Free Republic

Remember the Big Bad Wolf? He dressed up as Grandma, hoping to fool Little Red Riding Hood long enough to eat her. Well, that's the same tactic some liberal groups and Democrats are using these days in Washington, D.C., to get government control over the Internet: Dress up a bad idea in familiar and comforting words and hope the American public will be fooled. This very bad scheme is dressed up in the oh-so-sweet sounding notion of "net neutrality." Those who coined the "net neutrality" term are hoping the words will make the public, and especially lawmakers, believe it's a...

(a psychological conundrum) Most of America's populace think it improper to spank children, so I have tried other methods to control my kids when they have one of "those moments." One that I found effective is for me to just take the child for a car ride and talk. They usually calm down and stop misbehaving after our car ride together. I've included a photo below of one of my sessions with my son, in case you would like to use the technique. Sincerely, A Friend SCROLL DOWN

Researchers Describe How Natural Nuclear Reactor Worked In Gabon The Oklo natural nuclear-reactor site in Gabon. St Louis MO (SPX) Nov 01, 2004 To operate a nuclear power plant like Three Mile Island, hundreds of highly trained employees must work in concert to generate power from safe fission, all the while containing dangerous nuclear wastes. On the other hand, it's been known for 30 years that Mother Nature once did nuclear chain reactions by her lonesome. Now, Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have analyzed the isotopic structure of noble gases produced in fission in a sample from the...

How Africa Became Black Africa's racial history was not necessarily its racial destiny. To unravel the story of Africa's past, you must not only look at its faces but listen to its languages and harvest its crops. By Jared Diamond DISCOVER Vol. 15 No. 02 | February 1994 | Anthropology Despite all I'd read about Africa, my first impressions upon being there were overwhelming. As I walked the streets of Windhoek, the capital of newly independent Namibia, I saw black Herero people and black Ovambo; I saw Nama, a group quite unlike the blacks in appearance; I saw whites, descendants...

How babies do maths at 7 months Basic numerical ability predates speech Babies have a rudimentary grasp of maths long before they can walk or talk, according to new research. By the age of seven months infants have an abstract sense of numbers and are able to match the number of voices they hear with the number of faces they see. The research could be useful in devising methods for teaching basic maths skills to the very young, say researchers in the US. The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Look and listen Adults can...

WASHINGTON - They are the Pentagon's new "rules of engagement" _ the diamond ring kind. U.S. Army chaplains are trying to teach troops how to pick the right spouse, through a program called "How To Avoid Marrying a Jerk." The matchmaking advice comes as military family life is being stressed by two tough wars. Defense Department records show more than 56,000 in the Army _ active, National Guard and Reserve _ have divorced since the campaign in Afghanistan started in 2001. Officials partly blame long and repeated deployments which started after the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and stretched the...

How the bird flu pandemic could spread (Filed: 18/10/2005) Worst-case scenarioFlu viruses mutate all the time and previous pandemics have originated in birds. It only takes a single virus to mutate into a deadly form. The H5N1 strain is one of the most virulent bird viruses ever seen. Half of all people infected directly from birds have died and many infections may not have been recorded. The new strain is most likely to emerge in Asia, where exposure to bird flu is greatest, possibly in rural areas away from the gaze of health officials. By the time the world realises...

How Chirac 'ordered' his own secret, secret service By Henry Samuel in Paris (Filed: 06/10/2005) A former French secret agent has accused President Jacques Chirac of ordering him to run a private secret service to channel ransom money to hostage-takers in Lebanon and Bosnia. Jean-Charles Marchiani, 62, also a former MEP, made the claims at the start of his trial this week for allegedly receiving 1.3 million euros (£880,000) in kickbacks from military contractors. Jacques Chirac Investigators want to know why and how Marchiani amassed several million euros in his Swiss bank accounts. Prosecutors say some of the money came...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2005 – Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld pointed to this week's open congressional hearings involving the two top generals in Iraq as an opportunity for the world to watch democracy in action. Had the tides been turned, he said, terrorists would have had some "awkward" explanations to make. Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of U.S. Central Command, and Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, were here this week to brief President Bush, the National Security Council and Pentagon leaders about operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the president's request, Abizaid and Casey...

'How to beat your wife' imam must study equality By Isambard Wilkinson in Madrid (Filed: 29/09/2005) An imam who wrote a book on how to beat your wife without leaving marks on her body has been ordered by a judge in Spain to study the country's constitution. The judge told Mohamed Kamal Mustafa, imam of a mosque in the southern resort of Fuengirola, to spend six months studying three articles of the constitution and the universal declaration of human rights. Mr Kamal was sentenced to 15 months in jail and fined £1,500 last year after being found guilty of inciting...

Dems weigh how Roberts vote will play By Geoff Earle As new information emerges about Judge John Roberts’s conservative writing, Republicans are bracing for a more contentious confirmation process than previously anticipated. But the tougher grilling could also provide those Democrats mulling a run for the White House with a golden opportunity to build constituencies and raise their national profiles. The Roberts vote, slated for late September, could have a high enough profile that Democratic primary voters will remember it in 2006 and 2007, particularly if Roberts is confirmed and the Supreme Court hands down a major ruling on...

Rush just a little while ago was talking about Africa and the effort to fix it. Talked about the live 8 concerts and how they got lobster and stake and got goodie bags with ipods etc. These kinds of things do nothing but help celebs feel better about them selves. There they are yelling at us to give money while they themselves are hording their money, why don't they give their money to Africa. Over the last 40 years the US has give over 500 billion dollars to Africa and what is there to show for that expenditure, nothing. Its...

The 278-149 roll call Thursday by which the House rejected an effort to restrict gun manufacturers' exports of high-powered, .50-caliber rifles. A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the amendment restricting the gun exports. A "no" vote is a vote to reject the amendment. Voting yes were 134 Democrats, 15 Republicans and no Independents. Voting no were 65 Democrats, 212 Republicans and 1 Independent. X denotes those not voting.

March 28, 2005 How safe is online romance?Lawmakers want dating sites to disclose background check informationBy DAVID EGGERTAssociated Press Writer State Sen. Alan Cropsey, R-DeWitt, shown during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting March 15 in Lansing, is sponsoring a bill that would require an Internet dating service to disclose prominently on the Web site whether it had conducted criminal background checks on users. AP File Photo Online dating safetySome tips when meeting people through Internet dating: Start slowly. Communicate by e-mail at first, looking for signs of the other user's behavior. Trust your instincts. Guard your anonymity. Sites often allow...

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For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, read on. At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon." In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics: 1. For no reason...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

George Phillips of Meridian Mississippi was going up to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the garden shed, which she could see from the bedroom window. George opened the back door to turn off the light but saw that there were people in the shed stealing items. He phoned the police, who asked Are any of those people in your house? George said no. The officer then said that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply stay in his house; lock his doors and an officer would be along when available....

WINGED CATS - WHAT ARE THEY? Sarah Hartwell Over the years there have been reports of winged cats, some of whom flapped their wings. Is this a new mutation of cats allowing them to take to the air after feathered prey or does the answer lie in poor grooming or an uncommon hereditary condition affecting the skin? As with the mythical "cabbit" (half-cat-half-rabbit) many would like to believe in winged cats which can fly. There are many authentic cases on file of cats with furry wing-like appendages, and in some cases the ability to move their wings, but as with...

I ordered 3 copies of Unfit for Command from Amazon last week. I am still waiting for them to be shipped. Tonight, on our way home we were listening to Mark Levin talking to people give anecdotes from people trying to buy the book and the troubles that people were having with that. We decided to stop by Barnes and Noble since it was on our way home. Here is what followed: I walked in and Bill's book is front and center as you walk in the door. I walked around looking for the book. Well, you guessed it, nowhere...