Free Republic

When Will Global Warming Expert Al Gore Stop Eating Animal Flesh? TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA, ALL UNITED STATES SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES AND AL GORE!! YOU MUST HAVE 20/20 VISION IN 2010 Together you have the power and worldwide influence to save the lives of billions of animals, subsequently creating a multitude of everlasting monumental benefits for humans, the earth, and the earth’s atmosphere. Together your revolutionary profound efforts could be responsible for shutting down most or all animal factory farms and slaughterhouses in the world. Carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide together cause the vast majority of global warming. Raising...

Bae Yong Joon may be one of the few oenophiles still living in Korea based on wine's dropping popularity on the peninsula. (Photo courtesy of Arnaldo Bassini) Wine sales in Korea are continuing to decline according to a Dec. 8 Korea Times article. The Korea Customs Service told the Times that 2009 (at least the first 10 months) was the first year they noticed a decline in wine sales in Korea since the Asian financial crisis reached its zenith in 1998. However, the South Korean government expect wine imports from Europe and South America to improve after recently signed free-trade...

A very fast and active weather pattern will continue across the United States for the next week or more. The pattern is definitely setting up as anticipated with El Nino in charge. The southern jet stream is very active with a quick flow across the southern tier of the U.S. This is bringing several quick-moving storm systems from the Pacific Coast through the southern Rockies and into the Southeast. In addition, several surges of cold-arctic airmasses have made it south through the Plains and eastward into the Ohio Valley and portions of New England. This has already set up to...

The NY Times this morning is running an Op-Ed piece which suggests that our government's policy toward ethanol production has been less than enlightened. Some of us arrived at this conclusion long ago. Georgie Cracks Corn I don't know how many State of the Union Addresses since 1973 have pledged commitment to energy independence, but to quote Jim Ignatowski when he was asked how many different illicit drugs he had ingested in his lifetime, it's "exactly a lot." It was still a surprise, however, when our current President touted ethanol last week citing the sustainability myth as just one of...

Of all the sinister intrustions and usurpations of Government over the past few decades, the War On Food must rank as among the most bizarre. Included are updates for the Stowers Family Saga which began almost exactly a year ago and some other background and explanatory links.

Many of you from coast-to-coast experienced a wet and cool October and now the official numbers are in. Since 1895, October 2009 was the 3rd coolest October, nationally.

With plenty of money to invest from the interest owed to it by the United States, China continues reaching out its tentacles to grab more natural resources from Africa.

It was January 28th 2009 a mire 8 days after Obama was inaugurated. With a stroke of the pen he landed a commanding blow to the bio-fuel companies of America. What a surprise!! Everyone thought Obama was going to be a green president;

Senator Charles E. Schumer, the New York Democrat, is calling on the Obama administration to block the use of stimulus funds for a utility-scale wind farm in West Texas that would make use of turbines manufactured largely in China.

I was driving on Riebli Road near Santa Rosa, Calif. on Nov. 1 and noticed this sign by some vines of New Vine Zinfindel(Zin). It is owned by Bastoni Vineyards, according to WineMap. The US Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the 2008 average price for Sonoma County Zin, which is the basis for determining the grape sale contracts of the 2009 harvest, was $2,485.66 per ton. That's about $1.25 per pound. This is less than half that price.

I live in a rural farm area in Southwest Ohio. Earlier this year an underground limestone mine went into operation 1.2 miles down the road. All of the residents were told that we would not notice the blasting since it would be hundreds of feet below the surface. This has not been the case as hear the blasts and feel some of them through the floor in my home. The mine plant manager has been very nice thus far and offered to pay for a seismic study however my fear is that it will only show that they are within...

Crops such as Corn, Cotton and Soybeans Affected If it has seemed like it has been raining unusually often and by quite a bit, you are right. The months during harvest time (August/September/October) are traditionally the driest of year for most locations east of the Rockies, especially across the corn and cotton belts. This season, though, has been an exception. Here is a slide show that shows how the precipitation of these months has compared to normal.

It's too wet to get on the tractor. Texas is getting lots of rain. So I took a nap and had a dream. It was a Monday in January and I was in Washington listening to the new President's Inaugural Address. I was too far away to see the new President clearly and it wasn't clear which party now controlled the White House. I was close to a loudspeaker. Here's what I heard.

The Agri-Food investment story has been unfolding for more than three years, and has another ten or so years to go. For that reason, investors still have plenty of time to uncover the opportunities for profits in a world soon to be far more hungry. Agri-Food cannot be produced in factories with lower marginal costs for new production. Unlike consumer electronics, marginal production will have a higher cost. For centuries mankind has sought to satisfy hunger. Only in the second half of the 19th century did food become more plentiful with improved availability. Yet even after that period food was...

       The fact is that the Democrat party has an impressive record of amassing a loyal constituency and the Republicans have allowed them to do it. Loyal democrat voters consist of people who receive their livelihood from federal, state and local governments, which includes welfare recipients and those on unemployment; unions, both industry [what’s left of it] and teachers who are essentially government employees.         In addition to the underprivileged poor, the unemployed whites and blacks, and illegal aliens, there are the elite social democrats who favor women’s rights over the rights of the unborn [assuming that these democrats will...

The teenage daughters of Spain’s prime minister were ridiculed for dressing “Goth” with the Obamas. Meghan McCain on the perils of being a politician’s kid. Over the weekend I was emailed and tweeted an image of the prime minister of Spain, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and his family standing with President and Michelle Obama at the United Nations. The photo was uploaded onto the White House Flickr account but soon taken down because apparently the young girls are not seen or photographed in their country, so as to protect their privacy. When I first saw the picture, I didn’t understand...

Food poisoning is a common, usually mild, but sometimes deadly illness according to eMedicineHealth. Typical symptoms include nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramping, and diarrhea that occur suddenly (within 48 hours) after consuming a contaminated food or drink. Depending on the contaminant, fever and chills, bloody stools, dehydration, and nervous system damage may follow. These symptoms may affect one person or a group of people who ate the same thing (called an outbreak). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that in the United States, food poisoning causes about 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and up to 5,000 deaths each...

Turning the water off is not just bad politics, it’s an act of domestic terror. Former Fresno, California Mayor Alan Autry Forgive me if I am less than diplomatic here. I am not a fan at all of the radical environmental movement. I’m even less of a fan of radical, Big Government. Let’s cut to the chase here. The rabid environmentalists have destroyed the economy in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Not only have they destroyed the economy, they have destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of farmers, as well. According to the California Farm Water Coalition unemployment...

“Turning the water off is not just bad politics, it’s an act of domestic terror.” - Former Fresno, California Mayor Alan Autry Forgive me if I am less than diplomatic here. I am not a fan at all of the radical environmental movement. I’m even less of a fan of radical, Big Government. Let’s cut to the chase here. The rabid environmentalists have destroyed the economy in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Not only have they destroyed the economy, they have destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of farmers, as well. According to the California Farm Water Coalition...

I want to know how the situation covered on Hannity today is not cause enough for armed insurrection by the people of California against the tyranny of Washington DC. I want to know how governor Schwarzenegger has not called out the national guard and by force of arms turned the water on. I want to know how any rational human being can look at the starving of an area, the destroyed landscape, the human misery caused by artificially starving an area of a natural resource and defend it. I want to know if our government would accept such actions committed...

Gregg Easterbrook eulogizes Norman Borlaug in the Wall Street Journal. Here was a man responsible for the preservation of more land and more life in the world than anyone realizes, and yet was still villainized by the Evironmental Movement, due to the use of pesticides and fertilizer in the farming methods he developed. One might note throughout the article as well, all of the references to the private monies of greedy capitalists funding Borlaug's works, as government agency after government agency defunded him. Capitalism at work, saving lives and saving the environment. Highly recommended to read the whole thing, that...

A Night to Remember On the evening of May 4,2007, around 9:30 p.m., I heard the news of severe weather around Greensburg, Kansas. I stepped outside of Vosburgh's home when an unbelievably warm wind touched my face. It sent a chill down my spine, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up as tall as a cottonwood tree. The lightning lit up the dark sky above, like the flashing cameras at a Friday night football game. The booming thunder rumbled my chest, but the world around me felt so calm, so eerie. When the dark sky opened...

Here are some pics of draft horses doing their thing at the Old Threshers Reunion in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa this last week. It's good to remember how it used to be!

Orly Taitz asked special permission to depose Lucas Smith on the spot. The defense argued Plaintiff had sprung an ambush witness and they hadn't been allowed to prepare deposition questions. Carter ruled against immediate deposition of Smith. Orly Taitz argued strenuously for the deposition stating Smith feared for his life. Taitz also asked for Witness Protection for Smith. I'm not clear where that stands. Taitz asked for an earlier trial date sooner than 1/26/10 giving her reasons as death threats against herself and witnesses, the likelihood of more evidence disappearing, and the possibility of witnesses being killed before they can...

World Famous Fish Taco Rubio's originl Baja-style Fish Taco since 1983. Crispy beer-battered fish, shredded cabbage, mild salsa...... slice of lime.

One of the most effective ways a President influences public policy and law in a lasting manner is through regulatory actions taken by the federal government. It's not an area that typically garners substantial media attention because regulatory work is generally a highly technical matter performed by policy wonks largely unknown to the public. Yet, despite their general obscurity, federal regulations have a substantial impact on virtually every facet of society. And the personnel who oversee the regulatory process have far greater influence than most would imagine. Chief among the personnel who oversee the regulatory process is the administrator of...

You like living out in the country. Living away from smog, noise, and crowded streets suits you just fine. But there's no reason to forgo some of the nicer things associated with civilization. This gadget guide for country folks offers some nifty items for off the grid living, or for those just outside the city limits. There's enough here to whet the gadget lust in any survivalist's heart. So let's take a look at some technology that will make that little cabin in the woods a lot more fun.

The late Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass) had requested that he be buried at sea. While such requests normally are honored, this one was vetoed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The key sticking point was the Senators request that his “coffin” be a “1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88.” Those familiar with the Chappaquiddick incident may recognize this as the car that the Senator drove off a bridge in 1969 on the way to an extramarital tryst with a young campaign volunteer named Mary Jo Kopechne in the car with him. Ms. Kopechne was trapped in the submerged car for several hours...

News out of China reports China National Cereals, Oils & Foodstuffs Corporation (COFCO) has laid plans to erect its second largest soybean processing plant in the country's southwest region. The company's second largest plant is expected to begin construction in the month of September and once complete will have annual capacity of 1.2 million tonnes (44 million bushels). Interesting enough is the location, away from the country's major soybean production region and nearer port facilities but equally interesting is how competitors of COFCO, both Sino Grain and Jilin Grain Group are also laying plans to open "new" facilities. Allendale research...

The national healthcare movement was doomed from the start. TV clips of shouting matches at town halls and fear-mongering by cynical politicians may be lamentable, but we are witnessing something more profound than the collapse of civic discourse. The failure of a movement that could rightly claim over 70 percent public acceptance just a month ago, exposes the inherent failure of movements of any kind to effectively address our society’s ills. That’s right. Mass organization may just have been a twentieth century thing: collective actions of all sorts—good and bad—were responses to the corporatization of government and industy. As such,...

Please help me out! My daughter grew a massive sunflower from seed in a wildflower garden that we planted late this spring. This flower was MAGNIFICENT, it had eight blooms and 3 or 4 more on the way! Neighbor boys cut it down with a tent pole this morning and Bachman's has told us that it will likely die. We are in MN (twin cities area), so I'm trying to find somewhere, anywhere, that has sunflowers (mature ones preferably). Bachman's told us no dice - they don't have any. My 2.5 year old is going to be crushed, and Mom...

Well what will the Daily Kos crowd have to say about a Democratic state senator in Hawaii announcing that he will introduce legislation in Hawaii to make Obama disclose the birth certificate information filed with that's state's Department of Health? State Sen. Will Espero (D), who was born in Japan, explains to World Net Daily his decision to introduce the legislation: "My decision to file the legislation was primarily a result of the fuss over President Obama's birth records and the lingering questions," Espero said. Espero told WND that he believes President Obama was born in Hawaii. "My motivation is...

NR: Pres. Barack Obama has a birthday coming up, a week from Tuesday. We hope he takes the day off—or even the whole week, the briefest of respites from his busy schedule of truncating our liberties while exhausting both the public coffers and our patience. The president’s birthday comes to mind because we recently spent some time looking at a photograph of his birth certificate, being held by Joe Miller of Factcheck.org, who took the time to examine it. Right off the bat, Flowery and Co. show that they have not followed the story in the least. Calling his short...

renaissance n. A rebirth or revival It’s amazing what goes on in the middle of the night when most of us are sound asleep. After a unfortunate encounter with a Brown Recluse Spider crawling over my bed, and my misguided attempts to kill it with a slipper and then chemicals, I had to abandon my bedroom. So I turned on the radio, unable to get but 3 stations, 2 of them in Spanish, and Coast to Coast Am. I ordinarily don’t listen to conspiracy theories and worries of boogymen I can do nothing about, because as our patriot friend, Terry...

The SPLC, for anyone who isn't aware, is one of the nation's premiere organizations that tracks extremists such as white supremacists and the Klan. The fact that they're weighing in on this one is very interesting. One thing that I was wondering about, before I read the letter (below), was the "so what?" factor. Meaning, yeah it's absurd to say that Obama wasn't really born in the states, but so what? We won the election, and anyone who is going to be believe Obama isn't legitimate isn't going to believe us any more if we get rid of Lou Dobbs....

Promoted from the diaries. We’d assume that this was some sort of data entry error, but then again, we have no reason to believe that at all. It is, after all, government ham. I give up. I freaking give up. I tried to sit on the fence, reserve judgement. I tried to be a lefty among right wingers, a righty among left wingers. I told myself, hey, RedState is just as crazy as the Daily Kos, two sides of the same coin. I told myself that I’d give Obama a year before I made any judgment. But ham is now...

A new blog discussing energy independence and security and how Kentucky will play an integral part in the coming domestic energy revolution. Join the discussion. Generate ideas.

It was a Dark and Smoky Basement.... Troll logs on, now he's a noobie Thinks he's slick, smoking his doobie Calling one a hick, prized like a ruby Silently though, alarms did blare Post count up, writing bout hockey But he's being watched, by viking kitty A little jab at Huck, and one for Palin Slipped just a bit, might have been railing Tried to backtrack, writing the right thing The Mods are aware, lurking there Viking Kitties, waiting for meat DUmmie made a mistake, Called Reagan a dork There awoke the LOTUS SPORK Troll slayers on the attack ZOTS...

If you just looked inside the USDA, you would find tremendous support for local food," said Senator Mark Udall to me yesterday, June 17. I responded: "I have looked, and it's not a pretty picture . . . " then somebody cut off my microphone and that was the end. I think I have reached the nadir of my trust in government. Some background: a couple of months ago, I received an invitation from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to paticipate in the Green Jobs Leadership Summit hosted by the Senate Democratic Caucus in the Russell Senate Office Building. His...

You know what lead does to the brain? Obama's decisions explained. It was meant to be a show case for healthy living, with the first lady, Michelle Obama, personally putting hand to pitch fork in a crowd of school children to dig up the first White House vegetable garden in more than 50 years. Instead, an embarrassed White House admitted today that the plot - whose lettuce, herbs and other produce have been consumed by the first family, visiting dignitaries, local school children and a women's homeless shelter - had tested positive for elevated levels of lead.

The recent discovery of a massive oil field in the Gulf of Mexico has crude oil refinery companies projecting its potential output to be well over 15 billion barrels. If these projections are true the impact of this discovery will be much greater than the actual discovery itself and may have encouraged continued crude oil dependency in the midst of a universal push for alternative fuel sources. It would certainly have a significant impact on crude oil consumption in the United States. According to the US Energy department, Americans consumes roughly 5.7 billion barrels of crude oil annually with reserves...

I’m confused. I can’t figure out the high-and-mighty Democrats who rule our country. Either I’m dumb as a rock or they’re a bunch of hypocritical tyrants. Specifically, on the issue of federal land and energy development, what I can’t figure out is when is the environment sacred and when is it not? When is federal land of such untouchable environmental value that all energy exploration is banned – no matter what – and when can those protections be swept away as if they don’t exist? The only answer I can come up with: Whenever the Democrats want. I’m talking about...

I heard about King Corn when Nora Gedgaudas interviewed Curt Ellis, one of the film’s creators. Ellis and his co-creator Ian Cheney decided to learn about the dominance of corn in our food supply by growing an acre of corn in Iowa, then following where corn goes after it’s harvested. The short answer is: it goes into pretty much everything. People like to blame the big, bad food industry for turning us into a nation of corn-eaters, but it was clear to me (and yes, this fits nicely with my own bias) that the problem is rooted in stupid government...

Well, the ugly cap and tax bill narrowly passed the House yesterday. And perhaps most aggravating of all is the fact that if two more Republicans showed up to vote NO (one of those being fiscal conservative darling Jeff Flake of Arizona) and just three of the eight GOP members who vote AYE changed their minds, then it would have been DOA. As irksome as this fact rightfully is to many conservatives, including many readers in this space, I unfortunately will offer a healthy dose of parade-raining by giving a look into just who of those eight members could really...

Pike Research projects the global biodiesel and ethanol markets will reach $247 billion in sales by 2020, up from $76 billion in 2010. They see three key waves of biodiesel development over the next several years: * Fuels based on waste greases will reach market in 2010. * Jatropha-based fuels will begin having a significant impact on the market in 2014. Jatropha are plants native to Latin America that produced oil used to make biofuels in other countries. * Algae-based biodiesel will achieve commercial availability in 2012, Pike Research predicts, and will have a larger market impact beginning in 2016.

When I woke up early this morning, the cats were gone; all outdoors. Curious about the phenomenon, I went into the kitchen and looked out one of the large windows there. I had a visitor, the soil scientist. She was out in the garden, picking some of the "volunteer" broccoli. It was very foggy early this morning, but she saw me looking at her, and waved. For a chick from a wealthy family in southern Maryland, she looked as natural and wholesome and contented as strawberries-and-cream out here in the Sandhills of Nebraska. She's average height for a woman (i.e.,...

Senate moves forward with government tobacco takeover By Michelle Malkin  •  June 11, 2009 05:33 PM Photoshop credit: Mike On June 2, I called attention to the Democrats’ plans to complete a government tobacco takeover.The next step took place today while America slept. Another day, another industry grab: Congress struck the government’s strongest anti-smoking blow in decades Thursday with a Senate vote to give regulators new power to limit nicotine in cigarettes, drastically curtail ads and ban candied tobacco products aimed at young people.Cigarette foes say the changes could cut into the 400,000 deaths every year caused by smoking and reduce the...

As some here might be aware, my fellow Nebraskan Omaha Steve, a non-primitive on Skins's island, is not exactly enamoured of his Democrat U.S. Senator, E. Benjamin Nelson, arguably the most conservative Democrat in that body. Senator Nelson after all voted against the latest budget proposed by Pa Kettle in the White House; has a 100% pro-life voting record, supports the Second Amendment, supports the wars for the liberation of Afghanistan and Iraq, and prefers cutting governmental spending to raising taxes. And he's causing problems for both the Democrat leadership in the Senate, and the primitives on Skins's island, because...

Anchorage, AK - On Saturday Governor Palin and the 1st family are greeted by thousands of Alaskans at Westchester Lagoon in Anchorage. Members of a local Daisy group, several local elementary school staff and students as her daughter, Piper, pushes her son, Trig, in a stroller after finishing the March for Babies three-mile walk from 15th & U Street in Anchorage. The 3 mile fundraising walk benefits March of Dimes research and programs that prevent pre-term births and help babies overcome health issues. The event will raises 10s of thousands of dollars and will assist moms to have healthy, full-term...

It's been nearly eight months since I first wrote about the insults heaped upon the memory of blues legend Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. First, Hurricane Katrina forced Brown to flee from his Louisiana home and relocate in Orange, Texas, his former hometown. Brown died from lung cancer shortly after losing everything in the storm, including his beloved black 1977 Cadillac. Buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Orange, the temporary marker on Brown's grave was blown away a couple of weeks after his death by Hurricane Rita. Sadly, Brown's grave remained unmarked until Hurricane Ike devastated the Gulf Coast of Texas. The top...