Free Republic

Katherine Webb came off as pretty sharp after her fame blew up during the BCS Championship Game, and she's smartly taking advantage of her instant celebrity. Webb, Alabama quarterback A.J. McCarron's girlfriend and Miss Alabama, announced on Twitter that she will be covering the Super Bowl for "Inside Edition." Maybe she wants a television career (she came off well during her "Today" show interview, for what it's worth), or maybe she wants to have some fun and get a free trip to New Orleans. Either way, good for her.

VERNAL — When George Burnett first set up shop in Vernal, he knew he had to find away to connect with his adopted community if his custom seat cover business was going to survive. So, armed with a sandwich board emblazoned with the phrase "Honk If You (Heart) Drilling!," Burnett took to the corner of 500 East and Main Street and began his one-man crusade to boost the spirit of a community that was getting its first glimpse of another oil and gas bust. Fast-forward nearly five years and Burnett — now a local celebrity for his tireless support of...

Someone finally has done all the math on the recent sale of Al Gore's Current TV to the Arabic language channel Al-Jazeera for $500 million. Jobs were lost, buzz created, employees angered, but the former vice president had little to say about it. He did walk away with a reported $100 million — a tidy sum for a man who had less that $2 million in assets when he ran for president more than a dozen years ago, says Forbes magazine. "Taking into account taxes to be paid on the deal, possible earlier debt and the fact that Gore's representatives...

Someone finally has done all the math on the recent sale of Al Gore's Current TV to the Arabic language channel Al-Jazeera for $500 million. Jobs were lost, buzz created, employees angered, but the former vice president had little to say about it. He did walk away with a reported $100 million — a tidy sum for a man who had less that $2 million in assets when he ran for president more than a dozen years ago, says Forbes magazine. "Taking into account taxes to be paid on the deal, possible earlier debt and the fact that Gore's representatives...

Keith Ratliff was a fervent Second Amendment gun advocate and believed all Americans should be able to possess assault weapons. In a rather macabre bit of irony, a self-professed "gun nut" who was a YouTube channel producer for fellow gun enthusiasts was found fatally shot in the head in his Carnesville, Ga., home on Jan. 3. Police are investigating the case as a homicide. Keith Ratliff, 32, was a channel producer for the popular FPSRussia firearms channel on YouTube, according to FoxNews.com. The channel boasts 3.4 million subscribers and has more than 537 million video views. The videos largely consist...

Just because Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is pushing for an assault weapons ban and one-gun-a-month restriction in the Old Dominion doesn’t mean he’s opposed to slinging lead. In fact, the former Democratic Party chairman is one of Virginia’s newest gun owners, the proud papa of a sleek Beretta over and under shotgun, the standard of excellence at the area’s skeet ranges. Secrets first heard of his purchase over the weekend from shoppers at Dick’s Sporting Goods in Bailey’s Crossroads who saw the likely Democratic gubernatorial nominee shouldering one of the pricy long guns.

John Boehner looks too calm and resolved. The other Republicans don't appear to be coming together trying to get a group to vote against "Cry baby" Boehner. I think the Fix is in folks we are about to be "Lead" by the Doormat until he can hand the gavel over to Pelosi......

I know the Gov't can take private property for public purpose and for public "safety". Could they offer Compensation and take peoples guns "for public safety"? Do you think the Supreme Court would find this UnConstitutional? Any thoughts Freepers? I know My knowledge of the law is very limited......

Dental assistant Melissa Nelson was fired by her boss of 10 years because he felt her presence was a threat to his marriage Horndog bosses in Iowa have a new tool to save their marriages — they can fire employees who are too hot for the workplace. The state’s all-male Supreme Court ruled 7-0 Friday that an Iowa City dentist legally canned his female assistant because she was “irresistibly attractive” and a threat to his marriage. The bombshell ruling came after Melissa Nelson sued her boss of 10 years, Dr. James Knight, for discrimination. The married mother claims she was...

Cops want to grill martial-arts movie star Jackie Chan, after he boasted about using guns and grenades to fend off triad thugs. Chan’s guns-and-grenades comments, published in a mainland Chinese Southern People Weekly magazine, were largely overlooked last week because of his controversial statements, complaining about political freedom in his native Hong Kong. The “Shanghai Noon” actor told the magazine harrowing stories of attacks by triads, who want to steal or extort money from him. "In the past, when they bullied me, I hid in the United States,” Chan said. “They opened fire at me once I got off the...

Former Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, may be headed back to the political spotlight as he’s considered a likely interim replacement for Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.). President Obama is set to tap Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as secretary of State, according to media reports. This means Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) needs to find someone to fill Kerry’s seat until a special election can be held in the late spring or early summer. Dukakis, who is 79, has remained politically active. He campaigned for Sen.-elect Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) this fall and teaches at Northeastern University.

American health care consumers aren’t the only ones who will be hit by slated Obamacare tax hikes. Medical bills for their pets may go up as well. According to a rule published Friday by the Internal Revenue Service, some medical devices used in veterinary practices will be hit by Obamacare’s 2.3 percent device tax. Many of their manufacturers are expected to hike prices, meaning higher veterinary costs for the nation’s pet owners. The tax will not hit devices that are used exclusively for veterinary purposes. But a host of such devices are manufactured for use in both human health care...

TUCSON, Ariz. — A North Carolina man claims he misplaced $20,000 in drug money and asked authorities to write him an excuse note so a Tucson cartel wouldn't kill him. The Arizona Daily Star says 30-year-old Demarco Alonzo Thomas has been arrested on suspicion of money laundering and racketeering. According to documents from the Tucson Airport Authority Police Department, Thomas thought it might help smooth things over if he could show cartel members a phony receipt from authorities stating they had seized the money.

<p>CNN) — No one hit the jackpot in the latest Powerball drawing, pushing the next prize of $425 million into the history books.</p> <p>The prize for Saturday night’s Powerball was $325 million — the fourth-largest in the game’s history.</p> <p>For the 15th consecutive time, no winners matched the numbers, which were 22, 32, 37, 44, 50 and Powerball 34.</p>

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – A public health proposal suggests that tobacco smokers should be required to apply and pay for a “smoker’s license” in order to continue buying cigarettes. In this week’s PLOS Medicine medical journal, two leading tobacco control advocates debate the merits of the smoker’s license. Simon Chapman, a professor at the University of Sydney, proposes that users would have to apply and pay for a mandatory license in the form of a smartcard that would be shown when buying cigarettes.

Four African girls have created a generator that produces electricity for six hours using a single liter of urine as fuel. The generator was unveiled at last week's Maker Faire in Lagos, Nigeria, by the four teens Duro-Aina Adebola, Akindele Abiola, and Faleke Oluwatoyin, all age 14, and Bello Eniola, 15. So how exactly does the urine-powered generator work? •Urine is put into an electrolytic cell, which separates out the hydrogen. •The hydrogen goes into a water filter for purification, which then gets pushed into the gas cylinder. •The gas cylinder pushes hydrogen into a cylinder of liquid borax, which...

A jittery U.S. senator-elect Elizabeth Warren gave one-sentence answers, ducked questions and even passed one on to Gov. Deval Patrick in an awkward first press conference since the election. Warren spoke for a total of less than four minutes during the 11-minute press conference — the rest was taken up by Patrick and reporters’ questions After being asked her first question — how she’d protect defense spending — Warren was silent as she turned to Patrick. “Defense spending is you,” Patrick prodded Warren.

He’s the Tony Soprano of the horse-and-buggy set. His name is Lebanon Levi, and he’s the chief enforcer and focal point of “Amish Mafia,” a new docu-series premiering next month on Discovery. The series, which follows on the heels of sister network TLC’s top-rated (and extremely controversial) “Breaking Amish,” centers around tough-guy Levi and his henchmen Alvin, Jolin and John — who quietly enforce justice and protect the Amish community in Lancaster, Pa., while church elders look the other way and no one asks questions.

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Police in riot gear attempted to disperse crowds of people in the Mission District where several large piles of burning debris were dotting Mission and Valencia streets hours after the San Francisco Giants’ World Series victory against the Detroit Tigers Sunday night. Around 12:45 a.m., officers on Mission Street near 16th Street announced to the crowd of revelers that they were participating in an “unlawful assembly” and were told to leave the area. At least one crowd member in the area was arrested early Monday morning.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip A Gaza health official says that a panicking cow has killed a Palestinian man who was trying to slaughter the beast during the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha. Muslims around the world slaughter sheep, cows and goats during the four-day holiday to commemorate the sacrifice by their forefather Abraham. But accidents are common as people frequently buy animals to slaughter at home instead of relying on professional butchers. Official Ashraf al-Kidra said Saturday that another 150 more people were hospitalized in Gaza with knife wounds or other injuries caused by animals attacking butchers or bystanders.