Free Republic

<p>Black Twitter has been beside itself all week. Chet Hanks went full Jafaican on Clubhouse, and then Obama (un)surprisingly denounced “defund the police.” But the uproar started when video footage of a Dallas restaurateur berating customers about twerking in his establishment went public.</p>

Giorgio Kolaj should have stuck with pizza joints. The co-founder of the international Famous Famiglia franchise racked up millions in debt, at least two lawsuits and a giant case of agita after he ventured away from his slice-and-a-Coke comfort zone five years ago to open his first fine dining restaurant — Valentino’s on the Green — an 8-iron away from the ninth hole at the Clearview Golf Course in Bayside, Queens. Located on city land in the former mansion of silent film actor Rudolph Valentino — and used later, in the ’40s, as a summer retreat by then-Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia...

It’s been a rough week in terms of eaters finding disgusting things in their food. There was Jon Hughes of North Wales, who found a dead shrew inside his bag of potato chips , and Robin Sandusky of New York who found a lizard’s head and arm inside her salad . Making this a trifecta is Natalie Estrella, who found a large, disgusting bug in her soup from a New York restaurant, as WPIX 11 News reports. After finding the bug (and taking a picture), she alerted her waiter. The waiter took the soup away and disposed of the bug,...

Saudi scholar says buffet meals are Haram A member of the Standing Committee of the Council of Senior Scholars, Sheikh Saleh bin Abdullah Al-Fawzan, said that buffets offered at restaurants are haram. The basis of his statement was that buffet meals have a fixed price, but the quantity of food that can be consumed is unknown or unlimited. According to Sabq news, the senior scholar said that the quantity of food and the price of the meals must be clear and known. He was responding to a listener‘s question about buffets on Holy Quran Radio. “One must not simply go...

Hotel Selling Cooked Human Meat Found In Onitsha * Police Arrests 11 With Fresh Human Head On Thursday Onitsha police arrested 11 people after they discovered 2 fresh human heads in a hotel (name withheld) very close to the popular Ose-Okwodu market in Anambra state.2 AK47 rifles & other weapons were also discovered in the hotel. The arrest followed tip-offs from area residents on Thursday morning. The hotel owner, 6 women and 4 men were arrested. After police got access to the hotel, they made a startling discovery of two human heads wrapped in a cellophane bag, two AK47 rifles,...

<p>Oh, pity poor 9/11 defendant Ramzi Binalshibh. The man implicated in the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans and currently imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay angrily told a judge that during a pre-trial hearing that "there are big problems with the food that was provided — it is a form of psychological torture." Binalshibh's specific complaint? That the government was withholding "condiments such as olives and honey." Binalshibh is accused of having helped finance the 9/11 attackers as well as coordinating their flight training.</p>

The United Nations Says We Should All Be Eating Insects The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a part of the United Nations, has released a report saying that we should all get ready to start eating insects. There’s a certain amount of truth in the report but not all that much: “ World population is slated to top nine billion by 2050, and seeing as how arable land is being rapidly swallowed by towns and cities, oceans are increasingly overfished, and climate change is disrupting traditional farming, a new United Nations study proposes a twist on Marie Antoinette’s dietary advice:...

Cheese lovers rejoice: Recently discovered 40-year-old cheddar to be sold When Edward Zahn decided in May to close his cheese shop in Oconto, he made a discovery that is going to drive cheese lovers more bonkers than the 15-year-old cheddar released by Hook's Cheese in Mineral Point in 2009. In the back of his walk-in cooler, Zahn, 73, found several wooden boxes of cheddar cheese from the now-closed County Line Cheese in Oconto that over the years had repeatedly been buried by incoming cheese products. The result is 40-year-old cheddar that makes up part of what is likely the oldest...

"They ate their victims' brains raw": 'Cannibal cult' members arrested after seven 'witch doctors' brutally murdered The cult members are thought to have eaten the witch doctors’ organs in the belief that they would attain supernatural powers and become ‘bulletproof’ Police in Papua New Guinea have unearthed a ‘cannibal cult’ in the jungle thought to be responsible for the murders of seven suspected witch doctors. The 29 cult members allegedly ate their victims' brains raw and made soup from their penises, according to police officials. Madang Police Commander Anthony Wagambie said: “They don’t think they’ve done anything wrong; they admit...

Lampreys from Great Lakes destined for queen's pie DETROIT — A few unwanted, invasive sea lampreys from the Great Lakes have been shipped to England for use in a traditional pie for Queen Elizabeth II. The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/IdmZkP) the City of Gloucester, which has given the pie as a gift to the monarch since the Middle Ages, requested the eel-like creatures from the Great Lakes Fishery Commission because they're a protected species in England. The pie is for June's Diamond Jubilee, the 60th anniversary of the queen's ascent to the throne. Commission spokesman Marc Gaden shipped 2...

Gov. Rick Perry was near the height of his popularity when he barnstormed California in September to raise money for his presidential bid and to participate in his first nationally televised debate. His state-provided security guards were flying pretty high, too, spending more than $32,000 in taxpayer money for travel and lodging in San Francisco, $4,400 to dine near the Ronald Reagan Library and Museum in Simi Valley, and another $6,400 for plane tickets to San Diego, records show.

Eat the Old: Could Mass Cannibalism Solve a Future Food Shortage? The global human population is set to hit 7 billion on Oct. 31, and by century's end it will stand at 10 billion, according to the United Nations. That's a lot more mouths to feed. There's a very good chance that generating food from traditional farming and livestock practices will not be able to keep pace with this boom. What if a worldwide food shortage were to become so terribly dire that people resorted to eating . . . people? In such a dreadful event, the most-sensible first choice...

A fast-food outlet became the first in Britain to sell pizzas with an extra special topping — zebra, it emerged Sunday. Yummy Yummy Italia in Burnley, northern England, launched the controversial pizza after owner Arash Fard, 33, visited London and saw frogs’ legs pizzas on the menu, local newspaper the Lancashire Telegraph reported. The unusual meat toppings are bought from "alternative meats" supplier Kezie, which says the ingredients are ethically sourced from responsible farms. Fard's zebra creation is not his first time experimenting with ingredients. He told the Lancashire Telegraph that his range of buffalo, venison, kangaroo and crocodile pizzas...

Yes, it’s true! I am a news junkie, the need to look at the news and discuss politics is an intrinsic part of my mental makeup. Just like one needs the morning cuppa Java I need to look at, think and talk about the news. Having said that, however, I do have a few other very strong interests and, in any case, one has to take a break every once in a while, otherwise the ugly political realities can make you crack up! [...]As for books, there are quite a few sites. One that I like a lot is: FullBooks.com....

Man escapes charges for barbecuing pet dog By Saeed Ahmed CNN (CNN) -- A man who roasted his pet dog to enjoy as a meal with his family and friends escaped prosecution after authorities in New Zealand determined the animal was killed humanely. "We were in a dilemma at seeing something we were fairly upset about -- but being in a position of being able to do absolutely nothing about it," said Garth Halliday, of the Auckland Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, on Monday. The SPCA -- which investigates acts of animal cruelty and presses charges --...

Would You Eat Your Buddies in a Blizzard? Suppose you were stranded in a blizzard and were forced to cannibalize your friends. This short survey will tell you how likely you would be to eat your buddies. Note: Click onto the link provided to take this self survey. Bon appetit!

Get Your Hunt On - It’s good for the animals. By John R. Lott Jr. October 19, 2007, Do vegetarians benefit from hunting? Well, let’s just say that all those vegetarians who have adopted their non-meat eating lifestyles because they abhor harming animals might be in for a real shock. Farms actually depend crucially on the ability to kill animals that eat their crops. So vegetarians might consider whether the fine print under their organic labels actually contains the words “no animals were harmed in the making of this food.” With hunting season starting in various parts of the country,...

Mexico City man suspected of being cannibal serial killer By Jeremy Schwartz COX NEWS SERVICE October 12, 2007 MEXICO CITY – On the stove, a frying pan with chunks of flesh. In the refrigerator, a leg and part of an arm, both deboned. The bones were stuffed into a cereal box. Mexico City police made the grisly discoveries this week as they arrested the man the Mexican media are calling a cannibalistic serial killer. Police said José Luis Calva Zepeda, 40, was arrested Monday and was being held on suspicion of homicide after an investigation into the disap-pearance of his...

River's abundance of corpses ruins Iraqis' appetite for carp REUTERS July 11, 2007 BAGHDAD – River fish are off the menu in Baghdad. Dead bodies frequently pulled from the River Tigris have dulled the Iraqi capital's appetite for masqouf, its popular dish of grilled carp, after it was reported that clerics had warned that the fish dined on rotting corpses. “They spread rumors about the fish, that they eat the bodies of drowned people, but this is just a rumor,” said fisherman Hussein Ahmed, 62, after setting his nets within sight of the heavily fortified Green Zone compound on the...

Oldest lobster fossil uncovered in Mexico REUTERS May 4, 2007 MEXICO CITY – Mexican scientists said they have identified the world's oldest lobster fossil, that of a creature alive when Africa was only just breaking apart from the Americas about 120 million years ago. The fossil is 4.7 inches long, and its shell and legs are immaculately preserved by the mud in the southern state of Chiapas, where it was found. It is dated as 120 million years old, about 20 million years older than previous lobster fossils. “This lobster that we found in Chiapas belongs to the genus that...