Free Republic

Amid the media swirl surrounding possible gun control measures after the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre just last month, many pro-gun advocates are speaking out. Musicians are no different. Zoltan Bathory, guitarist of Five Finger Death Punch, used his Facebook page to discuss his annoyance at the media and the concern that his guns will be confiscated by the government, despite the fact there is no evidence to back up that fear. Bathory writes: "Let's talk about 'assault' rifles for a second. Anti-gun advocates in the media placing all the emphasis on the word 'ASSAULT' for a reason. It sounds menacing...

It's official. Reality-television executives have lost their minds. The reality-TV shows featuring mostly black casts debuting in 2013 are setting back images of black folks in television at least 60 years. While critics are obsessed with the controversial film Django Unchained, there is a movement taking place in reality television that has elevated black buffoonery to the highest level possible while diminishing black culture to the lowest level in recent memory. The images of blacks on TLC's reality shows Best Funeral Ever and The Sisterhood and Oxygen's All My Babies' Mamas are appalling. They are also reminiscent more of images...

Threepeat: President visits same restaurants on this year's vacation as last year's... After a day of golf, President Obama on Friday night had a long, late dinner in Waikiki, spending more than 3 1/2 hours at Nobu restaurant. Joined by First Lady Obama and an unidentified group of friends, the President arrived at the "perennially hip" Waikiki Parc Hotel at 8:35 PM, home to Nobu, which bills itself as "yet another canvas for Chef Nobu Matsuhisa to display his legendary dishes." The closed-off streets around the hotel filled with excited crowds as word of the President's presence spread through Waikiki....

Open source house design community WikiHouse demonstrated their construction system at Milan Design Week, providing a visual update on the project. Their goal is to make it possible for anyone to download and print a timber structure using a CNC milling machine, and then fit the pieces together to build an affordable house ready for cladding, wiring, insulation and plumbing...

Avon Products on Tuesday announced plans to lay off 1,500 workers globally. That's about 3.7 percent of its work force. The layoffs, which Avon described as part of a previously announced initiative to cut $400 million in annual costs by the end of 2015, are expected to initially cost the company money. In conjunction with moves to exit the South Korea and Vietnam markets, Avon says it will be taking $50 million to $60 million in pre-tax charges in Q4 2012, followed by an additional $30 million in charges as the changes progress. However, Avon believes it will see immediate...

The Barack-and-Bill double act on display this fall marks a new and intriguing phase in a psychological entanglement so rich that if Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were alive, they would surely be squabbling over it instead of Sabina Spielrein’s hysteria. No one close to Obama or Clinton even bothers with the pretense that there is any real affection between them. But most concur with the assessment of a Democratic operative with tentacles deep in both worlds: that “the relationship today is totally transactional—and highly functional.”

The empty chair president

PEMBROKE, Mass.—Hugh Crossen found himself well into retirement and a little adrift. The former salesman missed meeting new people. As a hobby, he maintains a collection of 7,000 restaurant menus, but he says his wife, Joyce, "isn't as tickled with it as I am." "It takes up a lot of space in the cellar!" says his spouse. Fortunately, Mr. Crossen, who is 77 years old, found a new audience in the "Dull Men's Club," a regular gathering in this town south of Boston. There is no agenda other than to salute the quiet eccentricities of everyday life. The club started...

The city’s first known Trayvon Martin mural is going up on a wall of an East New York laundromat - adding to a brewing campaign to make sure history doesn’t snub the slain teen’s image. Teenage boys will start painting the 100-foot picture July 16 on New Lots Laundromat’s wall underneath the elevated tracks of the IRT No. 3 train. The East New York mural will join a growing list of similar street art popping up in black neighborhoods across the country. “We want him to become a martyr, and it’s sad that we even have to say that,” said...

There are little Prii, big Prii, plug-in Prii, racing Prii, and now – just revealed at this weekend’s Tokyo Auto Salon – there are full-fledged, fully-equipped, and very Real Toyota Prius camper vans. Starting with a new, 3rd-gen Prius, the conversion company adds a streamlined, fiber-reinforced plastic shell that expands the Prius’ interior into something that’s, well, livable! The “living area” has room for a small coffee table with booth-type seating and underseat storage which can be converted to a queen-size bed (as shown, below), with an additional “permanent” bed in the forward section (above the cockpit). At the rear...

A new supplier combined with the Packers popularity might make favored jerseys like Aaron Rodgers and Clay Matthews scarce over the next three months and then more expensive. In April, Nike and several other new vendors will take over from Reebok. Retailers say Reebok ordered conservatively going into the season. Their plans also were also affected by the NFL lockout, which still was in effect when buying decisions were made. Brian Swallow, with online retailer Fanatics, says sales of their Packers items are up 170 percent. He says retailers have to predict sometimes a year in advance. Mike Walters, manager...

Tom Murro shares his celebrity inspired gift giving ideas for the holiday's on FOX CT. You too can own artwork owned by Snooki and the watches worn by notables like Buzz Aldrin, Gov Chris Christie, David Paterson, Angelina Jolie, 1st Lady Michelle Obama and even President Obama.

The commute to and from school can be a harrowing experience in many parts of China. As rush hour begins, children are piled into makeshift buses with complete disregard for safety regulations. The controversy began in Macedonia’s capital Skopje on Friday, November 25 after China’s ambassador gifted the country a fleet of 23 sleek, double-decker school buses. Built by the Chinese manufacturer Yutong, the buses hold 35 and are fitted with automatic doors, fire extinguishers and seatbelts. They will be used primarily for transporting students in Macedonia’s rural areas. The gesture might have been favourably viewed were it not for...

Marriage isn't a joking matter. Before a man proposes in China, he must carefully choose his words In China, much of the older generation still recalls arranged marriage; there isn't a long tradition of creative marriage proposals like there is in the West. Traditions vary from region to region and family to family, but often the process involves a formal meeting between the boy (and, if possible, his family) and the girl's family. Depending on how traditional the families are, and the local expectations, dowry payments may be arranged and an official wedding date will be agreed upon, generally no...

An elderly widow has died after muggers stole her handbag containing her husband's ashes - which she had carried for 17 years. Nellie Geraghty, 79, suffered fatal head injuries as she desperately tried to cling onto the bag during the robbery in Oldham, Greater Manchester. Police have launched a murder inquiry after she died in Royal Oldham Hospital at around midnight on Friday. Two youths, aged 14 and 17, have been arrested on suspicion of robbery. Mrs Geraghty was found collapsed in an alleyway near her home in Shaw just before noon on Thursday. Inside her handbag was a blue...

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women. The phrase "violence against women" calls for comment. It names the victims but not the perpetrators. The fact that men are mainly responsible for violent and health-harming behaviours, not only against women and children but also against each other, is so taken for granted that it slips beneath the radar of commentators and policymakers. Take the riots of August this year. As the suspects were charged, considerable detail was published by the Ministry of Justice. The press focused on the age, ethnicity, neighbourhood and employment status of offenders....

Google is everywhere, including places one might least suspect. Photographer Aaron Hobson has created a series of breathtaking panoramas highlighting some of the most remote places documented by Google Street View. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, he discusses his virtual journeys. SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Hobson, you didn't photograph your latest series of photos yourself -- they came from Google's Street View service. How did that come about? Hobson: I began working on a film I was asked to direct by a producer in Los Angeles. I am unfamiliar with Los Angeles. Since that is where we are going to...

In the suburban street in Lisbon that is home to Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, the crisis has come knocking. Expresso reports on the manner in which austerity measures imposed by their high-profile neighbour have affected the lives of middle-class Portuguese who live in the area. Pedro Passos Coelho were to leave his building by the main entrance (and not via the discreet garage exit to the rear, which he has been using since he became Prime Minister), he would see the real impact of the crisis in the street where he lives in Massamá. The country is angry. So...

Six beautiful photos with captions of the show. Fruits and vegetables planted in Canada are displayed during the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair at Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto, Canada, on Nov. 4, 2011. The ten-day 2011 Royal Agricultural Winter Fair that opened here on Friday is one of the largest combined indoor agricultural fair in the world.(Xinhua/Zou Zheng)

JEDDAH: Saudi tweeters have created a hashtag called IsmOmi (Arabic for “my mother’s name”) in an attempt to break a longstanding taboo that prevents Saudi men from mentioning the name of their mothers. The hashtag enables them to say their mother’s name and allows them to bypass a critical society. Hashtags are created by adding # to a “tweet” on Twitter. They are terms invented to add to tweets on a given subject and build a community of tweets or build toward a “trending topic.” Saudi tweeters see this as a way to express their love and gratitude for their...