Free Republic

Hi everyone, Recently I've found myself with a lot of spare time on my hands, so I've been doing a lot of reading, and I'm looking for recommendations. I'm not looking for anything heavy, but basically escapist fiction, with my favorite genre being historical fiction. I've read everything by most of my favorite authors; Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe's Rifles, Saxon Tales, etc.), Conn Igulden (Emperor, Genghis series), Stephen Pressfield (Gates of Fire, Afghan Campaign, etc.), and also Michael Crichton. So I'm looking for recommendations and who better to ask than Freepers?

As previously stated, Trayvon Martin have felt sufficiently paranoid to lash out violently in the way Zimmerman and witnesses claim. This is important because a street drug that is popular in the young urban community known as Purple Drank or Lean produces those very side effects — agitation and paranoia. Purple Drank or Lean is a cocktail that is created by mixing Robitussin or other over-the-counter cough medicines with — yes — Skittles and Arizona Watermelon Juice, the same flavor of tea Trayvon Martin was carrying that night.

RCP's electoral college map allows you to change the status of states to see what the electoral college result would be. What are your predictions? Personally, I predict Romney will win the red states on the map, plus FL, VA, PA, NH, OH, WI, IA, CO and NV. Total, Romney 321 / Obama 217

Blame it on the anniversary gift. “Saturday Night Live” used inner monologues to explore President Obama’s tepid showing in Wednesday’s debate. The show-opening debate spoof showed Obama (Jay Pharoah) considering last-minute gift ideas for wife Michelle and struggling with the Denver altitude during his time at the podium, while Republican challenger Mitt Romney (Jason Sudeikis) blabbed about his plans for economic recovery. “I can’t believe I forgot the anniversary gift,” Obama thinks, shaking his head. “This is bad. This is very, very bad.”

Denver, Colorado (CNN) – Two-thirds of people who watched the first presidential debate think that Republican nominee Mitt Romney won the showdown, according to a nationwide poll conducted Wednesday night. According to a CNN/ORC International survey conducted right after the debate, 67% of debate watchers questioned said that the Republican nominee won the faceoff, with one in four saying that President Barack Obama was victorious.

His name is Abdelhakim Belhaj. Some in the Middle East might have, but few in the West and across the world would have heard of him. Time to catch up. Because the story of how an al-Qaeda asset turned out to be the top Libyan military commander in still war-torn Tripoli is bound to shatter - once again - that wilderness of mirrors that is the "war on terror", as well as deeply compromising the carefully constructed propaganda of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO's) "humanitarian" intervention in Libya.

Just finished interview on FOX. Akin should step aside, otherwise Steelman should run 3rd party, which she would support.

So I'm watching Greta on FOX and turdblossom is asked about the victory of Palin backed Deb Fischer in the NE Sanate primary. And he says it's a great victory for the GOP, singing the praises of what a great candidate she is. HUH?

Yeehawww!!!!! A big ol' Rebel Yell for the Palmetto State!

Cain suspends campaign. Will continue to speak out on issues, etc.

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) -- A folk artist expanding his home business built around the words "eat more kale" says he's ready to fight root-to-feather to protect his phrase from what he sees as an assault by Chick-fil-A, which holds the trademark to the phrase "eat mor chikin."

The moment long feared by conspiracy theorists is nearly upon us: The "doomsday comet" Elenin will make its closest approach to Earth Sunday (Oct. 16). Or what's left of it will, anyway. Comet Elenin started breaking up in August after being blasted by a huge solar storm, and a close pass by the sun on Sept. 10 apparently finished it off, astronomers say. So what will cruise within 22 million miles (35.4 million kilometers) of our planet Sunday is likely to be a stream of debris rather than a completely intact comet. And the leftovers of Elenin won't return for...

Steven Seagal is being threatened with a lawsuit over his part in a police raid that was taped for his A&E reality show, TMZ reported. The actor, who has served as a reserve deputy sheriff since the mid-'80s, was part of a team that arrived at Jesus Sanchez Llovera's Arizona house in March with a tank and armed in full riot gear, Llovera alleges in his legal documents. VIDEO: Steven Seagal Arrives for Police Bust in Tank Llovera claims that the raid, carried out by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Department, was "unfounded" because they believed Llovera was raising roosters for...

Since the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is responsible for enforcing federal gun laws, dealers and other federal firearm licensees typically contact that agency (or state or local police) when they encounter suspicious customers. So, it raised eyebrows when the FBI began circulating flyers in gun shops and ranges, encouraging owners of those businesses to report suspicious customers to “your local Joint Terrorism Task Force” instead. The flyers first appeared in Connecticut, with a revised version appearing more recently in Utah. The two versions of the flyers we have seen, both titled “Communities Against Terrorism: Potential Indicators of...

The crazy moonbat declared a loser. But we knew that, didn't we?

I apolagize for the vanity. I almost never post them, so I hope you will bear with me. I would apreciate any feedback. It has long bothered me that the Demcrats get away with talking about the "Bush recession", which actually started in the fall of 08, the very end of GWB's term, and nearly two years after the Democrats took over Congress. Somehow the average person seems to think that the Republicans were "in charge" until Obama took office, despite the fact that budgets and spending is completely under the control of Congress. So far the career Republicans have...

An AFP photographer with a US Marines unit five kilometres (three miles) northeast of Marjah said insurgents could be seen planting IEDs on roads around a strategic junction and were subjecting the Marines to an almost constant barrage of mortar and rocket fire from nearby residential compounds. Under their rules of engagement, the Marines were not able to retaliate, the AFP photographer said, until all residents had fled the area.

Shooter was defending himself with shotgun, DA says Based on the information provided to the Yolo County District Attorney's Office by the West Sacramento Police Department regarding the Wednesday fatal shooting on Cummins Way in West Sacramento, no charges will be filed against Michael Moniz, 23, at this time. The evidence presented established that Joe Villanueva, 32, who was shot and killed in the attack, initiated the initial confrontation as he stood in the street and began shooting a handgun at people in the front yard of 1101 Cummins Way around 6 p.m. During that assault, police reported that bullets...

Back in June, Coldplay were accused of plagiarism by Brooklyn indie-rockers Creaky Boards, who claimed that the title track to Coldplay's Viva La Vida album bore an uncanny similarity to one of their own songs--a song ironically titled "The Songs I Didn't Write." ... ...While there was admittedly some resemblance between the two tunes, nothing came of this. Coldplay went about their lives, racking up Grammy nominations and selling millions of records, and Creaky Boards simply creaked back into obscurity. But now a more prominent artist, guitar virtusoso Joe Satriani, is lobbying the same sort of charges at the Britrockers....

...since the law took effect in July, none of the children dropped off at hospitals were newborns and three of them were from out of state. The reason: Nebraska's law provides safe haven for any "child." It doesn't set an age limit. Some have taken the word "child" in the law to mean "minor," which in Nebraska includes anyone under the age of 19. Others have adopted the common law definition, which includes those under age 14.