Free Republic

A new aviation company has developed a type of jet fuel made entirely from human sewage. Chemists at a lab in Gloucestershire have turned the waste into kerosene. James Hygate, Firefly Green Fuels CEO, said: "We wanted to find a really low-value feedstock that was highly abundant. And of course poo is abundant." Independent tests by international aviation regulators found it was nearly identical to standard fossil jet fuel. Firefly's team worked with Cranfield University to examine the fuel's life cycle carbon impact. It concluded that Firefly's fuel has a 90% lower carbon footprint than standard jet fuel. Mr Hygate,...

The Austin Police Department revealed a brightly-colored PRIDE car Wednesday, the final day of Pride Month, and says the vehicle will join the department’s celebrations during Austin’s Pride parade in August. The department said this month it also became the first department in Texas to adopt a Pride patch for its officers and civilian staff to wear in June and during the parade. The department worked with the Lesbian and Gay Peace Officers Association and Cops for Charities to create the patch and an accompanying hat.

Snip- "City officials temporarily denied Occupy Madison a new street use permit Wednesday after protesters violated public health and safety conditions and failed to follow the correct processes to renew or amend a permit..." "A neighboring hotel's staff alleged voiced concerns about having to recently escort hotel employees to and from bus stops late at night due to inappropriate behavior, such as public masturbation, from street protesters."

The UN Security Council and General Assembly were evacuated Tuesday because of a "suspicious odor," according to a UN spokesman.

Bavarian beer purveyors concerned about a smelly Oktoberfest are hoping bacteria can make the experience more enjoyable. They plan to pour a solution of live bacteria on the floors of Munich's beer tents, in an effort to knock out the inevitable festival smells usually covered up by a fog of cigarette smoke. Voters in Bavaria passed a statewide smoking ban in July, and it took effect last month. Oktoberfest gets an exception through 2011, but organizers want to conduct a test run during the festival’s 200th anniversary, which starts next week. Its ill effects aside, cigarette smoke is a pretty...

Your heart burns for White Castle sliders? This product's for you. The Ohio-based burger chain is selling a slider-scented candle throughout May to commemorate National Hamburger Month. The white candle is packaged in a ceramic version of the cardboard White Castle sleeve. [snip/slide]

Mr. Bumble the skunk loves his bacon sandwiches, but his new owners have put him on a vegetarian diet to help shed the extra weight they’ve added to his frame. At 14 pounds, Mr. Bumble is twice his ideal weight. His previous owners, who indulged his love for pork, gave him to the RSPCA and he now lives at Tropiquaria animal park near Watchet, Scotland where he’s fed fruit and vegetables. His new healthy diet, along with a daily exercise regimen, should help him shed the extra 7 pounds that have made his naturally sleek body so rotund. Skunks’ natural...

BERKELEY -- About 200 protesters rallied on the ground below a tree-top encampment of protesters in a grove of trees next to Memorial Stadium this afternoon as a judge was expected to rule on the fate of an athletic training center planned for the site. Two of the protesters were arrested, while workers hired by UC Berkeley dismantled more of the tree-sitters' roost, cutting ropes, removing supplies and tearing out improvised structures. By early afternoon, most of the protesters' ropes were gone, and one of two large platforms high in the trees toppled to the ground. The year-and-a-half-old tree protest...

End the Criminal Israeli Siege of Gaza NOW! Stop the Collective Punishment of the Palestinian People! Coalition Calls for Emergency Protests Jan. 25-26 in Washington, San Francisco, Anaheim and other cities Washington DC: Friday, Jan. 25 (time tba), at the Israeli Embassy, 3514 International Dr. N.W. San Francisco, CA: Friday, Jan. 25, 4 6 p.m., Israeli Consulate, 456 Montgomery St. (near California) Anaheim, CA: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m. 512 S. Brookhurst St. (Bet. Orange Ave. & Broadway) New York, NY: Saturday, Jan. 26, 1 p.m., at the Israeli Embassy, 43rd St. and 2nd Ave. Chicago, IL: Tues., Jan. 29,...

RALEIGH - The living arrangement has a name, The Mayview Collective, which conjures '60s-era images of backyard chickens and overgrown vegetable patches. Living in a duplex with three bedrooms on each side, members of the Collective kick in $325 per month toward rent, utilities and a reserve fund for household expenses. Not long ago, they bought a vacuum cleaner. The back side of the home includes a kitchen where volunteers cook meals for the homeless and a space where more volunteers help people fix their bicycles. Within walking distance of Cameron Village, the people who live here carry a different...

SAN FRANCISCO - Their hair, once a symbol of youthful rebellion, is mostly gray. Bodies that writhed with wild abandon when a guru invited them to "Turn on ... tune in ... drop out" now sport stiff knees and age spots. "How many of you are on acid right now?" rock critic Joel Selvin asked an audience of former hippies who turned out this past week to mark the 40th anniversary of the Human Be-in, the counterculture event that unofficially launched the Summer of Love. "How many of you are on antacid right now?" In many ways, the '60s as...

WHO? All Men and Women, you and everyone you know. WHERE? Everywhere in the world, but especially in countries with weapons of mass destruction. WHEN? Winter Solstice Day - Friday, December 22nd, at the time of your choosing, in the place of your choosing and with as much privacy as you choose. WHY? To effect positive change in the energy field of the Earth through input of the largest possible surge of human energy ( a Synchronized Global Orgasm. There are two more US fleets heading for the Persian Gulf with anti-submarine equipment that can only be for use against...

Krissy Keefer's chances of unseating the House Minority Leader are essentially nil, but her quixotic run in San Francisco has tapped into real liberal disillusion -- on Iraq above all.On a recent Sunday in Washington Square Park, in the heart of ultra-liberal San Francisco, Krissy Keefer roamed among the knots of people seated on the grass with the ease of a practiced socialite mingling with old friends. Balancing a to-go coffee cup in one hand, the 60-something dancer with an unruly mane of long, dark, gray-streaked hair would sidle up to elderly couples and young parents, offer them one of...

The polar ice cap may not be the only thing shrinking in the Arctic. The genitals of polar bears in eastern Greenland are apparently dwindling in size due to industrial pollutants, a new study finds. Scientists report that this shrinkage could, in the worst-case scenario, endanger polar bears on Greenland

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad When Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad got an anonymous text message suggesting he didn't wash enough, he did not take it lying down. He fired the president of the phone company, had four people arrested, took other legal action and accused those involved of conspiring with the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad, according to the Iranian opposition website Rooz Online. The website says Ahmadinejad, known throughout the world as a hard-liner who has threatened Israel with destruction and questioned the Holocaust, is the target of many barbs among the populace in his country.

Yaa, you repukes are not doing so well, huh? Imagine, you repukes control the presidency, both houses of Congress, and appointed 7 of the 9 Supreme Court justices. Yet the Supreme Court thre out sodomy laws in all 50 states and recognized the right of government to seize land for any reason. And you couldn't pass your Social Security changes could you? Sorry, that was your last shot. Come November, we're going to start seeing more Democratic faces in the House. It's the end for you guys. You guys are celebrating when Bush's numbers go *up* to 45%. Then Faux...

Bush’s giant Right Wing Noise Machine (RWNM) loves to preach about the Bush economic miracle. In fact, the RWNM’s current thinking is Bush doesn’t spend enough time talking about his economic triumphs. If only he did, then everyone would fall in line and believe in the great Bush economic miracle. There is one problem with this argument: it’s a lie. Any way you look at the Bush economy, it comes up short. Today, I want to compare Bush’s job creation record with other economic recoveries. As usual, Bush comes up way short. The national Bureau of Economic Research has identified...

Why does anybody support George w Bush as President? He is clearly the worst President I have ever seen -- a complete disaster. And before you say anything, I have been a registered Republican for 25 years.

Lies of omission about 9/11 -- stoking fears of terrorism THEY WANT YOU TO BE AFRAID The following post was censored by freerepublic.com shortly after it was posted on their "public" forum on 9/11/04. That forum is designed to appear as though it is a community forum open to all, but this post only received three responses before it and its replies were deleted, and a repeat posting at 4 am PST on 9/20/04 didn't stay online for 5 minutes! Someone is apparently watching closely over the content of the freerepublic.com forums and censoring them 24/7 (though they might have...