http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/hobbies-chat/ en-us Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:10:05 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418081/posts OK, what’s this book about? It’s about what happened to the American government after "conservatives" gained control of Congress in the 1990s and the White House in 2000. It’s about the disastrous decisions that government made, which have created the enormous problems we face now. It’s about the corruption that rotted the Congress. It’s about how traditional conservatism has nearly been destroyed by authoritarianism. It’s about how the “Religious Right” teamed up with amoral authoritarian leaders to push its un-democratic agenda onto the country. University of Manitoba http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2418081/posts#comment Thu, 31 Dec 2009 02:10:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417987/posts An Orangeburg grandmother recently got in touch with her daredevil side quicker than she could say "Geronimo." Although the decision to participate in her first skydive Nov. 7 was made on the spur of the moment, the notion had been planted years ago. Rita Fleming is no couch potato. She swims and has recently taken up golf again. But her husband thought she was crazy to take the plunge -- literally. "After the jump, my husband said he was thinking I would just go splat," Fleming said, laughing. "But he is used my going off and doing things. I'm ready... thetandd http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417987/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:39:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417866/posts LAGUNA WOODS-City Manager Leslie Keane offered an apology to the organizer of a 9/11 memorial motorcycle ride after more than 60 riders and supporters showed up to a City Council Meeting on Oct. 22. Some council members, including Mayor Bob Ring, said the city manager overreacted in her comments regarding one of the participants holding traffic at a red light for more than 100 riders at the intersection of El Toro Road and Moulton Parkway on Sept. 11. Keane and other council members also said the event can ride through the city next year provided it is done safely. Article... OC Register http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417866/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 20:32:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416729/posts Artist Peter Callesen proves he is a cut above the rest with these dainty models made using glue, a scalpel - and just one sheet of A4 paper. Peter, 41, cuts intricate patterns from a white sheet of paper and uses the cutout to fold breathtaking designs such as skeletons, insects and buildings. The precision work transforms a piece of paper worth only a few pence into a piece of art that sells for £2,800. Each model takes up to two weeks to sketch, cut and fold. If Peter makes a wrong cut or realises he is unable to achieve... DailyMailUK http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2416729/posts#comment Tue, 29 Dec 2009 03:49:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415841/posts With a bend of the knees and an arch of the back, a Japanese engineer today set a world flight record for a paper plane, keeping his hand-folded construction in the air for 26.1 seconds. Using a plane specially designed for "long haul" flights, Takuo Toda narrowly failed to match his lifetime best of 27.9 seconds, a Guinness world record set in Hiroshima earlier, but achieved with a plane that was held together with cellophane tape. Today's flight, inside a Japan Airlines hangar near Haneda airport in Tokyo, was the longest by an unadulterated model. "I felt a lot of... guardian http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415841/posts#comment Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:05:11 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415390/posts Chris Hunt eats Monster Munch snacks for breakfast, lunch and dinner and is so obsessed with them he changed his name by deed poll to Mr Monster Munch. But he’s not as mad as you think – he does at least eat a different flavour for each meal. He munches on pickled onion Monster Munch to kick-start the day, has a roast beef Monster Munch sarnie for lunch and the flamin’ hot variety of the corn snack for his evening meal. The zany name-change was the result of a dare by his friends. Needless to say, they were somewhat taken... Metro http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415390/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 18:31:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415368/posts I will soon purchase a rife. Purpose: Protection in the very unlikely event of civil unrest. I am a woman in my early sixties who is fit and healthy but I do not have a lot of upper body strength. Before purchasing a rife, I would appreciate any comments Freepers might have regarding the suitability of the rife I have chosen in regards to the purpose and my physical strength. At the moment I am considering buying a DPMS Panther 5.56 NATO Sportical AR 15. This rife seemed to be the easiest for me to handle. By the way, I... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415368/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 17:43:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415205/posts OK, I know this thread is a bit late, as Christmas is almost over. But, I thought I would start a thread to gather FReeper recipes for some great food recipes. I'll go first. My grandma used to make this, and it is 100% awesome: Grandma Goering's Potato Casserole 1 Large bag frozen hash browns 1 can cream of mushroom soup 1 can cream of celery soup 1 chopped onion 1 small carton of sour cream garlic salt & pepper to taste Mix altogether; put into a (greased with butter) 9X13 pan. Sprinkle with Paprika and Parsley. Place small pieces... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2415205/posts#comment Sat, 26 Dec 2009 05:42:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414814/posts Hot girls with guns need i say more.. Merry Christmas everyone. shareordie http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414814/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:46:37 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414799/posts This was a hard piece to write, because guns by definition are manly, except for Berettas, gold-plated TEC9s, .25 caliber pistols or anything made by the French. To simplify things, I have limited it to modern cartridge firearms a man might, can, and should collect and shoot. There are certainly other manly weapons, and you may have a different list. As long as the list contains nothing French, gold-plated, .25 or with pearl grips (which Patton correctly observed are the mark of a New Orleans pimp), it is a good list. Arthur's Hall of Viking Manliness http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414799/posts#comment Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:56:55 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414556/posts Facebook, the popular networking site, has 350 million members worldwide who, collectively, spend 10 billion minutes there every day, checking in with friends, writing on people’s electronic walls, clicking through photos and generally keeping pace with the drift of their social world. Make that 9.9 billion and change. Recently, Halley Lamberson, 17, and Monica Reed, 16, juniors at San Francisco University High School, made a pact to help each other resist the lure of the login. Their status might as well now read, “I can’t be bothered.” “We decided we spent way too much time obsessing over Facebook and it... New York Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414556/posts#comment Thu, 24 Dec 2009 17:44:05 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414109/posts YouTube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414109/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:35:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414090/posts Guy has a pretty darn good collection and looks to be a good shot! You tube http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2414090/posts#comment Wed, 23 Dec 2009 23:14:40 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412963/posts If you have some thirst for creativity, why not try to grow something? Why not mushrooms? Why not at home? http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412963/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:18:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412700/posts Well, after spending most all of my adult life flying other peoples toys, I'm officially in the market to buy myself a plane. I have spent the better part of the past year narrowing my search for the perfect steed and have settled upon the Piper Malibu Series. This seems to have the best combo of speed, range, economy and cabin size for my personal travel needs. Plus I like the idea of the pressurized cabin over the supplemental oxygen system especially for passengers mostly the younger ones. I have found a sweet deal on one nicely appointed, modern avionics,... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2412700/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:59:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411244/posts Rock-music lore is rife with stories of bands sealing themselves up in an expensive commercial recording studio for days, weeks, or months, refusing to reenter civilian life until armed with a masterpiece destined to be heard for generations. Today, that scenario sounds more like an ancient fable. Major recording centers such as London; Los Angeles; New York; and Nashville, Tenn., are losing the studios that made them famous due to shrinking budgets at the big labels and the growing sophistication of home-
recording technology. Now musicians can plug directly into their laptops and record digitally with greater ease than ever. Software... Christian Science Monitor http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2411244/posts#comment Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:37:22 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410695/posts With all of the back and forth regarding Microsoft and their software and business practices, I thought I might try to inject some information that sheds a different take on them. By the end of 2010, Windows 7 related employment will account for more than 7 million jobs- or 19% of all IT employment- in the global IT industry and at user organizations. This is 1.2 million in hardware companies, nearly 280,000 in software companies, 1.5 million services and channel firms, and 4.2 million in IT using organizations For every dollar of Microsoft revenue from launch in October 2009... Microsft , Into Windows and IDC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410695/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 20:33:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410407/posts Good morning to all of you gardeners. There will not be a Weekly Gardening Thread Christmas Day or New Years Day so I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. I would also like to thank all of you who have stopped by and contributed to this thread during the year. I enjoyed posting the thread and think it was very successful. All of you who are in the path of this winter storm please keep warm and safe. It looks like a bad one. It passed through here overnight and this... Free Republic http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410407/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:20:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410117/posts Lo Wung, 42, taught the monkeys so they could entertain crowds outside a shopping centre in Nshi, in eastern China's Hubei province. But the money-spinning primates turned the tables on their trainer when he slipped during a show, with one quick-thinking monkey flooring him with a kick to the head. The Telegraph http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410117/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 03:04:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410057/posts RICHFIELD, Minn. -- When North Dakotan Dennis McCoy gets together with his uncle Wes in his retirement high rise in Richfield, they farm at the kitchen table. "That was our first rubber-tired tractor," says Wes to Dennis as they peer at a photo of a 1938 Allis Chalmers WC. It's moments like this that have led Dennis to one of the great passions in his life: locating and restoring tractors that match the makes and models his grandfather -- Wes' dad Ed McCoy -- used on their North Dakota farm from the 1920s through the 1950s. Already he's paid for... KARE11.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2410057/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:42:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409869/posts An infamous Atlanta hotel known for its campy lounge with baby boomer strip dancers has been shut down. The AJC was the first to report the Clermont Motor Hotel was ordered to close by Dec. 31 after a visit by Fulton County health inspectors uncovered a laundry list of violations, starting with, uh, the laundry. "There are several issues that would have to be addressed," "My friend says it's the only hotel in America that hookers can't get into,"Jeffress said Wednesday night as a group of women watched a lone stripper. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2409869/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:16:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408724/posts flight simulator-Just follow your cursor... http://electricoyster.com/esp3d/ electricoyster.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408724/posts#comment Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:20:24 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408268/posts Using a tweezers, the controls can be moved. All cables and linkages are in place to work the wing control surfaces as well. Young Park has since carved a pilot's face and hands from solid aluminum and built an articulated pilot to sit in the cockpit?Remember this as you look at the pics........... All the controls work as designed, by cables, chains, linkages and levers.Every single part hand made and fitted. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408268/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 23:05:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408026/posts The Army has begun fielding 500,000 of a projected 7 million new 5.56mm 30-round Improved Magazines for the service’s fleet of M16 and M4 weapons that PEO Soldier says will deliver “a significant increase in reliability for the battle-tested M16 and M4 weapons systems…the Improved Magazine effectively reduces the risk of magazine-related stoppages by more than 50 percent compared to the older magazine variants." LTC Chris Lehner, Product Manager Individual Weapons explains on the PEO Web site that the system has a heavier, more corrosion resistant spring, and “along with a new follower design that does not tilt inside the... Ares Blog http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2408026/posts#comment Tue, 15 Dec 2009 17:11:42 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406459/posts ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Classic pop rock band Chicago and Grammy-Award-winning songwriter Bill Champlin have parted ways after nearly three decades together. "Bill Champlin is no longer in Chicago. He was a long-time band member and we wish him all the best as he embarks on his new solo project, for which he's worked long and hard.," a statement from Chicago's management said Monday "After 28 years with Chicago, singer-songwriter-keyboardist Bill Champlin is parting ways with the classic jazz/rock band to focus once again on his solo career," Champlin's publicist Judi Kerr said of the split. CNN.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2406459/posts#comment Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:28:11 GMT