Free Republic

FRiends, after a long series of illnesses, AmericanVictory has been hospitalized and has received the “Anointing of the Sick” by a priest. He is surrounded by his wife EDINVA and their grown children. This professional couple have been FReepers for many years (classes of 1999 and 2000) and have freeped with the DC Chapter at Walter Reed and the Tea Party of 2009, as well as having volunteered at official events in Washington. AmericanVictory needs our prayers, as does the family. Please address your posts to AmericanVictory; EDINVA.

Live by the media hype, die by the media hype...for someone else. Such is the sad fate of poor Beto O'Rourke who just a few short weeks ago basked in the glow of mainstream media adulation. Unfortunately for the Irish guy with the Mexican nickname, the media has switched its attention to another shiny object in the form of Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, now "burning with the velocity of a prairie fire on a gusty Indiana day." On Wednesday, Politico chronicled Beto's tragic loss of his magic mojo in "Why the Media Dumped Beto for Mayor Pete."...

Dan Robbins, the artist behind the paint-by-numbers craze that swept America, has died in Sylvania, Ohio, at the age of 93, his son told the AP news agency. He was working at a paint products firm in the 1940s when he invented the kits. By the 1950s millions were being sold across the US every year. His inspiration for the idea came from Leonardo da Vinci, who used a similar method when teaching his apprentices how to paint. Mr Robbins first joined Palmer Paint, a company selling children's paint sets, after serving in World War Two.Dan Robbins with a paint-by-numbers...

Rapper Nipsey Hussle has been arrested for interfering in the arrest of a man authorities were after for violating his probation. The incident occurred on the night of Friday, August 29th. Police responded to a report that a man had violated his probation and was currently located in a clothing store in downtown Los Angeles. Upon searching the store for the alleged parole violator, they came across Hussle, who committed an undisclosed action that authorities viewed as obstructing an officer which subsequently resulted in his arrest. He was released shortly after his arrest after posting bail in the amount...

Luke Perry -- the TV icon and heartthrob who rose to fame on "Beverly Hills, 90210" -- has died after suffering a massive stroke ... TMZ has learned. Luke passed away Monday morning at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank. According to his rep, Luke was surrounded by his children Jack and Sophie, fiance Wendy Madison Bauer, ex-wife Minnie Sharp, mother Ann Bennett, step-father Steve Bennett, brother Tom Perry, sister Amy Coder, and other close family and friends.

Walter B. Jones Jr., a North Carolina congressman who so enthusiastically supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq that he argued for the french fries and French toast served in House cafeterias to be called “freedom fries” and “freedom toast” — a jab at France for its opposition to the war — but who later underwent a dramatic change of heart and emerged as a prominent Republican critic of the war, died Feb. 10, on his 76th birthday. His office confirmed the death in a statement. It had announced Jan. 26 that the 13-term lawmaker had entered hospice care, his health...

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETERY, Va. – R. Lee Ermey, the actor and former U.S. Marine drill instructor who achieved iconic status after appearing in the 1987 film Full Metal Jacket, was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery on Friday.

I hired Bre Payton right out of college. She was green. She was unknown. She had never done TV. But she had worked through her last year of college, and I respected that. I interviewed a half-dozen people for the position. We met in the coffee shop I liked that had no seats, so we were by ourselves in crappy plastic chairs in the back. From the moment we started talking I realized she was a potential star. She was raw, yes, but that could be honed. She was eager to learn, to write, and to go places—not because of...

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, underwent a lung procedure on Friday, the Supreme Court said in a release. She is "resting comfortably" at the hospital.

(AP) Nairobi, Nigeria -- Prince Alab Swalahari was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his palace in Nairobi on Tuesday. A note next to his body stated that he was despondent that no one would accept his attempt to give away his vast riches. His brother explained, "Alab had converted to Christianity quite some time ago. All he was trying to do was live a Christ-like life! Christ commands us to give our money to the poor. He tried for over 15 years, sending people emails to give away his money, but all he got back was mockery...

© US Navy Vice Admiral Scott Stearney, the Navy’s top officer overseeing forces in the Middle East, died Saturday in what defense officials now call an “apparent suicide," CBS News reports . Stearney, who was the commander of the military branch’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, was found dead in his residence, the Navy confirmed earlier on Saturday. Paul Schlise, the deputy commander of Fifth Fleet, will assume command in his place. The Naval Criminal Investigative Service is investigating Stearney's death in addition to the Bahraini Ministry of Interior. However, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson said in a...

Breaking per FOX News

Brent Taylor, North Ogden mayor and a major in Utah's Army National Guard, was killed in Afghanistan on Saturday.

Beloved Freeper known as Mama Dearest has passed away. I (ExSoldier) was notified via private email by her son yesterday. Sharon was a deeply devout Christian and she resided in upper Idaho with her husband, Bob. I first met her here in FR many years ago and we sort of clicked as kindred souls. We kept in touch via snail mail, email and even phone calls with yet another freeper Appalachain Dweller. He actually came to my home years ago from his then home in Virginia and stayed over a week. We are still in close contact, he too is...

A Medieval knight re-enactor has impaled himself with his lance during a performance and died. News outlets report 53-year-old Peter Barclay, of Virginia, was competing in an equestrian game in Williamstown, Kentucky, when he was wounded Saturday. Barclay's brother and the president of event holder Society for Creative Anachronism, John Fulton, says Barclay was trying to spear a paper plate on the ground. Fulton says in a Facebook post that the metal-tipped lance hit the ground and flipped, stabbing Barclay's chest. He says Barclay, who performed under the name "Master Terafan Greydragon," died while being flown to a hospital.

It seemed like Frank Caputo had worked in construction with his family since he could walk, and at 61 years old, he had no plans of retiring anytime soon, his family said. “He would die with concrete on his hands, and he did,” said Lorraine Richards Caputo, his estranged wife. “His blood ran concrete. He was proud of his job. He was a good worker, and he did a damn good job.” Caputo was working Friday night on the northbound lanes of the Tri-State Tollway near Rosemont where two lanes had been closed for a construction project. Just before 10:20...

Senator John McCain, who died on Saturday at age 81, will lie in state in the Capitol Rotunda and receive a full dress funeral service at the Washington National Cathedral. Mr. McCain, who served for two decades in the Navy after graduating from the Naval Academy and who represented Arizona in Congress for 35 years, will also lie in state at the Arizona Capitol before his burial in Annapolis, Md., a Republican official involved in the planning said.

LAS VEGAS — Authorities in Nevada say Art Bell, a syndicated radio host best known for nightly shows in the 1990s about paranormal themes and conspiracy theories, died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Nye County Sheriff Sharon Wehrly posted a brief Facebook announcement on Wednesday saying an autopsy determined the 72-year-old Bell died of "multiple drug intoxication from his own lawfully prescribed prescriptions." Coroner John Fudenberg in Las Vegas says Bell had the painkillers..

Maj. Daniel J. Keating Jr., U.S.M.C. Commander, First Force Recon Company K.I.A. Thua Thien Province Republic of Vietnam May 22, 1968

To all of those that Art loved to connect with and share his thoughts and stories. Art passed away March 30, following open heart surgery. This was totally unexpected and we are in such shock. I hope this will go through and let each of you know why you are not hearing from him. He loved to talk, argue, share and research on Free Republic and he got to know many of you. His wife Shannon