Free Republic

American nightclubs catering specifically for fat people are proving a hit with plus-sized partygoers looking for acceptance. Venues like Club Bounce and The Butterfly Lounge in California are aimed at people who may be made to feel unwelcome at certain fashionable nightspots because of their size. Such clubs are a relatively new development, with a handful scattered across California, mainly in coastal cities such as San Diego and San Francisco. Lisa Marie Garbo, who opened Club Bounce five years ago, said she did it for herself and others who were tired of being "the only fat girl at the local...

Their solution: Fight explicit teen dancing with an equal dose of explicitness. Downey and Aliso Niguel are among the first schools to draft "dance contracts," binding agreements that parents and students must sign before a teenager can step onto the dance floor. Administrators say the graphic descriptions in the contracts leave little room for arguments over interpretation and put everyone on notice about appropriate behavior. The Downey contract, for example, specifies "no touching breasts, buttocks or genitals. No straddling each others' legs. Both feet on the floor." Students get two warnings about sexually suggestive behavior before being booted without a...

Barack Obama takes home first place in "Dancing with the Stars". He and his partner, Ellen Degeneres won standing ovations from the crowd, and the judges gave them the highest points ever awarded.

Former House majority leader Tom Delay, who last night dropped out of ABC's "Dancing With The Stars," has once again expressed skepticism that President Obama is a citizen of the United States. That aligns DeLay, a Republican once known as "The Hammer," with the so-called "birther" movement. The birthers' claims have repeatedly been shown to be illegitimate. Newsweek noted in an interview with DeLay that he "got into some trouble for saying on TV that you weren't sure President Obama was born in the United States." "What I said was, to answer a question from Chris Matthews, I said:...

Gasp -- another double elimination! This was the second time that Season 9 ended with not one, but two couples who had their run for the coveted Mirrorball trophy cut short. Maybe it was because she never made all her steps ignite, or maybe it was because the two different pronunciations of her name confused viewers and split her votes, but actress Debi Mazar just couldn’t muster up enough fan support to make it past the third week. And after several news reports that he was dropping out, Tom DeLay, who performed his samba with stress fractures, announced that he...

Tom DeLay is gearing up to quit ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” as a result of stress fractures in both of his feet, according to a report from People magazine. The former Republican House Majority Leader will withdraw on tonight’s live results show, according to People. He was advised by his doctors not to perform with partner Cheryl Burke on Monday’s show, but did so anyway. During the broadcast, he told fans and judges, “What’s a little pain when we can party.” While the judges praised him for his effort, he did not score well and finished second to last....

THERE are many graceful touches in Mao's Last Dancer, Bruce Beresford's stirring, uplifting adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Li Cunxin, the Chinese ballet star who defected to the West in 1981 while on a fellowship with the Houston Ballet. Snip There's little grace, though, in Beresford's highly efficient if workman-like direction. With so much ground to cover and so many characters to keep track of, Beresford diligently churns through Cunxin's story in a frill-free, matter-of-fact manner. This certainly gives the film great drive, if little rhythm or any real sense of style.

Ok, he's on Dancing with the Stars...is this an attempt to show his softer side to appeal to more?

The cha-cha-cha is just three small steps in a Latin dance but last night it was one giant step for Tom DeLay. The former House Majority Leader stole the show on “Dancing With the Stars,” the popular cringe-fest D-list celebrity reclamation project on ABC. Touted as the program’s “highest-ranking star,” DeLay partnered with ballroom pro (and two-time winner) Cheryl Burke for a booty-shaking, lip-syncing, winking number set to the tune of “Wild Thing.” And if you wanna know for sure: The whitest man in America can dance. In a mud-brown vest trimmed with sequins and matching sansabelt trousers straight out...

I turn on Dancing with the Stars, and who do I see? Tom Delay! There is also Mark Dacascos the Chairman of Iron Chef America of whom I’m a big fan, so it’s going to be tough “taking sides”. What a surprise! Now let’s see Tom Delay dance! My daughter is in martial arts, so I’m sort wanna’ go with Dacascos, and the added factor that I love Iron Chef America and I love Japanese culture (of course I don’t think Mark is Japanese? Not sure) … You know, I got to give it to Tom DeLay. Gosh, he must...

Wow... He's dancing with Cheryl... She's my favorite! Lucky stiff.

Good God, now I've seen everything. The "Hammer", Tom Delay is a contestant on "Dancing with the Stars"....

No one would have guessed that Tom DeLay's next career move would involve dancing, so the announcement that the former House Majority Leader would be a contestant on the upcoming season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" raised the eyebrows of politicos everywhere. The network has now released some promo photos of DeLay with his dancing partner, Cheryl Burke. DeLay appears to enjoying his new role, sporting sweat pants and a shirt from his organization Rio Bend, which works to improve the nation's foster care system. His own slimmer waistline can be attributed to the personal trainer he's been using...

Chuck Liddell, who is often credited (with fellow UFC fighter, Randy Couture) for bringing mixed martial arts into the mainstream, will be making a mainstream appearance of a different kind, on the upcoming ninth season of Dancing with the Stars. Liddell has an extensive background in Kempo and Koei-Kan Karate and is considered mostly a ‘stand up’ fighter (as opposed to a ‘ground’ fighter). It will no doubt be very interesting to see if a karate and kickboxing background translate into dance.

CAPE TOWN (AFP) – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called on Saturday for a broad alliance with South Africa as she basked in a warm welcome from everyone from President Jacob Zuma down to street children as she visited Africa's wealthiest nation. A visibly upbeat Clinton shook her hips to the sounds of a street brass choir in the slums of Cape Town, where she was swarmed by women and children at a housing project she had visited more than a decade ago as first lady. Clinton is emphasising public diplomacy during her 11-day, seven-nation tour of Africa, hoping...

Rosalie James' dance partner has two left feet - or make that paws. And two right ones. James and her 7-year-old Australian Labradoodle Rocky are champion canine freestylers. She also helped to organize the Rio Grande Canine Freestylers, an Albuquerque, N.M., group of doggie dancers. James says your pooch doesn't have to be a wall flower. She says just about any dog can learn to dance. All it takes is practice and patience. She tells the Albuquerque Journal the most important thing about dancing with dogs is to have fun.

Scientists discovered that being able to pull off dance floor moves with the ease of John Travolta indicates strength and ability to produce healthy offspring Researchers found that the men who women said looked attractive on the dance floor are actually physically stronger than those who are considered to have two left feet. This in turn indicates an ability to have strong children. Researchers recorded video clips of 40 heterosexual male students dancing to the drum track of the Robbie Williams song Let Me Entertain You. They found those whose moves were rated attractive and assertive by members of the...

The greatest single piece of dance music ever written is The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss. It appears at a critical point in three movies, all favorites of mine. In each case it demonstrates the emotional power of the right music at the right time in the plot. The first movie is an obvious use. Yul Brynner dances with Ingrid Bergman toward the end of Anastasia to this waltz. This occurs at the point where he begins to see that the woman he was grooming to pretend to be the surviving Anastasia, might actually be that surviving member of the...

Put this in the "Wait, really?" category: Steve Wozniak, the computer programmer who co-founded Apple Inc., Monday was named a contestant on the upcoming season of "Dancing With the Stars." The man known as The Woz created the original circuit board used for the Apple computer and teamed up with Steve Jobs in 1976 to sell it. He quit working full-time at Apple two decades ago and, after years working on various projects, reemerged last week as chief scientist at FusionIO, a data storage start-up. Not only must his computer chops be pretty sharp still, but he must feel good...

A north Austin neighborhood was in disbelief as a naked man ran the streets and jumped on cars Sunday morning. Officers with the Austin Police Department were called to 8207 Sam Rayburn Drive at 9:46 a.m. on a complaint of a naked man destroying vehicles and jumping on cars. Police say when they arrived on scene the man was beating a car as he was standing on its roof. A spokesman with APD concerned for his safety says they believe the man was under the influence of PCP, “Our concern is always when they’re on that kind of drug, is...

No, you're mind isn't playing tricks on you. Forget "Dancing With the Stars" - the latest reality-show dance craze is "Dancing With Dogs," which airs Saturday at 9 p.m. on Animal Planet. The two-hour special takes a fly-on-the-wall look at 28 very different dog-and-handler teams as they compete in the World Canine Freestyle Organization's (WCFO) dance championship in Rhode Island. "People are dancing all over the world with their dogs," exclaims Patie Ventre, the Brooklyn-based founder of the WCFO and grande dame of the show. "We had competitors from the U.S., Australia, South Africa, England, Germany and Finland." Ventre creates...

Students said they won't attend the next school dance if a high school principal's plan to crack down on dirty dancing at school functions is enforced. Not only has Prairie High School Principal Jason Perrins canceled a winter dance, but he wants students to sign a contract and take a training class before they can go to future dances. But his plan is not sitting well with many students. Perrins said dirty dancing at school dances has been a problem for a few years now and the students have been warned, but he said at homecoming a few weeks ago...

A group of supporters has started a petition to get pole dancing into the Olympic games.

Colin Powell, the former US Secretary of State, performed an impromptu hip hop dance routine in front of a delighted crowd at a concert in aid of Africa. The audience cheered as Mr Powell clambered on stage at the Royal Albert Hall in London to join Nigerian musician Olu Maintain. Still dressed in a buttoned up suit, he seemed at ease as he treated the crowds to moves from the popular African dance Yahoozee. He even took the microphone and belted out a few lyrics. Mr Powell was a guest at Africa Rising, a festival to highlight the talents and...

Please Please forgive me if this has been posted already, I could not find it. Michelle and Barak dancing side split screen on Ellen Degenerate...what a couple of dorks.

Check this out... it's really funny.

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A group of children rocking out to kiddie tracks at a kindergarten disco party were told to turn down the tunes or face a shut down of their party by noise control officials who raided the soiree.

The strange story of what happened to dancing NOT LONG AGO, on a warm Thursday evening, scores of people were crowded onto one of those party boats that stays docked at a waterfront pier. And from a remarkable distance, you could feel the thump of music. Eventually, Justin Timberlake's irresistible rump-shaker "Sexy Back" came on, and while the song twittered and thwapped, an amazing thing happened: Nobody moved. A waiter, who could also feel the music, looked over at the docked people and shook his head. "It's a [darn] shame, that music going to waste like that." If it was...

14 months in the making, 42 countries, and a cast of thousands. Thanks to everyone who danced with me. Make sure to click "watch in high quality" right underneath the video.

France brings line dancing craze under state control They turn out in their hundreds in Stetsons and boots as hits such as the Crazy Foot Mambo and the Cowboy Strut echo around their village halls. They are drawn by a love of American culture - although definitely not American politics - and a passion for line dancing, which enables them to swing but avoid all human contact. Now country and western has become so big in France that the country's bureaucrats have decided to bring the craze under state control. The French administration has moved to create an official country...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: That is one hot dancer, and I ain’t talkin’ about the 50+ year old Olivia Newton John wanna be in this video, but I don’t see what all the excitement is about. C’mon I dance with my mother too. Admittedly she only knows how to do the Chicken Dance but we nail the routine every time.......http://boknowsonline.com/2008/01/11/this-is-not-what-i-want/

Saturday, May 24, 2008. Link above to WAPA-TV Noticias, San Juan, Puerto Rico.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Afghanistan's lower house of Parliament passed a resolution Monday seeking to bar television programs from showing dancing and other practices deemed un-Islamic. The decision came just days after the private Tolo TV channel aired a dance number featuring men and women together on an Afghan film awards program. The Information and Culture Ministry condemned the scene, saying "dancing by men and women together was completely against the culture of the Afghan, Muslim society." The parliamentary resolution, drafted by a commission for cultural and religious affairs, said dancers should not be shown on television, and un-Islamic scenes should...

A North Texas school district is ramping up the fight against what they say is “dirty dancing” going on between students at school events. Administrators in Argyle asked parents to meet Sunday night to discuss the way students were dancing together at a recent school event. The superintendent showed parents a YouTube video of teens doing the same kind of dancing he says happened repeatedly at a school dance earlier in the month. “I’m not being old fashioned,” Argyle School Superintendant Jason Cevanes said. “These students are simulating sex to the point that in some cases it constitutes sexual assault.”...

Link Only. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070830/NEWS01/70830054

Dance stars of the future should take note that roboticists are making great strides in making them redundant. The robot copies the moves of a human dance teacher Japanese researchers have created a dancing robot capable of imitating a routine at a moment’s notice, with no need for time-consuming and costly rehearsals. Shin’ichiro Nakaoka and colleagues at the University of Tokyo have overcome difficulties with programming robots to carry out complex leg movements without their losing stability. They used software allowing their robot HRP-2 to copy the moves of a human dance teacher through video motion capture technology. HRP-2 then...

So You Think You Can Dance: Season 3 - Live Thread Cat Deeley Host Nigel Lythgoe Judge Mary Murphy Judge Dan Karaty Choreographer Judge Mia Michaels Choreographer Judge Shane Sparks Choreographer Judge

If you like horses, you will love this Youtube clip, you'll even forget it's a horse! Even if you don't, this is amazing stuff.

Heather Mills’ thus-far successful stint on ABC’s “Dancing with Stars” has convinced one former Heather-hater that “America should apologize” for making Paul McCartney’s estranged wife the villain in their bitter divorce battle. “I’m ashamed that I had a judgment against her based on everything that you read in the newspapers,” a caller identified as “Pat” told Ryan Seacrest who had the ex-Mrs. Beatle on his West Coast radio show yesterday. The caller continued to say he’d “love to apologize to her” for how the former model and animal activist “was wrongfully treated,” moving Mills to tears, People maggie reported.

This freshly in. We've got pics of ALL the contenders in this year's "Dancing With the Stars", including a female boxer, a 6'7" former basketball player and a legless Paul McCartney ex-Heather Mills. Also, Guest Writer Michelle works over her issues with God's sense of humor.

....Siloam Springs, Ark., is a town with about 60 churches for fewer than 14,000 people. It is not officially Christian, of course, but the sign at the city limits on Route 412 says, “welcome to siloam springs, where jesus is lord.” It’s a town with Free Baptists, Free Evangelicals, Southern Baptists, Disciples of Christ, Assemblies of God, Reformed Christians, Nazarene Christians, Presbyterians, Methodists, Holiness Methodists and a couple dozen independent Bible churches so committed to Scripture alone that choosing a denomination is close to idolatry. Over the Oklahoma border, there’s an Indian casino filled with one-armed bandits, and 30 miles...

It’s hard to write this without sounding like a prig. But it’s just as hard to erase the images that planted the idea for this essay, so here goes. The scene is a middle school auditorium, where girls in teams of three or four are bopping to pop songs at a student talent show. Not bopping, actually, but doing elaborately choreographed re-creations of music videos, in tiny skirts or tight shorts, with bare bellies, rouged cheeks and glittery eyes. They writhe and strut, shake their bottoms, splay their legs, thrust their chests out and in and out again. Some straddle...

Tesco condemned over pole dancing game marketed as toy by COLIN FERNANDEZ Last updated at 00:02am on 24th October 2006 Reader comments (0) Mother of two Karen Gallimore was searching for Christmas gifts for her two daughters, Laura 10, and Sarah, 11, when she came across the 'toy' HeadlinesMen who use mobile phones face increased risk of infertility Women entrepreneurs set to overtake men by 2010 Huge queues as 'faulty' cash machine gives out double money Crazy weather sees banana and olive crops in England Elderly patient drags herself upstairs after 999 services ban heavy lifting Faith schools face orders...

By Seema Mehta, Times Staff Writer October 17, 2006 A teenage boy dances behind his winter-formal date, hands on her hips, thrusting his pelvis against her while she hitches up her satiny gown and bends at the waist. Another couple dance facing each other, their bodies enmeshed and their hips gyrating in a frenzy. A boy approaches a third couple, nearly sandwiching the girl between himself and her partner. Teenagers call it "freaking," a style of dance made popular on MTV. Educators call it "simulated sex" that has no place at school dances. This clash between outraged adults and sexualized...

The grainy high school dance video is lurid. A teenage boy dances behind his winter-formal date, hands on her hips, thrusting his pelvis against her while she hitches up her satiny gown and bends at the waist. Another couple dance facing each other, their bodies enmeshed and their hips gyrating in a frenzy. A boy approaches a third couple, nearly sandwiching the girl between himself and her partner. ADVERTISEMENT Teenagers call it "freaking," a style of dance made popular on MTV. Educators call it "simulated sex" that has no place at school dances. This clash between outraged adults and sexualized...

LOS ANGELES - Country singer Sara Evans on Thursday announced she was filing for divorce and quitting the “Dancing With the Stars” television competition. Evans filed for divorce from Craig Schelske in Williamson County, Tenn., where she lives, according to a statement issued by Allen Brown, her representative at Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Vote for Tucker Carlson on Dancing with the Stars tonight, 1 800 vote-4-03 / 1 800 868-3403 If you love Tucker on MSNBC - libertarian spokesman for America - then keep him on the show another week. He was bad, but he deserves to have fun for another week! And it makes the show fun for us. He is family, for all us libertarians!

Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader who was forced to resign earlier this year, has decided to pitch in his two cents about one of America's tightest races. No, not a political race. We're talking about the new season of "Dancing With the Stars." DeLay, a former Republican congressman from Texas, sent out a letter to his supporters urging them to watch -- and vote for -- country singer Sara Evans in the third season of the popular ABC show. "Sara Evans has been a strong supporter of the Republican Party and represents good American values in the media,"...

CAMP ISKANDARIYAH, Iraq – The lucky soldiers live in air-conditioned "cans" surrounded by concrete blast walls. The less fortunate get hot, moldy tents. They drink rivers of Red Bull and Mountain Dew. On Sunday nights they might eat steak and crab legs. For entertainment, they can buy bootleg DVDs of The Dukes of Hazzard for only $3. Inside the gate, absent the occasional mortar attack, soldiers are relatively safe. But they never go "outside the wire" unless fully armed. Such is life in the American military's forward operating bases, which represent a new approach to war.

Famed slugger Barry Bonds this morning stunned his teamates and the assembled media, when, at a hastily called press conference, he announced that effective immediately, he was retiring from baseball to devote all his energies and talent to training full time for "Dancing With the Stars 3."