Free Republic

LOS ANGELES—A couple who said they were assaulted by Gene Simmons sued the KISS bassist for unspecified damages Thursday, court records show. Nathan Marlowe and his wife Cynthia Manzo said Simmons attacked them, threatened them and took their video camera at the upscale The Grove mall on Saturday after they started filming the rocker.

The health care bill recently unveiled by Speaker Nancy Pelosi is over 1,900 pages for a reason. It is much easier to dispense goodies to favored interest groups if they are surrounded by a lot of legislative legalese. For example, check out this juicy morsel to the trial lawyers (page 1431-1433 of the bill): Section 2531, entitled “Medical Liability Alternatives,” establishes an incentive program for states to adopt and implement alternatives to medical liability litigation. [But]…… a state is not eligible for the incentive payments if that state puts a law on the books that limits attorneys’ fees or imposes...

DETROIT (Billboard) - KISS, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Genesis, the Hollies, LL Cool J and Jimmy Cliff are first-time contenders for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, organizers said Wednesday. They join returning candidates ABBA, the Chantels, Darlene Love, Laura Nyro, the Stooges and Donna Summer. Five of the 12 nominees will be chosen for induction from ballots cast by more than 500 music industry voters. An announcement of the inductees is expected in January, and the Hall's 25th annual induction ceremony will take place March 15 at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City....

SARASOTA - The city that guards its bayfront against ugly bridges and homeless boaters made way for a gigantic smooching sailor on Tuesday night. Related Links: Sarasota resident Jack Curran, center, salutes those who give him a round of applause at a public hearing on whether to accept his donation to keep the "Unconditional Surrender" statue. STAFF PHOTO / E. SKYLAR LITHERLAND After a spicy two-hour public hearing, commissioners voted 3-2 to accept a World War II veteran's donation of the 26-foot-tall "Unconditional Surrender" statue. Much of the controversy was over one of the strings that the donor, Sarasota resident...

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's supreme leader bestowed his formal endorsement on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's second term as president on Monday but withheld a powerful symbolic gesture — the kisses and close embrace that portrayed their bond four years ago. The awkward and halting moment came when Ahmadinejad leaned forward to kiss Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

STANDISH, Maine -- Justin Denney's family watched as he ascended the Cumberland County Civic Center stage during graduation Friday night to accept his diploma, but the superintendent told him to return to his seat. The Bonny Eagle High School senior's mother said she can't believe her son's taking a bow and blowing a kiss on stage led was grounds for the superintendent to withhold his diploma. Mary Denney wants an apology, and her son wants his diploma, reported WMTW-TV in Portland, Maine. "I'm like, 'Did she not hand him his diploma?' I'm like, 'What's going on?'" Mary Denney said.

On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.

For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems. On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator,...

Justin Denney's family watched on as he ascended the Cumberland County Civic Center stage during graduation Friday night to accept his diploma, but the superintendent told him to return to his seat Mary Denney said she can't believe how her son's taking a bow and blowing a kiss on stage was grounds for the superintendent to withhold his diploma. "I'm like, 'Did she not hand him his diploma?' I'm like, 'What's going on?'" Mary Denney said. She said she and Justin both signed a code of conduct regarding the graduation when she picked up graduation tickets on Friday, she doesn't...

Are you ready to Rock and Roll All Night and Party Every Day? While even if you are, chances are Kiss isn’t; not without a vitamin B shot and some red bull mixed in with their prune juice. Of course this isn’t stopping them from bringing their massive stage show, big hair, and pyrotechnics to Caesars Windsor. While there may be some pesky laws in the United States about blowing up septuagenarians, it appears Canada is fairly tolerant to the idea of mixing a mid-life crisis with military grade munitions. So Windsor, lock up your grandmothers, KISS is coming to...

This will come as no news to most younger evangelicals, but The Tennessean [Nashville] has just taken notice of the fact that a sizable number of younger evangelical couples are saving their first kiss for their wedding ceremony. As the paper reports, "In a culture where casual sex is the norm, some Tennesseans have taken the purity pledge to a whole new level, through a practice that some teens refer to as the 'Virgin Lips Movement.'" Reporter Claudia Pinto began her article with the fact that Katy Kruger, who was married on December 13 of last year, experienced her first...

Jeddah // Saudi Arabia’s religious police have been forced to issue a rare apology after a member of one of the country’s most influential tribes said he was beaten by police for allegedly kissing his wife in public. Mohammed al Qahtani, of the Qahtan tribe – the largest in Saudi Arabia – had threatened to present his case to King Abdullah after the police spokesman issued a statement eight days ago accusing Mr al Qahtani of lying about the incident. Damaging the reputation of a tribal member in Saudi is considered an insult to the entire tribe, and releasing personal...

A French student who gave a kiss to Barack Obama when he greeted an enraptured crowd Friday said the initially reluctant U.S. president had to be encouraged to accept the gesture by his host Nicolas Sarkozy. Cecilia Dervogne, a student at the University of Strasbourg, was among a noisy crowd of well-wishers who greeted Obama and his wife Michelle when they arrived in the eastern French city for a summit of NATO leaders. As they approached the crowd to shake hands, Dervogne called out and asked for a kiss, but Obama had to be encouraged by the French President before...

LONDON: An 11-day-old baby girl died after her mother unwittingly infected her with the virus which causes cold sores, probably through a kiss or breastfeeding, a coroner ruled. An inquest on Thursday found newborn Jennifer Schofield died from Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV). Her mother Ruth, 35, probably caught it late into her pregnancy, the coroner said, most likely for the first time in her life, meaning she had not developed immunity and nor had her child. The virus attacked the baby’s major organs and she died within days. Schofield fell ill with flu-like symptoms a few days before giving birth,...

They've sold millions of records, and influenced several generations of fans and musicians. So why isn't Kiss in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? That's what Gene Simmons would like to know.

NEW YORK - A 90-year-old who says she's the woman being kissed by a sailor in Times Square in one of World War II's most famous photographs reunited in town with the Navy on Sunday — days before she is to serve as grand marshal of the city's Veterans Day parade. Edith Shain of Los Angeles, donning a white nurse's uniform like the one she wore back in 1945, went to see the musical revival of "South Pacific" and posed for pictures, being hoisted off her feet on stage by five of the actors in their Navy whites.

Her image of being bent backward and receiving a passionate kiss from a sailor in Times Square, New York on Aug. 15, 1945 after the surrender of Japan, formally ending World War II, has become one of the most iconic pictures of the 20th Century. Now, 90-years-old Edith Shain of Los Angeles, who claims to be the young woman kissed by the sailor and captured in photo by Life magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, will be honored by the Navy on Veterans Day on Tuesday.

When it comes to smooching, Kirk Cameron only has lips for his wife. The former star of the TV sitcom "Growing Pains" refused to kiss the actress who played his wife in his new movie "Fireproof," he told the "Today" show on Monday.

Must See Video of Bill getting blown off by Hillary so she can kiss Obama at Memorial Service Bill Clinton Gets Dissed by Hillary and Kisses Obama Love Triangle? Watch what happens when Bill Clinton leans in to kiss Hillary Also at: http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/908567/

Link

The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Rice was in the Swedish capital Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out concert to play Friday. "I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with Kiss frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs and handed out backstage passes and T-shirts to her staff. "It was really fun to meet Kiss and Gene Simmons," she told reporters, noting that they seemed well-informed about...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - The Kiss Army fan club has an enthusiastic new recruit: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a departure from her normally staid diplomatic duties, Rice met the legendary glam rock quartet when they happened to share a hotel in the Swedish capital. Rice was in Stockholm on Thursday for an international conference on Iraq. Kiss had a sold-out gig to play on Friday. "I was thrilled," Rice said of her late-night encounter with frontman Gene Simmons and bandmates Paul Stanley, Eric Singer and Tommy Thayer in the executive lounge of the Sheraton Hotel where they signed autographs...

April 12, 2008 Warwick--Funnel cake, barbeque and lost of grits was in order for anyone in the Warwick town square on Saturday. The town dubbed the grits capital of Georgia held the 11th annual festival this year and organizers said it was the biggest so far. "It was fabulous, fabulous, fabulous, the lord blessed us with rain and the lord blessed us with sunshine, we had an exorbitant amount that got in the grits pit", said Robbie Woolbright. Morgan Nolen and Olivia Deal participated in a festival favorite, the Quaker Grits Pit. "It was disgusting it stunk really bad," said...

HAMILTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- A father who forgot to kiss his son goodbye ended up saving his family’s lives. Kevin Roy said he was pulling out of his driveway Tuesday morning when he realized he hadn’t kissed his 1-year-old son, Koby, and worried how he might feel if something had happened. “I just wanted to tell him I loved him before I left,” Roy said. “I pulled up to the end of the driveway and thought, ‘I want to go in and tell him bye,’ because I normally do. It's just something I do on a daily basis, so I...

Researchers are revealing hidden complexities behind the simple act of kissing, which relays powerful messages to your brain, body and partner When passion takes a grip, a kiss locks two humans together in an exchange of scents, tastes, textures, secrets and emotions. We kiss furtively, lasciviously, gently, shyly, hungrily and exuberantly. We kiss in broad daylight and in the dead of night. We give ceremonial kisses, affectionate kisses, Hollywood air kisses, kisses of death and, at least in fairytales, pecks that revive princesses. Lips may have evolved first for food and later applied themselves to speech, but in kissing they...

It seemed like something was missing from Friday's crazed photo of Howard Dean. Then I noticed he wasn't in the proper make-up. BEFORE: AFTER:

Johannesburg - Thousands of South African teenagers were due to take part in 'kissathons' across the country Saturday in protest over a new law that bans all consensual sexual activity among under- 16s, including kissing and canoodling. The social networking site Facebook has become a rallying point for teens angered by the new Sexual Offences Act, which makes it illegal for teens to kiss, touch or rub up against each other, the Star newspaper reported.

Bad kissers -- we've all locked lips with one: the lizard, the washing machine, the cannibal, the spelunker. more photos » "I knew this girl that I'll call Big Tongue," recalls Craig Hinkle, 38, a Westminster, California-based network administrator. "Her tongue was massive, and she insisted on trying to put the entire thing in my mouth. She was very forceful with it, and I started choking." You can guess that relationship didn't last. And now, what Hinkle knows from experience is actually backed up by science: Bad kissers have little chance of getting to second base. In a study published...

A former Mesa police officer violated city policy when he kissed a teacher on the head while working as a school resource officer at Power Middle School last year, according to a police internal affairs report released Monday. Mark Larkin retired from the Mesa Police Department on Sept. 30, 2006, before any discipline could be handed down for the incident, which occurred about a month before, the report states. However, Larkin’s work history shows additional sexual harassment incidents dating years back into his career. Records show the former officer was once placed on disciplinary probation for harassing a female burglary...

Singer's Heart Scare Leaves Kiss a Trio AP Posted: 2007-07-29 00:03:46 SAN JACINTO, Calif. (AP) - Kiss lead singer and guitarist Paul Stanley had to bow out of a Southern California concert because of heart problems before the show, according to his Web site. Band-mates Gene Simmons, Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer played the Friday night gig at Soboba Casino, about 90 miles east of Los Angeles, as Stanley was taken to the hospital. "During sound check yesterday, my heart spontaneously jumped to 190 plus beats per minute where it stayed for over an hour necessitating paramedics to start an...

RUSH: I have four more sound bites, however, on the immigration bill. I want to go back and play two more. Two that we played in the previous hour. One from Harry Reid and one from Senator Kennedy. They've unwittingly set me up here, ladies and gentlemen, to explain the futility and the irrelevance and the lack of total necessity, at least in terms of people being properly informed, of the Fairness Doctrine. The purpose of the Fairness Doctrine from their side is to shut up opposition they don't want to deal with it. But let's go back and listen...

INDIA'S Supreme Court today suspended all legal proceedings against Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty, who is facing obscenity charges for not resisting a public kiss by Hollywood star Richard Gere. Shetty, winner of the British reality television show Celebrity Big Brother, made headlines last month when Gere twirled her in his arms, arched her over and kissed her several times on the cheek at an anti-AIDS show in New Delhi. A lawyer filed a complaint in a lower court, describing the kiss as an obscene act under Indian laws.Reprieve ... an Indian Court has for the time being suspended all legal...

Actor Richard Gere has apologised for causing offence when he kissed Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty. The incident, at an AIDS awareness event in Delhi, prompted public protests and then an arrest warrant for both stars over the "obscene act". Gere, 57, said he had misread Indian customs and that he regretted any problems he had caused Shetty. He asked for the "media circus" to end and hoped it would not detract from the message of preventing AIDS. Gere kissed Shetty, 31, several times on the cheek while sweeping her backwards in a tango-style move. The court in Jaipur in Rajasthan...

NEW DELHI — A court issued arrest warrants for Hollywood actor Richard Gere and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty on Thursday, saying their kiss at a public function "transgressed all limits of vulgarity," media reports said. Judge Dinesh Gupta issued the warrants in the northwestern city of Jaipur after a local citizen filed a complaint charging that the public display of affection offended local sensibilities, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. Gupta earlier viewed television footage of the event, which he called "highly sexually erotic," saying the pair violated India's strict public obscenity laws. Gere and Shetty "transgressed all...

OAKDALE, Calif. — A worker at a Hershey chocolate factory lost her arm when a machine she was cleaning switched on by accident, officials said. Erica Domen, 32, was cleaning a batter-sifting machine when the accident occurred early Saturday at the company's Oakdale plant, about 100 miles east of San Francisco, said the state division of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. She was working alone on the machine when it caught her hand, removing her arm at the shoulder, police said. "Her arm got caught in some machinery, and it actually pulled her arm off," Oakdale police Sgt. Keri...

We had an extended debate at the office today....what was the best "MTv Unplugged" performance? Me? Hands down....Alice in Chains! Before any reasons are discussed ..... I was curious as to anyone else's opinions or preferences on the topic?

Tehran, 8 Sept. (AKI) - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will travel to Caracas, Venezuela, on an official visit after taking part in a United Nations General Assembly in New York on 19 September, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez announced friday. The Islamic Republic and Venezuela have together with Cuba, Bolivia and Syria led international criticism of US foreign policy. Late July, Chavez travelled to Tehran where Ahmadinejad gave him the highest honor of the Islamic Republic.

The family-owned chain has been successful enough to spawn a famous commercial jingle, earn several loving write-ups in the New York Times and have its burgers served to A-list celebs at swanky post-Oscar parties. The great taste hasn't changed, but the mystique that inspired our carnivorous cross-valley quests sure has. The earlier, spartan drive-throughs, which once kept us at arm's length, a sheet of glass sealing off the inner sanctum where clean-cut workers frenetically packed the grill with meat patties, has given way to brightly lighted indoor seating no different from the national fast-food chains. The fabled secret menu, for...

JERUSALEM - The flamboyant, Israeli-born rocker Gene Simmons has sent a televised message of support to an Israeli soldier seriously wounded in fighting in Lebanon, calling him his 'hero.' Simmons, 57, founded the heavy metal band Kiss in the 1970s and became famous for wearing white and black face makeup, spitting fire and sticking his tongue out at sold-out elaborate performances. Simmons, the band's bass player, was born Chaim Witz in the northern Israeli city of Haifa before emigrating to New York as a child. Simmons sent a video message this week to Ron Weinreich, an Israeli soldier and die-hard...

The flamboyant, Israeli-born rocker Gene Simmons has sent a televised message of support to an Israeli soldier seriously wounded in fighting in Lebanon, calling him his 'hero.' Simmons, 57, founded the heavy metal band Kiss in the 1970s and became famous for wearing white and black face makeup, spitting fire and sticking his tongue out at sold-out elaborate performances. Simmons, the band's bass player, was born Chaim Witz in the northern Israeli city of Haifa before emigrating to New York as a child. Simmons sent a video message this week to Ron Weinreich, an Israeli soldier and die-hard Kiss fan,...

When I was growing up in Bellflower, Ca., I never, as a child with a good imagination, could have ever imagined that my life would take the peculiar turn that it has. I could not have foreseen giving birth to a child that would eventually be wrongfully and devastatingly killed in war or that I would be meeting with world leaders or be nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. Along with the Vice President of Spain, Foreign Minister of Ireland, Attorney General of Australia and countless parliamentarians from all over the globe, one of the world leaders that I have...

(Myrtle Beach-AP) June 28, 2006 - The rock band KISS is now pitching coffee in Myrtle Beach. The first KISS Coffeehouse features KISS Vanilla, Demon Dark Roast and Rockuccino. Band members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons greeted hundreds of people Tuesday to mark the opening. Their appearance did not include their trademark makeup. Fans started lining up at 6am to meet Stanley and Simmons, who weren't scheduled to show until 8:30pm, according to KISS' website. The two band members drove up in a stretch limousine and shook hands with fans as they made their way to a news conference and...

April 14, 2006: As good as the U.S. Army Special forces are at training foreign troops, many of these foreign armed forces now prefer U.S. Marines. This began when some U.S. officers, responsible for assisting in the training of military forces in Third World countries, began declining, when offered Special Operations Forces (SOF) personnel. Publicly, the reasons offered are usually couched in terms that suggest the SOF people are needed elsewhere, which is certainly true, given ongoing operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere. But privately some of the advisory personnel cite the fact that SOF personnel usually bring with them...

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia's highest court has ruled that two young people accused of kissing and hugging in a public park can be charged with indecent behaviour. The federal court in the mainly Muslim nation made the ruling in a hard-fought case involving Ooi Kean Thong, 24, and Siow Ai Wei, 22. The couple were allegedly caught embracing and kissing by city hall officials in August 2003 in a park at the city's iconic Twin Towers. The students have said they received summonses for indecent behaviour when they refused to bribe two city hall officials, who have denied the claims....

Principal Caught Kissing In Gym District To Further InvestigationPOSTED: 6:27 pm EST March 8, 2006 A principal at a local elementary school is on administrative leave for kissing a Parent Teacher Organization member in the gym. A parent caught Brian Winters, principal at Washington Elementary School in Romeo, as he was kissing a member of the PTO in the school gymnasium, Local 4 reported. "This is poor judgment," said Joe Beck, Romeo School District superintendent. "I want to make it clear that this does not involve the student, this is two adults." Beck said the district will investigate the situation...

SINCE it's Valentine's Day, let's dwell for a moment on the profoundly bizarre activity of kissing. Is there a more expressive gesture in the human repertoire? When parents kiss their children it means one thing, but when they kiss each other it means something entirely different. People will greet a total stranger with a kiss on the cheek, and then use an identical gesture to express their most intimate feelings to a lover. The mob kingpin gives the kiss of death, Catholics give the "kiss of peace," Jews kiss the Torah, nervous flyers kiss the ground, and the enraged sometimes...

A bank manager's 'gesture of affection' towards a colleague cost him his job and a £1,000 fine AN ITALIAN bank manager who tried to kiss a woman cashier on the lips on Valentine’s Day has lost his job, been given a 14-month suspended jail sentence and fined after being convicted of “sexual violence”. The ruling by Italy’s highest court puts another dent in the reputation of the macho Italian male, always on the lookout — according to the national myth — for a chance to pay a woman a compliment and overwhelm her with his charm. It was applauded by...

"We won. They lost. Could you just write that once?" That was Democratic/Labor strategist Gale Kaufman's one request this morning from those of us in the Capitol press corps. The finality of her sentiment-- her side as winners, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's camp as the losers on Election Day-- is one that seems to contrast with an often repeated thought in recent days: that everyone now simply needs to find a way to get along and get to work on the state's problems. Interestingly enough, the need to "get along" is exactly what it sounds like the governor has decided to...

New Delhi-India may be the land of the Kama Satra, the ancient treatise on sex, but public displays of affection remain strictly taboo in the country's hinterlands, as an Israeli couple found out. They were fined 500 Indian rupees ($11.00) each for embracing and kissing after getting married in a Traditional Hindu ceremony in the northwestern Indian town Pushkar, the Asian Age newspaper reported Wednesday. The Isreali Embassy in New Delhi confirmed the incident and identified the couple as Alon Orpaz and Tehila Salev, who decided to get married while visiting India. The embassy did not provide additional details. Asian...

Tiger Woods kisses his wife Elin Nordegren after winning the 2005 Masters at Augusta National National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 10, 2005. (AP Photo/Atlanta Journal Constitution, Curtis Compton)