Free Republic

I am a big fan of Madison Police Chief Noble Wray. The man must walk a tightrope between an ultra-liberal Common Council, an increasingly restive population of crime and quality of life victims, and — I suspect — the better instincts of his own uniformed officers. Nonetheless, the chief whacked a hornet's nest when he was quoted in Monday's Wisconsin State Journal thusly: In some cases, long-time residents of some neighborhoods are afraid of young blacks and Hispanics who are not breaking the law. In those cases, the newcomers to a neighborhood may need to adjust their behavior, and long-time...

After Al Franken is sworn in to the U.S. Senate this week, the nation will be watching to see how the former entertainer performs in a theater where cooperation trumps controversy and wise politicians survive wiseguys. Preparing for his new role, one of the first people Franken sought out was Tamara Luzzatto, chief of staff for Hillary Clinton when she was in the Senate. "A number of people have told me to study the Hillary model of being a senator," Franken said after they met last February. "Put your head down and do the work." Franken appears determined to establish...

Two weeks before Election Day, Barack Obama's campaign was mobilizing millions of supporters; it was a bit late to start rewriting get-out-the-vote (GOTV) scripts. "BUT, BUT, BUT," deputy field director Mike Moffo wrote to Obama's GOTV operatives nationwide, "What if I told you a world-famous team of genius scientists, psychologists and economists wrote down the best techniques for GOTV scripting?!?! Would you be interested in at least taking a look? Of course you would!!" ...

To some, he's known as "Big Al." Others call him"Norm." He's a 10-foot-long alligator who has earned such nicknames because of his intimidating size. It's his size that now has some worried he could be a danger, while others work to save his life. "Big Al" or "Norm", depending on whom you ask, a large alligator in a Hilton Head lagoon that has some residents worried, and others determined to save. For years, the reptile lived in a lagoon near Port Royal Plantation on Hilton Head Island. That's where he became known as "Big Al." Last week, though, he went...

Evolutionists often attempt to use observational science—arguments from biology, paleontology, geology, or even astronomy—to support their belief. But the really interesting thing is that they base all their arguments on principles that ultimately come from biblical creation! As strange as it may sound, evolutionists must unwittingly assume that creation is true in order to argue against it. That means that Darwin was (in a sense) a “creationist.” All evolutionists must borrow the principles of biblical creation in order to do science (even though they would deny this). Here is why...

The naughty cachet of "Girls Gone Wild" has lost its luster says new study: College men actually don t want their women to be drunk, topless, disorderly. Just like mother told you, ladies....

NEW YORK (AP) — A Vatican evaluation of U.S. Roman Catholic seminaries in response to the clergy sex abuse scandal concluded that administrators have largely been effective in rooting out "homosexual behavior" in the schools, although the agency said it persists. The Congregation for Catholic Education sought a broad review of how the schools screen and educate prospective priests, but gave special attention to teachings on chastity and celibacy. The Vatican also directed evaluators to look for "evidence of homosexuality" in the schools. In a report U.S. bishops released this week, the Vatican agency noted past "difficulties in the area...

n Part I, I made the argument that any woman who is married to a good man and who wants a happy marriage ought to consent to at least some form of sexual relations as much as possible. (Men need to understand that intercourse should not necessarily be the goal of every sexual encounter.) In Part II, I advance the argument that a wife should do so even when she is not in the mood for sexual relations. I am talking about mood, not about times of emotional distress or illness. Why? Here are eight reasons for a woman not...

"Bad boys" have a bad boy gene. What's more, that same gene makes them more popular than the proverbial Mr. Nice Guy. Hello James Dean, so long Alan Alda

Research conducted by a team in Switzerland suggests that a family of genes involved in regulating the expression of other genes in the brain is responsible for helping us deal with external inputs such as stress. Their results, appearing in the December 11 advance online version of the journal Neuron, may also give a clue to why some people are more susceptible to anxiety or depression than others. The researchers from EPFL and the National Competence Center "Frontiers in Genetics" studied the role of a family of genes known as KRAB-ZFP, which acts like a group of genetic censors, selectively...

When I asked people why or why not they thought homosexuality was a choice, I asked for specificity and examples, so unless it was especially funny or insightful, I included only the best of the feedback that stayed within the guidelines. Let’s get to it. “Every truly gay friend I’ve ever had believes he was born that way. They say they knew as early as they could remember that it was same-sex people who made their hearts beat faster.” “I think you’re born that way. Too many kids I knew growing up came out of the closet when they left...

The real problem with the gay marriage issue is that the truth can only be found in either the spiritual or the scientific. The question that matters most is whether or not a person can be born gay. And the only possible way to answer this seems to be by discovering a gene that determines sexual preference or by believing in the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality and assuming this means everyone is born straight. Simply posing the question generally infuriates gays. First, the question seems to carry with it the tone that homosexuality is some sort of handicap, like asking...

It is difficult to screw up an appearance at Ground Zero on September 11th. You have to be either completely oblivious or completely indifferent. It is a signal feat of idiocy. And yet Barack Obama accomplished it. John McCain and Obama visited Ground Zero together. Obama and McCain entered the site. But while McCain took the time to shake hands with uniformed firefighters and a construction worker with an American flag helmet, Obama ignored them and stood around. But he wasn’t done yet. Both McCain and Obama brought roses to place on the makeshift 9/11 memorial. Obama casually tossed his...

Dogs are becoming more intelligent and are even learning morals from human contact, scientists claim. They say the fact that dogs' play rarely escalates into a fight shows the animals abide by social rules. During one study, dogs which held up a paw were rewarded with a food treat. When a lone dog was asked to raise its paw but received no treat, the researchers found it begged for up to 30 minutes. But when they tested two dogs together but rewarded only one, the dog which missed out soon stopped playing the game. Dr Friederike Range, of the University...

This is an animated video of a dove that we see in most back yards. As a child, I with a slingshot, 22 rifle and 12 gage shot gun, killed many kinds of birds just for sport, to see if I could aim good and bring the little creature to the ground. I didn’t kill for food but in adolescent behavior. It is so cruel and for this reason I created this video to show and teach the cruelty of this kind of behavior.

June 26, 2008 -- Little dogs -- think Chihuahuas and Dachshunds -- tend to be feisty, while certain breeds, like Golden and Labrador Retrievers, are as mellow as their reputations suggest, found a new study that identified the most and least aggressive common dog breeds.

Planning an eco-friendly wedding just underlines how committed Jamie Hanson and Mark Hamlyn are to living an environmentally respectful life. "Sometimes we choose things that are not absolutely perfect, but we do our absolute best," says Hamlyn. An operations manager at Suncor in Fort McMurray with a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta, Hamlyn, 37, met Hanson while on the job. "He wandered into my office to thank the girl I shared an office with for recommending someone to hire and we got to talking," remembers Hanson. Hanson, 32, works for TransAlta Utilities, Suncor's partner, as manager...

Fairfax May Junk Study on Behavior Staff Report Shows Racial, Ethnic Gaps Among Students Fairfax County School Board members said they are likely to abandon a staff report that showed racial and ethnic gaps in some measures of student behavior, including in the demonstration of "sound moral character and ethical judgment." The board had delayed an April vote to approve the report after concerns were raised that findings were based on subjective measures, such as elementary report card data, and that they would fuel negative stereotypes. Board member Phillip A. Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence) said yesterday that he plans to propose at...

Could a gene be partly responsible for the behaviour of some of the worlds most infamous dictators? Selfish dictators may owe their behaviour partly to their genes, according to a study that claims to have found a genetic link to ruthlessness. The study might help to explain the money-grabbing tendencies of those with a Machiavellian streak — from national dictators down to 'little Hitlers' found in workplaces the world over. Researchers at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem found a link between a gene called AVPR1a and ruthless behaviour in an economic exercise called the 'Dictator Game'. The exercise allows players...

NEW YORK - To the untrained eye, the man looked like any other traveler as he waited in line at Kennedy Airport. But something about the way he was acting caught the attention of two security screeners. For 16 minutes, they questioned him, scanned every inch of his body twice with a metal-detecting wand and emptied his carry-on bag onto a table. Out came a car stereo with wires dangling from it. The man was eventually found to have done nothing wrong — he said he had pulled the stereo out of his car because he was afraid it would...