Free Republic

(Nov. 11) -- At first, it seemed like a sick joke or, worse, some sort of scam. The caller from North Carolina was telling John Lenox that the wreckage of his father's plane had been located. Staff Sgt. Alvin Lenox had been dead for two weeks longer than his 66-year-old son, John, had been alive. The Army Air Force radio operator crashed with four others in a cargo plane flying a supply mission from Yantai, China, to Joraht, India, in August 1943. They went down in a treacherous mountain region known as The Hump, which swallowed about 600 U.S. planes...

Among the training regimes that Russian cosmonauts pass before being admitted into orbit is the shooting range. The reason is that they must learn how to use a special three-barreled gun found on every Soyuz spacecraft.

PHOENIX (Aug. 17) - About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president. Gun-rights advocates say they're exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen. Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday's event, including the man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, didn't need permits. No...

From the YouTube description: As Rep. Kathy Castor was introduced, the reaction was overwhelmingly against her, with boos and chants of "You work for us." And in the lobby, the counter of Planned Parenthood representatives shouting, "Healthcare Now." Shortly thereafter, violence erupted, where there were 2-3 big goons came out and started pushing those in line, and roughing up one in the corner (see top left screen) as well as another being put in a choke hold. Directly in front of the gentleman in the plaid type shirt, is one of them in a flower print. (eleven o'clock from the...

Rodeo, the Western pastime where cowboys try to tame wild steers and steeds, is experiencing a boom in the US despite the recession. Attendance is up 12 per cent for the two largest touring Rodeo circuits, the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association and Professional Bull Riders. Basketball and baseball teams, who charge as much as $1,250 (£750) for front row seats, have been struggling to fill their stadiums. In contrast, the rodeo arenas, where tickets start at $10, offer a cheap, exciting, air-conditioned, All-American afternoon, and have been filling up. If anything, the deepest and longest American economic downturn since the...

BEIJING (Aug. 3)- A second man has died of pneumonic plague in northwest China, in an outbreak that prompted authorities to lock down a town where about a dozen people were infected with the highly contagious deadly lung disease, a state news agency said. The World Health Organization office in China said it was in close contact with Chinese health authorities and that measures taken so far to treat and quarantine sickened people were appropriate. The man who died Sunday was identified only as 37-year-old Danzin from Ziketan, the stricken town in Qinghai province, the official Xinhua News Agency said....

(July 28) -- The state of Hawaii and the U.S. House of Representatives are doing their best to put the Obama birthplace controversy to rest. Fat chance. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs admitted Monday that nothing will change the minds of the "birthers" -- those true believers who insist President Obama is not a natural-born American citizen and therefore is not eligible to hold the highest office in the land. Despite Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann's attempt to block the vote, the House Monday passed a resolution that includes this declaration: "President Barack Obama was born in Hawaii on Aug. 4,...

(July 20) - You probably recall little of your days in the womb, but a new study suggests that short-term memory may be present in fetuses at 30 weeks of age. Until a few decades ago, "people would say that the human fetus is a sort of black box," said Dr. Jan Nijhuis, a co-author of the study and an obstetrician at Maastricht University Medical Center in The Netherlands. Studies over the years have started to reveal more about the neurological development of humans before they are born, but researchers are still trying to figure out when memory begins and...

A few weeks ago I was at the Fox Studios in New York City preparing to make an appearance on the Cavuto show. Mr. Cavuto invited me to talk about my recently published business book, “I’ll Make You An Offer You Can’t Refuse,” and the “Machiavellian” approach to business some people in the Obama administration appear to be taking. I was chatting with one of the show’s producers, explaining how the mob would lend money to a business and then take control of the company (sound familiar?), when a beautiful, blond woman came bursting through the door of the green...

May 4) - The French Navy said they seized 11 pirates Sunday after they apparently mistook a French military vessel for a commercial ship and made a run at it off the coast of Kenya. Two pirate assault boats approached the Nivose "at great speed," Capt. Christophe Prazuck said, but a French helicopter intervened before the attackers had time to fire at the French navy ship.

OK folks, I'm not the White House beekeeper, but I got a front row seat at the creation, and am so grateful for the experience that I have to share. And for those of you who just can't wait, I have some additional photos on one of the supporting pages here. On Tuesday, March 24, the first known hive of bees at the White House arrived at their location on the South Lawn. You don't have to count on my crummy photo to see them: just stop by the fence on the Ellipse (south) side: two deeps and a medium...

My friend has just lost his mother. Her name was Mary and he and I prayed a lot for her. We knew she was long ill with brain cancer. She held on and fought for life. But yesterday morning she passed away. Her suffering is over. She is in Jesus's arms now, so truly alive with the wonders of heaven. My friend is from South Africa. He watched Rhodesia get destroyed. Then he had to leave when his own homeland, his birth country fell. A great son, he got his mother, his "Mum" and entire family, father, siblings and his...

Dear FRiends; I come hat in hand to ask for prayers. Most of you know I lost my brother in the early summer. It's been real hard on my Mother and I have stayed by her to help her. I got her into a day care a few days a week where she could have companionship, activities, a woman's group, Rosary and an occasional Mass. The one first time I could bring her to Mass at my Church, I was surprised to find that it was the Mass of the Holy family(Catholic Calender). I put Mom in wheel chair and...

BRITISH and French nuclear submarines which collided deep under the Atlantic could have sunk or released deadly radioactivity, it emerged last night. The Royal Navy’s HMS Vanguard and the French Navy’s Le Triomphant are both nuclear powered and were carrying nuke missiles. Between them they had around 250 sailors on board. A senior Navy source said: “The potential consequences are unthinkable. It’s very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion.

Two US judges charged with taking more than $2m (£1.4m) in kickbacks from a privately-run detention centre have pleaded guilty to fraud. Prosecutors say Judges Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan took the money in return for giving young offenders long sentences to serve in the centre. The deal allowed PA Child Care LLC and a sister company to receive extra government funds, they say. The judges in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, have both been suspended. They have pleaded guilty to honest services fraud and tax fraud. The plea agreements provide for prison sentences of more than seven years.

Army times article

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Dec. 22) - Snowzilla is no more. Municipal officials in Anchorage have given a cease-and-desist order to builders of the giant snowman that made appearances the last three years in an east Anchorage neighborhood. The giant snowman was a favorite for photographers and camera crews from Russia and Japan filmed the temporary sculpture. Snowzilla in 2005 rose 16 feet. He had a corncob pipe and a carrot nose and two eyes made out of beer bottles.

Zimbabwe's government on Tuesday slammed US President George Bush's government's declaration of loss of confidence in President Robert Mugabe as a "diplomatic flute" by an outgoing administration. "We have no time for US President George W. Bush's diplomatic flute. We are talking about an administration whose sun has set," Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said, according to state-run The Herald newspaper. About half of Zimbabwe's population needs food aid, UN experts said Monday, as a first consignment of supplies designed to help fight a cholera epidemic arrived in the troubled southern African nation. As Mugabe faced fresh calls to step down...

Time: He is far too careful and measured a man to say anything about body parts fitting together or marriage being reserved for the nonpedophilic, but all the same, he opposes equality for gay people.

A Sheffield man who lent a penniless Australian tourist £5 to pay for a ferry trip in 1969 has been repaid his debt nearly 40 years later. While Jim Webb was out, a card and £200 was hand delivered to his home by Gary Fenton, to repay the money he borrowed when they met in Ostend, Belgium. A note inside read: "To Jim Webb, a good man. From Gary Fenton, a tardy payer of debts." Mr Webb, 72, has appealed for Mr Fenton to get back in touch. Mr Webb and a friend were travelling around Europe in April 1969...