to squeeze more money out of the sheep. Guess what; there's ANOTHER LOTR movie coming this Christmas. Gee, I wonder what will bring Rocky out of retirement this time? Quality Control at New Line. Millions of copies of the LOTR DVD have...

PHOENIX (AP) -- A high school librarian in Phoenix says a former student at the school returned two overdue books checked out 51 years ago along with a $1,000 money order to cover the fines. Camelback High School librarian Georgette Bordine says the two Audubon Society books checked out in 1959 and the money order were sent by someone who wanted to remain anonymous.

I am interested in reading opinions of others who have researched and/or purchased a digital reader. Looks like Kindle and Sony Reader are the name of the game now, but I heard that Barnes and Noble is coming out with one soon. I'm not so much interested in having the latest best seller as I am in having an adequate selection of good books which are available at a low cost or for free. The portability and ease of use are important criteria. The ability to enlarge print would be especially welcome to these aging eyes. Thanks for your input.

In The Weekly Standard of 11/09/2009, Andrew Ferguson uses the release of Christmas In the Heart as a jumping off point to mock Bob Dylan as an artist generally, to mock those who hold his work in high regard, and, more broadly, to deride baby boomers and baby boomer culture. Now, I don’t much mind knocks against the self-importance of baby boomers (perhaps selfishly, since I’m not one myself) but I feel somewhat obliged to respond to his mockery of Dylan and those who enjoy his work. My sense of obligation might come from the fact that I generally like...

I have 3 weeks of air and ship time starting in a few days and need a good book to read. I'm trying to think of what I'd like to read but have been unable to come up with anything specific. I'm open to most/any suggestions. Thanks

I realize we're in the middle of a depression, and we have a socialist as a president- but that's no excuse not to have a sense of humor. Here are a collection of some of the funniest videos/sites I've ever found on the internet- please post your own and let's all have a good laugh.

I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer, The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here." The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die, I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I: O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away"; But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play, The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play, O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play. I went into a theatre as sober as...

Some reviewers have called "Saving Private Ryan," Steven Spielberg's World War II film about D-Day and the search for a soldier, one of the greatest war movies. Military historian Antony Beevor begs to differ. Not only is it not the greatest war movie, it's not even the best cinematic depiction of D-Day, says Beevor, author of the newly published "D-Day: The Battle for Normandy" (Viking). He admires the famed Omaha Beach opening -- "Probably the most realistic battle sequence ever filmed," he said -- but described the rest of "Saving Private Ryan" as "ghastly." "It's sort of a 'Dirty Dozen'...

Apostrophist Corrects Punctuation On Street Signs Stefan Gatward, a 62-year-old accountant, has been called a vandal and graffiti artist after he corrected the punctuation on his street signs. By Chris Irvine 18 Aug 2009 Frustrated by living in "St Johns Close", in Turnbridge Wells, Mr Gatward decided to buy a can of black paint and a craft brush before correcting the name to "St John's Close". Mr Gatward, a former soldier, said: "I think one should stand up for things and language is worth standing up for. The trouble is that everything is dumbed down now. "I've lived on St...

I just heard that Gov Huckabee will do a book signing tomorrow afternoon. Who knew? Compare and contrast with the Palin book tour. My local AM station carries his commentary on their morning show and they will do an interview with him or I would have not even known. The story is not in the online versions of the two local papers I check each morning.

It's one of America's most haunting crime stories: four members of a Kansas family brutally murdered on Nov. 15, 1959, at their rural farmhouse. The slayings of the Clutters — chronicled in Truman Capote's book, "In Cold Blood" — have overshadowed the town of Holcomb for the past half century and the trial and execution of the culprits has brought little, if any, closure. For many townsfolk, the wounds have been slow to heal partly because of Capote's critically acclaimed, nonfiction novel that spawned a new literary genre. The book has been reviled in its birthplace by residents because of...

You know you've made it when you're in the dictionary. But you know you've made it in a humorous way when you appear in the Urban Dictionary. UrbanDictionary.com, which tracks pop culture terms, has added one more: Scozzafavaed. Referring to Dede Scozzafava, the moderate Republican assemblywoman who pulled out of New York's District 23 race and threw her support behind the Democrat. To be "Scozzafavaed", as defined by UrbanDictionary.com, is to be "Purged of moderation, e.g., within in a Congressional district." It can also mean "Inadvertently revealed internal chaos, e.g., within in a political Party." As an adjective: "Doomed due...