Free Republic

Strong -- who passed away Sunday, Jan. 29, at the age of 81 in Detroit -- co-wrote some of Motown's most enduring hits.More than 73 years ago, Barrett Strong, as a singer, declared “Money (That’s What I Want)” — for the first hit single from the Motown empire. What he actually wound up getting was musical immortality. As a songwriter. Strong — who passed away Sunday, Jan. 29, at the age of 81 in Detroit — co-wrote some of Motown’s most enduring hits, with a variety of collaborators but primarily the late Norman Whitfield. Those included “I Heard It Through...

DENVER -- A man waiting for a Greyhound bus in downtown Denver caught the attention of police Thursday. That's because he was carrying two military rocket launchers. Denver police carry away two empty rocket launchers confiscated in downtown Denver Thursday. The man told police he had gotten the empty shoulder-fired rocket launchers from his brother, who had just returned from fighting in Iraq. The launchers apparently can be used only once and are then discarded. The man was taking them to his son in Chicago, but police confiscated them, even though they are legal. Officers were worried the sight of...

About 2 weeks ago, I was looking around the Web for the BIGGEST skyrocket that I could get shipped to me via common freight carrier. I located a fireworks importer in Wisconsin who had this mondo skyrocket - biggest thing I had ever seen - called a SkyDragon. These things are 48 inches tall and are mounted on a 1/2-inch wooden dowel. Pure aerospace engineering. I plopped down a bunch of money and had him send me two cases of these things. They arrived at the freight dock a few days ago and I had to drive the van over...