Free Republic

Stupid Hippies crying over dead trees...

A counter-culture arts festival which champions alternative living is being vetted by environmentalists for its contribution to global warming. Burning Man bans the sale of anything but ice and coffee and declares clothing optional. The festival, which is expected to draw nearly 40,000 people to the Nevada desert this week, is described as an "experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance". It has few rules, no structure and features performances, installation art and music, which culminate in the symbolic burning of a large wooden man. A group of San Francisco scientists, calling themselves Cooling Man, have...

GIZA, Egypt (Reuters) - Balancing on his head in the shadow of the ancient pyramids of Giza, a Dutch visitor tries to connect to the spiritual forces he says are swirling around the monuments during Wednesday's solar eclipse. "The eclipse is a special moment in time and the shape of the pyramids attracts a universal energy spiral," Robin, who did not give his full name, said after meditating at the foot of the largest of the pharaonic mausoleums in the desert outside Cairo.

Washington, D.C.—At just past noon on Wednesday, anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the rest of the Bring Them Home Now tour were stopped by a pair of squad cars two blocks from the U.S. Capitol by members of the Capitol police force. Officers explained that they wanted to use bomb-sniffing dogs to inspect the caravan of three RVs and several cars. The officers said it was standard practice to inspect large vehicles in the area. “RVs aren’t allowed on Capitol Hill,” one said. “That’s standard procedure. Any trucks that come on Capitol Hill are stopped and turned around.” Campers aren’t...

It had been a few years since Vern Ballard, 36, was entwined in courtship and obliged to display the affection romance demands. In the early weeks of getting to know this new woman, he said, the two of them passed hours upon hours in conversation but exchanged not an iota of physical contact until she took the initiative. One day, as their friendship inched toward what he hopes is a committed relationship, she covered his hand with her own and let it linger there for 10 minutes. "I need to know how to sustain that," said the City College computer...