Free Republic

While Florida gains notoriety as the epicenter of the shark trade in the United States, state lawmakers there advanced legislation Monday that would ban the possession of shark fins. The Senate Environment and Natural Resources Committee endorsed that proposal, as well as another bill that would stiffen penalties against hunters who kill black bears. Spurred by advocates, the committee voted to join other states in outlawing the sale and possession of shark fins, a prized delicacy in some cultures, and a lucrative one.

Iowa Democratic Party officials are hunkered down in their war room tonight, with presidential campaigns in the dark over the delay in the reporting of caucus results. Officials from two Democratic campaigns tell CNN they were told the app to tabulate results had crashed.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them . (Genesis 1:26-27) The description of the Creation tells us that man is special. All of the rest of Creation seems to have been fashioned for the Man...

Great riffs.

"Results from the first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses were delayed Monday night as the state’s Democratic Party said it ran “quality checks” on the data."

Former Vice President Joe Biden went to great lengths to boost his son-in-law’s health care company while in the White House, briefing investors on the firm’s merits and even arranging access to the Oval Office. The bombshell revelations are detailed in Profiles in Corruption: Abuse of Power by America’s Progressive Elite — a new book by Peter Schweizer, a senior contributor at Breitbart News and the president of the Government Accountability Institute. In June 2011, Biden arranged a private meeting for two StartUp Health executives with then-President Barack Obama in the Oval Office. At the time of the meeting, the...

Jeffrey Epstein’s estate is worth over $57 million more than a previous estimate and it’s made over $1 million by selling off some assets including a Bentley worth almost $200,000, according to new court documents filed in the Virgin Islands. A new estimate values the dead financier’s worth at over $634 million, according to court papers filed in Virgin Islands Superior Court by lawyers of the estate. Epstein’s estate was originally estimated to be valued at over $577 million around the time of his death, according to documents released with his will at the time.

Watch my speech in the link below where I explain how I worked to secure a fair and transparent structure for the trial, how I viewed the process, and why I cannot vote to convict.

Bay Area wineries are relying on specialized dogs to sniff out wine contaminated with cork taint. Don Ford reports. Video at site.

An elementary school in Berkeley has been ordered to pay up for playing a Disney video during a fund-raising event at the school. It happened in November when the Dad’s Club of the PTA presented a “parent’s night out” fundraiser at Emerson Elementary to support the school. In its school calendar listing, the club said it was going to play the most-recent version of the Disney animated film, “The Lion King.” “I think one of the dads owned the movie. He had bought it at Walmart and we just basically threw it on while the kids were playing in the...

Iowa caucusgoers are prioritizing candidates’ perceived electability and health care policies in choosing who to vote for in the Hawkeye State’s crucial first nominating contest, according to Monday entrance polls. Voters overwhelmingly said they wanted a Democratic candidate who could defeat President Trump in November over someone who neatly aligns with their ideologies. Sixty-three percent of respondents to an NBC News entrance poll said they want the Democratic Party to nominate a candidate who "can beat Donald Trump," while 35 percent want a nominee who "agrees with you on major issues." Two-thirds of voters surveyed in a CNN entrance poll...

The Educational Testing Service (ETS), which administers the SAT for The College Board, on Tuesday announced the launch of a new institute that will conduct research on creating and maintaining more equitable testing programs. Based on the institute’s research findings and recommendations, ETS will, down the road, incorporate changes in its tests to make them fairer, by accounting for test-takers’ socioeconomic backgrounds and the attendant inequities in educational resources, said Dr. Michael Walker, director of the new Fairness and Equity Research Methodologies Institute. Standardized tests like the SAT have for decades gotten a bad rap, with critics saying they have...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is demanding the Iranian government issue larger sums of compensation for the families of victims killed in the accidental downing of Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Flight 752 on January 8. "They [the Iranian side] offered $80,000 to each family of each victim, but we did not agree to that. It seems to me that this is not enough,” Zelenskyy revealed in an interview with Ukrainian-language TV channel 1+1 on February 2, as reported by Ukrinform, the country’s national news agency. “Of course, human life is not measured by any money, but we will press for higher...

The two top officials overseeing Milwaukee's host committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention were sidelined Monday amid allegations of a toxic work culture. Ad In a letter to staff obtained by the Journal Sentinel, the board said it had retained an attorney to investigate "concerns about the work environment" for the Milwaukee 2020 Host Committee. During the investigation, Liz Gilbert, president of the host committee, will not be in the office and "will not have direct contact with staff," the letter says. Adam Alonso, the chief of staff for the group, has been placed on administrative leave, pending the...

A bankruptcy filing that could spell the end of the Boy Scouts of America is “imminent,” sources told The Post. Crippled by thousands of child sex-abuse claims in multiple states — and with more victims coming forward every day — the bankruptcy case could reach into the “billions,” said one lawyer who represents 1,800 men who allege they were molested as scouts. The filing, expected in Delaware, could come any day or in the next couple of weeks, sources said.  “It’s going to be a mess. If it takes a long period of time, it’s an open question whether the...

During an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” Monday, Jill Biden said she no longer considers GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham a friend following his assertions that Hunter Biden should be called as a witness in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. After being questioned about her feelings toward Graham, Biden said his actions were “hurtful.” “Well, you know Lindsey — I don’t know what happened to Lindsey,” she said. “And we used to be great friends and friends with (former GOP Sen.) John McCain. We traveled together with the [Senate] Foreign Relations Committee. We’ve had dinner, you know. And now he’s changed.”

There are two views of when Revelation was written. One view is that it was written around AD 95-96. The second view is that it was written in the mid 60’s AD—prior to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. I will show that the early date has the strongest support. 1. Revelation 17:10 says that the book was written during the sixth king, who was Nero, who reigned from AD 54-68. (The previous five Roman rulers were Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, and Claudius.) Interestingly, the text also says that the seventh king to come would reign only “a...

I don't know if I can suffer through the evening with Brett and Martha.

Florida voters won’t get a chance to vote this fall on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban assault weapons after the initiative failed to get enough signatures. Instead, the organizers behind Ban Assault Weapons Now say they’ll focus on getting the amendment on the ballot in 2022. Chairwoman Gail Schwartz said in a statement that they’ll continue gathering signatures “despite the best efforts of the NRA and politicians in Tallahassee.” “Hundreds of thousands of Floridians from all across the state are behind this critical movement and it’s up to us to make sure we succeed where our so-called ‘leaders’ have repeatedly failed,”...

In what can only be described as another attempt to delegitimize the value of the Nobel Peace Prize, exploited teenager Greta Thunberg has been nominated again for the award. Many on the left were disappointed last year when they said Greta, who's basically famous for skipping school, was "snubbed" for the prize after being favored to win it. Two left-wing Swedish lawmakers publicly announced their nomination of the Thunberg on Monday, claiming she “has worked hard to make politicians open their eyes to the climate crisis.” Her work toward “reducing our emissions and complying with the Paris Agreement is therefore...