Free Republic

A new television commercial has been called “jaw-droppingly racist” for advertising laundry detergent seemingly strong enough to turn a black man Asian. The ad — from China-based laundry detergent company Qiaobi — shows a black man flirting with a seemingly interested Asian woman. The women lures the man closer to a washing machine. She shoves a ball of washing detergent in his mouth before shoving his body into the washing machine. Moments later, the black man emerges from the water as an Asian man.

According to research published today in the International Journal of Epidemiology, health is at risk for those who live within five kilometres of a landfill site. Researchers in Italy evaluated the potential health effects of living near nine different landfills in the Lazio region, and therefore being exposed to air pollutants emitted by the waste treatment plants. 242,409 people were enrolled in the cohort from 1996 to 2008. The results showed a strong association between Hydrogen Sulphide (used as a surrogate for all pollutants co-emitted from the landfills) and deaths caused by lung cancer, as well as deaths and hospitalizations...

When CBS ordered six new shows last week, fans on Twitter pointed out the one thing they all had in common: The top-billed actor in each was white and male. Soon observers began to accuse the broadcaster of not doing enough to cast women and actors of color at a time when the rest of the industry was making strides in that direction. On Wednesday, CBS unveiled its fall schedule to reporters and network executives were asked about the network’s “male-centered” lineup. “We are the network that has Madam Secretary and Two Broke Girls and Mom – we have lots...

A black bear bit through the tent and into the lower leg of a man who was hiking the Appalachian Trail and camped for the night at a national park in Tennessee, park officials said on Thursday. Bradley Veeder, 49, of Las Vegas, was sleeping around 11 p.m. local time in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Tuesday when the bear attacked, park spokeswoman Dana Soehn said by telephone. Because it was so dark, Veeder and nearby campers did not see the bear, which was initially scared away by his screams, Soehn said. Park officials said it was a...

Someone went to painstaking detail to track Clinton's email scandal and announced it at DU. Naturally, people are freaking out about it because it is out in the public and the information 'damages their presumptive nominee'. Permission to keep this up for interested FReepers to peruse. I'm quite certain it will be taken down when they discover we are have it here.

A family and employees inside a Foley towing business got the shock of their lives when a twin-engine plane went down in flames just outside their office Tuesday afternoon. The sole person inside escaped with just minor injuries. Foley Municipal Airport officials confirm the twin-engine Cessna was taking off when it immediately went down near Sunset Circle and Hickory Street. The plane was on fire, but the pilot got out through the back and jumped almost 10 feet to the ground to get away. Police and airport officials said the pilot walked away with only a few burns and cuts...

Middle-aged people laid off and unable to find work are taking another way out. They’re killing themselves. Suicide rates are soaring, according to federal data released last week. Especially in economically depressed states and job-starved upstate New York. People in need of work are twice as likely to take their own lives as employed people, and people fired in their 40s and 50s find it hardest to get hired again. That makes boosting economic growth a life-or-death issue for many. But you wouldn’t know it listening to President Obama and Hillary Clinton. President Obama whitewashes reality, claiming the “American economy...

A 17th-century silk dress reportedly belonging to someone on the royal court of an English queen was found buried in sand on a Dutch island. The Dutch News reported Thursday the dress belonged to someone who was on the royal court of English Queen Henrietta Maria. The queen was apparently traveling on a secret mission in the Wadden Sea when one of her baggage ships sank. According to paper, the queen’s trip to the Dutch Republic was to deliver her 11-year-old daughter to the court of William II, Prince of Orange – whom the girl married a year before the...

Boris Johnson was accused of 'dog whistle racism' and likened to right-wing 'Tea Party' politicians in the US this morning after his attack on the 'part-Kenyan' Barack Obama. The Mayor of London spoke out against the US President after he urged British voters to stay in the EU and mentioned his African ancestry as he criticised the decision to remove a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office shortly after Mr Obama entered the White House. Mr Johnson - who is favourite to succeed David Cameron as Prime Minister - suggested the President got rid of the statue...

Derelict-in-their-duties dog owners of Madrid have been put on notice: Pick up your pet’s poop or pay a hefty fine. You might even find yourself cleaning the streets. While it’s difficult, not to mention unpleasant, to quantify, the Spanish capital seems to handily outdistance any U.S. city when it comes to the volume of dog droppings besmirching its pedestrian pathways. That’s true from the early morning, when Madrid’s parents must navigate a minefield as they shepherd their children to school and then rush off to work, through the daytime hours and the afternoon trek home, before, if anything, the problem...

Former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling throws out the first pitch at Fenway Park in 2012. By Ryan Lazo Apparently ESPN decided it was about time Curt Schilling was on the other side of a Strike Three call. The network fired their controversial baseball analyst for providing offensive commentary on social media following his comments and blog post on the topic of transgender people. “ESPN is an inclusive company,” Walt Disney Co. DISN, +0.00% -owned ESPN said in a statement. “Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.” ESPN’s...

Living closer to nature is better for your health, new research suggests — and may even extend your life. A study just published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that people who live in “greener” areas, with more vegetation around, have a lower risk of mortality. The health benefits are likely thanks to factors such as improved mental health, social engagement and physical activity that come with living near green spaces. The research relied on data from a vast long-term Harvard study funded by the National Institutes of Health called the Nurses’ Health Study, which has collected health information...

What do you do in between sets at Coachella? If you’re deep in the crowd of one of the festival’s biggest stages, waiting for the next act to come on stage can be a pretty grueling task. Holding your place when other groups try to cut to the front and dealing with being surrounded by thousands of smelly, possibly intoxicated strangers can prove to be a challenge. But it’s worth it when 20-30 minutes later you get the best view of your favorite artist onstage. Such was the case Friday after Of Monsters And Men wrapped up their set and...

Motorists traveling on Interstate 10 will encounter restrictions next week — including a full closure of westbound I-10 between Benson and Tucson overnight Wednesday, April 20 — while the Arizona Department of Transportation continues making improvements in the area. The following restrictions are scheduled for next week: • The westbound I-10 on-ramp and eastbound I-10 off-ramp at Kolb Road in Tucson (Exit 270) will be closed from 7 p.m. Monday, April 18, until 5 a.m. Tuesday, April 19, for paving work on Kolb Road at the interchange. Traffic from Kolb Road can take eastbound I-10 to Rita Road and return...

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — Coachella will be “feeling the Bern” soon, as the city plans for a block party/rally dubbed “Berniechella” on April 21 and 22. Just before the second weekend of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, will host the Bernie Sanders Block Party from 5 p.m. to midnight April 21 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 22, on Grapefruit Boulevard and Vine Street in Old Town Coachella. The free event is expected to draw between 1,500 and 3,000 people, although similar...

The report noted that "the Bakersfield to Palmdale section includes a variety of constraints that pose significant technical and environmental challenges, including seismic faults, steep grades through the Tehachapi Mountains and flood plains." The route could require as many as 59 grade separations for highways.

An illegal alien who hit a Texas firefighter head-on and killed him and his four-year-old stepdaughter and 22-month-old son will be charged with criminally negligent homicide if he recovers from his critical injuries. The man did not have a drivers license and was in the country illegally, according to the CBS affiliate for Dallas/Fort Worth. He first came to the U.S. in 2006 but was deported in 2008. L.P. Phillips of KRLD radio in Dallas spoke to ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officials who verified that Margarito Quintero was an illegal alien.

A month ago, while attending the Startup Turkey conference in Antalya, I had the chance to talk to Shoaib Fadie, CEO and co-founder of the social networking platform Muslimface. He was there to pitch to potential investors his website, which, in addition to social networking also offers prayer times, job postings, a tool to locate the nearest mosque, a ‘find your spouse’ feature, and much more. It might not seem the best of times, now, to write about Islamic online content, given the prejudices that surround the topic and the rising Islamophobia (which the recent terrorist attacks has certainly not...

The city of Cleveland is seeking an unprecedented amount of riot gear and security equipment for July's Republican National Convention as emotional unrest and physical violence follow the GOP front runner across the U.S. Donald Trump, in fact, has predicted riots if he wins the most number of delegates but is not formally nominated during the convention. It’s a prediction that local leaders have called “irresponsible” and “dangerous,” and one which continues to fuel the narrative that repressive, military police tactics are necessary during the RNC. This month, the city posted a request for bids on a spectrum of riot...

In Brussels police are still desperately hunting a dangerous terrorist after he fled a triple-suicide bombing in the city that left 34 dead, as officials search for news on U.S. citizens who went missing during the attack and medics tend to nine more Americans lying wounded in hospitals. Meanwhile in Buenos Aires President Barack Obama was dancing the night away with wife Michelle at a glitzy state dinner alongside Argentine President Mauricio Macri and his first lady Juliana Awada as part of a two-day state visit. Despite increasing calls from the likes of Donald Trump and Ted Cruz for the...