Free Republic

A British woman said she was followed home by an off-duty police officer who overheard her yelling at her children and later received a warning. The 34-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said she threatened to smack her misbehaving children while they were shopping at a Woolston, England, grocery store in August, The Daily Mail reported Monday. The woman said two officers came to her door six weeks later and informed her an off-duty officer had overheard her during the incident and followed her home. She said a letter from the Southampton council children's services department told her...

The likelihood of outrage seems inevitable this year in college football: The BCS controversy, which even President Obama has issued proclamations about, seems ready to explode, since six undefeated teams - two from minor conferences - survive with only three games left in the season. Two conferences, Mountain West and Western Athletic (WAC) are excluded from automatic participation in the BCS, and must compete for one of two wildcard teams, and both still have undefeated teams. But should a team which has gone undefeated and unchallenged take a slot from Alabama or Florida, which are likely to also go undefeated......

This is the Happiness Hat. It detects whether or not you're smiling. If you aren't, it jabs you in the back of the head with a metal spike. Nothing makes people happier than sharp skull pain! The whole thing is a project by interactive artist and designer Lauren McCarthy, designed to train you towards "Improved Social Interacting." On the one hand, it seems like something out of a dystopian nightmare. On the other, you have such a pretty mouth when you smile! Why not show it off?

Back in 1980 the US space programme was in the doldrums. Apollo was fading into history and there hadn't been a US astronaut in space for five years. The quirky space shuttle, much diminished from its initial vision, was still waiting to make its maiden flight. But that fall came Cosmos, a revolutionary documentary series with a compelling host. Both the television universe and the real one have never been quite the same. Carl Sagan, by equal measure professorial and childlike, offered space enthusiasts a new paradigm. Buck Rogers was out; refined and groovy cosmic citizen was in. Here was...

Many of us parents just learned that ONE teacher complained that it offended her and they nixed the tradition. We are HOPPING mad and plan to do something about it. Any EFFECTIVE ideas????

Someday, people will realize that they can demand better buildings and cities, and they will do so. Extraordinarily rich and powerful people will sense a market in flux, will shudder, see their fortunes heading for the door, and tap their politicians on the shoulder. Architects will start making places people like. Look for a tipping point. It could have happened during the redesign process after Sept. 11, 2001. It did not, but it could have. Someday it will. When it does happen, it will not be because millions suddenly read a book called “A Theory of Architecture” (2006) by architectural...

I thought I'd be domestic for a bit and explore state parks in Montana. Obviously it's a state famous for mountains and glaciers and geysers (well, most of those are in Wyoming, but still), so I wondered what would be at the "state park" level. Found some next stuff. Each picture comes with a link to the page on the Montana state parks Web site. 1. Giant Springs State Park 2. Medicine Rocks State Park (click this one for full-size 3. Lewis and Clark Caverns (Montana's first state park) A very good image of the caverns (I can't share this...

Video of story of Alabama's prepaid college tuition program going insolvent in 2016. http://www2.nbc13.com/vtm/news/local/article/pact_will_run_out_of_money_in_2016/106306/

An open letter to Washington, D.C. This letter is published to advise the federal government in Washington D.C. that this SOVEREIGN AMERICAN will NOT submit to the marxist/communist coup currently taking place in Washington, D.C., and will ACTIVELY OPPOSE IT.This SOVEREIGN AMERICAN will IGNORE any laws, rules or regulations that come from Washington D.C. that further restrict the FREEDOM and LIBERTY of individuals, and will in the future IGNORE any PREVIOUS, UNConstitutional laws, rules or regulations that have restricted the FREEDOM and LIBERTY of individuals in this country. Further, this SOVEREIGN AMERICAN will encourage others to ignore any laws, rules...

A recent Harvard Law School graduate has been accused of setting fire to a New York City chapel that houses the remains of unidentified victims of the 9/11 attacks, leading to public outrage from the victims’ families. Classmates of Schroeder at the Law School contacted by The Crimson either did not return repeated requests for comment or declined to comment. But according to media reports the act surprised those who know Schroeder, who served as co-president of Lambda, the school’s LGBT student organization, during his time as a student.

My daughter a HS Junior is doing really well in school. I am planning to buy her a new laptop for school. She currently has a Dell 13" XPS that has been ok, but the battery has been replaced twice, the CD/DVD will currently only play CDs and it is getting slower to start up. So I start looking and I know she wants a Mac because they are cool, I however am not a Mac fan. Not that there is anything wrong with Mac, I have a slowly dying PowerMac G5 Dual that has a nice monitor I use...

"Managing unauthorized access to firearms, particularly KIDS. Just some basic tips about securing firearms so that only YOU have access to them. Not a comprehensive safety video" A few easy to apply common sense tips to secure your firearms from little ones and ideas on dealing with their curiosity about guns.

The university celebrates its history of valor. Most Americans would not be surprised to learn that Harvard is our nation's oldest institution of higher learning, that it boasts the largest endowment, and that it has produced more U.S. presidents than any other university. Most Americans, however, might be hard-pressed to guess another Harvard distinction: the highest number of Medal of Honor recipients outside the service academies. The bar for our highest military award is high: a recipient must distinguish himself by "gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty." Since the medal's...

(CBS) No other object is shaped quite like it. Unique yet ubiquitous, it was the tool upon which all other tools were made for centuries. It is the common anvil. "How do you feel when you're surrounded by anvils?" CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman asked anvil enthusiast Gay Wilkerson. "I'm happy," Wilkerson said. Although Wilkerson's garage in Farmington, Mo., is lined with anvils, this story is about a lot more than just a collection. "Can we call it an obsession?" Hartman asked. "I think so," Wilkerson said. "I think it is. I think it is, yeah." About 20 years ago,...

Ayn Rand is one of America's great mysteries. She was an amphetamine-addicted author of sub-Dan Brown potboilers, who in her spare time wrote lavish torrents of praise for serial killers and the Bernie Madoff-style embezzlers of her day. She opposed democracy on the grounds that "the masses"—her readers—were "lice" and "parasites" who scarcely deserved to live. Yet she remains one of the most popular writers in the United States, still selling 800,000 books a year from beyond the grave. She regularly tops any list of books that Americans say have most influenced them. Since the great crash of 2008, her...

Harvard students will be able to watch the “The Wire” for class credit next year. At a panel last night, stars of the HBO hit series joined Harvard professors in discussing the applications of the show—which depicts the struggles of urban life in Baltimore—in understanding and combating real urban social issues. “‘The Wire’ has done more to enhance our understanding of the systemic urban inequality that constrains the lives of the poor than any published study” Sociology Professor William J. Wilson said. African American studies chair Professor Evelyn B. Higginbotham said that there would be a new course in which...

The recipe calls for 536 sheets of edible seaweed, 100+ pounds of rice, 167 pounds of surimi, 67 pounds of cukes and an equal amount of avocados. The finished product? A 330-foot long California sushi roll to best the world record one made in Maui in 2001. That beast of traditional cuisine was 300-feet long. More than 350 UC Berkeley students on 58 teams will build the ginormous roll on Sunday. The teams, with names like Smashin' Sushi, AvoCALdoes and Roll Me California Style, are made up of students from sororities, fraternities and other campus groups. After a learning lesson...

Government Education… It not only provides an illustration of the cost up…quality down and lack of control of a government run program for comparing to the public option in Obamacare, it is a good argument when juxtaposed to things like the “Fairness Doctrine” because unlike watching TV or listening to the radio, school is mandated upon our children. Our kids are too often being indoctrinated and not taught, at least with TV and radio an adult can change channels or turn it off.

How can an X chromosome be nearly as big as the head of the sperm cell? No, this isn’t a mistake. First, there’s less DNA in a sperm cell than there is in a non-reproductive cell such as a skin cell. Second, the DNA in a sperm cell is super-condensed and compacted into a highly dense form. Third, the head of a sperm cell is almost all nucleus. Most of the cytoplasm has been squeezed out in order to make the sperm an efficient torpedo-like swimming machine.

This is a Revski/o7jimmy classic and an animation that gives one, incite of truth.

British General John Burgoyne must have been bitterly disappointed one day in July 1777 in the upper Hudson Valley — the day his army, hot in pursuit of the Americans they had just driven from Fort Ticonderoga, ran into a lake that wasn’t supposed to exist.  This part of upstate New York had already been thoroughly explored and mapped, yet the Redcoats, confident of speedily overtaking and finishing off the American force, suddenly found themselves blocked by a brand-new body of water where dry forest and field was supposed to provide swift passage. The British must have soon ascertained, as...

With bailouts and other unabashed socialist projects being embraced by both political parties to "save our economy," has free-market economics been proved faulty?  In the bailout-a-week political climate, it is all too easy to believe that free-market economics are as passé as powdered wigs. Everyone, it seems, is a socialist now, and the old gospel of laissez-faire and free enterprise has been discredited by a cascade of free-market failures that threaten to bring down the economy of the entire developed world. "For too long, the prevailing attitude in Washington has been that the market always knows best," Congressman Henry Waxman...

Four minute video ripping Obamacare. http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=G44NCvNDLfc

Ok, too many sources to count say William Ayers is on the docket of visitors to the White House, BUT, we're to believe the collective lie that this ISN'T THE William Ayers unrepentent terrorist and influence in 0bama's life? Ok, who out there believes, "gullible", was left out of Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2002 Edition? What a lie. Second part to kicking off this discussion is I've been wondering a while about the enigma named Soros. Without quoting Wikipedia, can anyone shed light on a few things: * Why does he hate Jews so much or appear to? What caused this?...

Not to get into a long, drawn out story, but something has certainly surprised me recently. To begin with I am a public school teacher and those of you who know me on Free Republic know I am anti-union to the core. In all my years of teaching in Texas, a Right-to-Work state, I did not have to belong to the NEA (National Education Association) and did not. Yet for the past five years or so I was a member of the ATPE (Association of Texas Professional Educators) a non-union professional alternative to the NEA. Recently I was assaulted by...

Animated red-shoulder hawk singing the chorus of the hymn, Until Then, written by; Stuart Hamblen! Home going song!

The study, conducted by Aletha Akers, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of gynecology and reproductive sciences at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues, further links girls at weight extremes with an increased risk for engaging in sexual risk-taking behaviors. "This study will contribute to sexual health education prevention efforts, which can be tailored to address how cultural norms regarding body size may influence adolescent sexual decision making. Knowing how a girl perceives her weight may be just as important as knowing her actual weight," noted Dr. Akers. Of the nearly 7,200 high school girls asked about their sexual...

Maybe Freepers need a forum devoted to movies, stage, acting, and the arts.

2011 Obama's Coup Fails is an action packed, satire-filled war game that takes place in the not-so-distant future. Right after the November 2010 election, to be precise. It has been said that America would never be destroyed by a foreign power. It does seem our biggest enemies are not from outside our borders. Could the scenario described above ever really happen? If current events keep transpiring as they are, then 2011 Obama's Coup may in fact become a dark chapter in American History. Stay informed and visit the United States of Earth Blog daily for the real facts taking place...

North America - A man in the North America community reported Monday the burglary of his residence. Danny Brantley reported to Deputy Wes Bebout he left his residence at 70 Small Road and at some point between 10 a.m. and 1:05 p.m. someone took cash and a bottle of hydrocodone pills from his house.

This is a two-fold story about an adaptive sports rehabilitation program for severely disabled US soldiers who are veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. The first half focuses on a river rafting trip down the Salmon River in Idaho, the second focuses on the medical facility where these men have been rehabilitated. It is a story of how these men reach a point where they can embrace life again and feel a reason to go forward despite their permanent, often horrifying injuries. The three soldiers on the river trip are Major Anthony Smith, 39, an African American man who...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvg2chZBEXo Video: “Tea Party Express II - Fresno - Diana Nagy” October 28, 2009 New Song - Take Our Country Back Category: People & Blogs Tags: Tea Party Express II Fresno Diana Nagy New Song Take Our Country Back

Those of you who have gazed on the various images I've posted here will remember that I have a particular fondness for columnar basalt: the geological formation found at Devil's Tower, the Devil's Postpile, Svartifoss waterfall in Iceland, New York's Palisades, Giant's Causeway in Iceland, etc. There's actually a good list here, with some I hadn't known about before (I know, what a surprise!) Basalt Now, this picture and this feature might not constitute actual unusual geology; in fact, itÂ’s probably rather conventional, though it does result from a fortuitous combination of geological processes; and as you might guess, it...

LONDON, England For Saudi Arabia's lone female cartoonist drawing is more than just satire, it's "a duty." "I think men have put women in an unfavorable position in this part of the world. They've put women in an oppressive situation," said Hana Hajjar, who works for the English-language newspaper Arab News. "I feel it is my duty towards women to speak out on their behalf, because I have the tools and venue to do so," she told CNN. Hajjar's drawings both challenge gender roles and critique political policy, often depicting inequality between the sexes and support for the Palestinian people,...

Primary school pupils and toddlers in nurseries are being punished for making racist insults, according to a report, even if they don’t understand the terms they use. Teachers are being treated like counter staff in police stations as they have to fill in forms detailing name-calling and jokes. Meanwhile diversity “missionaries” are said to be increasing the divide between white and black children by forcing them to see everything through the prism of race. Adrian Hart, the author of the report published by the Manifesto Club...said: “The obligation on schools to report these incidents wastes teachers’ time, interferes in children’s...

Ok this was just funny enough to pass along. The Source of STFU. Southern Tenant Farmers Union. No seriously! In 1934 the biracial organization started up in response to the New Deal and the farm subsidies that had the effect of encouraging medium and large land owners to take a good bit of their land out of farming to get the subsidy. That had the effect of throwing about 200,000 black families off the land who were tenants and sharecroppers. It forced thousands of Black share Croppers and white small holders to drift to the cities. The STFU, was not...

Note I sent to my elected representatives today: Dear xxxxxx, NO GOVERNMENT OPTION. No matter what it is called, government option, trigger, personal choice, opt out -- NO GOVERNMENT OPTION. Please vote NO on the health care bill package President Obama is trying to push on America. We can’t afford it and neither can the future generations. My husband and I would like to see: 1. tort reform. 2. the ability to purchase insurance in any state. 3. the deductible (high or low) of our choice. 4. medical savings account. Growing up in a low-income home, I do know that...

I guess we're in for another lessons in international and constitutional law as this Copehagen crap approaches. Can some legal beagles address this issue? Just how much crap can the Congrees get away with?

Nothing on the copyrighted website can be clipped to display here. It came to me not as an advertisement, but as an uplifting message. It makes a valid statement about our history and society.

Cisco boffins infiltrate a botnet to find out about online crime By posing as a rogue programmer, Cisco researchers gained a unique insight into the world of botnets and their owners Poor education, a criminal record and a dislike of authority can all turn programmers bad. That's the finding of Cisco researchers who posed as botmasters to enter the world of online crime. "I wanna do what I wanna do, whenever I want," one botmaster told the researchers. By posing online as a rogue programmer, the researchers got him to reveal how he spams thousands of instant messenger users with...

Like most of you, I have a house and work 5-6 days a week. I have 3 children and a dog. My wife works because we have a child in college and 2 in private school. We work hard all day long and then come home and try to balance time with our family and things that have to get done around the house. Our schedules are busy running from place to place and enjoying the time spent together. In the summer we would hang out with our friends or take a ride to the shore and simply grow as...

I used to have a couple of old recordings ...

http://nationaljuggernaut.blogspot.com/2009/09/this-cartoon-seemed-far-fetched-in-1948.html

TOKYO — In a move to promote serious study of Japanese manga, a university in Tokyo plans to open a library with two million comic books, animation drawings, video games and other cartoon industry artifacts. Tentatively named the Tokyo International Manga Library, it would open by early 2015 on the campus of the private Meiji University, and be available to researchers and fans from Japan and abroad. "Manga has been taken lightly in the past and there has been no solid archive for serious study," said Susumi Shibao, a library official at the university told AFP by telephone. "We want...

(Got this email today lets get rolling Patriots) Mathew Staver, Founder and Chairman Liberty Counsel As I've been warning, the secret White House-Senate meetings are now underway to socialize health care. We MUST keep on flooding the Senate with demands from citizens to "Show Us The Bill!" See below. -- Mat Thomas, Yesterday, the secret meetings began in earnest. Sen. Harry Reid met with Sen. Max Baucus, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and other officials BEHIND CLOSED DOORS to re-draft ObamaCare. The entire Senate Democratic Caucus also met BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Reid had already indicated he will "liberalize"...

<p>EUGENE, ORE. – When I began examining the political affiliation of faculty at the University of Oregon, the lone conservative professor I spoke with cautioned that I would “make a lot of people unhappy.”</p> <p>Though I mostly brushed off his warning – assuming that academia would be interested in such discourse – I was careful to frame my research for a column for the school newspaper diplomatically.</p>

It’s that time of year. College seniors from around the world are graduating, and they are hitting the career world looking for a job. And the interesting thing is that most are not doing it alone. Many parents are by their Gen Y’s side and not just for support and to be a sounding board. If you are a helicopter parent who is hovering over your adult child’s job hunt and interview process, you may be hurting your child’s professional development and their chances to land the job. Helicopter parents have not only been bombarding college campuses, they are now...

When it comes to maintaining your car, misconceptions abound. And even the best intentions can lead you to spend more money than necessary or even compromise your safety. Here are a few common car care myths that can do more harm than good. Myth: Engine oil should be changed every 3,000 miles. Reality: Despite what oil companies and quick-lube shops often claim, it’s usually not necessary. Stick to the service intervals in your car’s owner’s manual. Under normal driving conditions, most vehicles are designed to go 7,500 miles or more between oil changes. Changing oil more often doesn’t hurt the...

The 4th of July is the time when we celebrate our nation-- a time to reflect on the freedoms which we believe are not granted by our government, but are self-evident rights for all humankind. Time for the Independence Day Quiz which asks, "How much do you really know?" Every day thousands leave their homelands to settle here in the land of the free. Before they become citizens they are required to take a citizenship test and score 80%. Could you pass this test if you took it today? Our quiz is made up of 20 questions found on the...

Her senior year was just a month old at Newfield High School in Selden when Tiana Rapp, 17, opened her gym locker and discovered someone had pilfered a whopping $150 from it. Police have arrested a hall monitor, Linda Cubano, and charged her with three counts of petty larceny in connection with the thefts. Rapp said she had reported the missing money to school officials, who suspected a student was responsible. But something didn't add up, she said, because the girls' lockers were patrolled by an adult hall monitor. The criminal struck again a couple of weeks later: That time,...