Free Republic

“At this point, no gatherings outside your immediate family that are — in a sense — podded together. And what I mean by that is that the people who you have been with, who haven’t had outside exposures,” Osterholm outlined. “So, if your son and daughter are coming home from college, they are not part of your pod. You know, either they quarantine for 10 to 14 days or they are not part of what happens at the holidays. Don’t get together with neighbors. No Christmas parties. There is not a safe Christmas party in this country right now unless...

[cut] our "pod" -- a small number of family and friends who explicitly agree to a similar level of mitigating behaviors, such as always wearing masks and maintaining physical distance, around those outside the pod. [cut] Like most of us, I yearn for normality. I, too, am tired of limiting my interactions, maintaining distance and wearing a mask. But for my 4-year-old daughter and her generation, I continue to do so when I am around others outside my pod, even among those who are vaccinated. I hope you will too.

A controversial suicide pod that enables its occupant to kill themselves at a press of a button went on display at Amsterdam funeral show on Saturday. Called the "Sarco", short for sarcophagus, the 3D-printed machine invented by Australian euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke and Dutch designer Alexander Bannink comes with a detachable coffin, mounted on a stand that contains a nitrogen canister. "The person who wants to die presses the button and the capsule is filled with nitrogen. He or she will feel a bit dizzy but will then rapidly lose consciousness and die," said Nitschke, who has been dubbed "Dr...

Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance: the five stages of grief.  As a Christian, I’ve gone through these over the last few years, and now I’ve arrived at acceptance. I denied that God could remove His hand from our blessed country, America; that divorce among Christians was just as prevalent as the non-religious.  I denied that our youth were ever more questioning Christian teaching and doctrine, and were leaving the faith of their parents in droves.  I denied that the country was becoming more and more deaf to our 24/7 obsession with preaching the Gospel.  I denied that the church was...

Chelsea Clinton has announced that she her husband, Marc Mezvinsky are expecting their first child. The Former First Daughter, 34, revealed the happy news this afternoon at a Clinton Foundation event. She told the assembled guests: 'Marc and I are very excited that we have our first child arriving later this year.'

OK, you FReeper arborists helped identify the strange pod-bearing tree in my front yard (it's a Magnolia). Now I need help figuring out what kind of plant this is. It's a hardy ground cover that grows crazy fast. Bees seem to dig it, although it's not Bees' Bliss. I've seen something similar to it referred to as an icewine plant, but that's the only real reference to that name that I can find.

Marika Martin is a vegetarian. So is her husband, Charles Gonzalez, who rides his bicycle to work every day in New York City traffic, rain or shine. The couple cares deeply about the environment, but if you ask their kids, 12-year- old Sinika and 8-year-old Soren, it's sometimes not deeply enough. "My hopeless mother is obsessed with plastic bags," said Soren, a third-grader and huge fan of Al Gore's global warming documentary "An Inconvenient Truth." "A lot of plastic can't be recycled," chimed in his sister, who's in the seventh grade. "The turtles can get suffocated and it can go...

LARRY HOMSHER IS RUNNING AS A REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE IN THE 95TH STATE HOUSE DISTRICT AS A REPUBLICAN. THE INCUMBENT HERE IS PAY RAISE SUPPORTER STEVE STETLER, A DEMOCRAT. HOMSHER RAN AS A REPUBLICAN FOR CITY COUNCIL BUT YOU HAVE TO WATCH OUT, THE DEMS ARE SO NASTY AND POWERFUL IN THE CITY THAT THEY HAVE PLANTED PEOPLE AS GOP CANDIDATES SO THEY COULD WIN ELECTIONS. I DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS ON THIS ONE, BUT QUESTIONS BASED ON MY EXPERIENCE WITH CITY POLITICS..... Excerpt from NEXTRUSH

It appears the latest popular way to discredit those who publish opposing views on forums is to accuse them of being impostors, not really who they claim to be, the same person posting under several names, as though no two people could possibly share the same opinions. This has happened on a variety of sites on the internet. Moderators find it an easy way of doing away with people they don't like who stay within the rules. Whether it is on a TV forum, or a political forum, the trend seems to be the same. TV Heaven, a while back,...

2GB iPod Nano costs $100 to make - researcher By Tony Smith (tony.smith at theregister.co.uk) Published Friday 23rd September 2005 14:54 GMT Market watcher iSuppli has disassembled Apple's iPod Nano and, beneath the shiny but not entirely scratchproof (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/23/ipod_nano_scratching/) casing, it has found almost $70 worth of assorted chippery. The 2GB Nano retails in the US for $199. Of that, iSuppli reckons, less that half - $90.18 - goes on components. Chuck in $8 per unit labour costs, and Apple's base margin is a whopping $100.82. You can probably add a little more for software development - they're paid in...

Posted on Tue, May. 17, 2005 Not everybody loves iPods By JASMINE JOHNSON KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Most teenagers know the latest music craze is the iPod. And most teenagers, it seems, have them. I don't. And I don't care. This creepy "iPod obsession" has gone too far. Here are five reasons why I hate iPods: 1. They cause addiction. Warning: When you're at school and you daydream about getting home to download a new song on your iPod, you are, in fact, addicted to it. 2. iPod crazies become iPod hermits. If people give up hanging out with friends to...

I wanted to invite everyone to greet our newest signup, whyareyoudumbandhateful. Do you think his or her first post will be to make a donation on the Freepathon thread?

<p>Okay, so I thought that I could at least have civil debate with INTELLIGENT conservatives, but after posting under a different name, not only were the responses the equivellant of "UH-UH," but I was denied my rights as a citizen of this great country. It appears to me that Free Republic is not interested in FREE SPEECH! I do love the U.S., I just disagree with the jingoism that followed 9/11. I disagree with our leaders purposfully lying to their citizens in order to go to war. I disagree with going to war against the express directions of the UN which was made to council the nations on these issues. I disagree with the nation's presidency being stolen from the rightful owner, the man who truly won the election. I disagree with that stolen presidency being handed to a C average student who has a criminal record and went AWOL when he was supposed to be serving in the military. I disagree with corporations running the government in the new era of pay to play politics. I disagree with the same corporations that run the country, run the news media. I disagree with conservatives instead of listening to what a liberal has to say, they resort to attacking them with (sometimes) drastic immaturity. I disagree with using religion to get votes. I disagree with religion. I disagree with history being written by the victors. I disagree with with the USA PATRIOT Act not only because anyone can be detained for any reason for any amount of time without a trial with a jury of twelve peers. I disagree with the fact it is called the "Patriot Act" and yet there is nothing patriotic about it. I DO agree with the quote "If you are willing to sacrifice freedom for for security, you deserve neither." I disagree with the civilians in this country not standing up and calling for an impeachment for a president that has done far worse than getting a blow job in the oval office. He has LIED, CHEATED, AND MURDERED. I disagree with everyone being angry at Bill Clinton for smoking marijuana but no one criticizes George W. Bush for DRUNK DRIVING and COCAINE use. I disagree with George W. Bush saying in a nationally televised broadcast, "If you aren't with us, you're with the terrorists." This hurt the feelings of about 60% of New York citizens because they not only lost friends and family in the World Trade Center on 9/11, but they also opposed going to war with Iraq. You can imagine the deranged ultimatum this put on those poor Ameericans who had to choose between those who killed their friends and family and the their better judgment to wait for a UN resolution. I disagree with a $350 billion tax that goes directly to the 1% minority of the wealthy. I disagree with the "No Child Left Behind" policy. Standardized tests don't teach children anything but how to memorize test questions. As a teacher, I can only describe it as leaving every child behind. I disagree with arch conservatives on this website saying that I have AIDS because I am liberal and am into homosexual activites. To clear up your mislead statements of slander. I am heterosexual, I do not have AIDS. I have two healthy children that are beautiful and will be entering school in a year. I love my wife and my country. I don't agree with you...but that doesn't mean I hate you or your thoughts. I encourage them. But please stop reacting to someone that you disagree with in an angry passion of blind ignorance. It doesn't solve anything.</p>

...Freerepublic.com will collapse under the sheer weight of the stupidity generated there daily. It will be reborn as Fascists-R-Us.com....