Free Republic

BETHEL — While controversy swirls over a substitute teacher who told first-graders that Santa Claus doesn’t exist, a local dairy farmer and church deacon has put the same message in a very public place. By erecting a sign along the eastbound side of I-78, between the Bethel and Grimes exits, Leonard H. Martin has taken it upon himself to shatter the myth of Santa Claus for any youngster able to read the message from the back seat of a car as their parents drive by. It marks the second consecutive year that Martin has posted what he termed a spiritual...

To the Editor: "Last week I substituted at a local elementary school in Lebanon County. The lesson plan required me to read the 1882 poem “The Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore to two classes of students. While I can appreciate the poem for its literary value, the subject matter is offensive to me, and the reading of this poem to the children imposed values upon me which are against my deeply held religious beliefs. I could not in good conscience present the notion of Santa Claus as a truth to the children, and stated so. No public school...

Here it is — the safest skyscraper in the world. Gov. Pataki yesterday unveiled the hastily redesigned Freedom Tower and declared that key changes make the enormous structure so secure, he'd let his own kids work there. "If one of those giant corporations . . . occupies the top floors and wants to hire one of my kids, I'd be honored to have them working there and be confident in their safety," Pataki said at a press conference announcing the new design. Sent back to the drawing board two months ago after the Police Department raised concerns about dangers from...

"Cinderella Man" star Russell Crowe is expected to get hammered this week with a massive lawsuit that will provide a blow-by-blow account of his alleged June 6 telephone rage assault against a downtown hotel clerk. The suit will charge that Crowe hurled a ceramic bowl at Mercer Hotel clerk Nestor (Josh) Estrada after hitting the 28-year-old Brooklyn man in the face with a thrown phone - an attack captured on video, according to sources familiar with the incident. The bowl shattered against a wall near the clerk's head, according to the sources. After the predawn explosion - witnessed by two...

The grieving dad of the 11-year-old mentally troubled New Jersey boy who suffocated in a car trunk with two younger pals blames the state's social-services agency, saying it should have put his son in a facility where he could have gotten help. "If he would have been put in a safe place, this wouldn't have happened. The child needed a lot of help," Anibal Cruz Sr. said yesterday. -snip-" [The division] did nothing," Cruz said. "Why didn't they lock the baby somewhere safe? When kids need help, they have to help them."

I wonder if anybody has ever done a photo thread. What do you all look like? I guess this is not for the fainthearted. Sometimes I wonder if I am posting to a 60-year old guy or 20-year old girl... Maybe that is the mystique of a forum like this but I am very curious...... Of course I expect flames and funny pix and nobody will ultimately know if it is really you or your best friend's mailman... Yes, I will post, too, as soon as I figure out how to do it...

The days of faking it are over. Scientists who studied the brains of 24 people during orgasm could readily determine exactly when the earth does not move for a faker. Researchers also found couples can literally get "cold feet" when having sex, and that what women have said for years is true: When it comes to arousal, it's a simple matter of sensation for men, and all wrapped up in a state of mind for women.

Run away bride Jennifer Wilbanks' twin brother said he had a "gut feeling" his sister was never in danger when she disappeared four days before she was scheduled to be married. In an exclusive interview, Matthew Wilbanks, 32, spoke for the first time about his sister. He said: * Her years-long habit of stealing was "inexcusable." * His sister knew exactly what to do to make her faked abduction appear frighteningly real. * She was always the wild twin. * And she comes from a loving family. -snip- Jennifer had an addiction to plastic surgery — proudly displaying her breast...

Before bigamist swindler William Barber married Donna and Joyce, he married Donna and Joyce. As well as Diana — and another woman. Barber was arrested this month in Wharton, N.J., on charges he listed a bogus name, birth date and Social Security number on his latest marriage license. Authorities say he married and ripped off at least six wives — including the two Donnas and Joyces — and others close to him believe he may have victimized as many as 12 brides.

Ldotter Note: Due to the passing of my beloved husband, Sidney, we have suspended out Must-Read section for today and tomorrow. This lovely post was written on NRO's The Corner by John Podhoretz. -Lucianne Goldberg SIDNEY GOLDBERG Kind, friendly, amusing, amused, thoughtful, loving, clever, dapper, jaunty, principled, intellectually engaged, politically astute, wise. Sid was the ultimate mensch. I loved him, my wife loved him, our baby daughter loved him, everybody loved him, and the world is a smaller and colder and meaner place today without him.

SANTA MARIA, Calif. — They're still wacko for Jacko! A band of Michael Jackson's most loyal supporters — some traveling from thousands of miles away — have put their lives on hold just to catch a daily glimpse of the embattled pop star. "My family thinks I'm crazy, but my father is very supportive and that's all that matters," said Susie Mumpfield, a 23-year-old Montgomery, Ala., woman who makes her living flipping burgers at a local McDonald's to pay her way through Jackson's kiddie-sex trial. "We just want him [Jackson] to know that his fans are there. We're at the...

The high-school senior who cheated death by suddenly backing out of a doomed Coney Island plane ride thanks God she's alive — but feels excruciating guilt over the pal's dad who took her place and died, a friend said yesterday. "She feels guilty. Wouldn't you?" said Brother Rene Roy, principal of the tiny Catholic school in West Virginia that stricken teen Melissa McCulley attends. Two of McCulley's best friends, Danielle Block and Jo Beth Gross, both 18, as well as Block's dad, Courtney, and the plane's pilot died in the tragic beach crash Saturday.

For those who have seen Epsiode 3, will there be a 3 1/2? Click though to comments... I don't want to post my spoilers where those who have not seen it will see....

She was 21 when he was born — and their romance survived her 71/2-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting him, his puberty, the birth of their two kids, her divorce and years and years of racy tabloid headlines ripping their relationship to shreds. Now Mary Kay Letourneau, 43, and Vili Fualaau, 21, are husband and wife.

"Webs may cancel skeins due to slipping ratings" Another Jackson trial, a visit from "Desperate" housewife Teri Hatcher and a truly gory report on faith healer John of God were among the offerings on ABC's "Primetime Live" this season -- under normal circumstances, a lineup that could be expected to bring big ratings. But "Primetime," once a top 10 hit, is down a whopping 22% from its so-so performance last year, despite a much-hyped revamp and the rising fortunes of the Alphabet webAlphabet web. Friday-night staple "20/20," in its first season sans Barbara Walters, is also down double digits. Newsmag...

Happy Valentine's Day, a day on which we anglophones struggle under one of the worst burdens in a world which has otherwise blessed us: the word "love." The French for "love" is amour, which rhymes with dozens of other useful words - toujours (always), jour (day), carrefour (crossroads), tambour (drum)... So the romantically inclined Quebecois lyricist can slough off a love ballad in minutes: Darling, you're my amour Not just today but toujours I know from that very first jour When I saw you at the carrefour And my heart beat like a tambour… Truly, French is the language of...

Happy Thanksgiving Freepers! What are you cooking today? Anybody got a special recipie they would like to share? A cooking tip? A special Thanksgiving anecdote? I will share my awsome Chunky Stuffing recipie: BREAD (can be old corn bread or other wheat bread), cut into small chunks (can be toasted in oven beforehand if you like it less mushy) FRESH CRANBERRIES CELERY, chopped in curves ONION, chopped GARLIC, crushed (I like a lot of garlic) DARK RED APPLES, chopped in small chunks, skin on, cored WALNUTS, broken up or pieces BUTTER, some interdespersed with the mix FRESH SAGE LEAVES, ripped...

A 2-year-old girl who spent nearly five days locked inside an SUV — along with the lifeless body of her slain mom — could have been rescued earlier but for a bungling 911 dispatcher, officials said yesterday. Little Rosie Batista, of Queens, was pulled from the back seat by firefighters on Thursday afternoon. She was in critical condition at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, where she was treated for severe dehydration. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Batista was abandoned on Sunday morning at 95th Avenue near the Van Wyck Expressway after a deadly argument between her mother, Cesarina...

I have been thinking long and hard about the final weeks of the campaign. Why hasn't the GOP made better use of some of its more colorful characters, such as Ted Nugent and George P Bush? Nugent would make a very funny, pro-Bush commerical. I could see a scene in the woods where Nugent is crawling around, hunting on his belly (maybe ripping his shirt or something) and saying something like "Only fools like Kerry think this is the way to kill a deer. Vote for a real man: George W Bush. " Something like that. Then of course George...

Excerpt:Indeed, John Kerry has a well-documented record of anti-American activities, especially aiding Communist regimes. But the "aid and comfort" he gave to North Vietnamese Communists in 1971 (while still a U.S. naval officer, and while Americans were still fighting, dying, and being held captive by that regime) is the most grievous of these transgressions. His treasonous actions in 1970-1971 are the subject of an indictment that will be delivered to Senate President Dick Cheney, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist and Attorney General John Ashcroft on 12 October. The indictment notes both Kerry's UCMJ and U.S. Code (18 USC 2381) violations,...