Free Republic

It has happened yet again. President Barack Obama has been plagued by flying insects, and this time they interrupted the commander in chief as he was reading to children Monday morning at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. As the president was reciting lines from the famous book “Where the Wild Things Are,” bees began buzzing around the kids seated on the South Lawn at the White House. “Oh no, it’s a bee!” declared Obama when some children began to scream because of the insects. “It’s OK, guys.” Obama tried to assure the children everything would be fine, saying,...

A Maaco body shop worker will be suspended for leaving a profane, threatening message telling a customer's husband to "get her in check" after her she posted a scathing review on Facebook, the company said Friday. Ella May Rudd posted the recording she says was left on her husband's phone, triggering a torrent of withering comments from social media users and an apology from Maaco Franchising LLC of Charlotte, North Carolina. "I'm a strong woman," said Rudd, 32, a stay-at-home mother of two young boys. "I walked into Maaco and confronted" the employee "myself after he left that voicemail. I...

A Kentucky grandmother says she fought off a crazed woman who was strangling her with a bra by bashing her in the head with a ceramic chicken.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - "Some people want to fill the world with silly love songs. And what's wrong with that? I'd like to know," Paul McCartney sings in his 1976 song "Silly Love Songs." Mice might agree. It turns out male mice actually use ultrasonic "love songs" to woo females, using different tunes when they smell but do not see a female and when they lay eyes on their potential lady love, scientists said on Wednesday. "I do think there is more going on with animal communication than we humans have been attuned to," Duke University neurobiology professor Erich Jarvis said....

It already leads one of the most charmed lives on the planet, spoilt with the finest food and first-class care. Now Choupette, Karl Lagerfeld’s cat, has also been confirmed as one of the richest members of the fashion industry, with its annual earnings matching even the most coveted of models. The Siamese cat, described by the designer as “sophisticated” has earned €3-million (just over $4-million) for just two advertising jobs in the past year: a collaboration with the Japanese cosmetics brand Shu Uemura and posing for a Vauxhall Corsa car calendar.

Pretty safe to say the Macedonian under-16 boys soccer team doesn’t enjoy a ton of success internationally. So you could see why their goal celebration during a UEFA Development Tournament match against host Gibraltar was a little over-the-top. And, it should be said, incredibly costly. The Macedonian team scored what it thought was the winning goal in stoppage time against Gibraltar on Wednesday. But as they were celebrating the goal — the entire team headed to the sideline to whoop it up with their bench — the enterprising Gibraltar players put the ball back in play. Before the Macedonian team...

The New Orleans Police Department is searching for a gunman who wore a gorilla mask to rob the Dat Dog restaurant location on Freret Street

Indiana's new religious-objections law has angered many on Broadway, and some are calling on union members to avoid working in that state. A Care2 petition started by playwright and actor Eric Ulloa urges the Actors' Equity Association — the labor union that represents more than 50,000 actors and stage managers — to avoid performances or work in Indiana following passage of the state's Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It had over 1,100 signatures by 1:30 p.m. Eastern time. Ulloa in an interview Thursday said he was sparked into action because the law might make it possible for touring actors to be...

The grandson of oil tycoon J. Paul Getty, who was found dead and bleeding from his rectum in his L.A. home, claimed in court papers that Lanessa Grace DeJonge — the ex-girlfriend who reportedly found him dead — was using his mysterious medical condition against him. “A rise in my blood pressure places me in grave risk of substantial and irreparable injury or death,” Getty said in a court filing obtained by the Daily News. “Lanessa DeJonge is aware of my medical condition, and she has exploited this information to demand money and property from me, refusing to leave my...

Federal authorities on Tuesday identified the driver killed while trying to ram a stolen SUV through a security checkpoint at the National Security Agency headquarters as a Baltimore resident with a criminal history for robbery and prostitution.. The FBI named Ricky Shawatza Hall, 27, as the driver who died. According to police, Hall and another person ended up at the gates of the huge spy agency Monday morning after stealing the vehicle from a 60-year-old man with whom they had traveled to a budget motel in nearby Elkridge.

Astrophysicist and cosmologist Neil DeGrasse Tyson is defending Scientology in light of HBO's highly critical documentary on the church. HBO's documentary "Going Clear" did not show the church in an entirely positive light — Scientology has a built a reputation for tormenting members who leave it either by surveillance or harassment. The film highlights the celebrities who made the religion intriguing to the world as well as the horrific stories of abuse from former members. But Tyson, in an interview with The Daily Beast, declined to bash the controversial church, saying people are free to believe whatever they want. "So,...

ROSTRAVER (KDKA)- Police had to redirect traffic around a messy crash along Interstate 70 in Westmoreland County. Around 11:30 p.m. Wednesday, a tractor-trailer swerved and hit a barrier, which split the trailer wide open. This crash happened in the construction zone between exit 44 (Arnold City) and exit 43 (Fayette City/Donora). The big rig was hauling Twizzlers licorice, which spilled all over the highway. I-70 was closed for several hours while crews cleaned up the mess. The truck driver was not seriously hurt in the crash. Foggy conditions in the area may have played a role in the crash.

When retired priest Neil Richardson, 69, moved to Braintree, Essex he was constantly greeted by complete strangers who insisted on calling him John. Baffled by their persistence, Mr Richardson thought nothing of it until some time later the reason for the confusion became apparent. John Jemison, 74, a retired headteacher is the spitting image of Mr Richardson and lives just miles away. When the doppelgangers finally bumped into each other, they even discovered that they has attended the same college and had both worked as religious knowledge teachers. Mr Richardson, 69, said: "Complete strangers were coming up to me and...

According to Dr Saidi, 60% of couples end their engagements after receiving their results, which he says is a sign of success. "The high percentage of failed engagements due to medical risks shows that the society has become more educated and aware of the importance of physical health," he says. "This will also save money for the family and the country." In January, a Riyadh-based genetic researcher said Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of genetic diseases in the world. Pre-marital health tests aim to prevent marriages between close relatives - a longstanding practice in Saudi Arabia -...

Maybe it was thirsty. A coyote scampered back and forth across the roof of a Long Island City bar on Monday, as stunned locals gawked at their wild neighbor. “He didn’t pay his bar tab, so he ran out onto the rooftop,” quipped L.I.C. Bar owner Brian Porter.

A woman who spent her life caring for stray dogs received an unexpected -- and surprising -- tribute from the animals when she died. At the funeral for Margarita Suárez in Cuernavaca Morelos, Mexico, there was a pack of stray dogs who came inside the funeral home to stand guard. Suárez's daughter Patricia Urrutia told ABC News that they were shocked, but delighted by the appearance of the canine celebrants.

San Francisco-based artist and designer Lauren Venell created the Super Burrito body pillow, a giant, plush, huggable burrito stuffed to the end with felt salsa and other filling. Venell originally made Super Burrito as a comission for The Bold Italic. More of the artist’s work, including the hilarious Bold Burrito costume, can be seen on her website. For the die-hard enthusiast, now you can have your burrito and spoon it, too. Standing as tall as a beefy second-grader, this burrito makes an excellent body pillow or imaginary friend, who will never judge you for scarfing the half you were going...

Glow-in-the-dark tampons could be used to show where sewage is seeping into rivers, scientists have suggested. A study has found that tampons absorb even tiny amounts of “brighteners” found in detergents, toothpaste and shampoo and subsequently glow under UV light. A team at the University of Sheffield has shown that “tampon tests” can be used to track down which houses sewage is coming from at river locations where a problem has been identified. David Lerner, a professor of environmental engineering at the University of Sheffield who led the study, said: “Sewage in rivers is very unpleasant, very widespread and very...

A thousand-year-old medieval remedy for eye infections which was discovered in a manuscript in the British Library has been found to kill the superbug MRSA. Anglo-Saxon expert Dr Christina Lee, from the School of English, at Nottingham University, recreated the 10th century potion to see if it really worked as an antibacterial remedy. The 'eyesalve' recipe calls for two species of Allium (garlic and onion or leek), wine and oxgall (bile from a cow’s stomach). It describes a very specific method of making the topical solution including the use of a brass vessel to brew it, a strainer to purify...

A police dog bit an officer during a pursuit early Sunday morning. Shortly after 2:30 a.m., a police officer tried to pull over a driver for a traffic violation, San Diego Police said. The driver took off and lead officers on a short chase before jumping out of the car and running off near the intersection of Fairmont Avenue at Camino Del Rio North in Kensington. When the officer ran after him, he was bitten on the hand by his own K9 dog, police said. The officer was treated and will be okay. The suspect in the pursuit was arrested.