Free Republic

What would it take for your kids to give up most of that candy they collected while trick-or-treating on Halloween? Or all that candy you've got left over today because you had fewer than expected kids come to your door. Here's a suggestion: Donate the candy to U.S. troops in Afghanistan and Iraq so they can hand the sweets out to local kids there to help show them we're not a country of monsters and bullies. More than 1,200 dentists around the country have registered to buy back Halloween candy from kids for $1 a pound. They'll give the donated...

Here is video of Geraldo Rivera reporting on the White House Halloween Party held there last night. President and Mrs. Obama handed out bags of treats to about 2,000 local children who were brought in for the occasion. Not surprisingly, President Obama came as - himself - wearing casual clothing as he handed out the treats. . . . (VIDEO)

For several weeks, Bj Hurley has been training for her first half marathon. While preparing her body to withstand race rigors, she has weaned herself off a trusted running companion. Among hundreds of runners expected to flood the streets for today's Manchester City Marathon/Half Marathon, Hurley will trot without her iPod, which race rules prohibit. "I wouldn't want to take the chance of running with one and being asked not to come back," said Hurley, a mother of three from Candia. While many runners rely on music from an iPod or portable MP3 player for mental distraction and motivation, the...

Joe Kelly won't go as far as calling Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course a burial ground. But the 91-year-old track historian is quite sure that Willie Doyle, who rode Effendi to victory in the 1909 Preakness, isn't the only guy whose remains are mingled with the turf where the great Seabiscuit and War Admiral famously battled.*** While Doyle's choice of Pimlico's finish line as his final resting place is among the more colorful episodes in horseracing lore, it's hardly unique.*** Some venues honor such requests, such as NASCAR's Bristol (Tenn.) Motor Speedway, where Wayne Estes has adopted the informal role of...

Benito Mussolini has an infamous place in modern history, as well he should. Nearly everyone knows Mussolini as the dictator of Fascist Italy and the ally of Nazi Germany in the Second World War. But that is only part of the story.  Mussolini began his political career as an avowed Marxist (defined as the atheist philosophy which holds that capitalism is bad because it enriches a few capitalists to the detriment of masses of laborers and that laborers should take control of all means of production — in order, in theory though not in practice, to be fair to the...

With bailouts and other unabashed socialist projects being embraced by both political parties to "save our economy," has free-market economics been proved faulty?  In the bailout-a-week political climate, it is all too easy to believe that free-market economics are as passé as powdered wigs. Everyone, it seems, is a socialist now, and the old gospel of laissez-faire and free enterprise has been discredited by a cascade of free-market failures that threaten to bring down the economy of the entire developed world. "For too long, the prevailing attitude in Washington has been that the market always knows best," Congressman Henry Waxman...

When did kids stop saying thank you for all the candy they're getting. I am running about 1 in 4 of the kids saying thank you, and I am not talking about the little ones either. Only about half are even saying trick or treat. I also saw some parents following the kids in their car, and I am on a small circle street. Are they just too lazy to walk with the kids?

SALT LAKE CITY — A rap by four teenagers at a McDonald's has gotten them a bad rap in one Utah city. The teens were cited by American Fork police earlier this week for disorderly conduct after they rapped their order at a McDonald's drive-through.

A naked man who climbed out of a window and hid on the ledge to escape his lover's furious husband has been caught on camera. Sun Meng has been given the cold shoulder by his community after the extraordinary picture of him cowering naked outside the flat were posted on the internet. The terrified 25-year-old fled from the balcony window when he was caught in bed with the man's wife at the married couple's flat in Chengdu, central China.

It's deflating news for the sheriff at the center of the investigation into the Colorado balloon hoax. The Boulder County district attorney announced Wednesday that he would personally investigate allegations that Larimer County Sheriff John Alderden improperly conducted his probe into the alleged balloon hoax committed by the Heene family. A lawyer for Richard Heene wrote a letter to the Larimer County district attorney on Monday, accusing Alderden of breaking a Colorado law that prevents officials from publically disclosing information in a case involving charges of child neglect Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2009/10/29/2009-10-29_boulder_county_da_opens_investigation_into_sheriff_at_center_of_heene_family_bal.html#ixzz0VYcCtwTT

Early Saturday morning, 7Online.com, the website for ABC's New York affiliate WABC-TV, reported the previous night's arrest of Jason Shih, an alleged campaign worker for Governor Jon Corzine (D-NJ) charged with "possession of a controlled narcotic and paraphernalia that is used for distribution." For some reason, although the headline "Corzine campaign worker arrested" shows up in a Google News search, the page is no longer available: "We are sorry, but the URL you requested could not be found. The page you are looking for may have been renamed, moved, or deleted." A search of "Jason Shih" and "Corzine" at 7Online.com...

Michelle Triola Marvin dies at 75; her legal fight with ex-lover Lee Marvin added 'palimony' to the language After their cohabitation of six years, she took him to court, seeking $1.8 million, but won just $104,000, and that award was later thrown out.Michelle Triola Marvin, a former nightclub singer whose claims as the onetime live-in girlfriend of actor Lee Marvin led to a landmark ruling that established the legal concept of palimony, has died. She was 75. Marvin, who had fought lung cancer for the last 18 months, died Friday at the Malibu home she shared with actor Dick Van...

...The hormone fuels sex-drive in both men and women and is associated with competitiveness and dominance.Prior research has shown that high levels of testosterone are also linked to risky behaviour such as gambling or excessive drinking.Scientists in the US measured the amount of testosterone in saliva samples taken from 500 male and female MBA business students at the University of Chicago.Participants in the study were asked to play a computer game that evaluated their attitude towards risk.A series of questions allowed them to choose between a guaranteed monetary reward or a risky lottery with a higher potential pay-out... play safe......

We're Not Gonna Take It!

There's a lot of buzz on Capitol Hill about a new health care memo, by strategist/communicator Frank Luntz, which is filled with advice for opponents of the Democrats' reform legislation. The memo analyzes the public's concerns that national health care will result in lower quality care at higher cost, with an out-of-control deficit to boot, and Luntz recommends language to help critics make the case against the legislation more effectively. For example, he suggests opponents would be better off avoiding the phrase public option; calling it the government option is better. The new memo updates a similar analysis Luntz wrote...

Unless they had explicitly named them, the Senate’s Kerry-Boxer and the House’s Waxman-Markey global warming bills could not have been better designed to inflict more pain on the states that swung red in the last election than on those that went blue. The American Clean Energy and Security Act in the Senate and House’s Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act both call for dramatic reductions in carbon dioxide emissions, eventually 83%. (Isn’t it curious that neither bill is titled after the impending global warming catastrophe that they are supposedly designed to avert?) When EPA’s data for carbon dioxide emissions...

Although I am very happy with the events so far in New York and I support both Hoffman's run against a liberal GOP Candidate and the conservative statement to the GOP, I have some concerns. I think that Hoffman's campaign will encourage more independents to buck the GOP establishment. While I think that this is necessary in showing the GOP that the conservative grass roots don’t want the establishment’s compromising, weak spined, unprincipled moderates, when will conservative enough be conservative enough? There are few politicians that espouse the (small l) libertarian, small government philosophies that I believe in. I am...

I just got the American Community Survey in the mail earlier this week. I was curious if any FReepers have actually filled this out or had any related dealings with the Census people. Personally, it reads as a huge invasion of privacy, and I'm leaning towards not filling it out. Other than my Constitutional requirement to participate in the Census every 10 years, I don't feel any obligation to disclose anything further. So, any help from my FRiends out there would be much appreciated.

They say the gesture allows a bug named Cytomegalovirus, which is dangerous in pregnancy, to be passed from man to woman to give her time to build up protection against it. The bug is found in saliva and normally causes no problems. But it can be extremely dangerous if caught while pregnant and can kill unborn babies or cause birth defects. Writing in the journal Medical Hypotheses, researcher Dr Colin Hendrie from the University of Leeds, said: "Female inoculation with a specific male's cytomegalovirus is most efficiently achieved through mouth-to-mouth contact and saliva exchange, particularly where the flow of saliva...

I, for one, will not go down without a fight, nor will I go quietly. Last January, I lost my middle-management position in an importer which sold goods to television networks. I had to apply for state aid by going to the New York State Department of Labor to collect unemployment insurance. My weekly benefits were approved, but I frowned at the fact that they would be less than one third of my regular salary. I began my job search two days after being let go. Fast forward to March. After submitting close to fifty résumés and not receiving even...

The House ethics committee announced Thursday it is investigating two California Democratic lawmakers, but its embarrassed leaders then had to explain that other members — named in a confidential memo that leaked out — may have committed no wrongdoing. The committee said it is investigating whether Rep. Maxine Waters used her influence to help a bank in which her husband owned stock, and whether the couple benefited as a result. Separately, the panel is investigating whether Rep. Laura Richardson failed to disclose required information on her financial disclosure forms and received special treatment from a lender.

Today’s guest author is Deirdre Walker. She retired recently as the Assistant Chief of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Department of Police. She spent 24 years as a police officer. “Do I have the right to refuse this search?” This is a question I heard many times during my law enforcement career. Often my answer was no. But occasionally it would be “yes,” followed by an admonition to have a good day. For the last half of my career, I would have documented each interaction, whether or not it involved an arrest. I would have written down the nature and length...

Most people don't make $52,000 in a year -- but Friday afternoon one Russian billionaire dropped that much cash on LUNCH!!!!! TMZ has just obtained the bill handed to Chelsea Football Club owner Roman Abramovich earlier today after lunch at Nello's in New York -- a bill which totaled a ridiculous $47,221.09. The check had an automatic gratuity of 20% -- $7,328 -- but we're told the party threw down an extra $5,000, bringing the tip to 26%. We're told there were 10 people at the table, who feasted on white truffles, filet mignon and a whole lotta uber-pricey wine....

Michelle Marvin, ‘Palimony’ Figure, Dies THE ASSOCIATED PRESS October 30, 2009 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Michelle Triola Marvin, who fought a landmark "palimony" case against her former lover, actor Lee Marvin, has died. She was 76. Family spokesman Bob Palmer says Marvin died Friday morning of lung cancer at the Malibu home she shared with actor Dick Van Dyke, her partner of 30 years. Marvin lived with Lee Marvin for six years and took his name. They broke up in 1970 and nine years later she sued for nearly $2 million, even though she had no alimony rights because the...

A 10-day manhunt ended when police arrested an Iraqi immigrant accused of running over his 20-year-old daughter to punish her for becoming "too Westernized" and rebuffing the conservative ways he valued. Share A woman's friends say her Iraqi father injured her for being too Westernized.Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, fled from Peoria, Ariz., on Oct. 20. He was arrested by U.S. marshalls in Atlanta when he arrived at the airport there, according to the Associated Press. His daugher Noor Faleh Almaleki, 20, remains hospitalized in critical condition after her father hit the young woman and her boyfriend's mother with his Jeep...

A German man reportedly dumped by a Brazilian woman he met on the Internet camped out in an airport for 13 days before being taken Thursday to a hospital for a psychological evaluation. The man, identified by authorities as Heinz Muller, was out of money and wouldn't say when he planned to leave, according to airport workers, some of whom brought him meals from the food court. The 46-year-old former pilot spent his time wandering the airport in Campinas, an industrial city about an hour's drive from Sao Paulo, and using his laptop perched on a luggage cart. Occasionally he...

When All Else Fails… What Then? First a few statements of obvious fact: President Barrack Hussein Obama has never been properly certified as being Constitutionally eligible to hold the office of President Of The United States. For that to have happened, members of the DNC Elections Certification body would have to have seen and personally witnessed a certified version of Obama’s long form birth certificate to verify his eligibility. Yet we know that Obama has never shown such. In fact, not only has he never produced this document (nor has any member of the DNC ever claimed to have witnessed...

Here is video of Bill O'Reilly appearing on "The View" today dressed as a Vampire! He sparred with the "ladies" about the White House war on Fox News. O'Reilly said Fox News' ratings have gone up dramatically since Obama and his people began their attacks. He said CNN's ratings are going down because they have "no pizazz." . . . (VIDEO)

One might argue that Angelenos are by nature always in costume, but the pressure of outward appearance is never greater than on Halloween. Although many have been crafting their costumes since July, others among us will scramble around the house with mere hours to spare, trying to piece together something passable. In the event that you've procrastinated -- or are barely making the rent -- here are some free, last-minute get-ups that will, if nothing else, get you past a "costumes mandatory" policy. Lady Gaga Although pop star-fashion maniac Lady Gaga has a reputation for nonsensical outfits involving everything from...

10 - The Dentist 9 - Dogs 8 - Frightful Flight 7 - Thunder and Lightning 6 - The Dark 5 - Harrowing Heights 4 - Other People 3 - Scary Spaces 2 - Creepy Crawlies 1 - Slithering Snakes

This is the only time of year when I become seriously anti-American. Our national media, retailers and brainwashed children have all been sucked in to the American cult of Halloween, which demands that shops deck out their windows with feeble pumpkin displays – and your doorbell is rung every five minutes by infants dressed as vampires, demanding presents. I can live with with “the commercialisation of Christmas”, because at least the cult of Xmas wasn’t foisted on us by another country, and as I recall it was even tackier 30 years ago than it is now. But the modern Halloween,...

Although the novel Dracula, by Bram Stoker, has surely been one of the most influential works of genre fiction ever written, ironically the central point of the book has nearly always been missed. Fortunately, a new novel co-written by Stoker’s great-grandnephew brings that aspect of the Dracula myth back to its appropriate place of primacy. Stoker’s clear intention in the original novel Dracula was to make the devil, literally Satan, real to readers by depicting a naturally occurring but preternatural stand-in, Count Dracula. This is indicated throughout the book by direct references to Dracula as a devil, and by imagery...

We expect that the next fifteen days will be characterized by average amounts (70-130 percent) of activity relative to climatology. These new 15-day forecasts have replaced the monthly forecasts that we have been issuing in recent years.

European heads of state will formally recommend this week that rich countries should hand over around €100bn (£90bn) a year to nations such as India and Vietnam by 2020 to help them cope with the impact of global warming. The pledge is expected to come at the end of a two-day summit of European leaders on Thursday and Friday, and before negotiations on a new climate treaty in Copenhagen in December. ..... China and India have called for rich countries to hand over 1% of their GDP.

Now That IS Creepy: 'Octomum' Dresses As A PREGNANT Nun For Halloween... And Her Babies Become Little Devils [Pics in URL] MAIL FOREIGN SERVICE 29th October 2009 There's not many people who could provoke a universal shudder by dressing as a pregnant nun for Halloween. But 'Octomum' Nadya Suleman has managed it. The mother of fourteen - including her octuplets born in January this year - poked fun at herself as she headed out with her eight IVF babies to celebrate Halloween.

Somali Man, '112', Weds Girl, 17 The couple posed for photos at the wedding celebrations Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in central Somalia between a man who says he is 112 years old, and his teenage wife. Ahmed Muhamed Dore - who already has 13 children by five wives - said he would like to have more with his new wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is 17 years old. "Today God helped me realise my dream," Mr Dore said, after the wedding in the region of Galguduud. The bride's family said she was "happy with her new husband". Mr...

Mrs. O. The Face of Fashion DemocracyReview "The book traces Obama's wardrobe picks, from her wedding to the White House and includes interviews with designers like Maris Pinto, Isabel Toledo and Jason Wu, whose names have become synonymous with White House style' - In Style Magazine Product Description Celebrated for her style and substance, Michelle Obama has transformed the role of first lady and become a 21st century icon, attracting attention from all over the world. The qualities so admired in her - intelligence, strength and charisma - radiate through her personal style, which has united accessibility with high-wattage...

The father of Colorado's so-called Balloon Boy may not have gotten his reality TV scheme off the ground, but Richard Heene is at least getting his own action figure. Connecticut-based toymaker Herobuilders.com is adding Heene to a quirky collection that includes the Sarah Palin Super Hero and the Obama Joker doll. There's also a Bernie Madoff Action Figure with a fistfull of hundred-dollar bills and a Dick Cheney doll hoisting a shotgun. Heene's mini-me wears an "I'm with Stupid" t-shirt with the arrow pointing upwards. It sells for 34.95. Heene and his wife, Mayumi, called 911 earlier this month to...

The captain and the first lady shared a warm moment at Yankee Stadium last night. Derek Jeter gave Michelle Obama a peck on the cheek before last night's Game 1 during a moving tribute to veterans. The first lady and Jill Biden, wife of the vice president, accompanied Hall of Fame catcher Yogi Berra to the mound where they were joined by Jeter and retired Army Capt. Tony Odierno (right). The West Point grad, who lost his left arm serving in Iraq, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The heartthrob Jeter also gave Mrs. Biden a peck. And the first...

While CBS and NBC ignored yesterday’s expansion of the federal definition of hate crimes to include sexual orientation, ABC’s Charlie Gibson reported it, explaining that the amendment was “named for Matthew Shepard, a Wyoming college student killed 11 years ago because he was gay.” It’s true that the amendment, attached to a defense spending bill, was named for Shepard but Gibson ignored his own network’s investigation of the Shepard case that revealed sexual orientation was not the sole motive behind his murder. ABC’s “20/20” investigation in 2004 found that drugs fueled Shepard’s brutal murder, not homophobia, as is widely believed....

Evidence that the US is a failed state is piling up faster than I can record it. One conclusive hallmark of a failed state is that the crooks are inside the government, using government to protect and to advance their private interests. Another conclusive hallmark is rising income inequality as the insiders manipulate economic policy for their enrichment at the expense of everyone else. Income inequality in the US is now the most extreme of all countries. The 2008 OECD report, “Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries,” concludes that the US is the country with the highest inequality and...

PAPILLION -- A missionary from Chile has pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of sexual assault of a 16-year-old boy. Sarpy County prosecutors had charged 23-year-old Claudio Gonzalez with forcible first-degree sexual assault, a felony. But after a deal with prosecutors, on Monday Gonzalez pleaded no contest and was found guilty of misdemeanor sexual assault of an incompetent person. Gonzalez faces up to a year in jail at sentencing, which was set for Dec. 17. Authorities say Gonzalez sexually assaulted a 16-year-old boy who had passed out on a hotel room bed in La Vista after drinking some alcohol...

The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read We've obtained a copy of Tim Donaghy's book, Blowing the Whistle, which purports to expose the NBA's "culture of fraud" and which Random House was set to publish next month — until, a source says, the league threatened to sue... Excerpts From The Book The NBA Doesn't Want You To Read As promised earlier, here are a handful of excerpts from David Stern's favorite book, Blowing the Whistle, by Tim Donaghy...

People with gene variant perform more than 20 percent worse on driving test Bad drivers may in part have their genes to blame, suggests a new study by UC Irvine neuroscientists. People with a particular gene variant performed more than 20 percent worse on a driving test than people without it - and a follow-up test a few days later yielded similar results. About 30 percent of Americans have the variant. "These people make more errors from the get-go, and they forget more of what they learned after time away," said Dr. Steven Cramer, neurology associate professor and senior author...

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Octomom Nadya Suleman has found a way to turn the spotlight back on her this Halloween. The controversial unemployed single mother dressed up as a pregnant nun and had her octuplets don red devil costumes earlier this week.She was all smiles for the camera while her 9-month-old octuplets were visibly restless, with some even photographed crying. Their trick or treat parade was completed by two big strollers draped in spider webs. Suleman, who has six other older kids, created a public uproar in January when she gave birth to her octuplets via in-vitro fertilization, while...

Here is a video report on President Obama making a surprise visit to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware overnight to greet the caskets of U.S. Soldiers and DEA Agents killed in Afghanistan. Obama made the trip in the middle of the night, and returned to the White House around 5:00 this morning. Obama lifted the ban on media coverage of military dead returning to the U.S. . . . (VIDEO)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvg2chZBEXo Video: “Tea Party Express II - Fresno - Diana Nagy” October 28, 2009 New Song - Take Our Country Back Category: People & Blogs Tags: Tea Party Express II Fresno Diana Nagy New Song Take Our Country Back

Primary school pupils and toddlers in nurseries are being punished for making racist insults, according to a report, even if they don’t understand the terms they use. Teachers are being treated like counter staff in police stations as they have to fill in forms detailing name-calling and jokes. Meanwhile diversity “missionaries” are said to be increasing the divide between white and black children by forcing them to see everything through the prism of race. Adrian Hart, the author of the report published by the Manifesto Club...said: “The obligation on schools to report these incidents wastes teachers’ time, interferes in children’s...

Two solo homers for Chase Utley. The Bronx bombers appear to have wasted their ace as they are down to their final four outs.

American nightclubs catering specifically for fat people are proving a hit with plus-sized partygoers looking for acceptance. Venues like Club Bounce and The Butterfly Lounge in California are aimed at people who may be made to feel unwelcome at certain fashionable nightspots because of their size. Such clubs are a relatively new development, with a handful scattered across California, mainly in coastal cities such as San Diego and San Francisco. Lisa Marie Garbo, who opened Club Bounce five years ago, said she did it for herself and others who were tired of being "the only fat girl at the local...