Free Republic

If there are alien civilizations out there close enough to pick up our stray signals, there's a non-zero chance that amongst the first transmissions, they could receive the opening of the 1936 Olympic Games, meaning our first contact with another species (in the unlikely event that they picked them up) could include a speech by Adolf Hitler. "This wasn't the first broadcast, of course," senior SETI astronomer Seth Shostak explained to RealClearScience. "But it was at a high frequency that might make it through the ionosphere." In the film Contact, this ended up being the first message humanity received from...

There is much about the Biden administration that brings to mind both the excesses of and the surreal agenda to turn America into a Marxist/communist nation. There is much about the Biden administration that brings to mind both the excesses of and the surreal agenda to turn America into a Marxist/communist nation. Earlier this week, David Ennocenti wrote here about how Fauci is reminiscent of the main character in an episode of The Twilight Zone On Thursday We Leave For Home. There is another episode that is apt: To Serve Man from 1962. It was based on a short story...

The guy who used to run Israel's space security program is sounding the alarm -- claiming aliens are real, and they're secretly working with our governments and biding their time. Haim Eshed reportedly told the Israeli publication Yediot Aharonot he can confirm the existence of aliens, because he claims they've been among us for a damn long time. He even says they have their own org ... the "Galactic Federation." Yedioth Aharonoth Not only that, but Eshed -- who worked for the Israeli government from '81 to 2010 -- also alleges President Trump was about to blow the lid off...

While some recent movement in the polls shows the presidential race tightening in the battleground states, there’s no denying that President Trump is far from assured a second term at this point and he has plenty of work in front of him between now and November. And if the pandemic keeps the economy in the dumps across much of the nation and the employment numbers don’t start bouncing back, that could be a tough job indeed. But does the President have a Trump card [...] up his sleeve in that event? Over at Medium, Bryce Zabel raises this interesting question....

PETA wants accused cannibal killer fed vegan diet JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. – It has the stuff of a comedic one-liner, but PETA says it is dead serious in urging the local sheriff to feed an accused cannibal killer a vegan diet in order to “swear off flesh” while he’s imprisoned. Kenneth Montville, a national spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said the proposal is aimed at making the group’s point that meatless food can help reduce violent behavior and also save money for jails. “We really want to take a situation that’s a tragedy and make it into...

Richard Kiel, who became famous for portraying the James Bond villain, Jaws ... died Wednesday afternoon at the age of 74 ... TMZ has learned. Kiel starred in dozens of movies over the span of 50 years ... though his Jaws character became his most iconic role after debuting in 1977's "The Spy Who Loved Me" alongside Roger Moore. He returned in "Moonraker" two years later.

What do you get when you put one of the smartest people in the world – astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson – in the same room with MSNBC talker Chris Hayes? Answer: You get a lot of science interview questions, not all of which will be gems. But to their credit, they did manage to cover the one burning issue which awaits resolution – where are the aliens, and why haven’t they contacted us? Tyson may not know for sure, but he has a theory. Astrophysicist and Cosmos host Neil DeGrasse Tyson told MSNBC host Chris Hayes that while it’s audacious...

The Soylent Revolution Will Not Be Pleasurable I just spent more than a week experiencing Soylent, the most joyless new technology to hit the world since we first laid eyes on MS-DOS. Soylent is a drink mix invented by a group of engineers who harbor ambitions of shaking up the global food business. Robert Rhinehart, the 25-year-old co-founder and chief executive of the firm selling the drink, hit upon the idea when he found himself spending too much time and money searching for nutritious meals while he was working on a wireless-tech start-up in San Francisco. Using a process Mr....

Did desperate fishermen cannibalise their friends in extreme cold in remote Siberia? In the most extreme conditions, the unimaginable can happen. Police in Siberia are now trying to piece together a mystery that unfolded after four friends went on a fishing expedition in August in the endless taiga. Three months later, only two men came back from their adventure along the remote Sutam River, after they were located in the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) by a rescue helicopter from the Russian Emergencies Ministry, which saved their lives. Alexander Abdullaev, 37, and Alexei Gradulenko, 35, were found alive - but only just....

Karachi Woman Murders, Seeks to Cook Husband Pakistani police say a woman tried to cook her husband after murdering him for planning to take a second wife. By Gavriel Queenann Pakistani police on Thursday arrested a woman they say killed her husband and was attempting to cook his body parts, after he planned to take a second wife without her permission. According to family law in Islamic Pakistan, a man must get permission from his first wife before his second marriage, but the law is rarely observed. Police arrested Zainab Bibi, 32, and her nephew Zaheer, 22, in the Shah...

In a blunder that might top the Baby Shaker app on Apple's App Store, retailing giant Sears.com has been caught offering a Bar-B-Que grill specially designed to roast infants and other human morsels.

Shirley MacLaine cheers Kucinich's UFO-moment Andrew Malcolm & Mark Silva Actress Shirley MacLaine is delighted that her "her close friend" Dennis Kucinich has acknowledged his sighting of a UFO and hopes it will prompt the government to come clean. "I thought that was terrific," MacLaine said in an interview on NBC's Today Show this week. "That a presidential candidate admitted it. It's time. Many countries have released their files -- Argentina has, Brazil, France. Let's do it." It was MacLaine's own memoir -- she is godmother to one of Kucinich's children -- that prompted the Ohio congressman and candidate for...

Mexico City man suspected of being cannibal serial killer By Jeremy Schwartz COX NEWS SERVICE October 12, 2007 MEXICO CITY – On the stove, a frying pan with chunks of flesh. In the refrigerator, a leg and part of an arm, both deboned. The bones were stuffed into a cereal box. Mexico City police made the grisly discoveries this week as they arrested the man the Mexican media are calling a cannibalistic serial killer. Police said José Luis Calva Zepeda, 40, was arrested Monday and was being held on suspicion of homicide after an investigation into the disap-pearance of his...

Bill Clinton says he's ready to serve should his wife become president. "People ask me all the time what I would do if Hillary was elected president, and I say - I tell the truth - I'll do whatever I'm asked to," the former president said during a speech at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California Sunday. Clinton noted, however, he wouldn't be able to serve as a Cabinet member in another Clinton administration because of rules barring presidents' immediate family members from getting such posts. "You should never have any doubt that the president can fire anybody that's in...

In a recent piece by Rabbi Avi Shafran, the rabbi asks, “You suddenly begin noticing signs bearing Arabic script in buses. What do you do?” Well, what bus riders in Richmond, Virginia did was call the local Transit Authority to find out what it might know about the signs, which had been turning up on buses and the walls of local universities. The Associated Press and other media outlets subtly scoffed at the concerned citizens, explaining that the Arabic phrases were in fact innocuous — translating as things like “paper or plastic?” or “paper, scissors, rock” or “I’m a little...

Former president George Bush's personal chef remembers the time that Barbara Bush conspired with him to try to slip a broccoli salad past his boss. As president, Bush famously proclaimed his disdain for the cruciferous vegetable, declaring that he never liked it since his mother had made him eat it as a child. So readers of Ariel De Guzman's The Bush Family Cookbook may be surprised to find a broccoli salad as one of the more than 200 favourite family recipes included in the collection. The salad, which combines broccoli with red onions, golden raisins, crumbled bacon and toasted sunflower...

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) -- Brown University’s library boasts an unusual anatomy book. Tanned and polished to a smooth golden brown, its cover looks and feels no different from any other fine leather. But here’s its secret: the book is bound in human skin. A number of prestigious libraries—including Harvard University’s—have such books in their collections. While the idea of making leather from human skin seems bizarre and cruel today, it was not uncommon in centuries past, said Laura Hartman, a rare book cataloger at the National Library of Medicine in Maryland and author of a paper on the subject. An...

PETER JENNINGS REPORTING: UFO's: LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE - THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24 (8:00-10:00 p.m., ET) -- Each year there are thousands of reports of unidentified flying objects, but the U.S. government doesn't investgate any of them. This special program will seriously examine the unexplained phenomena around the world that so many people believe is proof of the existence of UFOs.

Looking for a unique way to support the fight against animal abuse? The British founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), the world's biggest animal rights group, is auctioning off a lizard tattoo on her right arm -- with proceeds going to the charity. Billed as "waterproof and weathered" and "suitable for making into a wallet or watch strap," the tattoo is being offered on Web site eBay to draw attention to the plight suffered by skinned animals. "It's the only skin you can wear and use with the express permission of the original owner," said Ingrid...