Free Republic

After 50 years, fire still burns under Pa. town (A motorist in 2004 drives among the smoldering remains of land near Route 61 in Centralia, Pa. AP file photo) Fifty years ago Sunday, a fire at the town dump ignited an exposed coal seam, setting off a chain of events that eventually led to the demolition of nearly every building in Centralia — a whole community of 1,400 simply gone. All these decades later, the Centralia fire still burns. It also maintains its grip on the popular imagination, drawing visitors from around the world who come to gawk at twisted,...

If you are in old age, with no family and little money, your options are slim if you need living assistance. Wasting away at home is a tragic possibility and government funded retirement homes might only be an option once your assets are depleted. Would you be better off committing a crime and going to prison where you receive food, clothing, and medical care? We decided to find out. Regardless of your state, province, or national government, going into old age and needing care while holding little or no individual assets is a dicey situation. Would you be better off...

What do you think of Pizza Patron’s free pizza promotion? It’s great. I’ll speak Spanish to get a free pizza. It’s inappropriate. This is the U.S. Speak English.

roups such as Code Pink, National Organization for Women and others within the feminist establishment share an implicit philosophy that holds that women are victims. I began thinking this through after reading a thought provoking book. Called The Cinderella Complex: Women’s Hidden Fear of Independence, writer Colette Dowling gives an in depth look at how women’s fear of independence, diminishes them. From reading this book, I believe that this fear has lasting implications for society. I found Dowling refreshing in laying the blame on women for not taking responsibility for their own lives. She states: Personal, psychological dependency-the deep wish...

A few points: 1. Contraception is a leftist ploy to break down the family, faith in God, and all of society. 2. Freepers and Americans who use it need to repent to God. 3. The states need to ban it. 4. There is no right to contraception. 5. Contraception leads to abortion. 6. Stop sexual immorality.

Welcome To The World's Nicest Prison BASTOY, Norway (CNN) -- Jan Petter Vala, who is serving a prison sentence for murder, has hands the size of dinner plates and shoulders like those of an ox. In an alcoholic rage, he used his brutish strength to strangle his girlfriend to death a few years ago. On a recent Thursday, however, at this summer-camp-like island prison in southern Norway, where convicts hold keys to their rooms and there are no armed guards or fences, Vala used those same enormous hands to help bring life into the world. The 42-year-old murderer stood watch...

The last decade has seen major changes in the American radical right. What was once a world largely dominated by a few relatively well-organized groups has become a scene populated by large numbers of smaller, weaker groups, with only a handful led by the kind of charismatic chieftains that characterized the 1990s

Stop me if you've heard this one. Thousands of largely novice investors line up for what's been billed as "the opportunity of a lifetime" to buy a "can't-miss" investment destined for easy gains. Pundits take position and say it's worth buying at "any price." People whisper in anticipation over how much they'll make. Fifty percent? Double their money? More? In the end, the floor drops out and they're left with hefty losses -- totally predictable losses. Furious investors want answers. What went wrong, they ask? The answer is usually complicated, but has a common denominator: You overpaid. Fell for the...

10 Largest Caliber Weapons Ever Most weapons, from .45 automatics to 155-mm howitzers, are described in terms of caliber—the diameter of their projectile. These are the biggest of the big. Some are impractical showpieces built to satisfy the outsize egos of dictators such as Adolph Hitler and Saddam Hussein. Others are pure demonstrations of extreme gunsmithing. All of them pack a punch. Largest Muzzle-Loading Cannon The Tsar Cannon was cast in bronze in 1586 and weighs 40 tons. Its 35-inch bore and could fire about 1800 pounds of stone grapeshot, earning it the nickname the Russian Shotgun. It was never...

Hey, happy birthday Bob! Just sittin' here, listening to Infidels and enjoying the tunes. Jokerman Standing on the waters casting your bread While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing. Distant ships sailing into the mist, You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing. Freedom just around the corner for you But with the truth so far off, what good will it do? Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune, Bird fly high by the light of the moon, Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman. So swiftly the sun sets in...

In 1916, a circus in Tennessee sentenced an elephant to death by hanging In the early 1900s, it wasn't uncommon for humans to use their waxing technological prowess for the express purpose of torturing the hell out of animals. In one particularly mind-boggling incident, a five-ton circus elephant named Mary was condemned to death by hanging after her owners nixed executions by firearms, dismemberment, and electrocution. After Mary killed her handler in St. Paul, Virginia because of abuse/poor training/a toothache/some nebulous combination thereof, the proprietors of Sparks World Famous Shows executed the pachyderm in the railyards of Erwin, Tennessee on...

May 2009, 5-year-old Jacob Philadelphia was visiting the White House with his father, a former Marine who was leaving his 2-year stint working for the National Security Council as part of the White House staff. The father asked to take a family photo with the president and before they left the Oval Office Jacob had a question for the President. “I want to know if my hair is just like yours,” Jacob asked Obama, so quietly that the president asked him to repeat his question. “Touch it, dude!” Obama said.

http://allhiphop.com/2012/05/23/signs-the-world-is-coming-to-an-end-trayvoning-trend-sweeping-facebook/

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to diagnose, often times not detected until the most advanced stages. However, new advances in medical science have provided a way to find pancreatic cancer before it spreads. New advances made by a 15-year-old Maryland high school student. North County freshman Jack Andraka earned the grand prize at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair for creating a test that can detect early stage pancreatic cancer with 90 percent accuracy and at a cheaper rate than other tests. “It detects an abnormal protein that you find in the blood when you...

This year’s “American Idol” is Phillip Phillips, the 20-year old from Leesburg, Georgia, who seemed to have had a lock on the title at, well, hello. He’s been compared to Dave Matthews and some critics have said he had the advantage of a female-voting-base, but his performance of “We’ve Got Tonight” last week, and “Home” last night proved his voice and talent as an artist might have a little something to do with it as well. It was a star-studded and sequin-heavy finale at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles with performances by Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, John Fogerty, Chaka Khan...

Is Obama as right as he seems? New evidence reveals his college class got lower SAT scores than Dubya Average SAT score of Obama's 1981 transfer group to Columbia was 1,100 Bush got into Yale with score of 1,206 out of 1,600 Obama refuses to release his academic record Barack Obama may have got worse high school grades than George W Bush after new evidence showed the current president was among a college class with poor average SAT scores. Doubts about the supposedly superior intellect of Mr Obama were first raised after he refused to release his academic record. He...

Katie Couric has extended an open invitation to Sarah Palin to guest on her forthcoming daytime talk show, "Katie." "She has an open invitation to come talk to me," Couric said while previewing "Katie" in Orlando yesterday. "I'm not sure she'd be interested but she'd certainly be welcome. She's a fascinating figure not only on the political scene but in popular culture."

MSNBC’s new golden girl was in a pickle: If someone sees a black person committing rape or domestic violence, should he report it if it makes black people look bad?

DUBUQUE, Iowa – An Iowa man stopped outside a Dubuque bar with a small zebra and a parrot in his truck has been charged with drunken driving. KCRG-TV reports officers arrested 56-year-old Jerald Reiter of Cascade on Sunday in the parking lot of the Dog House bar, where people had been taking photos of the animals.

Any cop knows that witness testimony is flimsy at best, with more than one witness to a crime typically differing on half a dozen different aspects of a case. But one thing is a given: cops go with the first testimony a witness gives—not the one likely impacted later by family, friends and the court of public opinion. And so it will go with George Zimmerman’s defense lawyer as well, when the Trayvon Martin shooting case finally goes to trial. Until then, however, the fact that four witnesses have changed their stories somewhat should make the public concerned about witness...

FP: David Cohen, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Let’s begin with you telling us how it is exactly that you became a conservative without abandoning your liberal ideals. How can it be that conservative policies can be the best way to achieve liberal ideals? Cohen: When I was a liberal, I wanted America to live up to its billing as the Land of Opportunity, with no one being held back because of race, ethnicity, religion or gender. I believed that America’s diversity was its strength. I was concerned about poverty; I wanted poor people to have a genuine shot at realizing...

Olympian Lolo Jones is one of the best hurdlers in the world. She's athletic, she's attractive, she's fit ... and as she recently stated on Twitter, she's a virgin. The 29-year-old Jones, who has won gold medals at the World Indoor Championships twice, but is still searching for her first Olympic gold medal, openly discussed her virginity on HBO's "Real Sports," in an episode that airs on Tuesday night. "It's just something, a gift I want to give to my husband," she told Mary Carillo. "But please understand: This journey has been hard. It's the hardest thing I've ever done...

As conservatives,we already see this.And to this day,Our own President has barely spent much time in the oval office doing his job.Being President!.Every day our debt is increasing 4 billion,numerous financial emergencies that need to be dealt with or else we face a total collapse of our economy. Obama has snubbed any effort to deal with medicare and social security.Many members of congress are finding it harder to have a serious meeting with him to address any crisis.So what is the point of being President if you dont want to deal with any of the most cruicial issues?.Yet Obama keeps...

Karen Capato's fight for Social Security benefits for her children ended Monday when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously that children born through artificial insemination after a father's death don't qualify for survivor benefits.

In the Cairo shantytown of Dweika, raw sewage forms puddles in dirt roads and families of seven or more live crammed into two-room shacks that appear in imminent danger of collapse—as does the ground beneath their feet. … For the residents of Dweika, this week's election is historic in more ways than one, marking a rare occasion when they are on an equal footing with better-off Egyptians. They say they will hold to account any president who fails to live up to promises to improve their lot. In Mubarak's Egypt, police extortion often amounted to their only interaction with an...

Google's Chrome has overtaken Microsoft's Internet Explorer as the most widely used web browser in the world, according to statistics released today.Data from web analytics service StatCounter showed that for the week of May 14-20 Chrome has averaged a higher share of web traffic for a full seven-day stretch.The development will be welcome news for web designers, who have long struggled with the Microsoft browser's patchy implementation of new web coding standards. Enlarge   Overtaken: This graph shows the market share of the top five web browsers Statcounter's data showed Chrome in the lead in the field of five major...

BRIGHTON, Colo. — A boy with an inoperable brain tumor was sworn in as Brighton's youngest police officer on Thursday. Jose Rubio-Pavon, 12, always wanted to be a police officer, The Denver Channel reported. Jose Rubio-Pavon, diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor, was sworn in as an officer in his hospice room. (Brighton Police Image) Officers Anna-Marie Cuney, Levy Slagle and Cpl. Monce Portillo swore him in during a ceremony in his hospice room and presented him with a certificate officially recognizing him as a member of the Brighton Police Department, a police uniform shirt and a junior officer badge....

For the second year in a row, 24/7 Wall St. examined the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s report on life satisfaction in the developed world. Economic prosperity, health and a strong social support network continue to correspond highly with happiness. Once again, the United States fails to make the top 10 happiest nations in the world, while countries like Australia, Israel and all of the Scandinavian nations do. The OECD measured more than 30 sets of data in 11 different categories, including education, health and employment. The study also asked residents of each country to rank, on a scale...

Google has officially acquired Motorola Mobility as of today. Sanjay Jha, Motorola's former CEO, has stepped down. He'll be replaced by Google's Dennis Woodside. Here's the official announcement from Larry Page, Google's CEO: ___________________________ The phones in our pockets have become supercomputers that are changing the way we live. It’s now possible to do things we used to think were magic, or only possible on Star Trek--like get directions right from where we are standing; watch a video on YouTube; or take a picture and share the moment instantly with friends. It’s why I’m excited to announce today that our...

05/21/12 Baltimore, Maryland – Down, down, down… Day after day for the last 2 weeks…almost everything has been grinding down. Stocks, oil, copper, bond yields… It looks as though the whole world economy is slowing down. China, India, America, Europe. All are slowing. How much longer can this slow down continue? A lot longer! We should have some bounce in the markets this week. But beware. Our “Crash Alert” flag is up. Meanwhile… We spent the weekend in Charlottesville, VA…at the UVA graduation for our son, Henry. The University of Virginia is probably the most handsome campus in America. Especially...

And now comes some news about the Facebook IPO that buyers deserve to be outraged about. Reuters Alistair Barr is reporting that Facebook's lead underwriters Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, and Goldman Sachs, all cut their earnings forecasts for the company in the middle of the IPO roadshow. This by itself is highly unusual (I've never seen it during 20 years in and around the tech IPO business). But, just as important, news of the estimate cut was passed on only to a handful of big investor clients, not everyone else who was considering an investment in Facebook. This is a...

The Man of Steel? Lois Lane's lover? DC Comics has jumped the shark - maybe. But the DC Comics co-publisher appears to be contemplating changing the sexual orientation of an "established character:" One question asked at the DC panel today at the Kapow comic convention in London, was about DC co-publisher Dan DiDio's interview with The Advocate. Specifically over the decision not to change any character's sexual orientation when relaunching the DC Universe. At the time Dan stated they would introduce new LGBT characters rather than switch orientation, but the question asked why DC would switch race, size, age,...

Thank goodness that's over. The Facebook IPO could have been a major disaster for millions of individual investors. If the stock had "popped" to a truly ludicrous level on IPO day, millions of investors would likely have piled into it, hoping for further gains. And then, eventually, the hype would have faded, and these investors would have gotten creamed as the stock fell back to a more reasonable price. As it was, Facebook's IPO price was not truly ludicrous--it was just extremely expensive. The "extremely expensive" part was why I called Facebook "muppet bait." And it was why I kept...

A half-naked woman wearing hot pink duct tape attacked and injured three police officers in a bizarre incident Saturday night outside a lower Queen Anne bar, police said. The outlandish drama began at about 8 p.m., when the woman began stripping off her clothes inside the bar and sticking hot pink duct tape on her upper body, said Seattle police spokeswoman Renee Witt. The bartender ordered her to leave the bar, but she refused. She then grabbed the bartender's arm, injuring him. After that, she attacked another female customer by clawing and scratching her face and eyes, Witt said.

Fear! and being the first man I want to post a comment on this. FEAR! It is the life draining emotion. It is what keeps you from accomplishing and doing and starting. It is excessively protectful. It is how animals think...the kind of animals that get eaten. Fear is destructive in that it prevents you from doing anything at all other than running away or hunkering in a fetal "down and cover". Fear thrives on pessimism and complaining. The man that wakes every morning, walks outside and smiles at the bright sun and blue sky and cinches down the ruck,...

Dogs are known for being loyal companions -- but we've never met any as faithful as Hachiko, an Akita from Japan who spent 10 years waiting for his master. If you’ve ever seen the canceled-before-its-time (but now revived!) show Futurama, you’ll probably remember Bender, the alcoholic robot; Leela, the beautiful one-eyed captain; and Philip J. Fry, the bumbling pizza delivery boy who was cryogenically frozen for a thousand years before joining the Planet Express intergalactic mail delivery team. But do you remember Fry’s loyal, loving dog, who waited for his master until the end of his life? If you didn’t...

<p>Even the hot-sauce ads were too hot for the Hasids.</p> <p>Orthodox rabbis yesterday declared such social-networking sites as Facebook off-limits, at a massive anti-Internet event that drew more than 60,000 to Citi Field and neighboring Arthur Ashe stadium.</p> <p>Those who spoke were shown on the scoreboard at Citi Field between two ads for Cholula hot sauce — with the image of its matronly female trademark covered up.</p>

A co-worker of mine who happens to be gay posted a picture of what was allegedly a church sign saying "I never told LGBT folks they couldn't marry. The bigots don't speak for me. Signed, God." THAT flew all over me. So since they wanted to use religion to justify themselves....I shot back with this series of four jpegs.... Enjoy!

Lets use Illinois as an example.Many residents have already fled the state for the same reasons they have in California,Ohio and Michigan.Now,do you think that all of the blue&deep blue districts in the Chicago area still have those former residents on the voter registration lists?And how about all those who have died over the last 10 or so years?As bad as the economy is in Illinois and being the Dem's still run the show there,especially with "you know who"as mayor of Chicago,does anyone really expect an honest count come November 7th?(or is it the 8th?)

I Pledge Allegiance To The Flag...... I want my USA.

May 20, 2012 Jenna Talackova: Transgender Beauty Queen Places in Top 12 Jenna Talackova, the transgender Canadian beauty queen, placed in the top 12 at the Miss Universe Canada pageant, but fell short of the crown. The 6-foot-1 blonde bombshell was a crowd favorite as she strutted down the runway in the evening gown and swimwear portions of the competition. Talackova also seemed to be a favorite among her fellow contestants and was one of four women voted “Miss Congeniality.” The 23-year-old was originally disqualified from the competition because she was not a “naturally born female.” After threats of a...

White House photographer David Souza has done it again. From The White House flickr: Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, President Barack Obama, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, and others watch the overtime shootout of the Chelsea vs. Bayern Munich Champions League final, in the Laurel Cabin conference room during the G8 Summit at Camp David, Md., May 19, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza) Seeing as Bayern Munich lost the shootout, we hope Angela Merkel isn't gong to push for double austerity out of some sense of...

I think when we express a desire to be in, or go back to, simpler days, we're really wanting less thought.

Mohammad Siddique condemned the charity for helping soldiers get back to the front line and said he was contacting local MP Crispin Blunt to inform him a number of Muslim groups are now considering an online petition designed to force a Commons debate on withdrawing its charitable status.

Transgender at Five Video She first insisted she was a boy at the age of 2. "I am a boy" became a constant theme in struggles over clothing, bathing, swimming, eating, playing. Eventually, a psychologist diagnosed gender identity disorder. Now Tyler 's parents allow him to live as a boy, and the 5-year-old is reveling in his new identity. By Petula Dvorak May 19 Kathryn wanted pants. And short hair. Then trucks and swords. Her parents, Jean and Stephen, were fine with their toddler’s embrace of all things boy. They’ve both been school teachers and coaches in Maryland and are...

General Motors Co. will not advertise in next year's Super Bowl because it is too expensive, the top marketing executive for the U.S. automaker said three days after the company announced it was dropping paid ads on Facebook Inc. The 2013 Super Bowl will be broadcast by CBS Corp, which is selling 30-second ads for as much as $4 million. Spots on NBC's broadcast of this year's National Football League championship game, the most heavily watched annual event on U.S. television, cost about $3.5 million per 30-second spot. NBC is majority-owned by Comcast Corp. "We understand the reach the Super...

Clearing up Matter of Sinatra and JFK

Mary Richardson Kennedy nearly missed her own wake Friday after a legal battle erupted over her body. On one side was her estranged husband, Bobby Kennedy Jr., who was in the midst of divorcing her when she hanged herself in a barn. He claimed the right to decide where she would rest in peace. On the other side were Mary’s brothers and sisters, who didn’t want her to be buried beside members of the Kennedy clan in Hyannisport — and filed suit to stop that from happening.

Several years ago, there was a large reward posted for evidence that the Ivory Billed Woodpecker was not extinct as was previously thought. Strangely, the classic car world has yet to respond in like fashion for evidence that breeding pairs of Plymouth Crickets or Mercury Bobcats are still out there. To qualify for the list a car must have been produced in large numbers (10,000-plus) within the last 40 years with few (if any) roadworthy survivors. Here are some of our favorite threatened, endangered and extinct cars:

Sovereign citizens believe the USG is illegitimate and has drifted away from the true intent of the Constitution. As a result, the USG is not perceived to be acting in the interest of the American people. These groups generally do not adhere to federal, state, or local laws. Some sovereign citizens believe federal and state officials have no real authority and will only recognize the local sheriff’s department as the only legitimate government official. Other law enforcement officials are viewed as being oppressive and illegitimate.