Free Republic

By John Poirier WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators took over two banks on Friday and sold them to Mutual of Omaha Bank, the sixth and seventh bank failures this year as financial institutions struggle with a housing bust and credit crunch. ADVERTISEMENT Two weeks after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp seized IndyMac Bancorp Inc (Other OTC:IDMC.PK - News), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency said it closed First National Bank of Nevada and First Heritage Bank NA of California. First National had total assets of $3.4 billion and $3 billion in deposits while First Heritage had assets of...

NEW YORK, May 16, 2005 – The Orange County Choppers (OCC), in association with the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund and the Fisher House Foundation, held an auction at the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum on May 5. The famed biker trio of the Discovery Channel’s hit series, American Chopper, came up with the idea for the Support Our Troops auction after being inspired from a recent visit to the Walter Reed Medical Center, where they met wounded Marines and soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan. “Before Christmas we went to Walter Reed Medical Center, and it had a great impact...

Cat Chopper ready to hit the road Motorcycle designed by Orange County Choppers will soon embark on tour Tuesday, March 8, 2005 PEORIA - The Cat Chopper is completed and soon will go on tour for Caterpillar Inc. The custom-built motorcycle, built by the Orange County Choppers, was unveiled last Friday to company employees at Caterpillar's building construction products division in Clayton, N.C. The Discovery Channel episodes of American Chopper on which the Cat machine was built are scheduled to air at 9 p.m. April 4 and April 11. Also, Caterpillar will launch a "Cat Chopper Tour" on May 1,...

A man labeled by Volusia County authorities as the West Coast Chopper serial robber is believed to be responsible for robbing three convenience stores Tuesday night, according to Local 6 News. In each robbery, the man is wearing a black West Coast Chopper sweatshirt with a hood covering his face. Besides allegedly robbing the three convenience stores Tuesday night, the same man is suspected of robbing several other stores in recent weeks. Investigators believe he is targeting businesses in Holly Hill, Ormond Beach and outside county limits. The robber is also believed to be leaving the crimes in a taxi...

I know anything coming out of the Teutul probably will illicit a lot of strong emotion ("OCC sucks! West Coast Choppers and Jesse James rule!", "Eff you!", "No, eff you!"), but everyone has got to check out the Statue of Liberty Bike, it is awe inspiring (hopefully, the President will sit on it during the convention - that'll be a slam dunk). Here it is (click here to see the details):