Free Republic

SAYNER — Ski-Doo, Polaris, Arctic Cat and Yamaha dominate the snowmobile industry these days. But 95 years ago, one name stood alone — Eliason. In 1924, after nearly two years of planning and building, Carl Eliason unveiled a handmade contraption powerful enough to skim over Wisconsin’s snow-covered Northwoods yet small enough to navigate trails just a few feet wide. Born was the Eliason Motor Toboggan, precursor to the modern snowmobile. Eliason died 40 years ago at the age of 80. But his original creation, in remarkably good condition after all these decades, is displayed here in Vilas County at...

Russian Railway Tours' Temple Car provides rolling space for Divine Liturgy.In the “They’ve Thought of Everything” category, check out Russian Railway Tours. The company, which started in 2005, offers several packages for rail travel in Russia, including a 14-night Trans-Siberian “Imperial Russia” excursion from Moscow to Vladivostok. Prime among travelers’ concerns for such a long journey would have to be sleeping accommodations, of course, followed by opportunities for sightseeing—both from the window and on the ground. Russian Railway Tours has all that covered. And on every train there is a dining car, a bar car and a saloon car. But,...

Fear of mass protests in China is leading to total surveillance, ideological control, and suppression of dissidents and human rights groups.Bitter Winter has acquired an 18-page-long internal document issued by the authorities of a city in Liaoning in May 2018. The document details the methods by which the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) seeks to “maintain social stability.” Entitled Implementation Suggestions for 2018 Social Stability Maintenance Tasks for the Leading Group for Maintaining Social Stability, it calls for faster development of “Sharp Eyes” Project, promotion of the “Fengqiao Experience,” and the completion of a digitization system. Bitter Winter has documented individually...

French journalist’s book is a ‘startling account of corruption and hypocrisy’, publisher saysSome of the most senior clerics in the Roman Catholic church who have vociferously attacked homosexuality are themselves gay, according to a book to be published next week. Eighty per cent of priests working at the Vatican are gay, although not necessarily sexually active, it is claimed in the book, In the Closet of the Vatican. The 570-page book, which the French journalist and author Frédéric Martel spent four years researching, is a “startling account of corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of the Vatican”, according to its...

CHICAGO (CBS) — Questions surround a Northwest Side alderman after his car disappeared for months and a woman was charged in connection with the disappearance.

An international and multi-disciplinary team coordinated by Abderrazak El Albani at the Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux de Poitiers (CNRS/Université de Poitiers) has uncovered the oldest fossilised traces of motility. Whereas previous remnants were dated to 570 million years ago, this new evidence is 2.1 billion years old. They were discovered in a fossil deposit in Gabon, where the oldest multicellular organisms have already been found (1). These results appear in the 11 February 2019 edition of PNAS. A few years ago, geologist Abderrazak El Albani and his team at the Institut de chimie des milieux et matériaux...

SANTA FE — A bill expanding background check requirements for New Mexico gun sales cleared a key stumbling block Thursday, as members of the Senate voted 22-20 to pass the measure after more than three hours of debate. The legislation, along with other gun bills pending at the Roundhouse, have drawn opposition from most county sheriffs statewide and prompted at least two New Mexico counties — Quay and Socorro — to adopt ordinances suggesting they would not enforce the law.

Chicago police on Thursday say they "have no evidence" to support reports they are investigating whether actor Jussie Smollett fabricated the story about his alleged assault in Chicago last month. Chicago police spokesman said reports the attack was a hoax are "unconfirmed by case detectives" following multiple reports by Chicago news media. "Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate," police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted...

~Favorite Leave or Return Songs~ Tom Walker - Leave a Light On (Official Video) *Video* Elvis Presley - Return To Sender (Audio) *Video*

Steven Spielberg, Lady Gaga, Spike Lee and Glenn Close have a message for Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: Get well soon. They and three dozen Hollywood A-listers, from Bradley Cooper to Quincy Jones, have signed a card that's being overnighted to Ginsburg on Thursday. The 85-year-old Ginsburg has missed a month of Supreme Court arguments as she recovers from the lung cancer surgery she had in December. In the card, Lee refers to Ginsburg as the "Judge of Brooklyn." Regina King wrote that she is the true, "Super Diva" in reference to a shirt Ginsburg wears in the documentary...

Chicago police have concluded that the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was staged, according to two local media reports. Police spent much of Thursday interviewing two persons of interest in the case, who are believed to have been seen on surveillance images on the night of the attack. Rob Elgas, a reporter at ABC 7 in Chicago, reported Thursday afternoon that “multiple sources” said that Smollett and the two men staged the attack because his character was being written off the show. Brad Edwards, a reporter at CBS Chicago, cited a source who said that investigators believe the...

Taking a dip in the ocean and coming face to face with a predator of the deep would be enough to scare anyone. Modern day great white sharks are intimidating creatures, but they wouldn’t have held a candle to the ancient super-sized beast known as megalodon. The long-extinct shark has been the subject of many research efforts in the past, with scientists attempting to determine when and where it lived, and perhaps even figure out why it’s no longer around. Now, new fossil evidence suggests that the colossal creature actually died off quite a bit earlier than was originally thought,...

President Trump has a pool of roughly $21 billion in military construction funds he can use to build the border wall by emergency declaration, congressional aides said Thursday — though much of that is already destined for other projects that would have to be put on hold. The White House said Thursday that the president will follow through on his threat to declare an emergency and use the Pentagon to build fencing, going around a Congress that just denied him most of the money he had sought. “President Trump will sign the government funding bill, and as he has stated...

Whew, that was a close call. But now that Democrats have pulled back from the brink of unchecked anti-Semitism, they can return to their regularly scheduled programming of routine anti-Israel bias. The vile tweets of Minnesota Rep. Ilhan Omar about Jews, money and dual loyalty were forcefully repudiated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others, though their decision to merely scold her means Omar remains on the Foreign Affairs panel and has a prominent perch from which to peddle her BDS B.S. Any doubt that Omar will do just that was erased in her defiant “apology,” which included another snide reference...

CHICAGO -- Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett. Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of "Empire." A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that Smollett failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday. A source briefed on the Smollett investigation confirmed to ABC News that Chicago police are questioning the two persons of interest -- one...

A deadly disease that has affected the deer population in an estimated 24 states and two Canadian provinces could eventually spread to and infect humans, experts warn. Speaking at the Minnesota State Capitol last week, experts from the University of Minnesota told lawmakers of the dangers of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD), or what the U.S. Geological Survey describes as a “ fatal, neurological illness occurring in North American cervids (members of the deer family), including white-tailed deer, mule deer, elk, and moose.” MINNESOTA WILDLIFE OFFICIALS SHOOT MULE DEER EXHIBITING ‘STRANGE BEHAVIOR’Currently, there are no vaccines or treatments available for the disease, which...

Chicago police confirmed Thursday that detectives are talking to two persons of interest in connection with the alleged attack on "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett. Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of "Empire." A source familiar with the investigation told the ABC7 I-Team that Smollett failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday. A source briefed on the Smollett investigation confirmed to ABC News that Chicago police are questioning the two persons of interest -- one of whom...

There is no scientific link between vaccines and autism, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Darla Shine, wife of White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Bill Shine, is arguing that serious diseases like measles can help fight cancer. Shine’s screed against vaccines came on Wednesday after CNN reported on a measles outbreak in Clark County, Washington and Oregon. “Here we go LOL #measlesoutbreak on #CNN #Fake #Hysteria,” Shine, a former Fox News producer, tweeted, slamming CNN’s coverage of the disease. “The entire Baby Boom population alive today had the #Measles as kids,” Shine — who, along with...

In the previous article, I discussed the global nature of the oil markets. But the shale oil boom in the U.S. temporarily increased the localized impact on the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark. As a result, its price diverged from that of international crudes for a few years. The natural gas markets, on the other hand, are far more localized due to the difficulty in transporting natural gas. That means that natural gas in the U.S. could be $3 per million British thermal units (MMBtu), but double or triple that level in Japan or Europe.

...he president was not even behind McCabe’s ultimate removal from his post. The former FBI deputy director was fired after a Department of Justice internal probe found that he committed gross misconduct on multiple occasions. The devastating report found that McCabe lied under oath several times. That wasn’t all. He also attempted to sabotage his own FBI colleagues for his personal leaks to the media. McCabe later excused his activity, claiming his lies under oath were a result of the “chaos inside the FBI under siege from [President] Trump and his allies.” Currently, McCabe is under a Department of Justice-authorized...