Free Republic

Stan Lee, the man who co-created Marvel Comics, has died ... Stan's daughter tells TMZ. We're told an ambulance rushed to Lee's Hollywood Hills home early Monday morning and he was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. We're told that's where he died. Lee had suffered several illnesses over the last year or so -- he had a bout of pneumonia and vision issues. Stan started Marvel with Jack Kirby in 1961 with The Fantastic Four. He went on to create Spider-Man, Black Panther, The Incredible Hulk, X-Men, Iron Man and The Avengers. Stan made cameo appearances in all of the...

<p>Kate McClure didn’t expect to run out of gas on her drive to Philadelphia last month.</p> <p>And she definitely didn’t expect that her misfortune would give her the opportunity to change someone else’s life.</p> <p>Pulled over on the side of I-95, McClure, 27, was approached by a homeless man named Johnny. She was apprehensive at first, but Johnny told her to get back into her car and to lock the doors while he walked to get her help. He went to a nearby gas station, used his last $20 fill a can and brought it back to fill up her car.</p>

Holy cartoon cash, Batman! The Charleston County Sheriff's Office is auctioning off more than 400 comic books seized in a drug investigation. "It’s entirely possible there may be some treasures in there, and the hunt could be fun," said Mike Campbell, owner of Captain's Comics & Toys in West Ashley. The online auction, on govdeals.com, runs until Tuesday morning and already has attracted nearly two dozen bids. Campbell is not among the bidders. He said it sounds like most of the titles are from the 1990s and "most likely, fun books worth $1 to $5." He said the 1990s were...

This is my very first vanity after nearly twelve years on FR. I just want to ask other animal lovers to say a prayer for my cat. I am not normally one to ask for help, but I am stressed out. She is sixteen and over the past week has been going through some bad stuff that came on rather suddenly. I won't go into the details but you might consider buying stock in paper towels and cleaning supplies. The doctors have eliminated everything and seem to think it is a bleeding stomach ulcer. She came home today but I...

A man and woman who were apparently panhandling at the Topsham Fair Mall entrance were charged with assault on Saturday, after they allegedly became physical with a mother and daughter attempting to warn motorists of alleged fraud. Meanwhile, a video posted online of the confrontation has been viewed thousands of times. Topsham police were called to the mall at approximately 4:50 p.m. Saturday after the incident occurred, according to Police Chief Christopher Lewis. After speaking with witnesses and those involved, police issued summonses to Carl Brown, 79, with a last known address of Bath, and Mary Rousselle, 41, of Brunswick...

AMHERST - Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen said Thursday that she expects the Fed to raise interest rates later this year and then continue gradual increases thereafter during a University of Massachusetts address that ended with her seeking medical attention. A spokesman for the university said the 69-year-old was fine after being checked out by EMTs and was to continue her schedule which included a faculty dinner at the home of Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy. A spokesman for the Federal Reserve Board said, "Chair Yellen felt dehydrated at the end of a long speech under bright lights. As a precaution,...

House Republicans will vote to pass a one-year delay of Obamacare in exchange for funding the government, a plan that drastically increases the chances of a government shutdown this Tuesday. The decision was announced by the GOP leadership in a closed meeting Saturday afternoon, according to sources present. Republicans will also pass a bill to fund U.S. troops if the government shuts down, according to GOP lawmakers. The House’s funding measure will keep the government open until mid December. This puts Senate Democrats and the White House at loggerheads with House Republicans, a standoff that could lead to the first...

U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz said her office is weighing an appeal against a Tewksbury motel owner who criticized her for prosecutorial bullying last week after he won his battle in the feds’ three-year bid to seize his business, citing drug busts on the property. “This case was strictly a law-enforcement effort to crack down on what was seen as a pattern of using the motel to further the commission of drug crimes for nearly three decades,” Ortiz said in a statement. “We are weighing our options with respect to appeal.” Russ Caswell, owner of Motel Caswell, told the Herald he...

An Englishman's home is his castle, so the saying goes. After squatters moved into John Hamilton-Brown's new £1million five bedroom home he has been forced to beg them to get out through his letterbox. The group of foreigners were granted legal aid to fight to stay - while he was forced to represent himself. The father-of-two was having the property renovated for his wife and two young daughters before they moved in when a dozen people from France, Spain, Poland and England sneaked in during the night. The occupants are part of a growing army of squatters banding together and...

In a move blasted by opponents as an “end run” around lawmakers, Gov. Deval Patrick yesterday quietly signed a controversial transgender rights executive order, called the bathroom bill by critics, making it illegal to discriminate against state workers on the basis of “gender identity.” “This is going to set off a firestorm, and it’s certainly something the governor should have given us a heads up on,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading). Patrick signed the changes with no announcement. The measure was a major issue during Patrick’s tough re-election battle last year. The executive order, unlike a...

My first vanity post…but this topic has been gnawing away at me all day. If it is inappropriate in any way, I apologize. Massachusetts Freepers: Consider calling your state legislators. Our slime-encrusted legislature is convening a Constitutional Convention on Thursday. CLT (Citizens for Limited Taxation) has learned that some socialist legislators from Newton and Cambridge have slipped in bills that would ensure that the initiative petition process would for all intents and purposes be destroyed. It would prohibit any new petitions affecting “The rights to freedom and equality; the right of each individual to be protected by society in the...

Treasurer Tim Cahill ripped Gov. Deval Patrick and President Obama this morning for health care initiatives that the independent gubernatorial hopeful alleged will “bankrupt the country in four years.” “Last week Gov. Patrick criticized me as ‘missing in action’ on the issue of health care in Massachusetts,” Cahill said. “In reality, I’ve been critical of Gov. Patrick’s implementation and management of the Massachusetts universal health care program for a long time.” Cahill alleged the governor has “spent like we’re in a booming economy at a time when we’re experiencing the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.” “If President Obama...

FEBRUARY 22--The overwhelming majority of New Jersey state employees are courteous, hard-working individuals eager to aid the public for whom they work. And then there is the small number of toll collectors employed by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority who regularly go rogue on motorists. On the following pages you'll find an entertaining selection of complaint letters sent to turnpike officials by motorists who ran into assorted trouble when trying to pay their way on the Garden State Parkway or the New Jersey Turnpike. More than 550 letters--covering the past 18 months and addressing a variety of types of complaints--were...

Plagued by his own plummeting polls and playing to empty seats at a high-roller Hub fund-raiser, President Obama acknowledged yesterday that his close friend and political alter ego Gov. Deval Patrick faces a rough road to re-election. “There really should be no doubt that this guy gets a second term. But let’s be honest. This is going to be a tough race,” Obama told a room barely half-full with 125 deep-pocketed Democrats who ponied up $6,000 for Patrick and the party. “Re-election is not a foregone conclusion because times are tough.” Reflecting those hard times, the swanky Westin Copley Place...

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father • He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed • He has read every Harry Potter book • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice...

PEABODY, Mass. - A Salem police officer working a traffic detail in Peabody was seriously injured when he was hit by a car driven by an unlicensed teenager who had just immigrated from Brazil, authorities said. Officer Michael Shea was directing traffic around a utility crew around 10:30 p.m. on Wednesday when he was run down, according to the police report. The 39-year-old officer was flown to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, where he was in fair condition Thursday afternoon with head injuries. The driver, Leila Lopes, 17, of Brazil, was arrested at the scene. According to prosecutors,...

Pinkett Smith’s Remarks Debated After some students were offended by Jada Pinkett Smith’s comments at Saturday’s Cultural Rhythms show, the Bisexual, Gay, Lesbian, Transgender, and Supporters Alliance (BGLTSA) and the Harvard Foundation for Intercultural and Race Relations have begun working together to increase sensitivity toward issues of sexuality at Harvard. Students said that some of Pinkett Smith’s remarks concerning appropriate gender roles were specific to heterosexual relationships. In a press release circulated yesterday by the BGLTSA—and developed in coordination with the Foundation—the BGLTSA called for an apology from the Foundation and encouraged future discussion of the issue. According to the...