Free Republic

The Fremont Police Department said Monday that it shut down a recycling company buying stolen catalytic converters, putting an end to a “major pathway for criminal activity.” After a year-long investigation, the department established that the Arrow Recovery recycling company at 46025 Warm Springs Blvd. was buying stolen catalytic converters, the department said in a news release. To confirm the operation was illegal, an undercover officer sold cut catalytic converters to Arrow Recovery marked or etched with "stolen" or other markings suggesting they had been illegally obtained and the company repeatedly purchased the stolen devices. Catalytic converters have increasingly become...

The ray gun is real ... or at least it will be soon. The U.S. Army is betting big on laser warfare -- designing, testing and perfecting ultra-precise weapons based on devastatingly powerful beams of light. And given recent developments, it's only a matter of time until the military has in its arsenal a weapon that until now has been the staple of science fiction -- the ray gun. Set your phasers to kill. Boeing, one of the Pentagon's top contractors, already has a laser weapon that will improve the military's ability to counter artillery, mortar, drone aircraft and even...

Barack Obama to buy rare £20,000 gold ring for his wife. The ring is made of rhodium - the world's most expensive metal --encrusted with diamonds. It is being hastily made by Italian designer Giovanni Bosco in time for January's inauguration ceremony. Only about 25 tons of rhodium are mined each year, mostly in South Africa, and as a result its price is typically around £5,000 an ounce. (sample comments) Michelle tells poor women in Chicago to forego the corporate world and volunteer in the community instead - these people are hypocrites! Annie, Madrid, 30/11/2008 A man of the people...

Michelle Obama is to receive this £20,000 thank you from her husband for her support during the election. The Harmony ring is made of rhodium - the world's most expensive metal --and encrusted with diamonds. It is being hastily made by Italian designer Giovanni Bosco in time for January's inauguration ceremony. Only about 25 tons of rhodium are mined each year, mostly in South Africa, and as a result its price is typically around £5,000 an ounce.