Free Republic

New York has had firefighters since Dutch colonial days, first in the form of volunteers and then, beginning in 1865, a professional paid force.And in the days of horse-drawn engines and a less-sophisticated alarm system, firehouse dogs played an important role.Often a stray who found his way to the house or an unwanted pup given to the chief, many these canines served their companies heroically, explains 1897 New York Times piece.There was Jack (left), of Hook and Ladder Company 18, on Attorney Street. He’s described as a “large, sober-looking, brown-and-black shaggy full-bred shepherd dog” by the Times.“When the alarm rings,...

Word For The Day, Monday, 12/15/14 ; In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". quale; noun noun, plural qualia [kwah-lee-uh, kwey-] 1: a property (as redness) considered apart from things having the property : universal 2: a property as it is experienced as distinct from any source it might have in a physical object Qualia is a term used in philosophy to refer to individual instances of subjective, conscious experience. The term derives from the Latin adverb quālis (Latin pronunciation: [ˈkwaːlis])...

YORK — A York man was reportedly beaten with an aluminum baseball bat by his girlfriend's son after he told the woman he hadn't washed his hands after going to the bathroom. The 48-year-old man told police he came home to Pinckney Street around 5:15 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 6, and found his girlfriend's 32-year-old son, who also lives at the address, urinating on the side of the house. The older man said nothing until the younger man entered the house and put his unwashed hands into a bowl of turkey salad. At that point, the victim said he became angry...

I just ran across this video. Scott Hahn and Fr. Pacwa discuss Advent and Christmas as Hahn promotes his latest book. A good and informative conversation.

Pray For the Peace of Jerusalem Character Studies From The Bible Sarah New International Version (NIV) 15 God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.” 17 Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at...

Around 1,300 people have been killed in Ukraine's separatist conflict since a September ceasefire, according to a U.N. report that said many living in the country's rebel-held east were struggling to survive. As of Dec. 12, 4,707 combatants and civilians had been killed since pro-Russian rebels seized eastern regions near the border with Russia in April. Of these deaths, 1,357, or nearly 30 percent, were recorded after the Sept. 5 truce, some of which may have occurred prior to that date, the report released on Monday said. While violence has abated in recent days, shelling has repeatedly punctured the truce...

During most times, the oil industry may operate in a dog-eat-dog world. Now it’s also in an ant-and-grasshopper world. You know the story of those two insects–they’re paired together in Aesop’s Fable of the same name. The ant toils hard to save and scrimp for a rainy day, while the grasshopper flits around, enjoying the moment with no thought for tomorrow. Then winter comes and the ant has stores of food to last him for months; the grasshopper dies. It’s hard to think, especially given the lavish times of several months back when Niagaras of oil revenues were pouring into...

I just heard a conversion, on the radio, between the show's host and a doctor concerning flu shots. The host asked, "What do you tell people who won't get a flu shot because they say it makes them sick?" The doctor replied, "Well, after you get the shot, you can't get the flu, but you might FEEL like you have the flu because of the reaction to the shot by your immune system". I don't know, but if I take something that makes me feel like I have the flu, I think I'd be safe in saying what Monica Lewinski's...

Last month Republicans won a wave election picking up a dozen seats in the House and nine seats in the Senate. Last week the Republicans ignored the will of the voters and voted in favor of President Obama’s budget initiatives. The country is overwhelmingly opposed to Obamacare, so the Republicans fully funded it without making any changes. The country is overwhelmingly opposed to amnesty, in particular the country is opposed to amnesty created by the executive branch alone. Rather than refuse to fund the President’s amnesty power grab, the Republicans are funding it completely. They’re even spending a billion dollars...

The details are still sketchy, but this is what is apparently confirmed as of this writing (8PM EST Sunday night): as many as 50 people have been taken hostage in the Lindt Chocolat Café in Sydney, Australia’s central pedestrian mall, Martin Place. Some of the hostages have been forced at gunpoint to hold up the black flag of Islamic jihad against a window of the café.

A part-time CUNY professor faces a slate of charges accusing him of sparking a violent run-in with police during Saturday's protest demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge. Eric Linsker, 29, was allegedly spotted by police carrying a large garbage can on walkway of the bridge above the traffic lanes during the protests against the police killings of unarmed black men. Protesters had been tossing debris at police on the bridge's lower level at the time, police said. Police Lt. Philip Chan ordered Linkser to put down the trash can and attempted to arrest him, according to court records. A small group...

<p>In a now-infamous Nov. 19 story in Rolling Stone, disgraced journalist Sabrina Rubin Erdely asserted that at least five members of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity gang-raped a freshman named Jackie at a frat house party, then left her in a bloodstained dress to exit via a conveniently vacant side staircase.</p>

"Jeb Bush looks like he's in. That's the real import of a well-reported Politico article on Mitt Romney considering another presidential run in 2016. The case for Jeb goes something like this: The GOP needs a nominee that can unite the party's wings, and credibly run to the middle. He was a successful economic manager and cheerleader for Florida, as governor. And Jeb Bush has always been the most polished of the Bush clan: the most accomplished policy-thinker, and the best campaigner."

The passionate stand by Americans across the country in protesting the failure of grand juries to indict policemen for killing two unarmed people – both poor, black men – is revving up the demand for a political response from Democrats in Washington. Young people of all colors, but mostly blacks, Hispanics and immigrants, are the primary source of that pressure. Their political agenda extends beyond outrage over the deaths of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., and Eric Garner in New York. They also want Democrats in Congress to get busy defending ObamaCare. But their rising political engagement is best seen...

WHO: There Could Be 10,000 New Ebola Cases Per Week In Coming Months jobs.aol.com 4 hours ago "Does Kaci Hickox, the Maine nurse who cared for Ebola patients in West Africa, have a case against Maine's quarantine restrictions? World Health Organization's Lawrence Gostin discusses. Cuomo: Health Workers in …"

The family of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was killed in Arizona's Peck Canyon by Mexican bandits carrying weapons provided to them through Operation Fast and Furious, marked the four year anniversary of his murder yesterday. Photos posted on Facebook with a link to the Brian Terry Foundation page show Agent Terry's sister, Kelly Terry-Willis, visiting the very spot where he died on the night of December 14, 2010. "Today marks the four year anniversary of Brian Terry's death. Four years later, the family of Agent Terry still waits for answers to not only what happened that night, but the...

The scariest words uttered during Jonathan Gruber’s recent appearance before the House Oversight Committee were “positive selection.” They were read aloud by Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, from a 1997 paper the professor co-authored concerning abortion. The opus in question made the Congressman uneasy because of the following passage: “By 1993 all cohorts under the age 19 were born under legalized abortion and we estimate steady state savings of $1.6 billion per year from positive selection.” Rep. Massie asked the professor what was meant by “positive selection.” This question was evidently not anticipated in Gruber’s pre-testimony coaching, so he became evasive....

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

The story is told that when Tennessee frontiersman Davy Crockett served in the US Congress (between 1827 and 1835) he voted for a bill appropriating $20,000 for relief for victims of a fire that broke out in Georgetown. When he returned home, a constituent farmer chastised him for supporting the bill and for “giving what is not yours to give.” The farmer told Crockett the constitution does not grant Congress the power to give charity and if it did, “You will very easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and favoritism and corruption, on the one...

1 2 3