Free Republic

Owning pets could become a thing of the past in Silicon Valley. No, cats and dogs aren't being banished from the California high-tech haven. But Santa Clara County, Calif., officials are considering an upgrade in the status of pet owners. The animal lovers would be pet guardians, not merely owners. The county Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote on the issue Tuesday. Officials saying being called a pet guardian should get people to be more responsible with their furry friends. The measure would change all references in county legal documents, but would not change any of the owners' responsibilities....

Hollywood actor Tom Cruise is planning to eat his new baby's placenta, it emerged today.It is the latest in a series of unusual revelations by the 43-year-old Mission Impossible star about the child he is expecting with fiancee Katie Holmes. He told GQ magazine: "I'm gonna eat the placenta. I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I'm gonna eat the cord and the placenta right there." Cruise has also claimed he knew actress Holmes, 27, was pregnant, even before she told him. A follower of Scientology, he has defended the religion's belief that women should give birth in silence....

TOM Cruise has claimed he will eat the PLACENTA after fiancée Katie Holmes has their baby. The actor, 43 — who wants her to give birth in silence according to his Scientology cult rules — said: “I’m gonna eat the placenta, too. “I thought that would be good. Very nutritious. I’m going to eat the cord and the placenta right there.” But when a GQ magazine interviewer said it would be a big meal, Cruise replied: “OK, maybe I won’t.”

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Duncan Tucker's "Transamerica" was named the outstanding film in limited release at the 17th annual GLAAD Media Awards. The awards honor individuals and projects in the mainstream media and entertainment industries for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation presented the honors Saturday night (April 8) at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. "Brokeback Mountain" had been named outstanding wide-release film at GLAAD's New York ceremonies, which took place March 27. At the Los Angeles event, Showtime's "The L Word" was...

Brian J. Doyle, the Deputy Press Secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Office of Public Affairs in Washington, D.C., was arrested this evening at his residence in Silver Springs, Maryland, on 23 Polk County charges related to the use of a computer to seduce a child and transmitting harmful materials to a minor. [snip]On many occasions, Doyle instructed the victim, whom he believed to be a 14-year-old girl, to perform a sexual act while thinking of him, and described explicit and perverse sexual acts he wished to have with her, in addition to sending her numerous obscene .mpg...

Pop superstar Michael Jackson has sparked further speculation he is on the verge of converting to Islam, after pledging to erect a mosque in his adopted home of Bahrain.The Thriller hitmaker has won planning permission to construct a 30-metre (98-foot) building just outside Manama on land adjoining the palace of the Bahraini royal family.The former Jehovah's Witness has been living in the Middle Eastern nation since he was acquitted of child molestation charges in his native America last June (05). He was recently pilloried for appearing in a Muslim abaya robe, which is traditionally worn by females."Michael is looking to...

MANITOWOC, Wisconsin (AP) -- A 16-year-old boy detailed the final horrific hours of a young photographer, telling investigators he and his uncle raped and killed her when she came to a salvage lot last Halloween on a photo assignment, a criminal complaint says. Brendan Dassey was charged Thursday with being party to homicide, mutilation of a corpse and sexual assault of Teresa Halbach. Dassey is a nephew of 43-year-old Steven Avery, who was charged in November with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and possession of firearms by a felon in Halbach's death. He had been released from prison in...

BA RIA, Vietnam (AFP) - A Vietnamese court has convicted former British glam rocker Gary Glitter of sexually abusing two underage Vietnamese girls and sentenced him to three years in prison. The faded 1970s pop star, born Paul Francis Gadd, was found guilty of "committing obscene acts with children" -- two girls aged 11 and 12 -- last year in the South China Sea resort town of Vung Tau. Glitter, 61, will be deported from the communist country after serving out his sentence, the three-member panel of judges at the Ba Ria Vung Tau Provincial People's Court ruled. "The defendant...

Jurate Cannara knew her daughter Laura was different when, as a toddler, she would stand out in the rain, her tiny hands outstretched toward the lightning. "Mama, I need energy," the little girl would tell her. As Laura Mikuseviciuje grew from toddler to child to teen to young woman, Cannara noticed that her daughter's eccentricities only increased with age. "I didn't understand my daughter," said Cannara, who lives in Verona, of her daughter's early expressions of intuition and odd, energetic behavior. According to some, Laura's tendencies are not odd at all; they even have a name. She and others like...

"Brokeback Mountain," the story of two male ranch hands who become romantically involved, led all films with eight nominations for the 78th annual Academy Awards. "Brokeback," based on a short story by E. Annie Proulx, picked up nods for best picture, best director (Ang Lee), best actor (Heath Ledger), best supporting actress (Michelle Williams) and best supporting actor (Jake Gyllenhaal). Its screenplay adaptation, by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, also received a nomination.

If there was ever a scene that stunned me and shamed me, was to see today the tape of the opening of the Supreme Court sessions for the Judicial year 2006 which took place two days ago. President Chavez was in attendance, the President of the Supreme Court gave a speech in which he spoke of Justice and independence. The Hall was packed with Justices and the employees of the Court. Then the session ended and the Justices in their solemn robes proceeded to show why this revolution is absolutely grotesque and immoral and why everything that was expressed during...

NEW YORK — Kanye West, with a crown of thorns atop his head, poses as Jesus Christ on the cover of the upcoming issue of Rolling Stone. The outspoken rapper defends his brash attitude inside the magazine's pages, on newsstands Friday. He is also pictured posing as Muhammad Ali.snip "If I was more complacent and I let things slide, my life would be easier, but you all wouldn't be as entertained," he says. "My misery is your pleasure."

CURSES FOILED AGAIN FOR STERN By DON KAPLAN Howard Stern may be coming down with a Sirius case of the bleeps. High-level executives of the satellite broadcaster are developing an internal standards-and-practices document that will set boundaries for Stern and other shock jocks, The Post has learned. “It’s something that’s being taken very seriously," a Sirius source said. Stern's new show also is being broadcast on a time-delay, giving him the opportunity to censor the program which he already has done.

<p>Bosses at America's leading gay rights group are demanding a summit meeting with the producers of TV talent show American Idol after claiming the program is "increasingly homophobic".</p> <p>Officials at the Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) were appalled by homophobic remarks made by judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on the first show of the new season, which aired in America on Tuesday.</p>

A man acquitted in court nearly 15 years ago of murdering a 2-year-old boy has confessed to police that he was actually guilty of the crime. But because of double jeopardy — meaning a person cannot stand trial twice for the same crime — he will walk away without serving any prison time for the homicide. Michael Lane, now 41, stood trial in 1991 on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Paul "PJ" Eugene Watts. Lane was baby-sitting the boy for his live-in girlfriend, Jennifer Watts, now 32, at her Salt Lake home while she went to...

Howard Stern might have a new bone to pick now that he’s moved his risque show to Sirius Satellite Radio. And this time it isn’t with the Federal Communications Commission. The King of All Media is fighting some feisty subjects who don’t want to pay to hear the popular shock jock. Sirius and Stern’s production company, One Twelve Inc., fired off a cease-and-desist letter to at least one Web site that was rebroadcasting the radio host’s show — billed the “Show” — as an audio stream. The letter, which was e-mailed to the administrators of www.hearhoward.org and www.hearhoward100.com, called the...

Rev. R. Albert Mohler, Jr., the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says it's "an absolute revolt against God's design" if husbands and wives purposely avoid bearing children. On his Web site and other articles and interviews, Mohler argues that "marriage, sex and children are part of one package" and that "to deny any part of this wholeness is to reject God's intention in creation and his mandate revealed in the Bible." In a CNN interview, the Baptist leader added, “We grow up by having children. Without that responsibility, we have a generation of perpetual adolescents just growing old."

GILLETT, Ark. - In most places, a politician has to kiss babies in order to succeed. Arkansas politicians have to eat raccoon. The small east Arkansas town of Gillett doubles its population on the second weekend of every year as candidates and political junkies gather for its annual Coon Supper. More than 60 years old, the event has become a required stop for anyone seeking or holding political office in Arkansas. Originally started as a fundraiser for high school athletics, it's now the ultimate meet-and-greet for the state's politicians. "If anybody wants to be in the political scene in Arkansas,...

A leading human rights group has written to Nepal's government voicing concern over what it calls continuing police abuse of transsexuals. Human Rights Watch says there has been a pattern of arbitrary arrests and violence against "Metis", who identify themselves as women. The organisation has called for a full investigations of such abuse and appropriate punishments. Police in Nepal say they are taking the allegations very seriously. However, the head of a human rights cell in the police said many of the Metis were working as prostitutes and that as this was illegal in Nepal, raids on hotels were...

Pamela Anderson Takes Aim at KFC By ROGER ALFORD Associated Press Writer FRANKFORT, Ky. — Pamela Anderson is leading a charge to remove a bust of KFC founder Colonel Harland Sanders from the state Capitol. The actress called the Kentucky native's likeness "a monument to cruelty" to chickens in a statement issued by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the animal rights group. The statement did little to ruffle feathers in Gov. Ernie Fletcher's office. "Colonel Sanders was one of Kentucky's most distinguished citizens, a great entrepreneur and a fine charitable man of faith, and he certainly has a...

CINCINNATI (AP) - A dead woman dressed in white was positioned in a chair in front of a television set for 2 1/2 years because she told her caregiver that she didn't want to be buried and planned to return, the coroner said. "Don't show my body when I'm dead," Hamilton County Coroner Dr. O'dell Owens said Monday in describing Johannas Pope's wishes. "Don't bury me. I'm coming back." Pope, 61, died Aug. 29, 2003. Her caretaker and friend, whose name has not been released, left the woman upstairs in the home with the television and air conditioning on while...

Canadian hockey fans at an international tournament in Vancouver, B.C., chanted anti-U.S. slogans as they cheered the Russian team to victory over the American squad. A Canadian columnist, who called the booing "disgraceful," said the venom began toward the end of the semi-final game at the World Junior Hockey Championship, which concluded last night with Team Canada playing the Russian national team. "U.S. sucks!" the Canadian fans chanted. Pete McMartin, writing for CanWest News Service, pointed out the Canadian team wasn't even on the ice at the time. If it were, he said, "that would have gone some way toward...

For years I've been driving loads of dry cleaning, overdue books and groceries past the Lake Forest Park for Peace vigils on Saturday mornings at Ballinger and Bothell ways. Last weekend, Christmas Eve, I finally stopped. Two weeks earlier, the group had passed the three-year mark. Every Saturday since Dec. 14, 2002, a hardy band of strangers turned friends and family has stood at the intersection of personal conscience and public scrutiny to protest the war in Iraq. This is a busy corner. The peace vigil holds forth from 11 a.m. to noon. A grassy, triangular traffic divider is covered...

Following the Dec. 7 season finale of South Park, titled "Bloody Mary," the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights slammed the network for its irreverent portrayal of church icons and sought to block the episode from being rebroadcast. It appears the group may have met with success. A repeat of the finale was scheduled to air Wednesday night, but was seemingly pulled from the Comedy Central lineup without explanation. In the episode, a statue of the Virgin Mary is believed to be bleeding from its rear end, inspiring faithful parishioners to flock from miles around to be healed by...

If former hostage Susanne Osthoff had been better advised, she probably would have opted against appearing on German television entirely covered in a black headscarf. The hijab, which left only a pair of slits for her eyes, made the freed hostage look like a disturbing cross between a Chechen Black Widow suicide bomber and a ninja. On Wednesday night, 10 days after her release from captivity, a televised interview with Osthoff, who had been held in Iraq for three weeks, was broadcast on the German public television channel ZDF. In the interview's introduction, the presenter explained that Osthoff's choice of...

  Liberals, Conservatives, Moderates, it's a special time, can we find a little peace? I have been wanting to do this for quite some time. Somewhere deep inside I believe that there can be a bit of common ground between the Left side of the political spectrum, and the Right. Why would we want this, assuming of course that there is someone other than me that would like to see that happen. I believe that there are many things about our wonderful nation that we share that could serve as a starting point to start a healing between us. I...

3 Quit Gym Over Fetus Christmas Tree Birthright Provided Tree With Plastic Dolls LAWRENCE, Kan. -- A Christmas tree that a pregnancy counseling organization provided to a women's fitness center prompted three people to cancel their memberships because the tree is decorated with plastic figures meant to represent fetuses. "This is insidious," said Kelly Jones, one of the women who quit Body Boutique last week. "This is in my gym." She said the fitness center is a place to promote physical and mental health, not to confront a polarizing issue such as abortion. Lorinda Hartzler, co-owner of Body Boutique, said...

<p>ASHVILLE, Ohio -- Police believe a child was raped inside her home last week.</p> <p>Neighbors said they contacted authorities several times about one of their neighbors and the treatment of her 6-year-old daughter. But what they allegedly saw inside the Ashville apartment frightened them, NBC 4's Barbra Flannigan reported.</p>

A judge ordered eight adults committed to a prison psychiatric facility for 40 years on Thursday for the grisly exorcism slayings of a seven-month-old baby and a 13-year-old girl in a remote mountain community in western Mexico. The brutality of the Dec. 7 killings -- the baby was hacked to death and dismembered while the teenager killed with stones -- has shocked Mexico. Officials say the killers were the victims' own parents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, who had become convinced the girls were demons or possessed by the devil. They carried out the ritual slayings, accompanied by prayers, the lighting...

The free ride for Howard Stern fans ends Friday. Stern, a New York radio fixture for 20 years and host of a syndicated show for 12 million daily listeners, bid farewell to his fans with a final show on terrestrial radio. On Jan. 9, Stern makes his move to satellite radio — where his once-free speech will cost listeners $12.95 a month. "Good morning, and welcome to the last show on terrestrial radio," Stern said to launch his grand finale. The sound of "Taps" played in the background. The show opened with a Stern-centric remake of the classic "What A...

NEW YORK - The free ride for Howard Stern fans ends Friday. Stern, a New York radio fixture for 20 years and host of a syndicated show for 12 million daily listeners, bids farewell to his fans with a final show on terrestrial radio. On Jan. 9, Stern makes his move to satellite radio — where his once-free speech will cost listeners $12.95 a month. Stern, no surprise, will not leave quietly. He's scheduled a two-hour party in midtown Manhattan to say goodbye to his loyal listeners. And he plans to deliver an address to fans on his final show,...

A French MP faces jail and a heavy fine after being accused of offending homosexuals by saying they represent a "threat to humanity". In France's first criminal prosecution under a year-old amendment of an 1881 law on press freedom, Christian Vanneste was taken to court by gay rights groups. The modified law outlaws insults based on gender or sexual orientation and allows for up to six months' imprisonment and a £15,000 fine. The public prosecutor at the trial in Lille said Vanneste was guilty as charged but made no recommendation on how he should be punished. Judgment on the case...

Holiday Display Shows Bleeding Rudolph Hanging From Tree POSTED: 7:27 am EST December 15, 2005 ORLANDO, Fla. -- A holiday display is getting some negative attention from neighbors. A homeowner's display in the Hunter's Creek subdivision features Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer hanging from a tree. One red light represents Rudolph's nose and the rest appear to be blood draining from its body. One red light represents its nose and the rest appear to be blood draining from Rudolph's body. The display represents a hunting technique called field dressing, which is what hunters do to a deer they kill, but many...

A large blindfolded Santa hanging from a noose from a high tree in a man's yard has angered homeowners in a Florida neighborhood, according to a Local 6 News report. The Santa doll, which neighborhood children can easily see, was put up by homeowner Ron Stroia at his home located on 555 West 50th Street in Miami Beach, the report said. "It's just wrong, I mean who would want their children to see this, and it reminds adults of lynching," neighbor Estelle Farnsworth said. "It's just nasty, there is no spirit of Christmas in this." The Santa also has his...

Gary Glitter could face death by firing squad after he was accused of having sex with a girl aged just 12, Vietnamese police have said. Glitter allegedly had sex with a 12-year-old girl Two girls, aged 12 and 18, told police they had sex with the former singer - real name Paul Francis Gadd - at his rented home in the southern resort of Vung Tau in Vietnam. Under Vietnamese law, sexual contact with a minor carries varying degrees of penalties, depending on the charge. "Obscene acts with a child can lead to up to 12 years in prison while...

By 1 hour, 10 minutes ago OAKLAND, California (Reuters) - As U.S. gays and lesbians prepare to battle a raft of state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage that will likely be on the ballot next fall, activists are recasting the issue as one that needs to be fought on moral rather than political grounds. That is the message Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the oldest and leading U.S. grass-roots gay and lesbian coalition, has taken to more than 2,500 gay rights organizers at its annual conference held in Oakland this week. "What I...

The first openly gay Episcopal bishop insisted Wednesday he was not encouraging Roman Catholics to leave their church when he criticized its view of homosexuals during a recent speech in London. New Hampshire Bishop V. Gene Robinson, at a service Friday commemorating the 10th anniversary of Changing Attitude, a British group which advocates full inclusion of gays in the Anglican faith community, noted during his talk that many Catholics in his home state were becoming Episcopalian. "Pope Ratzinger may be the best thing that ever happened to the Episcopal Church," Robinson said, referring to former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who is...

The lesbian lover of a child's biological mother has equal legal rights with traditional parents, the Washington state Supreme Court ruled today. The case involved a woman who raised a child from birth to age 6 while in a "relationship" with the girl's biological mother, the Associated Press reported. The ruling means the non-biological "mother" can seek parental rights as a "de facto parent." "Today we hold that our common law recognizes the status of de facto parents and places them in parity with biological and adoptive parents in our state," the court, led by Justice Bobbe J. Bridge, wrote...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who became internationally known for his campaign a year ago to legalize gay marriage, on Monday said he considered wireless Internet access a fundamental right of all citizens. Officials said 24 proposals had been turned into the city to deliver wireless Internet services, ranging from Web search company Google Inc., Cingular, the No. 1 U.S. wireless carrier, to Internet service provider EarthLink. Newsom told a news conference that he was bracing for a battle with telephone and cable interests along with state and federal regulators who he said are looking to...

Sunni insurgents have been smuggling illegal drugs from Iraq to Saudi Arabia to finance insurgency attacks against coalition forces. The sources said the drugs being smuggling now tend to be cannabis. "In the space of one year, border police intercepted 10 tons of cannabis coming from Iraq," a Saudi source said. The sources said revenues from the smuggling were being shared by Al Qaida operatives in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. They said the money has been used to purchase weapons and finance attacks in both countries. "We have reason to believe that profits from drug smuggling has been financing militants...

            Members of Greenpeace protest against the federal government's environmental policies while seated on a mock toilet during a demonstration in front of Mexico's finance ministry in Mexico City September 13, 2005. The banner reads ' Do not throw environmental policies down the toilet'.

This morning, Don Imus interviewed Jay Severin. Just wondering how many of you heard it and what you thought.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Comedian Tommy Chong has spent almost three decades wringing laughs from cigar-sized joints and smoke-filled vans but now a nine-month jail term has turned him serious and revitalized his flagging career. Promoting his documentary "a/k/a Tommy Chong" at the Toronto International Film Festival, he hopes the film will expose what he says is the U.S. government's heavy-handed dealing with marijuana offenders in the post-September 11 era. "The United States is under martial law, it's under dictatorship," the 67-year-old father of four said in an interview. The film chronicles the Canadian-born comedian's 2003 arrest and imprisonment for selling...

Nationally syndicated radio host Don Imus is echoing comments of Bush-bashing rapper Kanye West, telling guest Tim Russert Tuesday morning that President Bush doesn't care "enough" about black people. "Kanye West said during a concert on NBC that George Bush doesn't care about black people, which I don't believe," Imus began. "What I do believe is that neither he nor anyone else cares enough about them," he told the NBC newsman. "And if you're a black person in New Orleans, what else are you supposed to think? The facts are the facts." Initially, Russert challenged the I-Man, who had spent...

KANYE WEST some rapper punk or whoever was just on trying to get people to donate money to the red cross. He was on with Mike Myers (Wayne's World). Mike Myers asked people to donate...then Kanye West went on a tirade about Iraq, Mike Myers said something else, and then Kanye says "GEORGE BUSH DOESN'T CARE ABOUT BLACK PEOPLE!"WHAT A FREAKING OUTRAGE!!!!!!!!!

Civilian gangs have overtaken streets in N.O.French Quarter and robbing businesses...a N.O. Police officer came upon a looting fest at a gas station and was shot point blank in the head. All looters are armed with guns according to police

From one of the internet’s darkest holes: neo-Nazis are coming to Crawford, Texas, to show their appreciation and support for Cindy Sheehan: Stormfronters Rally In Crawford, TX On Sat. & Sun. Aug. 27-28. (Hat tip: Morgan.) I'm driving out to Crawford, Texas tomorrow, Friday August 26th to help put up a White Nationalist voice in the protest against Bush's War for Israel that was started by Cindy Sheehan. We'll be uploading digital photos, and maybe video, from Crawford so that Stormfront's 58,000 Members (achieved today) and hundreds of thousands of Guests can follow the events in Crawford from a White...

A place to avoid, as advertised on DU: benburch (1000+ posts) Thu Jul-28-05 10:55 PM Original message August 27, Mendocino County, Witches’ Ball: A Sexy Witch Celebration Witches' Ball: A Sexy Witch Celebration A freaky, friendly, sex positive, size positive, queer positive, play positive, kitschy, kinky, Magickal Extravaganza! August 27, Mendocino County, address and other details available with ticket purchase. Come witness the unveiling of Sexy Witch by LaSara FireFox, help to kick off LaSara's 20-city (!!!) book tour with a silly, sexy, fun, celebration...and benefit two radical Mendocino County based women's groups in the process! Festivities will include: *...

The Rolling Stones' upcoming album contains a song seemingly critical of President Bush, but Mick Jagger denies it's directed at him, according to the syndicated TV show "Extra." "It is not really aimed at anyone," Jagger said on the entertainment-news show's Wednesday edition. "It's not aimed, personally aimed, at President Bush. It wouldn't be called 'Sweet Neo Con' if it was." The song is from the new album, "A Bigger Bang," set for release Sept. 6. There is no mention of Bush or Iraq. But it does refer to military contractor Halliburton, which was formerly run by Vice President Cheney...

PRESIDENT Bush takes it on the chin in the new Rolling Stones tune "Sweet Neo Con." In the most political song from their upcoming "A Bigger Bang" album, Mick Jagger sings: "You call yourself a Christian, I call you a hypocrite/ You call yourself a patriot. Well, I think your are full of [bleep]!" Jagger tells Newsweek he's not sweating possible repercussions. "I think [Keith Richards] is a bit worried because he lives in the U.S.," crows the English rocker. "But I don't."