Free Republic

U.S. urges Americans to help feed their neighborsTue Nov 24, 2009 6:15pm EST By Jasmin Melvin WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Tuesday urged Americans to volunteer to help feed their neighbors, noting that almost 15 percent of the country's households had a hard time getting enough to eat last year. Every American can chip in to fight hunger, the Agriculture Department said as it unveiled the Obama Administration's new Feed a Neighbor initiative, encouraging activities such as volunteering time at local food banks, helping the elderly get fresh produce, and planning ways to feed children who depend on...

Old Ironsides’ upscale Charlestown neighbors are trying to pull off what British, French and Barbary pirate guns failed to accomplish in more than two centuries - silencing the cannons of the nation’s oldest commissioned naval vessel. Miffed residents of a posh condo complex have invited the commanding officer of the USS Constitution over for a glass of wine so he can hear for himself that the frigate’s twice-daily cannon blasts - a tradition dating to 1798 - are “more disruptive to the neighborhood than you might have imagined.” Commanding Officer Timothy Cooper received the most recent complaint two weeks ago...

5 Types of Neighbors and How to Handle Them You can pick your friends, but not your family -- or your neighbors. Here's what you need to know. By Geoff Williams, FrontDoor.com | Published: 9/22/2008 ..It used to be that everyone knew their neighbors. At the very least, you'd meet them after the kid next door accidentally hit a baseball through your living room window, or an apron-clad housewife appeared on your back porch to borrow a cup of sugar. But that's so 1950s. During these days of two-paycheck parents commuting and cocooning because they're afraid to let their kids...

In 1930's Germany, the new socialist government of Adolf Hitler (NAZI National Socialist Workers' Party) began indoctrinating children in the quasi-military organization, the Hitler Youth, to inform on their parents should they overhear discussions subversive to the policies of the Leader. As the noose was tightened, local community organizers were appointed to watch their neighbors and were told to report subversive comments to the bureaucrats above them. Neighbors informed on neighbors, some for reasons of patriotism or loyalty, some from fear. A modern inquisition ensued; a terror to free thought and expression. Increasingly harsh penalties were meted out to those...

SAN DIEGO -- Spencer Trussle likes to play and ride his bike. "I'm 4 years old," he said, "and I have a sister named Olivia, and I ride my bike all day long." He lives in a piece of suburbia that seems picturesque: the Venzano development in San Marcos. His parents, Gary and Marla Trussle, moved the family here five months ago. "I thought it would be good for the children," Marla Trussle explained. But instead of being welcomed, the Trussle family has been under attack, they said, by neighbors. The accusations against them have been wild, including that 4-year-old...

Crime victim's service dog shot By MARLEE GINTER KOMO-TV STAFF BELLINGHAM -- Chohnie Baird clutched on to the people around her. With her service dog gone, she has no choice but to rely on others for support. "I miss her. I'm afraid to be out here now. That's why I had her," Baird said. Baird said the unthinkable suddenly robbed her of her service golden retriever. Detectives said that on Monday afternoon, a neighbor shot and killed Sister. Baird, a crime victim, had gotten Sister to be her therapy dog and protector. James Krebs, Baird's caretaker, said he witnessed the...

PIQUA, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio woman is serving 60 days in jail because police said she ordered adult magazines in a neighbor's name during a feud. Police said the 47-year-old woman told authorities she wanted payback after being charged with a misdemeanor because of a complaint made by the other woman. The neighbor told police she was billed hundreds of dollars for magazines such as Playboy and Hustler.

CHICAGO – Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich says he is not guilty of any criminal wrongdoing and plans to stay on the job. In his first official statement since his arrest on corruption charges last week, Blagojevich (blah-GOY'-Uh-vich) says he will fight until he takes his "last breath." ... The Democratic governor says he intends to "answer every allegation in a court of law."

Will the Blagojevich scandal damage the incoming Obama administration? Given Rod Blagojevich’s profane railings against Barack Obama, revealed on federal wiretaps, few observers believe — although none know for sure — that the Obama camp engaged in any pay-for-play dealings with the governor, and therefore few see any legal problems for Team Obama resulting from the criminal investigation. But that’s not the only way the incoming administration might be caught up in the Blagojevich affair. The probe is being conducted, after all, by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, the man who prosecuted one of the most intensely investigated and politically-charged perjury-and-false-statements...

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Things have really been booming at Southern Vermont Orchards. And it's been keeping people up at night. After a series of hailstorms devastated the orchard's apple crop in 2007, the owner resorted this summer to using a hail cannon, a noisemaking machine whose sound waves supposedly disrupt the formation of hailstones. Scientists snicker at such devices. But farmers swear by 'em. As for the neighbors, they just swear.......

BENNINGTON, Vt. — Things have really been booming at Southern Vermont Orchards. And it's been keeping people up at night. After a series of hailstorms devastated the orchard's apple crop in 2007, the owner resorted this summer to using a hail cannon, a noisemaking machine whose sound waves supposedly disrupt the formation of hailstones. Scientists snicker at such devices. But farmers swear by 'em. As for the neighbors, they just swear......

---snip--- On one side was Joseph McNair, 38, a big-time convicted Philadelphia drug dealer with a long rap sheet who made Schwenksville, a bucolic Montgomery County suburb, his hideaway. On the other were his neighbors wanting peace, saying that McNair terrorized them with threats to kill their families and to sic his three Rottweilers on their children. The feud came to a head about 7:30 Wednesday night and ended with one neighbor, a seasoned off-duty SEPTA police sergeant, pumping several bullets into McNair, killing him, after McNair allegedly made one final threat.

A Salinas jury has convicted an elderly neighbor of the first-degree killings of a Carmel Valley couple. John Kenney shot and killed Mel and Elizabeth Grimes in 2006 after years of bitter feuding, including restraining orders, assaults and killing of pets.

Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois today exhorted his supporters to get extremely aggressive in their communities to persuade their neighbors to vote for Obama in November.Speaking to a crowd in Elko, Nevada, Obama was quoted by the AP as urging the people to be his 'ambassadors':"I need you to go out and talk to your friends and talk to your neighbors. I want you to talk to them whether they are independent or whether they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face. "And if they tell you that, 'Well, we're...

MEXICO CITY - A majority of Mexicans believe the government is losing its escalating battle against drug gangs, according to a poll published Sunday. Some 53 percent of Mexicans surveyed by the Mexico City newspaper Reforma said cartels are defeating security forces engaged in a nationwide crackdown. Only 24 percent said the government is winning, and 23 percent had no opinion. Reforma interviewed 1,515 people across Mexico on May 23-25. The poll had margin of error of 2.5 percentage points. Mexico has seen violence soar despite the deployment of more than 25,000 troops to drug trafficking hotspots since President Felipe...

(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. State Department has issued an alert, warning travelers that the "equivalent to military small-unit combat" is taking place across the southern U.S. border in Mexico and that Americans are being kidnapped and murdered there. "Recent Mexican army and police force conflicts with heavily-armed narcotics cartels have escalated to levels equivalent to military small-unit combat and have included use of machine guns and fragmentation grenades," said the State Department alert. "Confrontations have taken place in numerous towns and cities in northern Mexico, including Tijuana in the Mexican state of Baja California, and Chihuahua City and Ciudad Juarez...

Neighbors: Code Pink quietIt's a shame the Mr. Emerling didn't speak to those who don't like CP being on their block. From Page 1 of the web site: Excerpt: "Members of an antiwar group with a penchant for dramatic and faux-bloody protests in the halls of Congress have proved to be model citizens a few blocks away in their Capitol Hill town house." Excerpt: "But Renee Howell and Ruhani Syed, who have lived near the intersection of Fifth and H streets for 14 years, described group members as calm and pleasant in the community." Excerpt: "Doug Townsend, another neighbor whose...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 10, 2007 – Volunteers with a Northern Virginia military-support group gather twice a month to fill care packages for troops serving overseas. Servicemembers serving in Iraq display some of the goodies the received in a package from Neighbors International Foundation. Items like the stuffed flamingo are given as gifts to local children. The gesture builds friendship between the troops and local citizens. Courtesy photo   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “One of our primary focuses for the past few years has been sending care packages to the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Sharon Rainey, founder...

(Sweden:) An unusual feud has soured relations between two neighbours in Norrtälje as a woman battles for the right to retain her outdoor jacuzzi. Ever since the 51-year-old woman bought the hot tub last year, her journalist neighbour has complained about the noise of the motor. The 62-year-old jazz journalist has a writer's den close to her garden and has been finding it impossible to work. The journalist has primarily struggled to understand why his neighbour needs to have the jacuzzi turned on all year round and for more than ten minutes every hour, Norrtelje Tidning reports. She in turn...

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, July 31, 2007 – Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice got firm commitments here today from Iraq’s neighbors that they’ll continue to support the Iraqi government and counter forces trying to derail it. (Video) Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice meet with President of Egypt Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, July 31, 2007. Gates and Rice are in Egypt to meet with the president and the minister of defense to discuss regional affairs and the United States' long-term relationship with Egypt. Defense Dept....

Every dog might have its day, but those days won't be in North Berkeley. A popular pet-rescue group is closing its Solano Avenue adoption center after neighbors hounded it out of business, citing what they called excessive barking, excrement on the sidewalk and the pervasive smell of urine in the upscale shopping district. The nonprofit Milo Foundation blamed "an unforgiving streak in Berkeley politics" in a notice posted in its window, announcing it will sell its building at 1575 Solano Ave. and move its dogs and cats by June. "We've made mistakes, but Berkeley's a very unforgiving city," said Jill...

LEXINGTON -- Five years after a flock of wild turkeys showed up in the Shade Street neighborhood of Lexington, about the only thing that folks can agree on these days is that now they are gone. Whether they were harassed, forced out, or killed in the dark of night remains a mystery and, more important, a source of deep division. Over the past four months the question of what happened to the turkeys has led neighbors who have lived alongside one another for three decades to carry out a whisper campaign that has, in turn, prompted a police investigation and...

Maybe it's a hand flipping the bird - or it could be a cactus. For three families, it's just another dispute in a yearlong battle over a house being built along Reeves Lane in this southwest Salt Lake Valley community. Owner Darren Wood described the vent covering placed Monday as decorative "abstract art" and a "cactus." But his neighbors uphill say it's a hand flipping them off. "This kind of shows the attitude that we've been dealing with all along," said Stan Torgersen, who added that the gesture is visible from every window on the back of his house. Words...

A pizza shop owner and a biochemist. An airport worker and the son of a political official. Husbands and fathers. Students as young as 17. Meet the faces of terror. Meet the madmen next door. Outside the view of friends, family and neighbors, a group of suburban men were allegedly plotting a terror campaign to rival - and even exceed - the bloodshed of 9/11. But in a series of raids that began before dawn yesterday, British police arrested 24 people - most of them sons of Britain, most of them never suspected of any wrongdoing by their neighbors. Several...

FORT WORTH -- Tensions in a north Fort Worth neighborhood are flaring after police say a 71-year-old woman, who has a history of videotaping perceived wrongdoing on her street, pulled a revolver out of her handbag and fired at a neighbor who confronted her.Charlesetta Davis was arrested Monday on suspicion of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Police say she shot at a neighbor whose home she had been videotaping because she believed that the owners were violating city water restrictions.Raymundo Rubio, 46, said Friday that he asked Davis why she was filming his house in the 2700 block of...

The occasional football flying over the garden fence is an inconvenience familiar to most people with a young family as neighbours. It is certainly familiar to Ray Markham. He has returned more than 50 balls to policeman neighbour Stewart Bosworth and his two sons over the last two years. But when one leather ball crashed into his greenhouse recently, breaking a pane, the retired taxi firm manager decided to take a stand and refused to hand it back. The incident prompted Sergeant Bosworth to call in four colleagues from Warwickshire police to arrest Mr Markham, 68, for alleged theft of...

COLUMBIA CITY, Ind. - A feud between neighbors that began over roving pets has sparked a biting dialogue using homemade signs along the side of the road. Pam and Ron Castle say their neighbor, Larry Shrock, shot their beagle mix named Jake on June 1 and burned his body in an incinerator. According to a police report, the Shrocks said they asked the Castles to keep their dogs at home, worried the animals would try to attack rabbit hutches on their property. When the dogs returned, Shrock told police he shot one of the animals. No charges have been filed....

Intake platform and rock to protect the river bank from the ravages of the Tigris at Albow Ageel. (GRD Photo by Claude D. McKinney) The Tigris sustains her neighbors by Claude D. McKinney Gulf Region North US Army Corps of Engineers Tikrit, Iraq — Iraq has two major historic waterways coursing through its landscape. Civilization has been located along the Tigris and Euphrates for millennia. The flow of these rivers may have ebbed during some of those past seasons, but the population growth certainly has expanded, especially in recent decades. Rapid growth outstripped the former government’s ability or maybe...

BAGHDAD, April 26, 2006 – While success in Iraq's march to freedom would mean good things for most of its neighbors, Iran could only view that as a failure, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said here today. Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are here to meet with U.S. and Iraqi officials. "A successful Iraq that is at peace with its neighbors and that has a government that's representative of the various elements within the country would represent an enormous success for this region," Rumsfeld said. "It would add to prosperity for the region. It would be something that...

July 18, 2005 -- The number of Americans admitted to hospitals and clinics for treatment of methamphetamine and prescription painkiller addictions rose sharply in 2003, federal health officials said Monday. Nearly 117,000 Americans entered hospitals and clinics for treatment of methamphetamine addiction in 2003, a 10% rise from the year before. Treatments for abuse of prescription narcotics like OxyContin rose 12% to more than 48,000 in 2003, the latest year with available data, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Several states, including Arkansas, California, and Utah, saw their rates for admission for abuse of methamphetamine jump...

Cold and Deep: Antarctica's Lake Vostok has two big neighbors Sid Perkins GREAT LAKES. Lake Vostok and the newly described 90°E and Sovetskaya Lakes lie beneath a kilometers-thick blanket of ice. The black square in the inset shows the outline of this satellite image on a map of Antarctica; the cross indicates the South Pole. R.E. Bell, et al. Trapped beneath Antarctica's kilometers-thick ice sheet are two bodies of water that rival North America's Great Lakes, new analyses suggest. The geological setting of these huge, unfrozen lakes hints that they may harbor ecosystems that have been isolated for millions of...

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Feb. 2, 2006 – The Jordanian military continues to help Iraq's fledgling military forces and provide Afghan and Iraqi citizens with medical care they have lacked for decades, Jordanian officials said here this week. Jordan is part of a 63-nation coalition that has its headquarters at U.S. Central Command, in Tampa, Fla. "We have two hospitals, one in Iraq and one in Afghanistan," Royal Jordanian Air Force Col. Nart Alkhas said. "This is something we agreed to do with the American people. This is something we share." A 50-bed Jordanian military hospital located in Masar-e...

That Darned Old Tree I glanced at the obituaries this morning-on my way to the comics-and saw a familiar face on the page : a man who looked quite a bit like Santa Claus. “Hey !”, I thought. “ That looks like Henry : my back fence neighbor.” I had met Henry –to talk to-only once, though I had seen him puttering around his yard; and I had once pointed him out to one of my granddaughters. (I asked her: “ Do you suppose that’s Santa Claus over there ?” She looked at him and her eyes got big for...

An old oak tree blown down by Hurricane Katrina destroyed the home of Jessie and Sherry Krummel. Looters took everything else. But despite their misfortunes, the Krummels have been cooking dinner once a week . . . paying for much of the food out of their own pockets. "There's no way you can describe what they've done," said [one] National Guardsman. "To see someone that's still got their spirit, it makes it all worthwhile." The guardsman departed for home Saturday after one last feast. Krummel and a handful of volunteers cooked a Creole Thanksgiving dinner for the troops, complete with...

Hardly a day goes by when an improvised explosive device does not kill or maim a soldier or civilian bystanders. Crude explosives have given way to high quality C4. Sophisticated remote-controlled detonators have replaced gerrymandered devices and increased the lethality of the improvised explosive devices. Public anger toward the government is rising as casualties mount.Terrorism has returned to Turkey, five years after Ankara had nearly stamped it out. Turkey's success was hard fought. The terrorist campaign of the Kurdistan Workers Party, the PKK, had raged through the 1980s and 1990s. Approximately 30,000 people, at least half civilians, died in the...

Neighbors: Neo-Nazis Had No Right to March By JOHN SEEWER, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 10 minutes ago Lou Ratajski stands in front of his damaged club, Sunday, Oct. 16, 2005, in Toledo, Ohio. Jim and Lou's Sportsmans Club was damged during an outbreak of violence in response to a white supremacist march in a North Toledo neighbothood. The riot broke out Saturday when protesters confronted members of the National Socialist Movement who had gathered at a city park. Rioters threw baseball-sized rocks at police, vandalized vehicles and stores, and set fire to a neighborhood bar, authorities said. (AP Photo/Daniel...

19 September 2005 EXCLUSIVE: GRAN STARVES TO DEATH Ivy, 79, abandoned by family, friends and social services By Robert Stansfield A GRAN starved to death because her council home had no letterbox so her pension could not be delivered. Penniless Ivy Allen, 79, had barely drunk or eaten in the last three months of her life. None of her 10 children, 30 grandkids, social services or pensions officials noticed she was dying at her home in Warrington, Cheshire. Grandson Anthony Bradbury, 24, said: "I can't forgive myself." _______________ TRAGIC Ivy Allen's pension was sent back each week after the council...

Look at this current disaster we can see that all levels of government had (to be kind) shortcomings. So what now? Well lets remember 1st the level of government. The 1st level is YOU the citizen (or resident). What is your responsibility? Do you have a disaster kit available? http://www.ready.gov has a list of what you need. Do you have a plan as how to evacuate if you need to? The second level of government is your neighborhood. Get to know your neighbors, who has special needs, who has what training in 1st aid, medical, building trades, contacts etc. From...

The 45-year-old waded downstairs and managed to release his 14ft fishing boat from its trailer beside the house. He was joined by his 48-year-old brother, who lives next door, and together they motored through the choppy, debris-strewn water and plucked Kathy to safety. "These guys are heroes," she says. "If it hadn't been for them I would probably be dead."

I see Americans helping Americans. I hear stories and see photos that inspire me! I thank God I live in America.Brett Coomer / Chronicle A paramedic carries a pair of girls away from an Army helicopter after they were airlifted from their flooded home in New Orleans on Tuesday. More Chronicle PHOTOSI just listened to the local D.C. radio news and they played a woman screaming about no showers in the Astrodome. No this, no that, no nothing (I hear different). Then they quoted Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich making snide remarks about the progress of relief efforts. Melissa Phillip...

Things got ugly after Daryl R. Cook's neighbors turned against him. Really ugly. Cook spray-painted his Dunwoody ranch house bright orange and blue. After all, he's a University of Florida graduate. But he wasn't done. Next came the farm animals, some named after famous UF athletes and coaches. Three pigs — Spottie, Dottie and Sausage Patty — root through the dirt in the shade of the house. A trio of goats, known as Donovan and the Gatorettes, keep them company. Spurrier the rooster struts around crowing at all hours. Blue-and-orange concrete alligators, Cook's version of lawn ornaments, dot the landscape....

NEW DELHI: Visiting Pakistanis, fed for long on fables, rumours and stories about India, are making the most of the chance to confirm all they ever heard. Ranan Ghulam Qoadir, an agriculturist from Lahore here to watch the India-Pakistan cricket match on Sunday, had heard that Muslims simply "disappear" in India. But after clocking 24 hours in Delhi, he could not stop singing praises of India and Indians. "There is so much of a difference between what I had heard and what I saw. I have been treated like a VVIP here. The moment my Pakistani identity was revealed, their...

A bar owner withdrew his beer license for a controversial lounge--so why are neighbors still fighting it? The owner was arrested for giving a minor alcohol during the grand opening for his lounge last Friday. He withdrew the beer license Monday. But neighbors say there's no indication that means the bar will close. "I don't know what his intentions are from here, but ours is to go forward with this and we'll do whatever we can do to stop it," said Dwight Anderson, who lives next door to "Loose Booties Lounge" on Keel Mountain in Madison County. Anderson and many...

MEXICO CITY - The leaders of the United States, Mexico and Canada, confronting the growth of rival groups in Europe and Asia, hope to strengthen their free-trade pact by signing an "Initiative for North America" next week in Texas, Mexico President Vicente Fox said Wednesday. But Fox made clear that tensions remain over how to secure the countries' borders, criticizing new U.S. walls running along parts of its 2,000-mile frontier with Mexico. "No country that is proud of itself should build walls," he said. Fox, President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin are scheduled to meet March 23 at...

Shots fired inside a home in The Heights during a violent home invasion. Moments later, the victim's neighbor tried to help and he started shooting, too. Police are still looking for suspects. It happened on 23rd at Baylor. Neighbors are still shocked over the incident that left more than a little mark on this quiet neighborhood. Neighbor Benny Grable said, "A little bit before seven it sounded like a war zone out here." It was a scene Benny and his wife Alice won't soon forget.. "Of course, I was scared," said Alice Grable. "It's not something you have happen every...

Paul Sakuma/Associated Press Alan Aerts of Monte Sereno, Calif., once put up elaborate Christmas displays that drew thousands of visitors. Now he has only a singing Grinch that points to neighbors who complained about the traffic. MONTE SERENO, Calif., Nov. 26 (AP) - For six years, Alan and Bonnie Aerts transformed their Silicon Valley home into a Christmas wonderland, complete with a surfing Santa, jumbo candy canes and a carol-singing chorus of mannequins. Visitors loved it. Last year, after NBC's "Weekend Today" featured the $150,000 display of custom-designed props, more than 1,500 cars prowled the Aertses' cul-de-sac in this...

GREENWOOD, Ind. -- Some neighbors aren't thrilled with the rock in gun dealer Don Davis's front yard promoting armed protection, but he vows that only a judge can make him move it. The 8-foot ornamental rock, in front of the home Davis recently built near this Indianapolis suburb, depicts an eagle and the U.S. flag. The inscription: ``It's better to own a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not own it.''

The thing about fall leaves is that they fall, sometimes from one person's tree onto a neighbor's yard. That can make normally reasonable people get irrational, especially if the mounds of leaves come on the heels of root-buckled sidewalks or overhanging branches from the same taunting, just-over-the-property-line tree. William F. Elmendorf has heard from them. "I get the calls: 'I came home and my neighbor cut down my tree.' Or, 'My neighbor dug a trench to the property line and took out all the roots of my tree,' " said Elmendorf, assistant professor of urban and community forestry at Penn...

Aug. 27, 2004Man lay dead in bed for two yearsCondo fees and bills were still being paidBody finally found in mummified state WINNIPEG—His telephone number was still listed in the telephone directory and his condominium fees and bills were automatically being withdrawn from his bank account. No one knew Jim Sulkers had died in his bed almost two years ago. Neighbour Sam Shuster said residents in the complex often wondered where the man they knew only as Jim had gone, but were told his condominium fees were still being paid. "How can that happen, for God's sake. Two years!" Shuster said...

The Free State Project is picking up speed as Libertarians and other freedom-minded people begin moving to a small state where they hope to make a big difference. New Hampshire was chosen last fall as the destination for thousands of small-government advocates who are promising to move in and try to staunch the onslaught of socialism. Now they're starting to make good on their promise. An estimated 300 or 350 Free Staters (or Porcupines, as they call themselves) attended the first semi-official gathering in New Hampshire June 24-27. Though the Porcupine Freedom Festival wasn't officially sponsored by the FSP, "it...