Free Republic

Twinkie lovers may want to stock up on their golden Hostess treats. This time it is not the food police who are threatening the yummy cakes. ABC News says teamsters are making strike threats to Hostess, which is in an operational bankruptcy at the moment. If there is a union strike, production of Twinkies will cease

Between online banking, Online shopping, credit card payments, e- mail, cell phones and texting...it's been so long since I've actually sent *anything* "snail mail", that I literally had to check online to find out that the postal rate for a letter has gone up twice since the last time I sent a letter USPS. Fortunately I has a roll of 1 cebt stamps to cover the increase without having to go to the post office, but it still felt weird.

...and I'm not the only one that got it. I generally ignore these kinds of things from these kinds of people. But I thought this one would be fun for fellow freepers to pick apart. Its not violently communists or anti-capitalist. It's fairly mild compared to other things he sends. In fact, I suspect he doesn't even realize it is commie oriented. As usual though, he mixes environmentalism with communism in all his ideas and propaganda. I responded to him with a very short explanation that we can't live without a modern economy anymore since we don't have the naturally...

Not every athlete is caught up in the Linsanity. Unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. has posted a swipe at the New York Knicks' point guard sensation on Twitter. Mayweather posted on Monday: "Jeremy Lin is a good player but all the hype is because he's Asian. Black players do what he does every night and don't get the same praise." Lin has led the Knicks to five straight victories, including a 38-point game against the Lakers. Later, Mayweather took to Twitter to defend his comment. "Its OK for ESPN to give their opinion but I say something and everyone questions...

A 50-year-old woman accused of dousing her dad with iced tea on Super Bowl Sunday was arrested, even though she said the chilled beverage soaking was an act of "self defense," a recently released report states. The apparent tossed tea tumult began brewing Feb. 5 as a 79-year-old man told Port St. Lucie police he argued with his daughter, Jacqueline Collins, the Port St. Lucie police report states. He said the disagreement at his Southeast Victory Avenue home in Port St. Lucie was over food. After quarreling briefly, the man sat on the couch to watch the Super Bowl, a...

The American left. They championed Occupy Wall Street, they champion Socialism, and they champion class warfare. Just the other day, I heard Bob Beckel call the Republicans the party of the rich. Now it doesn't take a genius to use Google and it doesn't take much digging to find out that seven of the top ten richest members of congress are Democrats. These members of congress sport last names such as Kerry, Rockefeller, and Feinstein. It also doesn't take much digging to find some of President Obama's biggest donors were evil corporations such as Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, Google, JP Morgan...

Quick note: I've been hearing people mention a BROKERED convention a lot. It's a pretty interesting scenario, but we should be clear about the terminology. If no one candidate doesn't have the delegates to claim a first-ballot majority, it's a DEADLOCKED convention. Brokered means that big power brokers would give their blocks of delegates to a candidate in exchange for something of value to them. That's the kind of thing we'd expect from lib union bosses. In a Deadlocked convention, since it's after the first ballot, delegates are free to vote for whomever they want. So, the question I have...

Rick Santorum address crowd in Idaho.

WASHINGTON - Mick Jagger is going to the White House. He will be part of a celebration of the blues for Black History Month at the White House next Tuesday. Jeff Beck, B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Keb Mo will also perform.

This is your Turner Classic Movie channel alert! Tonight...Top Hat (1935), 8pm est "A woman thinks the man who loves her is her best friend's husband."

This video is a repeat to inspired and to bring awareness of the soon coming of Jesus for His Church. All scripture was taken out of the (KJV) Bible!

Hey guys, Are there any sites (Virus-free) that I can stream tonight's Knicks v. Raptors game? Time Warner Cable isn't showing any NBA games in my area... - Blackshark

Tablet sales will hit nearly 500 million units a year by 2015, according to a new report by BI Intelligence. Tablet sales in 2015 will exceed the number of PCs currently sold per year (~360 million) and make tablets a $100+ billion market. The forecast, which includes e-readers, predicts that tablet sales will grow at better than a 50% compound annual growth rate over the next few years. The growth will be driven by falling prices combined with tablet penetration in the enterprise and education markets, as well as emerging markets. Here are some highlights from the report, whose lead...

Proof electric cars DO cause more pollution than normal ones: Study shows impact is worse than petrol-powered vehicles Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2100936/Study-shows-impact-electric-cars-worse-petrol-powered-vehicles.html#ixzz1mNkAhlSk

In this morning's Cashin's Comments, Art Cashin points to some disturbing research regarding the recent bump in disability benefit applications:I’m Sick Of Being Unemployed - A couple of strange and rather disquieting reports circulated among the Friends of Fermentation yesterday.  The topic was unemployment or, more specifically, where do those people go who have stopped looking for work.  Their absence is credited with distorting the unemployment rate and making it lower than most expect or believe.The reports I allude to, contended that many went on disability.  In fact, they projected that nearly 25% of those not actively seeking a job...

A Canadian guy named Joe has been digging out the basement of his house using nothing but radio-controlled scale model construction equipment... since 1997. Yes, you read that right — he's been digging out his basement for 15 years — with nothing but little R/C tractors, diggers and even a miniature rock crusher! Amazing. At an average rate of eight or nine cubic feet of earth moved each year, the process has been absolutely glacial. But what do you expect when every morning he drives his little excavator on its transport truck down to the basement, unloads it, and then...

Generations are social constructs. There is no chemical or biological difference between Gen-Xers and Millennials, but we talk about them as if they were different species. That Gen-Xers grew up "independent" and Millennials grew up "entitled" aren't anthropological observations. Rather, they're marginally useful stereotypes. If it's true that members of a certain age group have commonalities that they don't fully share with older or younger groups, this isn't the result of generational determinism. It's just circumstance. ...................................................... When adults wonder what's the matter with the Millennial generation that has increasingly chosen to live with their parents and put off marriage...

ITV Studios America and HDFILMS announced plans for a reimagining of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's famed franchise of the 1970s, then called Space: 1999. The news comes months after Fox and producer Seth MacFarlane announced they would be reviving Cosmos: A Space Time Odyssey, a 1980s miniseries from Carl Sagan. "Science fiction is a powerful format capable of visualizing the human condition in thought-provoking ways," said HDFilms president Jace Hall, who will spearhead the effort and serve as an executive producer. The project is in the development phase and has yet to be shopped to networks.

Question for the shooters out herein FR land. I want to buy a .22 pistol for general target shooting and need a recommendation. I know you can buy a brick of .22 bullets for the price of a box of others. A good friend has a Ruger Mark III and shoots it constantly. Any other suggestions??

These are all original works (based on other people's photos, of course). Please enjoy, and share all around the intertoobs. The best compliment I could ever have, is if they come back to me, having travelled all over the globe.

In the United States today, unemployment among those age 18 to age 34 is at epidemic levels and the number of young adults that are now living at home with Mom and Dad is at an all-time high. So why are so many of our young adults jobless? Why are record numbers of them unable or unwilling to move out on their own? Well, there are quite a few factors at work. Number one, our education system has completely and totally failed them. As I have written about previously, our education system is a joke and most high school...

In the United States today, unemployment among those age 18 to age 34 is at epidemic levels and the number of young adults that are now living at home with Mom and Dad is at an all-time high. So why are so many of our young adults jobless? Why are record numbers of them unable or unwilling to move out on their own? Well, there are quite a few factors at work. Number one, our education system has completely and totally failed them. As I have written about previously, our education system is a joke and most high school...

US filmmaker Sean Stone, son of Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone, converted to Islam on Tuesday in Iran, where he is making a documentary, he told AFP. "The conversion to Islam is not abandoning Christianity or Judaism, which I was born with. It means I have accepted Mohammad and other prophets," he said in a brief telephone call from the central Iranian city of Isfahan, where he underwent the ceremony. Sean Stone's famous father is Jewish, while his mother is Christian. The 27-year-old filmmaker did not say why he converted. According to Iran's Fars news agency, Sean Stone had become a...

Canadian Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in the midst of an official visit to China. His mission? To convince Beijing’s mandarins to buy Canada’s Alberta oil sands hydrocarbon production, now that Republican Congressional overreach has effectively sidelined the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to transit the oil to U.S. Gulf of Mexico refineries, for the foreseeable future. Harper faces an uphill struggle, as China is questioning the delays in implementing the Northern Gateway pipeline, to transit Alberta’s oil to Canada’s western coast for transshipment to China. Complicating the picture, Harper has a weak hand of cards, and both he and...

It is said that nature abhors a vacuum. Well, according to this report from the Minnesota Daily, nature also abhors factory farms. Large midwestern hog farms have for the last few years been battling a mysterious foam that is forming on top of their barns. In the worst case scenarios, the foam blocks ventilation ducts and the barns explode—yes, explode—killing the thousands of hogs inside. The report reads: The foam traps gases like methane and when a spark ignites it causes an explosion. About a half dozen barns in the Midwest have exploded since the foam was discovered in 2009....

MOUNT VERNON, Va., Feb. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- George Washington's home, Mount Vernon, celebrates our first president's birthday with three days of special events including an outdoor cooking demonstration by celebrated chefs, a new food exhibition with more than 125 objects from the Washingtons' kitchen, a surprise birthday celebration for "George Washington", book signing with PBS's A Taste of History host Chef Walter Staib, and much more! Saturday and Sunday events are included in Estate admission, and admission to all events on Monday, February 20, events are FREE in honor of George Washington's birthday! Saturday, February 18All events...

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Police need the public’s help to find the drivers in a hit-and-run crash that killed a ballet dancer and teacher of disabled children. Zina Feeley, 66, known professionally as Zina Bethune, had stopped on Forest Lawn Drive to check on a small animal lying in the other side of road. As she walked toward the fallen animal, she was struck by a car, throwing her backwards, where she was struck by a second car and dragged for more than 600 feet, Los Angeles Police traffic detectives said. “I know if she drove by a deceased animal...

We've been waiting and hoping that the Rhinestone Cowboy might come to Orange County one last time before finally hanging up his microphone, but it doesn't seem likely now -- not when a huge farewell has been slated for the Hollywood Bowl. As has been widely reported -- and repeated Sunday night just before the Lifetime Achievement Award honoree took the stage for a rousing, admirable tribute at the Grammys -- Glen Campbell, 76, is facing the onset of Alzheimer's by embarking on a farewell trek (The Goodbye Tour) behind one final album, his 61st (!), last August's acclaimed Ghost...

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was mocked by his own countrymen today after urging Russians to start having more sex to put a stop to the country's declining population. In one of his more controversial presidential election campaign pledges, Putin vowed to give cash incentives to mothers who have a third child, to help encourage more births. Russia is the largest geographical country in the world but its 142 million population is smaller than both Pakistan and Bangladesh. Putin, who served two consecutive presidential terms between 2000 and 2008 followed by his current term as prime minister, warned that the current...

Marston Hefner, the 21-year-old son of Playboy don Hugh Hefner, was arrested in a Los Angeles suburb last night for allegedly assaulting Playmate Claire Sinclair. Authorities confirm to E! News that shortly before 11 p.m., cops were called to the couple's Pasadena home after receiving a domestic-violence call. Sinclair suffered minor injuries, according to police, and Hefner was taken into custody without incident. Hefner was charged with battery on a spouse and released a few hours later after posting a $20,000 bail. (Hefner and Sinclair were not married but under state law a "spouse" can be considered a cohabitant.) No...

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Jaroslav Flegr is no kook. And yet, for years, he suspected his mind had been taken over by parasites that had invaded his brain. So the prolific biologist took his science-fiction hunch into the lab. What he’s now discovering will startle you. Could tiny organisms carried by house cats be creeping into our brains, causing everything from car wrecks to schizophrenia? No one would accuse Jaroslav Flegr of being a conformist. A self-described “sloppy dresser,” the 63-year-old Czech scientist has the contemplative air of someone habitually lost in thought, and his still-youthful, square-jawed face is framed by frizzy red hair...

Group Results: TOY - 1st place - Ch Palacegarden Malachy Breed: Pekingese Sex: Dog Date of Birth: January 24, 2008 2nd place - Affenpinscher 3rd place - Miniature Pinscher 4th place - Silky Terrier NON-SPORTING: 1st Place - GCH Spotlights Ruffian Breed: Dalmatian Sex: Dog Date of Birth: March 02, 2007 2nd place - Chinese Shar-Pei 3rd place - Lowchen 4th place - Poodle (miniature) HERDING: 1st Place - GCH Babheim's Captain Crunch Breed: German Shepherd Dog Sex: Dog Date of Birth: March 10, 2007 2nd place - Bouviers des Flandres 3rd place - Old English Sheepdog 4th place -...

Word For The Day, Tuesday, February 14, 2012 In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". zeitgeist [tsahyt-gahyst] -n the general intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era. [C20: from German, literally: time spirit; see tide 1 , ghost ]

From this day on, the official language of San Marcos will be Swedish. Silence! In addition to that, all citizens will be required to change their underwear every half-hour. Underwear will be worn on the outside so we can check. Furthermore, all children under 16 years old are now... 16 years old! Finally, all insurance companies will now provide free contraceptive and abortion services. This will not cost those companies any money. So let it be said, so let it be done.

I have a great wife and love her very much. She knows that I love her greatly. But more than just love her, I appreciate her and all that she does for me and has done for me, above and beyond what is expected of her. I also respect her, and admire her, and I am very proud to be her husband. She is very pretty and sexy, but not revealing herself in her clothes, always easy and tasteful with the make-up, though I don’t think she needs any at all and she’s always a class act around people. She...

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BOULDER, Colo. -- They're shiny, tiny and in demand. Buckyballs are powerful little magnets you can form into any shape. But a Colorado mom learned the hard way the powerful magnets can also be life-threatening. CALL7 Investigator Theresa Marchetta found out how such a dangerous toy could so easily end up in the hands of a child. "It could have been dire. Really dire," said Stephanie Thompson. In September, her 5-year-old son, Finn, had emergency surgery. The scar on his stomach is healing, but for his mom, the emotional wound is still fresh.

Oftentimes I'm perfectly happy being in the cheap seats when witnessing life's spectacular moments. (Well, not perfectly happy. I'm always searching for a better view.) Take the Northern Lights. In recent weeks, some people who normally might not be able to gaze at the Aurora Borealis from their own back yard got treated to quite the light show, thanks to a solar radiation storm late last month. But what would the Northern Lights look like from the real nosebleeds (though not cheap)? What would they look like from, say, the International Space Station? NASA has released video of a sequence...

1 Cruise to northern Norway The Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten (0844 448 7601, hurtigruten.co.uk) has launched a number of new charter flights in response to a surge in demand. A five-day “Arctic Highlights Voyage”, sailing from Tromsø to Kirkenes and back, costs from £949 per person, including flights, on selected departures in November and December. In addition to time in Tromsø (home to the Arctic Cathedral, Polar Museum and a Polaria Centre containing bearded seals), optional excursions include husky dog sled rides, a visit to North Cape, snowmobiling and a trip to the border post with Russia. There are longer...

Alex Wade had always wanted to surf off Hawaii's north shore. But then he saw the size of the breaks at the Banzai Pipeline.Dave Rastovich, 33, is a professional surfer for the Billabong team. As happens every December, "Rasta" is at Billabong's house on the north shore of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. He's there to bag some serious water time at the many breaks along what is known as "the seven-mile miracle", a series of world-class waves stretching from the hippie town of Haleiwa on the south-west of the north shore to Sunset Beach towards the north-eastern point. Rasta...

In the dock, Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace stands accused. Counsel for the prosecution is Neil Smith. Counsel for the defence is Jonathan Crocker. Court is in session!The Phantom Menace has the dubious honour of being perhaps the most despised film of the last 20 years. With expectations sky-high following everyone's favourite sci-fi trilogy, Part I, for many, failed to deliver the pure thrill the Star Wars universe promised in the 70s and 80s. George Lucas must have instantly regretted the inclusion of infamous alien rasta Jar Jar Binks. With The Phantom Menace coming to cinemas in...

A district court judge threw out the Franklin, MA police department's case against pro-life activist Peter D'Attilio, after sharply challenging the prosecutor regarding validity of the charges. At the hearing on Thursday, Feb. 9, in Wrentham District Court, Judge Stephen Ostrach berated the prosecutor for pursuing what were clearly false charges. Peter D'Attilio was handing out pro-life bookmarks at a Catholic town fair on August 11, 2011 when police stopped him, arrested him, and beat him up so badly that he had a large black eye. He was then charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest. Peter strongly denies that...

NEW YORK — She’s a Florida girl who’s comfortable in a bikini, and now 19-year-old model Kate Upton is on the cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. She wears a tiny red-and-brown, sparkle-covered string bikini with a view of the waters of Australia behind her as she poses for the magazine cover, which is scheduled to be unveiled on TV Monday night on “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS.

For most of us, our home is our refuge. There is even an old proverb: a man’s home is his castle. But what happens if there is an intruder? Or worse, an intruder whose intent is bodily harm toward you or your family members regardless of the reason? How would you defend yourself and, more specifically, would you shoot someone? Could you shoot someone? I have struggled with the answer to these questions and more, because, if there were a collapse of society – a true SHTF situation – there is a strong likelihood that I would be placed in...

This is what you call the underwater doggy paddle. Photographer Seth Casteel watched a series of pets diving into the water - many chasing a ball - and the result is lost of gnashers, bubbles and some incredible photographs. ~~SNIP~~ Some dogs looked more menacing as they bared their teeth to grab the balls, but a few of them don't even have a ball to chase and just look like they are posing for the shoot. Some dogs appeared to be better swimmers than others, with a few diving down to the bottom of the pool, while the less adventurous...

But for the glow from the campfire, it is impenetrably dark. Never are there stars, as if that would be too much to hope for. Instead, beyond the rock overhang, it's pouring, waves of water relentlessly slapping the giant fronds of the jungle. It always seems to rain at night here in the mountains of Papua New Guinea. This is why Lidia and what's left of her people, the Meakambut, seek refuge in rock shelters -- they're dry. Located high in the cliffs, sometimes requiring a treacherous climb up vines, caves are also natural fortresses that once protected the Meakambut...

Explanation: Why would Venus appear oval? Venus has been seen countless times from the surface of the Earth, and every time the Earth's atmosphere has dispersed its light to some degree. When the air has just the right amount of dust or water droplets, small but distant objects like Venus appear spread out into an angularly large aureole. Aureoles are not unusual to see and are frequently noted as circular coronas around the Sun or Moon. Recently, however, aureoles have been imaged that are not circular but distinctly oval. The above oval Venusian aureole was imaged by the astrophotographer who...

Ron Paul has called Bradley Manning a hero, for bravely releasing national secrets to wikileaks. Has this damaged the US? Has it cost lives?