Free Republic

Dutch Club to Recycle Dancers' Energy By Rachel Nolan Wind power is great. But what about all that energy you expend on the dance floor on Saturday night? A next-generation nightclub wants to use that energy to keep the strobes lit and the bass bumping. REUTERS Clubs use 150 times the power of normal households. New nightclubs in Rotterdam and London are harnessing human power to light "eco-clubs." First it was your mom nagging you to turn off the lights. Then came the brick in the toilet to save water, the long-life light bulbs and carbon credits to ease your...

Scandal: 96 Catholic Universities Have Pro-Homosexual ClubsHelp stop this scandal by signing the TFP’s urgent appeal to the presidents of Catholic universities Here is a list Catholic universities with pro-homosexual clubs Historically, Catholic universities have been beacons of truth. They have set a standard of intellectual progress and moral excellence. They have elevated culture, formed the minds of great men, and paved the way for abundant scientific breakthroughs. However, these beacons of truth are now failing. Moral values are being undermined on many Catholic campuses and the principles that once guided souls in the noble task of higher learning are...

DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) - - Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan warned the European Union against becoming a "club of Christians" as he pushed Saturday for Ankara's membership in the bloc. "If the EU finds itself as a club of Christians.... it is against the very soul of the EU," Babacan told reporters on the sidelines of the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos. EU heavyweights France and Germany are both opposed to full Turkish membership, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been particularly vocal on the issue, arguing that the mainly Muslim country does not...

Club for Growth President Pat Toomey was recently quoted, "Earmark reform will shine a glaring light on the profligate pork barrel projects and the politicians who sponsor them," It didn't occur to him that earmark reform also exposes the recipients of multi-million dollar pork projects--including the largest contributors to The Club for Growth. Arkansas millionaire Jackson "Steve" Stephens, Jr., ... has been hounding Mike Huckabee for expanding government for the likes of providing health insurance for children of the working poor, building highways and keeping the sales tax on groceries to improved inadequate schools. Small government, that’s the mantra of...

Teen’s antiabortion club gets green light Virginia high school officials recently gave a green light to a teen’s request for a once-banned after-school antiabortion club, the Washington Post reported. "We just wanted the same rights as other clubs," 16-year-old Stephanie Hoffmeier told the Post. "It's not a radical thing to expect equal treatment." Stafford County, Virginia, school officials initially denied Hoffmeier’s spring request to host the club, which opposes abortion and promotes sexual abstinence, saying the club was not associated with school curriculum. Hoffmeier filed a lawsuit in September contending the decision violated her free-speech rights because other clubs with...

Assistant V-P says closing range a matter of values, not safety A decision to close an 88-year-old indoor shooting range at the University of Toronto is a matter of "values" and not safety, the school said yesterday. "The debate had gone on for almost decade," said Rob Steiner, an assistant vice-president of the university. "It was generally felt that the presence of a gun range on campus 80 years ago might have been consistent with our academic values ... in the last 10 years those values started to deviate. "This is really a values issue. This is not a safety...

Tampa, Florida (AP) — County records show Hillsborough County officers spent more than $6,000 for 92 lap dances, drinks and tips in an investigation into nudity and liquor law violations at an adult bikini bar. The investigation spanned more than two years. Sheriff David Gee says sometimes that's what it takes to get rid of problems. Gee says vice detectives first targeted Lil Tootsie's nightclub after deputies responded to numerous calls ranging from violence to DUI arrests. The agency recently asked county commissioners to revoke the club's special permit to serve alcohol. Records show sheriff's detectives sought 41 misdemeanor nudity...

FORT HUACHUCA — For years members of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers have been working to save the World War II Mountain View Colored Officers Club on this southeastern Army Post. Saturday night the group received its first major donation from the Pascua Yaqui Tribe when the tribal chairwoman announced a $50,000 gift. In February Association President Tom Stoney Sr., made a pitch to the tribe and Wednesday he was called back to answer more questions from the tribal council’s 11 members. Stoney had no idea the tribe would make a decision so fast. Tribal Chairwoman Herminia Frias made...

FORT HUACHUCA — The terms of a proposed lease for the World War II Colored Officers Club on this Southeastern Arizona Army post have been approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, said one of the organizers trying to save the facility. It still has to be signed by all parties. “It’s another milestone. Now there is some light at the end of the tunnel, like a flashlight (beam),” said Tom Stoney Sr., president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers. More than three years ago, the association signed a memorandum with the fort to halt the wrecking ball that...

JUNEAU - Among the items federal agents were searching for in Alaska legislative offices this week are hats or garments labeled “Corrupt Bastards Club” or “Corrupt Bastards Caucus,” according to the search warrant. That’s the nickname given to 11 lawmakers after a guest opinion piece published in March listed the contributions those legislators received from VECO Corp. executives, said House Speaker John Harris, R-Valdez. “I’ve heard it a few times,” Harris said Friday. “These legislators nicknamed themselves or somebody else did.” In the article, published last March in the state’s largest newspapers, All Alaska Alliance Executive Director Lori Backes questioned...

FORT HUACHUCA — This year’s gala fund-raiser dinner for the Mountain View Colored Officers’ Club Rehabilitation Project is expected to lead into a major effort to obtain donations to restore the World War II facility. Just recently, the association received an artist’s rendering of what the building looked like when it was constructed in 1952. The fort was the major Army post training colored soldiers, as black soldiers were called in that era, for combat during the war. Two divisions, the 92nd and 93rd trained on the post, with one being sent to fight in Europe and the other in...

(Wait a few seconds after you start and the fascianting Yung Joc rap will start playing. Just hit ENTER with yur cursor in the middle of the image. You get the whole thing. )

WASHINGTON, July 24, 2006 – A group of golf enthusiasts plans to donate golf clubs, balls, tees, mats and other golf equipment to servicemembers at Camp Taji, a military base in Iraq. U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Abdul Mercado inside his living quarters at Camp Taji, Iraq. Soon Mercado and others at his base will have golf equipment donated by Golfers 4 Freedom. Courtesy photo    U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Abdul Mercado, 36, of 4th Battalion, 42nd Field Artillery, has been playing for 13 years. For the past eight months he has been deployed to Camp Taji and hasn't been...

TAMPA - It may have been the least likely place for a man who doesn't believe in God to receive a standing ovation, but it happened Sunday morning when Joe Redner went to church. Bishop Randy White, senior pastor at Without Walls International Church, invited the strip club owner to join him in the pulpit and talk about his campaign for the Hillsborough County Commission District 5 seat. "All right, he's not running for pastor. My job's not up," White jokingly told parishioners while introducing Redner, as their continued applause prompted Redner to stand and nod his head in thanks.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, July 5, 2006) – Department of Defense ID cardholders are eligible for weekly condominium rentals at 3,500 resorts in 80 countries worldwide. Provided by Morale, Welfare and Recreation and sponsored by Resort Condominium International, the Armed Forces Vacation Club offers space-available condominiums for $299 a week. The program gives Soldiers and other DoD workers affordable accommodations in condominiums that would otherwise go empty, according to Verlin Abbott, RCI director of AFVC. While the program provides low-cost accommodations to vacation resorts across the globe, Abbott stressed that the condos are “space available” only. “Don’t expect to go...

FORT HUACHUCA — America’s history has been defined and shaped by what happened in the Old West. Part of that record was due to the achievement of black soldiers who help protect settlements in places such as Southern Arizona, Tom Stoney said Wednesday during the monthly luncheon hosted by the Greater Sierra Vista Area Chamber of Commerce’s Military Affairs Committee. And part of the story of the Buffalo Soldiers legacy needs to be saved, Stoney said to nearly 90 people. That can be done by ensuring the World War II black officers club on the post remains, he told nearly...

SIERRA VISTA — This is no ordinary green thumb project. The Sierra Vista Garden Club has an ambitious goal of transforming the Southern Arizona Veterans’ Cemetery with drought-tolerant plants and trees — not only to improve the look, but honor veterans. The club wants to keep the state-run 147-acre burial ground as a place of dignity and honor, said Terri Nuti, the cemetery administrator. “Everybody is very enthusiastic about this,” said Janet Brady, club president. “This has sort of become my baby.” Nuti said the cemetery is so grateful to the garden club, because it frees up the small staff...

On a recent Friday morning, a line of bathing-suit clad students stood beside a campus swimming pool, waiting to jump in. They had come to persuade the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill they were worthy of a college degree — which they were not, in UNC's eyes, until they could swim 50 yards and tread water for five minutes.For many, it was an annoying inconvenience, for others a moment of pride in conquering their fear of water. But the scene also was a small slice of collegiate history. This was the last swim test day at one of...

A Washington watchdog group has called on Congress and the IRS to investigate Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, for a laundry list of what it calls the lawmaker's ethics violations.Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington -- CREW -- on Thursday released a 13-count ethics complaint and a letter it sent to the Internal Revenue Service.Pombo called the charges a politically-motivated assault timed to appear just weeks before the June 6 primary election, where he has two opponents."I have never engaged in any illegal or unethical conduct whatsoever in my nearly 14-year career in the House, nor has any evidence been...

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2006 – The Blue Knights International Motorcycle Club is sponsoring a Purple Heart Ride April 23 to raise money for servicemembers and their families. Members of the Maryland IX Chapter of the Blue Knights will be riding to the National Naval Medical Center, in Bethesda, Md., near the nation's capital, to demonstrate their support for members of the armed forces who have valiantly served the country and have been wounded, according to an Armed Forces Foundation news release. Money from the ride will go to the Armed Forces Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving quality of...

Murtha tells City Club the war is lost Pa. congressman outlines failures Saturday, April 08, 2006 Donna J. Miller Plain Dealer Reporter U.S. Rep. John Murtha's booming Marine colonel's voice filled the tight spaces between Greater Clevelanders packed into the City Club Friday to hear him protest President Bush's war on Iraq. He repeated the message he began trumpeting in November: that American military efforts in Iraq are failing and will continue to fail, while costing taxpayers $450 billion by the year's end. The 37-year decorated Marine and 32-year congressman from Pennsylvania said: Iraqis with 80 percent of them wanting...

Canada's annual seal hunt, the focus of a major protest effort by animal activists, will start on Saturday and could last longer than usual because the ice floes on which the seals gather are in poor condition, officials said on Thursday. Canada says a total of 325,000 harp seal pups can be shot or clubbed to death this year. The first stage of the hunt, which takes place on ice in the Gulf of St. Lawrence on Canada's East Coast, will account for just over 90,000 animals. Activists, who say the killing is cruel and unnecessary, say they will film...

Dozens of donated plastic models are available for deployed service members to assemble in their free time. U.S. Army photo U.S. Soldier Starts Tikrit Chapter of Hobby Club The Tikrit chapter of the International Plastic Models Society has fifty members and that number is growing. By U.S. Army Spc. William Jones 133rd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment TIKRIT, Iraq, March 2, 2006 — Some U.S. soldiers assigned to the 101st Airborne Division are passing the time during their deployment by doing something they enjoyed doing as kids – building plastic models. “It is something that totally immerses you in to...

PINE VALLEY, Calif. ­­–– (Feb 23, 2006) -- Fifteen members of the Pendleton Sportsman Club had a free day of hunting here on behalf of the Green Head Hunting Club when it hosted a military appreciation on its property Feb. 11. The event that united the Marines and Sailors, who appreciate the trio of guns, barbecue and hunting, for a day of sportsman activities was a way the club could show their military support, explained club member Al Hoyo, 58, of San Clemente. The Vietnam War veteran, who served with the Army’s 25th Infantry Division, understands the importance of showing...

Designer Julien Macdonald and heiress Paris Hilton were pelted with flour by anti-fur protesters after his show at London Fashion Week. They were attacked by campaigners from PETA - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - after a catwalk show which featured a series of models dressed in fur. Macdonald was covered from head to toe in flour as he posed for pictures with Hilton, who escaped with a sprinkling on her shoulder. She had made a surprise appearance on the catwalk of Macdonald's show at Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden, wearing a number of his gowns. But when...

PHOENIX — The World War II-era black officers’ club on Fort Huachuca has been listed as one of 12 Arizona’s Most Endangered Historic Places by the Arizona State Preservation Foundation. The listing on Jan. 24 is seen as an additional positive step by the president of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers in the organization’s attempt to save Building 66050. “It (the listing) brings us more publicity and will help in fund-raising,” Tom Stoney Sr. said Monday. SWABS has also applied to the National Trust for placing the black officers’ club on its annual list of historic places in danger,...

56 schools now in $1 billion club The number of U.S. colleges with endowments topping $1 billion has jumped to 56, a new study says, with nine schools joining the elite club in what was an average year for university investments overall. Harvard remained the richest, with $25.5 billion, followed by Yale with $15.2 billion. For comparison, the University of Florida, the state's largest public institution, boasts an endowment of about $836 million. The wealthiest per student was Rockefeller University in New York, which has no undergraduates, followed by Olin College, a small engineering school in Massachusetts that opened in...

SIERRA VISTA — The path to saving the black officers club on Fort Huachuca is getting smoother, according to a man leading an effort to protect it. Harlan Bradford, chairman of the Southwest Association of Buffalo Soldiers’ project to save the World War II facility, also said his organization is hoping Building 66050 will be designated one of “America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places” by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He said the building being listed would be a great help in saving the facility. Last year, SWABS tried to have the building listed as one of “America’s 11...

U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy — who ripped Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito for ties to a group that discriminates against women — says he’s going to quit a club notorious for discriminating against women “as fast as I can.” Kennedy was outed by conservatives late last week as a current member of The Owl Club, a social club for Harvard alumni that bans women from membership. In an interview with WHDH Channel 7’s Andy Hiller that aired last night, Kennedy said, “I joined when I . . . 52 years ago, I was a member of the Owl Club,...

Via Drudge... A couple who forced a plane to land in Bermuda after they attacked cabin crew who stopped them having sex are facing a $34,000 bill for their pleasure. SNIP Bermuda Airport manager Jim Howes said: "It's always the joke among us pilots, and I am a pilot, about have you joined the mile high club?" When asked if he had Mr. Howes said: "I can't comment – and you can quote me on that." Although he did say that on that long haul flight the couple had probably joined the seven-mile high club.

Users of a city mosque are angry after an advert for a "gentlemen's club" went up opposite their prayer room. The picture of a scantily-clad woman has been plastered across a billboard in Conduit Street, Leicester, opposite the Central Mosque. Muslims who worship there said they found it offensive. Owners of the Aviary club said they had not received an official complaint but did not want to cause offence. Gul Mohammed, who works at the mosque, said: "It's not the kind of thing you want to see when you are doing your prayers. "Also, when people - men, women and...

CEO disputes $241K tab at topless club Attorney says charges were fraudulent NEW YORK (AP) -- American Express is suing the CEO of a communications company for payment of $241,000 worth of disputed credit card charges at a Manhattan topless club. American Express says in papers filed in state court that Savvis Inc. chief executive officer Robert A. McCormick was in the club Scores in October 2003 with at least three other men. After McCormick got the $241,000 corporate credit card bill, Savvis called American Express and complained that some of the charges were fraudulent, the lawsuit says. The communications...

I was recently inspired by an idea I saw on, of all things, The Simpsons. The plot started as Marge and her friends were gathered at their weekly investment club meeting. Helen Lovejoy was presenting to the club a chart of Dynaflux Unimatics's stock up seven and three quarters.

ALTOONA, Pa. (AP) — A man was charged with shooting and killing the owner, a bouncer and a patron of an after-hours club where he was denied admission early Sunday. Miguel Padilla was being held without bond in the Blair County Jail after his arraignment on three counts of criminal homicide in the shootings at the United Veterans Association Club, authorities said. All three men were pronounced dead at the scene and Padilla, described by police as an illegal immigrant, was arrested there shortly after the shooting, police said.

LITTLE FALLS — A Morrison AP) Little Falls, Minn. A judge in Morrison County has ordered a strip club, adult book and video store near Swanville, Minn. to close, citing the county's revised zoning ordinances. The ordinances restrict where adult-oriented businesses can locate and create a fee scale and licensing requirement. The ruling by Judge Thomas Godzala closes Lookin' Fine Smut and Porno, located at Minnesota Highways 27 and 28 near Swanville. Gordy Wheeler opened the business in October 2003. It is located about 930 feet from a tavern. The county's revised zoning ordinances prohibit any adult uses within 1,320...

You’ve probably never heard of The Doe Run Company of St. Louis or its subsidiary’s copper and lead smelting operation in the small mountain village of La Oroya, Peru, about 112 miles from Lima, but not long ago, the village had a distinguished visitor, Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies. The day he arrived, La Oroya’s mayor was leading thousands of marchers. Were they protesting Doe Run Peru? No. They were demonstrating against anti-mining activists, like Oxfam and groups tied to Christian Aid, the Sierra Club, EarthJustice and Friends of the Earth...

Montgomery County Public Schools yesterday halted a new sex-ed curriculum that was to have begun today, after a federal judge ruled in favor of a lawsuit that charged the course is unconstitutional and promotes homosexuality. U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. had granted a 10-day temporary restraining order yesterday to halt the teaching of the new course. "I have directed the office of the deputy superintendent of schools to review and evaluate the materials referenced in the judge's order," Superintendent Jerry D. Weast said, "...before any decisions are made about any future pilot testing of the revised curriculum in our...

FORT HUACHUCA - The World War II black officers club on this Arizona Army post is falling apart. Windows have been boarded up. In a couple of places, beams of light shine in through deteriorating roofs to break the darkness inside. Looking from in and out of the building, retired Army Dr. (Col.) Clotilde D. Bowen sees a patient that can be helped. She is a psychiatrist, used to working through the deep, troubling recesses of people's troubled minds. She knows what once was bright can be made whole again. Bowen only recently heard about the plight of the building....

When he was named president of the Club for Growth (clubforgrowth.org) last year, Pat Toomey didn't need anyone to tell him how important it was having the Republican lobbying group on his side in a tight political race. When the former Lehigh Valley congressman almost unseated Arlen Specter in the Senate primary last spring, the club — which specializes in helping candidates who favor small government, free markets and low taxes — contributed nearly $1 million to his campaign. I asked Toomey about his new job and his future political plans, when I called him at his offices in Washington:...

A strip club in the United States that attempted to get around a ban on full nudity by giving patrons sketch pads for special "art nights" was cited for violating the city's nudity rules, officials said. The citation was issued on Monday night to the Erotic City Gentleman's Club in Boise in Idaho. Boise allows full nudity for "serious artistic" expression only, so the club handed out pencils and sketch pads to patrons so they could sketch naked women. However, a police spokeswoman said officials concluded that patrons were not focused on art, so officers cited three dancers for violations...

IT seemed like an ordinary evening at Crobar, the trendy Manhattan nightclub. Two weeks ago, as Counting Crows performed on stage, young women dressed in expensive jeans pushed toward the front with their khaki-clad, mostly older boyfriends. Few, however, were regulars. On this night, the very rich and the merely rich intermingled on the club's two floors - V.I.P.'s upstairs ($1,000 a ticket) and the rest down below ($250). Most of the 1,250 people gathered for the event, the Robin Hood Foundation charity ball, were part of the city's unlikely new "it" crowd. Richer than Wall Street rich and more...

Abbas poses pragmatic for the Western press, while the PA Media Portray Feb. 25's Suicide Bomber of a Tel Aviv Night Club as a Hero fighting for Allah. While PA leader Mahmoud Abbas issues tersely worded condemnations of the February 25th suicide bombing of a Tel Aviv night club, the PA news media has been glorifying the memory of the bomber, Abdalla Badran, calling him a “shahid”, a martyr, a person who died for the highest ideals of Islam. Taking a page right out of Arafat’s book, Abbas has been projecting a moderate, pragmatic image abroad while the PA's state-controlled...

Hello, once again. Welcome to the weekly Free Republic Book Club thread. The winner of the poll and the topic for this week is historical novels. For those of you that want to get a jump on next week, the runner up in the last week's poll was mysteries, so grab one off the shelf and get busy reading, so you'll have something for next week. 8-)

Welcome to the Free Republic Book Club This is the place to discuss any book under the sun. First of all, my apologies for not getting to this thread until Saturday evening. Second, as has been suggested by several people on the previous threads, we're only going to make one thread per week, starting on Saturdays. We'll see how that works out. Third, let's try to pick a topic for the week. Granted, "off-topic" posts are to be expected (and practically mandatory, if reading other threads is any indication). Fourth, I pulled a lot of names from the previous...

Welcome to the Free Republic Book Club. Last time I checked there were over 70 posts on our first thread by 40+ posters. Not bad at all. Let's call our second meeting to order. I'd love to give you a topic, but I have to go dig up the car and take the kids bowling. So talk amongst yourselves. The results of yesterday's "survey" are below.

Welcome to the Free Republic Book Club. It was suggested a couple of days ago, in the FReeper's Book Rockets Up Amazon After Ingraham Show! thread (somewhere toward the end) that it would be great if there FR Book Club. Somehow, I think I got nominated to start one. I don't really know how to do that other than just to go ahead and do it. So I am -- please, feel free to point out mistakes, or point out how to make a "ping" list for folks that want to be a part of this. Anyway, if there are...

BOISE, Idaho - A city ordinance bans complete nudity at all gentleman's clubs, but one has challenged that ordinance by distributing pencils and sketch pads to patrons during "art night." The ordinance does give nudity exclusions for artistic displays which include dance, ballet and dramatic performances, so every Monday and Tuesday, the club encourages customers to sketch the models as they perform nude routines. "As far as the Boise city code, it specifies it has to be a serious artistic manner and this is a serious artistic manner," said Chris Teague, Erotic City owner. The club has put on art...

School targets lesson 'biases': Principal says he wants balanced talk on the issues By Carolyn Kessel Stewart / Daily News Staff Thursday, February 17, 2005 HUDSON -- After a legal defense team took an interest in the new student Conservative Club's claims of censorship, Hudson High School is now investigating some teaching practices for potential biases and inconsistencies. However, the school will not budge on allowing students to advertise a controversial conservative Web site, said Principal John Stapelfeld. English and social studies teachers have been asked to make sure all sides of an issue are represented in materials and teaching,...

BRAINERD, Minn. -- Maybe it's all that fighting at the Legislature. A state senator said he used a wooden club to scare off two men who were trying to rob his liquor store here. Sen. Paul Koering said he was working around 8 p.m. Saturday when two men wearing hooded sweatshirts and scarves over their faces entered the store. When Koering asked the men what they wanted, they tapped the cash register with an aluminum baseball bat and said, ``This is what we'll have,'' the Republican from Fort Ripley recalled Monday. Koering said he grabbed the club left behind by...

Easley campaign returning money from topless club owner The Associated Press Published: Feb 3, 2005 Modified: Feb 3, 2005 2:40 PM CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Gov. Mike Easley's re-election campaign will return donations it received from a Charlotte-based operator of topless bars. Easley political adviser Mac McCorkle offered no reason for the refund to David "Slim" Baucom, who runs 17 topless clubs, including 12 in North Carolina. Easley, who won re-election in November, has returned contributions from other club owners in the past. Campaign finance reports at the State Board of Elections show Baucom gave $8,000 to Easley during the 2004...