Free Republic

Capri pants bare scourge of summer: ‘cankles’Cheeky gym campaign gives us yet another body part to worry about By Jacqueline Stenson updated 9:31 a.m. ET, Wed., July 1, 2009 Still obsessing about how your dimpled thighs, jelly belly or flappy arms look in a swimsuit? That’s so last summer. This year, there’s a new body part to fret over: the cankle. Hmmm, you may be wondering, what’s a cankle? Gold’s Gym, which has designated July as “Cankle Awareness Month,” defines it this way: “The word comes from the combination of ‘calf’ and ‘ankle.’ It occurs when the calf merges with...

John Dickinson, A Speech Against Independence, 1776 I know the name of liberty id dear to each one of us; but have we not enjoyed liberty even under the English monarchy? Shall we this day renounce that to go and seek it in I know not what form of republic, which will soon change into a licentious anarchy and popular tyranny? In the human body the head only sustains and governs all the members, directing them, with admirable harmony, to the same object, which is self-preservation and happiness; so the head of the body politic, that is the king, in...

Sir, the candle is in full compliance with the new Cap and Trade law prohibiting bright light bulbs, but the water bottles are a felony. Please come with us.

Britain's violent crime record is worse than any other country in the European union, it is revealed today. Official crime figures show the UK also has a worse rate for all types of violence than the U.S. and even South Africa - widely considered one of the world's most dangerous countries. The figures comes on the day new Home Secretary Alan Johnson makes his first major speech on crime, promising to be tough on loutish behaviour. The Tories said Labour had presided over a decade of spiralling violence. In the decade following the party's election in 1997, the number of...

The country’s third-largest newspaper chain looks perilously close to bankruptcy. An agreement between McClatchy Co. and its banks puts the country’s third-largest newspaper chain at risk of defaulting on its debt by the end of the year, according to credit analysts. If that happens, Bank of America and other creditors could either show leniency and rework the terms of their agreement or push the publisher of 30 daily newspapers, including the Miami Herald and Sacramento Bee, into bankruptcy. In the current environment, banks are less likely to sustain companies on life support, said Shelly Lombard, an analyst at Gimme Credit....

One state senator's urge for a Coca Cola led to the latest fracas inside the New York State Capitol building in Albany on Tuesday. As state Democrats convened around noon to hold a one-party session, Republican Sen. Frank Padavan of Queens walked through the chamber on a hunt for the soda machine -- a caffeine quest that would later result with him being tallied as voting with the Democrats. Padavan reportedly claimed he was taking a short-cut to the members' lounge, but the 31 Democrats seized the opportunity to count him as their 32nd vote and unanimously passed 125 bills...

"Just how can the Fed credibly promise to be irresponsible...?" HERE'S A THOUGHT - that tiny handful of investors and analysts warning how Fed policy risks hyper-inflation are in fact doing the central bank's work. The Fed wants you to believe hyperinflation is looming. Or at least, it should want that, if doubling its balance-sheet - purchasing and lending against investment junk - is going to work the wonders that modern central-bank theory says it can. And the Fed certainly wants you to believe it will stop at nothing to avoid deflation ("whatever means necessary" as the chairman put it...

The NY Times fails to mention that Eid al-Adha falls on Sunday, September 11 in the year 2016 and Eid al-Fitr will begin at sunset on September 9 and continue to sunset on Friday September 10 in the year 2010. These “civil dates” for the two feast days are projected by the Islamic Umm al-Qura calendar maintained by the Saudi Government. They are the earliest possible dates for sighting of the crescent moon at Mecca. The feasts may fall one or two days later depending on a Saudi “hilal committee” responsible to spot the first visible crescent moon at Mecca—so...

GARY – Gary officials are seeking nearly $25 million in federal money to tear down more than 900 abandoned houses and 200 empty commercial buildings.......

Top of the News: Is Boeing getting ready to drop another 787 bombshell? If so, it might land right in the heart of the Puget Sound aerospace cluster. Persistent threats and rumors about the company adding production in the Charleston, S.C. area get more heft from blogger Jon Ostrower, who reports that sources say Boeing is poised to buy the Vought's 787 operations in North Charleston that make the aft fuselage.

( The media and the democrats knew all along Saddam had WMD...we sent an engraved invite we were coming three months in advance, of course he moved his WMD to Syria----but the bloodthirsty "Bush Lied" chorus was allowed to perpetuate to destroy Bush) Secret U.S. mission hauls uranium from Iraq Last major stockpile from Saddam's nuclear efforts arrives in Canada updated 6:57 p.m. ET, Sat., July 5, 2008 The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a...

On Priestly Identity "One Who Prays Is Not Afraid; One Who Prays Is Never Alone" VATICAN CITY, JULY 1, 2009 (Zenit.org).- Here is a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave today during the general audience in St. Peter's Square. He continued with the theme he took up last week: the Year for Priests. * * * Dear brothers and sisters: As you know, with the celebration of First Vespers for the solemnity of the holy Apostles Peter and Paul in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the Pauline Year has come to a close -- the year...

Cap & Trade Bill: Follow the MoneyJuly 1, 2009 BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Ladies and gentlemen, we have talked extensively here about the cap-and-trade bill and the fact that nobody read it, particularly the 300-page amendment that was dumped on the floor of the House at 3:09 a.m. Friday. Well, a member of the press has read it. His name is Edward Felker. Edward Felker has read the 300-page amendment. Let me give you this excerpt: "When House Democratic leaders were rounding up votes Friday for the massive climate-change bill, they paid special attention to their colleagues from Ohio who remained...

Taser International Inc. has set a late-July introduction for the latest in its line of stun guns, which can hit up to three targets instead of just one. Taser (Nasdaq:TASR) announced Wednesday it would have the company’s new X3 device ready by its annual conference in Fountain Hills on July 27. The Scottsdale-based company says the device relies on new technology it has developed called rotational pulse drive, which allows the stun gun to alternate the electronic current, allowing three shots. “The X3 is the culmination of over four years of intense research and development and offers exponentially increased capabilities,...

Murtha Snubs District With Cap & Trade Vote by Bill Smith-Wednesday, July 1, 2009 District Residents Could See $2K Jump In Utility Rates (JOHNSTOWN, PA) – Ignoring the importance of the coal industry in the 12th Congressional district, incumbent Rep. John Murtha (D) voted with his Democrat party leadership in supporting the Obama Energy Bill in the late night hours Friday. The bill, also called “Cap and Trade,” would heavily tax energy derived from fossil fuels such as coal and oil. “Our local residents could see as much as a fifty percent increase in their home utility costs,” said William...

Time for a scary story! Email received Please watch Hyperinflation Nation immediately and spread the word to your friends and family! http://inflation.us/videos.html We spent hundreds of hours making the documentary and would love to hear what you think! Your thoughts and comments would be appreciated! Hyper Inflation Nation

The U.S. Treasury has apparently found another way to lose more taxpayer money. Perhaps $9 billion down the drain, unless changes are made soon. Last year, when the Treasury doled out some $200 billion from the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), it also acquired warrants to purchase common stock in banks that received TARP assistance. However, as the law was written, the Treasury must sell those same warrants back to the banks once they have paid back their original TARP loan. What the law does not state is for how much. One of the first banks to pay...

For more than 200 years, buried deep within Thomas Jefferson's correspondence and papers, there lay a mysterious cipher -- a coded message that appears to have remained unsolved. Until now. The cryptic message was sent to President Jefferson in December 1801 by his friend and frequent correspondent, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania. President Jefferson and Mr. Patterson were both officials at the American Philosophical Society -- a group that promoted scholarly research in the sciences and humanities -- and were enthusiasts of ciphers and other codes, regularly exchanging letters about them. There is no evidence...

From: Justin Riemer [mailto: electionlawyersletter@gmail.com]   For Immediate Release     Contact: Justin Riemer July 1, 2009 (202) 744-7317                                                                                                                               Today, in response to recent events, including the Iranian election authority’s announcement closing any inquiry into last month’s election, a group of leading election law attorneys released the following statement in support of the people of Iran: Statement in Support of the People of Iran As election lawyers, we wish to express our support for the People of the Islamic Republic of Iran and stand in solidarity with their desire for free, fair and honest elections.  Regardless of our individual political...

Cedar Rapids businessman and flood recovery leader Christian Fong has entered the race for governor, calling for new leadership to restore the Iowa dream. “Sadly, today I see the dream being ripped away from future generations,” Fong said. He’s seeking the Republican nomination to challenge first-term Democratic Gov. Chet Culver. “The dream has to be restored.”