Free Republic

The Classical Fast Draw Society is home to a select number of expert marksmen. But their most remarkable member is not technically their most accurate. Jim Miekka only hits about 80 percent of his targets, firing shots at just half a second apart. But the truly incredible thing about Miekka is that he’s totally blind.

Andreas Krieger, born Heidi Krieger, competed as a woman in the 1986 European Championships in Athletics. She ultimately won a gold medal in the shot put event. Coaches of the East German team SC Dynamo Berlin doped Krieger systematically with anabolic steroids that changed her body forever. “I still say today that they killed Heidi,” Kreiger said. “It’s difficult to say whether I would be Heidi today or not but I could have decided on my own ... I was thrown out of my gender.” In the 1970s, the East German government planned to use performance-enhancing drugs to dominate Olympic...

To prove that the U.S news media “distort the truth and mislead the public opinion to curry favor with power,” a North Korean newspaper used Helen Thomas’s 2010 retirement as an example. Only problem is that Thomas (pictured right) was once a female columnist for Hearst Newspapers, not a man.

Being a porn star might not meet the approval of everyone you meet but you might think your bank manager would be one person who wouldn't have cause to complain. Adult film actress Chanel Preston has starred in close to 150 porn flicks and is well compensated for her time, but now it appears she is having trouble keeping a bank account.

If you’re planning on being amorous with a married woman try to make sure her husband doesn’t arrive home halfway through and force you to climb through a window like this man reportedly had to do. A video released on YouTube shows a distressed lothario making his getaway through a window while a couple fight on a balcony next to him. The man, who was only dressed in white boxers, eventually had to jump onto an inflatable pad put out by firefighters. The situation itself was excruciating enough without the added embarrassment of having an audience and everyone cheering his...

Stripped of the bras that decorated the tavern's ceiling for nearly half a century, the Holler House looked mighty naked. But on Thursday, justice was restored to the universe. A ridiculous city order to ban the bras as a fire hazard was rescinded. "Oh my goodness, we won," cried Marcy Skowronski, the always colorful 87-year-old owner of the south side bar. "We're going to have a party to throw the bras back up."

Police say a man accidentally dialed 911 while he and a buddy were breaking into a car, unknowingly leading Fresno, Calif., officers right to their location. The two men, Nathan Teklemariam and Carson Rinehart​, both 20, face charges of breaking and entering, possession of stolen property and conspiracy, according to Fox News. KGPE.com explains that the 911 dispatcher could hear people speaking in the background, so he listened to see if anyone was in need of assistance. It didn't take long for the dispatcher to realize that the men weren't so much in danger as they were up to no...

Tatt's not fair! Man with inking on face says it's sad nobody will give him a job       Ink about it ... Yusuf wishes he'd never had his tattoos done But the 40-year-old from Batley, West Yorks, says the feedback is always the same — employers are turned off by his body art. As well as the Buddhist symbol on his face, Yusuf has two Thai boxing designs and a yin yang symbol on the back of his head. But he believes potential bosses should be more open-minded about his inkings. Yusuf said: “It is really getting...

A Florida man who fled the scene of a fender-bender explained to cops that he had consumed some “bad” Chinese food and was “on the verge of defecating in his pants” when he went in search of relief, police report. Carlos Baca, a 27-year-old Honduran citizen, took off last Monday after backing his pickup truck into another vehicle on a Port St. Lucie road, according to an arrest affidavit. Baca, seen above, returned to the scene soon after the 6:30 AM crash and apologized for leaving, but “believed he had no choice” due to gastrointestinal distress caused by the Chinese...

Like airplanes and helicopters, witches on broomsticks must also obey the Swaziland's aviation laws.In Swaziland, the days when witches could enjoy the untethered freedom of flying high in the sky are, regrettably, over. According to the marketing and corporate affairs director of the Civil Aviation Authority, Sabelo Dlamini, “A witch on a broomstick should not fly above the [150-meter] limit.” So far no penalty exists for witches who fly below the firmly-defined 150-meter limit, though reports suggest that radio-controlled aircraft and kites are subject to the airspace regulation. Dlamini's statement was prompted by the arrest of a private detective, Hunter...

GWERU, Zimbabwe, May 15 (UPI) -- A man in Zimbabwe said he is feeling "OK now" after mourners at his funeral noticed his legs twitching and had him rushed to a hospital. Brighton Dama Zanthe, 34, was declared dead at his home after a long illness, but he was rushed to Gweru Provincial Hospital when mourners at his funeral Monday noticed his legs were still moving, The Daily Telegraph, Britain, reported Wednesday. Zanthe said told Zimbabwean newspaper The Chronicle he does not remember his apparent death or the ensuing funeral. He said the first thing he can remember after being...

A Florida man accidentally shot himself in the leg while bowling Tuesday night. The man was at the bowling lanes in Jupiter, Fla., and witnesses told WPBF the ball likely hit the man's leg during his back swing. At first, some people at the bowling alley thought it was a firecracker going off. Witnesses say the man limped back to his seat clutching his leg. He was taken to hospital as a precaution, but his injuries weren't expected to be life-threatening. The man's identity wasn't released.

The United Nations Says We Should All Be Eating Insects The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), a part of the United Nations, has released a report saying that we should all get ready to start eating insects. There’s a certain amount of truth in the report but not all that much: “ World population is slated to top nine billion by 2050, and seeing as how arable land is being rapidly swallowed by towns and cities, oceans are increasingly overfished, and climate change is disrupting traditional farming, a new United Nations study proposes a twist on Marie Antoinette’s dietary advice:...

WINNIPEG, Manitoba (UPI) -- A man who beheaded a fellow Canadian bus passenger should be allowed to spend more supervised time in the outside world, his treatment team recommends.Two psychiatrists taking care of Vince Li at the Selkirk Mental Health Center told a review board that Li has stopped having hallucinations and has been a model patient, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. The 45-year-old Li was confined to the center after he was found not criminally responsible for beheading Tim McLean, 22, on a Greyhound bus in July 2008. Li suffers from schizophrenia. Dr. Steven Kremer told the Criminal Code...

TEMPE, AZ (CBS5) - A 19-year-old Arizona State University student with a blood-alcohol level five times the legal limit was left at a Tempe hospital with a Post-it note attached to his body to alert doctors he had been in a drinking competition earlier in the night. Tempe police Sgt. Michael Pooley said the unidentified student was found in a wheelchair between 1 and 2 a.m. Saturday in the emergency room lobby of St. Luke's Hospital. The student had passed out and started shaking and turning blue before the student's fraternity brothers dropped him at the hospital with the note,...

The reality of babies and young toddlers it that they’re gonna go when they’re gonna go, and parents will need to change their diapers. But what if a business like Starbucks doesn’t have a changing table in the restroom — is it okay for a parent to take care of diaper duty in the public seating area? One woman did, and Starbucks employees ended up calling the cops.Here’s how it all went down, according to 9News.com in Denver: A mom had to change her one-year-old son’s diaper while she was on a coffee run at Starbucks Friday night, but realized...

It's a good bet the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has never investigated such a bizarre air accident. On Friday, an airborne car crashed near Ellison Elementary School in Vernon, B.C., after the parachute it uses to stay afloat collapsed. The pilot and a passenger were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the RCMP told Global News. The Maverick LSA Flying Car was made in the Florida by I-TEC and is certified by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. On its site, I-TEC says the powered parachute's "design has been developed as an easy-to-operate – air, land, and snow craft....

The hippo who tried to kill me wasn't a stranger – he and I had met before a number of times. I was 27 and owned a business taking clients down the Zambezi river near Victoria Falls. I'd been working this stretch of river for years, and the grouchy old two-ton bull had carried out the occasional half-hearted attack. I'd learned to avoid him. Hippos are territorial and I knew where he was most likely to be at any given time. That day I'd taken clients out with three apprentice guides – Mike, Ben and Evans – all in kayaks....

Bryan Zuniga took great pains to get away from a Pinellas deputy who tried to pull him over early Thursday. Instead, he ended up in great pain. After Zuniga stopped his 1995 Nissan SUV in the 7100 block of 78th Avenue, he jumped out and started running away, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office.

MEDFORD, Ore. — A team of smokejumpers parachuting into a fire in the mountains of Southern Oregon landed in an illegal marijuana garden being prepared for growing season. -snip- The smokejumpers extinguished the fire after it burned less than an acre.

A Canadian couple are coining it in after changing the name of their breakfast cereal to 'Holy Crap'. Brian and Corin Mullins developed their gluten-free, vegan, organic cereal to address Mr Mullins' allergies. It was originally called 'Hapi Food' cereal and sold only at the Sechelt Farmers Market on the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia. But after one of their very first customers said: "Holy Crap... this is amazing!", they changed the name to Holy Crap. Sales increased 1000% - from ten bags a day to over one hundred.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - One Fayette County man is dead after he and an accomplice tried to steal copper wire by shooting down high-tension power lines with a rifle, authorities said. Fayette deputies and rangers from the National Parks Service found the man's body tangled up in downed lines Wednesday morning in the Beury Mountain Wildlife Management Area near Thurmond. The apparent cause of death was electrocution. The remote area where the body was discovered is near Babcock State Park. Emergency dispatchers sent officers to the area after a 911 call. The man's name has not been released, according to a...

PORT JEFFERSON, N.Y. (AP) -- With the beaming smiles of newlyweds, Paul Forziano and Hava Samuels hold hands, exchange adoring glances and complete each other's sentences. Their first wedding dance, he recalls, was to the song "Unchained ..." ''Melody," she chimes in. They spend their days together in the performing arts education center where they met. But every night, they must part ways. Forziano goes to his group home. His wife goes to hers. The mentally disabled couple is not allowed to share a bedroom by the state-sanctioned nonprofits that run the group homes — a practice the newlyweds and...

Idaho Professor To Hunt Bigfoot With Drones Jeff Meldrum, an anthropologist at Idaho State University, is spending $200,000 to scan the Cascades with drones. The unmanned aircraft will use thermal imaging equipment to peer through thick forest in search of Sasquatch. "We're simply asking a biological question: Is there a species of primate behind the legend of Sasquatch?" he said. Other professors in the field have called any questions about Bigfoot a “waste of time.”

Residents of a Houston neighborhood are being warned to stay away from giant African land snails after a woman found one in her garden and snapped a photo of it. The snails, researchers warn, are potentially dangerous to touch, in part because they can carry meningitis. Scientists have warned anyone who comes in contact with them to wash their hands thoroughly. "They also carry a parasitic disease that can cause a lot of harm to humans and sometimes even death," Autumn Smith-Herron, director of the Institute for the Study of Invasive Species at Sam Houston State University, told NBC Houston...

Woman refuses judge’s suggestion to marry man in consensual sex case Duo admit to having sex outside of marriage Dubai: A woman startled a judge on Tuesday when she refused to marry a worker, with whom she is accused of having consensual sex, in order to be granted a suspended prison sentence. The suspects, a Filipina and the Pakistani worker, pleaded guilty when they appeared before the Dubai Misdemeanour Court on Tuesday. “In an obvious attempt to convince the defendants to get married and obtain a lenient judgment, the judge asked the worker: “Are you willing to marry her?” “I...

In a bizarre television and spatial anomaly on CNN this morning, the blanket coverage of two true-crime stories led two news anchors to conduct an odd "satellite" interview from the very same parking lot, background traffic and all. The two suspects are Ashleigh Banfield of CNN and Nancy Grace of Headline News, who were updating viewers on the latest from the ongoing and increasingly ugly Cleveland kidnapping story. (Grace being TV's leading expert on deviant crime.) At first it seems like a normal TV "remote," as Banfield interviews Grace from another location. Then the channel's graphics alert viewers: both anchors...

TRENTON, N.J. - Men who are bashful about needing help in the bedroom no longer have to go to the drugstore to buy that little blue pill. In a first for the drug industry, Pfizer Inc. told The Associated Press that the drugmaker will begin selling its popular erectile dysfunction pill Viagra to patients on its website. Men still will need a prescription to buy the blue, diamond-shaped pill on viagra.com, but they no longer have to face a pharmacist to get it filled. And for those who are bothered by Viagra's steep $25-a-pill price, Pfizer is offering three free...

LEXINGTON, S.C. (CN) - A South Carolina city discriminated against a transgender public safety employee by making him use a woman's bulletproof vest after he had gender reassignment surgery, he claims in court. Marion Gregory Green fka Maria Gisell Green sued the City of Cayce in Lexington County Court. Cayce, pop. 13,000, is the seat of Lexington County. It is the only defendant in the complaint. Green went to work as for the city as a public safety officer trainee in July 2006. During the next five years, while "presenting" as a woman, Green worked in law enforcement, fire suppression,...

BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) — The American Gerbil Society’s annual pageant brought dozens of rodents scurrying to New England this weekend for a chance to win ‘‘top gerbil.’’ The Bedford competition called for agility demonstrations in which the gerbils must overcome obstacles and race to the end of a course. Breeders of the small animals vie for coveted ribbons based on body type and agility. ‘‘A male gerbil should be a good, strong, hefty-looking gerbil,’’ said Libby Hanna, president of the American Gerbil Society. ‘‘If you are going to think of it in human terms, you might think of a football...

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, Ill., May 3 (UPI) -- Authorities in Illinois said a 22-year-old woman allegedly pepper sprayed and robbed a 14-year-old who hired her to have sex with him. Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Katherine Levine said the teenager used his iPad to get the name and contact information for Dareka Brooks, 22, and they made arrangements for Brooks to visit the teen's Prospect Heights home and receive payment in exchange for sex, the Arlington Heights (Ill.) Daily Herald reported Friday. Levine said Brooke arrived at the teenager's home and allegedly used pepper spray on him before leaving with his...

-snip-The little lamb arrived at Rockfield Animal Rescue in Wentnor, England, after being run over by a car, according to the Telegraph. Owner Jennifer Jones fed him milk and raised him with her other dogs, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier (Wallace), a Jack Russell (Judy), and a Labrador (Poppy).Now Lamo think he's one of them. He fetches sticks, tries to bark, wears a collar and a leash, and goes for walks."He really is wonderful, he follows us around everywhere and is always under our feet," she says. "He doesn't care about the other sheep, he prefers humans. He's always trying to get...

U.S. District Judge Fred Biery has spoken. The Texas judge issued a ruling in the case he called "The Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Bikini Top v. the (More) Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Pastie." Yes, indeed. At issue was a strip club's request for a preliminary injunction that would block enforcement of a San Antonio ordinance requiring its dancers to wear bikini tops while entertaining. The club had asked that its employees be allowed to wear nipple-covering "pasties" instead.The fact that this case went to court is strange enough. But that seems downright pedestrian when compared with Judge Biery's hilarious ruling...

Gloria Chubb of South Bend, Indiana, was shocked when she discovered a toad in a can of Meijer green beans. Chubb told WBND ABC 57 that she was in a rush that day and didn’t notice the amphibian until after she emptied the can and microwaved the green beans. She said, "My son put some on his plate and said, ‘What is that?’ I thought maybe it was a piece of moldy bacon or something-- because they have bacon in them sometimes…I and I took it out of there and it wasn't moldy bacon, it was a toad with parts...

... When police arrived, they noticed a window in the garage was smashed, the front door of the house was off its hinges, and the mailbox was dented and bloody. Enix kept yelling "Come on!" from inside the home, according to the report. He leaned out of an upstairs window and yelled that police would either have to shoot or taze him before he would be arrested again. When he realized one of the officers was equipped with a less-lethal shotgun, Enix retreated back inside the house. When asked to negotiate, he told police that all he wanted to do...

The dude is actually interviewing the goat about the mayor of the island, the president, the councilmen, all about the government!!

Heterosexual men mentally melt in the presence of attractive women. As Tom Jacobs writes in Pacific Standard, even the very thought of possibly interacting with a woman is enough to "temporarily impede men's mental abilities." Of course, women know this, and some use it to their advantage. (Companies also know this, and they use it to their advantage, too: During my years in graduate school, many of the biotech sales reps were unusually attractive women.) Men feel more trusting toward women who cause them to be sexually aroused, even if there is no good justification for it -- just like...

A jury on Monday convicted a woman who was accused of drugging her estranged husband before severing his penis and tossing it in the garbage disposal. Jurors found Catherine Kieu guilty of torture and aggravated mayhem for the July 11, 2011, attack. Sentencing was scheduled for June 28. "This woman went to extreme lengths to destroy this man's manhood by placing it in the garbage disposal," Deputy District Attorney John Christl said in an interview after the verdict. "She did this out of vengeance, vanity and jealousy." During trial, the 60-year-old victim testified that his penis could not be reattached...

Police called after woman sees kittens having sex in her yard Sure, cats aren’t for everyone. But we can’t remember the last time someone called the police to complain about a pair of kittens. But that’s exactly what happened in Wisconsin on Thursday when a woman called police after she reportedly witnessed two kittens “having sex” in her front yard. As ridiculous as that sounds, it’s not the only recent time someone has called 911 to report on a cat. Back in February, a Washington State man called 911 to report on a stray cat that had wandered into his...

'Mystery' Horse Impregnates Five Mares on Bourbon Farm CENTERVILLE — As bettors and the general public study equine bloodlines to prep for their possible Kentucky Derby wagers, Bourbon County horse owner Marilyn Montavon is trying to solve a mystery that could cost her thousands of dollars. On April 15, tax-filing deadline day, two new dependents showed up on her farm in the form of two foals — a colt born to the mare Goldie and a filly born to Mert. The babies were a surprise to Montavon because she has no studs on her farm, and she hadn't bred the...

A man who had covered himself in petrol became a human fireball after police shot him with a Taser. A police watchdog will investigate whether firing the weapon at Andrew Pimlott, 32, caused fatal burns. Mr Pimlott suffered serious injuries in the incident on the evening of April 18. He was taken to hospital and subsequently transferred to the specialist burns unit at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol, where he died five days later. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said two Devon and Cornwall Police officers responded to a 999 call from a caller who said that Mr Pimlott was...

Weird. I just received a phoned in threat from a "hacker group" in Hawaii. Missed the name and he wouldn't repeat it for me, but he says, "If FR does not immediately start moderating our forum and quit our racist attacks on Hawaiians and their flag, they are going to shut us down." Have no idea what this is all about but I politely informed the little punk that he could KMA!! Also used some salty language and for that I ask the Lord's forgiveness.

SOBORG, Denmark, April 24 (UPI) -- A Danish hospital, after widespread criticism, removed a smartphone app designed to show women what they'd look like with larger breasts, critics said. -snip- Dr. Bo Jonsson from Aleris-Hamlet Hospital said the app was designed to protect women from "frivolous" breast enlargement ads.

A Florida woman is accused of intentionally setting her car on fire at a gas station and then sitting in the middle of a Daytona Beach highway, claiming to be God. All that's left of 29-year-old Alexandra Barnes' Scion is charred remains. "She came behind the counter and grabbed the yellow lighter and ran out the door," clerk Edna Sandrus said. The clerk ran and then tussled with Barnes to get the lighter, police said. "I could smell gas on my hand from wrestling with her," Sandrus said. "At that point, she had already sprayed her car with gasoline." "All...

University of Florida student Michael Joseph Silecchia was wandering around campus apartments when Gainesville police responded to a reports of a suspicious person. When police arrived, Silecchia took his clothes off and said he was “God” and “straight,” according to The Independent Florida Alligator. The student told officers, “Don’t cut my penis off,” then changed his mind and said, “Cut my penis off,” according to the police report. Officers say he also yelled that he had taken acid, the hallucinogenic drug LSD, though police haven't confirmed if Silecchia was under the influence at the time. Silecchia was told several times...

Two people trying to smuggle drugs inside their underwear were arrested by border officers this week in separate incidents. On Wednesday afternoon agents say they found a pound of methamphetamine inside the underpants of an 18-year-old U.S. citizen who was riding in a border shuttle van stopped for an inspection at a checkpoint on Interstate 19 near Amado, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a news release. On Thursday night a 23-year-old U.S. citizen was arrested at the Dennis DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales after officers say they found four pounds of heroin in her bra. The combined...

BRUSSELS, April 23, 2013 (LifeSiteNews.com) - In an astonshing display of gentleness in the face of a vile attack, the head of the Catholic Church in Belgium, Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard, remained calmly seated with eyes closed in prayer Tuesday as four topless women attacked him with shouts and curses and doused him with water. It’s not the first time the bishop has been attacked for standing up for the Church’s teachings on homosexuality and expressing his concern for those who live the homosexual lifestyle. The incident took place at the ULB University in Brussels where the archbishop was participating in...

You might credit the legendary Scottish male virility of past time to single malt whiskey, or the sometimes brutal weather, or the fact that haggis is the national dish, but a Dutch researcher is proposing another answer: It was the kilts. Kilts, worn as they were meant to be worn, without underwear, lets our laddies swing freely in the breeze, creating, according to researcher Erwin Kompanje, the “ideal physiological scrotal environment.” Exposed to the bracing Highland coolness, testicles will make robust sperm. The modern man’s “scrotal environment” is pretty confined these days, what with underwear and pants that hold our...

A report out of North Carolina seems almost like a Lifetime move: best man fatally stabs bride. Sadly, that is the situation in Raleigh after Jonathan Broyhill allegedly killed Jameson Kirk Hahn this week. The Associated Press via WMBF News shared the details on April 24. A wedding announcement from the wedding of Jamie Kirk Hahn to Nation Hahn from 2009 lists Broyhill as the groom's best man. Now he is facing charges of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. Both Jamie and Nation Kirk were stabbed in their home Monday night. Jamie Kirk...

A Walmart employee in upstate New York allegedly made very productive use of his time during overnight shifts in the store. Unfortunately, he did so by advertising his services online as a prostitute, then meeting clients in a store bathroom during his breaks. Great efficient use of time, but also kind of illegal.According to state police, the store bosses became suspicious and alerted authorities about the 22-year-old’s possible side hustle. Police had an undercover officer set up an appointment and offer to exchange sex for money. The man was arrested and charged with prostitution, and has been suspended while Walmart...