Free Republic

Here Are The Countries That Spend The Most On Food Matthew BoeslerFeb. 24, 2014, 8:28 PM Renaissance Macro Research, Congressional Research Service This chart plots the share of household income in a given country spent on food against the level of household income in that country. Neil Dutta, head of U.S. economics at Renaissance Macro, warns that rising food prices may serve as an additional economic headwind to some of the emerging markets in the top-left region of the chart (India, China, Indonesia, and Nigeria, to name a few). "Food prices are climbing for a range of items including cattle,...

For the second day in a row, chunks of ice fell from the Freedom Tower — but this time streets remained open and Port Authority officials didn’t close the nearby PATH station. Instead, pedestrians had to fend for themselves, scurrying for cover about 11 a.m. Saturday in the shadow of the nation’s tallest building. “We just saw ice falling down the building,” said startled Austrian tourist Katharina Amann, 24, who is visiting the city with her family. “It was scary. Then I heard it shatter.” Ice also fell from 7 World Trade Center, which is 52 stories tall, some chunks...

I must apologise to the Germans. They are about to suffer an avalanche of often sickening Great War memorabilia, largely at their expense. It will be the British at their worst: sanctimonious, self-congratulatory, worshipping at the tomb of the unknown, awful German. The centenary of the first world war is already flooding the television schedules before the date of its outbreak (in autumn 1914). History bestseller lists focus on little else: there are no fewer than 8,000 titles on the subject. War magazines cram newsstands. Churches will fill with candles for the fallen. Children carry flowers "of reflection and remembrance"....

Sen. Lindsey Graham blasted President Obama for the foreign policy portion of his State of the Union address Tuesday night. “The world is literally about to blow up,” the South Carolina Republican told Roll Call. “The world as I know was not remotely described by the president.” “Syria is a contagion … Iraq is disintegrating. The whole region is moving toward chaos, and we’re doing nothing. We’re talking about limiting drones?” he continued. “I hope he will leave a residual force in Afghanistan [so] they can do the job, because if he doesn’t,

There often is a tendency for those concerned about the size and scope of government to feel like everything is getting perpetually worse. But a full look at the evidence shows this isn't so. While critics claim that free trade and globalization are merely a "race to the bottom," the world as a whole has been quietly reducing poverty, disease, famines and war by embracing the free market. University of Michigan-Flint economist Mark Perry has a chart showing the remarkable decrease in the world poverty rate, which has fallen 80 percent, from 26.8 percent in 1970 to 5.4 percent in...

My substantiation of my kingdom is coming in such a manner that everything that can be shaken must take place and so your very deepest repentance shall come forth and in this cleansing I shall have my perfect and true way with all my children of light and I say this because many shall fall away do to their lack of submission and acceptance of me(Jesus). For your very sovereignty shall be tested as Abram and in this testing you shall be my Esau or Abraham for I AM calling all my children now to the mountain top of their...

"If men are obsolete, then women will soon be extinct—unless we rush down that ominous Brave New World path where females will clone themselves by parthenogenesis, as famously do Komodo dragons, hammerhead sharks, and pit vipers."

And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my...

My last thread about TVs was published in 2006. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1725379/posts I still have the 2k in the bank and still want to buy one I have been looking at the Sharp Aquos Quattron 3D 240 70" Model 757. Any opinions? Good Amazon ratings. How does one get it installed if purchased on the net? How does one pick a sound system, and I need a sound system with headphones because of a mild hearing deficit (What did he just say? Where are they going? Why did he kill her?) I am looking for a theatre-sort of experience at my low...

The unbelieving world will always do “cool” better than the Church. When the Church adopts coolness and relevance as its corporate values, it slavishly agrees to follow, lagging always one step behind the world. (This is why Christian music always ends up ripping off the sounds and styles of their secular counterparts, while Christian film always has a cheesy “cringe factor”).

2006, climate change experts from Bangor University in north Wales found a very special clam while dredging the seabeds of Iceland. At that time scientists counted the rings on the inside shell to determine that the clam was the ripe old age of 405. Unfortunately, by opening the clam which scientists refer to as "Ming," they killed it instantly. Cut to 2013, researchers have determined that the original calculations of Ming's age were wrong, and that the now deceased clam was actually 102 years older than originally thought. Ming was 507 years old at the time of its demise.

No live thread on the game. I've never seen the Cardinals make such stupid decisions.

Though representing The Phillipines at Miss World 2013 -which she won handily in August- Megan Lynne Young was actually born in Virginia, USA- to an American father and Filipina mother. The young beauty is already a local TV star in the Philippines -where she resides- has done some stuff in the States, and now Miss World- what a nice Catholic girl they raised, gonna to have to be a real gentleman if you think you're ever going to get your paws on this one, boys... More/video at Reaganite Republican...

Regarding World Series opening game #1, did anyone notice that the FOX11 TV network COMPLETELY IGNORED the 'fighter jet flyover' as Mary J. Blige sang our National Anthem? I could HEAR THE JETS but no attempt was made by FoxTV to show them as they roared overhead! Was this a slap in the face to our troops, or what? This really P*SSED ME OFF!!!

Imagine you have a brother and he’s an alcoholic. He has his moments, but you keep your distance from him. You don’t mind him for the occasional family gathering or holiday. You still love him. But you don’t want to be around him. This is how I lovingly describe my current relationship with the United States. The United States is my alcoholic brother. And although I will always love him, I don’t want to be near him at the moment. I know that’s harsh, but I really feel my home country is not in a good place these days. That’s...

The National World War II Memorial was funded almost entirely by private contributions, as specified in Public Law 103-32. The campaign received more than $197 million in cash and pledges. Support came from hundreds of thousands of individual Americans, hundreds of corporations and foundations, veterans groups, dozens of civic, fraternal and professional organizations, states and one territory, and students in 1,200 schools across the country. Donated and pledged funds were used to cover the total project costs of approximately $182 million. These costs include site selection and design, construction and sculpture, a National Park Service maintenance fee required by the...

This week's United Nations General Assembly underscored how little influence President Barack Obama has on the world stage, and the longing among allies for a resurgence of strong American leadership, Peggy Noonan says. In her column for The Wall Street Journal, Noonan says that conversations behind the scenes at the annual U.N. session indicated concern that American influence has waned, and nostalgia for the "old America" that set an example of leadership and success admired throughout the world. "The world misses the old America, the one before the crash — the crashes — of the past dozen years," the author...

The Arab Spring is a series of events of truly world-historical importance. It has already reshaped the Arab World and the Middle East more fundamentally and more rapidly than any event in the past several centuries. Even the emergence of the modern Arab states after the fall of the Ottoman Empire was more protracted and gradual. The suddenness and scale of the events of the past three years has a disruptive and transformative power all its own. The outcome of that transformation is far from clear at this point. It is, in fact, highly contingent on a series of...

Ghana's Supreme Court made a decision about last year’s presidential election. ... "We need to care about Ghana, and we need to foster deeper relations with its democratic government. But we are not helped in this by our current President.."

Barack Obama vows to 'change the world' Barack Obama has vowed that he will "change the world" even as he urged his supporters to guard against complacency. By Toby Harnden in Londonderry, New Hampshire 10:04PM BST 17 Oct 2008 The supremely confident demeanour and exalted rhetoric of the Democratic nominee at a New Hampshire event betrayed that he is a man convinced he is poised to make history. "I want you to believe," said the candidate, clad in an open-necked shirt and barn jacket. "Not so much believe just in me but believe in yourselves. Believe in the future. Believe...