Free Republic

Warren Buffett bid farewell to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, announcing his retirement and reflecting on a lifetime of success, luck, and partnership with Charlie Munger. At 95, he praised Omaha’s influence, shared lessons on humility and perseverance, and expressed full confidence in Greg Abel to carry forward Berkshire’s enduring legacy.In a heartfelt farewell note to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders dated November 10, Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, announced that he will no longer pen his iconic annual letters or address the company’s annual meetings. The legendary investor, now 95, took a reflective look back at his journey, from his early days...

Traces of a monumental building thought to be at least 5,000 years old have been discovered at the Kani Shaie archaeological site, which is located in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains in northern Iraq, according to a statement released by the University of Coimbra. Researchers from the University of Coimbra, the University of Algarve, the University of Cambridge, and the Slemani Antiquities and Heritage Directorate think that the building may have been used as a temple. They note that it was decorated with wall cones, which are typically found in monumental architecture in Uruk, an early Sumerian metropolis in...

Some lucky millionaire will be able to own a key piece of the Wicked Witch of the West — for good. That’s because the iconic hat worn by Margaret Hamilton in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz is going up for auction on Dec. 9. Offered by Heritage Auctions — which last year sold a pair of ruby slippers from the film for $28 million — that hat comes up for sale just as Wicked: For Good, which brings to an end a revisionist telling of the witch’s backstory (played by Cynthia Erivo in the Wicked films), hits theaters ahead of...

Phys.org reports that Polynesian rats (Rattus exulans) may have played a larger role in the deforestation of Rapa Nui than previously thought. Some 15 million Rapa Nui palm trees (Paschalococos disperta) are estimated to have covered Easter Island before the arrival of Polynesians around A.D. 1200. When Europeans arrived in 1722, they observed just a few isolated trees, grasses, and shrubs. Terry Hunt of the University of Arizona and Carl Lipo of the University of Birmingham developed an ecological model of the island and found that a single pair of rats, feasting on nutritious palm nuts, could grow into a...

Full book title: An Appeal to the Religion, Justice, and Humanity of the Inhabitants of the British Empire, in behalf of the Negro Slaves in the West IndiesThis work speaks for itself. There is more I would like to say about it, but I'll do so later.

The hijacking and crashing of four U.S. jetliners on September 11, 2001, brought instant attention to Afghanistan. The plot had been hatched by al-Qaeda, and some of the 19 hijackers had trained in Afghanistan. In the aftermath of the attacks, the administration of U.S. Pres. George W. Bush coalesced around a strategy of first ousting the Taliban from Afghanistan and dismantling al-Qaeda, though others contemplated actions in Iraq, including long-standing plans for toppling Pres. Saddam Hussein. Bush demanded that Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar “deliver to [the] United States authorities all the leaders of al-Qaeda who hide in your land,”...

On Veterans Day we remember from WWII the hazards faced by the young men who became our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. For example, the 8th Air Force suffered over 26,000 dead compared to the Marine Corps losing nearly 20,000 killed in the Pacific. Their bombers were mainly crewed by teenagers and men in their early twenties, but of all crew members the ball turret gunner confronted the most dismal fate.The emerging certainty the United States would be drawn into WW II promoted creation of an autonomous Army Air Force. Until the war in Europe began, dominate Army doctrine gave the...

The Political Landscape has Become Confusing. I’ve been noticing a divergence among “the right” since the ‘oughts. I never bothered to build a taxonomy for it, but somebody else has. Such might be useful—at least as a rudimentary model to be refined. Since I began working on my upcoming graphic novel, I’ve listened to a lot of podcasts while adjusting line art, coloring and shading. Within the last week or so, I’ve discovered Nick Freitas. His podcasts have been enjoyable partly because his co-hosts have offered takes just as interesting as his, if not more so. When I heard them...

“At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them,” Laurence Binyon wrote. His words in his poem For the Fallen have become timeless and are read every year on Remembrance Sunday as Britain comes together to pay respect to all those who have died in conflict since the First World War. Some 107 years after WWI ended, those words still hold power today while reminding people about the lives sacrificed for peace. The first Armistice Day was observed on November 11, 1919, to mark the first anniversary of the end of the First World...

In February 1944, the U.S. Navy launched one of the most devastating strikes of the Pacific War — Operation Hailstone. Over the skies and seas of Truk Lagoon, the Japanese stronghold once called the “Gibraltar of the Pacific” was shattered in a two-day assault that rewrote naval warfare. This video tells the forgotten story of how the USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, and America’s radar-guided firepower changed history. Discover how advanced analog computers, precision gunnery, and overwhelming air superiority combined to destroy Japan’s once-invincible fleet. From massive 16-inch naval guns thundering across the ocean to the smoldering wrecks beneath Truk’s...

Yes, we've been told she was born in Melbourne. Yes, we now know that she sewed her own stage clothes. And of course we we've been told time and time again about the purity of her bell-like voice.

Samuel Nicholas benefited from a well-connected upbringing in Philadelphia, where he was born to an established Quaker family in 1744. After his father’s death in 1751, Nicholas attended the prestigious Philadelphia Academy with support from his uncle, Attwood Shute, who later served as mayor of Philadelphia. The school placed him among the city’s prominent families and future leaders of the American Revolution.1 After graduating, Nicholas was admitted to the Schuylkill Fishing Company, an exclusive sporting club, and helped organize the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club, the first fox hunt club in North America. Both social clubs also made him a peer...

According to a statement released by the Spanish National Research Centre for Human Evolution (CENIEH), Ana Mateos and Jesús Rodríguez and their colleagues think that scavenging for carrion was vital to the survival of early hominins. It had been previously suggested that although eating carrion requires less effort than hunting, it carries the risks of consuming pathogens from spoiled meat and being attacked by hungry predators. Yet ecological research indicates that carrion is more widely available than had been thought, and tends to be available when other food sources are scarce. Acid in the human stomach may have acted as...

Daiji World reports that workers restoring a Shiva temple near the Javvadu Hills in India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu discovered 103 gold coins dated to the Chola period, which spanned the ninth through the thirteenth centuries A.D. The coins had been neatly stacked in a pot and buried beneath the temple floor. The temple is thought to have been built during the reign of King Rajaraja Cholan III, between 1216 and 1246. Temple wealth flourished during the late Chola period, when gold-based trade networks were active across South India, according to researchers from the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments...

The traditional Italian observation -- Se non è vero, è ben trovato (even if it isn't true, it makes a good story) -- reflects a good deal of human history.One such colorful event was the 14th-century War of the Bucket between the Italian cities of Bologna and Modena. The story is that after years of tension, a group of Modenese entered Bologna and stole the bucket from the town well.The Bolognese demanded its return, but the ruler of Modena refused, and war ensued, culminating in the Modenese victory at the Battle of Zappolino in 1325...After the collapse of the Western...

Centuries of storytelling, scholarship, and reinterpretation have shaped how we imagine the Vikings and their gods, but much of that image may rest on myth rather than history. Scholars are now uncovering how Christian writers, political movements, and even modern pop culture redefined the “pagan North” to reflect their own ideals. Credit: Shutterstock ============================================================================= Scholars reveal that much of what we think we know about Vikings and Norse mythology is based on later reinterpretations rather than original sources. Scholars in the field of Scandinavian studies caution that much of what people believe about Vikings and Norse paganism cannot be confirmed...

Happy Birthday Marines. Semper Fi.Birthday Message on YouTube.

1. According to legend, the first Marine Corps recruitments took place in a bar. Marine tradition holds that the Corps was formed in a bar. The story dates to late November 1775, when newly commissioned Captains Samuel Nicholas and Robert Mullan supposedly organized the first Marine Corps muster at Tun Tavern, a popular watering hole in Philadelphia. The two officers are said to have lured potential Marines with mugs of beer and the promise of adventure on the high seas, and their recruits later made up the first five companies that served aboard Continental Navy ships. While there’s little hard...

Artist’s impression of Spicomellus afer. Credit: Matt Dempsey Research on fossils reveals that ankylosaurs’ iconic tail weapons evolved much earlier than scientists had previously believed. =========================================================================== The world’s most unusual dinosaur is even stranger than scientists realized… A new study published in Nature reveals that Spicomellus afer possessed a tail weapon more than 30 million years earlier than any other known ankylosaur. It also featured a distinctive bony collar lined with meter-long spikes extending outward from each side of its neck. Spicomellus is recognized as the oldest ankylosaur ever discovered, dating back over 165 million years to the Middle Jurassic...

Today is my 25th anniversary here on FR! Thanks to all of you -- and a posthumous thanks for all those FReepers who have passed on -- who have made this such a remarkable 25 years. I joined here in early November of 2000 while living outside the U.S. -- just to stay on top of breaking news and insights regarding the aftermath of the chaotic (and sometimes comical) 2000 election. It's been an interesting, informative and fun 25 years, folks. Another quarterly contribution will be coming shortly!And just for some FR history, I've gone back and posted as many...