Free Republic

Seemed like a good idea at the time. Last week in Copenhagen, 1,000 people gathered in a public square to participate in a collective act that some might call idiotic and others brave. Together, bound in solidarity, they each ate one ghost chili pepper — one of the spiciest chili peppers on Earth. Also called the "bhut jolokia," the ghost pepper grows in the Indian states of Assam and Nagland and, from 2007 till it was dethroned in 2012 by the Trinidad moruga scorpion, it was certified as the hottest pepper in the world by Guinness World Records. It measures...

Ten days ago, I wrote a column that mentioned fresh New Mexico green chile would soon be available at a grocery store in Washington, D.C. Some readers in Washington – and some who had friends or family in Washington – wrote me asking that I let them know when the chile arrives. Well, here’s your notice. The Harris Teeter grocery store at Jenkins Row on Capitol Hill now has a small stash of genuine Hatch green chile in hot, medium-hot and (last I checked) mild. It’s $1.29 per pound. That’s probably more than New Mexicans are used to paying, but...

The list is lengthy. From the highly sensual Ursula Andress as Honey Rider to the electric Halle Berry as Jinx, every James Bond film is known as much for one gorgeous female character as it is for its high tech action and suave sophistication. But when it comes to the most recent selection, the casting folks hope they have broken the vault with Caterina Murino. The exotic beauty plays Solange in the latest Bond endeavor, Casino Royale, the first of Ian Fleming's wondrous Bond books. Somehow, the beautiful Murino managed only a fourth place finish in the 1996 Miss Italy...

"Disasters are very political events." -FEMA Director James Witt, congressional testimony, April 30, 1996 Major Garret of the Fox News Channel has been exposing a disturbing aspect of Hurricane Katrina response efforts that the rest of the Old Busted Media is ignoring. In a series of breaking stories, Garret demonstrates that both the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army were prevented by local distaster officials - LOCAL OFFICIALS - from providing emergency relief supplies of food and water to the major refuge centers. Garret spoke about this story with Hugh Hewitt on his show both yesterday and today. Hugh...

MANALISCO, Mexico — They used to say here that if a man is wearing a new wide-brimmed hat, he's either a drug trafficker or a chile farmer. Roberto Gonzalez's sombrero has gathered a decade's worth of grime since he gave up chile farming. Covered with dust from mixing mortar in his construction job, he swears repeatedly about the global market forces that drove him from his "good, honest living" in agriculture. Gonzalez, 65, is among the thousands of farmers who have stopped producing dehydrated peppers in recent years as one of this nation's most emblematic agricultural traditions has faltered. The...