Free Republic

To the surprise of even city council members, the Petaluma Police Department dusted off a little-known law last week in an effort to educate the public on the city's regulations regarding toy guns. The move comes in the wake of the shooting death of 13-year-old Andy Lopez by a Sonoma County Sheriff's deputy, who reportedly mistook a replica airsoft gun the teen was carrying for a real AK-47 assault rifle. The shooting sparked a handful of phone calls from concerned citizens seeking information about the laws regulating airsoft guns, which caused the Petaluma police to announce the ordinance in a...

Supporters of Ron Paul produced a hit job on Jon Huntsman attacking Huntsman over his adopted daughter. His daughter, ftom China, was left for dead in a market and the Huntsmans intervened, got her back to good health, and adopted her.Someone put up a video attacking Huntsman adoption as proof that Huntsman is a foreign agent.The video began circulating among Ron Paul supporters and when Huntsman called them out, the Ron Paul campaign swung into high gear and produced a report that I can only venture to suspect was written by someone hopped up on gardasil, having acquired the mental...

Where Turkey Is The Guest, Not The Entree (Isabella Colbdorf feeds salad to a turkey at this year's Feeding of the Turkeys ceremony in Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, on Nov. 20, 2011.) Most people think of turkeys as the centerpiece of the Thanksgiving meal. But at one farm, the turkeys are the guests. At the 26th annual Feeding of the Turkeys ceremony in Watkins Glen, in upstate New York, a line of turkeys come walking out the door of the barn. They stroll towards long low tables set up on the lawn, with scarlet tablecloths and seasonal squash...

MISS MANNERS It's best to ignore strangers who shout their prejudices Judith Martin Miss Manners November 8, 2007 Dear Miss Manners: This evening I found myself waiting in line with two young men who proceeded loudly to proclaim at least five different countries they would like to bomb, and advocated reintroducing the draft so that everyone else would have to share their "sacrifice." They then loudly branded several political figures they disapproved of with a crude word. I bit my tongue and waited quietly. Then the people in front of me joined in and, incredibly, they all complained about how...