Free Republic

"There's poop everywhere! Y-u-c-k," says 6-year-old Jordan Lien as he and his family dine at the Modern Toilet, a popular Taiwanese restaurant chain that's expanding into China and other parts of Asia. The boy was looking at the poop-shaped lights and dish covers and the curry on toilet-shaped plates. Diarrhea for dinner? That's the point. "It's supposed to shock and confuse the senses," says Modern Toilet manager Chen Min-kuang. But as Jennifer Finch, an American who was dining there, described it, "They do it tastefully. It's all very clean."

VICTORIA'S alpine region has recorded snowfall in the early hours of today, just days after the state was on extreme fire alert. Victorian Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Michael Halfpenny said with temperatures reaching a low of minus two degrees at Mount Hotham this morning, slight snowfall would have been seen. "There would have been a few flecks this morning with a few possible showers, but it was not likely to settle," he said. Mt Hotham recorded 1.2 mm of snow with temperatures below zero degrees from about 2am to 10.30am, Mr Halfpenny said. Mount Hotham Skiing Company senior marketing...

CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez seized a local unit of American food giant Cargill on Wednesday and threatened to nationalize Venezuela's largest private company, Polar, as he demanded industry produce cheaper rice. The clash with the food companies came less than three weeks after Chavez, a Cuba ally who has nationalized swaths of the Venezuelan economy, won a referendum on allowing him to run for reelection. "I warn you this revolution means business," said Chavez. The anti-U.S. president is popular among the poor for pressuring companies to produce cheap goods and for government programs that provide subsidized food in...

The Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis said Monday that it will receive about $15 million in funding for its weatherization program from the economic stimulus package through the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. The Urban League plans to hire 20 to 25 weatherization auditors over the next 90 days, according to spokeswoman Angelia Bills. The organization will be employing its subcontractors to do the actual weatherization work. The new contract starts in June and runs for 18 months. The Urban League’s original funding for the program was $1.4 million. The nonprofit said the added funding will allow it to...

The same young conservatives who put together February 27th's NYC Tea Party, are working hard to put together a bigger, better organized Tea Party on Tax Day. If you have a Tea Party planned in your state for April 15, go to link and submit your info. The April 15 NYC Tea Party location is still to be determined. There is another NYC Tea Party planned for Friday, March 13, 10 a.m. If you work in Manhattan--or can manage it, they are meeting at the Bull on Bowling Green, marching to NYSE, and making a point to stop in front...

Just saying the word "earmark" causes cringing in the halls of Congress. The practice is legendary, and duty zealously guarded by members, Republican and Democratic alike. But opponents, and there are a few, have vilified the task to such a degree that sponsors are now on serious defense. The $410 billion omnibus spending bill is filled with earmarks, special projects requested by specific members very often for their home states. On Wednesday, the Senate approved 13 spending projects sought by a lobbying firm accused of funneling illegal campaign contributions to lawmakers Senators voted 52-43 to preserve the so-called earmarks in...

PROLOGUE & AFTERMATH - The World Economic Forum took place in Davos Switzerland last week. The global picture enabled a nice snapshot of sentiment, fault for the crisis, blame doled out, the vacuum of leadership, the perks for blunderers in a country club setting (instead of prison), and warnings on a potential situation that could spiral out of control. Amidst all the finger pointing, surprisingly little blame was given to themselves, the corporate chieftains in attendance. Let's be clear! The Davos Forum was a funeral wake, and Putin rode in on a white horse to announce there is a new...

What Isn't JP Morgan Telling Us About Its Exposure To GE? (GE, JPM) John Carney|Mar. 4, 2009, 4:57 PM|12 Tags: Wall Street, GE, Stocks, Debt, Jeff Immelt, JP Morgan, Jamie Dimon Traders today were talking about rumors that JP Morgan Chase might have some outsized exposure to General Electric, which has been in a free fall all week. Citigroup analysts are the first to come out and publicly raise the question of JP Morgan's exposure. According to StreetInsider, Citi's analyst said, "While JPM management would not comment on its exposure to GE or GE Capital, JPM did say that a...

Banks are on the brink, the stock market is in a torpor, and one of today’s hottest topics at the daily White House briefing was Rush Limbaugh, whom Democrats are trying to hang around the neck of the Republican party. Robert Gibbs, press secretary for President Barack Obama, was asked if the White House had been complicit in the maneuver — and was not that hypocritical when considering Obama’s emphasis on getting past partisan sniping? Here’s Gibb’s answer on C-Span:

As others on Free Republic noted today and yesterday, a state delegate wants to outlaw the sale of Barbie dolls in West Virginia: West Virginia state lawmaker Jeff Eldridge proposed a bill Tuesday that would ban sales of the busty Mattel doll, and others like her, in the state, just days before the doll officially logs a half century on March 9. “I just hate the image that we give to our kids that if you're beautiful, you're beautiful and you don't have to be smart," Eldridge told West Virginia Media. "I'd like to send a message to not only...

Jim Rogers co-founded the Quantum Fund. During the first 10 years the portfolio gained 4200% while the S&P advanced about 47%. He's no flake. He says we're in deep doodoo. Could it be that this is exactly what Obama wants...a total breakdown of our economy and society?

In a move that has been brewing for quite some time, but only reached critical mass within the last 48 hours, 3/4 of the Republican Party of Virginia's State Central Committee have signed on to a letter asking RPV Chairman Jeff Frederick to step aside. Why is the 3/4 number significant? Well, that is the amount required in order to forceably remove a chairman from office... We've been hearing from multiple sources off-the-record over the past two days that such a move was imminent and that the letter would soon be delivered. That letter was delivered late this afternoon. While...

Fox 5 News has uncovered the whopping amount of money that disgraced financier Bernie Madoff, his sons, brother and wife donated to members of Congress. Madoff is facing accusations of masterminding the largest investment fraud in history and could go to prison for life if tried and convicted. Watch Charles Leaf's report (video, left).  There is no evidence of any wrongdoing or quid pro quo, but the revelation of the donations raises questions about what influence in Congress may or may not buy. At least one former SEC accountant says that members of Congress have in the past pressured the...

As usual when Muslims complain about what offends them, they get their way. This time they were upset that a Catholic newspaper had been using the word "Allah" in reference to God. In response the Malaysian government has ordered the paper not to print the word "Allah" anymore.

A U.S. senator has suggested that voters have made Barack Obama eligible to occupy the Oval Office, whether or not he meets the constitutional mandate of being a "natural born" citizen. The comments from Sen. Mel Martinez came in an e-mail sent to a constituent shortly after the election, which just now was forwarded to WND. The constituent had asked about Martinez's perspective on the issue on which WND and others have reported: claims made by dozens of lawsuits around the country that Obama might not meet the constitutional qualification for various reasons. "Presidential candidates are vetted by voters at...

Washington, D.C. ­– U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), and Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) introduced critical drug importation legislation today that will reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the United States. The Senators said their legislation, the “Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act,” will bring consumers immediate relief and will ultimately force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the United States. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would save American consumers $50 billion over the next decade, including more than $10 billion in federal government savings. The bill allows U.S.-licensed pharmacies...

RIO DE JANEIRO — A 9-year-old girl who was carrying twins, allegedly after being raped by her stepfather, underwent an abortion Wednesday despite complaints from Brazil's Roman Catholic church. Police said the stepfather has been jailed since last week. Abortion is illegal in Brazil, but judges can make exceptions if the mother's life is in danger or the fetus has no chance of survival. Dr. Manny Blog: Tragedy of 9-Year-Old's Abortion Fatima Maia, director of the public university hospital where the abortion was performed, said the 15-week-old pregnancy posed a serious risk to the 80-pound (36-kilogram) girl. "She is very...

I have been noticing that my mind has been getting twisted, easily confused and I go into panic mode at the slightest provocation. Noise, pressure from others, intense working conditions and such keep be unemployed. Veterans Administration is slow to recognize the injury that started in Vietnam has slowly been creeping up on me. I don't know enough to know what is happening but I do know that it is - because I notice daily the decreased ability to function in even the most normal of situations. I have been through rehab but their process takes so long and there...

(Editor's note: After this story was published, the communications director for the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said that Chairman Ed Markey, D-Mass., could not attend the global warming rally because of a "scheduling conflict." See below.) (CNSNews.com) – Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) had to cancel an appearance Monday at a global warming rally in Washington, D.C., that was hit by a snowstorm because her flight was delayed, her office told CNSNews.com. Brianna Cayo-Cotter, the spokesman for the Energy Action Coalition that held the rally, told a group of reporters that she had...

Pandemonium at New Hampshire state house as hundreds of liberty activists surge into the square. They're supporting a "nullification" resolution which some call the first step to secession. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyrcTvgndIU http://www.bearpit.net/index.php?showtopic=9581