Free Republic

Dan Lurie, whose chiseled physique and feats of strength earned him the title of America’s most muscular man and made him a cover model for fitness magazines and a walking promoter for both the sport and the business of bodybuilding, died on Wednesday in Roslyn, N.Y. He was 90... Not as recognizable a name as Charles Atlas, Joe Weider, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Lou Ferrigno, Mr. Lurie nonetheless was a celebrity among bodybuilders. For one thing, he was not just strong but freakishly strong. According to his website, Mr. Lurie once did 1,665 push-ups in 90 minutes, and in a photo...

It’s time to get your Deacon and Gunnar fix—tonight marks the return of ABC’s Nashville. We at SL have come to love this show for its spotlight on Music City, its cameos, Connie Britton’s amazing hair, and especially the music. Over the summer, we spent some time with the incredibly talented Erin McCarley for a Southern Living Biscuits & Jam session. This feisty, Texas-born singer-songwriter, known for her raw lyrics and electric hooks, also happens to be in Rayna Jaymes’s band on the show. Check out our Southern Minute interview with Erin below—and find out whether she’s a Deacon or...

The socialist paradise that is Venezuela has already shown the Federal Reserve just how the world's greatest "wealth effect" can be achieved courtesy of the Caracas stock market returning over a mindblowing 475% in 2013. Of course, while the US inflation is still slightly delayed (if only for non-core items and those that can't be purchased on leverage) Venezuela's own 50%+ annual increase in prices is only part of the tradeoff to this unprecedented "enrichment" of society, or at least 0.001% of it - after all, it's all about the égalité. More problematic may be the fact that in addition...

<p>Woo hoo!! Less than $19.5k to go!! Way to go, FReepers and Lurkers!! We'll soon be on the homestretch, then once over the top, we'll have the funds needed to complete the year and we can better concentrate on our main mission, fighting the evil bastards at every step and restoring our God given freedom!</p>

<p>PROVO, UTAH – A jury convicted a doctor of murder early Saturday in the death of his wife six years ago, bringing an end to a trial that became the nation's latest true-crime cable TV obsession with its tales of plastic surgery and philandering, betrayal and family feuding, jailhouse snitches and a courtroom prop: a jetted bathtub.</p>

This is a little dated, but Ken White has a mega-update on the Prenda Law case he has been following.The ins and outs of this case are complicated beyond belief (likely purposefully by the key players in a bid to obfuscate what they were doing), but the basic facts appear to point to this:  Prenda and a series of related entities were buying copyrights to porn, uploading electronic versions of these videos to known pirating sites, and then suing folks who downloaded the files  (knowing that most folks, embarrassed that they downloaded "Chubby Nurses in Heat" or whatever, will fold...

Because I am a nice guy and don't want anyone to waste their time, here is a quick list of those who won't enjoy this post: 1) People working for Mitch McConnell's reelection.2) People who come from families that internalize everything rather than fight it out and get it over with. 3) People who are Mitch McConnell. The last several weeks have brought to the fore some ugly realities that the establishment GOP was hoping it could deal with using its go-to conflict resolution strategy: put it off, hope the problem goes away and then perhaps a nap. Led by a host of Republican...

Why Does Obama Want Iran To Have Nuclear Weapons?By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem, Israel — November 8, 2013 … Why would the leader of the free world, of the United States want to provide nuclear weapons to Iran? Iran, a nation founded on Sharia law, Islamic Jihad. Iran, which was responsible for the kidnapping of US diplomats in 1979. The US Marine massacre in Beirut, Lebanon on Oct. 23, 1983. Iran, responsible for the kidnapping and murder of U.S. Marine Lt. Col. William Higgins in Lebanon. Iran, which attacked the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires in 1992 murdering 29...

At a time when over 4 million people have had their health insurance canceled, it’s good to know that some Americans can still access prompt medical treatment, even if they don’t want it. David Eckert was pulled over by police in Deming, N.M., for failing to come to a complete halt at a stop sign in the Walmart parking lot. He was asked to step out of the vehicle, and waited on the sidewalk. Officers decided that they didn’t like the tight clench of his buttocks, a subject on which New Mexico’s constabulary is apparently expert, and determined that it...

The federal Healthcare.gov website, serving 36 states that chose not to build their own sites, has been - to quote its boss, Kathleen Sebelius - a "debacle." Its estimated cost to taxpayers stands at $394 million so far and will likely rise as the "tech surge" pours millions of additional taxpayer dollars into trying to fix the site. But federal taxpayers are on the hook for a sum more than 10 times greater - $4.3 billion - for state exchange websites. And some of them are even more spectacular failures than the federal site. The final cost to taxpayers of...

One of the strangest parts of the Bible is Job 1:6 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1&version=GNT [When the day came for the heavenly beings to appear before the Lord, Satan was there among them. The Lord asked him, “What have you been doing?”] This part suggests that Satan visits heaven. Satan, of course, began as a full time resident of heaven, before he was expelled from heaven. It seems that he retains visiting rights. It is this passage that led Mormons to teach that Jesus and Satan started out as brothers. We do know that Lucifer/Satan was the most senior of the Angels, with...

President Barack Obama is marking Veterans Day by making it his mission to ensure America has the back of its veterans. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says now that more veterans are coming home from wars, the U.S. must serve them as well. He’s promoting programs to hire and educate veterans. …

On Wednesday, Samantha Power, the new US ambassador to the UN, decided she had license to insult Vietnam veterans by claiming it was a “huge honor” just to share the stage with Jane Fonda. Power was speaking at the United Nations Association of the USA 2013 Global Leadership Awards in New York, at which Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani teenager who was shot in the head by the Taliban for attempting to attend school, was honored.

They are among our most personal daily decisions: what to eat or drink. Maybe what to inhale. Now that the governmentºs banning trans fat, does that mean it’s revving up to take away our choice to consume all sorts of other unhealthy stuff? … In the tug-of-war between public health and personal freedom, the Food and Drug Administration’s decision to ban trans fats barely rates a ripple. Hardly anyone defends the icky-sounding artificial ingredient anymore, two decades after health activists began warning Americans that it was clogging their arteries and causing heart attacks. …

As we approach the Holiday Season and Black Friday, there will inevitably be a number of media reports purporting that employees at large companies like Wal-Mart are striking throughout the country. Last Thanksgiving, prominent media outlets like CNN, NBC and the Huffington Post widely and falsely reported that hundreds of protests were being staged by Wal-Mart employees throughout the nation. Before reporting the same false story this year, reporters should consider asking a few basic questions like exactly how many of these protesters are in fact Wal-Mart employees? They might be surprised to find that an overwhelming proportion of...

Two senior Iranian MPs accused French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius Saturday of defending Israel, which objects to world powers reaching a deal with Tehran over its controversial nuclear programme. Hossein Naqavi Hosseini, spokesman of the parliamentary foreign affairs committee, said "the behaviour of the French representative in the nuclear talks shows that France is trying to blackmail" Iran. "While the French people want better ties between Tehran and Paris, unfortunately the French government prefers the will of Zionist regime," said Naqavi Hosseini. Esmaeel Kosari, a fellow conservative and member of the committee, expressed regret that Fabius's comments "express the positions...

President Obama began his first term in office with a worldwide apology tour. In a visit to Strasbourg, France, the President claimed that the United States of America had shown “arrogance, been dismissive, even derisive” in dealing with Europe. In a speech to the Turkish Parliament, Obama said, “The United States is still working through some of our own darker periods in our history.” At the Summit of the Americas, the President remarked that his country has “at times been disengaged, and at times we sought to dictate our terms.” This apology tour was unprecedented as no other President had...

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Ever since 81-year-old Mae Hodges bought a used Volvo, “strange-looking people” have been approaching her around town to pay compliments. “They tell me, ‘Thank you for being a pioneer in our movement,’” Hodges says. “I have no idea what they mean.” The flow of appreciation began after she started driving the nondescript Volvo wagon, which bears several bumper stickers. One sticker shows a multi-colored flag, another a pink equal sign, both of which Hodges found “very cheery.” “I left them on the car because the bright colors remind me of my flower garden,” she says. “Bill used...

Previously unseen footage shows the moment the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise was boarded and seized by Russian security agents in international waters on September 19. The footage shows Greenpeace International activists and crew responding peacefully with arms raised and how the ship was subsequently towed to the port of Murmansk.

The gun control PAC of Gabby Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, is launching a new initiative, "Veterans for Responsible Solutions." According to CNN, the new initiative "will support Giffords and Kelly's wider efforts by bringing to bear the experience of military veterans who've sworn to defend the Second Amendment."