Free Republic

(Paulding County, Georgia) Liberty Legal Foundation responded to the Georgia Courts ruling concerning the case that President Barack Obama does not meet Georgia's eligibility requirements for candidacy in Georgia's 2012 presidential primary election. Van Irion, co-founder of Liberty Legal said, “By now many have probably heard that the Georgia court ruled that Obama is a natural born citizen. More importantly it ruled that any person born on U.S. soil is a natural born citizen. According to the Georgia court, a woman from any country can visit the U.S. for one day, give birth, take the baby back to any country...

Peter LaBarbera of "Americans for Truth About Homosexuality," designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-gay hate group, pondered on Twitter today whether Fred Phelps is a "gay plant," apparently staged by liberals trying to evoke sympathy for gays. "Was that serious question about Fred Phelps? Really?" asked "AllHeavens" in a reply Tweet. As of this writing, there's no answer from LaBarbera. Phelps is pastor and founder of the Westboro Baptist Church, known for its "protests" at military funerals and other events where church members parade their "God hates fags" and "God hates America" and "God hates Sweden"...

A 32-year-old model who held the record for the world's largest implants has walked away from a car crash after her breasts acted as an airbag. Sheyla Hershey, who has 38KKK breasts, was driving home near Houston, Texas, after a Super Bowl party on Sunday when she crashed into a tree.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - US regulators on Thursday approved plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in more than 30 years, despite objections of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman, who cited safety concerns stemming from Japan's 2011 Fukushima disaster. The NRC voted 4-1 to allow Atlanta-based Southern Co to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at its existing Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. The units will cost Southern and partners about $14 billion and enter service as soon as 2016 and 2017. The approval was cold comfort for nuclear industry officials who have touted a "renaissance"...

A Pennsylvania couple trapped, of all things, a purple squirrel on Sunday. Percy and Connie Emert, of Jersey Shore, Pa. caught the unusual animal when trying to keep birds safe from the rodents. "We have bird feeders out in our yard, and the squirrels are constantly into them," said Jersey Shore resident Connie Emert. "My husband traps them and then sets them free elsewhere so they don't get into your bird feeders." Emert said she had spotted a purple squirrel on her property but no one believed her.

A young Saudi journalist is facing calls for his execution after tweeting remarks about the Prophet Mohammed, and the kingdom's top clerics are demanding his trial after denouncing him as an "apostate." On the occasion of the Muslim prophet's birthday last week, 23-year-old Hamza Kashgari tweeted: "I have loved things about you and I have hated things about you and there is a lot I don't understand about you." "I will not pray for you," he added. The controversial tweet sparked a frenzy of responses -- some 30,000, according to an online service that tracks tweets in the Arab world....

Dear (ShadowAce), Energy and jobs are two things that Americans need to survive. The Keystone XL Pipeline would provide both, free of cost to American taxpayers. That is why this week, I introduced the bipartisan Keystone for a Secure Tomorrow Act (K-FAST) to allow Congress to act immediately and approve the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline. Congress has the obligation and the legal ability to say yes. In fact, in 1973, after years of delay, Congress took similar action and passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act in order to build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The Keystone XL Pipeline is a...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's first new nuclear power plant in a generation won approval Thursday as federal regulators voted to grant a license for two new reactors in Georgia. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4-1 to approve Atlanta-based Southern Co.'s request to build two nuclear reactors at its Vogtle site south of Augusta. The vote clears the way for officials to issue an operating license for the reactors, which could begin operating as soon as 2016 and 2017. The NRC last approved construction of a nuclear plant in 1978, a year before a partial meltdown of the Three Mile...

WASHINGTON - Now bacon lovers can get their fix through a straw. The restaurant chain Jack in the Box is offering customers the option of a bacon milkshake. The creamy concoction doesn't include actual bacon, but rather a bacon-flavored syrup mixed with vanilla ice cream and capped off by whipped topping and a maraschino cherry. The shake is not on restaurant menus. Customers have to ask for it. A 24-ounce shake includes 1,081 calories, 37 grams of saturated fat, 3 grams of trans fat and 108 grams of sugar. Jack in the Box is now in 20 states.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi upped the satirical ante Thursday with a new, tongue-in-cheek attack ad taking on comedian Stephen Colbert, who has formed a real "super PAC" to support his less-than-real bid for the Republican presidential nomination. In the ad, released on YouTube on Thursday, Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, calls for voters to support efforts to "Stop Colbert" — in part because "he doesn't even like kittens."

India and Norway are embroiled in a diplomatic row after Norwegian social workers took two young Indian children into care because they slept with their parents and their mother fed them with her fingers – both widespread and normal in India.

Ron Barber, an aide to former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), will run for the House seat she just left. Barber, 66, was Giffords’ district director until she retired last month. He was shot twice, once in the face and once in the leg, in the massacre that left six dead and nearly killed his boss. “Our community needs someone who will put politics aside and solve problems for the people of Southern Arizona,” he said in a statement. “My commitment is to be honest with the people of this district and help restore civility to our public life.” The special...

#banglist Donations have started coming in and we are about 12% toward out goal! For over 12 years, Gun Facts has been available for free. Call it a labor with freedom as the main reward. In those twelve years Gun Facts has handed gun rights activists the ammo they need to shoot holes in anti-gun propaganda. Gun Facts has forced the gun control industry to play defense. For the month of February 2012, we are asking gun rights activists to donate – to keep Gun Facts in publication, extend its reach, and continue to annoying Chuck Schumer, Barack Obama and...

Jane M. Orient, MD is an author, a practicing physician who maintains a solo practice of general internal medicine, a clinical lecturer at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and the executive director at the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons. Orient recently penned a piece titled "Shall We Take the Liberty of “the 1%”?," which highlights a number of pressures facing physicians. In a recent interview, MD+DI asked Orient about that article and how she expects healthcare reform legislation to impact physicians in the United States. MD+DI: How do you feel healthcare reform will affect physicians' ability to...

As attendants on Air Force One and other VIP planes flying as many as 1,000 missions a year, they perform all the safety and comfort functions of their commercial airline counterparts and more. Hurried departures and delays to accommodate impromptu news conferences are common. The attendants also must buy ingredients and prepare meals to their customer's preferences — sometimes on a day's notice. More of them are learning advanced culinary techniques since the Air Force began flying expert chefs to Andrews in the last 18 months. During a session last week, 12 attendants in olive-green flight suits butterflied chicken breasts...

For many conservative Republicans, the dream outcome of the primary season is a brokered convention. Disappointed in the four remaining choices, they hope to change horses in August, and draft their preferred candidate, be it Jeb Bush, Mitch Daniels, Chris Christie, or Paul Ryan. I've been adamant that such an outcome is extremely unlikely. For a brokered convention to occur, there has to be an almost perfect storm of events; the GOP elites can’t just declare shenanigans on the primary season and select a new nominee. Instead, something has to prevent any of the current candidates from clinching a majority...

PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - A roundtable of federal and state judges from across the country will convene at the posh Ritz Carlton on Feb. 9 to address topics such as "Can MDL's keep up with state court trial settings;" "Priority of deposition examination;" "State and federal cooperation;" and "Forum non conveniens." Sponsored by Mass Torts Made Perfect, the event is open to plaintiff and defense lawyers. It is not, however, open to the media. Since public servants are convening to discuss public issues (mass torts dramatically affect the economy and the court systems), should the conference be open to the...

No matter how you feel about gas drilling, you have to feel it was wrong to ban Pennsylvania filmmaker Josh Fox from a congressional hearing on the controversial natural gas extraction method of hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking." Fox, who made the Oscar-nominated documentary "Gasland" — which drilling supporters liken to anti-fracking propaganda — was placed in handcuffs and removed from the hearing before it even began. The focus of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee subcommittee session was the Environmental Protection Agency's finding that fracking was probably responsible for the contamination of ground water in Pavillion, Wyo. The reason...

Political commentator Roland Martin has been suspended indefinitely by CNN over a series of tweets he published during the Super Bowl. "Roland Martin's tweets were regrettable and offensive," CNN said in a statement. "Language that demeans is inconsistent with the values and culture of our organization, and is not tolerated. We have been giving careful consideration to this matter, and Roland will not be appearing on our air for the time being." Those comments, published on his personal Twitter feed, concerned a two Super Bowl ads, including an H&M spot showcasing a new David Beckham underwear line.

The red line in this image shows the long-term increase in global sea level since satellite altimeters began measuring it in the early 1990s. Since then, sea level has risen by a little more than an inch each decade, or about 3 millimeters per year. While most years have recorded a rise in global sea level, the recent drop of nearly a quarter of an inch, or half a centimeter, is attributable to the switch from El Niño to La Niña conditions in the Pacific. The insets show sea level changes in the Pacific Ocean caused by the recent...

The world's greatest snow-capped peaks, which run in a chain from the Himalayas to Tian Shan on the border of China and Kyrgyzstan, have lost no ice over the last decade, new research shows. The discovery has stunned scientists, who had believed that around 50bn tonnes of meltwater were being shed each year and not being replaced by new snowfall. The study is the first to survey all the world's icecaps and glaciers and was made possible by the use of satellite data. The melting of Himalayan glaciers caused controversy in 2009 when a report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel...

Democratic congressional candidate Patrick Murphy announced today that he will follow Allen West to the newly proposed District 18 to continue his campaign against him. The move comes after publically calling West a coward for leaving the district to run in a more favorable one. It seems that Murphy will be doing exactly that, with the blessing of popular Democratic leaders. He has yet to apologize to West for his remark.

Democratic congressional candidate Patrick Murphy announced today that he will follow Allen West to the newly proposed District 18 to continue his campaign against him. The move comes after publically calling West a coward for leaving the district to run in a more favorable one. It seems that Murphy will be doing exactly that, with the blessing of popular Democratic leaders. He has yet to apologize to West for his remark.

Scarlett Johansson isn't ready to talk yet about Nate Naylor, her just-revealed boyfriend of five months. The sartorial choices of Rick Santorum and the Republican National Committee, however, were fair game for Johansson, 27, who stepped out at a Tuesday fundraiser for President Barack Obama hosted by Vogue in NYC. Santorum, 53, was the surprise winner in the Republican primaries in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado on Tuesday -- but Mitt Romney's rival won't be winning any fashion awards for his talked-about sweater vests, Johansson joked. "Oh gosh, so sad," the We Bought a Zoo actress said. "My dad wore them,...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Officials at an elementary school rocked by teacher sex abuse claims are investigating yet another allegation of misconduct, this one involving a teacher's aide accused of sending love letters to an 11-year-old boy. The mother of the fourth-grader told the Los Angeles Times that the aide, a woman the mother appeared to be in her 50s, sent at least three letters to her son in 2009, including one that read: "when you get close to me, even if you give me the chills I like that. Don't tell nobody about this!"

Visitors to the Pacific island of Peleliu can't claim they weren't warned. The sign at the harbour says "Welcome to Peleliu -- Land of Enchantment," but as the boat approaches the quay, a second sign becomes visible. "Remember that WWII ordnance is still dangerous and can injure or kill!"The water glistens in varying shades of turquoise, the sand on the beaches is as fine as dust and a balmy breeze eases the tropical heat. But the beauty is deceptive. The "Land of Enchantment," which belongs to the island nation of Palau, was the scene of one of the bloodiest battles...

Yoani Sánchez is Cuba’s best-known blogger and, for many outside the island, also its opposition’s most important voice. She is also, however, a philologist whose refusal to mangle the Spanish language is matched only by her love of 140-character tweets. Resolving that contradiction is one of the lesser challenges Ms Sánchez faces as an internet-based activist in a country that, by some metrics, has less internet connectivity than even Haiti. “I try to tweet with the brevity and elegance of classical Spanish, while only using whole words,” she jokes of herself on a recent evening in Havana. Such humour is...

A woman thought to be the world's last known surviving service member of World War I has died aged 110. Florence Green, from King's Lynn, Norfolk, served as a mess steward at RAF bases in Marham and Narborough. She died in her sleep on Saturday night at Briar House care home, King's Lynn. Mrs Green had been due to celebrate her 111th birthday on 19 February. The world's last known combat veteran of World War I, Briton Claude Choules, died in Australia aged 110 in May 2011. The last three World War I veterans living in the UK - Bill...

The night before the 1986 explosion, Boisjoly and four others argued that joints in the shuttle's boosters couldn't withstand a cold-weather launch.

Link only to the L.A. Times obituary. Roger Boisjoly, a major figure in trying to halt the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger dies of cancer at age 73. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-roger-boisjoly-20120207,0,2248999.story

Ex-President George W. Bush tells auto dealers he'd bail out automakers again

When I learned that Madonna – aka the Grand Priestess of the music industry – would be performing at the Superbowl halftime show, I thought: “This should be interesting”. And it was. While most were amazed by a woman in her fifties dancing around with LMFAO and others were annoyed at her lip-syncing, I was interested with something else: the flurry of symbolism flashed to billions of viewers worldwide. While most considered Madonna’s performance as an entertaining interlude to the most important football game of the year, those blessed with symbol-literacy will probably agree with the following statement: Madonna’s halftime...

HAGERSTOWN, Md. – A discharged Marine private who slit his wrists in a suicide attempt is fighting his military conviction for deliberately injuring himself, arguing the punishment is inconsistent with the armed forces' efforts to battle a rise in suicides during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It's not clear how often the Marines or any other service branch prosecute active duty members for trying to kill themselves. But the defense lawyer for Pvt. Lazzaric T. Caldwell says it's wrong to punish service members with mental health problems for genuine suicide attempts. Suicide prevention has become a priority across the...

No one knows how long he sat inside the green rental car and waited. Authorities say Matthew Wong, 50, watched the door of his wife's apartment early Monday, waiting for her to step outside. Thick, black garbage bags shrouded the backseat windows. A quilt covered the rear window. "It appears it was all planned," said Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office spokesman Larry McKinnon. "He was waiting out there to ambush her." What Wong hadn't planned on, deputies said, was getting caught in the flames that he had hoped would kill his wife, Gloria Davis, 47. After residents of the Countrywood Apartments,...

McDonald's has apologized and pulled an ad that came back to bite it. The ad said eating a Chicken McBite was less risky than petting a stray pit bull, shaving your head, naming your son Sue or giving friends your Facebook password. It enraged pit bull owners and their supporters. The radio ad for Chicken McBites only ran for a few days in the Kansas City area before the complaints started. The campaign against the ad circulated on social media sites, and the apology was delivered the same way. People who called a well-publicized toll-free number got a recorded apology.

I'm looking at all these endorsements out there so I decided to add mine, however, I'm not going to post it breaking news"...so, pick your man (or lady) and let the endorsements begin

I didn't watch yesterday's Superbowl, but I read about it. With just a few minutes left to go, one of the players (on the team that ended up losing) had a pass hit his hands, but instead of catching it and running for a touchdown, he accidentally dropped the ball. Clearly, his "intent" was to catch the ball. If the Democrats were in charge, they would have people examine the instant replay footage with a magnifying glass, to determine what the player's "intent" was. Then the Democrats would demand extra time so that player could have another chance to score...

What's the difference between nostalgia and remembering stuff? Hey, there's Matthew Broderick selling Hondas. It looks like fun to ride around with Matthew Broderick in a car. Unless he's in Northern Ireland and he's in the wrong lane and he kills you, like he killed Margaret Doherty and Anna Gallagher in a head-on crash in 1987. Maybe you can buy a Kia instead? Vince Neil thinks it's cool to drive a Kia. Just don't get completely loaded and wreck the Kia and kill the drummer from Hanoi Rocks, like Vince Neil did in 1984. The Internet files that one under...

The Giants will celebrate their Super Bowl XLVI victory in New Jersey Tuesday. After a ticker-tape parade along the Canyon of Heroes in Lower Manhattan beginning Tuesday at 11 a.m., the Giants will return to the Meadowlands' MetLife Stadium for a rally beginning at 3 p.m. Gov. Chris Christie announced the rally at MetLife Stadium in a tweet today, saying "All Giants fans in NJ should be there of [sic] you can." Details still have not emerged, however, as to whether those hoping to attend the rally will need to acquire tickets.

With hundreds of women brandishing deadly weapons while performing back flips and gravity-defying stunts, these incredible images look like a scene out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. But this is not the latest martial art film but in fact footage of female pupils practicing their moves at a tiny Ninjutsu club in Iran where the specialist form of martial art has become increasingly popular. The school opened in 1989 but now has 3,500 women in training to become kunoichi - female ninjas.

New England Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker was so upset over dropping a crucial pass late in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 21-17 loss to the Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, he nearly started crying at the podium. Welker isn't going to get any pity from quarterback Tom Brady's wife, Gisele Bundchen, though. After her prayers for a Patriots' championship went unanswered, Bunchen lashed out at the team's receiving corps for failing to haul in her husband's passes. While waiting for an elevator at Lucas Oil Stadium, Bundchen was being heckled by Giants fans when she spoke to people in...

GOLD BEACH, Ore. (AP) — Dan Conne says he and his wife and son thought they were going to die after getting lost while picking mushrooms and spending nearly a week in the rugged forest of southwest Oregon. They spent the nights huddled in a hollow log and considered sacrificing their pit bull, Jesse, for food. "She's that good a dog, she'd have done it, too," Conne said. But help finally arrived Saturday when a volunteer helicopter pilot decided to look outside the search area and spotted the family — Dan, his wife, Belinda, and their 25-year-old son, Michael —...

No one can honestly say that the mass media is not political. Furthermore, it would take a truly deluded individual to claim that the media is not biased towards the extreme left.The mass media has been trying to manipulate and shift events since the time America was born. Unfortunately, the mass media has taken such a radical turn to the left, that we find them ignoring crimes by Democrats, while trying to make criminal out of innocuous acts by Republicans. We find them championing every form of socialism, and decrying capitalism and conservatism at every turn.I have a modest proposal:...

<p>After last night’s 21-17 loss in the Super Bowl, the wife of Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was making her way to the team’s locker room. Along the way, Gisele Bundchen (I continue to refuse to call her a “supermodel” until she displays at least one super power) vented regarding the inability of some of Tom’s teammates to secure balls that hit them in the hands.</p>

Language barriers are obviously an impediment to communication. If one man speaks Chinese and another Swedish, it may be hard for them to settle even simple matters, let alone the deep issues of the day. Yet there can be language barriers even within a language, such as when people use ill-defined terminology. In fact, some debates rage on endlessly partially because people who have the same tongue are, sometimes unknowingly, speaking a different language. This occurs to me when I hear many arguments about Left versus Right. For example, it’s not uncommon for conservatives and liberals to debate whether groups...

Dustin Kruse turned 4 in September. He has toy binoculars, a gumball machine, two toy workbenches, a set of six metric wrenches - real ones - a plastic pterodactyl that eats stuff and a little metal box where he keeps two tubes of Chapstick. He had three, but one melted. His well-stuffed bookshelf includes "The Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham," "Pooh's Grand Adventure," "Albert the Bear" and his current favorite, "Lemonade With a Twist." He can use a tape measure to figure out how tall a Lego tower is, chalk a pool cue, read like a second-...

The 2012 Super Bowl ultimately went against the New England Patriots by 21-17, much like in 2008. Now that the New York Giants have beaten the Patriots in the final minutes for the second Super Bowl in a row, it has made everyone rethink the legacies of both teams. New England should have the greatest dynasty in NFL history and even in sports history by now. While Brady and Belichick still have their three titles, ... they should have six or even seven instead - and that has now started to overshadow the rings they do have. If New England...

President Barack Obama's grandmother, Sarah Obama, is home recovering from an accident that, judging by the condition of the vehicle, could have been much worse. "God is with me, because if you could have seen the wreckage that we came out of safe, one would wonder," Sarah Obama said Monday.

(CBS News) Just before Christmas, American workers got a rare gift from Washington politicians - the current payroll tax cut would be extended for two more months. At the time, both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner lauded the move to avoid a tax increase for millions of working Americans. But there's something the politicians weren't bragging about - the fact that they're paying for the two-month tax cut with what has turned into a brand new fee on home buyers. The new fee is a minimum of one-tenth of 1 percent on Fannie Mae- and Freddie Mac-backed...

This was supposed to be Mitt Romney's week. Back-to-back wins in Florida and Nevada have helped to cement him as the all-but-certain Republican nominee. Instead, the latest ABC News-Washington Post poll points to President Obama as the biggest winner of the GOP primary contest. President Obama has snuck ahead of Romney among registered voters, 51 percent to 45 percent. What's more, 50 percent of voters in the new poll approve of Obama's job performance and the same percentage say he deserves re-election. http://abcn.ws/z3pXsy