Free Republic

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- An Ohio woman who asked that police be called after she caught her 6-year-old daughter shoplifting a package of stickers said Wednesday that she was just trying to teach the girl a lesson early in life. Diane Lyons said she doesn't believe she overreacted when she discovered the girl, Shiane, had taken the $3.11 package of stickers used to make temporary tattoos. An older 10-year-old daughter told Lyons about the theft. Chief Ronald Yeager of the Carrollton Police Department in eastern Ohio arrived at the Discount Drug Mart Dec. 15 and took the girl to the...

(CNN) -- ... thanks to a "Seinfeld" writer whose father had made Festivus a quirky household tradition, a 1997 episode of the famed sitcom popularized the peculiar day. To hear it from Frank Costanza, the character played by Jerry Stiller, the December 23 observance calls for little more than the erection of an aluminum pole, the airing of grievances and the demonstration of feats of strength -- which preferably culminate in wrestling down to the ground and pinning the head of the household. For at least eight years, Julianne Donovan, 35, has been hosting Festivus parties in the Kansas City,...

A year before her disappearance, Susan Powell thought about divorcing her husband and even put together a plan in case he tried to kidnap her sons or strip her of her finances, friends told The Salt Lake Tribune. Susan Powell reportedly told her friends that she went so far as to set up her own bank account, prepare for a place to stay if she left her husband, Joshua Powell, and wrote up an informal will, the paper reported. Her friends said Susan Powell wanted to make sure they all knew about her plans, the paper reported. After fasting and...

Patriots, the time has come. We no longer can depend on the electoral system. We can no longer depend on our voices being heard from the streets. It is time to take a new direction in our efforts to restore our Constitutional Heritage. That directions is: STATES' RIGHTS VIA STATE NULLIFICATION OF ALL FEDERAL MANDATES THAT ANY STATE IS WILLING TO FIGHT THEREIN FOR THEIR RIGHTS! Unlike the "commerce" and "general welfare" clauses in the US Constitution that have been distorted and spun through many past United States Supreme Court rulings and can be argued forever, the 9TH and 10TH...

Before reading this thread, try clicking this link or reading the excerpt below, from a post by FReeper littlejeremiah:HOW COLLECTIVISTS USE THE DIAMOND TACTIC TO SWAY PUBLIC MEETINGS AND HOW TO THWART THEM by G. Edward Griffin In the 1960s, I came across a small training manual distributed by the Communist Party that showed how a small group of people – as few as four – could dominate a much larger group and sway the outcome of any action taken by that group. It was called the Diamond Technique.The principle is based on the fact that people in groups tend...

PETA Agrees With Pope That Environment Should Be Taken Seriously and Calls On His Holiness to Lead by ExampleFor Immediate Release: December 22, 2009Contact:Bruce Friedrich 757-622-7382Washington -- This morning, PETA sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI commending him for his statement in which he linked world peace to preserving the environment and urging him to lead by example by going vegan and serving only vegan meals in Vatican City, including at the papal residence. The pope's statement for the World Day of Peace, which will be observed on January 1, called for "[moving] beyond a purely consumerist mentality." In...

Albert the Green Nosed Reindeer, had a growing bank account And if you ever saw it, you would even wonder how All of the other watermelons, used to scheme in smoke filled rooms But now because of Albert, they will gain control of you Then one smoky kwanzaa eve, Barack came to say Albert with your friends on high, won't you skew the truth tonight Then all the watermelons loved him, as they shouted out with glee Albert the green nosed reindeer, you'll go down in infamy!

Muslim Defendant Hurls Shoe At Old Bailey Judge While He Is Being Tried For Murder Of Former Somalian Prime Minister's Son By DAILY MAIL REPORTER 22nd December 2009 [Pics of Judge and Defendant in URL] A Nigerian defendant hurled his shoe at an Old Bailey judge during the murder trial of the son of the former prime minister of Somalia. Muslim Onochie Madekwe, 33, threw the trainer 30 feet across Court 9, causing Judge Gerald Gordon to duck for cover. The shoe hit the wall behind the judge and fell to the floor to the left of where he was...

I stopped eating pork about eight years ago, after a scientist happened to mention that the animal whose teeth most closely resemble our own is the pig. Unable to shake the image of a perky little pig flashing me a brilliant George Clooney smile, I decided it was easier to forgo the Christmas ham. A couple of years later, I gave up on all mammalian meat, period. I still eat fish and poultry, however and pour eggnog in my coffee. My dietary decisions are arbitrary and inconsistent, and when friends ask why I’m willing to try the duck but not...

A Miami-Dade clinical psychologist pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter for supplying his young lover -- a one-time patient -- a lethal dose of painkillers and then failing to call 911 as she lay dying on his bed. Adam Feder, 42, will serve six years in prison for manslaughter and illegal trafficking of the addictive painkiller Oxycodone. After that, Feder will serve four years of probation and 384 hours of community service, according to his plea deal. ``It's a good resolution because Mr. Feder accepts responsibility for Rachel's death. He forfeits his license to practice psychology and pays for his crime...

Fifty-three percent (53%) of men Strongly Disapprove along with 39% of women

Awhile back, Leo posted these delightfully nostalgic and funny “Marital Rating Scales” from 1939 in the Community: [See linked article] After having a good laugh, what Kate and I both noticed after reading through these charts was that while we could imagine a modern day woman expecting her husband to live up to most of the standards on the Husband’s Chart, if a man expected a woman to adhere to the Wife’s Chart, he’d probably be met with the look of death. Now obviously some of the expectations on both charts are just silly, and part of the reason that...

Lewes pediatrician Dr. Earl Bradley is now facing 26 total charges relating to rape and exploitation of minors. Bradley, 56, turned himself in to Delaware State Police Troop 4 detectives at 8:30 a.m, Friday, Dec. 18, and is being held at Sussex Correctional Institution in Georgetown in lieu of $2.9 million cash bail. A preliminary hearing on the charges is set at the Court of Common Pleas in Georgetown on Wednesday, Dec. 23. By the end of the day Dec. 18, Bradley, chief pediatrician at BayBees Pediatrics on Route 1, had been charged with eight counts of first-degree rape of...

Child flown home by FedEx passes away By CELIA DEWOODY celiad@harrisondaily.com Published: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 6:07 AM Jada Harper, a little girl whom people in this community and across the nation had taken to their hearts, has died. The terminally ill child was flown home from Texas this fall on a special medical flight paid for by FedEx Freight so she could spend her last days with her family, Click image to enlarge CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jada Harper enjoys a horseback ride last spring, before her illness was diagnosed. The seven-year-old daughter of Savannah and Jason Surface passed away at...

Celebrities and everyday people are discovering social networking has its pros and cons, says entertainment reporter JESSICA LEO. SOCIAL networking has joined sex, drugs and alcohol as the latest addiction plaguing celebrities. With Australians spending a third of their time online perusing Facebook, however, it seems the everyday Aussie is not far behind in mirroring the trend. British pop singer Lily Allen has become the latest celebrity casualty of the affliction, announcing she is quitting social networking sites and declaring she will be a "neo-Luddite". Allen joins US pop sensation Miley Cyrus and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, who...

A grand jury said that it found the shooting of a Georgia pastor by undercover officers to be justified. The report on the Georgia Bureau of Investigations investigation into the shooting was released on Monday. Baptist minister Jonathan Paul Ayers, 29, was killed outside a Toccoa convenience store on Sept. 1. Undercover agents said they were in the area watching Kayla Barrett as part of a drug investigation. An undercover agent, whose name will not be released, said, "We were going to do another buy for crack rock and work the prostitution angle as well." Investigators said Ayers, who was...

Let Barack Hussein Obama speak for himself: "The person who made me proudest of all though was my (half-brother), Roy. He was converted to Islam." (DREAMS OF MY FATHER) "In Indonesia, I spent two years at a Muslim school. . .I studied the Koran." (DREAMS OF MY FATHER)

My Car was parked in Scotts Valley Ca in the Kragens Parking lot. Even though the car was parked Separately far from any other vehicle someone rammed their bumper into my Drivers Side Door. it is a hit and run and there were no witnesses and I asked the shop owners but there are no cameras around. I just wanted to vent this is the second time I've had a car hit in Scotts Valley and they just run off. I've heard as well of kids being scraped off the road there due to incompetent drivers. Merry Christmas Happy New...

Lately the news has not been good - understatement of the year. If you can spare two hours to have a "mood enhancing" moviegoing experience - please go see "Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock.

Nathan Myhrvold is a former technology officer for Microsoft who has found his own company, Intellectual Ventures, which is involved in a number of technology development programs, including new forms of energy generation. Nathan Myhrvold also thinks that he has found a cheap and reliable way to solve global warming, which does not involve upending and perhaps destroying the world's economy. The global warming solution proposed by Nathan Myhvold involves Nathan Myhrvold's Anti Global Warming Scheme running a hose up to the stratosphere with balloons and using that hose to pump out enough sulfur particles to dim the sun's heat...

It’s game over for a 14-year-old Roxbury boy, whose overwhelmed mother was so exasperated with his incessant video game playing that she called the cops on him. The final straw for Angela Mejia snapped at 2:30 a.m. Saturday when, “I woke up in the middle of the night and saw the light on in his bedroom,” hours after she had told him to go to sleep. “Sometimes I want to run away, too,” Mejia said, breaking down in tears in her immaculate apartment. “I have support from my church, but I’m alone. I want to help my son, but I...

Led by a spike in robberies and assaults, the violent crime rate in Seattle increased by more than 21 percent during the first part of this year compared to last.FBI crime statistics released Monday showed there were 1,927 incidents of violent crime (murder, rape, robbery and assault) from January to June in 2009. That compares to 1,582 incidents during the same time period in 2008. Murders were down - eight during the period this year compared to 15 in 2008. There were 55 reported rapes compared to 65 last year. There were 908 reports of robbery compared to 707...

Tiger Woods and Wife: If They Split, How To Divide? Talk of divorce arises in Tiger Woods' crisis, in which riches and child custody issues could be at stake. By Jim Peltz and Carol J. Williams December 18, 2009 (snip) Woods and his wife reportedly entered into a prenuptial agreement before their 2004 wedding in Barbados, the terms of which could influence a divorce court's decision about property division. There already had been unconfirmed reports that Nordegren was attempting to renegotiate the agreement. "Prenups can be challenged, but usually the vulnerability of a prenup will be procedural," such as whether...

As the world continues to ponder the death of Brittany Murphy, many are curious as to exactly who her husband Simon Monjack is. While there's still absolutely no evidence to suggest he played a part in her death, many people and media outlets both past and present are raising a suspicious eye towards the British screenwriter. Monjack -- who penned and produced 2006's 'Factory Girl' -- wed Murphy in 2007 in a small, private ceremony at their house that seemed to come out of nowhere. The couple never announced their engagement, and hardly ever made public appearances together. Their nuptials...

The city of Baltimore declared today Frank Zappa Day in honor of the iconoclastic rock musician and composer, who was born there 69 years ago on Dec. 21, 1940. Last week the city's public art commission also announced that a bronze statue of Zappa would be erected outside of a public library sometime next year......

A retired minister from Manheim Township faces more charges for his alleged sexual misconduct with a teenage boy. Dennis E. Spangler, 64, was charged Tuesday with involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, sexual abuse of children and corruption of minors for his alleged conduct with a 13-year-old boy. He now faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in jail if found guilty of the sexual intercourse charge. This is the third round of charges lodged against Spangler for his alleged conduct with the 13-year-old and with a 15-year-old boy. Law enforcement officials said Wednesday they are concerned there may...

Susan Ferriss Dec. 21, 2009 In rural, conservative Tulare County, Democratic Party activist Ruben Macareno has one wish after the recent skirmish to pick California's new Assembly speaker. "I hope the struggle is over, and it was an amicable one," Macareno said. He's worried that a bad aftertaste from the contest – which had a Latino vying against a Latino – could spoil his mission to galvanize Latino voters in a region where they're underrepresented politically. "In Los Angeles, or other parts of the state that are blue, maybe this fight is just a dot," said Macareno, the Latino caucus...

Routine self-monitoring of blood glucose levels by people with type 2 diabetes who are not taking insulin is an ineffective use of health resources as the modest benefits are outweighed by the significant cost of test strips, suggest 2 studies http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj091017.pdf and http://www.cmaj.ca/embargo/cmaj090765.pdf in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) www.cmaj.ca . In Ontario, blood glucose test strips are the third largest cost for the Ontario Public Drug Programs in 2007/08, accounting for $100 million or 3.3% of drug expenditures. Usage of test strips increased by almost 250% from 76,320 people in 1997 to 263,513 people in 2008. Almost 53% of...

OTTAWA — Ottawa Senators centre Mike Fisher confirmed Monday morning that he is engaged to country music star Carrie Underwood. He spoke about the impending nuptials at the morning skate, ahead of his team's game against the Boston Bruins. "It's true," Fisher said. "We're both obviously excited and very happy and so, exciting times for sure." A wedding date hasn't been set. Fisher said he popped the question Sunday, but he wouldn't go into any more details. He has been reluctant to speak about the relationship in the past. But according to a family friend, Fisher, 29, popped the question...

No wonder Jesus said of himself, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12). Without Him, all else is darkness.

COPS are hunting a pervert who smelt a supermarket worker's BUM at least 20 times. The bespectacled man, who is around 40, repeatedly sneaked up behind a 20-year-old employee on consecutive weekends. CCTV footage shows the 5ft 9in balding ginger weirdo pretending to pick items off shelves before crouching behind the shelf stacker. With his face near his victim's bum, he seemed to be taking a sniff - and once got so close his nose touched the man. The unnamed Co-op worker, of Plymouth, Devon, said: "I thought it was all a bit strange. I was shocked and couldn't believe...

THERE is, as far as I know, only one accessory that can immediately bestow the veneer of grandeur upon the everyday fellow. That article is the monocle. By placing the gold-rimmed glass into the socket of an eye, class and eccentricity is instantly conferred upon the wearer. Unfortunately the monocle all but vanished in the post-war era, being consigned to a time when gold watch-chains hung across prosperous bellies and diamond tie pins held together cravats. But things are changing. The optician Vision Express has announced it is to re-introduce the single eye-glass following a sudden surge of interest among...

Here is video of GOP Senate Minority Leader speaking before the cloture vote on the Senate Health Care Bill early this morning, where he said that if the Democrats really believed it was a good bill, they would not be voting on it "in the dead of night." The vote was 60-40 to invoke cloture, sending it on its way to a final passage vote on Christmas Eve. The Democrats pushed the vote through after 1:00 AM ET. . . . (VIDEO)

WHAT A LOAD OF CRAP! The History Channel has gone to the dark side! It's now airing unvarnished COMMUNIST PROPAGANDA by the anti-American POS Howard Zinn! Have you seen that "The People Speak" crap? I am calling my cable company and demanding that it drop the History Channel from our basic service. If others want to pay for communist indoctrination, that's fine. But I DO NOT want this stuff!

Link only because its AP. Title says it all.

Brittany Murphy's husband, Simon Monjack, told hospital staff at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center he did not want an autopsy performed on his deceased wife, multiple sources tell TMZ. We're told, however, despite Monjack's wishes, the L.A. County Coroner's office will perform an autopsy on Murphy. As we first reported, Murphy went into cardiac arrest this morning and could not be revived. TMZ has also learned Britney Murphy's mother, who found Murphy unconscious in the shower and called 911, told paramedics her daughter had a history of diabetes. We have not been able to confirm if Murphy did indeed have diabetes, and...

Here is video of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin sparring with the Russian National Judo Team, where he threw members of the team in what appeared to be a carefully crafted media event: Black belted Russian leader Vladimir Putin has offered to join the national judo team after showing off his martial arts skills to members of the squad. The 57-year-old prime minister made the proposal at a special coaching session on Saturday aired on state television, adding to his carefully-crafted macho image. Putin, who many observers believe is still paramount leader despite standing down as president last year, entered...

Their families? Left to fend for themselves. So tomorrow more pastors jailed by Chinese atheists will string fine wire for Christmas light insertions into hard plastic containers. A workday: 16-20 hours. Then the items will be marketed global for believers to have Christmas lights for one more December. It goes on and on and on.

THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF LIMITED OBJECTIVES Throughout the Old Testament, God commands Israel to destroy its enemies that the nation might survive. Somewhere along the way, both Israel and America lost sight of that imperative. Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed to divide Europe when WWII ended. General George Patton, driving hard for Berlin, was ordered to stop short at the Elbe. The seeds of limited objectives were sown, Communism enslaved all of Eastern Europe, and millions died or were sent to the gulag. The policy gelled in Korea. President Truman ordered Douglas MacArthur, pursuing the retreating Communists northward, back to...

What would two dozen servers from across the country tell you if they could get away with it? Well, for starters, when to go out, what not to order, what really happens behind the kitchen’s swinging doors, and what they think of you and your tips. Here, from a group that clears a median $8.01 an hour in wages and tips, a few revelations that aren’t on any menu.

You may now Tweet the bride. A tech-obsessed groom Tweeted from the altar and updated his marital status on Facebook before he kissed his bride. Dana Hanna of Abingdon, Md., pulled out his BlackBerry at his Nov. 21 wedding and texted his way into YouTube history. Hanna, a computer programmer said his bride, Tracy, was as stunned as the guests. "No one knew about this except the minister, and myself," he told TechCrunch.com. After their vows, Hanna let go of Tracy's hand and started texting. The minister informed puzzled guests that "Dana is updating his relationship status on Facebook." In...

Found this on a web site I frequent.

Italy's highest court of appeal affirmed the illegality of insulting someone by sticking your tongue out at them. The case brought before the Cassation Court involved a farmer whose tongue gesture was captured by a cellphone camera held by the neighbor with whom he was arguing. The farmer, Carlo O., had been convicted by a justice of the peace of insulting the neighbor, the Italian news agency ANSA reported.

Will America escape such an onslaught? Hardly. There are sleeper cells throughout the nation as well as Muslim killer camps training Islamic devotees how to slit the throats of infidels. Homeland Security knows this in detail. Yet when Homeland Security is contacted by grassroots, no replies. Could Homeland Security side up to terrorist sleeper cells? Add to this the Marxist Muslim and wife seated in the White House. They were brainwashed against “white values” and Jews (“monkeys” and “pigs” labeled them by Jeremiah Wright, cultic leader of Trinity United Church of Christ) over twenty years. Michelle promises that the United...

Kenosha police officers have made a Christmas video that features their version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." The cops sing about gifts from their chief that include bullets, guns, jelly doughnuts, night shifts and coffee breaks. One officer is shown with his feet up on a desk sipping coffee. Another is sitting in front of a box of doughnuts, his nose and cheek smeared with jelly. A blurb on the department's Web site invites people who need a laugh "during this hectic time of year" to click on the video.

The myth is that marriage can make you mad, but psychologists have found that is really is good for your health. Clinical psychologist Dr Kate Scott from New Zealand's University of Otago conducted the study of more than 35,000 people across 15 different countries based on a decade of surveys by the World Health Organization. In pictures: Hollywood's longest surviving couples"We were able to look at what happens to mental health in marriage, both in comparison with never getting married, and with ending marriage," Dr Scott said in a media statement. The study found that getting married, as opposed to...

Senate Panel OKs Gay Partners Bill Dec 18, 2009 WASHINGTON (BP)--A U.S. Senate committee has approved a bill that would extend benefits now reserved for the spouses of federal employees to the same-sex, domestic partners of such workers. The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee voted Dec. 16 to forward the Domestic Partnership Benefits and Obligations Act, S. 1102, to the full Senate. The panel vote was 8-1, with Sen. Robert Bennett, R.-Utah, the lone dissenter. The proposal would bestow on homosexual partners of federal employees benefits normally given to married spouses, such as health insurance, retirement and disability...

Great Gift

Indians the Fastest Growing Illegal Immigrants in the U.S. Indians are the fastest growing group of illegal immigrants in the U.S., according to the American Community Survey of the U.S. Census Bureau. Indians in the U.S. are the fastest growing Asian community as well, and the Asian Indian population in the U.S. grew from 1,679,000 to 2,570,000 in the seven years from 2000 to 2007. Indian Americans have the highest growth rate of 53 percent amongst Asian American communities. It is also amongst the fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S. So far, Chinese Americans are the largest Asian American...

“We were devastated as a family. We were destroyed,” says Séamus T. “We went to court expecting some compassion. The system is upside down and backwards. The judge was worried about the rapists staying in school, getting evaluated, getting counselling and transportation. Everything is lavished on them. Nobody knocked on my door and said, ‘I’ll show you through the system’.” Séamus T’s appeals to first lady Michelle Obama, Maryland governor Martin O’Malley and state attorney John McCarthy have gone unanswered. He was treated with kindness by the Irish Embassy, which promised to intervene if he felt he was not being...