Free Republic

As the Russia-Ukraine war nears its second year, each country's military is facing new struggles.According to one Ukrainian soldier, there simply aren't enough trained troops on the frontlines right now, Knewz.com has learned.An unidentified Ukraine soldier told the BBC that some troops helping defend Ukrainian advances on the Dnipro river are incredibly inexperienced."Several brigades were supposed to be posted here, not individual companies — we just don't have enough men," the anonymous soldier said after spending weeks on the Russian-occupied side of the river. "There are a lot of young guys among us. We need people, but trained people, not...

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston City Council voted Wednesday to form a task force to study how it can provide reparations for and other forms of atonement to Black Bostonians for the city’s role in slavery and its legacy of inequality. The unanimous vote means Boston now joins a conversation about reparations that is happening across the country from Providence, Rhode Island to California. Boston will be closely watched given its troubled racial history, including its role in supporting and financing slavery even after Massachusetts abolished the practice in 1780. Supporters of reparations cited its history of segregated housing as...

105.9 FM is the local classic rock station in south Florida.....just a few minutes ago, I was bored with everything else on the radio and hit that station...just in time to hear the beginning of the hit "Money for Nothing"... Imagine my surprise when the lyric got to: "That little faggot with the earring and the mink coat, Yeah, buddy, thats his own hair. That little faggot got his own jet airplane. That little faggot is a millionaire!" Funny lines....but the dreaded "slur" was clipped out! Absurd. Anyway, since I RARELY listen to music radio, I was wondering if this...

It may be a classic rock song but 26 years after it was first released Dire Straits hit Money For Nothing has been banned from radio. The song was ruled too offensive for the airwaves in Canada because it contains the word 'f****t' and can now no longer be played in its original form. Any station that wants to play the song will have to edit it or disguise the word, according to ruling by the Canadian Broadcasts Standards Council. The decision came after a listener complained that the broadcast of unedited version of the song – which mentions the...

The 1980s song Money for Nothing by the British rock band Dire Straits has been deemed unacceptable for play on Canadian radio. In a ruling released Wednesday, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council says the song contravenes the human rights clauses of the Canadian Association of Broadcasters’ Code of Ethics and Equitable Portrayal Code. A listener to radio station CHOZ-FM in St. John's complained last year that the song includes the word “faggot” in its lyrics and is discriminatory to gays. The broadcaster argued that the song had been played countless times since its release decades ago and has won music...

Hilarious knock-off of the 80's music video from Dire Straits, featuring our 'favorite' politicians.

A man died after being shot with a Taser during a confrontation Sunday night with Mason police officers, according to police. Police said Douglas Boucher, 39, of Mason died at a local hospital after he was shot by the Taser following a disturbance around 11:15 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13 at the Speedway gas station, 711 Reading Road. Two Mason police officers stopped at the Speedway at the corner of Tylersville and Reading Road for a drink when a clerk asked them to talk to Boucher, who was causing some kind of trouble, according to a report. The two officers approached...

Free cars for poor fuel road rage By Hillary Chabot Thursday, May 7, 2009 Gov. Deval Patrick’s free wheels for welfare recipients program is revving up despite the stalled economy, as the keys to donated cars loaded with state-funded insurance, repairs and even AAA membership are handed out to get them to work. But the program - fueled by a funding boost despite the state’s fiscal crash - allows those who end up back on welfare to keep the cars anyway. “It’s mind-boggling. You’ve got people out there saying, ‘I just lost my job. Hey, can I get a free...

A mystery woman drove around Edmonton handing out $100 bills in coffee shops Tuesday. "She left us with our mouths hanging open," said Karen Wentland, who watched her friend get one of the bills at a Tim Hortons. Wentland, a stay-at-home mother, and her friend Lorraine Weslosky, a substitute teacher's aide, didn't notice the woman until she was standing beside them. She reached down to shake Weslosky's hand, then said, "I just want to wish you a happy spring," and handed her the crisp $100 bill. The woman had long, black hair, wore dark sunglasses and a bright-pink shirt or...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve will provide as much as $900 billion in cash loans to squeezed banks in an urgent effort Monday to break through a dangerous credit clog that threatens the economy and has unhinged financial markets around the globe. The Fed's action is aimed at spurring spooked financial institutions, which are hoarding cash, to lend not only to each other but also to individuals and businesses.

Members of Congress return to Washington this week $4,100 richer. During their three-week vacation, the annual cost-of-living adjustment kicked in, bringing the salary of a congressman to $169,300. At a time when partisan bickering has dragged congressional approval ratings to just 25 percent, Democrats and Republican can agree on one thing: a pay raise for poor performance. Any American workers who had such dismal reviews would be fired. But in the case of lawmakers in Washington, it’s business as usual. Support for the pay raise was among the most bipartisan issues Congress grappled with last year. An attempt to block...

"Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., right, is introduced by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, left, before her talk with billionaire investor Warren Buffett, at a campaign stop in San Francisco, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007.""Billionaire investor Warren Buffett takes part in a fundraiser for Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., in San Francisco, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2007. Buffett, who has said he would be happy with either Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama as the next president, already helped Clinton raise at least $1 million during a June event in New York. "

After facing a barrage of criticism, the state backed off plans yesterday to require low-income patients to pay the equivalent of a small insurance premium before they get free care at hospitals. But in a compromise plan intended to reduce dependence on the state's free-care pool, care will no longer be completely free for the lowest-income patients. Starting Dec. 1, the rules will require small copayments of $1 or $3 on prescriptions for all eligible patients. Those with an income between 101 percent and 200 percent of the poverty level will face copayments of $5 for a hospital office visit,...

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The chairwoman of the African People Solidarity Committee says white residents of the United States should support reparations for African-Americans. Penny Hess spoke to a reporter with the Oakland (Calif.) Tribune Friday on the eve of African People Solidarity Day. The activist is one of nine speakers at a Nov. 4-5 reparations event in Oakland and San Francisco. "The wealth of the West is built on slavery of African people," said Hess. "White people need to recognize it and support (reparations)." The committee was formed by mostly white members in 1976. Besides reparations, efforts...

Retirees Will Face Dire Straits BY TERESA DIXON MURRAY This nation faces a massive economic crisis -- indeed a social catastrophe -- that some experts even say will be among the worst the country's ever seen.Much has been said about how the looming retirement of 76 million baby boomers will stampede Social Security, which is expected to start running out of money in 11 years. We almost joke about senior citizens eating dog food. Maybe that joking is the only way we can keep from crying.But Social Security is just one piece of a cruel puzzle. It's not until you...

NORWEGIAN workers are legally entitled to look at porn on the internet during company time after a ruling by the country’s supreme court. Two oil workers sacked for viewing net porn in 2002 were unfairly sacked, a judge decided.

I have received a letter from Pat Cohen Esquire, Christian and US citizen notifying me that I am a beneficiary of $750,000 from Strom Thurmond's estate because of all the good deeds I've done (apparently not anonymously enough). It is being held in Wellington House in Cambridge by FX International ROYAL AND SCOTTISH GROUP. (RSG Fiduciaries or the RSG Fiduciary Bank in London. I am waiting instructions for how to transfer the funds, but I think I'd rather just pick them up in person. It says I may be released the money by any means I desire.