Free Republic

LINDENWOLD, N.J. (AP) — Police made a surprising discovery when they busted the alleged madam of a prostitution ring called "August Playmates": the woman running the show was an 80-year-old grandmother. Authorities arrested Vera Tursi at her apartment during a sting operation last month to crack down on illegal prostitution rings posing as legal escort services. Police said Tursi could be the oldest person arrested for such a crime in New Jersey.

As is often the case these days, offensive language or behavior is in the eye of the beholder. It depends on whether one subscribes to old school or new-age definitions of words that have been around for centuries. This word discrimination used to be a compliment of sorts, as in “one has discriminating tastes” based on the old school definition “To make a clear distinction; distinguish: discriminate among the options available. To make sensible decisions; judge wisely.” Of course the new-age definition is much less flattering, “to treat one person or group worse than others or better than others, usually...

ALERT...ALERT...ALERT...ALERT The long awaited and highly anticipated Google e-mail (g-mail) has arrived; I believe it is still in Beta testing as the one time link I was sent for account activation disabled itself after signup...but perhaps by some creative poking around on their website, you too can find a sign up link. About G-mail

Duke Party Features Bikinis, Baby Oil Tue Jan 25, 8:05 PM ET Strange News - AP DURHAM, N.C. - In what police say was an homage to the movie "Old School," partying Duke University students were found in a fraternity house basement with an inflatable pool, a whole lot of baby oil and women in bikinis. Police came upon the scene early Sunday after responding to a noise complaint. "Inside were several of America's future, re-enacting a scene from the movie 'Old School,' where females wrestle in a pool of lubricants," police Sgt. D. Gunter said. In their version, the...

Tips for older riders from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Fri Jan 21, 2:00 PM ET By The Associated Press Tips for older riders from the Motorcycle Safety Foundation: Get eyes checked. Vision clarity and peripheral vision both diminish with age. Keep a greater following distance. Reacting to a hazard may take twice as long for a rider in middle age (40 to 54), and three or four times longer after 55. Avoid complicated and congested roads and intersections. "Input overload" makes it difficult to process information accurately. Pay special attention to blind spots. Traffic research shows that older drivers do...

This summer I had an intern researcher drone named "Lyle." But I tended to call him things like "meat sack," "you," and "the kid-whose-head-someone-used-as-a-toilet-but-forgot-to-flush." It pained me to call him these things because he was generally a very sharp kid and I was glad to have him skulking around, eating my old pizza crusts and rifling through my garbage when he wasn't "working." Anyway, if you want to put a face to him, here he is. The reason I bring up young Lyle is that he was the one who started to make me feel old. One time while we...

Cheers to the pub with no chrome February 6, 2004 I was a fresh-faced erk in the Royal Air Force when I began my love affair with the pub. I learned how to drink and talk in the rough and ready bars down at the Belfast docks. In those days, a fellow didn't hang about when the Royal Ulster Constabulary came through the door at closing time. You put down your drink and left; there was always tomorrow. After my service in the RAF, I returned to my hometown of Liverpool to drink in The Cracke, where legend has it...

A television experiment has recreated a state boarding establishment to put 1950s educational standards to the test. Cassandra Jardine reports On Monday, 30 pupils and nine teachers went back to school as it was in the 1950s. Installed at a state boarding establishment, they are spending four weeks in a world of discipline and academic endeavour. The 16-year-olds are now approaching the end of their first week in eerily quiet classrooms where they sit at old-fashioned desks with flap-top lids and inkwells. A matron inspects ears for dirt and beds for hospital corners, and a fearsome headmaster is ready to...

A Salute to "Old School" Freepers. Where have all the great freepers gone? I would like to take the time to give a thank you to all of the original few thousand members to Free Republic for continuing to stay a Freeper. My father has been a long time Freeper and has expressed concern about all the noise Free Republic now endures due to chatting and irrelevant posts. The web site has also been through many changes that has caused many great freepers to leave. I have been here a couple of years and tried to mostly read instead of...

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Jam Master Jay, the DJ of the longtime rap group Run-DMC, was shot in the head and killed Wednesday night in a Queens recording studio, according to New York police. Another man, Urieco Rinco, 25, was shot in the leg and taken to a local hospital, police said. Police are investigating the shooting, which took place inside a studio on Merrick Boulevard about 7:30 p.m. No arrests have been made in the case. Jam Master Jay was born January 21,1965, as Jason Mizell in the middle-class Hollis neighborhood of Queens, New York, according to the group's...