Free Republic

More than 140 people were injured when gas-filled balloons exploded at a governing party campaign concert in the Armenian capital.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is demonstrating an appalling ignorance on the Iranian nuclear issue and the threat it poses to world security. In fact, several times during the recent GOP debates he blamed the animosity against the U.S. in the Middle East on America's foreign policy. Paul recently argued on "Fox News Sunday" that sanctions should be removed altogether to get Iran to act differently and that the U.S. response to Iran's nuclear pursuit was an "overreaction." He added that Iran does not pose a threat to either the U.S. or the region. The congressman from Texas insists that...

On his visit to Lebanon this week, Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad may or may not throw a “symbolic stone” over the northern border to express his hatred of Israel. Reports on whether the stone-throwing will actually take place are unclear, but one thing that is clear is that Ahmadinejad will be greeted by a volley of blue and white balloons – 2,000 of them – courtesy of Likud MK Ayoub Kara. “We are planning to fly 2,000 balloons across the northern border to Lebanon when Ahmadinejad comes for a visit Wednesday,” Kara told Voice of Israel radio. “The balloons represent...

<p>Has Chelsea become so trendy even Martians are scouting for co-ops?</p> <p>A silvery vision of a dozen balloon-like dots hovering in yesterday's clear-blue sky over West 23rd Street in Manhattan had thousands speculating the mysterious objects might be UFOs.</p> <p>Callers began phoning the NYPD and Federal Aviation Administration at 1:30 p.m. with reports of the strange, silver objects high in the sky.</p>

An air search for two missing balloonists taking part in the Gordon Bennett Cup race resumed at first light on Thursday. The Italian coastguard said aircraft would have to stop searching at 1900 BST on Wednesday when it got dark. But boats had been due to continue to search for them through the night. The hydrogen balloon, piloted by Americans Richard Abruzzo and Carol Rymer Davis, went missing in thunderstorms over the Adriatic. Don Cameron, the race's flight director, said nothing had been found so far. He said the event's control centre was providing technical details to the Italian coastguard...

Balloons carrying half a million anti-Kim Jong-il flyers, 1,000 CD's on Cheonan incident, 600 portable radios, and 3,000 one dollar bills, were launched from Baek Ryong Do and Imjingak into N. Korea on May 20. N. Korea warned previously that they would retaliate if S. Koreans launches balloons again.

In a ruling of first impression, a Criminal Court judge in Manhattan has found helium to be a "noxious material." Based on that finding, Judge Matthew A. Sciarrino Jr. has allowed the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to proceed with the prosecution of three men arrested for selling helium balloons outside of Madison Square Garden during a Phish rock concert. The men were charged with a Class B misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 90 days in jail. The arresting officer reported seeing "unapprehended individuals" inhaling helium from the balloons. Although "nothing makes a little kid smile more than being...

Local balloon pilot Jonathan Trappe landed safely this morning after an overnight flight of about 70 miles from the Sanford-Lee County Regional Airport. Trappe, who sat in a chair while about 40 giant helium-filled balloons took him aloft, flew mostly at altitudes between 3,000 feet and 4,000 feet, said Paul Wilder, spokesman for the Wings of Carolina Flying Club. Trappe did go as high as 7,000 feet, Wilder said. He landed south of Wilson, near Fremont, shortly after 7 a.m., Wilder said. Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/04/11/432828/balloonist-flies-safely-in-chair.html#ixzz0kqgoOdZo

What is being hailed as the clearest ever UFO footage (view below) and final and definitive proof of alien visitation to planet earth has been filmed in China in the last fortnight. ON January 28 at 8.40am multiple witnesses saw a giant pyramid shaped UFO briefly hover above the city of Xi'an. The UFO was seen for no more than two minutes and one witness, Mr Yu managed to film around 15 seconds of footage of this historic event. Mr Yu described the UFO as being covered in uneven patterns and shapes as well as having glowing purple light coming...

The American artist has created a portfolio of inflatable works using ordinary party balloons, which resemble menacing deep sea creatures. Mr Hackenwerth spends up to three days building each piece by inflating the balloons and twisting them together to make the unusual shapes. Some of his designs are so big and ambitious that the 39-year-old has to "wrestle" the balloons into place – his largest sculpture was over 40ft long. Mr Hackenwerth, from New York, gets through so many balloons that he has to buy them in bulk, ordering 5,000 at a time. He started using balloons for his art...

Protesters mark Kim Jong Il's birthday by sending propaganda balloons into North Korea By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 11:35 AM on 16th February 2009 Protesters in South Korea launched balloons carrying tens of thousands of anti-Kim Jong Il leaflets into North Korea as its citizens enjoyed a national holiday to celebrate their leader's 67th birthday. As crowds of North Koreans visited statues and displays to celebrate their 'heaven-made commander', his opponents ignored a warning from Pyongyang and launched their campaign. For the first time, activists stuck North Korean cash into some of the vinyl leaflets to try and...

this is the way the world ends,this is the way the world ends,this is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper. e.e. cummings

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing Monday off the southern coast of Brazil.Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found.Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute.He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas.Gallas said by telephone that...

A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing Monday off the southern coast of Brazil.

A Roman Catholic priest who floated off under hundreds of helium party balloons was missing Monday off the southern coast of Brazil. Rescuers in helicopters and small fishing boats were searching off the coast of Santa Catarina state, where pieces of balloons were found. Rev. Adelir Antonio de Carli lifted off from the port city of Paranagua on Sunday afternoon, wearing a helmet, thermal suit and a parachute. He was reported missing about eight hours later after losing contact with port authority officials, according to the treasurer of his Sao Cristovao parish, Denise Gallas. Gallas said by telephone that the...

SACRAMENTO – California's budget picture has deteriorated significantly since the summer amid a slumping housing market and slowing economy, leading to a nearly $10 billion revenue shortfall, the state's legislative analyst said Wednesday. Without immediate spending cuts or other fixes, the state's $4.1 billion reserve will evaporate. California will be nearly $2 billion in the red by the time lawmakers vote on a new budget next summer, according to the analyst's report. In addition, the shortfall for the budget year that will begin next July has mushroomed by more than 50 percent, leading to the combined $10 billion shortfall for...

Four hot air balloon crashes have occurred in separate incidents Tuesday morning, the fourth day of Albuquerque's International Balloon Fiesta. One crash happened in Rio Rancho at about 8:30 a.m. Two retaining walls were hit in the Loma Vista area just north of High Resort Ball Field. Three people were in the gondola. No one was ejected, but one female passenger was transported to University of New Mexico Hospital with a fractured leg. The second crash occurred at around 8:45 a.m. near Kim and Saratoga avenues. The balloon hit a two-story house, then crashed in an arroyo. Two women were...

TVNewser has learned Fox News will be the pool for the Democratic National Convention in Denver beginning August 25, 2008. And NBC News will be the pool for the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis the following Monday, September 1. The pool provides camera shots inside the convention halls and can be used by any cooperating (read: paying) entity. A network insider tells TVNewser it's really as simple as drawing straws about which network will be the pool for a certain event. Since NBC and FNC will be pool for the conventions, the other networks will likely be the pool for...

A clown has had the smile wiped off his face after being told he couldn't use balloons in his act because children might be allergic to latex. Barney Baloney said he was told by bosses at a supermarket where he was booked to appear that he should leave his balloons at home because of the potential for allergic reactions. The 47-year-old entertainer, also known as Tony Turner, has previously had to ditch his bubble-making machine because he could not get public liability insurance as companies assessed that youngsters might slip and hurt themselves.

BEND, Ore. — Last weekend, Kent Couch settled down in his lawn chair with some snacks — and a parachute. Attached to his lawn chair were 105 large helium balloons. Destination: Idaho. With instruments to measure his altitude and speed, a global positioning system device in his pocket, and about four plastic bags holding five gallons of water each to act as ballast — he could turn a spigot, release water and rise — Couch headed into the Oregon sky.

Israeli planes violated Lebanese airspace Saturday and dumped green balloons over the southern port city of Tyre, Lebanese security sources said. Lebanese troops cordoned off the area around the coast of Tyre and prevented people from touching the "suspicious balloons" after reports indicated that some people were poisoned when they did. According to a hospital source in Nabatiyeh, similar green balloons were dropped over the market-town of Nabatiyeh, 54 kilometres south of Beirut. Five people suffering from nausea and dizziness were brought into hospital after they touched the "suspicious green balloons," the source said. Israel violates Lebanese airspace on a...

NEW YORK - As the giant Snoopy and Big Bird balloons began to inflate Wednesday, forecasts for powerful wind gusts threatened to keep them grounded during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade instead of floating through the corridors of Manhattan. City guidelines, established after a woman was seriously injured by a wayward balloon in 1997, call for the event's trademark inflatable characters to be grounded if winds reach 23 mph and gusts exceed 34 mph. The National Weather Service said wind gusts could reach 35 mph Thursday, and rain and temperatures in the 40s were forecast. Seven newly installed wind-measuring devices...

CLEVELAND (AP) -- Party planners beware: a global but temporary helium shortage could deflate festive balloons this fall. The shortage affecting some suppliers results from a series of unconnected events, including delays in getting helium plants on line in Algeria and the Mideast, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management said. The agency manages public lands, mostly in the West, and their mineral resources. It handles 42 percent of the U.S. production of crude helium, the colorless, odorless gas best known for inflating balloons that is derived from natural gas production. The government provides more than one third of the world's...

A new analysis of weather balloon observations from the last 30 years reveals that the Antarctic has the same 'global warming' signature as that seen across the whole Earth, but is three times larger than that observed globally. The results by scientists from British Antarctic Survey are reported this week in Science. Although the rapid surface warming in the Antarctic Peninsula region has been known for some time, this study has produced the first indications of broad-scale climate change across the whole Antarctic continent. Lead author Dr John Turner of the British Antarctic Survey says, "The rapid surface warming of...

BISMARCK, N.D. — Why put up costly cell phone towers in thinly populated areas, when a few balloons would do? In North Dakota, former Gov. Ed Schafer is backing a plan to loft wireless network repeaters on balloons high above the state to fill gaps in cellular coverage.

Opening of Museum Coincides With the 34th ABQ International Balloon Fiesta Nine hundred pilots, 700 balloons and thousands of spectators. Welcome to the 34th Annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta, where this year there's as much excitement on the ground as there is in the sky— thanks to a new attraction. The Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum, located at 9201 Balloon Museum Drive at Balloon Fiesta Park, opened its doors to the public for the first time Saturday with a red-ribbon cutting ceremony, cake and mariachis. Richard Abruzzo, a world-renowned champion balloonist and son of the late ballooning legend Ben...

Faced with a lawsuit, the Bellingham Board of Library Trustees last night adopted a new policy banning latex balloons and gloves in the building.Patrick Callahan, whose 9-year-old son Andrew has severe latex allergy, said he is relieved. He has been fighting for three months to get the facility latex-free. "As long as we are in agreement, I will officially drop the case," he told trustees after a meeting in the library last night.Trouble brewed in February after a children's program in the library left balloon sculptures displayed in the building. Callahan said he asked library officials to remove the balloons...

The U.S. military on Saturday launched a five-day war game to see how space-based assets such as satellite communications and precision bomb guidance systems would fare in a hypothetical war against terrorism in 2020. "This is not warfare in space. Our focus is how to best use our space-based assets to coordinate the joint terrestrial fight," said Brig. Gen. Daniel Darnell, commander of the Space Warfare Center at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado. Over the past decade, the U.S. military has come to rely to a huge extent on satellites to relay communications, transmit high-resolution imagery; track U.S. forces;...

just a funnuy pic I thought I'd share. Its just balloons!

Who's the biggest Liberal goon of 2004? Out of popular demand .. you can vote at Lead.cjb.net .. winners (or losers, depending on how you look at it) to be announced January 3rd.

Step 1. Tie balloons to car. Step 2. Drive like a bat out of hell.... Step 3. Watch people freak out !!!!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The lumbering, low-tech observation balloon, first used on Civil War battlefields, is making a comeback in Iraq (news - web sites). But this time around it's packed with zoom-lens video cameras and thermal imagers. AP Photo The unmanned craft — which look like smaller versions of the Goodyear blimp — monitor battle zones and other danger spots. They're also used to detect possible ambushes on roads used by multinational forces. On a recent evening in Baghdad, three balloons floated over the Green Zone that houses Iraq's interim government, as well as the U.S. and other foreign missions...

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A balloon became entangled in a radio tower on the final day of the city's trademark balloon festival Sunday, forcing the pilot and two young passengers to climb most of the way down the nearly 700-foot-tall structure. Bill Chapel was piloting the balloon - shaped like the face of Smokey Bear - when it blew into the radio tower near a park where the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta was being held. "All you can do is grit your teeth and hold on to your passengers and prepare them for the impact," he said. The hot-air balloon's...

A trailer found by the U.S. in Northern Iraq last year was likely used by Saddam Hussein's regime as a mobile biological weapons laboratory, and not to fill hydrogen balloons as some in Britain and the U.S. have charged, a view supported by exclusive photos obtained by WorldNetDaily that for the first time offer inside views of the trailer components. Kurdish forces seized the trailer in April 2003 at a checkpoint near Mosul in northern Iraq. At the time, the unit was hailed as the closest U.S. forces may had come to finding a "smoking gun" in their search for...

Balloonists take to the skies Friday evening in the first competition of this year's Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. The balloons launched from Balloon Fiesta Park for a hare-and-hound-style race. The "hare" launched first to drop a weighted baggie, and the "hounds" then chased the "hare" to drop their marker at the same spot. A mass ascension is scheduled for this morning, weather permitting.Saturday, October 2, 2004 Fiesta Fans Say Nothing Tops Seeing Those Beautiful Balloons By Evan Drake Journal Staff Writer When Irwin Pfeffer was in his 40s, he went swimming off a New York beach and saw a group...

Blame It On the Balloon Guy “J****! We need more balloons. I want all balloons to go, g********... What the f*** are you guys doing up there? We want more balloons coming down, more balloons. More balloons. More balloons…” --Producer for DNC Convention, on live TV Leave it to the Balloon Guy to give up the game. They had tried all week to present themselves as the party of reason. They were going to be kinder, gentler character assassins. They were going to take the high road, but the cracks in the façade began to show. They calmed down Algore--almost....

Welcome to Balloon World Thanks to an audio feed snafu on CNN at the end of Sen. Kerry's speech, in which the Democrat’s convention producer could be heard giving frantic directions to underlings, in order to assure that the American public had no doubts about the important “message” Democrats wanted to communicate to us, the pithy sound bite that will forever immortalize the 2004 Democrat National Convention/Presidential campaign rang out like the “shot heard ‘round the world” from a Boston suburb some 229 years earlier: “More balloons..... MORE BALLOONS!! MORE BALLOONS, DAMMIT!!! WHERE THE F*CK ARE THE BALLOONS?” While arguably...

e producer of the Democratic National Convention in Boston "deeply apologized" on Friday for his exasperated, profanity-laced tirade on worldwide TV as Kerry ended his acceptance speech . "I feel terrible about it, and I deeply apologize to anyone I might have offended," Hollywood heavy Don Mischer tells Saturday's LOS ANGELES TIMES. CNN said it had received permission from Mischer to air audio from the control room from time to time to provide behind-the-scenes flavor. Mischer said he had no idea his control-room comments were being broadcast at the time. He said his microphone had a switch allowing him to...

'Go balloons, go balloons! Go balloons! I don't see anything happening. Go balloons! Go balloons! Go balloons! Standby confetti. Keep coming, balloons. More balloons. Bring it- balloons, balloons, balloons! We want balloons, tons of them. Bring them down. Let them all come. No confetti. No confetti yet. 'No confetti. All right, go balloons, go balloons. We need more balloons. All balloons! All balloons! Keep going! Come on, guys, lets move it. Jesus! We need more balloons. I want all balloons to go, goddammit. Go confetti. Go confetti. More confetti. I want more balloons. What's happening to the balloons? We need...

DNC CONVENTION DIRECTOR DON MISCHER AIRED ON CNN AS KERRY ENDS SPEECH, HEARD WORLDWIDE... AUDIO [MP3 FILE]...

The 100,000 balloons released from the rafters at the FleetCenter at the end of Senator John F. Kerry's acceptance speech last night apparently did not fall fast enough, prompting the convention producer to profanely complain in remarks that were inadvertently picked up by CNN and heard by millions of viewers.The balloon drop was orchestrated by Maureen Curreri, owner of Boston Balloon Events of South Boston.

Glitch Broadcasts Convention Snafu on CNN 1 minute ago BOSTON - The Democrats have a balloon problem. John Kerry (news - web sites) concluded his acceptance speech Friday night, the jubilant convention crowd cheered and the balloons dropped. A few of them. Too few. "Go balloons," said convention producer Don Mischer, instructing the balloon droppers. "Go balloons. Go balloons!" His voice was becoming increasingly frantic — and it was going out over CNN. "I don't see anything happening," he said angrily. Unknown to him, CNN was running his name and title across the bottom of the screen. Long minutes after...

BOSTON - The top producer of the Democratic gala was captured saying the F-word on CNN when the post-speech balloons and confetti failed to fall. "Go balloons. Go balloons," Don Mischer shouted as the crowd inside the FleetCenter went nuts at the end of John Kerry's acceptance speech. Problem was, the frantic yelling inside the control room as the balloons trickled down was being broadcast on CNN. As John Kerry stood on the stage basking in the adoration, the moments slipped by with most of the balloons locked in the ceiling netting. At some point, a frustrated Mischer exclained: "All...

July 30, 2004 -- BOSTON — It was planned with the precision of a military operation — but the drop of 100,000 red, white and blue balloons for John Kerry went so horribly wrong that the convention producer screamed out the F-word over national TV. "Balloons. What's happening, balloons? There's not enough coming down. All balloons. Where the hell — there's nothing falling. What the f- - - are you guys doing up there?" shrieked the producer, Don Mischer. The live feed was carried over CNN, and Internet maven Matt Drudge quickly posted a request for anyone who'd taped the...

IF ANYONE HAS AUDIO OF CNN LIVE FEED OF OPEN MIC AND DNC BOOTH AND YELLING AT FAILURE OF BALLONS, PLEASE EMAIL TO MDRUDGE@AOL.COM...

CNN played the coordinator feed live for the ballon drop. We heard: "Go balloons! Go balloons!" "More balloons! Where the hell are the balloons?" "I want more balloons, God Dammit!" "What the f*ck are you guys doing up there?!"

Come join us at the 1st Annual See Our Children Soar Balloon Festival in Chester County, Pennsylvania. The US Flag Balloon- America One, and The Space Shuttle Balloon- Patriot will be flying with 33 other balloons this weekend at the Ludwig's Corner See Our Children Soar Balloon Festival. For more information and photos from this mornings' festivities please check out the photos at www.seeourchildrensoar.org You can also get flight times and a map to the field if you so desire to visit us this weekend. Or our normal web site at and click on the link to today's photos. From...

<p>President Bush should insist his commission investigating the performance of U.S. intelligence agencies answer this question: What did we know about Saddam's weather balloon program, and when did we know it?</p> <p>This is not a facetious suggestion.</p> <p>Mr. Bush's decision to name a commission came after the highly respected David Kay -- who resigned as director of the Iraq Survey Group, saying he didn't believe Iraq had stockpiled weapons of mass destruction -- told the Senate Armed Services Committee an outside investigation was needed.</p>

The Albuquerque International Ballon Fiesta was held October 4-12, 2003. The star attractions of the event, in my humble opinion, were the America One and Patriot special shape balloons, owned by freeperess Abner and her husband (and America One pilot) Victim of Circumstance. Bob J and I flew to Albuquerque on Wednesday to attend the festival. On Thursday morning we gleefully woke up at 3:30am (that is 2:30am Los Angeles time) to attend the mass assension of the special shape balloons. We drove to the field with abner, VOC, and their very dedicated crew (including FR's own Taxman, Crew Chief...

[SOUTH KOREAN DMZ-THURSDAY]Once again, human rights organizations opposed to the brutal Kim Jong-il Stalinist dictatorship in North Korea, made efforts in a village near the S. Korean DMZ, to launch a series of 'propaganda balloons' with small AM frequency radios attached, hoping they would reach the North. But their efforts were thwarted by political correctness and appeasement.The objective today was to reach everyday North Korean citizens who could then tune into private S. Korean and other Free World and Christian AM radio broadcasts to hear what is happening in the outside, free world.[Communist North Korean radios are soldered and...