Free Republic

[Based on information from Washington Examiner article but Satire/Humor: '{Lordsburg, N.M.} Border rancher: 'We’ve found prayer rugs out here. It’s unreal'' -- http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3720296/posts] Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi wants to use the Endangered Species Act to protect the endangered Syrian ISIS Terrorist critter, Somali ISIS Terrorist critter, Kenyan Al-Shabaab critter, Iranian Al Qaeda critter as well as the Iranian ISIS critter. The prayer rug droppings of these critters have been found by farmers/ranchers in the Lordsburg, New Mexico area. Many ranchers/farmers, as well as other US citizens feel these varmits are nothing but pests and should be exterminated...

A professional fisherman got a big surprise as he tried to launch his boat at Lake Sam Rayburn to practice for a fishing tournament this past weekend. Eric Jackson, of Rock Island, TN, told 12News his two-year-old Dalmatian, Bodi, stepped on the gear shift switch, putting the 38-foot RV in reverse.  Jackson says he was on the back bumper unloading his boat when the RV began backing into the lake. Jackson had been working to launch his boat at the ramps at the Umphrey Family Pavillion of Highway 255. He was planning a practice day before the Fishing League Worldwide 2019...

Krill, crustaceans smaller than a cigarette, play an outsize role in the ecology of the ocean around Antarctica: Penguins, whales, and other predators feast on vast swarms of the shrimplike animals. Now, researchers have launched a broad international survey of krill’s main habitat in the Scotia Sea—the first in nearly 20 years—to learn whether a growing fishing industry is leaving enough for krill’s natural predators. The effort, led by the Institute of Marine Research (IMR) in Bergen, Norway, began in earnest last week when Norway’s new polar research vessel Kronprins Haakon sailed from Punta Arenas, Chile, for the Scotia Sea....

Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Thomas Suozzi of New York, Vincente Gonzalez of Texas, Anthony Brindisi of New York, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Max Rose of New York and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia attended the midday White House meeting in the Situation Room. The lawmakers are not part of Democratic leadership, which has been leading congressional negotiations, and are rank-and-file members mostly hailing from more moderate congressional districts...

"It was so fast," she said, when asked how large the otter was. "Maybe like a dog (in terms of size); short legs and very wet." On Wednesday, the city of Maitland posted flyers, warning visitors to keep their distance, to not feed wildlife and to call the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission if they spotted any aggressive otters.

Within months of the law’s passage, the state began borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars against the anticipated revenue. Bond documents claimed video gambling machines would raise $300 million each year to help cover the debt payments. It wasn’t until 2017, eight years after the legalization of video gambling, that the state came close to collecting that amount. By then, video gambling had brought in less than $1 billion to pay the bond debt — $1.3 billion short of what lawmakers anticipated. But the costs of video gambling had already exacted a heavy toll on the state.

The Sehuencas water frog has been living all alone in an aquarium in Bolivia for 10 years and researchers hadn't seen any of his species in the wild in a decade. However, during a recent expedition to a Bolivian cloud forest, Global Wildlife Conservation and the Museo de Historia Alcide d'Orbigny rediscovered the Sehuencas water frog and rescued five – three males and two females – to bring into a conservation breeding program."It is an incredible feeling to know that thanks to everyone who believes in true love and donated for Valentine’s Day last year, we have already found a mate for Romeo and...

Scientists behind the world's largest atom smasher have laid out their multibillion-euro vision to build an even bigger one, in hopes of unlocking even more secrets of matter and the universe in the coming decades. Officials at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, presented Tuesday their study for a "Future Circular Collider" inside a 100-kilometer (62-mile) circumference tunnel that could start operating in 2040.It would sit next to the current 27-kilometer (17-mile) circumference Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, which is perhaps best known for helping confirm the subatomic Higgs boson in 2012.Officials hope for a decision by CERN's 22...

A new study theorizes that as climate change continues to disrupt the oceans around the world, waves are becoming stronger and more powerful. "The upper-ocean warming, a consequence of anthropogenic global warming, is changing the global wave climate, making waves stronger," the study's abstract, published in the scientific journal Nature, reads. "This identifies wave power as a potentially valuable climate change indicator." The study found that waves have increased in strength by 0.41 percent per year since 1948. It also found that there are "long-term correlations" with sea surface temperatures, in the most energetic region in the globe, defined as the...

Today’s Cryptogram W AEH CHOQ KWAMUWT WLJFYX OKH UJLAX GHMJLH OKH OLFOK KWQ W VKWYVH OJ CHO EOQ ZWYOQ JY. UEYQOJY VKFLVKEAA You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram) Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated....

Chelsea Clinton has established a reputation for defending others — including Barron Trump — from cyberbullies. Now she’s sticking up for her own family. The former first daughter took the time to respond to a Twitter commenter trolling her over the debunked Pizzagate conspiracy theory, which plagued her mother’s 2016 presidential campaign. (To recap: Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, John Podesta, had his emails hacked, prompting speculation that they contained coded messages about an alleged child sex ring at a Washington, D.C., pizzeria, Comet Ping Pong. Despite being discredited, the rumors resulted in death threats, an incident with an armed man...

Chicago Teachers Union members lodged their first demands for a new contract Tuesday — including pay hikes and a host of topics state law bars the labor group from striking over — months before negotiations will likely accelerate with a new administration.(snip) CTU officials said their proposals include a 5 percent pay raise for union members. The union is also demanding maximum classroom sizes that range between 20 and 24 students in early grades, counselors for every 250 students, and librarians and nurses staffed at every school.(snip) A union spokeswoman said the CTU had not fully tabulated the cost of...

On this day in 1861, the Crittenden Compromise, the last chance to keep North and South united, dies in the U.S. Senate. Proposed by Senator John J. Crittenden of Kentucky, the compromise was a series of constitutional amendments. The amendments would continue the old Missouri Compromise provisions of 1820, which divided the West along the latitude of 36 30′. North of this line, slavery was prohibited. The Missouri Compromise was negated by the Compromise of 1850, which allowed a vote by territorial residents (popular sovereignty) to decide the issue of slavery. Other amendments protected slavery in the District of Columbia,...

It’s not just in Mario Kart—banana peels can be a real problem for many races around the country, not only causing hazards for runners and spectators, but leaving massive amounts of rotting waste behind for volunteers to clean up. Chiquita, the massive international fruit producer, is taking steps to change that. When the gun of the Walt Disney World 5K went off at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, it signaled the start of Chiquita’s new role as the official banana sponsor of the entire Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, as well as other runDisney events throughout the year. The move...

Following the resounding defeat of U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal in the U.K. Parliament last night, the global media are giving their reactions to the vote - and they're not holding back. May's deal was roundly rejected by British members of Parliament (MP) with 432 MPs voting against it and 202 approving it, marking the worst political defeats in parliamentary history. The leader of the opposition Labour party, Jeremy Corbyn, tabled a motion of no-confidence in May's government following the vote on the contentious "Withdrawal Agreement", essentially it's blueprint for leaving the European Union. The U.K. government now...

NFL LIVE THREAD: Conference Championships SUNDAY, JAN 20, 2019 (All Times Eastern) NFC: #2 Los Angeles Rams at #1 New Orleans Saints 3:05 PM on FOX, Mercedes-Benz Superdome AFC: #2 New England Patriots at #1 Kansas City Chiefs 6:40 pm on CBS, Arrowhead Stadium

Imperative Entertainment, the production banner behind the Clint Eastwood hit The Mule, has acquired the rights to American Dirt, the Mexican migrant drama novel by Jeanine Cummins. Charles Leavitt, the scribe who penned the Leonardo DiCaprio drama Blood Diamond, has been tapped to write the adaptation, which will be produced by Imperative’s Dan Friedkin and Bradley Thomas. Mixing ripped-from-the-homepage headlines with thriller elements, the story centers on a Mexican mother and son who are the sole survivors after cartel drug traffickers kill her husband and family. The pair undertake an arduous journey to America and safety, fleeing the cartel while...

Sirius XM radio host David Webb, who happens to be black, had an awkward moment on his show this week when a CNN analyst began lecturing him on his alleged “white privilege.” [snip] “David, by virtue of being a white male you have white privilege,” the guest replied. “Areva, I hate to break it to you, but you should’ve been better prepped. I’m black,” the Fox News contributor deadpanned. “You went immediately with an assumption. You’re talking to a black man who started out in rock radio in Boston, who crossed the paths into hip-hop rebuilding one of the greatest...

Kevin Costner is still making movies, more for a TV audience than the big screen, but just the same, many are very entertaining. If you haven't seen "Draft Day", currently available on Amazon Prime, it's worth watching. I won't give you much of the story, but let me say, it's a feel good movie, about a Cleveland Browns General Manager, Sonny Weaver (Costner), who just eight hours before the start of the NFL Draft, agrees to deal his Number 7 pick this year, and his 1st round pick for the next two years for the overall number 1 owned by...