Free Republic

(edit)  The Boeing B-50 bomber is so big it holds the title as the world's largest electric model aircraft, It is classified as a light aircraft and is licensed by the Civil Aviation Authority.Built by Tony Nijhuis in his garage the aircraft is a scale version of the US bomber and has a 20ft wingspan and weighs just over seven stones.It took Mr Nijhuis, from Hastings, East Sussex, two years to make the radio-controlled plane that he calls the 'jolly green giant' and cost him £8,000.   (edit)  t has 96 batteries that power four electric motors which drive...

The doughty Government Investment Corporation of Singapore is not often a hotbed of heretical thought. Recently, however, a debate has been bubbling at the GIC that has fascinating implications for investors round the world. The issue at stake revolves around the so-called Harvard or Yale investment model. During most of its recent history, the GIC – like many other sovereign wealth funds round the world – has looked at these huge university endowment funds with envy and admiration. For the Harvard or Yale model seemed to offer an exciting vision for any long-term investment group that wanted to do more...

Naomi Campbell 'Attacked Driver' Supermodel Naomi Campbell was being sought by police in New York after her driver claimed she attacked him. 02 Mar 2010 Ms Campbell took anger management classes after pleading guilty to throwing her mobile phone at a maid in 2006 Photo: PA New York police said the 39-year-old model is accused of striking her driver from behind and causing his head to hit the steering wheel of the car around 3pm (2000 GMT). The driver, who was hired for the day, was said to be left with bumps and bruises after the incident. By the time...

She may have the face of an angel, but authorities say this city society gal has the heart of a thieving little devil. Kashmir Snowdon-Jones, 21, a sometime model and increasingly well-known Manhattan party girl, was charged Wednesday afternoon with identify theft and multiple counts of grand larceny for rack ing up $3,821.71 in unauthorized charges on a frenemy's credit card, according to cops and prosecutors. The blond beauty, whose family claims to be descended from British bluebloods, allegedly used the stolen plastic to charge takeout burritos and Domino's pizza and buy a pair of $800 leggings, bathing suits and...

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – The Panjshir Ministry of Justice, together with the Independent Afghanistan Bar Association, hosted the valleys first-ever Rule of Law training conference, Jan 19 –26, in an effort to build capacity in the administration of justice in Panjshir province, Afghanistan. 50 local officials including judges, prosecutors, police officers and other members of the justice sector participated in the training. The curriculum covered prison, civil and juvenile law, civil rights, ethics and anti-corruption, monitoring of government departments, role of the defense attorney, illegal detentions, investigations, inheritance, criminal procedures, crimes against the government, and other legal issues.Mr. Mahboobullah Nikzad,...

Measuring a tiny eighth of an inch by quarter of an inch, this carefully crafted piece of engineering is the world's smallest working train model. The five-carriage train, which is 35,200 times smaller than a real train, nips around an oval route even taking in a ride through a tunnel on its three-quarter inch track. Created by New Jersey train enthusiast David Smith, the miniscule model was built using nothing more fancy than a craft knife and a steady hand...

Lizzie Miller is considered too large to model plus-size clothes. Is the reaction that followed the publication of this picture going to change that? 'It's a photo that measures all of three by three inches," gushes Cindi Leive, editor of US Glamour in a post on the magazine's blog, "but the letters about it started to flood my inbox literally the day Glamour hit newsstands." The picture in question, illustrating a story about body confidence, has generated more than 700 comments on the site, and featured on the US Today morning TV programme. What does it show? A beautiful, creamy-skinned...

With each passing week, the political headlines make it clear that the luster is falling off the Democrat brand quickly. Whether its Obama’s falling polls, falling numbers for his health care initiative or growing disenchantment with the Pelosi/Reid leadership, the trend is unmistakable. To make matters worse for Democrats, that trend is likely to continue in the year to come.

A Muslim part-time model will become the first woman to be caned in Malaysia after pleading guilty to drinking beer, a prosecutor said today. An Islamic court ordered that Kartika Sari Dewi Shukarno, 32, be lashed six times with a rattan cane after she was caught drinking alcohol in a raid on a hotel night club in eastern Pahang state last year. Prosecutor Saiful Idham Sahimi said Kartika will be the first woman to be caned under Islamic law after she chose not to appeal the sentence. He said: 'This is the first case in Malaysia. ... It is a...

A new mathematical model reveals the tactics that a small number of interlopers can use to seize power. How is it possible for a small number of newcomers to displace a well-established group of leaders? That's not just a question for military organizations wanting to overthrow governments; it's a question for political parties controlling national debates, new products displacing well-established market leaders, and flocking birds following leaders to new food sources. Social scientists have studied the nature of effective leadership for centuries with limited success. Physicists, on the other hand, are new to the party, which gives them a chance...

Miami plastic surgeon has bragging rights to remaking a Maxim beauty's breasts, but it could cost him more than a half-million dollars. Former Miss Norway and Maxim, Esquire and Stuff magazines topless model Monica Hansen has won a default judgment for $564,555 in her lawsuit against Dr. Leonard Hochstein for using pictures of her on his Web site, allegedly without her permission. He flatly denied the charge.

Shaykh Ali mejbel Al-ghreer (left), the Rabee packing shed owner, Tracy Atwood (center), Inma Chief of Party, and Glen Keiser (right), the embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team III leader, participate in the cutting of the ribbon at the grand opening ceremony of the Rabee packing shed in Adhamiyah, June 14. Photo by Pfc. Bailey A. Jester, 1st Cavalry Division. BAGHDAD — Members of embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team III (ePRT) attended the grand opening of the Rabee fruit and vegetable packing facility in Adhamiyah, June 14, the first modern fruit and vegetable packing facility in Iraq. "It [the packing facility] will allow...

With a naked photoshoot coming up Indian model Padma Lakshmi could have been forgiven for putting herself on a strict diet. But the 38-year-old, who is author Salman Rushdie's ex, had no such concerns. 'I think I look better when I have a little bit of weight on - my breasts are fuller, and I’m curvier than when I’m at my thinnest,' she tells this month's edition of U.S. magazine Allure.

The cause of death of a murdered ex-model from Tennessee was ruled to be a bullet wound to her head, according to the medical examiner. Lisa Renee Davis, 29, died from a single shot from a .22 caliber gun belonging to her killer — an acquaintance named Austin Agee who committed suicide and confessed to the crime in a note that told police where to find the woman's body. -snip-

And you thought the onscreen catfights on America's Next Top Model were good... New York police arrested three people following a massive stampede that erupted during a casting call for the new season of the Tyra Banks-powered reality contest—a melee that involved hundreds of people outside a Central Park hotel. At least six people were injured, two of whom were hospitalized, in a scene that left the surrounding vicinity looking like Fashion Week meets Thunderdome and shut down the auditions. Police said they did not immediately know what triggered the crush of bodies, but according to the New York Daily...

Now, here's a model of biblical proportions. A retired farmer has spent more than 30 years building an enormous scale model of Herod's temple - and it is still not finished [Photos at link]

It might be easier to work up a proper sense of dread at a scary new “climate change model” if the group doing the scaring didn’t use a roulette wheel for illustration. And “The Greenhouse Gamble” graphics only make the Washington Post’s one-sided report on the model more laughable. On the Feb. 23 “Capital Weather Gang” Web site, the Post’s Andrew Freedman reported that MIT's Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change revised its predictions about just how hot the Earth will become in this century. Not surprisingly, the MIT group said that if governments don’t institute...

(photo) The 23-year-old Israeli-born model Bar Refaeli was allegedly slated for last year’s cover, but was dropped and replaced by Marisa Miller when Bar couldn’t keep the good news to herself. As Page Six reports: “It’s very secretive, and the magazine likes to keep people guessing.” Boyfriend and overpaid actor Leonardo DiCaprio has been pushing hard to get his squeeze on the cover. But judging from the photos and video, his effort was unnecessary. Obama’s stimulus plan has been criticized for not taking effect fast enough. After the obligatory research the IHTM staff must rigorously and dutifully perform, we can...

A model displays a creation, bearing the image of U.S. President Barack Obama, during Italian fashion house Gattinoni's Rome Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2009 show February 1, 2009.

Bash Compactor: Getting Laid Off Is Still Getting Laid The Fashion Meets Finance Party By Matt Harvey Broke bankers and struggling models mobbed the rooftop of the Empire Hotel last night for the latest installment of Fashion Meets Finance. A tipsy brunette on crutches was trying to put her Burberry coat on so she could leave, but guys wearing suits sans ties kept jostling her as they moved past. Struggling to anchor herself with the crutches she told me her deal. “I was running to work to get there on time when I fell. It’s not funny!” As the tiny...