Free Republic

The Smiths of Halfway, Mo., are currently the world's most famous collection of human cannonballers. Those openings are only so wide, which gives the Smiths a business reason for remaining trim. The family's dedication to physical conditioning, as with cannonballing, starts with David Smith Sr. That meant the patriarch had some training ideas when his son Russell, seventh of nine children, decided he wanted to become a seriously competitive wrestler. Russell succeeded to the point that his record stands at 45-0 after three victories in Thursday's opening competition in the Minnesota high school wrestling tournament, although first there was this:...

Police Thwart Cannonball Run Road Rally Wed Sep 15, 7:54 AM ET MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police temporarily seized luxury and sports cars driven by people they suspected of participating in an illegal road rally named after a 1981 film starring Burt Reynolds, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Police said they were tipped off by a driver of a family car who said he had been overtaken by high-powered cars bearing rally-type markings in the northeastern region of Catalonia. The managing director of Cannonball Run Europe, Tim Porter told Reuters on Tuesday that entrants in the rally of the same...

MOSHEIM (AP) Cody Pasco has found lots of nails and other small items with the metal detector he received for his 10th birthday.Then, a week ago, the 12-year-old made his biggest discovery literally about 150 feet from his Greene County home.Cody unearthed a 3-pound, solid-shot Confederate cannonball and a 150-year-old trundle hook used to chain cannon to horses during the Civil War."He's tickled to death," said his mother, Connie Melton."I'm interested in the Civil War, and really in all wars," Cody said. But he didn't expect to find such an artifact."For the past year Cody has brought home buckets of...

From the outside, it looks like another '70s muscle car. On the inside, it's a gearhead fantasy come true. Every chunk of this 1972 Ford Torino's innards has been swapped for fresh parts. An extra gas tank has been fused onto its body. Controllers for laser jammers, radar detectors, GPS sensors and video cameras now occupy areas once reserved for 8-track players and beige-tinted shades. The vehicle has been hauled 2,700 miles on a tractor-trailer, from Gibsonville, North Carolina, to San Francisco. And on Wednesday, it'll begin a five-day, helter-skelter dash to reach Miami before hundreds of other cars cross...