Free Republic

Millennials in the U.S. were so slow to become homeowners that it was beginning to look like they'd rent forever. Now they're a force in the market for new high-end houses. Toll Brothers Inc., the largest U.S. luxury-home builder, said Tuesday that 23 percent of its sales this year were to customers with at least one buyer age 35 or younger. That was a surprise, given that the company's average contract price in the three months through July was $837,300. Buyers in their 20s and 30s have been slow to purchase for good reason. They're marrying and having children later...

The Summer of 2013 officially began only last Friday, but already it has a good shot at achieving a dubious distinction in the annals of parental indulgence. This could be the summer that ice cream trucks for dogs go mainstream. Ever since the K99 ice cream truck set up shop in the parks of London during the summer of 2010–to the tune of the Scooby Doo theme song, no less–the trend of cruising trucks full of specially-made canine ice cream treats and cookies has been spreading and appears to be hitting its jaunty stride. Last summer, they started dropping by...

“You can say any fool thing to a dog and the dog will just give you this look that says, ‘My GOSH, you’re RIGHT! I NEVER would’ve thought of that!” -Dave Barry I read Mark Steyn’s book, After America some time ago. It is a compelling discussion about world demographics, birth rates, and the illegal [and non-assimilating] immigrant populations flooding into America and the rest of what is left of Western Civilization. Also discussed in this article are the long-term effects of decisions about married adults not having kids in America anymore. I seem to recall reading in numerous places...

A children’s toy inspires a cheap, easy production method for high-tech diagnostic chips Purposeful play: Biomedical engineer Michelle Khine sits in her lab at the University of California, Irvine, where she uses Shrinky Dinks straight from the toy store to build microfluidic devices. Credit: Dave Lauridsen Multimedia   How Khine Builds Microfluidic Devices   Watch Khine explain and demo her devices. In 2006, Michelle Khine arrived at the University of California­'s brand-new Merced campus eager to establish her first lab. She was experimenting with tiny liquid-filled channels in hopes of devising chip-based diagnostic tests, a discipline called microfluidics. The...

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The flap over an ad promoting South Carolina as “So Gay” will cost the state tourism dollars, according to an industry expert. Gay and lesbian travelers will likely be turned off by the political posturing surrounding the ads, which were pulled by the state tourism agency and led one employee to resign. “We experience discrimination every day, so we certainly don't want to when we travel,” said Wesley Combs of the Washington-based communication firm Witeck-Combs, which specializes in gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender travel. Combs noted that national media attention about the ad, including jokes on Conan...

Aug. 13, 2007 issue - Gay men and lesbians have always had a soft spot for Hillary Clinton. In the mid-'90s, when "homosexual" was still a dirty word in much of the country, Bill Clinton and his wife socialized in the White House with a broad circle of gay friends. In the dark days of Whitewater and Monica, gays leaped to Hillary's defense, needing no convincing that a "right-wing conspiracy" was vast and real. At the annual gay-pride parade in Manhattan, drag queens and go-go boys compete for prominence with New York's political elite, but Clinton is always the star...

New Jersey towns have figured out a way to sidestep the highest property taxes in the U.S. Keep children out. Educating a child in New Jersey costs an average of $12,567 a year, the most in the nation and more than double the property tax parents typically pay. So local governments have hit upon a way to expand the tax base without the expense of higher enrollment: age-restricted housing. New Jersey developers have responded by building an estimated one-fifth of the country's adults-only housing, making the state the leader in a national trend spurred by baby boomers seeking new homes...

Chairman of the Democrat National Committee Howard Dean is supporting Charles Merrill and his same-sex partner Kevin Boyle in their civil disobedience against paying Federal Income Tax because they cannot have the same tax benefits as heterosexual married couples. But unless the two gay activists mention Dean's support and remarks in their statements and press releases, the mainstream news media aren't interested in letting Americans know about the Democrat leadership's position on the issue of gay and lesbian marriage. According to the two gay activists, the momentum for the same-sex marriage tax protest started with a page six article in...

Joe and Deb Schum aren’t worried about baby-proofing their house or buying a car seat. They don’t intend ever to have children. As a matter of fact, they are proud of their childlessness. According to a report in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “The Schums are part of a growing number of couples across the country for whom kids don’t factor in the marriage equation.” The nation’s birthrate fell in 2002 to a historic low of 66.9 births per 1,000 women age 15 to 44. That represents a decline of 43 percent since just 1960. “Many childless couples,” according to the report,...

The white populations of the District, Arlington and Alexandria have grown this decade even as the region's outer counties have grown more diverse, according to new census estimates to be released today that underscore how the area's soaring housing prices and job sprawl are reshaping its racial and ethnic dynamics. The city and those close-in Virginia suburbs had higher percentages of non-Hispanic white residents in 2004 than in 2000, a reversal of past trends, the estimates say. Minority groups grew more slowly than in the past, or declined. In the District, Arlington and Alexandria, whites became a larger share of...