Free Republic

GM rice had not been exposed and report to the public. The field trial was found to be contaminated. Many countries took action on imposing ban of US rice or on imposing a strict certification and testing on all rice import.

I coined a phrase in yesterday’s post: The Pelosi Catholic–which prompted this excellent explanation from an Italian reader Pelosi Catholics is not just correct, it is a terrific – if unintended – pun. In Italian, the adjective “peloso”, of which “pelosi” is the plural, means “hairy”, but it has also the connotations of dishonesty and self-serving pseudery conveyed by the English “greasy”. So: Pelosi Catholics are greasy [pseudo] Catholics. Here’s a further definition: The Pelosi Catholic’s arrogance is only equalled by his ignorance. A cultural cradle Catholic, the Pelosi Catholic mistakes their tribal ethnicity for the Catholic faith. When they...

My wife, three children and I are all US citizens. Returning to the United States yesterday via Miami International Airport, my wife and I were asked what we do for a living. The border agent checked his screen after we answered. He asked my girls after consulting his computer monitor, "Which one of you is the singer? And which one of you is the dancer?" in light of the NSA database stories, perhaps I'm being paranoid. But I felt like they had this information and we're verifying it. He entered notes on his screen as we answered. My girls are...

What happens when you bring a Lamar Alexander to a Chuck Schumer fight? He turns around and becomes a weapon for Chuck Schumer and his allies, albeit an ineffective one. In 2007, before running for a second term, Alexander rightfully noted that “to regain the public’s confidence, we ought to scale it back and fix the problem step-by-step by absolutely securing our borders first, then enforcing our laws without amnesty.” Now, after years of voting for more spending, higher taxes, more debt, expanded government healthcare, massive energy regulations and subsidies, and liberal judicial nominees, the former third ranking Senate Republican...

Former President George W. Bush is expected to make a speech next week on how immigration reform is good for the country, the Dallas Morning News reports. Bush will speak after a citizenship ceremony at the George W. Bush Presidential Center in Dallas on Wednesday followed by a panel discussion titled “What Immigrants Contribute.” Although it is not clear whether Bush will throw his support behind the immigration bill making its way through Congress, he has supported reform in the past. While he was president Congress defeated an immigration reform overhaul Bush supported and the Bush center has published several...

Rockford, Il – 6-12-2013 – (ProLifeCorner.com) – by Rockford Pro-Life Initiative – The Catholic Campaign for Human Development, known for funding organizations that support abortion, contraception, and attacks on the family, recently had a report issued on its behalf and signed by former CCHD staff members.The report titled, “Be Not Afraid” claims that in order to continue the mission of social justice organizations that support the murder of babies in the womb, support contraception and the redefinition of marriage, they must and will continue to be given Catholic money.http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/FPL-CCHD-report.pdfThis report is stunning in its ability to completely ignore the mass murder of...

I want to state at the outset that this essay is not intended to be an endorsement of Ron Paul. While I respect and admire many of his positions and his fidelity to the Constitution, I have strong misgivings about some of his stances on national security. If you could hear the debates between myself and my 20-year-old son, a passionate Ron Paul supporter, you would readily accept the sincerity of my disclaimer. That said, as the political season has heated up, I've been surprised at the tone of the discourse as it relates to Ron Paul. In fact, I...

Ron Paul ‏@RonPaul Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense (screenshot just in case it is removed)

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense Kyle and a friend were both killed by a veteran struggling with PTSD while working with him at a gun range on Saturday. Kyle was the author of the best-selling "American Sniper," which detailed his time as a record-holding SEAL sniper.

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: 'Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense'

Former congressman and libertarian icon Ron Paul tweeted a startling reaction to the death of SEAL sniper Chris Kyle on Monday: Chris Kyle's death seems to confirm that "he who lives by the sword dies by the sword." Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn't make sense

Glenn Beck✔ @glennbeck Newest member of the Westboro Baptist Church: Ron Paul. I am with Marcus Latrell & grieving family members. Will respond tomorrow. SHAMEFUL. 1:30 AM - 05 Feb 13 289 Retweets 96 favorites Tell us what you really think, Glenn. Glenn Beck wasn’t the only one making that comparison after Ron Paul launched a repulsive Twitter attack on murdered American hero Chris Kyle. Derek Ryan @longhornderek Ron Paul is now no better than the Westboro Church protesters. (Let's hear it, Ronulans. Lets hear you defend your dear leader.) 6:28 PM - 04 Feb 13(continued)

That former Congressman and GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul would smear an American hero like Chris Kyle following his death speaks a great deal to his character or lack thereof. Yesterday, Paul sent out a Tweet which read: Chris Kyle’s death seems to confirm that “he who lives by the sword dies by the sword.” Treating PTSD at a firing range doesn’t make sense. It makes you wonder if these were the sort of letters Paul sent to the families of fallen soldiers who resided in his district. Needless to say, this justly provoked outrage. Glenn Beck described Paul as...

The thrice-promised land it has been called. It is that land north of Mecca and Medina and south of Anatolia, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf.In 1915 — that year of Gallipoli, which forced the resignation of First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill — Britain, to win Arab support for its war against the Ottoman Turks, committed, in the McMahon Agreement, to the independence of these lands under Arab rule.It was for this that Lawrence of Arabia and the Arabs fought.In November 1917, however, one month before Gen. Allenby led his army into Jerusalem, Lord Balfour, in...

Why the hysteria about Russia? From the tone of what passes for policy discourse in Washington, one would think that Russian troops were massing on the country’s western border and that opposition activists were being executed by the hundreds. Some realities in Russia are indeed disturbing, but a sense of perspective is needed. If Moscow were really the capital of a brutally authoritarian anti-American state, things could be far worse — and profoundly damaging to U.S. national interests. But demonizing Russia doesn’t change conditions there and only undermines our ability to get what we want and need. Domestically, Russia is...

The U.S. is fortunate that Russia is not intent on undermining our interests, which makes it a little odd that so many American hawks insist that this is so and sometimes seem eager to make it so. Consider Syria. Syria hawks see Russian opposition to Western and Arab intervention in the country as proof of Russian antagonism to America, but Russia is at most half-heartedly defending the status quo and continuing its formal policy of objecting to outside interference in other states’ internal affairs. It has committed itself to nothing except occasionally vetoing a resolution at the U.N., and if...

In Walter Lippmann's book "Public Opinion", a very interesting comment is made: (page 294) It was economic government by anybody's economic philosophy, though it was supposed to be controlled by immutable laws of political economy that must in the end produce harmony. It produced many splendid things, but enough sordid and terrible ones to start counter-currents. One of these was the trust, which established a kind of Roman peace within industry, and a Roman predatory imperialism outside. People turned to the legislature for relief. They invoked representative government, founded on the image of the township farmer, to regulate the semi-sovereign...

Colorado is set to become the first U.S. state to regulate and tax sales of recreational marijuana, after lawmakers approved several bills that set business standards and rules. Legislators expect enforcement of the rules to be paid for by two taxes on marijuana — a 15 percent excise tax, and a 10 percent sales tax. Other measures included in the package set limits on how much marijuana visitors to Colorado can buy (a quarter of an ounce), as well as a limit on how many cannabis plants a private citizen can grow (six). Gov. John Hickenlooper has indicated he will...

Certain measures of brain anatomy were even better at judging learning potential than traditional measures of ability such as IQ and standardized test results, says study author Kaustubh Supekar of Stanford University. These signatures include the size of the hippocampus — a string bean–shaped structure involved in making memories — and how connected the area was with other parts of the brain. The findings suggest that kids struggling with their math homework aren’t necessarily slacking off, says cognitive scientist David Geary of the University of Missouri in Columbia. “They just may not have as much brain region devoted to memory...

My thought is certain recreational drugs, such as marijuana, should remain off legal limits for the under 18 year olds, but become legally available when used in the proper environment. In many ways, pot is quite similar to alcohol, in that they should be used responsibly. My thought is to make the sale of marijuana less profitable by making it legal for home use. Personally, I don't smoke anything now, and do not want the smell of tobacco or pot on my clothes should I visit a public place, such as a shopping mall or bus stop. I know this...