Free Republic

<p>LOS ANGELES – The Walt Disney Co. said Monday it is buying Marvel Entertainment Inc. for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing such characters as Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.</p> <p>Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by the comic book legend Stan Lee.</p>

A British father got his knickers in a twist after seeing what he believes are pornographic images depicted on candy wrappers. Simon Simpkins of West Yorkshire was at the market shopping with his wife. They decided to buy some Haribo brand Maoam (pronounced ma-o-am) candy for their children, according to London's Daily Mail. Then he noticed the labels. Simpkins' quotes, from the Daily Mail, are perfectly priceless and brilliantly British. "The lemon and lime are locked in what appears to be a carnal encounter," the chap said. "The lime, whom I assume to be the gentleman in this coupling, has...

Last week the late Senator from Massachusetts, Ted Kennedy, suggested via letter to state Senate legislators and the Democrat Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Deval Patrick, that the law be changed to allow swift replacement of representatives should a vacancy in the Senate occur. It appears that a dying man was seeking his last wish: to preserve the “continuity of representation” for his constituents in Massachusetts. At first glance, this attempt to preserve representation and to put the people of Massachusetts before all else is highly altruistic and admirable. Senator Kennedy even stressed the importance of the republican system...

Less than two weeks ago, Tom Ridge launched his memoirs with the explosive allegation that Bush administration officials had pressured him to change terror-threat levels in order to boost George Bush’s re-election chances in the final days of the 2004 election. A day later, the New York Times pointed out that the book not only didn’t have any supporting evidence for that claim, it also had Ridge insisting that he hadn’t seen any political pressure on threat levels. Now Ridge himself has begun to backpedal from his publicity-seeking allegations:

Six women were treated for cuts, bruising and shock after Robert Caton, 50, smashed a 1983 Rolls Royce Silver Spirit into the store and demolished two check outs. View Pictures...

According to the Obama administration’s mid-session budget update, the federal government will have to borrow nearly 40 percent of its total expenditures in 2010, a level not seen since World War II. The report, “Mid-Session Review, Budget of the U.S. Government, Fiscal Year 2010,” shows that 39.9 percent of all federal income will be borrowed, making borrowing the single largest share of revenue in 2010. The next largest component of federal revenue is the personal income tax, which accounts for only 27.3 percent of federal funds. This is only slightly lower than in 2009, when the federal government borrowed 43.3...

It is possible to be a socialist, and radical in one's agendas, and yet moderate in the means one regards as practical to achieve them. To change the world, it is first necessary to acquire cultural and political power. And these transitional goals may often be accomplished by indirection and deception even more effectively than by frontal assault. Political stratagems that appear moderate and

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles County Sheriff's official says two people tried to ride out the firestorm in Big Tujunga Canyon in a backyard hot tub and were critically burned. Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Sunday that the pair "completely underestimated the fire" and the hot tub provided "no protection whatsoever."

Sen. John McCain has endorsed Illinois Congressman Mark Kirk (R-10th) in his run for the U.S. Senate.

I was wondering if anyone is heading to the Tea Party in Dallas this week. I would like to go, but would have to pull my pre-k son out of school early and take the 20-month-old along too. As unpleasant as that sounds, I'm still considering it. :) Anybody else going to attend?

As some may know, the Tea Party Movement is taking a cross country trip from California and will end up in Washington D.C. on September 12th. I hope to catch up with the folks in Joliet, Il. on September 7th. Meanwhile, Fox News is the only mainstream media source to give the express any publicity.

A FIRE has broken out onboard a Navy ship at Sydney's Garden Island with a pack of emergency vehicles rushed to the scene. NSW Fire Brigades say two electrical boxes caught fire on the hanger deck of ship berthed at the Navy base about 8.10pm (AEST) today. Due to the nature of the emergency, "a number" of fire trucks rushed to Garden Island, a fire brigades spokesman said.

"A Plane was damaged while landing at Nellis AFB Friday, causing the plane to catch fire and forcing its 32- member crew to escape..."

UPDATE: On Aug. 8, Marzieh and Maryam were summoned to an Iranian court and ordered to deny their faith verbally and in a written statement, according to The Voice of the Martyrs contacts. Marzieh and Maryam were pressured to recant their faith after the chief interrogator recommended they be charged with apostasy. Praise God, they stood firm and replied, “We love Jesus. We will not deny our faith.” VOM contacts reported the deputy prosecutor, Mr. Haddad, aggressively questioned the women during the court proceedings. Haddad asked them if they regretted becoming Christians. They replied they had no regrets. When Maryam...

Since November, we have heard it from political “strategists” on TV and read it in online commentary: The Republican Party is in trouble. The Republican Party cannot win if it remains the “Party of No.” The Republican Party is “leaderless,” and absolutely must figure out who its “leader” is. The Republican Party must “moderate” its views in order to stand a chance in future elections. Well, it has been only eight months since the inauguration of the unequivocal “leader” of the “Party of Yes” and his enormous congressional majorities, and, well, he’s not doing so hot. The half-deity at the...

This man is very articulate in making his case. His book should be a good read.

FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – There is an epidemic in an old gold mining town in western Arizona: The wild burros that roam the town's single street are overweight, with rolls of fat on their necks and big, full bellies. But don't blame them. They'll eat anything. It's the half million tourists who visit tiny Oatman each year. They're the ones who have been feeding these critters carrots, hay or anything else, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management says.

The headline is simple "Climate Change Legislation being considered in Washington will cause Illinois Consumers huge economic pain". On September 1st, Energy Citizens, the combined efforts of 23 Illinois farm, industrial, retail and energy associations will host a rally in opposition to proposed Cap & Trade legislation at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Illinois' capital city, Springfield. The rally is designed to bring public awareness to cap and trade legislation that will cost an estimated 2 million high paying American jobs, raise gasoline and diesel prices, raise electric rates and reduce global competitiveness of American companies. The groups intent is...

BURBANK, Calif. - Spider-Man and Iron Man have a new boss: The Walt Disney Co. Disney announced this morning that it is buying Marvel Entertainment -- and the more than 5,000 Marvel characters. They include X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor. "This is a great fit for us," Disney boss Bob Iger told CNBC this morning. He said the acquisition was a way to attract more boys. Disney said the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share -- or about $4 billion. Iger said the acquisition will grow both Disney and Marvel.

All of this protesting will be for naught if two major issues are not addressed; namely, acorns' grubby little fingerprints all over the upcomming census, and the dims ongoing Sec. of State program. I think it was Lenin who said that the number of votes cast for any given candidate does not matter if you control the means of counting the votes. With lots of far left groups like acorn being intimately involved in the enumeration of the citizenry, then they will be in a position to determine who can vote and where. And, with the dims controlling the apperatus...