Free Republic

CHAMPAIGN, lll. – Researchers have found an association between physical fitness and the brain in 9- and 10-year-old children: Those who are more fit tend to have a bigger hippocampus and perform better on a test of memory than their less-fit peers. The new study, which used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the relative size of specific structures in the brains of 49 child subjects, appears in the journal Brain Research. “This is the first study I know of that has used MRI measures to look at differences in brain between kids who are fit and kids who aren’t fit,”...

Oil and gas companies must permanently plug thousands of Gulf of Mexico wells idle for five years or more under a federal order issued Wednesday. The mandate could cost well owners billions of dollars, but it could also create jobs for rig workers idled by a federal clampdown on new offshore exploration. The U.S. Interior Department and its offshore-drilling oversight agency said companies must cement 3,500 wells that aren't producing oil or gas. Another 650 oil and gas platforms must be dismantled if they are no longer being used, the government said. The mandate becomes effective Oct. 15. Companies will...

Delivered at the 1964 Republican National Convention at San Francisco, California My good friend and great Republican, Dick Nixon, and your charming wife, Pat; my running mate, that wonderful Republican who has served us so well for so long, Bill Miller and his wife, Stephanie; to Thurston Morton who's done such a commendable job in chairmaning this Convention; to Mr. Herbert Hoover, who I hope is watching; and to that—that great American and his wife, General and Mrs. Eisenhower; to my own wife, my family, and to all of my fellow Republicans here assembled, and Americans across this great Nation....

Several years ago I heard the word paradigm for the first time and hadn’t a clue what it meant; glad I took the time to learn this one. A friend explained how he’d observed a woman and her out of control children on a train while on his way to work. The woman seemed oblivious to the fact that her children were misbehaving and, by appearance, were unkempt to say the least. My friend came to the opinion that the woman needed to do more than simply sit staring off into space, her children making everyone on the train miserable....

Conservative Maryland Delegate Chris Shank defeated super RINO Don Munson in the western Maryland battle for state Senate. But wait, RINO Don Munson is refusing to concede to Chris Shank, and is entertaining the possibility of running as a write-in candidate in November. How reflective of the national RINOs!! They are all cut from the same cowardly cloth of elitist government statism. They simply cannot fathom the idea of being shut out of government. Let's contrast these sore losers to conservative Senate candidate Ovide Lamontagne who not only conceded to Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, he agreed to forgo a...

Once again we see that non-Muslims taking an assertive approach, against the threat of Islamic expansionism is achieving positive results for our side. Appeasement and complacency are not the answer, Muslims will always want more. No Muslim prayers at Hartford Council during September On Friday, the Hartford Court of Common Council announced they would not include Islamic prayers prior to their regular Monday meeting because of the public’s mostly-negative reaction to the inclusion of Muslims so close to the anniversary of the 9/11/01 terrorist attacks.

The federal government considers the Muslim group founded by Ground Zero Mosque leader Feisal Abdul Rauf to be a tax-exempt church. But federal records show the group obtained that status by claiming to hold prayer services for up to 500 people in a Manhattan apartment building that has no space to hold that many people. The application for tax exempt status from the American Sufi Muslim Association (ASMA) in 1998 claimed the group had an established place of worship at 201 W. 85th St. in New York. That is a 17-floor apartment building.The 1998 tax filing, called a 1023 form,...

You clowns still don’t get it! Obama is the best thing that has happened to America in many years. He has shown us the face of evil and of socialism. He has drawn our attention to what is going on in Washington and We the People have had all we are going to take. We are going to take back our country and guess what? There is nothing you, or anyone else in Washington, can do about it. You think We the People will vote based on the letter behind a candidates name and that you can choose that candidate....

Elvia Martinez-Montez always sensed there was something fishy about her father's death. Sixty years and an exhumation later, she and her son are sure of it. And while they can't name a suspect, they think it has something to do with a hidden cache of Nazi gold. It helps that both of them happen to be paranormal investigators. They live in San Antonio but on a visit to the Rio Grande Valley, the two unveiled their theory Tuesday and shared a forensic examiner's report on the dug-up remains of Adam G. Martinez. He had returned from World War II with...

In 1997’s Pigford vs. Glickman case, approximately 400 African (hyphen) American farmers sued the US Department of Agriculture claiming racial discrimination from 1983-1997. When the case was settled an estimated 2,000-3,000 claims were expected to be filed with awards reaching $50,000 each. Today, nearly 92,000 black ‘farmers’ are claiming ‘Pigford’ reparations — 5 times the number of blacks who were operating farms at the time. The 2007 Agricultural Census shows a total of 39,697 ‘Black or African-American’ farm operators — keep in mind that’s 10 years after the last ‘Pigford’ year. Interesting that the National Black Farmers Association puts their...

If George W. Bush had doubled the national debt, which had taken more than two centuries to accumulate, in one year, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had then proposed to double the debt again within 10 years, would you have approved? If George W. Bush had criticized a state law that he admitted he never even read, would you think that he is just an ignorant hot head? If George W. Bush joined the country of Mexico and sued a state in the United States to force that state to continue to allow illegal immigration, would you...

Plaquemines Parish officials have asked state wildlife officials to investigate what they said is a massive fish kill at Bayou Chaland on the west side of the Mississippi River late Friday. A massive fish kill was reported late Friday in Plaquemines Parish at Bayou Chaland, west of the Mississippi River. The fish kill was reported to the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries and the cause has not yet been determined, the parish said. The fish were found in an area that has been impacted by the oil from the BP oil spill, the parish said.

The trouble with many of the "indicators" we report is that some are pretty current and others are severely lagging. Home sales are generally the former and home prices the latter. That's why, given the combination of the expiration of the home buyer tax credit and the increasing number of loans moving to final foreclosure, we knew that home prices overall would take a hit, but it would take a while. Well we're here. Two new reports out today prove the consequences of oversupply of organic inventory (12.5 months on existing homes in July according to the National Association of...

The reason that the Tea Party cannot be dismantled by the press (even though they are desperately trying) is simple: "It has no central leader, no official structure, and therefore there is nothing to attack." So you're thinking, duh, we know that. I think this simple fact is so key to the Tea Parties success and I hope it doesn't change. The reason is they only thing they can attack are Tea Party supporters, and everytime they do that they are attacking normal everyday American's and it turns around and bites them, and awakens yet more people. It's a beautiful...

Now that Christine O’Donnell and other insurgents have won their respective primaries with upset victories in Delaware and elsewhere, it’s absolutely fascinating to watch the dinosaur media’s antics as they drink from the same vat of Kool-Aid and form what’s almost an identical narrative: “Hooray! The GOP just lost its chances to take the Senate.” “This proves that moderates have no home in the GOP.” “Even real Republicans ( whom we normally despise) are joining in characterizing this as an extreme movement.”

Euthanasia activist, George Exoo, has announced his intention to open a "right to die" hospice in Gastonia North Carolina. A few years ago, Exoo was featured in a film documentary entitled "Reverend Death". The filmographer, Jon Ronson, chose to do a film documentary on Exoo because Ronson had supported euthanasia and assisted suicide and Exoo was known to have participated in the assisted suicide death of Rosemary Toole in Ireland. At that time Exoo told the film crew: "I think it's the reason I'm placed on this planet,"Exoo claims to have directly assisted more than 100 people die by...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Trade tensions between the United States and China ratcheted up another notch Wednesday, as Washington called on the WTO to probe unfair Chinese trade practices. The United States asked the World Trade Organization to investigate China's allegedly unfair treatment of US steel and electronic payment providers, the first step toward sanctions. * * * US authorities said China slaps unfair duties on US electrical steel and has not opened up its market in electronic payments. The announcement comes on the eve of what promises to be an acrimonious appearance by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner before the US...

...Peter went up upon the housetop to pray about the sixth hour:And he became very hungry, and would have eaten: but while they made ready, he fell into a trance,And saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel descending upon him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth:Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter; kill, and eat.But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten any...

GOP Sen. Jim DeMint said his party is on track to become stronger ideologically with O'Donnell's win over Castle.  Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), who endorsed Tea Party favorite Christine O'Donnell in Delaware's Republican Senate primary, said he's content with the GOP staying in the minority if the party doesn't stand for any principles.  DeMint's party argued before O'Donnell's victory that she could not win a general election in Delwarare, and polls suggest Democrat candidate Chris Coons will defeat O'Donnell in November.  But DeMint, the leader of the Senate Conservatives Fund, said the GOP was on track to being a stronger...

The religious leader behind the proposed mosque near Ground Zero has been slapped with a lawsuit in Union City, NJ, where officials have accused him of ignoring dozens of violations at two rundown apartment buildings he owns. Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf's buildings, with a total of 48 apartments, have been the targets of more than 30 health and safety complaints, among them mold, uncollected garbage, bedbugs, odors, dirty hallways and a lack of heat, the lawsuit says. One of the buildings has been boarded up by Rauf since a blaze on Feb. 8, 2008, that broke out after Union City...