Free Republic

The Pulitzer Prize winning book Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, written by Jared Diamond (1997), documented that throughout human history, hunter-gathers were always subdued by people groups who had transitioned to agriculture. The first plants to be cultivated were: wheat, barley, rye, oats, lentils, peas, chickpeas, beans, almonds, and olives. Flax was cultivated as a source for linseed oil and fiber for clothes, ropes, rugs, bedding, curtains, and sails. Agricultural domestication of plants led to the domestication of animals, such as: donkey, horse, camel, pig, chicken, cattle and oxen. Harvests led to storage techniques, methods of...

Christine Blasey Ford’s lawyer Debra Katz on Wednesday admitted that ‘abortion rights’ is partially what motivated her client Christine to attack Brett Kavanaugh last year. Debra Katz said that putting “an asterisk” next to Kavanaugh’s name in a case Kavanaugh attacked Roe v. Wade “is part of what motivated Christine.” WATCH:

- There are still around 10,000 pages of documents which are yet to be unsealed - They come from a 2015 lawsuit by Virginia Giuffre Roberts, Epstein's 'sex slave' - She sued him and Ghislaine Maxwell, his British socialite friend and ex-girlfriend - Maxwell's attorney told a court on Wednesday that the remaining files implicate 'literally hundreds of people' - They are arguing in court over how to release the dump of files - On Tuesday, one of the people named submitted a letter to the court asking for his name to be protected As many as 1,000 people including...

The shooter Seth Ator had been calling the FBI and police “for years” and “leaving incoherent messages” before the mass shooting.

Google's video site YouTube has been fined $170 million to settle allegations it collected children's personal data without their parents' consent. The Federal Trade Commission fined Google $136 million and the company will pay an additional $34 million to New York state to resolve similar allegations. The fine is the largest the agency has yet leveled against Google, although it is tiny compared to the $5 billion fine the FTC imposed against Facebook this year for privacy violations. The FTC has been investigating YouTube for the way it handles the data of kids under the age of 13. Young children...

If fewer kids bring lunch from home, Austin ISD says it can improve the quality of ingredients it uses to prepare breakfast and lunch across the entire district. Wednesday, the district’s food truck hit the road for the first time this school year. Its first stop is McCallum High School, where students will have the option of grass-fed burgers, among other bites. The nutrition and food services department is working toward a goal of using only grass-fed beef in every school cafeteria, plus organic produce and milk. But in order to do that, it needs more students to eat the...

Baltimore County police have arrested and charged seven suspects, including one juvenile who is charged as an adult, in connection with last month's killing of a 21-year-old man. According to officials, police determined that Daniel Alejandro Alvarado Cuellar, of the 8400 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, was the intended victim of a planned gang-related murder involving the seven suspects.

A Boston judge ordered the defense attorney for a Straight Pride Parade protester to be taken away in handcuffs after she argued he didn’t have the right to refuse to dismiss a case. Attorney Susan Church was held in contempt of court Wednesday by Boston Municipal Court Judge Richard Sinnott while defending Lilley Antoinette, 29, a protester from Somerville who was charged with disorderly conduct at the Straight Pride Parade in Boston Saturday. Both Church and the prosecutor requested dismissing Antoinette’s case due to the police report of her arrest lacking information, including what her exact actions were at the...

Communist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY) on Wednesday lectured Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) on how to handle firearms. Dan Crenshaw served as a Navy SEAL for 10 years including 5 tours of duty in the Middle East and South Korea. Crenshaw lost his right eye in 2012 after an IED detonated near him in Afghanistan. But the 29-year-old bartender knows more about firearms and the 2nd Amendment than Crenshaw. Crenshaw defended the 2nd Amendment on Tuesday after yet another story about an armed woman who defended herself from five men who tried to rob her.

Today's post is in honor of Capt. Raymond P. Salzarulo, Jr. who was killed when his F-4C Phantom was shot down by an enemy surface-to-air missile over North Vietnam on this day in 1966. Although no parachutes were spotted, Salzarulo's pilot, 1st Lt. John H. Nasmyth Jr., survived and spent the next 2,355 days as a prisoner of war. Salzarulo, a native of Hollansbee, W. Va. and a graduate of the Air Force Academy (Class of '64), served with the famed 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron out of Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base. Originally listed as missing in action, his...

Conventional wisdom dictates that taking bribes, frequenting prostitutes or shooting someone in broad daylight are good ways to end a political career. But in New York, a number of politicians forced out of office in the wake of a scandal have tried to get back in the game. Some run right away to avoid fading into obscurity, while others lie low to let things quiet down – or to serve out a prison sentence – before seeking office once again. These comeback candidates hold out hope that voters will give them a second chance – and every now and again,...

Texas Loosens Gun Laws after Shootings, Media Questions Why“Hours after shooting rampage, Texas gun laws loosened”.“New Texas laws loosening gun control draw outrage from advocates after Odessa shooting”.“Texas Allows Guns in Churches, Schools After Firearm Access Laws Expanded”.These are news headlines recently published by major outlets. CBS, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal – mainstream media publications and journalists are crying foul of the Texas state legislature’s decision to loosen gun laws in the wake two shootings in Odessa on August 31, and in El Paso on August 4. Many of these publications question why, in the face of mass gun...

Clinician scientists from Bristol Medical School and the Bristol Eye Hospital examined the case of a teenage patient who first visited his GP complaining of tiredness. The link between his nutritional status and vision was not picked up until much later, and by then, his visual impairment had become permanent.

CNN’s description suggests the event may be closer to Greta Thunberg’s “I Want You to Panic” approach than a level-headed analysis. Ten Democratic presidential candidates will square off in New York on Wednesday, fielding questions as part of a seven-hour telecast (yes, seven hours) that CNN is billing as an “unprecedented prime-time event focused on the climate crisis.” Though questions will come from members of the audience, CNN’s description of the event offers some indication of what questions viewers can expect. In his preview of the town hall-style event, CNN senior analyst Mark Preston writes that global warming “would cause...

It’s an undisputed fact that LeBron James loves tacos, especially on Tuesdays. And this Tuesday night, for seemingly the thousandth time, the millennial N.B.A. superstar went on Instagram and announced to his tens of millions of followers: “You know what it is! Taco Tuesdayyyyyy!” This is how he lets people know it is his family’s taco night. Mr. James’s custom usually includes the addition of a howl delivered in an exaggerated Spanish or Mexican-ish accent. His fans love it. And now the 34-year-old forward for the Los Angeles Lakers is making a move to formalize a claim on the phrase....

Revelations from George Stephanopoulos, Newsweek, and Columbia grads from Israel.The recent DOJ report on James Comey, the ongoing FISA investigation, and the probe of the Russia-collusion investigators under John Durham are all pointing back to POTUS 44, formerly known as Barry Soetoro. He wanted to know how Peter Strzok and Lisa Page of the FBI’s coup clan were doing. In similar style, designated prevaricator Susan Rice is on record that 44 wanted the counterintelligence operation to be done “by the book.” It didn’t exactly work out that way. As investigators probe what the president knew, and when he knew it,...

Three years after a presidential election that came down to 77,000 votes in three Midwestern battlegrounds, Democrats and Republicans are eyeing a much larger battlefield ahead of the 2020 contests, one that stretches from the picturesque coastline of rural Maine to the high desert of Arizona. Both President Trump’s campaign and the Democrats vying to replace him are scrutinizing a political map in flux, one in which attitudes and alignments are shifting and new regions are coming into play.As many as a dozen states could be up for grabs next year as economic and international uncertainty pairs with a cauldron...

Once upon a time in America a presidential campaign was decided on the phrase “Rum, Romanism & Rebellion.” It was not exactly true, but it worked. Now, 125 years after that controversial campaign and election, the slogan shaping up for Democrats running against Donald Trump is another Triple R — “Russia, Race & Recession.” None of that is exactly true, either

Full header: Actor Robert Davi: 95% of Hollywood’s Technical Crews ‘Are for Trump,’ But ‘They’re Frightened’ to Admit It While the vast majority of Hollywood’s behind-the-camera workers support President Donald Trump, they’re too frightened to say so because of liberal intolerance in the industry, veteran actor Robert Davi says. In an interview Monday with Fox News’ Laura Ingraham, Davi discussed how Hollywood liberals blacklist and discriminate against conservatives who are simply trying to earn a living in the entertainment field. Davi said he's been both offered work - if he would denounce Trump - and denied work because of his...

GAS CITY, Ind. (WISH) — Indiana State Police have found the body of a missing girl. Investigators believe she was strangled by her stepmother. Amanda Carmack, 34, has been arrested for the murder of Skylea Carmack. She is now in the Grant County Jail on preliminary charges of murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, strangulation and domestic battery resulting in serious injury. Skylea had been missing since Saturday afternoon. A Silver Alert was issued on Sunday. Police believe she was killed between 4:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Saturday evening and was strangled. Around 3 a.m....