Free Republic

WHITESBURG, Ky (WYMT) - Health officials in Letcher County are taking their efforts to raise awareness about colon cancer to new heights. They set up a 20-foot-long inflatable colon at the rec center in Whitesburg. It is all in an effort to teach people the importance of getting screened for the cancer. Ashley Teague, with the Kentucky Cancer Program, said the health fair included several booths on how to live a healthier life. "What we really recommend is eating healthy. That is one big thing that we do not do around here. We need diets high in fruit and vegetables...

<p>ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - An incompatible combination of nitrate salts and organic cat litter is to blame for a mishap that forced the closure of the nation's only underground nuclear waste repository, according to findings released Thursday by an independent team of experts from national laboratories around the country.</p>

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will address a joint meeting of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives on April 29, becoming the first Japanese leader to do so. Abe will spend eight days on a state visit expected to focus on joint responses to growing Chinese assertiveness in Asia, including his moves to loosen restraints on Japan's pacifist postwar constitution. In announcing the invitation to the Japanese leader, U.S. Speaker of the House John Boehner said Abe's speech would be an opportunity for Americans to hear from a close ally about ways to expand cooperation on economic and security...

The doors to Downton Abbey are finally closing. Carnival Films and ITV have announced that there will be no return to the famous home of the Crawley family after the sixth season airs, as they want to end on a high. Downton Abbey has been a huge international success, selling to broadcasters around the world, but its ratings in Britain had started flagging. NBC Universal, which owns the production company behind the show, said in an internal note to staff that the long-running drama was ‘approaching its natural conclusion’. The internal note, seen by the Daily Mail, said: ‘Whilst we...

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states launched airstrikes against rebel forces in Yemen’s capital and across the country in defense of what Riyadh called the nation’s legitimate government. The attacks began Thursday morning, hours after Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, fled the southern port city of Aden by boat when Iranian-backed Houthi militants closed in. The decision by Saudi Arabia and the region’s Sunni monarchies to intervene on Mr. Hadi’s behalf raises the stakes in their rivalry with predominantly Shiite Iran, which has raged in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere in the region. The raids also risked further inflaming sectarian...

Titles including Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and Thumbelina by Hans Christian Andersen, have been taken off the shelves in the village of Kharbatovo, in the southern Irkutsk Region, after a request from the local education council, the Meduza news website reports. It seems the decision is based on a law aimed at "protecting children from information that harms their health and development", the site says. The law came into force in September 2012, and introduced age restrictions for books, films and theatre productions, among other measures. The council fears that Twain's book may encourage children to become...

Since December, Scott County has had 72 confirmed HIV cases and seven preliminary ones. Officials fear potentially up to 100 cases could be identified. In past years, Scott County reported less than five new HIV cases each year and had just 21 residents with HIV in 2014, according to state statistics.

SSL/TLS encryption once again is being haunted by an outdated and weak feature long past its prime:  a newly discovered attack exploits a weakness in the older, less secure RC4 encryption algorithm option in SSL/TLS that's still supported in many browsers and servers. Itsik Mantin, director of security research with Imperva, at Black Hat Asia in Singapore today will detail how an attacker could sniff credentials and other information during an SSL session in an attack he named the "Bar Mitzvah Attack" after 13-year-old weaknesses in the algorithm it abuses. The attack is a glaring reminder that the RC4 algorithm,...

In the bad old days of New York City, the mob would decide the price of erecting a building regardless of who was planning to do it. Years after the construction of One Police Plaza, the City’s Police Headquarters, when the ceiling of the main floor started to fall down an investigation found that the mob had sold the city substandard concrete. They didn’t care who they ripped off. Hard work led by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani broke the grip of the mob on New York’s construction industry and for years afterward construction boomed because of the reduced costs of...

A French maker who creates incredible "Star Wars" drones is back with another. This time, he flies a modded Imperial Star Destroyer sure to strike fear into the heart of any Rebel in its path.

The latest baggage threatening to dog Hillary Clinton’s expected bid for the White House comes in the form of her brother, who allegedly got help from the Department of Homeland Security in smoothing a business deal. The department’s inspector general found that Tony Rodham was given special treatment by DHS’ No. 2 in securing visas for foreigners connected to a deal. Rodham was CEO of an electric car company owned by another longtime Clinton pal, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, when he got help from DHS official Alejandro Mayorkas securing the visas for investors in the firm. It is not clear...

VIDEO: Congresswoman's poor parking job ABC News obtained video of a Congresswoman's poor parking job Wednesday morning and it is causing quite a stir.

If Rahm Emmanuel gets his wish and O'hare or Midway airports are renamed in honor of President Obama, what will be the policies of the new airport?

What we are hearing this morning is that one of the pilots left the cockpit and was unable to reopen the cockpit door. The voice recorder records the pilot outside the door at first tapping then banging on the door. The plane apparently begins it's decent FOR 18 MINUTES, so I assume during this horrific time, the passengers and other crew are witnessing this. Perhaps passengers are also recording this. We shall see. The door locks are activated or unactivated in the cockpit. The pilot can have the door unlocked, normal (which means access can be obtained by a passcode...

Formerly the "Quinn and Rose Morning Show" thread our friendly group continues to meet to start the day as we await the return of our favorite morning talk show - ON APRIL FIRST!! So look for the new "Quinn in the Morning" thread, as our favorite talk show FINALLY returns to the airwaves, and via streaming media!

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Former President Jimmy Carter has met with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Muqrin during a visit to the kingdom. The official Saudi Press Agency says the two met in a palace in the Saudi capital of Riyadh on Wednesday. The report says they discussed a number of topics but gave no details.

Secretary of State John Kerry and Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Anne Patterson met today with Moaz al Khatib, former President of the Syrian Opposition Coalition. Mr. Khatib shared his views on ways to advance a political solution to the crisis in Syria. Secretary Kerry emphasized that Bashar al-Asad is a brutal dictator with no legitimacy to lead Syria. The Secretary reaffirmed our commitment to pursuing all diplomatic avenues to help bring about a political transition based on the Geneva Principles that leads to an inclusive government and a future of freedom, dignity, and security for the...

Yemen's crisis is getting worse and then some. Saudi Arabia has started bombing rebel positions inside Yemen, and said the Sunni Kingdom will do "anything necessary" to deter the Iran-backed Shiite rebels who are taking over its neighbor. Meanwhile, the rebel Houthi fighters looted American intelligence files, which contained details of US operations in the country, Brian Bennett and Zaid Al-Alayaa of the LA Times report. Some of the files were reportedly "handed directly to Iranian advisors by Yemeni officials who have sided with the Houthi militia," which has successfully dismantled Yemen's government since marching into Sana, the capital, in September....

A jury today found a Michigan woman guilty of firing a shot into a McDonald’s drive-thru window after employees failed to put bacon on a cheeseburger she ordered.

The Arab League will discuss the crisis in Yemen on Thursday, the regional body's deputy secretary general said, after the country's foreign minister called on Arab states to intervene militarily to halt an advance by the Shi'ite Houthi militia. "Yemen's foreign minister proposed the idea today ... in a meeting with the Arab League Secretary General," Ahmed Ben Hilli, told Al Arabiya Al Hadath television channel, on Wednesday. "The issue will be presented tomorrow at foreign minister level." Arab heads of state are due to meet in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on March 28-29 to discuss a...