Free Republic

Jury Awards $16 Million To Family In Fatal Radio Prank October 29, 2009 A Sacramento jury today awarded $16 million to the family of a woman who died during a 2007 radio station contest gone awry. The Sacramento County Superior Court jury concluded that Entercom Sacramento, which operates KDND-FM (107.9) "The End," was negligent after ignoring several warnings that a morning show contest could have fatal consequences, according to KTXL-TV (Channel 40) in Sacramento. Jennifer Strange, a mother of three from suburban Rancho Cordova, died of apparent water intoxication hours after a failed attempt to win a Nintendo Wii video...

There is allegedly proof that the story of balloon boy Falcon Heene was a stunt to help pitch a television show. But the purported proof will cost you thousands of dollars to get. Today, we spoke with a Denver-area student who claims to have worked with Falcon's father, Richard Heene, on a reality show proposal for ABC. The student wants to sell the information and says the National Enquirer is considering buying it for between $5,000 and $8,000. The student claims to have been hired by Heene, and says the two worked together from March until May 2009 to prepare...

Krauthammer on what he thinks of this rebuke of Joe Wilson by the same Democrats that called Bush every D*mn name in the book....

what do you think? real? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvxJP3TqRNY

Barack Obama has evoked Abraham Lincoln ever since launching his campaign at the Old State Capitol in Springfield, Ill. Now he plans to arrive in Washington the same way that Lincoln did in 1861, with a train trip that will include stops, speeches and crowds along the way. On Jan. 17, Obama and his family will start the day with an appearance in Philadelphia, where they will board a chartered Amtrak train. The train will stop in Wilmington, Del., where the Obamas will be joined by Vice President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. Then comes a stop in Baltimore before the...

This is an AP video so I'm not going to post it. There's a link on Yahoo's front page though, and it'll be on YouTube for sure shortly. It appears that Obama is not doing enough for blacks! That's right folks, blacks are angry with the Messiah for not speaking out on Katrina (barf) and other issues affecting blacks. One of the blacks questioning Obama was real angry and Obama responded with a bunch of "uh huhs" that he normally says. Clearly he wasn't ready for this, "uppity" blacks questioning The All Powerful and All Knowing Obamessiah.

REMAINS of a mysterious "creature" washed up on a Long Island beach have set websites in United States abuzz with speculation about its origins. Hot on the heels of new claims from an ex-NASA astronaut about aliens visiting Earth, news of the find has excited conspiracy theorists around the world. Dubbed the Montauk Monster after the Long Island town where it was found, the creature has prompted speculation it was part of a secret mutant breeding program undertaken by the US Government. The Huffington Post has even given the creature its own blog.

Plainville (AP) -- They don't climb tall buildings in a single bound, but the mysterious "Gas Men" are super heroes to some fed-up motorists. The unknown duo were dressed in sunglasses, baseball caps, khakis and matching green golf shirts when they gave Gayle Kilburn a $100 bill on Thursday as she filled up her car at a Citgo in Plainville. They also handed her a card that read "Re-Fueling Our Community" and was signed "The Gas Men." Kilburn says she was stunned by the gesture and at first thought it was a stunt with Monopoly money. She later realized it...

South Pasadena, California 10/20/2007 - A California “undercover investigator” identifying himself to this reporter as "Agent Egan" entered the Fremont Center Theatre at 8:00 PM curtain time tonight and halted the performance of Pulitzer Prize and National Medal of Arts author Ray Bradbury’s play Dandelion Wine. Bradbury was in attendance awaiting the start of the performance with a theatre full of celebrity guests including The Empire Strikes Back director Irvin Kershner.

WASHINGTON - In the dead of night, the Senate apparently turns into something other than the oft-cited greatest deliberative body in the world. It becomes a "circus, a "mockery," "Kabuki theater," a "carnival" and a "charade," Democrats have said. Not only that, but "a colossal waste of time." And given the increasingly geriatric nature of the chamber as a whole, the Senate in all-night session amounts to "elder abuse." Those were Democrats talking about the last all-night Senate session four years ago. Then, they were in the minority and forced by Republicans to make good on their threat to filibuster...

2,000 gather for nude shoot in Amsterdam By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 46 minutes ago AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - Dozens of women posed naked on their bicycles on a bridge over one of Amsterdam's historic canals Sunday — a unique sight even in a city famed for its relaxed attitude toward nudity and sex. They were among 2,000 men and women who participated in a series of four nude group photos in the city in the early hours of the morning as part of the latest project of U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick. The first and largest composition was...

HOBOKEN, N.J. - He's a veteran of long-distance sailing voyages in all kinds of weather. She's never sailed outside the Hudson River. But together, 55-year-old Reid Stowe and his 23-year-old girlfriend, Soanya Ahmad, are embarking on a voyage that they intend to take them three times around the globe and last 1,000 days and nights — nonstop, with no port calls for supplies or a walk on solid ground. They were ready to set sail Saturday aboard his 70-foot, two-masted schooner, named the Schooner Anne, from a Hudson River marina in North Hoboken. "This will be my first time sailing...

Attempts to duplicate a movie stunt landed one man in the hospital with burned genitals and another facing criminal charges. The men were trying to do a stunt from one of the "Jackass'' movies, in which a character lights his genitals on fire. Jared W. Anderson, 20, suffered serious burns to his hands and genitals, according to the criminal complaint. Randell D. Peterson, 43, who sprayed lighter fluid on Anderson and lit him on fire, was charged with felony battery and first-degree reckless endangerment Tuesday in Eau Claire County Court. Witnesses told police that Anderson, who was drunk, volunteered to...

PORTLAND, Maine - A Democratic activist spotted on a highway overpass dressed as Osama bin Laden on Halloween faces additional charges for the stunt. Tom Connolly was charged Wednesday with terrorizing and reckless conduct, in addition to the original charge of criminal threatening, prosecutor Stephanie Anderson said in a statement. All three charges are misdemeanors. "Halloween or not, in this day and age you do not get to dress as an international terrorist and wave what appears to be an AK-47 at rush hour traffic," Anderson said. Connolly did not immediately return a call Wednesday. Police responded to calls from...

The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled today that California's marriage laws banning same-sex marriage do not violate the constitutional rights of gays and lesbians.

Youth sought over 25,000 volt cable stunt British Transport Police appealed for help today to trace a youth who was seen swinging from overhead power cables by train passengers. The death-defying stunt happened near a footbridge over the West Coast Main Line in the Bolehall area of Tamworth, Staffordshire, about half a mile south of the town's railway station. The bare-chested man was seen by a passenger from Lancaster who was travelling on a service from London Euston to Glasgow earlier this month. The passenger captured the man on his camera phone and later passed the image to the police....

AUSTIN, Texas - Chanting "Try Rove for treason," Cindy Sheehan and more than 50 other war protesters disrupted a reception before President Bush's top adviser Karl Rove spoke at a fundraiser Saturday. One woman was arrested during a scuffle with police after Sheehan and the anti-war demonstrators rushed toward the closed doors and kept chanting loudly after the guests went into the dinner. Rove was speaking to the Associated Republicans of Texas, and ticket prices started at $200. He was not in the Renaissance Hotel lobby during the reception. "I want him arrested. He planned the war that killed my...

Lawyers who will argue for and against same-sex marriage Monday before a California appeals court offered disparate views of Thursday's ruling by New York's highest court in a similar case. The New York State Court of Appeals ruled 4-2 that a state law excluding same-sex couples from marriage doesn't violate that state's constitution, and is an issue best addressed by lawmakers. "The idea that same-sex marriage is even possible is a relatively new one," Associate Judge Robert Smith wrote for the majority, adding that until recent decades, societies throughout history condoned marriages only between men and women. "A court should...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Democrats ratcheted up their election-year push for an increase in the federal minimum wage Tuesday by promising to block a congressional pay hike unless some of the lowest-paid hourly workers get their first raise in nearly a decade. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada refused to spell out exactly how he will block a $3,300 pay raise scheduled for January 1 for members of Congress, who currently earn $165,200 annually. He said with 40 Senate Democrats backing the maneuver, "We can stop anything they (Republicans) try to do with a congressional pay raise."

Some Democrats, breaking ranks from their leadership, today said the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab Zarqawi in Iraq was a stunt to divert attention from an unpopular and hopeless war. "This is just to cover Bush's [rear] so he doesn't have to answer" for Iraqi civilians being killed by the U.S. military and his own sagging poll numbers, said Rep. Pete Stark, California Democrat. "Iraq is still a mess -- get out."

Topeka, Kan. — Hoping to prompt Topeka’s lunch crowd into realizing that whether fish, foul—or even Frank!—a corpse is a corpse, PETA will slather a 10-gallon-hat-wearing effigy of a cowboy with barbecue sauce and pretend to cook "him" on a mock grill downtown tomorrow. PETA’s point? That all animals are made of flesh, bone, and blood, just as humans are, and that eating meat entails eating the corpse of an animal who was an individual with feelings, a family, and a distinct personality. In addition to the "human barbecue," activists will hold signs that read, "Meat Is Murder," and give...

Here's what now passes for "news gathering" at the NBC television network in the brave, and still relatively new, world of 24/7 electronic news broadcasting: Last weekend, a crew working for the NBC News magazine program "Dateline" showed up in Martinsville, Va. for the NASCAR stock car races. With the crew were some "Muslim-looking men" - whatever that means - as part of a "Dateline" effort to show how people in this country would react to "Muslims" in their midst. In a recent statement, NBC News said it was pursuing the issue because it was "intrigued by the results of...

Russian Air Force's stunt fly show     Two SU-27 fighter jets perform during a fly show in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, March 18, 2006. The 2006 Russian Air Force Tianmenshan stunt fly show officially started on Saturday afternoon at the Lotus airport in the city of Zhangjiajie. Five SU-27 fighter jets perform during a fly show in Zhangjiajie, central China's Hunan Province, March 18, 2006. The 2006 Russian Air Force Tianmenshan stunt fly show officially started on Saturday afternoon at the Lotus airport in the city of Zhangjiajie. A SU-30 fighter jet performs during a fly show in...

Teen's New Name: KentuckyFriedCruelty.com Fri Dec 30, 4:58 PM ET NEW YORK - A 19-year-old PETA staffer has legally changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com. Chris Garnett, youth outreach coordinator for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said he changed his name in support of the group's anti-KFC campaign. "People don't believe me at first when I tell them my name, but it never fails to spark a discussion," Garnett, er, KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, said in a statement. "Many vow to boycott KFC after I explain the company's indifference to cruelty to animals." Norfolk, Va.-based PETA's complaints against KFC stem from...

BAGHDAD, Iraq The U-S military in Iraq is downplaying reports of insurgent attacks against American and Iraqi installations in Ramadi. Local police and residents had reported widespread attacks on the town. The U-S military says only one rocket-propelled grenade was fired at an observation post and there were no injuries. A police lieutenant says at least four mortar rounds fell near a U-S base, and residents say scores of masked gunmen ran into the streets. Meanwhile, the military says an A-P Television News video of the insurgents is a publicity stunt. The footage shows insurgents walking through a market street...

On Tuesday, the Democrat Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid invoked the so-called Rule 21, which forced the US Senate to go into a closed, secret session. Reid's rationale for this rarely used tactic was that the Republicans were not seriously investigating the intelligence used in the run-up to the Iraq war. Needless to say, Republican senators, especially Republican Majority Leader Bill Frist, were incensed over the shenanigans of people such as Senator Reid, Senator Dick "US Soldiers are Nazis" Durbin and others. The usual process for invoking Rule 21 entails the lead senator implement Rule 21 notifying the other political...

"It was a stunt" is already leading, so let's FReep it in that direction.

Reid's 'Secret' Session on Pre-War Intel Called 'Pure Stunt' By Melanie Hunter CNSNews.com Senior Editor November 01, 2005 (1st Add: Includes comments from Sen. John Rockefeller.) (CNSNews.com) - Senate Republican leaders were incensed Tuesday at Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid's (D-Nev.) decision to hold a "secret" closed session to discuss the pre-war intelligence in the lead-up to the war in Iraq and the indictment of Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff I. Lewis Libby. GOP leaders said they were not informed about the closed door session ahead of time like in years past. "Every time in recent history,...

Up the Creek: Out to Embarrass Bush Over Alleged Video Stunt, Today Gets Caught in Stunt of Its Own In a deliciously ironic twist of fate, shortly before airing a segment aimed at embarrassing the Bush administration by suggesting that it had staged a video conversation between the president and soldiers in Iraq, the Today show was caught staging . . . a video stunt. ... Today's timing couldn't have been worse. A preceding segment focused on the incessant rains and ensuing flooding in the northeast. For days now, beautiful, blonde - and one senses highly ambitious - young reporter...

RELATED NEWS: Catholic Church responds massively to Katrina refugees US Bishops issue call to help poorest dioceses affected by Katrina New Orleans Archbishop Hughes survives Katrina; continues to minister to fellow refugees US Bishops announce national collection for Hurricane Katrina relief Pro-life group criticizes Planned Parenthood for hurricane ‘publicity stunt’Stafford, VA, Sep. 02, 2005 (CNA) - Jim Sedlak, president of American Life League’s STOPP International group, heavily criticized Planned Parenthood this week for what he sees as a marketing stunt aimed at victims of Hurricane Katrina. Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas has offered free so-called “emergency contraceptives”...

SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man who says he was devastated after he was identified as gay on a national Spanish-language radio show will be paid $270,000 by Univision Radio, an arbitrator has ruled. Roberto Hernandez, 45, was driving to work in 2002 when he received a phone call from a man who said that he met Hernandez at a San Francisco gay bar. The caller then announced that the conversation was being broadcast live on the "Raul Brindis and Pepito Show," based in Houston. Hernandez worked for the local station that broadcast the show, and sold advertising for...

LAND O'LAKES -- A radio-station stunt that had three listeners dressed up like escaped jail inmates went awry Friday when dozens of people called 911 and the resulting ruckus tied up traffic during morning rush hour, authorities said. The three people, shackled and dressed in what appeared to be jail uniforms, were competing to try to get motorists to give them a ride, Kevin Doll, a spokesman with the Pasco County Sheriff's Office, said. The first one back to the studios of Tampa station WXTB-FM would win a trip to Los Angeles in conjunction with a new Fox show called...

GRAND RAPIDS -- Cruel hoax or just plain cruel? A local radio show host's announcement that he planned to drown a dog today -- purportedly to draw attention to this week's drownings of two children -- turned out to be a hoax, but still drew the ire of police and dog lovers. Callers flooded 911 dispatch centers with complaints before the stunt was unveiled as a publicity put-on. WKLQ-FM morning show hosts at 8 a.m. aired sound effects that were supposed to sound like a dog being drowned at a nearby park. Disc jockeys then admitted the effort was a...

SOLVANG, Calif. (AP) -- Actress Sandra Bullock married mechanic and reality TV star Jesse James at a ranch near Santa Barbara, according to reports. Bullock, 40, and James, 35, exchanged vows Saturday in front of several hundred guests at the Folded Hills Ranch in Santa Ynez Valley's wine country.

Man pulls car with ears while standing on eggs May 21, 2005- A Chinese man pulled a car with his ears while walking on eggs without breaking them. Zhang Xingquan, ,38, pulled the car for about 20 metres in Dehui, Jinli province. His performance drew a big crowd of astonished onlookers. Zhang said he began to learn the stunt when he was just eight-years-old. He can also pick up a 25kg bicycle with his mouth while standing on eggs.

The polar bear, an icon of the great white north, is in peril, its icy home melting beneath its paws, an environmental group argued Wednesday in formally petitioning the Bush administration to grant the animals protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Center for Biological Diversity, which made the plea on the day the Kyoto Protocol to address global warming went into effect without the United States, said it did not believe the Bush administration would agree with its 154-page argument. But by drawing attention to the condition of polar bears, it hoped to expand public awareness of the potentially...

Democrat putting up cash, saying Bible not clear on union of sexes

'Spiderman' Tries to Climb Tallest Tower Dec 24, 9:04 PM (ET) TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) - A French urban climber who calls himself "Spiderman" began his attempt to scale the world's tallest building, Taipei 101, on Saturday morning. Alain Robert, 42, said he would need two hours and 15 minutes to reach the top of the 508-meter building. He planned to climb the tower using only a safety belt attached to a rope. The climb began under gray skies and heavy rain, but still went ahead. The building's management, which invited Robert, said it could cancel the event at any time...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - California's constitution does not prohibit laws against gay marriage, Attorney General Bill Lockyer declared Friday in a long-awaited legal opinion that sought to avoid offending either side of the contentious debate. Meeting a judge's deadline to answer a pair of lawsuits seeking to overturn laws prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying, Lockyer said it was up to the voters or the Legislature to decide such questions. The lawsuits claim the state laws violate the state constitution's anti-discrimination provisions. "Committed and loving relationships between two individuals deserve recognition under California law," Lockyer conceded. "The obligations and benefits that...

MANCHESTER, NH - Today, Bush-Cheney ’04 New Hampshire Vice-Chair Bruce Keough issued the following statement regarding Senator John Kerry’s town hall in Hampton, New Hampshire: “Senator Kerry came to New Hampshire today to play on the fears of our community for shear political gain. Kerry’s misleading claim that there is a ‘ban’ on stem cell research is completely detached from the truth. The truth is that President Bush did not ‘ban’ stem cell research, but is actually the first president in history to fund stem cell research. Last year, the federal government invested $25 million in embryonic stem cell research...

  The Peter Pan Syndrome   by Robert Mahood     Kerry is UNFIT #21: THUMBSUCKER SERIES-BOARDHEAD TO THE RESCUE- (viewing movie requires Flash Player 7, available HERE)   A typical scenario for this boardhead is to be skimming back and forth across the lake on Misty, my aging Mistral Competition, in a 12 knot breeze gusting to 15. I'm hanging onto a 7.6 rig, riding a gentle natural swell occasionally punctuated by the man-made chop excreted by jet skis and stinkpots. In my adolescent ears are a symphony of boardsailing sounds: the vit, vit, vit of the board,...

Kerry Lied! He won't give up on asking for the resignation of Sec. Rumsfeld for something that was out of his control...well I'm demanding Kerry's resignation from not only from the Senate but the presidential race. What a hoser!

The old soldiers came to reenact the Vietnam War here Wednesday on the plains of central Texas. Their commanding generals: John F. Kerry and President Bush. Their mission: An exchange of letters. The result: Pure farce. SNIP With about 30 journalists watching, the two veterans circled each other in the 95-degree heat at a checkpoint outside the ranch, holding their letters as if they were hand grenades. SNIP A few minutes later, the two men arrived at the nearby public school, where the cameras were waiting. "We're having to go through Vietnam again," Cleland lamented, though he seemed to be...

LONDON (Reuters) - Over 80 British students threw caution and their clothes to the wind Friday to set a world record for the number of nudes riding on a rollercoaster. Reuters Photo The naked joy riders spent a hair-raising one minute and fifty seconds swooping around the rails of the gravity defying rollercoaster ride at a theme park south of London. A spokeswoman at the park said 81 students from 15 universities took part in the record breaking stunt, which had never been attempted before.

The Village People's cowboy is a Lone Ranger no more. Randy Jones — who filled out the 10-gallon hat for the motley disco outfit — and acid lounge artist Will Grega tied the knot Friday at the West Village club Rumor, according to club partner Erica Maurer. Grega proposed to Jones, his partner of 20 years, following a champagne toast for the release of Grega's new CD, and the two were "married on the spot" by the Reverend Dr. Cain L. Berlinger, according to a spokesperson for the couple. Attendees included Ben Curtis (the "Dude, you're getting a Dell" guy),...

SAN FRANCISCO - A state judge on Thursday declined to allow gay marriage opponents to intervene in lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a California law defining marriage between a man and woman. The Proposition 22 Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the Alliance Defense Fund sought to inject themselves into the case to argue against gay marriage. San Francisco County Superior Court Judge James Warren declined the request, saying the groups would not be harmed however the litigation ends. In 2000, 4.6 million Californians approved Proposition 22 defining marriage as a union of a woman and man. San Francisco Mayor...

ITHACA--Students walking through Ho Plaza could not help but stop and witness the Big Fat Queer Wedding that took place yesterday. Over 20 same sex couples shouted, "Homophobia's got to go-Ha-Ha-Ho-Ho," while marching from Caldwell Hall through the Arts Quad to retire in front of the Straight for a mock wedding and rally at noon. Some gay participants wore tuxedos, suits and bridal gowns, while others dressed more casually. The mock same-sex wedding was organized to raise awareness on campus about civil marriage between same-sex couples. "I do realize it's a controversial issue; however, it's an important issue that needs...

Incensed by the city of San Jose's decision to recognize same-sex marriages, a group of evangelical Christians has hired a well-regarded Sacramento consultant to explore a recall effort or ballot initiative to overturn the action. Sacramento-based Russo, Marsh + Rogers will begin by surveying Silicon Valley attitudes before recommending a course of action, said Larry Pegram, a city council member for two terms in the 1970s who attends one of the churches involved, South Valley Christian. The firm's successes include the recall of former Gov. Gray Davis and the campaign for Proposition 22, the state initiative defining marriage as being...

Benton County commissioner faces recall after gay marriage decision (Corvallis-AP) -- Benton County commissioner and chairwoman Linda Modrell is now facing an organized recall effort. This, on the heels of her vote to issue marriage licenses to gay couples. Benton County had planned to begin issuing the licenses to gay couples last week. But it changed plans after the threat of legal action from the state attorney general's office. Instead, the county is now issuing no marriage licenses at all -- to gay or straight couples. A new group, called Citizens for Legal Accountability, filed papers Monday to begin...