Free Republic

President Obama’s campaign team has put together a website to remind us what the Yuletide season is truly all about — getting him re-elected. So they’ve decided to offer Americans a collection of special decorations for the “holiday” season... ...And don’t worry about messing up your furniture with water stains because the Commander-in-Chief also has a line of glass coasters. But if you’re sipping a Martini, why not just throw a backyard barbecue? And President Obama has just what you need — a “Fired Up and Ready to Grill” apron, a six-pack presidential cooler, and a nifty Commander-in-Chief cutting board...

Imagine a bargain hunter's shock and dismay when responding to an ad on Craigslist listing a bunch of possessions for sale and then receiving an email announcing that gay people, Muslims, and illegal immigrants aren't allowed to purchase the wares. Read it for yourself. Our tipster, who lives in the D.C. area, responded to an ad on Craigslist, which has been taken down, expressing interest in one of the items for sale. He received this mass email response peppered with casual racism and homophobia. I've highlighted the worst parts, but the whole thing is really amazingly awful. "i have been...

Yard sale etiquette apparently went out the window Friday in Sonora after a 70-year-old man hit another man over the head with a cornbread pan while the two were trying to get access to the sale items. Jon Joslin, 70, was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon. The victim, Joseph Brown, 64, suffered a head laceration but refused medical treatment at the scene, according to Sgt. Jeff Wilson, spokesman for the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department. ...According to Wilson, Joslin arrived early at the yard sale on Via Este Road and was told he would not be allowed...

Sorry for the long hiatus, but life called me and I had to reply. But here I am, back again in all my thrifty glory, with some fun things to share and some amazing things to look forward to. Today, the fun sharing stuff: I’ve been to a few yard sales recently and picked up oodles of stuff for a song or two. Some of it was stuff to keep, like a Lucy Davies framed print of a blue and white kitchen counter (much like my own) to hang above my kitchen counter! Asking price was $2.00, but since I...

When Vaneisha Robinson bought a diamond studded pendant in the shape of LeBron James' number 23 jersey at a yard sale four years ago, she thought it was costume jewelry. "I used to go to high school with it around my neck, not knowing the value of it," Robinson said. Robinson got curious about the pendant's value a few months ago when she noticed the diamonds were set in the same way real ones are. She took it to a local jewelry store for a once-over.

HOLLY HILL -- The yard sale at 722 Center Ave. has been canceled. That much is clear. The rest of the story, including allegations that police threatened to arrest the 80-year-old homeowner because she didn't have a permit? Not so much. The facts are these: After 60 years in Holly Hill, Pauline Liles is moving to Tennessee to live with her daughter's family. Her husband, Jack, is already there, having suffered a stroke that has immobilized him. Pauline, an old hand at yard sales, was hoping to sell most of their stuff before joining him next week. She advertised the...

This story is actually a couple of days old but I wanted to write about it because it portrays a bureaucratic mindset that we would have to deal with if health care reform passes. The Bush era Congress passed the "Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act" in August of 2008. It was, as most legislation, an overreaction to the Chinese toy scare. It was designed to "require extensive testing of any toy, book, or item of clothing intended for kids under the age of 12." But ambitious bureaucrats have taken the bill and interpreted it to mean "used" toys as well....

When our founders created the federal government, I’m pretty sure they didn’t anticipate having its power reach into their carriage houses. Thanks to a particularly asinine piece of legislation called the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act, though, we now have federal inspectors threatening to start investigating yard sales and church bazaars. They say they’re just going to focus on thrift stores and Craigslist … for now: If you’re planning a garage sale or organizing a church bazaar, you’d best beware: You could be breaking a new federal law. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is...

Run, don't walk, to John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign headquarters in Arlington, Va., for an amazing Blowout Sale! Computers, blackberries, televisions, desks, you name it - everything must go. Hurry while the offer lasts! That's right, the failed McCain-Palin campaign is having a fire sale this week on leftover equipment. Everything is on sale at reduced prices. An email sent over the weekend to all campaign staff, which was subsequently forwarded to the Sleuth, reads: "Starting Monday December 8, 2008 the prices will be slashed to 36% of the original price for furniture, office supplies, blackberries, and many campaign computers....

Landsat 7 Images Show Scale of Tsunami Damage. Indonesia's island of Sumatra suffered from both the rumblings of the underwater earthquake and the tsunamis that followed on December 26, 2004. Within minutes of the quake, the sea surged ashore, bringing destruction to the coasts of northern Sumatra. The earthquake that created the huge tsunami also changed the Earth's rotation. Using data from the quake, NASA scientists calculated the earthquake decreased the length of day, slightly changed the planet's shape, and shifted the North Pole by centimeters Images on the web-site below show natural-color images from Landsat 7's Enhanced Thematic Mapper...

MIDI - TOMORROWThe voters come out tomorrowBet your bottom dollar that tomorrow we'll have fun Just thinking about tomorrowGives us hope for California's future...he'll be done When we see all our money he's been spending...we are getting so angry, we could scream! It will be judgment day tomorrowI won't leave a hanging chad tomorrow...there's no way Tomorrow...tomorrow...I love you, tomorrowWe're gonna get rid of Gray The earthquake will hit tomorrow...RATS will all be shaking come tomorrow...what a day We'll go to the polls tomorrow...there's a message to be sent tomorrow...hip hooray When we see all of our money he's...

LONDON (Reuters) - Pop star Elton John (news) is selling off the contents of his London home as he goes minimalist after a lifetime of flamboyant extravagance, auctioning everything from Elizabethan paintings to Art Deco beds. The sale next week is expected to raise more than $1.3 million, with prices ranging from $66 to $66,000 for items of furniture, paintings, baubles and even a pair of stone poodles. "We are selling the entire contents of his London home. He wanted a complete change," Alexandra Reece of auction house Sotheby's, told reporters Wednesday. But in contrast to the 1988 sale of...