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Growing up in Manitowoc, WI, Sarah Kaufmann's favorite pastime was drawing. She didn't care what she was drawing, as long as she had a pencil or crayon and some paper. At the time, Kaufmann had no idea those countless hours spent filling sketchbooks would one day help her become a famous sculptor. Most sculptors use stone, metal or wood for their creations. Kaufmann, however, has chosen a medium much closer to the heart of Wisconsin. She's made quite a name for herself chipping away at cheese. Yes, Sarah "The Cheese Lady" Kaufmann is a cheese sculptor. Kaufmann was at Sam's...

Fort Wright, KY (AHN) -- To further illustrate the way rising gas prices are effecting people all over the world, police say a woman arrested in Northern Kentucky for soliciting prostitution was trading sex for gasoline. A sex sting operation by police was in effect at a Days Inn Hotel when Angela R. Eversole, 34, was arrested along with four other women for selling sex. After further investigation, police found that rather that trading sex for cash, Eversole bartered her body for $100 gas card and other gifts. The man with whom Eversole made the exchange, Kenneth A. Nowak, 50,...

My noisemaker of choice:

Diver catches giant crab   A giant crab with a shell 12in wide has been caught by an Aylesbury diver off the UK coast. The crustacean, weighing 17lb and with a claw span of 9in, was found by diver Paul Worsley during a recent diving trip in Lyme Regis, Dorset. Douglas Lanfear, who runs the dive boat Blue Turtle, said he was amazed at the size of the crab. He said: "It was truly a monster. It was the biggest crab I have ever seen in all my years and there were fishermen who have been working here for...

Austin, TX (AHN) - Watermelon rinds could be the new natural aphrodisiac, new research has shown. Researchers from Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center say the fruit's rind can have a Viagra-like effect.The flesh and rind of watermelons contain citrulline, which reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed in large quantities. The compound is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems. Just like the popular Viagra and other drugs meant to treat erectile dysfunction (ED), it also helps relax and dilate blood vessels. Researchers are now working on breeding watermelons...

MANCHESTER — - Drivers along I-291 had quite a sight Saturday, as a man wearing nothing but a thong, fake breasts and a wig sauntered along the side of the highway. Police said they received several calls about the man, which prompted an hour-long search. Police said they found the man, fully clothed and collecting cans behind a business on Batson Drive in Manchester. Police said they found a wig and fake breasts in the man's car. David Gebhardt, 42, of Manchester, was charged with disorderly conduct and simple trespass and was released on $2,500 bail.

My Dragonfly And Me If I could be a Dragon Fly and wing my way through the sky I would never be shy just me and my Dragon Fly! By moonlight we ride the wind chase the comets tail for fun by day we would hide from the sun our fragile wings would come undone On darkest nights we would use fireflies as our guide we would dip and we would glide through the heavens open wide and scatter diamonds in the night sky my Dragon Fly and me... And we would wing past our lovers silent in the...

Four wonderful years with FR. Tomorrow. Often chided, regularly reprimanded. Never banned. Happy to be a part of this wonderful place. Let's fulfill the upcoming FReepathon in record time. This year is crucial, as you all well know.

I live in a land locked area so when I see news like this it makes me jealous. While I get to trek up mountains, carrying my owners lunch and drink on my back, these dogs get to go out and surf. Yeah, that’s right, surf. (This year was the 3rd Annual Loews Coronado Bay Resort Surf Dog Competition at Imperial Beach in California. These canines bring a whole new meaning to the term sea dog.) See last years winner on video...

Any Freepers have any large aquariums? I looking at getting an aquarium to house multiple species such as turtles, fish, frogs, and/or crabs. I have done some research as to what species would get along with each other but I was wondering if anyone maybe does this for a hobby.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland — This city near the top of the world has a distinguished history of hosting summit meetings. Presidents, prime ministers and premiers have come here to discuss their differences and chart earth’s future. Yet mere planets were beneath the concern of the nine leaders — warlords, religious crusaders, industrial tycoons, freedom fighters, university dons and banking moguls — who temporarily set aside their differences last week and gathered here under a banner of peace. After all, they had an entire galaxy to consider. Of course that galaxy does not really exist. Yet for the more than 200,000 players...

Two decades have passed since the demonic denizens, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, wandered the world of Sanctuary in a vicious rampage to shackle humanity into unholy slavery. Yet for those who battled the Prime Evils directly, the memory fades slowly and the wounds of the soul still burn. When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram's Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the...

Ladies and gentlemen, as you now know, the DC gun ban is struck down. I'm a DC resident looking to take full advantage of my restored Rights! I've used guns in the past and fired a handgun before, and I'm looking to pick up a good arm. Right now I'm thinking a Glock as this is what law enforcement uses and in case of an incident it's better than the 'unsafe' perception of a single action. Does anyone know a good, reputable dealer in the DC Metro area? Particularly in NOVA?

I haven't been sleeping much lately, my husband is somewhere on the other side of the world and I haven't spoken to him or received an email from him all month! Anyway, I was just doing some surfing and I thought I'd ask my FRiends for some of their favorite web sites (other than FR of course) so that I can get some new surfing ideas. So what are your favorite web sites that you regularly visit or have found recently? My top ten can't miss sites are: 1) FR (of course) 2) Weather.com (Don't know why) 3) ebay.com (what's...

Killer flying video

3 Die In Motorcycle Crashes; 2 Were Brothers UPDATED: 12:50 pm EDT June 20, 2008 BALTIMORE -- Three people were killed in the last week in motorcycle crashes. Two of the victims were brothers, officials said. Maryland State Police said that Frederick Bruce Dolly, 57, of Westminster, was killed at about 4:30 p.m. Thursday when a truck hit the rear of his vehicle on Interstate 795. The crash occurred on the highway north of Owings Mills Boulevard, troopers said. According to state police, a pickup truck hit the rear of the motorcycle and Dolly was ejected. The collision is under...

Pipes and Drums of FreeRepublic Tartan Day 2009?

London, England (AHN) - The Home Office has launched advertisements to warn 18- to 24-year-olds about the consequences of binge drinking. The TV ad that says "You wouldn't start a night like this, so why end it that way?" shows a young man injuring himself, being violent, urinating on his shoes and pouring a takeaway meal on his shirt just before he was about to go out. Another ad depicts a young woman smearing her make-up, tearing her clothes and putting vomit on her hair. Advertisements in the internet also show aftermaths of a binge-drinking session where a man smashed...

I plan to buy my wife a GPS in the $400 to $500 range. Any suggestions?

CigarFox.com Offers Free Premium Cigar to Website Visitors Website visitors can earn a free premium cigar by providing answers to two-question survey and U.S. mailing address. Troy, MI (PRWEB) June 19, 2008 -- CigarFox.com, a pick-your-own premium cigar store, is currently offering website visitors the opportunity to "Earn a Free Cigar" by completing a short, 2-question survey which can easily be submitted in less than sixty seconds. Upon visiting the website, visitors may simply familiarize themselves with CigarFox.com; and then, click the "Earn a Free Cigar" link to complete the survey. CigarFox.com only ships to locations within the United States,...

I'm looking at getting a semi-automatic rifle that fires 7.62X51 NATO/.308 Winchester ammo within the next few months (the potential of Democrats controlling both the White House and the Congress is speeding up my original timetable). One that really caught my eye is the PTR 91F, a semi-auto version of the H&K G3 rifle. I'm wondering if anyone on here has experience with it and what they think.

Whether it has any bearing on Monday's crunch Euro 2008 match between the two countries is debatable but Austria drew first blood on Sunday when their topless women's soccer team beat Germany 10-5. The traditional swapping of shirts afterwards was not an option as the six-a-side teams wore nothing but thongs, with the national colors painted on to their bare skin. The football may not have been of the highest quality but that did not temper the enthusiasm of a mostly male crowd boosted by a sizeable media presence only too happy to desert Euro 2008 training for an hour...

According to a recent study by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, 73 percent of California drivers change their oil more frequently than required. This same scenario no doubt repeats itself across the country. Besides wasting money, this translates into unnecessary consumption of $100-a-barrel oil, much of it imported. Using 2005 data, the Board estimates that Californians alone generate about 153.5 million gallons of waste oil annually, of which only about 60 percent is recycled. Used motor oil poses the greatest environmental risk of all automotive fluids because it is insoluble, persistent, and contains heavy metal and toxic chemicals. One...

​​​​​ POS PLAYER TODAY THRU TO PAR R1 R2 R3 R4 TOTAL 1 T. Woods 1:30 PM --   -3 72 68 70   210 2 L. Westwood 1:30 PM --   -2 70 71 70   211 3 R. Mediate 1:20 PM --   -1 69 71 72   212 T4 D. Trahan 1:10 PM --   +1 72 69 73   214 T4 G. Ogilvy 1:20 PM --   +1 69 73 72   214 T6 R. Karlsson 12:50 PM --   +2 70 70 75   215 T6 M. Jimenez 12:50 PM --   +2 75 66 74   215 T6 R. Allenby...

London, England (AHN) - A British man has died from kidney failure after inhaling poisonous fungal spores. The 47-year-old died of a fungal lung infection after inhaling spore-laden dust stirred up while gardening. The symptoms started less than 24 hours after he had dispersed rotting tree and plant mulch in the garden. He died in intensive care a week later. By the time the man's doctors realized his condition was aspergillus fungal infection and began appropriate treatment, it was too late to save him. Later tests revealed he had developed acute aspergillosis, a dangerous reaction to aspergillus fumigatus spores. The...

London, England (AHN) -- Princess Eugenie, the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York was caught running around naked with friends on the campus of her college late Friday night. According to reports, a school staff member was woken by "playful shrieks," and saw a group of girls romping around in a courtyard area. There were no boys, and school officials say there didn't seem to be any intoxicants involved, but a report in The Sun claimed that one student said the girls had been drinking at a pub that night. Upon being caught, the dozen or so girls...

  In a move that will cheer up lovers of vehicles that can travel on both water and (very flat) land, students at a German engineering university have built a one-person hovercraft that uses an air thrust system to move and steer.Folks over at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences use a pneumatic propeller that pushes air through two channels. Each of the channels has a pair of flaps that behave like the thrust-reversing system of a turbo-drive to help a user easily maneuver left or right, go in reverse, and brake.The way the project is set up hints that...

Me and dad, cruising the plains on a trusty motorcycle Friday, June 13, 2008 Our family is from Texas, but I attended college at a small liberal arts school in Kansas. My Dad (Dan), who is an avid motorcycle "cruiser," wanted to make the long trek from our home in Austin to my small Kansas town — a 10-hour drive on his bike! It was my last year of college, and he wanted to take the opportunity to visit and spend time with just me. I was thrilled to be able to share my college life with my Dad, and...

Roy Horn, of the illusionist team of Siegfried & Roy, kisses a six-week-old white-striped tiger cub at his Las Vegas home Thursday, June 12, 2008. The pair are welcoming five new tiger cubs to their exotic habitat on the Las Vegas Strip. Fischbacher said Thursday that working with the tigers is the perfect rehabilitation for Horn, who was critically injured when he was mauled by a 380-pound white Bengal tiger onstage in 2003. (AP Photo/Louie Traub) LAS VEGAS — Siegfried and Roy might want to move the good furniture into storage for a while. The famed illusionists welcomed five...

Bikinis and other sexy stimuli can make men more prone to seek immediate gratification — leading to blown diets, budgets and bank accounts, new research suggests.In the study, detailed in the Journal of Consumer Research, men alternately fondled t-shirts and bras (which were not being worn during the test).After touching the bras, men valued the future less and the present more, said lead researcher Bram Van Den Bergh of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium. Viewing ads with women in bikinis had the same effect.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Beware: Puttering around on golf carts can be hazardous to your health. Those little vehicles that lurch and buzz past fairways and greens — and increasingly down suburban streets — might be a cost-saving alternative to gas-guzzling SUVs and cars. But a pair of studies released this week suggests they do have their risks. The research found that over a four-year period, nearly 50,000 people were hurt in accidents involving golf carts. One of the studies, by the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said about 1,000 Americans are hurt on golf carts every month. Males aged 10...

Nancy Nedveck loves the colorful blooms that grow on agastache and penstemon, two plants that attract tiny hummingbirds. Some varieties of these plants used to be too fragile to grow in south-central Wisconsin, but now Nedveck is happy to be able to offer them among the endless rows of perennials on display at her nursery, south of Oregon. Thanks to global warming, these and other less hardy plants are surviving and even thriving in this area, said Nedveck, who has owned the popular Flower Factory for 25 years. "The change over the past 10 years has been gradual," she said,...

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Bo (woof) In Commentary: I haven’t been happy with the sound my stereo has been putting out for quite some time now; plus it’s a bitch to turn on. The sound was as if I was listening to my old vinyl records…not the 33 LPs but my 78s…on Edison’s original phonograph. I went online and did my research for a stereo that was easily switched on by a tail. Once found, all I needed was a set of speakers to reproduce highs well outside of human hearing range. Well lookie what I found. (This is functional kitsch; the wrong becomes...

The Snubnose: The little gun that could… When I started out more than 90 percent of all police officers carried a revolver for a sidearm. No, they weren’t cap & ball muzzleloaders ... I’m not THAT old! As you can verify at any police firing range you choose, nowadays almost NOBODY carries a revolver anymore. With one exception ... Most officers now pack the latest polymer-framed, computer-designed, indestructible, laser-guided wonder pistol in (insert your favorite) caliber that fires thermonuclear-tipped hollow-point projectiles at a muzzle velocity just shy of the speed of light. The real shootists scorn anything made of “plastic,�so...

(Volunteers ensure happiness of bluebirds by erecting nesting boxes for the species) Mequon, WI - Ellen Lafouge opened the wooden box and peered in at four tiny balls of fluff slumbering in a nest of dry grass. "It's almost like Christmas and finding a present," said Lafouge. It wasn't Christmas - actually, it was late May - and Lafouge was standing near the 18th hole at Mee-Kwon Park. But the gift would soon begin a chorus of chirps, a sound that's as welcome to Lafouge as "Jingle Bells." The tiny, week-old bluebirds have Lafouge and other members of the Bluebird...

Best show on TV starts tonight...The Ice Road Truckers are back for a new challenge: Killer storms, monster loads, and this year, they're on the Arctic Ocean!!!

Based on the valuable input from a previous thread, I picked up a brand new Ruger Mini-30. Right out of the box I had the sad experience of pulling the trigger and no bang. I send it back to the factory, waited long 3 weeks and got it back with a note that they had replaced the firing pin. Took it out yesterday and got 5 shots off before the pin broke again. Can’t blame cheap ammo, I’m using USA made Winchester. Is Ruger using glass firing pins? Is something misaligned in the action causing extra stress on the pin?

DUANESBURG, N.Y. - A 29-year-old man leaped out of a plane at 10,000 feet with a camera but no parachute Saturday. His body was found next to a house with a damaged roof, police said. Sloan Carafello of Schenectady, who was observing on the flight, followed an instructor, student and videographer out the door, wearing no skydiving gear, officials said.

DUANESBURG, N.Y. - A 29-year-old man leaped out of a plane at 10,000 feet with a camera but no parachute Saturday. His body was found next to a house with a damaged roof, police said. Sloan Carafello of Schenectady, who was observing on the flight, followed an instructor, student and videographer out the door, wearing no skydiving gear, officials said. Police said they did not suspect foul play but would not elaborate. Robert Rawlins, pilot and owner of the Duanesburg Skydiving Club, said he was flying the single-engine plane and had begun to close the door when Carafello jumped. His...

(Assailant escaped with car and beads worth hundreds) Nobody can keep 84-year-old Norma Haddad down. On the day after being carjacked on the streets of Milwaukee, the diminutive bead shop owner from Toledo, Ohio, was back at the Bead & Button Show inside the Midwest Airlines Center on Friday, looking at the wares and recounting her terrifying experience. She lost her car - a metallic gold 1999 Chevy Malibu with tiger-striped front seat covers - a purse that contained $1,000 in travelers checks, $500 in cash and a cell phone, and hundreds of dollars worth of multicolored beads stashed in...

German police have discovered a well-preserved WWII anti-aircraft cannon in a German man's garage in part of a series of raids that uncovered more than €100,000 in illegal weapons, German daily Berliner Morgenpost reported on Thursday. Police discovered the flak cannon, used by the German Wehrmacht in the Second World War, after conducting a search on a family home in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. The 49-year-old resident was in possession of 200 illegal firearms, one kilogramme of explosives, and 15,000 rounds of ammunition. The anti-aircraft cannon was resting where a car would normally park. "I thought I'd seen everything,...

"You can die of good intentions." That is the best summary I can give of an editorial I read recently about the bill to ban horse slaughter that was passed last year. The editor and I had discussed the issue when it was a hot topic. At the time, she could not imagine "a horse being dragged across a kill floor with chains around its legs" - a gruesome description that elicits a sickening feeling in the heart of any sensitive being. But a few short months later, some of the bill's supporters are taking a new look. One of...

Most cowboys go to great lengths to keep from losing their rope. And yet that same cowboy might rope a freight train, a four-wheeler or a polar bear without a second thought. That thought, of course is, 'How do I get my rope back?' Randy and Roy were makin' a final circle on a big ranch north of the Anaconda Mountains. They were down to tracking singles. One set of tracks lead them up a little canyon. The snow was a foot deep and the footprints were well-defined punctures in the snow, not the foot draggin' bovine kind. It didn't...

Welcome to the Weekend Singles' Thread!! This weekend's topic is crushes, and once again, this one wasn't my idea. The idea may still be interesting, and we'll see what people have to say. Just in case, I'm going to try to give some extra bonus questions. A couple of things are true about crushes. First, everyone has had them. Second, I'm not sure that anyone really likes admitting them. If I'm right, maybe this will be a difficult thread, but I'm not going to ask anyone to admit to anything. A third thing about crushes may be that we don't...

Absolutely chuffed! What happened when 30 grown men gave up 18 years to build a steam train Last updated at 9:59 PM on 30th May 2008 Ask any child to draw a picture of a train and you will invariably get the same result: a cylindrical boiler shape, with some big wheels underneath, a cab and a chimney belching steam and smoke at the front. In other words, the classic railway locomotive. Nobody draws a picture of a diesel or an electric train. To a child there is only one noise a train can make: 'choo choo'. Plenty of enthusiasts...

Here's to the Army and Navy and the battles they have won; here's to America's colors, the colors that never run. May the wings of liberty never lose a feather. (Wang Chi & Jack Burton - "Big Trouble In Little China")

Bo (woof) In Commentary: That is one hot dancer, and I ain’t talkin’ about the 50+ year old Olivia Newton John wanna be in this video, but I don’t see what all the excitement is about. C’mon I dance with my mother too. Admittedly she only knows how to do the Chicken Dance but we nail the routine every time.......http://boknowsonline.com/2008/01/11/this-is-not-what-i-want/

Huge halibut hooked in Norway Last Updated: 8:50PM BST 28/05/2008   A halibut thought to be the largest ever line-caught fish has been hooked by an angler in Norway. BNPS  The 31st fish has smashed the line caught record by 24 lb The 31st creature - which measures 8ft1in long - was landed by proud fisherman Soren Bec following a titanic struggle. The monster catch is believed to have beaten the previous record for a line-caught fish by 24lbs. Although halibut of up to 2.5metres (8ft2in) have been spotted in Norweigian waters, it is unusual for the fish to...