Free Republic

Top FBI official Andrew McCabe has been "removed" from his post as deputy director, Fox News is told, leaving the bureau after months of conflict-of-interest complaints from Republicans including President Trump. A source confirmed to Fox News that McCabe is taking “terminal leave” – effectively taking vacation until he reaches his planned retirement in a matter of weeks. As such, he will not be reporting to work at the FBI anymore.

Prince Rupert’s drop. ============================================================================================================================ (Phys.org)—Researchers have finally answered a question that has stumped scientists since the early 1600s: Why are the heads of tadpole-shaped pieces of glass called "Prince Rupert's drops" so strong? In the 17th century, Prince Rupert from Germany brought some of these glass drops to England's King Charles II, who was intrigued by their unusual properties. While the head of the drop is so strong that it can withstand the impact of a hammer, the tail is so fragile that bending it with your fingers will not only break the tail, but cause the entire droplet to...

Just a little oddity. Last week, the visiting teams won all four NFL playoff games; this week, the home teams won all four.

When Angela Ihegboro first saw her newborn daughter, she was “speechless.” “She’s a miracle baby,” the 35-year-old mother said yesterday. “But still, what on Earth happened here?” What happened is that baby Nmachi is a blond, blue-eyed white baby born to two black Nigerian immigrant parents at a London hospital.

Spotted this while chasing another link. Seems I've seen one of these before, but not as a cased piece. Many detailed pictures, worth a peek but texts are in Russian. Interesting...

MISERY REPEATS ITSELF This is a true but strange story which proves that misery can indeed repeat itself, that those unwilling to learn their lessons from history are doomed to repeat it. Jimmy Carter was born in 1937, the year of the Ox. Barack Obama was born in 1961, the year of the Ox. 24 years apart. Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born in a hospital. Barack Obama was the first president to be born in two hospitals. In 2002, Jimmy Carter received a Nobel Peace Prize. In 2009, Barack Obama received a Nobel Peace Prize. 7...

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A Columbia man who had been injured in a fall in his home nearly 24 hours earlier was rescued after two U.S. Census workers knocked on his door.

PARIS (AFP) - Astronomers in Europe and the United States have detected the remnants of two exploding stars that could lead to a rethink about supernovae, the European Space Agency said. The team examined X-ray data from the embers of two supernovae, DEM L238 and DEM L249, which were stars that had exploded in a nearby galaxy. Most supernovae occur when a very massive star runs out of fuel, its core collapses and then explodes, leaving behind a neutron star or a black hole. But there is also a rarer supernova, called Type 1a, which starts with a binary system...