Free Republic

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. This thread is non-political, although you will find that most here are conservative folks. No matter what, you won’t be flamed and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. There is no telling where it will go and... that...

This is the day to get warm and fuzzy publicly about your mate. Mushy is okay today guys. Tell us about your gal(or guy) and let the world know what a wonderful mate you have. Then send her a link to this thread to let her(or him) know that you told the world what a great person you have in your life.

Happy Valentines Day. I have the best wife that anyone could want. Surely I am not alone. Come on, Freeper guys, tell me if you have a great bride and why. Freeper ladies, you are invited to participate also.

Tea party darling Ted Cruz convincingly defeated the Republican establishment favorite, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, in Texas' runoff election Tuesday, capturing the GOP nomination to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as fiercely conservative voters shook one of America's reddest states to its political core.

BAY MINETTE, Alabama — A former Baldwin County High School standout volleyball player — shot on a remote Delta island at the scene of an alleged break-in gone wrong — was described by her mother Monday as struggling for life while her family waited for results from the latest CT scans. Terri Lewis said she was hoping that the third test would show 17-year-old Summer Moody has a "fighting chance" at survival. Moody was shot in the head at about 4 a.m. Sunday on Gravine Island in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, according to the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office. Press-Register reporters...

MOBILE, Alabama — A Perdido Beach man admitted this morning that he has lived a lie for nearly four decades, using the birth certificate of another man in order to get a Social Security card to work in the United States. The man that acquaintances and even family members thought was Severo Benavidez actually was Venustiano Hernandez-Hernandez, a Mexican man who sneaked across the border in the 1970s using the name Zenaido Hernandez-Hernandez.

I have a great wife and love her very much. She knows that I love her greatly. But more than just love her, I appreciate her and all that she does for me and has done for me, above and beyond what is expected of her. I also respect her, and admire her, and I am very proud to be her husband. She is very pretty and sexy, but not revealing herself in her clothes, always easy and tasteful with the make-up, though I don’t think she needs any at all and she’s always a class act around people. She...

This came to me on an email. Supposedly it recieved 6m hit in 4days. It says it all about where we (the people) patriots stand on Mr. Obama.

Full title:Meet the North Dakota family of anti-government separatists busted by cops using a Predator drone... after 'stealing six cows'Meet the Brossarts, a North Dakota family deemed so dangerous that the local sheriff needed unleashed an unmanned Predator drone to help bring them in. The Brossart's alleged crime? They wouldn't give back three cows and their calves that wandered onto their 3,000-acre farm this summer.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Two men visiting Alabama to protest the state's tough new law on illegal immigration walked into a U.S. Border Patrol office and said they were in the country illegally, resulting in their arrest. They remain in federal custody more than two weeks later awaiting deportation proceedings. Border Patrol officials said they were only doing their job in arresting Isaac Barrera, 20, and Jonathan Perez, 24, Mexican men who lived in California before coming to Alabama to demonstrate against the state law.

I guess Obama's home state is no longer part of his 57 states.

Lily Cooper was today the latest celebrity to attack X Factor for allowing an audition with an 'ill' woman to be broadcast on television. The pregnant singer, who is currently expecting her first child with husband Sam, defended vulnerable contestant Ceri Rees, saying the show exploited her. Last Sunday, viewers watched on as Rees was subjected to her fourth rejection from the panellists - having made several attempts to reach bootcamp over the last six years in 2005, 2006 and 2008.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin has essentially thrown in the towel on efforts to completely seal the U.S.-Mexican border, saying that would require up to half a million troops. Speaking at an event sponsored by the Center for American Progress (CAP) on Thursday, Bersin said: "We would need on the order of about 400,000 or 500,000 border patrol agents to seal the border." Those agents would have to be stationed "25 yards" apart along the entire length of the border, he said, adding that Americans would not want to pay "the costs that would be involved." CAP...

A Jet2 flight from Ibiza to Manchester, England was forced to make an emergency landing in Majorca after flames burst from the plane's engine shortly after take off. Despite the fire, the plane stayed airborne for 77 minutes after pilots shut the engine down, news.com.au reports. Passengers heard an explosion and saw the plane's right engine erupt in fire, shooting flames 30 feet long. The plane landed over an hour later, the Daily Mail reports. According to the airline, the plane suffered a "technical problem." Two passengers took to the Web to discuss the incident. One wrote: "Most terrifying moment...

BOLTON, England - Family campaigners have blasted a British fitness group for teaching pole dancing to girls aged seven -- and putting pictures of them on the internet. The photos show youngsters upside down on poles dressed in shorts, crop tops and vests. Parents must agree before the images, taken at JLN Pole Fitness in Bolton, northern England, are posted on Facebook. But a spokesman for Christian charity the Mothers' Union told The Sun , "Children are being targeted with an activity that's part of a male club culture which objectifies women." He added, "We hope parents would consider the...

The cost of prescription medicines used by millions of people every day is about to plummet. The next 14 months will bring generic versions of seven of the world's 20 best-selling drugs, including the top two: cholesterol fighter Lipitor and blood thinner Plavix. The magnitude of this wave of expiring drug patents is unprecedented. Between now and 2016, blockbusters with about $255 billion in global annual sales are set to go off patent, notes EvaluatePharma Ltd., a London research firm. Generic competition will decimate sales of the brand-name drugs and slash the cost to patients and companies that provide health...

Heritage Buick GMC in Rockwall was burglarized overnight Saturday, but it wasn't cars that were stolen -- just parts of them. Robert Bobo, the owner of the dealership, said the Rockwall Police Department called him Sunday morning and told him that 35 of his vehicles, Yukons and pickups, were up on blocks and stripped of their 20-inch tires and wheels. Bobo said it's not uncommon for car dealerships to occasionally be the victim of crime, but that in his experience a theft of this magnitude is not only rare, but unprecedented. "Dealerships deal with minor incidences frequently. I've been in...

PORTSMOUTH — Unhappy that a Lafayette Road car dealer wouldn't take back the van he bought on Monday, David Cross drove "the lemon" back after the dealer closed on Tuesday and crashed it into six cars parked on the lot for sale. "I hit the first $25,000 car I could see," Cross told the Herald. "I didn't hit a car under $20,000. Then I moved a van that they wouldn't come down on the price for. I moved it with the lemon they sold me. I just held it to the floor until I couldn't move it anymore. I took...

A man was charged with aggravated child abuse after cutting off the top of his son’s right thumb while attempting to saw off the teen's cast, authorities said. Lawrence Roberts, 33, arrived at his son’s house in a white pick-up truck around 11 a.m. on Sunday, the arrest report said. The 15-year-old boy lives with his mother and other siblings at the home in Coral Springs, authorities said. Upon arriving, Roberts pulled out a 10-inch circular saw from his work truck, the report said. For unknown reasons, he then attempted to cut the teen’s purple cast off his right hand,...

Chris Christie says global warming is real. It’s just the very man-made government programs to correct its effects that are bloated and flawed. The Republican New Jersey governor launched into an explanation Thursday for why he’s bowing out of a landmark regional cap-and-trade program for power plants, according to Politico, but he first strapped on his layman scientist’s cap to give a brief overview of what’s widely considered accepted climate science. His decision to leave the program, known as the RGGI, drew quick praise from conservative groups, including the Koch brothers’ Americans for Prosperity, that have long lobbied him to...