Free Republic

Zanesville, Ohio, sheriff's deputies armed with assault rifles opened fire on dozens of "mature, very big, aggressive" lions, tigers, cheetahs, wolves, and bears who had escaped from a private menagerie in Ohio after the farm's owner, Terry Thompson, was found dead and the animals' cage doors were left open and fences unsecured. Chimpanzees and orangutans were found locked in cages inside the house. At least 30 animals have been killed, and several more remain at large.Thompson had a long history of brushes with the law and had just completed a one-year sentence on two federal counts of possessing illegal firearms....

Reporting from Greenville, S.C. — Rick Perry is learning all kinds of ways that words can come back to haunt a guy. There’s his famous “Ponzi scheme” remark about Social Security from his book “Fed Up!,” which former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has used to bludgeon the Texas governor in their last couple of debates. And now Perry’s in hot water in North Carolina for a remark he made all the way back in 1992, when he was Texas agriculture commissioner and Houston was hosting the Republican National Convention.

London, ON – A new study at The University of Western Ontario finds the sauces you use when firing up the barbecue this summer may provide unforeseen health benefits. The research, led by Western biology and psychology postdoctoral fellow Raymond Thomas, shows common marinades may be more than just tasty sauces – they can also provide a major source of natural antioxidants. The paper was co-authored by Mark Bernards and Christopher Guglielmo in Western’s department of biology. Foods rich in antioxidants play an essential role in preventing cardiovascular diseases, cancers, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, inflammation and problems associated...

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq — Sustainment Soldiers at Contingency Operating Site Marez thanked their civilian counterparts for their hard work with a cookout of burgers, chicken breasts and pastries at the “Class I” yard Feb. 1. Soldiers from 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion cooked for more than 60 contractors from many nations who work at the logistics distribution center. “It was excellent!” said Mahendra Ranaweera, a contractor from Colombo, Sri Lanka. “Everyone enjoyed the function, and we really appreciate the opportunity given by the 18th CSSB to consider us part of the battalion.” Ranaweera, who has worked at the...

I am planning a trip to Memphis in a few weeks with my family and wanted to see any of my FR brothers can give me some suggestions. I plan on going to the Rendezvous Restaurant for ribs but also want to hit a few other local attractions. Also, I wonder if there is any particular place to go for a more traditional slow smoked barbeque meal. My son is into history so anything historical may also be nice. Please feel free to make any suggestions that may be family approriate. My kids are 8 and 2. Thanks

The modernized America we know today is largely dominated by suburbs, the perfect mix of city and ranch, commonly on the outskirts of cities. Its not the stacked to Timbuktu apartments like in New York, Kansas City, and Chicago, but its not the "home on the range" sort of thing. We know the modern suburb as nicely assorted houses, separated by lush, thick, dark green lawns, that are neatly cut every weekend. We know them with the smell of barbeque every Sunday after the residents have come home from Church. Its these modern American paradises that house the factory-workers, the...

Lazy ceiling fans rearranged the 80-degree air Friday as a Christmas songster crackled out of patio speakers about snowy scenes and Yuletide bliss. But the two-fisted diners slouched around tables littered with napkins pulled from beer-carton dispensers and half-empty hot sauce bottles, paid the cultural amenities no mind. This was Otto's Barbeque and Hamburgers, and these guys — and maybe a few gals — had come to eat. To eat and, perhaps, to mourn. Otto's, famed as former President George Bush's favorite barbecue eatery, is heading for the last roundup.

For me, I'll be doing up some clams (SHOCKER!) and the usual smoked turkey. Hey, Ben Franklin wanted it to be our national bird, ya know!

ALBANY, Ga. - For a quarter century, chefs at pricey steakhouses have been searing meat on burners that cook with infrared energy. Now the high-temperature technology may be coming to a backyard barbecue near you. With the expiration of a key patent, major gas grill manufacturers, including market leader Char-Broil, have scrambled to bring infrared cooking to the masses with models in the $500 to $1,000 range. Previously, such grills cost as much as $5,000. "Infrared is really hot," said Leslie Wheeler, a spokeswoman for the Hearth, Patio & Barbecue Association, an industry group in Arlington, Va. "They're great for...

Hank Williams Jr. has a question for prime-time football fans: Are you ready for some football? Robin Hudson has a slightly different question: Are you ready for some barbecue? Hudson, you see, owns Hudson’s Smokehouse in Lexington, and for the past three years, he has made a trip to Denver to serve his special brand of South Carolina barbecue, ribs and fixings to the crew of ABC’s “Monday Night Football,” which includes broadcaster John Madden. That crew switched over to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football” this season, but Hudson still made his annual trip to Denver on Oct. 15 for the...

President Bush spent the day in North Carolina Traveling with the president were Press Secretary Tony Snow and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings After arriving in Greensboro, NC, the president enjoyed a barbeque lunch at Stamey’s Restaurant, then visited nearby Waldo C. Falkener Elementary School where he spoke about the No Child Left Behind initiative. Later, President Bush traveled a few miles further south to visit The Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, NC, then on to speak at a private GOP fundraiser. Enjoy your Wednesday visit to Sanity Island

I have lunch with a good friend of mine at Alcorn State fairly often. Not long after we met, we discovered that we had quite a bit in common. Not only were we the same age, but we had both grown up in the 1960’s in the river city of Natchez. We both have two kids, and our daughters attend the same college. Plus, we both have a passion for providing opportunities for young people to grow and excel. Having so much in common, you might have thought we probably would have crossed paths so many years ago in Natchez,...

August 9, 2005 Yes folks, this is a man’s barbeque. That’s Tim Kowalec firing up Chrysler Group's one-of-a-kind HEMI-powered grill at an event to announce the top five finalists in the company’s "What Can You HEMI?" contest. Until the event, the HEMI engine was only found in Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicles. With the power and torque of the 5.7-liter V-8 HEMI engine, the grill can cook 240 HEMI dogs in three minutes and is covered by more than 330 square feet of steel. The contest involved people sending in concepts for machines that could be powered by a...

Jul. 03, 2005 Anyone got a light? Jul. 03, 2005 BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on June 25, 1995.) Everybody loves a backyard barbecue. For some reason, food just seems to taste better when it has been cooked outdoors, where flies can lay eggs on it. But there's nothing worse -- and I include the Great Depression in that statement -- than trying to set fire to a pile of balky charcoal. (For those of you who actually went through the Great Depression and are offended by the previous sentence, let me state, in...

Love her or hate her, America can't seem to get enough of Sen. Hillary Clinton. The latest literary examination of the former first lady - "The Truth About Hillary: What She Knew, When She Knew It, and How Far She'll Go to Become President" by Edward Klein - has produced an interesting ripple in the Zeitgeist. Nobody much likes it. That liberals dislike the book comes as no surprise, but that conservatives are distancing themselves from Klein is interesting. As a former New York Times Magazine editor, part of the liberal mainstream media that members of the VRWC (Vast Right-Wing...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- An Iraqi peace delegation has returned to Baghdad after radical Shiite Muslim cleric Muqtada al-Sadr refused to meet with them in battle-torn Najaf. The Iraqi leaders had gone to Najaf in hopes of ending nearly two weeks of fighting between al-Sadr's militia fighters and a U.S.-Iraqi force.

THE barbecue gun massacre suspect was nabbed by three uniformed cops with dogs yesterday — as armed officers dashed to the scene. The dog-handlers pulled up in their van after 3am yesterday at a pub where Stuart Horgan was holed up. Police believe he fled there after his wife Vicky, 27, and her sister Emma Walton, 25, were shot dead. Their mother Jacqueline, 55 — who also suffered shot wounds — was fighting for her life last night in hospital. Unarmed cops were first to arrive at the Botolph Arms pub in Peterborough, Cambs — run by shaven-headed Horgan’s parents...

HAMDEN, Conn. - Voters would rather flip burgers and drink beer at a backyard barbecue with President Bush (news - web sites) than Sen. John Kerry (news - web sites), according to a national poll that found Bush leading Kerry on "regular guy" qualities. Half of the registered voters surveyed said they would rather have a barbecue with Bush, while 39 percent chose Kerry and 11 percent either didn't know or would not answer the question posed by Quinnipiac University pollsters. More voters also would trust Bush, 46-41, to run the family business. But voters were evenly split on whether...

nbc5i.com Thieves Nab Barbeque Pit Resembling Dale Earnhardt's Car Victim: 'They're Just Ignorant' POSTED: 9:50 a.m. CDT September 3, 2003UPDATED: 10:00 a.m. CDT September 3, 2003 FORT WORTH, Texas -- North Texas thieves are on the run with a unique getaway car. Tuesday afternoon, a Plano resident spotted someone hooking up his neighbor's meat smoker to the back of a maroon pickup. Boyce Hancock built the cooker by himself, but this was not just your average smoker. Hancock and his wife are big NASCAR fans, and they built the barbeque pit to look like the car once driven by Dale...

Here's one way to look at fate: Squinkers is a cute, non-syndicated cartoon done by a Canadian lady. Clicking on the cartoon will take you to that Web site (where you can register to get the comics daily via e-mail, if you wish).

BBQ Cookoff this Saturday!South Belt Spectacular BBQ Cook OffSaturday April 26 ~ Opens 8:00 a.m.   One of the Houston Chapter's newest and most lively members, Stevie_D_64, is a member of an up and coming barbeque team known as the Texas Rustlers. They are competing in a cookoff this Saturday, April 26. The cookoff is to raise funds for the South Belt  4th of July fireworks show.The food, fun and festivities are at El Franco Lee Park, 9400 Hall Road, near the South Belt and Blackhawk. There will be plenty of activities for the little kids and for the...

=====Our much anticipated event, GlocktoberFest, went off with only the most minor of hitches. It was wet and drizzly at times, but we didn't get the heavy rain that was predicted. We had 11 HAT Chapter FReepers in attendance, 2 out of town FReepers as well as 2 guests. Lodwick gets the award for the longest trek [Austin] and Bigun followed with a close second [Huntsville]. The HAT folks that were there are Flyer, RikaStrom, Humblegunner, BobbyD, Eaker, Dix, COB1, EastForker and Missus Eastie, PetroniDE and Retired AF Warrior. The weapons present included a .300 Winchester, 2 SKS's, 3...

  The Houston Chapter is excited to announce our 1st Annual Gunpalooza and BBQ - aka GlocktoberFest. The range activities will be at The American Shooting Centers in far west Houston at George Bush Park. Okay folks - it's time to Rock and Load!!GlocktoberFest is scheduled for Saturday, October 26. This will be a ton-o-fun-with-a-gun and a great opportunity to meet and greet your fellow Houston area FReepers. Details, details, details. . . Shooting starts at 10:00Gun owners will pay the range fee of $6.00 for the first gun, $3.00 for each additional gunGun owners will provide the ammo...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Outdoor cooks flocking to crazy-looking recipe that adds new dimension to brewski Beer-can chicken is moist and offers a "delicate flavor of beer."Photo courtesy of Workman Publishing Right now you're wondering why the chicken in the picture is sort of standing up. And hold the phone but hey, Ethel, what's that thing sticking out of the chicken's rear end? Well, it all has to do with something called beer-can chicken. And while this may come as something of a shock, it's a phenomenon that's sweeping the country, coming soon to a...