Free Republic

A most excellent songwriter aka "The Craftsman", built songs as well as guitars.

The First Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, being appointed by George Washington, was also President of the American Bible Society. Who was he? John Jay, who died MAY 17, 1829. As President of the Continental Congress, John Jay approved the "Circular Letter from the Congress of the United States of America to their Constituents," September 13, 1779: "Friends and Fellow Citizens... In governments raised on the generous principles of equal liberty... the rulers of the state are the servants of the people, and not the masters of those from whom they derive authority... ...The ungrateful despotism and inordinate...

Has there ever been a president cooler than Obama? That's the question that Newsweek, an ostensible "news" magazine, asked last week via Twitter. The tweet featured a picture of the president slapping hands with his friend and political supporter, the rapper Jay Z. It's hard to argue with Newsweek on this one. Obama is cool -- though that alone doesn't make him a great president. When it comes to leaders, coolness and greatness might actually be mutually exclusive. Cool people aren't usually substantive and frequently lack the moral courage to do the right thing when the right thing isn't cool...

It is a fact that Islam is growing rapidly in the West. In the U.S. alone the number of Muslims has risen dramatically, from about 10,000 in 1900 to 3 million or more in 1991 (some authorities say 4.5 million). Most of this growth is due to recent immigration and the high birth rate of Muslims (5 children per family on average), rather than to conversion. Still, the number of those who convert to Islam is significant. In the U.S., the majority are African-American (a third of all Muslims according to most authorities), but there have also been significant numbers...

Flying Scotsman's Grand Tour of Scotland May 2016, Borders Railway and Fife Circle crossing the Forth Bridge.

The geology of the site, as well as pollen and algae finds, suggest that the hunter-gatherers encountered the mastodon next to a small pond that both humans and animals used as a water source, the researchers believe. Waters said that the prehistoric "people knew how to find game, fresh water and materials for making tools. These people were well adapted to this environment. The site is a slam-dunk pre-Clovis site with unequivocal artifacts, clear stratigraphy and thorough dating." Another research team previously excavated the site and found what they believed were dog remains, so dogs "would most likely have been...

It was 75 years ago today when New York Yankees center fielder Joe DiMaggio hit a single in a 13-1 drubbing to the Chicago White Sox. That hit was the first step in what became a hitting streak which hit 56 games. This record still stands 75 years later. As I write this, I am watching the Boston Red Sox-Houston Astros game. A short time ago, Red Sox center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. hit a single to extend his hitting streak to 21 games. It’s nothing to sneeze at as Bradley is rapidly emerging was one of the premier players...

Enjoy Bob Hope and James Cagney.

Scientists said earlier this year that they had found some secret rooms in Tutankhamen's tomb. What could they contain? A popular theory was the tomb of Queen Nefertiti. But other scientists later said that there was good reason to doubt the claims, which were based on scans. Now, the situation has gotten a little bit uglier. A team of radar technicians performed a second, more detailed set of scans on the tomb earlier this year, and sent their results off to Egypt's ministry of antiquities. But the government now has refused to release their findings, and scientists are beginning to...

Ancient Irish musical history found in modern India Press Trust of India | Melbourne May 15, 2016 Last Updated at 11:57 IST Ancient Irish musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India, according to a new study of musical horns from iron-age Ireland. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artifacts shows a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive...

Devastating 'World War ZERO' destroyed ancient Mediterranean civilisations and plunged Europe into a dark age 11:41, 13 MAY 2016 UPDATED 11:44, 13 MAY 2016 BY JASPER HAMILL Controversial theory finally identifies mysterious 'Sea Peoples' blamed for cataclysmic series of events which changed the course of history It was a disaster which destroyed the ancient world's greatest civilisations and plunged Europe into a dark age that lasted centuries. Now one archaeologist think he's worked out who's to blame for sparking an event he calls "World War Zero", but which most academics refer to as the The Late Bronze Age Collapse ....

The Constitution already gives Congress power over the Supreme Court's Appellate power in Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution. " In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction, both as to Law and Fact, with such Exceptions, and under such Regulations as the Congress shall make." The Heritage organization explained this. "The seminal decision on jurisdiction-stripping statutes under the Appellate Jurisdiction Clause came shortly after the Civil War. Ex parte McCardle (1869) involved a newspaper editor in military custody, who had appealed a lower federal court's denial of habeas corpus relief to the...

There’s a musical piece you’ve likely heard many times before—but unless you have a particularly trained ear and are also hip to the catalog of Medieval Latin hymns, you probably haven’t noticed it. It’s a musical pattern from “Dies Irae,” a haunting chant for the dead, and CBC Radio host Tom Allen has put together an impressive video history of the work.

...praised the Vermont lawmaker and even empathized with his humble beginnings. “He is an emerging candidate with a renovating and revolutionary message,” Maduro told a crowd congregated in Caracas to commemorate the “Anti-Imperialism Day” — a holiday created last year to mark March 9 as the day President Obama declared Venezuela a national security threat. ... Meanwhile, during the Wednesday night debate Sanders was asked to comment on positive remarks he made in the past about Cuba’s Fidel Castro and Nicaragua’s Daniel Ortega, two close allies of Venezuela’s Chavismo. One of the hosts played a 1985 video in which Sanders...

___________________________________________________ Please help to ID my "new" weapon. Backstory: I recently received this beautiful Colt's revolver as an early inheritance from my mother's estate. The accepted mythology is this: My stepfather was a navigator on a B-17 and later a B-24 and it is known that he was crew on USAAF battle missions over Jap held islands in the Pacific - throughout the entire Pacific War. What is less known is a little more about this issued firearm. There is no stamping of caliber anywhere on the pistol. On the top of the barrel is a rather careless stamping...

Universities are among the most progressive and anti-racist institutions in American society. Many Americans therefore found it confusing to see dozens of our top universities racked by racial protests since last September. To add to the puzzle, many of the most high-profile actions occurred at universities widely perceived to be the most devoted to social justice and racial equality -– schools such as Brown, Yale, Amherst, Wesleyan, and Oberlin. (Every one of these schools earned a red or yellow light from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, indicating schools that are not recommended for conservative students.) What is going on?

Mark Green, a longtime fixture on New York’s political scene, has written a tell-all memoir and political manifesto about his years as an advocate and perennial candidate. Green is at his best in Bright, Infinite Future when he tells advocacy stories, like helping to kick the mob out of the carting business in New York City. He is happy to share the credit and doesn’t get bogged down in denouncing enemies...

It has a fine walnut stock, a blue finish and a very simple inscription that reads “Albee to Lawton.” But this 19th-century rifle has become the most expensive single firearm ever sold at auction according to the Rock Island Auction Company, which recently sent the historic piece to a new destiny with an undisclosed buyer. The price: $1,265,000. “Other guns have sold higher as a pair, but no other single firearm surpasses this new world record. It was an honor to be entrusted with an American treasure,” said Kevin Hogan, president of the Illinois-based company. The rifle itself was a...

The bone was found below a layer that contained material from the Pleistocene period when the last ice age was thought to have occurred. The archaeologists identified the bison using an upper molar, which is thought to be representative of a Bison antiquus, a direct ancestor of the American bison that roamed North America until it became extinct. Because bison was a grassland-adapted animal, nearly 100 percent of their bones disintegrated after death unless they were preserved in some way. "This finding is especially significant because of the meticulous documentation that has been involved," said James M. Adovasio, Ph.D., principal...

An archaeologist studying musical horns from iron-age Ireland has found musical traditions, thought to be long dead, are alive and well in south India. The realisation that modern Indian horns are almost identical to many iron-age European artefacts reveals a rich cultural link between the two regions 2,000 years ago, said PhD student Billy O Foghlu, from The Australian National University (ANU). "Archaeology is usually silent. I was astonished to find what I thought to be dead soundscapes alive and living in Kerala today," said the ANU College of Asia-Pacific student... The findings help show that Europe and India had...