Free Republic

Well, this was outrageous! Senator Leahy Accuses Judge Amy Coney Barrett of Destroying Healthcare in the US before she has even voted on the issue. Leahy also accused Barrett of hurting women and gays. Again, she is not even on the court yet! And for some reason he brought out a photo of Smokey the Bear… So is Amy Comey Barrett an arsonist, too?

Burt Reynolds died of a heart attack Thursday morning at a hospital in Florida, according to multiple reports. Reynold was 82. Burt was transported a Florida hospital after going into cardiac arrest. His family was by his side when he passed. Burt was a star in the moves and on TV -- appearing in classics like "Smokey and the Bandit," "Boogie Knights" and "Cannonball Run."

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Authorities cut open a slain bear and found a shoe lost by a Florida man while fighting off a bear that attacked his 8-year-old son in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The footwear was discovered in the black bear's stomach during a necropsy at the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center, Smokies spokeswoman Nancy Gray said Monday. < snip > John Pala, a 43-year-old health insurance salesman from Boca Raton with no backwoods experience, literally ran out of his shoes racing to the aid of his young son Evan when the bear pounced on the boy...

Wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4/20 day. Thought this would be appropriate for the "smoky" backroom.

Hero's farewell for 'Smokey' Crowd braves heat to honour last surviving winner of Victoria Cross Norma Greenaway, with files from Vito Pilieci The Ottawa Citizen; with files from The Canadian Press August 10, 2005 CREDIT: Fred Chartrand, The Canadian Press War veteran Benjamin Regalbuto salutes as he pays his respects to Victoria Cross recipient Smokey Smith on Parliament Hill yesterday. Victoria Cross recipient Ernest (Smokey) Smith was honoured yesterday as no other veteran has been, getting a war hero's farewell on Parliament Hill that had scores of people lining up in blistering heat to pay their final respects. Against the...

FORT HUACHUCA - There's Rocket Man and Smokey Sam. One is a human, the other isn't. Guess which is which. On Friday, Rocket Man launched Smokey Sam. Rocket Man, actually two Air Force noncommissioned officers, were firing small simulated surface-to-air missiles near C-130 aircraft as part of a threat site training program. On a hill on Fort Huachuca's East Range, Master Sgt. Rick Karlslyst and Staff Sgt. Greg Dunlap set up a battery of six pretend SAMs. Cargo aircraft from Puerto Rico Air National Guard, Marine Reserve and Belgium Air Force units flew by during the aircrew's flight training on...

JAMUL – How's this for rubbing salt in a wound: A Smokey Bear statue has been stolen from a federal fire station. And it was taken while firefighters were battling the wildfires that devastated the region. This Smokey Bear statue stood outside a wildlife refuge fire station near Jamul until it was stolen last year. "Isn't that incredible?" said Bill Molumby, fire management officer for the San Diego National Wildlife Refuge Complex. "It's pretty pathetic." The statue was in front of the refuge's fire station just outside of Jamul and was discovered missing Nov. 3, said officials with the U.S....

Where did this forum come from? I've done a search on Smokey, and Backroom, and I'm puzzled. What's the purpose, and what stuff gets posted here?

A generation ago, some school districts fought backwater parents to establish smoking areas in high schools. Smoking was illegal, tobacco was unhealthy and all that. But kids were going to smoke anyway. Administrators had to lure smokers out of bathrooms and back into class. Suggesting school smoking areas was hip.It didn't matter that teens puffed away on display as role models, that administrators were ushering students toward emphysema and lung cancer. What mattered was not to be "square." It would be like wearing a narrow tie or a crew cut!Today, smoking is out. But the same adult attitudes thrive.The...