Free Republic

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency wants to know what people think about the size of canned, cubed, white potatoes -- but if you want to know exactly who asked for the change or why this is a priority exercise, you're out of luck. CFIA launched a month-long consultation on Jan. 21 after saying it had received a request from "industry" to change the maximum allowed size of diced, canned potatoes from 10 millimetres to 20 millimetres. "Yes, we care about all potatoes -- big and small," The tweet was met with great delight by some Twitter users who jumped at...

In an age of an evangelical church culture fraught with scandals, we must continually remind and ground ourselves in the biblical criteria for leadership, otherwise, we will lose our credibility within our churches and before the world. The following are some of the ethical and ministerial standards related to priests, kings, and New Testament elders. These are qualifications that we can still apply in principle to today’s Church.Old Testament Standards for the Priests (Leviticus 21):Initially, all the children of Israel were to serve as priests of the Lord (Exodus 19:6). Among the many laws related to the standards for the...

Almost every morning for five years, 1st Lt. Sukhbir Toor has pulled on the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps. On Thursday, he also got to put on the turban of a faithful Sikh. It was a first for the Marine Corps, which almost never allows deviations from its hallowed image, and it was a long-awaited chance for the officer to combine two of the things he holds most dear. “I finally don’t have to pick which life I want to commit to, my faith or my country,” Toor, 26, said in an interview. “I can be who I am...

Railroad Tracks The U.S. Standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used? Because that's the way they built them in England, and English expatriates designed the U.S. Railroads. Why did the English build them like that? Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the pre-railroad tramways, and that's the gauge they used. Why did 'they' use that gauge then? Because the people who built the tram ways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons,...

We live in a world dominated by science, but most people don't understand its most essential characteristic: establishing standards of evidence to keep us from getting fooled by our own biases and opinions. -Maintaining standards of evidence is the most important and least appreciated idea in science. -Modern science was established in the late Renaissance when networks of researchers began working out best practices for linking evidence with conclusions. -In the face of science denial and attempts to create a post-truth society, we have to protect the primacy of standards of evidence in science and society. I talk a lot...

Francis Schaeffer was a Christian thinker and author whom I have benefitted much from. In the 1980’s I read his book “the Church at The End of the Twentieth Century”and benefitted from the points he raised. Schaeffer pointed out that if the Church is to thrive in the ever changing world we live in, we must know the distinction between Form and Freedom. What is essential to the structure of the church (Form)? And what in church life is fluid, as regards organization , liturgy, practices, services, etc. ? Schaeffer taught that the true Church is structured around eight essential,...

BOSTON — Exit renumbering work on a long stretch of Interstate 495 will begin Sunday night, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The project is part of the state's effort to comply with Federal Highway Administration requirements to have exit numbers based on mile markers. Advertisement Massachusetts previously used a sequential exit numbering method, and if that method continued to be used, the state would lose federal funding. MassDOT's exit renumbering work on I-495 between Middleborough and Amesbury will begin at 8 p.m. Sunday. The sign installations will be broken up into four segments as follows:

For Valentine’s Day, a journey into the life of this beloved standard written for the 1937 Broadway show Babes in Arms Rickie Lee Jones, “My Funny Valentine” If there is a better and more lasting song for this holiday, none are more famous or beloved. It was written by Richard Rodgers—one of the greatest melodists of his generation—and his first songwriting partner, the legendary lyricist Lorenz “Larry” Hart. Created in 1937 for the show Babes in Arms, it’s a standard of the greatest multitude, with 1073 known recordings at this moment, and included on thousands of different albums. There’s a...

Agadmator runs an extremely popular chess-only youtube channel / subscription and it has been on with no problems for YEARS. He has a deffinite accent so I think he is of (a guess) slavic ancestry but speaks fluent English. Has done thousands(?) of game analysis for eras from Paul Morphy to current world Grand Master Magnus Carlsen. He was doing an interactive podcast when he got blocked by Youtube about an hour in. An immediate protest was almost immediately denied. Most likely an algorithm / bot, but an increasingly obvious hyper-sensitive Youtube habit.

It’s nearly impossible to have even a short conversation with a college administrator, politician, or chief executive without the words diversity and inclusion dropping from their lips. Diversity and inclusion appear to be the end-all and be-all of their existence. So, I thought I’d begin this discussion by first looking up the definition of diversity. Here’s my question to those who are wedded to diversity and inclusion: Are people better off the less they have in common with one another? For example, women are less likely to be able to march 12.4 miles in five hours with an 83-pound assault...

Recent shootings serve to highlight how we live in times that are violent and lonely. Young shooters are breaking the precarious rhythms of our daily lives with tragedy. We know little about them. However, one thing they all have in common is loneliness. The Loner as Ideal Revolutionary In times past, subversives would seek strength in organization and numbers. They would conspire with others to carry out their nefarious deeds. Intelligence services could trace links and patterns to uncover vast conspiracies. The loner finds his strength in loneliness. He does not need or seek others. There is no organization or...

President Donald Trump may soon be able to claim a sweet victory for his deregulation push, with officials preparing to get rid of the decades-old rules for frozen cherry pies. Emails show the Food and Drug Administration planned to start the process for revoking the standard for frozen cherry pies this week, followed by a similar revocation of the standard for French dressing. Plans to get rid of the obscure rules had been tucked into the Trump administration’s deregulation agenda. Standards for an array of foods including cottage cheese and canned peas were put in place decades ago partly to...

In his illustrious 50-year career, screenwriter Andrew Davies has forged a formidable reputation for creating strong female characters. But now he says he is not allowed to make his women anything but feisty – by the powerful female executives who run television. Davies, who is known for adaptations of classics such as Pride And Prejudice and War & Peace, says bosses want to see an image of themselves projected on screen, and veto any 'droopy, soppy' girls he wants to pen.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a rare statement Thursday said that the Justice Department “will not be improperly influenced by political considerations.” In one of his toughest statements following criticism from President Trump, Sessions defended his leadership of the Justice Department, which has come under increasing attack from the president and his allies.... “While I am Attorney General, the actions of the Department of Justice will not be improperly influenced by political considerations. I demand the highest standards, and where they are not met, I take action,” Sessions said in a direct response to Trump's interview on Fox. “However, no...

NEW ORLEANS—Sterling Burnett doesn’t always want to sit next to someone he doesn’t know on a train, plane, or bus. But he’s willing to fight for the freedom of those same strangers when it comes time for them to purchase a motor vehicle. “What I care about is … your freedom to choose the vehicle of your choice,” Burnett, an environmental policy expert for the Heartland Institute, said during a panel discussion at the free-market think tank’s America First Energy Conference that took a critical look at fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. “I don’t think government should be in...

Army Gen. George W. Casey, Jr., the Army's chief of staff, administers the oath of enlistment to 26 recruits in New York City, April 1, 2009.The military is facing a growing recruiting crisis: 71% of Americans between 17 and 24 can’t meet the minimum criteria for service, which places the burden of service on an ever-small and shrinking pool of troops with a family history of joining the military. At an Oct. 12 Heritage Foundation panel in Washington, D.C., Rep. Don Bacon, a Nebraska Republican and former Air Force one-star general told attendees “the single most important ingredient to readiness...

Defense Secretary Ash Carter launched a sweeping review of the military's recruiting standards that may involve relaxed rules on everything from single-parent enlistees to drug use and obesity. He believes the current standards for screening new recruits are “overly restrictive” and preventing America's most talented young people from joining the ranks Carter’s proposal is the latest of his “Force of the Future” personnel reforms. Secretary Carter is concerned that Obama’s military is ill-equipped to recruit and retain the top talent needed for future missions. Of course, Carter ignores the elephant in the room; that being Obama’s social programs are not...

President Obama´s economic advisers boasted Friday that he has presided over a "historic" lowering of income inequality, and presented a paper saying that Obamacare and higher taxes on the rich have reduced inequality. "Over the last eight years, President Obama has overseen the largest increase in federal investment to reduce inequality since the Great Society," the White House Council of Economic Advisers concluded in the paper. Jason Furman, the head of the council, also published an op-ed in the Washington Post making the same case. Taking into account all of Obama´s tax hikes for high earners, tax cuts for poor...

Clinton Foundation - Programs: The Clinton Foundation works with businesses, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals to improve global health and wellness, increase opportunity for girls and women, reduce childhood obesity, create economic opportunity and growth, and help communities address the effects of climate change by implementing programs, facilitating opportunities and forming creative partnerships. The Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) collaborates with governments and partners to increase the resiliency of communities facing climate change by creating and implementing replicable and sustainable models that foster cross-sector collaborations. The Clinton Development Initiative (CDI) develops and operates agribusiness projects that empower smallholder farmers to increase...