Free Republic

Tucked away in a warehouse on an industrial estate in the non-descript suburb of Van Nuys in Los Angeles, a revolution is taking place. And the revolutionaries? Five twentysomething college friends who are trying their hand at urban farming. Their business is called Coalo Valley Farms but it couldn't be any further from a picture of agrarian life. The warehouse holds thousands of "micro livestock" as co-founder and chief executive Elliot Mermel calls them. That's crickets and mealworms to you and me. This is California's first insect farm for human consumption and its owners have grand plans. "We know that...

The 28-year-old only son of China’s richest man, Wang Jianlin who is worth £23 billion, has just set the internet on fire after he bought his dog, Coco – an Alaskan Malamute, eight iPhone 7 handsets. According to a Dailymail, pictures emerged on China’s social media showing the lucky canine posing next to a stack of eight boxes believed to contain a £800 phone in each which its eccentric owner, Wang Sicong, who was educated at Winchester College in UK bought for her. The new photos were uploaded by Wang Sicong who is already worth £430 million to the dog’s...

Scary Clowns showing up on the side of the road are no joke, according to deputies with the Fayette County Sheriff's Department. There have been several complaints about people dressed up as clowns and armed with various weapons. The most recent incident happened in Mt. Hope on Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2016. Investigators said the intent of these "scary clowns" is to frighten as many people as possible. "Many people have a phobia about clowns, and meeting an armed "clown" in a dark, unlit area can definitely be cause for an individual to fear for his or her safety," said Sheriff...

Reports of a crazed clown are being investigated in Ohio. Chief McCafferty says there was another report of a "crazed clown" being spotted in Steubenville.

Portsmouth Police are sending a warning about clowns chasing people in their city. A trend that began in Greenville, South Carolina in August of this year has reached Portsmouth, Ohio. Last night the Portsmouth Police received a report of a person dressed as a clown in the area of the bridge, standing holding an axe and staring at people passing by. Police also received a report of a clown knocking on the door of a residence on Robinson Avenue.

A bride-to-be filmed passionately kissing a man she had 'just met' during her hen do had to cancel the wedding after the clip went viral. Emma Alicia Paz Ayala from the north-western Mexican city of Hermosillo went out for her party with female friends to celebrate her last night of 'freedom' as a single lady. The do took place at the Playa del Carmen resort on the other side of the country and while drinking heavily at a pool bar, Emma was filmed locking lips with the apparent stranger.

Ever since Loretta Lynch met Bill Clinton at the end of June this year, I've been really bothered by something. Compelled to meditate on it and figure it out. I'm having some trouble, and need to ask for Freerepublic input. Loretta Lynch met Bill Clinton on the tarmac, and Bill entered Loretta's FBI-owned Government plane. There are reports of them entering a 3rd plane but nothing seems to support that claim. Now that we're all caught up, I'll let you know that I've been wracking my brain on this one. But one of the more sublime enigmas came more recently....

An eight-legged passenger caused a rollover crash Wednesday in Portland, Oregon that totaled a car, according to local authorities. The driver lost control after a spider fell from the rearview mirror, causing her to panic and swerve off the road into a ditch, reported news station WSBT.

A crab has being filmed in Brazil clutching a kitchen knife in its claw while scuttling along a tiled floor and waving the knife around aggressively (pictured)

So this weirdness just happened on our way to Hoboken at 7AM this morning on the New Jersey Turnpike. On 1630 AM radio, a voice keeps repeating "Trump will go 26th". It went on for at least 5 minutes from when the radio tuned it in while scanning. Near the Newark airport I78 part of Turnpike. Just landed in a Jason Bourne movie.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Fq_OYmLC3w    

In what has been described as one of the most bizarre strings of petty crimes ever recorded, dozens of people in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood have been reporting the theft of their house numbers. Interestingly, in all cases, only the “1” and “0” have been taken, which has earned the yet-to-be-identified thieves the nickname “binary bandits”. You might not notice what’s missing from dozens of houses in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, but for those living there, it has been the main topic of discussion for the past two weeks. Someone is stealing the “1” and “0” from people’s house numbers...

On a recent Thursday morning, sprinklers ran for six minutes, soaking fake grass outside the South LA substation. Even an area completely devoid of grass -- real or fake -- was inundated by water from sprinklers. Harasick said leaving the turf unwashed leaves a foul smell in the air. “We’re really just trying to wash out dog pee,” he said.

"The whole thing started by trying to understand how we can extract information about people’s emotions and health in general using something that’s completely passive—does not require people to wear anything on their body or have to express things themselves actively," says Prof. Dina Katabi, who conducted the research along with graduate students Mingmin Zhao and Fadel Adib. The system, called EQ-Radio, works by generating a low-power wireless signal and measuring the time it takes the signal to reflect from various signals in its vicinity. Since the reflection time from people’s bodies vary as they inhale and exhale, and as...

Ashley Jefferson posted a video of the meat on social media - claiming that the 'dog legs' still had claws in them A woman has claimed a Chinese takeaway restaurant served her a DOG PAW after she ordered spare ribs from the menu. Ashley Jefferson was eating at the China Palace in Havre de Grace, Maryland, when she believes she made the horrific discovery. Fighting the urge to throw up, Ashley then headed to the bathroom to record a Facebook video where she claimed the ribs had claws still attached. In the video, she said: "There's nails still in this......

A New Jersey woman's $1,200 purse burned up on a sales counter in a mall when a battery exploded. And the entire thing was caught on a security camera. Mara McInerney of Matawan, N.J. was shopping at the Freehold Raceway Mall on Sept. 11 when the incident took place. She was at a Sunglass Hut counter speaking to the salesperson when a huge cloud of smoke poured out of the purse. The employee took off running while McInerney backed away. She grabbed the purse and dumped the contents on the floor but it was too late to save the bag,...

Exclusive video of ISIS testing a new terror weapon. The Arabian Catapult!

Deputies in Florida are searching for the owner of a 600-pound hog that was found roaming around. Local news organizations report that Alachua County deputies found the domestic hog Sunday after getting reports of the animal running at large. Deputies caught the hog using a rope and took it to the Alachua County Sheriff's Office Livestock Impound. The sheriff's office said in a news release that the 600-pound Hampshire hog appeared to be in good health. The animal will be put up for auction if its owner doesn't claim it. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact officials.

In many circles, the Clintons are notorious for having enemies who mysteriously disappear at the opportune moment. Amazon.com reviewers played on this theme in mocking "5 Star" reviews of Hillary Clinton'sunpopular new flop of a campaign book — which even at the low, low price of $10, people seem resolute not to buy for some inexplicable reason. That doesn't stop people from buying Clinton insurance by giving the book stellar reviews. Amazon user Amy gave Stronger Together a "5.0 out of 5 stars," with a brief review entitled, "I want to live." Her review proved rather succinct: "Nothing new here....

Starting today, the Guggenheim museum in New York City really wants to you to give its solid gold toilet a go. The 18-karat gold, fully-functioning toilet was created by Italian artist and sculptor Maurizio Cattelan, and is a part of an exhibit called “America” at the Guggenheim. The exhibit is meant to “remind us of the inescapable physical realities of our shared humanity,” according to the museum’s blog.

A Turkish court on Sunday released a man who confessed to kicking a young woman in the face on an Istanbul bus because she was wearing shorts. The 35-year-old had confessed during his interrogation to attacking the woman but was released by the court after it decided that no crime had been committed. Turkish police had arrested the man on charges of kicking a woman for wearing shorts on a bus in Istanbul. Police detained the suspect on Saturday in Turkey's largest city, the private Dogan news agency reported. He was heard shouting: 'Those wearing shorts must die!' The suspect...