Free Republic

In my earlier article, I outlined the economic backdrop that will push agriculture and food prices higher in the not so distant future. If you missed that essay, you can review it here. To rehash, we’ve added roughly three billion people to the earth’s population since the ‘60s. We accommodated this growth by using fertilizers, irrigation, and other systems that have deleterious effects on land overtime. As a consequence, worldwide arable land per person has essentially halved from 0.42 hectares per person in 1961 to 0.23 hectares per person in 2002. Because of this, stocks-to-use ratios are now at their...

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK—Today, BRYAN ROSS BENTON, 24, and TYSON CHARLES MARTIN, 20, both of Stillwater, Oklahoma, have each been sentenced to ten months in federal prison for stealing money from a City National Bank branch in the Country Mart East Supermarket at 4510 Southeast Lee Boulevard in Lawton, announced John C. Richter, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma. BENTON was sentenced on June 17; MARTIN was sentenced this morning. On May 27, 2009, a third defendant, TODD VINCENT RUDISILL, 22, of Lawton, was sentenced to 27 months in prison in connection with the theft and his embezzlement...

INDEPENDENCE HALL TEA PARTY ASSOCIATION IndependenceHallTPA.com INDEPENDENCE HALL TEA PARTY/PICNIC TO BE HELD JULY 4TH Philadelphia (July 1, 2009) – Talk Show Host Dom Giordano will be a featured speaker at the Independence Hall Tea Party III to be held July 4th from 12 noon-3PM on Independence Mall, 5th and Chestnut Streets. The celebratory, family-style tea party/picnic, sponsored by the Independence Hall Tea Party Association, will include a Colonial Costume Contest, a Tea Party Sign Contest, musical entertainment, activities for children, and information tables. On April 18, 2009, over 1800 people attended Philadelphia Tea Party II on Independence Mall. “Peoplewere...

Sacramento - -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said today that the state's deficit has grown by $2 billion - to $26.3 billion due to the Legislature's failure to pass a comprehensive solution to solve the state's shortfall. The Republican governor also declared a fiscal emergency, citing the Legislature's inability to pass a plan by last night's midnight deadline. The fiscal emergency means that under Proposition 58, lawmakers will have 45 days to adopt a plan to close the deficit.

OTTAWA — The distinct possibility that precious metals may have been stolen from the Royal Canadian Mint is "inexcusable," the federal minister responsible for the Crown corporation said Monday. The findings of a long-awaited external audit, released earlier in the day, concluded that $15.3 million in missing gold is not the result of accounting or bookkeeping errors, raising even more questions about the whereabouts of the metals from what has been touted as one of the most secure facilities in Canada. "The mint's still unexplained loss of precious metals is inexcusable," Transport Minister John Baird and Minister of State for...

How about no more "dead zones" on your cell phone? How about a phone that's potentially better than the new Apple iPhone, or the new Palm Pre? How about a new satellite phone? TerreStar Networks will launch the...

Another major step in the demise of the dollar as the world's reserve currency has just taken place. The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)has approved a framework today for the issuance of notes to member countries and their central banks. The notes will not be denominated in dollars, but in SDR's...

EVANSVILLE, IN—Jarvis Brown, 28, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was sentenced to five consecutive life imprisonment sentences, plus an additional 20 year sentence, late yesterday by U.S. District Judge Richard L. Young, according to Timothy M. Morrison, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. Brown previously pleaded guilty on March 17, 2009, to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, one count of interference with commerce by threats or violence; three counts of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime or crime of violence resulting in death, and one count of tampering...

The Honduran interim government defied international pressure on Wednesday and vowed there was "no chance at all" of ousted President Manuel Zelaya returning to office. World leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have told the new rulers of the Central American country to restore Zelaya, a leftist who was toppled by the army on Sunday and sent into exile after a dispute over presidential term limits. The Organization of American States gave Honduras an ultimatum early on Wednesday to allow Zelaya back into office by this weekend or face suspension. But the interim government's response...

Fayette Pinkney, an original member of the Three Degrees who lent her strong, soulful voice to the 1970s hits “When Will I See You Again?” and “T.S.O.P. (The Sound of Philadelphia),” the theme song of the television show “Soul Train,” died Saturday in Lansdale, Pa. She was 61. ... For more than a decade, Ms. Pinkney was the one constant in a group whose members came and went. She sang on the group’s first single, “Gee Baby (I’m Sorry),” on its 1970 hit “Maybe” and on the hits for Philadelphia International Records in the 1970s that helped the define the...

Slouching towards socialism...

Arthur Sease IV, a former Memphis Police Department officer, was sentenced today to a prison term of life plus 255 years by Chief Judge Jon P. McCalla in Memphis, Tenn. A jury convicted Sease in February 2009 of 44 counts of civil rights, narcotics, robbery, and firearms offenses. "The peace and prosperity of our nation hinge on the integrity of our law enforcement officers," said Loretta King, Acting Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "We will continue to vigorously prosecute police corruption both to protect the rights of individuals and to maintain faith in our legal system." "Effective law...

Great video of Governor Palin here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBh8x2KZf3Q&feature=rec-HM-fresh+div

Tax Revenues Take a Dive Washington, D.C. (May 27, 2009) By WebCPA Staff PrintE-mailReprints Federal tax revenues plunged 34 percent in April to $266 billion, compared to $404 billion in April of last year, according to a new study. An analysis of Treasury Department data by the American Institute for Economic Research found that individual income tax revenues fell 44 percent in April 2009 to $137 billion, compared to $244 billion in April 2008. That’s not good news because April is the month when federal tax revenues tend to be highest because of the tax-filing deadline. Corporate income tax revenues...

In this epsiode of the Conscience of Kansas radio program I speak with Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters. Next, I talk to Nicole Mathews of PETA about the Obama fly killing incident. I also speak with Zack Rawsthorne, conservative political cartoonist of "Diversity Lane" We invite you to listen and comment on the show!

KNOXVILLE, TN—On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, John Reece Roth, 72, of Knoxville, Tennessee, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for violating the Arms Export Control Act by conspiring to illegally export, and actually exporting, technical information relating to a U.S. Air Force (USAF) research and development contract. The sentencing, announced today by United States Attorney Russ Dedrick, took place in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, Tennessee, by the Honorable Thomas A. Varlan, Jr., United States District Court Judge. Upon his release from prison, Roth will serve a term of two years supervised release. These illegal exports by Dr. Roth...

A 12-foot pet Burmese python has broken out of its aquarium and strangled to death a two-year-old girl in her Florida bedroom. Police said Shaunia Hare was already dead when paramedics arrived at her home in Oxford, 50 miles northwest of Orlando. The albino snake had been owned by Charles Darnell, the boyfriend of Shaunia’s mother, who found it in the toddler's bedroom, wrapped around her. Mr Darnell, 32, stabbed the snake until he was able to pry her away, but was too late to save her. Mr Darnell did not have a permit for the snake, the Florida Fish...

RUSH: Michael Jackson. I have an observation. I have an observation about this Michael Jackson thing, not about the details of his death or anything. Jackson's success, if you stop and think of it -- and this is going to really irritate some people, which I will enjoy doing -- Jackson's success paralleled the rebound of the United States under Ronaldus Magnus. Michael Jackson's biggest successes, and as it turns out his final successes, real successes took place in the eighties. That was Billie Jean, Thriller and all this. I mean he was as weird as he could be but...

The $787 billion U.S. economic stimulus package may not be able to live up to lofty expectations, painting President Barack Obama into a policy corner once the money runs out. With only a little under 7 percent of the stimulus actually paid out so far, it is a bit early to try to measure success. However, the White House is already fielding questions about whether another spending package will be needed. The problem is that while a sum of $787 billion may be vast, it pales in comparison to the more than $12 trillion in household wealth that has been...

LOS OLIVOS, California (AFP) – The plans for Michael Jackson's funeral remain uncertain, but that did not stop Desiree Crossley and her family from camping out for hours outside of his Neverland ranch. Reports that the King of Pop would be laid to rest at his sprawling fantasy estate prompted a near stampede here to the rolling hills of Santa Barbara wine country, with hundreds of media satellite trucks parking outside the gate. As newscasters broadcast live in multiple languages and traffic crews hurriedly erected no-parking signs, Crossley waited with a friend in foldable chairs, her two daughters sitting in...