Free Republic

I won playing the lottery. Not for the first time. And not the last, I’m sure. In the past, I hit 3 numbers out of six twice, 4 out of six once, and now... Hold on, I’ll tell you in a minute. I have a method. No, it’s not playing the same numbers every time, and it’s not playing kids' and wives' birthdays, or famous lucky historical dates dates like John F. Kennedy's Assassination date. It’s not computer generated Easy Pick. We, myself and my children, analyze the past results, at least two years back and calculate which numbers come...

I am serious. Straight to the chase, hoping to provoke a lively discussion. Why do we consider suicide a selfish act? Let's bypass if we can all the religious aspects of it. We already know the answer of the Christian texts - it's a cardinal sin, a no-no, a bummer to Saint Peter and all the Marching Saints. Let us say you have experienced a series of catastrophic (to you) defeats, one after another, your life has become a country and western song waiting to be written. Let us say that these deafeats are all affairs of the heart -...

-- Ayelet Waldman e-mailed a few writer friends asking them to donate signed books she could auction as an "instant library" at a Barack Obama fundraiser hosted by Alice Waters in Berkeley on Sept. 26. She's received hundreds, from the likes of Stephen King, Ann Packer, Khaled Husseini, Jodi Picoult, Jonathan Lethem, Anne Tyler, Steve Martin, Jamie Lee Curtis and others.

CLINTON - Clinton police are looking for a male suspect who they believe is responsible for at least five thefts of women's underwear over the past two months. In several cases, the thefts took place while women were home, said Clinton Police Chief Mike Reidy. On one occasion, a male resident confronted the thief after he was caught in a home. "There was a tussle, and we tracked him for a while but lost him," Reidy said of the underwear thief. No weapon was displayed during the incident. Police are urging residents to take the string of thefts seriously. "It...

As mobile communications and media devices proliferate, the nagging worry frequently goes unchallenged: Gadgets like iPods, cell phones and laptops produce an increasingly disconnected public sphere. This is a familiar critique -- last year, a fellow student expressed in the campus newspaper a similar dissatisfaction with the popularity of MP3 players. He argued that, lost in our private worlds of music, we fail to reach out and connect with one another. Certainly, I wonder about the social impact of new technology -- particularly, the contra...

Baby Helen makes a grab for the camera in front of dads Todd Hosfelt (left) and Louis Schump. When the couple decided to enter fatherhood, they knew they had to find a roomier home with a spacious garden that was close to transit and fit their budget. Chronicle photo by Eric Luse

Rock legend Bob Dylan on the stage of the University of St Andrews in Scotland and (inset) Dylan receives his honorary degree of Doctor of Music from Sir Kenneth Dover, Chancellor at the University of St Andrews

It was the rim shot heard 'round the world. "One, two, three o'clock, four o'clock rock. Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock. Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock. We're going to rock around the clock tonight." Fifty years ago today, on April 12, 1954, Bill Haley and the Comets stepped into New York City's Pythian Temple to record their debut single for Decca Records, "Rock Around the Clock," which became the first No. 1 rock 'n' roll record and the opening salvo in a worldwide pop revolt. continued...

<p>A young boy samples a cigarette during the annual smoke-in in Capena, where anti-smoking laws are routinely ignored.</p>

<p>While we were all popping the cork on New Year's Eve, a dubious milestone was quietly passing: The United States and Europe wrapped up their 20th year of failed trade talks on wine. Bilateral negotiations began in 1983, under the Reagan administration.</p>

If you haven't been hybernating this winter, you'll know that there are 9 circus clowns out there, travelling the country, making appearances, speaking pompously, as clowns do, with promises of free tickets to Paradise, on stages at schools, union halls, old folks' homes, orphanages, shopping malls, insane asylums and prisons, being introduced in each of those places with these words: "Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the United States!" If you happened to hitch a ride from Mars on Spirit's return trip, and upon landing tomorrow was informed that the United States has four year terms for its Presidents,...

<p>Among the crazy side effects of steroids that nobody talks about is whopperitis, a medical term for acute overdevelopment of the intellectual capacity to sling BS.</p> <p>Nobody who ever tested positive for steroids or other banned drugs was guilty. Never a sheepish shrug or a sincere "My bad!"</p>