Free Republic

Lost in all of the news about the economy, joblessness, deficits, taxes, health care, etc., is the giant elephant in the room, which I will call the "public employment bubble." This bubble has inflated slowly and subtly, not unlike the housing bubble that we saw burst a couple of years ago and is a product of the same government inefficiency, overreach, corruption and ignorance. History is in the process of repeating itself due to our elected representatives not recognizing the problem and/or not moving to correct the problem soon enough, which is happening right now at every level. The move...

  Woman told she's too big to fly       SAN ANTONIO -- Mary Louise Lozano says she was humiliated after Southwest Airlines told her she was too big to fly. "I felt like there wasn't a big enough rock for me to crawl under," says Lozano. On July 8th, she was supposed to fly to Baltimore - a gift from her brother she hasn't seen in four years. However, when she got to the gate, she was told she'd have to purchase an extra ticket because she wouldn't fit into a seat."It was judgmental," adds Lozano, who weights...

Sat, December 3, 2005 BARRIE -- A sex assault trial that hung on claims of a large penis was turned into a "cheap joke" by media coverage, a superior court judge said yesterday as she found the accused guilty. Justice Margaret Eberhard said she was disturbed after receiving calls "from afar" and was ribbed numerous times over the trial in which a man claimed he could not be guilty of rape because his penis is too big. "Whether I find him guilty or innocent -- he is publicly humiliated," she told court just before finding the man guilty. "Nowhere was...

Akron, Ohio -- King James has his palace. LeBron James, the NBA's No. 1 draft pick, has bought a 12,611-square foot home with 11 bedrooms and eight full baths for $2.1 million. The home is on 5 1/2 acres in an Akron suburb, about 25 miles from Cleveland. The 18-year-old rookie for the Cleveland Cavaliers is renovating the house. He said he is living in three apartments in downtown Cleveland until the construction is completed. According to tax records, the two-story colonial-style house was purchased Oct. 28. It was built in 1977 and a $2 million addition was built in...