Free Republic

I’ve tried to show the world that dogs are harmless creatures, just looking to make a positive mark on this world. Then some numbskull canine, thinking he’s above it all,comes along and ruins all my good work. Who’s the dog this time? Well it’s a German Shepherd named Ranger, and get this, he’s a police dog to boot. (OGDEN, Utah — A police dog that was left in a pickup with the engine running apparently knocked the vehicle into gear and ran down a woman who was walking to her mailbox.

Scientists in the UK who have examined hairs claimed to belong to a yeti in India say that an initial series of tests have proved inconclusive. Ape expert Ian Redmond says the hairs bear a "startling resemblance" to similar hairs collected by Everest conqueror Sir Edmund Hillary. He told the BBC the Indian hairs are "potentially very exciting". After extensive microscope examinations, the hairs will now be sent to separate labs for DNA analysis.

It’s a common way for couples to reconcile. Animalistic, uninhibited and aggressive, many couples are enthralled by make-up sex. Some couples actually thrive on it. So why is anger such a powerful stimulant? And what are the rules of engagement for resolving conflict in this way? While fighting as a form of foreplay doesn’t make much sense, on second thought, it’s not such an inconceivable aphrodisiac. Physiologically speaking, anger and arousal have quite a bit in common in revving up the body. When angry or sexually aroused, a person’s body reacts in much the same way –- to the point...

LISTEN ONLINE ON KFI Richard C. Hoagland just finished making an *ss out of himself. He thinks our astronauts may be the victims of mind control and erasing part of their memories during debriefings. Coming up -- space and UFOs.

Former NASA astronaut and moon-walker Dr. Edgar Mitchell — a veteran of the Apollo 14 mission — claims aliens exist. He says extraterrestrials have visited Earth on several occasions — but the alien contact has been repeatedly covered up by governments for six decades. Mitchell, 77, said during a radio interview in Birmingham, England, that sources at NASA who had had contact with aliens described the beings as "little people who look strange to us." He said supposedly real-life ET's were similar to the traditional image of a "small gray" — short, slight frame, large eyes and large head. Mitchell...

Top Astronaut: 'Aliens Do Exist' 11:37am UK, Thursday July 24, 2008 Aliens do exist and have even contacted humans on Earth, according to top astronaut Dr Edgar Mitchell who was the sixth man on the Moon. l-alien Dr Edgar Mitchell says aliens are just like little men The truth has been hidden by governments for more than 60 years, the Moon walker says. And he claims he is lifting the lid on a conspiracy to keep aliens a secret. Dr Mitchell, who was on Apollo 14 in 1971, has told how he was aware of many UFO visits to Earth...

A judge in New Zealand made a young girl a ward of court so that she could change the name she hated - Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii. Judge Rob Murfitt said that the name embarrassed the nine-year-old and could expose her to teasing. He attacked a trend of giving children bizarre names, citing several examples. Officials had blocked Sex Fruit, Keenan Got Lucy and Yeah Detroit, he said, but Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence and Midnight Chardonnay had been allowed. One mother wanted to name her child O.crnia using text language, but was later persuaded to use Oceania,...

The other day I heard my mother call downstairs to my father, “Honey, there are a bunch of roosters out in the front yard.” Lest you think we live on a farm or out in rural America, let me set you straight. We live in suburban America where houses are stamped next to each other every hundred feet or so. We don’t get many roosters walking in our neighborhood, and if we did they would be cited for jaywalking. So it was no surprise that curiosity got the best of my father as he ran up the stairs to check...

Where on this great earth of ours could King Kong’s descendant survive an attack from an army of zoo workers carrying guns and tranquilizing darts? If you said Skull Island you’re right, but you’re also living in a fantasy world. Those living in the real world know the only logical place would be Japan, and sure enough, that’s where this latest ape-human drama played out. (Ichiro the chimp, a 42-year-old resident of Ishikawa Zoo in Japan, managed to escape to the roof in order to cool down during a heatwave. But it took a lot of work from the zoo...

I didn't post a link to this because I wasn't sure if we could link to snopes.com, but I felt it important enough to post. It's amazing that no one in the MSM is at all concerned whether or not Obama is a natural-born citizen, but we better make damn sure McCain is! Check out how thorough snopes researches the question. Plus the fact that they claim the status is "undetermined." This was posted today at snopes.

Marines visiting a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant. Scenes include troops walking inside the restaurant and KFC workers preparing and frying chicken and french fries. Click link to see video clip

The crusty ol' Repub says he has no clue how to use a computer. Isn't that cute? Dear McCain presidential campaign: You know what's funny and cute and just a little bit sad? Wacky old pre-industrial war-hungry guys admitting they don't know a computer from a microwave oven, a hyperlink from a heart med, can't turn on one of those newfangled PC things if his life depended on it and/or he wanted to see what his weird tattooed bi-curious grandson is posting on his MySpace home docking station whateveryoucallit. Adorable! Cuter still is when said wisecrackin' curmudgeon admits he depends...

This is a video of a dinosaur on the loose in the LA Museum of Natural History. No computer effects used here, folks: it's all real. Well, I mean, it's not a real dinosaur of course or those kids would be totally devoured, but you know what I mean. If you look closely at the dinosaur you can see what's going on here. One thing's for certain: I want one, and I want one bad. No trick or treaters will have anything on me this year, mark my words. Watch the video here.

Already pointed out the need to carry a camera with you at all times to catch amazing pictures. Now, here's one reason to always remember to carry a good videocamera. And survival kits and a GPS and armored suits and canned burgers and infrared goggles or a F-35 helmet. Unlike Lori Mehmen, however, these guys didn't take cover and just kept driving to this huge mother of all dust storms in Australia. Not as dangerous as a tornado, sure, but scary doesn't even start to describe it. WATCH: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=a94_1216779982

Police say it was a jealous rage that led to the attack. She was dragged into the street away from her house.

An American holidaymaker got a nasty surprise when he discovered that the lumps on his scalp were not bites or shingles, but live botfly maggots. 'I thought I was going crazy' Aaron Dallas, from Colorado, US, sought medical advice when the bumps appeared on his scalp after a trip to Belize this summer. But it was not until the bumps started moving that doctors realised Dallas had five live maggots inside his head.

Do you remember your puppy days when you’d lay in a field, look at the sky and use your imagination on the puffs of clouds floating by? Yup, the good old days. These were the times long before you were asked to humiliate yourself by standing on your hind legs just to get a treat. Of course in my cloud observation days, I never really got much further than “Hey, that looks like a ball!” or “Hey, that looks like a chewy!” but no one ever accused me of being creative or bright. Our first entry is this Dachshund running...

We all like to think of ourselves as badasses. But what would you really do if faced with death? How would you react to being dropped out of a plane without a parachute, or buried alive? After *****ing your pants, that is. Well these people survived all of that and more, slapping Death in the face and telling it to go make them a sandwich.

For the bubbleheaded young Narcissus of myth, the mirror spun a fatal fantasy, and the beautiful boy chose to die by the side of a reflecting pond rather than leave his “beloved” behind. For the aging narcissist of Shakespeare’s 62nd sonnet, the mirror delivered a much-needed whack to his vanity, the sight of a face “beated and chopp’d with tann’d antiquity” underscoring the limits of self-love. Whether made of highly polished metal or of glass with a coating of metal on the back,... --snip-- To scientists, the simultaneous simplicity and complexity of mirrors make them powerful tools for exploring questions...

Comedian Jay Leno will make his last appearance as host of NBC's "The Tonight Show" next May 29, setting the stage for Conan O'Brien to replace him on America's top late-night TV show on June 1, the network said on Monday.

Anglian Water has dismissed speculation that the rabbit which was found to be the source of the cryptosporidium scare was planted in a water tank on purpose. Fifteen people fell ill with cryptosporidiosis linked to the type found in Northampton's tap water after a parasite was found at the Pitsford Water Treatment Works in June. The source of the parasite was linked to a rabbit found in a tank at the treatment works.

Costa Rican artiste Guillermo Habacuc Vargas is making headlines for tying a dog from the street in an art gallery as part of an exhibit to starve it to death. The title of his exhibit "Eres Lo Que Lee" was written across the gallery in dry dog food. The food and a bowl of water were both out of the dog's reach. Eventually the animal died of starvation. The artist claimed the dog was sick and would have died anyways. Now Vargas has been selected to represent Costa Rica in Visual Arts Biennel of Central Americas 2008. The organizers have...

What you are about to read is not true, just a what if scenario .... WHO : Olympics Triggered Global Pandemic By SARAH G. KEMPTON August 20th, 2008 BEIJING, CHINA -- An immediate response from the Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR) was issued today. Acting within the framework of International Health Regulations, IHR(2005) the World Health Organization (WHO) has suspended all international travel. Those still in Beijing to attend the Olympics will be forced to remain and temporary shelter is being provided for those stranded. Since the start of the Olympics on August 4th over 1,762 people have...

Your owner does it. And you do it too. If you deny it, I’m going to say that you are the one that supplied it. Have you figured out what I’m talking about? That’s right, I’m talking about air poopies or, what many of you know it better as, farts. “Bo, why must you bring this up in a family oriented blog?” my readers will ask. To which I must respond, “Because farts make me laugh.” (Experts said the slow digestive system of cows makes them a key producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public...

A pair of conjoined barn swallows, attached at the hip by skin and possibly muscle tissue, will be sent to the Smithsonian Institution for study and examination, Arkansas wildlife officials said Friday. If confirmed, officials say it could prove to be an incredibly rare find — a set of conjoined twins among birds. "I can't even say it's one in a million — it's probably more than that," said Karen Rowe, an ornithologist with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission. "There's just very little to no records of such a thing." The birds, found by a landowner in White County...

Calvin "Clicker" Embry talks a little funny these days. You would, too if a 15-pound snapping turtle ever latched onto your tongue and wouldn't let go." I started doing this trick years ago, and it's a great crowd pleaser," the legendary turtle hunter said. "I guess I've kissed about a hundred snappin' turtles and never been bit — until this last time."....The chunk of tongue that's missing makes "Clicker" talk a little funny, but it's not serious enough to stop him from kissing snapping turtles on the snout or licking their eyeballs.

It has been established beyond all reasonable doubt that the Moon is not what it appears; that it is not just another satellite orbiting a planet, Earth, but an entity which has thrown the minds of some of the greatest thinkers and scientific brains into a quandary and bewilderment unprecedented in the history of astronomy. Why haven't you heard about this? Another government cover-up? How could Moon mysteries have anything to do with government secrecy, and moreover could it relate to the suppression of the space programme?

Bush lifts drilling ban, oil execs leer, nation cringes, Obama sighs I admit to bafflement. I admit to a bit of total confusion mixed with a certain level of stupefied awe and teeth-rattling frustration as to why anyone with the mental acuity of more than a housefly would think that stabbing more holes into Alaska and the eastern seaboard in the search for a few remaining precious drops of oil is a good idea, would solve anything at all, is anything more than the equivalent of hurling matches at the devil. Perhaps I'm missing something. Perhaps there's some dark, secret...

♦ ♦ ♦ Although today's stage is billed as a flat transitional route through the Languedoc-Roussillon which could have been tailor-made for sprinters (and for back-of-the-pack team sponsors who expect to get their money's worth in the form of publicity during breakaways on stages like this), it won't exactly be a midi vacation for the cyclists. There'll be three CAT 4 climbs as the tour wends its way over to the Alps by skirting both the Mediterranean coast and the hot, craggy foothills & parched plateaus of the Massif Central in the very heart of ancient Roman France. And in...

A 9.8-foot grey nurse shark had a lucky escape from a slow and painful death after Australian marine experts removed a large steel fish hook embedded in its throat Wednesday......Sea World director of marine sciences Trevor Long led the expedition on the theme park's rescue boat. "We had an ambitious thought that we could find the shark and catch it and we were prepared to stay as long as it took," he said. "We were extremely fortunate to find it on the first dive." Three divers armed with strong rope descended to 46 feet in a bid to lasso the...

It’s not bad enough we have to deal with cats, but now we have deal with their fish too? Check out this story from Florida about walking catfish emerging from the gutters into the streets. I can already see what’s going to happen next. There will be fish adoption days at Petsmart, catfish toys taking away valuable shelf space from dog toys at Wal-Mart, and beautiful parks designated for catfish only. The end result will be that Catfish owners will think the moist slab of fish cuddling up with them on the couch is better than a dog. This is...

Wow!A terrific interpretation!Adolf's Got Talent

It started with a news report in January of 1983 of 40 teenagers and 7 adults, who were members of a gang called The Smurfs. They committed petty crimes. Hysteria spreaded throughout middle and high schools in Houston. At the peak, many students stayed home out of fear that the Smurfs might attack them. Anyone from the Houston area living at the time might remember it. Snopes Message Board-Texan schools attacked by Smurfs?Google Book Scan From Rough Guide of Unexplained PhenemenonHouston Press-The Year The Smurfs Attacked

A high-level Chinese military source secretly disclosed last week that the recent earthquake in Sichuan Province caused a chain-reaction of explosions in the Sichuan mountain areas. The explosions destroyed Chinese army's largest armory, new weapon test bases and part of nuclear facilities including several nuclear warheads. This information is considered China's top military secret.

1. Watch the video. 2. Be confused.

A startled bear — perhaps hungry for a plasma TV — broke into a Circuit City store in Colorado Springs this morning. "It's been pretty jumping this morning," ... The ursine intruder shattered a glass sliding door to enter a customer pickup area and cracked a second glass door, before fleeing into a nearby residential neighborhood and disappearing. "When I called my assistant manager, luckily the cops were still here and they verified my story,"... It's been a wild time in the Springs, after residents reported see what might have been an African lion — or a big dog —...

Who said sheep are just followers, never making their own way in this big, bold world. Check out this story about Nick Boing, the sheep that rules his owner’s home. (The animal, named Nick Boing, has a purpose-built bungalow in the back garden, but prefers to spend his evenings watching television in the family home.

Over the years I have read stories on FR about reports of muslim males buying huge numbers of pre-paid cell phones, often triggering calls to law enforcement. While I don't generally discount reports from local media outlets (remember the OU bombing?), it seems crazy that this would be going on with nary a peep from other sources. Here is my odd story about this. ~3 months ago I was in New Orleans, and purchased a prepaid cell phone at a story on Royal street almost at canal (quarter-side). The store proprietors were obviously muslim, don't know if pak. or arab....

Chess boxers slug it out in the ring By Arnaud Bouvier in Berlin July 07, 2008 08:29amBrawn and brains ... Italian Gianluca Sirc competes in the chess boxing championships in Berlin. A match consists of up to 11 alternating rounds of boxing and chess A RUSSIAN man has been crowned world champion in the novelty sport of chess boxing, a game that requires equal skill at moving pawns and throwing punches. Mathematics student Nikolai Sazhin, 19,...knocked out a 37-year-old German policeman Frank Stoldt... who served as a peacekeeper in Kosovo until recently. The loser said..."I took a lot of body-blows...

El Paso County deputies are looking for an African lion on the loose in the eastern part of the county. Sheriff's Lt. Lari Sevene said the first call came in of large cat chasing several dogs through a field off of Log Road. That call came in at 7:35 a.m. The resident told deputies the cat had a red mane and a big tail. Officers obtained a photo of the big cat. A second sighting was reported after the first and a second resident also took a picture of the lion.

ATHENS (Reuters) - Nine British women were facing prostitution charges after being arrested at the weekend for taking part in an oral sex competition in the Greek holiday island of Zakynthos, police said on Monday. Six British and six Greek men, including two bar owners, were also charged in the incident, which took place at Laganas beach in the south of the Ionian island, which lies off the west coast of mainland Greece, police said. The women, who came to the popular resort on holiday, had been paid to take part in the competition, which was video recorded and was...

Over 40 dogs were seized from within the residence.Investigators tell NEWSCHANNEL 3 that the homeowner would cover her back yard in newspapers, then shovel them into piles once the dog feces was a half foot deep.We spoke with Sheldon's niece and she said, "[Helen] doesn't realize how bad it is. All this stuff you see around here, this has been this way for a long time." Sheldon's niece added that her aunt suffers from a mental illness.

Fort Collins, CO, July 12, 2008 --(PR.com)-- Radar data obtained by MUFON confirms that there were Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs) flying above Stephenville, Texas, January 8th, 2008, just as many eyewitnesses had reported and which made headlines worldwide. MUFON's analysis of the radar data obtained through freedom of information act (FOIA) requests to the National Weather Service and the FAA show that unknown flying objects were on a direct course to President Bush's Crawford ranch and were separate from the known F-16 jets the same radar data confirmed were flying in the area that night. The unknown radar targets, which...

If you caught your son burning ants with a magnifying glass, would it bother you less than if you found him torturing a mouse with a soldering iron? How about a snake? How about his sister? Does Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — the Guantánamo detainee who claims he personally beheaded the reporter Daniel Pearl — deserve the rights he denied Mr. Pearl? Which ones? A painless execution? Exemption from capital punishment? Decent prison conditions? Habeas corpus?

Just how bad does the tyranny in Zimbabwe have to get before the world takes action? Robert Mugabe has already installed himself as President-for-life, having stolen two elections and had more than 5,000 of those who supported the opposition party either killed or imprisoned. He also ensured that a further 200,000 were evicted from their homes. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition, sensibly decided there was no point in continuing to co-operate with Mugabe's grotesque parody of democracy. Mugabe then claimed victory in a sham of his own creation. ...The leaders of the democracies in Europe and America tried to...

A blackbird has learnt to mimic the sound of an ambulance siren and has taken to waking families at 5am each day with the noise. The bird can also recreate the sound of a car alarm, a mobile ring tone and can even wolf whistle at passers-by. But the calls - thought to be an attempt to attract a mate - are driving its human neighbours to distraction. Nathan Talbot, and his wife Alison, have their peace shattered at dawn. They live in Somerset, and the bird has learned to mimic the noise of passing ambulances perfectly. Experts say it...

HOUMA, LA (WAFB) - Houma police officers and Terrebonne Parish sheriff's deputies say an attractive woman named Patches has been arrested after her "calogne samples" made at least two men pass out. One of the incidents prompted a statewide alert to Louisiana law enforcement agencies. The first complaint happened in early June. Police say an 18-year-old man says he was leaving a Houma restaurant at lunchtime when he was approached by a woman who said she was selling cologne. Police say the woman asked the victim is he was interested in buying some cologne she was selling. "The suspect produced...

First off let me say that I have my own cell phone. I use it to text all of my buddies over on Dogster throughout the day. So it was with great concern I read about Andy Fanelli, a Lhasa Apso, getting hassled by Verizon for not paying his bill. SACRAMENTO, Calif. — More than 70,000 consumers complained about third-party debt collectors in 2007, but one Sacramento couple said they have good reason to bark about the bill they received. Steve Fanelli received a bill from AFNI collections claiming an Andy Fanelli owes Verizon Online $142.34. And although Steve Fanelli...

NEWS    It's a 26ft Jaws and it sucks... Big sucker ... the shark   By VIRGINIA WHEELER Published: Today   A MASSIVE Arctic shark that sucks up seals whole and may live for 200 years is being studied by boffins for the first time. The mysterious Greenland shark’s mouth with hundreds of teeth is UNDER its body — so it cruises along the ocean bed scooping up prey. Baffled boffins say whole reindeer and polar bear heads have also been found in stomachs of the deep-sea monsters, which can be 26ft long. They are cannibalistic but their flesh...

It is the end of the nutball Christian right. Here is your proof. To go - Hey, remember the angry evangelicals? The quivering clan of militant Christoholics who propelled Bush into office and seized the national narrative for a few terrifying moments about five years back, ran deep into the woods with it and rubbed it all over their naughty bits in a frenzy of fear and confusion and lust for all things homophobic and saccharine and spiritually denigrating? Dying. Nearly dead. Gasping their last. Very soon to be a footnote, a caricature, a gag, a punch line, blasted to...