Free Republic

EXCLUSIVE: THE NAME'S BOND.. BROKE BOND BIFF! 007 Craig loses two front teeth in first fight scene BASH! The baddie who whacked him was only a henchman Craig, 37, was in Prague filming the remake of Casino Royale when the stunt went wrong. As the shaken star staggered backwards clutching his bleeding mouth, cameramen thought it was a brilliant piece of acting. But they quickly realised the new 007 was really hurt. His injuries were so bad local dentistry experts could not treat him. So Craig's dentist was flown out from London for emergency surgery in the Czech capital Prague....

Believed sold for scrap by thieves 130 street fixtures in Baltimore have been cut down Gary Gately, New York Times Given that they stand some 30 feet tall, their disappearance is attracting a good deal of attention here -- even as their final destination remains a mystery. Thieves are sawing down aluminum light poles. Some 130 have vanished from Baltimore's streets in the last several weeks, authorities say, presumably sold for scrap metal. But so far the case of the pilfered poles has stumped the police and left many local residents wondering just how someone manages to make off with...

Chinese company closed for selling land on the moon Nov 07 11:29 AM US/Eastern A Chinese company has had its license suspended after it tried to make money by selling land on the moon. The Beijing Lunar Village Aeronautics Science and Technology Co. managed to sell large swathes of pristine lunar property before being shut down, the state -owned Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The company, claiming to act on behalf of an entity referred to as the Lunar Embassy in China, charged 298 yuan (37 US dollars) for each acre (0.4 hectare) on the moon, according to the...

JAFFNA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels -- who already have a national flower and flag for their self-proclaimed state in the parts of the island they control -- are now on a quest for a catchy national anthem. The Tigers fought for two decades against the Sri Lankan government in a war that left over 64,000 dead until a ceasefire in 2002 left them running their own courts, bank, law school, police, customs department and tax system in areas they control. "Those who engage themselves in writing the Tamil National Anthem should give life and energy...

Kay Griggs was a Southern divorcee who rented a room to Marine Corps colonel George Griggs in the late 1980s. She was impressed by his clipped manner, his education, his good looks. Two months later she married him. What she found out about world affairs as George Griggs' wife was astounding. Colonel Griggs was a Marine Corps Chief of Staff, as well as head of NATO's Psychological Operations. He was also, his wife realized, entirely mind-controlled. Kay, a self-declared Christian, became privy to the real workings of the United States military, leadership training, drug-running and weapons sales, and the secret...

Hate to label it "vanity" because it appears anything but. http://www.jeffiscool.com/films12/TeamHoyt.wmv I wanted to share this with FReepers. I figure that if you don't cry from it's inspiration it's because you've seen the video before. The film is of Lt Col (Ret) Dick Hoyt, Air National Guard and his son, Rick.

Riddle of the Piano Man By Robert Mendick, Evening Standard 16 May 2005 New clues emerged today to help identify a mystery pianist. The man has not spoken since he was found wandering on a road near a beach in Sheerness on the Isle of Sheppey on 8 April. He was smartly dressed in a dark suit and was soaking wet. When he was given a pen and paper he drew a picture of a grand piano. He was shown a hospital piano and to the amazement of staff gave a two-hour performance of classical music. Other stories: Abigail's amazing...

This is the legacy of Hollywood's Top Gun attitude. Tom Cruise is the reason why I couldn't get into USNA (Maverick and Goose wannabes flooded the applications). Then Tom tries to date my favorite actress, Sofia Vergara! What a scoundrel. Go back to your wife Tom! ------ By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - A deadly aircraft accident in Afghanistan last summer is one of a series of exasperating crashes in the military that was blamed on recklessness, not enemy gunfire or faulty equipment, The Associated Press found. Events that led to the crash unfolded as 11 Marines packed...

Guerrilla Art Group Mocks Exclusive L.A. Enclaves By Howard Breuer Tue Apr 26, 8:49 PM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - In a city where fame is an industry and privacy is a mark of privilege, guerrilla artists have erected mock guard towers to protest what they see as a disturbing proliferation of gated communities. Heavy Trash, a coalition of anonymous architects, designers and urban planners, erected the bright orange, 12-foot viewing platforms outside the gates of three upscale Los Angeles neighborhoods. "Walling off one section of the city from another section is not the right solution," said a Heavy Trash...

Some Interesting Information on Pope Benedict's Coat of Arms From Inside the Vatican's website: For a thousand years the arms of the Munich archbishops have displayed a Moor, wearing a crown. No one knows how he got there. Ratzinger regards him as a symbol of the Church’s universality, which knows no distinctions of race or class, since "all are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). Ratzinger added two personal symbols. The first is a scallop shell, the pilgrim’s emblem (still given to pilgrims at Compostela), a reminder that "we have here no lasting city" (Heb. 13:14). The shell also reminds...

If there had been a Cardinal-Patriarch of Jerusalem and if I had been given his vote on John Paul II's successor, I would have chosen Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria as the first black pope in a millennium and a half. (snip) This archbishop, whose Church is the closest to the Roman Catholic Church, has female priests; it is in fact one of their key theological differences (transubstantiation - the meaning of the body of Christ in the Eucharist - being another). To affirm life and not recognize that the feminine is brought through the respect and equality of women...

MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER JOHN PAUL II FOR THE 18th WORLD YOUTH DAY (APRIL 13, 2003) "Behold, your mother!" (Jn 19,27) My dear young people! 1. It always gives me great joy to address a special message to you on the occasion of World Youth Day. It is also a way to show you the extent of my affection for you. The vivid recollection of my experiences during our World Youth Day meetings is impressed on my memory: young people and the Pope together, and a large gathering of bishops and priests, all with our gaze on Christ, light...

WASHINGTON — State lawmakers outside of Florida have been watching the case of Terry Schiavo (search) unfold day after day, and, in many cases, they say it will likely spur increased focus on similar life-or-death decisions. But whether states will be inspired to pass new laws to avoid the seemingly unending court drama surrounding the Schiavo case is another matter entirely. "I think we need to look at what we already have on the books," said Democratic state Sen. Donnie Trotter of Illinois, a long-time advocate for public health issues. "The (Schiavo) case itself, I truly believed, should have been...

After two years, the acceptance was complete — a psychologist would say that I had finally “processed” the trauma. But it is a feeling that I find resurfacing today. Can they really have done this? Can this really be happening here in America? Can there really be people this cruel? A legalized mechanism of death this determined to crush the life out of one simple, injured and innocent woman?

http://robpongi.com/pages/comboPARENTSKISSHI.html Ironic that the virtues of the natural family are being sung in a North Korean kid's show. Here's an Asian Shirley Temple for you. WARNING, extremely cute! Her videos will want us to use non-lethal phaser weapons so we can oust the bad guys and keep the good ones singing happy songs. Away team, set phasers on stun, then giggle.

My 'Million Dollar' Answer Why would a conservative criticize Clint Eastwood's latest work? I'll tell you. BY MICHAEL MEDVED Thursday, February 17, 2005 12:01 a.m. As the Oscar campaign comes down to its climactic concluding days, I've been amazed to see much of the ferocious battle for Best Picture improbably and irrationally focused on . . . me. In recent weeks, some of the nation's most influential cultural observers have chosen to concentrate their Academy Awards commentary on my harsh reaction on radio and TV about the deceptive packaging of Clint Eastwood's boxing-and-euthanasia epic, "Million Dollar Baby." Roger Ebert raised...

Second Anti-War Effigy Torn Down Land Park Home At Center Of Free Speech Debate SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A Sacramento homeowner's latest anti-war effigy has been torn down. Stephen and Virginia Pearcy put a soldier's uniform with words "Bush lied, I died" on their Land Park home over the weekend, but by late Monday afternoon the display had been ripped down, leaving only the soldier's glove. Also, a sticker from President George W. Bush's campaign had been put on the front window of the home. ------snip

"Do what you love and the money will follow" is great in theory, but the truth of the matter is, certain jobs and fields simply pay more. The Bureau of Labor Statistics National Compensation Survey, published in August 2004, showed that white-collar earnings -- which averaged $21.85 per hour -- were the highest among occupational groups. Blue-collar pay averaged $15.03 per hour, while the hourly pay of service occupations averaged just $10.40. Though many of these occupations require an advanced degree, there are jobs at every education level that pay more than other jobs for workers with similar levels of...

By Rick Rogers UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER December 21, 2004 More Marines are committing suicide than at any time since the Corps started closely monitoring such deaths, prompting the government to step up intervention efforts based on a clear message – set aside your pride and seek counseling. The challenges of preparing for deployment to Iraq, the stress of combat and the difficulties of returning to postwar life seem to drive up suicide numbers, some counselors and Marine generals said. To encourage more service members to seek treatment, the Defense Department has beefed up its mental-health units deployed overseas. It has...

Poor diet, inherited disease made Gollum mad Fri Dec 17, 1:50 PM ET Offbeat - AFP PARIS (AFP) - The "Lord of the Rings" character Gollum was paranoid and had a split personality but this was because he probably suffered from vitamin deficiency, anaemia, hyperthyroidism and a metabolic disease called porphyria. That's the conclusion of a group of British doctors who sift through Gollum's symptoms in a tongue-in-cheek diagnosis published this Saturday in the British Medical Journal (BMJ). "Gollum's diet is extremely limited, consisting only of raw fish. Vitamin B-12 deficiency may cause irritability, delusions and paranoia," they say. "His...