Free Republic

Australia started out as a prison colony and there's plenty of evidence to suggest that in Melbourne and the rest of Victoria state the country is returning to its "roots". The lockdown triggering a call for protest and the government's vow to prevent it with arrests of people organizing the protest in their homes in recent days. Americans are supposed to be angry about dictatorships in other countries and the US Marines are sent to defend this formerly free country that looks like the "Peoples Democratic Republic of Australia" to me. The protesters in Melbourne today were pounced on at...

When actress Tippi Hedren visited a Vietnamese refugee camp in California 40 years ago, the Hollywood star's long, polished fingernails dazzled the women there. Hedren flew in her personal manicurist to teach a group of 20 refugees the art of manicures. Those 20 women - mainly the wives of high-ranking military officers and at least one woman who worked in military intelligence - went on to transform the industry, which is now worth about $8bn (£5.2bn) and is dominated by Vietnamese Americans. "We were trying to find vocations for them," says Hedren, who is perhaps best known for starring in...

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered emergency measures on Sunday to combat the wage theft and health hazards faced by the thousands of people who work in New York State’s nail salon industry. Effective immediately, he said in a statement, a new, multiagency task force will conduct salon-by-salon investigations, institute new rules that salons must follow to protect manicurists from the potentially dangerous chemicals found in nail products, and begin a six-language education campaign to inform them of their rights. Nail salons that do not comply with orders to pay workers back wages, or are unlicensed, will be shut down. The...

ACTON - Two tigers from Michel Jackson's Neverland have found a new home in the Antelope Valley. On Saturday, actress and animal advocate Tippi Hedren spoke to the felines from behind a metal fence. The 6-year-old Bengals came from Michael Jackson's Neverland Valley Ranch in Los Olivos a month ago. Hedren explained that when Jackson decided to close his zoo, veterinarian Martin Dinnes recommended the sanctuary for their new home. The tigers were a little cranky because of the move. After weeks in a quarantine camp - standard practice for new Shambala residents - the duo took a few days...