Free Republic

“You know what makes us different than the animals, Red. We bury our dead,” Josh Homme says as he leans over the handle of a shovel and stares into the freshly dug pit below. The lead singer and guitarist for Queens of the Stone Age, Homme is a man who wears many masks. In addition to his gig with the Queens, he is the drummer for the fuzz-pedal boogie-woogie outfit the Eagles of Death Metal, the cult leader behind the mythical Desert Sessions jam sessions, the Donald Trump of Rekords Rekords, and, as the one of the founders of the...

Knight-Rider) Charleston, S.C. -- Marianne Watson is your typical Daniel Island High School student. She likes shopping at the Galleria. She enjoys hanging out with her friends at Dancin’ Nancies on teen night. She is obsessed with singer Jack Johnson. But unbeknownst to her family, Marianne had a drug problem. Her friends knew Marianne abused drugs, but troubled teens very rarely know the trouble they are in until it is too late. And in the case of Marianne Watson, the trap she fell into was well hidden. Alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, LSD, heroin – Marianne knew to avoid these drugs. As...

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of comic book movies. I say, "No Mas." The ugly far outnumber the good. For every "X2," there's an "Elektra." For every "Spider-man," there's a "Tank Girl." For every "Superman," there's a "Superman III." Enough already. While I've always wanted to see my favorite comic heroes on the big screen, I've come to the realization that superheroes are fine just where they are - on the page. After all, not only do comics succeed visually like films do, but they succeed as prose. Moreover, I think it's high time we put the...

The case against Jackson Browne's inclusion in the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame I have just bitten off the head of Jackson Browne. I chewed until I was done, and then I spit him out. “Running on Empty”? Why, I'm running on bile. If I could ever get my hands on the real Jackson Browne, not the measly photograph of the sensitive singer-songwriter I now hold, I'd make sure he paid for all of the ill he has brought to the world. His body needs to be strung up by guitar strings and hung on the front gates of...

(Knight-Rider) Lincoln, Neb. - Sally Wright once walked the halls of her high school with a cheerful smile on her face. Now she walks the halls with a scarf wrapped around her mouth. Sally's lower jaw was removed earlier this year in an effort to stop the spread of the cancer which is eating away at her mouth. At 16, Sally is a tragic victim of smokeless tobacco-related mouth cancer, a tragedy worsened by the fact that she has never taken as much as a pinch of snuff in her life. But the same doesn't apply to her boyfriend "Carl."...

Group claims business preys upon the unfortunate and the addicted (Knight-Rider) Phenix City, Ala. -- The cafeteria of Suzy's Soup Kitchen in downtown Phenix City has been packed to the rafters, day in and day out, with hundreds of the area's downtrodden and needy. And while the soup kitchen receives no funding from civic, state, or federal organizations, Suzy's is able to feed them without pause. In fact, Suzy's has never had to turn away an unfortunate for lack of food, nor has it ever denied an individual subsequent servings. As the sign above the entrance to Suzy's says, "Come...

A jury in Boston convicted former priest Paul Shanley of child rape last week. The testimony of the lone accuser to take the stand was based on repressed memories recovered only after the initial allegations against Shanley first surfaced in 2002. Three other men had earlier claimed that they too were sexually abused by Shanley, but their cases were dropped by the prosecution. The defense only called one witness: Elizabeth Loftus, one of the nation's leaders in the fight to discredit repressed memories. Her high profile role has brought her praise and criticism. To some she is "a hired gun...

When did the bestseller become a confessional booth and the nation's readers say-two-Hail-Marys-and-call-me-in-the-morning priests, the kind of holy men whose primary advice to their flocks is "Get Tested." Maybe it all started with Elizabeth Wurtzel's trustafarian, bright-lights-big-city, ritalin-and-regrets-fueled "Prozac Nation." Maybe it started with the rise of Oprah and Montel and Rickie Lake. Mabye "Sex in the City" is to blame. Who knows. But enough is enough. For years, the bloated airport-layover, soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture novel has been pushing more literary and creative fare out of book stores, but now we have to contend with self-serving, I'm-a-bad-girl-so-spank-me-daddy memoirs which tease far more...

Fear This Is George Bush an evil man? No, he’s a member of Delta House. by Chris Haire As I reached for the door handle, I saw it clearly on the door — the letter “B” — warning me not to enter. It told me to turn back around, get in my car, head to Hardee’s and pick up a Thickburger. But a hamburger from the last place I would previously think of to get a burger but which is now the first place that comes to my mind was the last thing that I wanted to put in my...

Anarchy in the Hub What's wrong with peace, love and understanding? For the anarchists in Boston, quite a bit. By Chris Haire www.freetheseed.com Anti-war protests, I’ve been to plenty. And when it comes to making copies, the bullhorn and brickbats crowd can take on Xerox any day. Same impassioned poster board pleas. Same paranoia-ridden, lysergic- driven rants. Same mixed up, muddled up messages - Liberate Palestine. Love your Mother. Lend me a dollar. But this one was different. For me at least, this one singled a change, a growing division between the believers in the ways of the Woodstock Nation...