Free Republic

I thought I heard somebody say there’s an election next week. Pretty sure I heard that right. Something about mid-term Congressional elections. A bunch of governorships up for grabs. Things like that. Of course, I could be wrong. I saw what looked like a political rally on the tube but the talking heads kept telling me it was a memorial service. There may be political campaign spots on TV. I couldn’t say. Like most adult males, I channel surf during commercials. While in Missouri the other day, I saw a bus with a sign that said: “Chuck Norman likes Jim...

If Missouri Senator Jean Carnahan were Barbara Bush some leftist celebrity would’ve called her a bitch by now. Most folks in Missouri think Jean Carnahan is a nice lady for whom they should feel sympathy. But last week a truer portrait of Senator Carnahan emerged and many are beginning to see that in truth she’s petty and mean. Much has been made of her recent appraisal of President Bush’s ineffectiveness as Commander in Chief. “I'm the No. 1 target of the White House,” Mean Jean said with a twinge of malice. “They can't get Osama bin Laden. They're going to...

The police tape is gone and life is returning, as much as possible, to normal at Seven Corners Shopping Center in Falls Church, Virginia. As normal as can be when a madman with a rifle can plunge a metropolitan area of three million plus people into a life of fear. Orange cones close off the parking space where the Washington-area sniper’s bullet cut down his latest victim, 47-year-old Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst who went shopping with her husband at Home Depot Monday night just to buy some stuff for the new home they would be moving into this weekend....

Clues to Roman Illnesses in 2,000-Year-Old Cheese Oct. 9 — By E. J. Mundell NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A tiny piece of cheese, carbonized in the volcanic eruption that killed the citizens of Pompeii, is yielding up secrets as to how ancient Romans ate, lived and died. Using an electron microscope, anthropological researcher Dr. Luigi Capasso of the State University G. d'Annunzio in Chieti, Italy, has been able to pinpoint goats' milk cheese as a prime source of brucellosis--a debilitating joint disease that ravaged the ancient world. "Roman cheese was an important and continuous source of possible infectious...

For God’s sake, will somebody get Tom Daschle off caffeine? The South Dakota Democratic Senator, majority leader only because a political traitor named Jim Jeffords bolted the GOP, took the floor of the Senate Wednesday to scream and shout that Dubya is politicizing the war against terrorism. "We ought not to politicize this war. We ought not to politicize the rhetoric about life and death," Daschle said in his speech. “You tell those who fought in Vietnam and in World War Two they're not interested in the security of the American people. That is outrageous, outrageous." Tom got his underwear...

SEPARATED AT BIRTH Peter Boyle (Everybody Loves Raymond) and Jack Welch (Everybody Hates a Jerk) Director Baz Luhrman ("Moulin Rouge") and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz (Assistant director "Gulf War II") Kevin Bacon and Martina Navratilova Bob Hope and Kelsey Grammer Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards) and Ralph Nader (The reason for President Bush) Some Jihad guy and some guy dressed like Liza Minnelli

BSNN.net Headline News WASHINGTON — Based on the results of a study by the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, which found that depressed kids run a high risk of obesity, and based on anecdotal evidence that most American kids are depressed, the FDA, AMA, and EPA have developed a program that they hope will mirror the success of the CAFE (corporate average fuel economy) regulations. The new program will use the same initials but will refer to the Children’s Ass Fat Examination. The program will allow the FDA to set a standard for ass fat. Doctors and priests will...

God bless those Brits (love them,hate them). Despite spending most of their time fretting over whether Tony sniffs George's ass too much or whether Tony gives it to Cherie too much or whether Charles or Wills will be the next Queen of England, they still have time to focus on the absurd. According to the BBC, a British bookmaker is giving 6-1 to odds that actor Michael Douglas will one day become President of the United States. You see Michael, like most self-important, self-deluded, self-gratifying, liberal Hollywood types, fancies himself more than a guy who makes a living kissing Glenn...

1. I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer. 2. Sorry officer, I didn't realize my radar detector wasn't plugged in. 3. Aren't you the guy from the Village People band? 4. Hey, you must have been doing 125 to keep up with me. Good job. 5. I thought you had to be in relatively good physical shape to be a police officer. 6. I was going to be a cop, but I decided to finish high school instead. 7. Bad cop, no donut. 8. You're not going to check the trunk are you? 9. Gee, that gut...

Above: Appropriately dressed for August in Texas, Hearst Newspapers' Helen Thomas relaxes at an appreciation barbecue sponsored by the Crawdad Chamber of Commerce. CRAWDAD, TEXAS — Despite widespread grumbling among the White House press corps, some reporters have found ways to make their month-long stay in Crawdad, Texas a little more tolerable. And to aid the burgeoning romance between this little Texas town and the city-loving journalists who invade it whenever the president is around, Crawdad rolled out the red carpet hoping to impress the jaded correspondents. The city jail, which is seldom used, has been converted into a 10-cell...

VANDENBROEK, Wis. (July 6, 2002 9:12 p.m. EDT) - Actor Tom Arnold and former All-Star John Kruk, co-hosts of a TV sports show, can't deny the Wisconsin flavor surrounding the baseball All-Star Game. Not when their likenesses have been captured in a 150-pound sculpture in cheese. The cheddar block was transported Friday to Milwaukee's Miller Park, the site of Tuesday's game. Fox Sports Net commissioned the busts of its "Best Damn Sports Show Period" hosts, cheese carver Troy Landwehr said. The carving "took a couple days, because of all the drawing and thinking you have to do," he said. "You...

Is this guy's head getting a little large?

<p>Most callers to the number printed at the bottom of this column have general questions about travel. They want to know about places to vacation, estimates of cost, whether this cruise line is better than another cruise line, and the like. There are answers for most questions, but more than one is a stumper, especially those concerning how much money a traveler should take to a place the person answering the telephone has never heard of.</p>

Now scientists know why photographers warble, "Say cheese," when they want someone to flash those pearly whites. Researchers at Boston's Forsyth Institute report that a quarter-century's worth of dental studies prove that one of Americans' guilty pleasures, cheese, actually prevents cavities. It's a complex molecular ballet, involving the calcium in cheese, an increase in saliva from chewing, and the ability of cheese to restore depleted enamel.

First came the atom bomb, the stealth bomber and the airborne laser. Now comes the US military's latest fearsome weapon: the indestructible sandwich. Capable of surviving airdrops, rough handling and extreme climates, and just about anything except a GI's jaws, the new "pocket" sandwich is designed to stay "fresh" for up to three years at 26 °C (about the temperature of a warm summer's day), or for six months at 38 °C (just over body temperature). For years the US army has wanted to supplement its standard battlefield rations, called "Meal, Ready-to-Eat" (MRE), with something that can be eaten on...

Fall is the time when forest greens begin to blaze orange, as hunting seasons open around the country. Each year, hunters kill more than 100 million animals, and while individual reasons for hunting vary, the industry that promotes and sustains hunting has just one motive: profit. According to the International Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, America's 14 million hunters spend $22.1 billion each year for guns, ammunition, clothing, travel, and other related expenses. To justify hunting to a society ever more concerned about wildlife—including its conservation and humane treatment—the industry intensively promotes a set of tired myths. Learn the...

According to the article posted at Toonzone, UPN has told Disney that they will not renew their contract for One Too after the fall of 2003. Will UPN be out of the Kids Biz entirely or will Nick take over the Sunday-Friday Block?

Subject: HI- BAD NEWS Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 09:50:54 -0500 Hello everyone, I thought I would let you all know that come tomorrow I may be looking for a new job.  Our company came in yesterday and fired one of our upper management people.  They have let 3 upper[-level people] and 2 detailers go so far in other offices. There is talk of closing our Big Rapids office and other satellite offices. Tomorrow we [will] receive our reviews with the Auburn big wigs.  It does not look good for me or [removed], we are low on the totem pole and have already...

A gunman is believed to have taken about 40 people hostage in Amsterdam's tallest building. The people are being held in the lobby of the Rembrandt Tower office block. Police are negotiating with the unidentified man who walked into the building shortly after it opened for business. NOS television said the man was armed with a machine gun. In a statement to the state broadcaster, the man said he is protesting against the quot;manipulation by the seller of broadband televisionquot;. The action could be directed against Philips Electronics, which used to be based in the building until it moved to...

Cheese! From the big cheesy mozzarella pull you get when grabbing a slice of pizza pie to the tangy twang from a crumble of Oregon blue cheese over your salad, I think there isn't a person who doesn't love it. And then there's the "something that I love to hate" about a slice of American on a burger. Delish cheddar — although a favorite — just doesn't bite the same. We love cheese in our resurgent craze for mac-and-cheese, melted in enchiladas and stuffed in mushrooms, and nibbled after dinner with a glass of port. Now that I think our ...