Free Republic

LONDON - Preventing obesity and smoking can save lives, but it doesn't save money, researchers reported Monday. It costs more to care for healthy people who live years longer, according to a Dutch study that counters the common perception that preventing obesity would save governments millions of dollars. "It was a small surprise," said Pieter van Baal, an economist at the Netherlands' National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, who led the study. "But it also makes sense. If you live longer, then you cost the health system more." In a paper published online Monday in the Public Library...

This is just too funny to let go. A while back, one Terre Haute news station decided to do a little (and shameless I might add) self-promotion by bashing another new station's weather department. What makes one weather station different from the next? Follow the link for a good laugh! Warning: Language not suitable for everyone! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm9miT0ZznM&search=terre%20haute

HOBART, Ind. (AP) — The owner of pet pigs has been convicted of violating the city's nuisance ordinance following complaints from neighbors about the obnoxious odor of the animals. Debra Fields kept two 300-pound hogs — Bacon and Molly — as family pets in her home in the northwestern Indiana city. Earlier this month, during a court trial on the nuisance charge, she argued that under city code she is allowed to keep pigs in a residential area. "The issue before the court is not whether the defendant may keep her pigs, but whether the odors generated are something her...

(letter to listeners from their website) While on stage in London Natalie Maines made an off-the-cuff and inappropriate remark about President Bush. These comments have caused a lot of frustration and anger from fans. We have received many emails and calls on the subject. After careful consideration, we would like to share our position. Natalie expressed her personal opinion and they do not neccessarily represent the views of WUSN. However, punishing the girls by not playing any of their music also seems inappropriate. Simply stated, "Two wrongs don't make a right." One of the great freedoms in this country is...

DETROIT, Mich. -- Fiendish Iraqi terrorists are lurking beneath Lake Michigan in one or more mini-submarines, poised to launch a deadly attack on America, a military insider warns. "We know they're down there but we don't know exactly where," claims the U.S. Navy source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "That lake is larger than the entire state of Israel and the sub is quite small, making it extremely difficult to detect on sonar. "But the frightening thing is that between natural waterways, underground rivers and man-made canals, Lake Michigan is linked to all the other Great Lakes --...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A lovesick 58-year-old German man was sentenced to seven years in jail after attacking a factory worker with a pair of bull castration tongs in the western town of Duesseldorf, a state court said on Friday. The circus trapeze artist had tried to emasculate the man using the steel pincers after accusing him of having a relationship with his former girlfriend, a 46-year-old belly dancer who performed in the same circus. The trapeze artist inflicted serious injury on the victim, who worked at a local factory, with the tongs and a knife in the February 2002 assault....