Free Republic

This piece first appeared in Cosmos Magazine in January 2020: we are republishing it in honour of World Microbiome Day. Two overarching questions confront would-be human spacefarers: where to go and how to get there. Much attention has been given to the latter question. For interstellar travel to become a reality, major engineering advances are required, probably involving radically new propulsion systems. Many proposals are highly speculative, but we know of no fundamental physical principles that forbid interstellar travel; whether or not it becomes a reality boils down to technology, cost and motivation. I wish to address the oft-neglected first...

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said this week that the U.S. needs "an awful lot more immigrants rather than less." Bloomberg, who formally hopped on the 2020 campaign trail earlier this week, made the comment during a stop at a Mexican restaurant in Phoenix, Ariz., adding immigrants are needed "to take all the different kinds of jobs that the country needs — improve our culture, our cuisine, our religion, our dialogue and certainly improve our economy." Bloomberg entered the race relatively late and observers have speculated he was nervous about the other candidates' ability to beat Trump. Bloomberg's...

Long time freeper lurker in the last few years. My Dad is in hospital, broken ribs with pneumonia complications. I would appreciate any prayers for my Father, Lynnwood. Thank you

A labor shortage issue is increasingly weighing on small businesses around the country. This comes despite record-high confidence on Main Street. In May, one-third of small-business owners reported job openings they could not fill, and 12 percent reported using temporary workers. Mike Fredrich shows off unmanned presses in his Manitowoc, Wisconsin, company. They're ready to start production at MCM Composites, a 55-person enterprise that makes custom thermoset molding. The only problem? Fredrich has no one to operate them. "These tools are heated to 300 degrees," he said. "But we're not running them. Had we had the people for the first...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations because diplomatic paralysis must not prevent a response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week. New requests for the United Nations to authorize military action in Syria may have complicated the Obama administration's plan to take retaliatory action on the purported poison gas attack east of Damascus that U.S. officials claim was carried out by President Bashar Assad's forces. But a State Department spokeswoman said possible U.N. rejection of...

My 13 year old son just joined boy scouts. He would like to go to the camping trip next weekend and only has one outfit that is loaned to him. He needs shorts (at least 3 pair needed), shirts (they would like him to have 3 or 4 more), pants (same as shirts, 3 or 4 more, boy scout approved socks (several pair). He wears an 18 husky pant or 36/29 through 36/32. Shirts are XL youth to Medium adult. The troop will allow either the green BOA socks or black socks. Also, any camping items that he will need....

Keith raised ‘stink’ E-mails bare ‘Diva’ chauffeur shuffleBy MARC BERMAN Liberal bloviator Keith Olbermann spent his last days at Current TV driving colleagues nuts with rants about “smelly’’ drivers who had the audacity to talk to him, according to startling e-mails obtained by The Post. “The problem is with him . . . the man who professes to be for the 99% doesn’t want any of the 99% talking to him or being near him,” an accounting executive complained in one of the missives. An assistant, who had just about maxed out her corporate card in a desperate attempt to...

S&P downgrades Italy as Greek austerity row forces global stock markets lower Credit rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Italy late on Monday night, on a day when panic gripped global markets as a fresh showdown over Greece renewed fears that the eurozone will be plunged into crisis. The rating for Italy, which has Europe’s second-largest debt load, was lowered from A+, S&P said in a statement. The agency said Italythe country's net general government debt is the highest among A-rated sovereigns, and now expects it to peak later and at a higher level than it previously anticipated. “In our...

Humorous inspiration. :)

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US economic recovery has strengthened and is gaining pace, but victory cannot be declared until the job market improves, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned in a rare press conference Thursday. "Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established," he said in remarks at the National Press Club in Washington. Walking a thin line between talking down the recovery and undue optimism, Bernanke cited improvements in stubbornly low consumer spending and bank lending, in the same breath as warning unemployment will take "several years" to...

This is Freedom's Worth It - class of 98. I am retiring and starting a business. It is in the education field - but it is for profit. All Advice and counsel are welcome. Thanks in advance.

SAN YSIDRO — With the San Ysidro border fence as her backdrop, Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman spoke out on immigration policy issues yesterday, saying it is “simply not practical” to deport the estimated 12.5 million illegal immigrants living and working in the United States. The candidate, 53, said the solution is to find a mechanism that allows them to live here legally. “Can we get a fair program where people stand at the back of the line, they pay a fine, they do some things that would ultimately allow a path to legalization?” she asked. Whitman also urged tougher...

Prophecies Of St Seraphim Of Vyritsa (1866-1949) The Elder said that a time will come (it is already coming!) when the debauchery and moral decline of the young will reach their ultimate point. Virtually no-one will remain uncorrupted. Seeing their impunity, the young will consider that everything is permitted them for the satisfaction of their whims and lusts. They will begin to gather in groups and gangs, stealing and debauching themselves. But a time will come when the voice of God will be heard, when the young will understand that it is not possible to go on living in that...

COSTA MESA, Calif. – President Barack Obama said Wednesday he still supports "comprehensive immigration reform," even though he rarely mentions it anymore. Asked about the emotional and politically delicate topic at a town hall format in Southern California, the president said the nation must find a way to strengthen its borders while also giving about 12 million illegal immigrants a path to possible citizenship. "If they stay in the shadows," he said, some employers will exploit them, hurting wages and work conditions for all American workers. Obama said illegal residents who have been in the United States a long time...

Everyone who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance. Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society.

These days it is hard to find a true friend to love and trust. Daily tell your children you love them. This is our parenting duty.

AL ASAD AIR BASE, Iraq, Sept. 3, 2007 – President Bush said here today that if reported successes continue in Iraq it will eventually be possible to maintain the same level of security with fewer troops. Flanked by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the president spoke to reporters for a few minutes following meetings with top military and political leaders in the country. He stopped short of stating when troop sizes could be drawn down in the region. “General (David H.) Petraeus and Ambassador (Ryan C.) Crocker tell me if the kind of success...

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2007 – While Iraqi forces are progressing, it will take time before they are fully ready to shoulder the security burden, the man in charge of training Iraqi Army and police said today. Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard also said that one of the lessons of the war in Iraq is that the coalition must not “draw forces down too quickly when we think there's a glimmer of success.” Pittard is finishing up a year as the commander of the Iraq Assistance Group in Baghdad. He briefed Pentagon reporters via video teleconference. The Iraq Assistance Group...

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2007 – While military leaders will present an assessment of the progress of the new strategy in Iraq by a September deadline, a U.S. military commander in Iraq said it may be too soon to get a good feel for progress in the country. Army Lt. Gen. Raymond Odierno, the commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said in a Pentagon news conference that the nature of counterinsurgency warfare is such that more time may be needed to adequately assess the situation on the ground. The 2007 Emergency Supplemental signed by President Bush May 25 calls for the assessment...

WASHINGTON, April 18, 2007 – NATO needs to provide more forces to assist in ongoing security and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, the commander of U.S. Central Command said during his testimony at a Congressional hearing today. The top U.S. military commander in Iraq, Army Gen. Dan K. McNeill, has asked NATO headquarters for more troops, Navy Adm. William J. Fallon told House Armed Services Committee members. McNeill took command of more than 30,000 NATO and U.S. troops in early February. McNeill “is on record as asking the alliance in Brussels for additional assets,” Fallon said. “He needs them not...