Free Republic

Red Double of the First Class JOHN THE BAPTIST has pointed out the Lamb, Peter has firmly fixed His throne, Paul has prepared the Bride; this their joint work, admirable in its unity, at once suggests the reason for their feasts occurring almost simultaneously on the cycle. The alliance being now secured, all three fall into shade; while the Bride herself, raised up by them to such lofty heights, appears alone before us, holding in her hands the sacred cup of the nuptial-feast. This gives the key of today’s solemnity; revealing how its illumining the heavens of the holy...

When British Prime Minister Theresa May gave her traditional New Year's speech on December 31, one line -- actually, just one word -- jumped out at me. May spoke of the importance of “taking a balanced approach to government spending, so we get our debt falling but can also invest in the things that matter -- our schools, our police and our precious NHS.” Yes, “precious.” She actually described the National Health Service as precious! Now, one might easily forgive her for describing, say, Britain's finest doctors and nurses as -- oh, I don't know -- how about “treasured”? Or...

“Let’s be frank: Hunters know that high-capacity magazines and semi-automatic rifles are unnecessary for our sport. These guns are weapons of war, designed to kill human beings. You could say the same about handguns. My dad often talks about bringing a sidearm for protection while hunting in serious grizzly bear country, but I tell him not to bother. Studies have shown that bear spray is more effective, anyway, and there’s a good deal less collateral damage likely to be caused.” – Greg Luther in Hunters, sportsmen must speak up now on gun control [via abqjournal.com]

In Australia, and around the world, we have been living this presidential transition with you. We watched the debates on our lunch breaks, we scrolled through news on our phones as the voting results were announced, in the warm light of a spring day. Since the election I have cried many times, in the shower, in the car, as the conventions that define liberal Western democracy are stripped away by Donald J. Trump, with every distressful appointment, each impulsive outburst. I have embarrassment of grief for a government that is not mine and for a country that does not belong...

Link: 5-year-old British boy cannot contain his excitement about becoming a big brother

I checked the stock market today and noticed it's down. But I also noticed that precious metals appear to be tanking. Gold is at $1245/oz and Silver at $19.85/oz. What's going on here? Is J.P. Morgan or some other major player manipulating the precious metals market?

RACHEL JEANTEL, FRIEND OF TRAYVON: Well, the jury, they see their facts. My thoughts of the jury, they old, that's old school people. We in a new school, our generation, my generation. So -- PIERS MORGAN: Let's talk about 'creepy ass cracka.' People have said that that is a phrase used by black people, cracka, to describe a white person. Is that true?

Wow, look what I noticed today? The European fiscal crisis must have triggered this.. Gold: $1,478/oz Silver: $25.95/oz. Platinum: $1,491.00/oz.

Looks like the lousy jobs report coupled with Obama's 'Jimmy Carter' speech has caused precious metal values to spike strongly today: Gold is up $37/oz = $1740.00 Silver is up .96/oz = $33.77 Platinum & Palladium are also up $10/oz

A woman has been hailed a hero after details of her astonishing work with abandoned children has emerged. Lou Xiaoying, now 88 and suffering from kidney failure, found and raised more than 30 abandoned Chinese babies from the streets of Jinhua, in the eastern Zhejiang province where she managed to make a living by recycling rubbish. She and her late husband Li Zin, who died 17 years ago, kept four of the children and passed the others onto friends and family to start new lives. Her youngest son Zhang Qilin - now aged just seven - was found in a...

Precious metals are taking a hit today! Gold dropped below the $1600 mark for the first time in 5 months while silver also declined steadily throughout the day. All precious metals declining by over 1% today with Rhodium at -3.5%.

Afterburner with Bill Whittle: Three and a half days

At 85, Phyllis Schlafly has still got game. The anti-feminist founder of the conservative Eagle Forum -- who counts Barry Goldwater's 1964 White House run and the 1982 death of the Equal Rights Amendment as exquisite victories and the "internationalist" presidencies of George Bush 41 and 43 as "not helpful to the Republican party" -- hasn't mellowed one whit. That she made abundantly clear Thursday afternoon at the Conservative Political Action Committee conference in Washington. Lord knows she still looks great, the poufy blonde hair perfectly lacquered, the fitted tweed jacket tricked out with her signature golden eagle brooch and...

Conservative supporters of Chuck DeVore seem outraged that Sarah Palin didn’t endorse their candidate for the California GOP Senate Primary race to take on Barbara Boxer in the November election. To them, it seemed like the likely thing for her to do and I know DeVore himself had asked for the nod. DeVore’s supporters are operating, to this day on the notion that their guy is the “one true Conservative in the race.” They run off of emotion and perception but they are omitting many facts about the Senate race and about Chuck DeVore himself with their analysis. I’m going...

SAN ANTONIO - The Texas Supreme Court is deciding whether to strip away a $5 entrance fee to watch nude dancers. The court heard arguments Thursday about whether the so-called pole tax, a fee mandated by lawmakers in 2007, is unconstitutional. Texas has so far collected more than $13.6 million from the fee. But many clubs have ignored the law, which is intended to fund programs for sexual assault victims. The Texas Entertainment Association, which represents strip clubs across the state, sued to block the fee. Lower courts have sided with the clubs. Justices questioned both sides at length. Talk...

This video footage is of a pet Chorkie and her love to hunt in the backyard for geckoes and lizards. In the video grandchild and other pets can be seen!

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rallied nearly 7 percent on Wednesday to a two-and-a-half-week high of $830.10 an ounce, as a wave of risk aversion triggered buying of the precious metal as a safe haven and oil prices climbed.

NEW CASTLE, Ind. - A cat helped spare a family from death by carbon monoxide poisoning by jumping on the bed and meowing wildly as fumes filled the home, the owners said. Eric and Cathy Keesling said their 14-year-old cat, Winnie, played a crucial role in saving their lives March 24 after a gasoline-powered water pump in their basement caused the odorless but deadly gas to build up. About 1 a.m., the domestic shorthair began nudging Cathy’s ear and meowing loudly. “It was a crazy meow, almost like she was screaming,” said Cathy, who hesitated to get up until Winnie’s...

Sugar and spice and everything nice hold no interest for a cat. Our feline friends are only interested in one thing: meat (except for saving up the energy to catch it by napping, or a round of restorative petting…) This is not just because inside every domestic tabby lurks a killer just waiting to catch a bird or torture a mouse, it is also because cats lack the ability to taste sweetness, unlike every other mammal examined to date. The tongues of most mammals hold taste receptors—proteins on the cellular surface that bind to an incoming substance, activating the cell's...

The recent spate of unseasonably warm temperatures have led to what seems to be an extended breeding cycle for some feral cats -- meaning a bump in the local kitten population and full cages at several local shelters and rescue groups. So many new kittens have come into the Long Island Humane and Dog Protective Association, a private, no-kill animal shelter in Freeport, that the shelter has had to turn away callers wanting to bring in kittens for adoption. "We have just been inundated with calls" about kittens, said Maria Cross, one of the shelter's workers. "Usually, by November, December,...