Free Republic

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Before social media, at least you couldn’t put a television on the table when out dining with friends. My late father called it the “boob tube.” He did so not because of the rise, in the 1970s, of so-called “jiggle TV.” He only watched sports and the news. As a teacher, he loathed the deleterious effects television viewing had upon the intellectual practices and acumen of the populace, especially students. He contended that sitting for hours every day and every night in front of the TV to be passively entertained prevented people from actively learning and experiencing life. Perhaps even...

When Vladimir Putin unleashed an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, the Ukrainian media, public and policymakers almost unanimously began calling the Russian president and the state he leads “rashyst.” The term is a hybrid of a derogatory moniker for Russia – “rasha” – and “fascist.” Ukrainians did so for two reasons. First, they were countering Putin’s absurd insistence that the Ukrainian authorities – including Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy – were Nazis and that Ukraine needed to be “de-Nazified.” Since Ukraine’s tiny number of right-wing extremists are about as influential as the Proud Boys in the United...

Investigators are still sorting out what happened to spark a shooting outside a Gadsden elementary school Thursday morning that left one person dead. Etowah County Sheriff Jonathan Horton said a resident called Attalla police reporting a suspicious man outside the school. Related: Man shot to death by police outside Gadsden school had ‘serious mental issues,’ brother says According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, the man attempted to enter a marked Rainbow City patrol vehicle used by the school resource officer. Reddick said the man was trying to get into vehicles and “aggressively” tried to open several doorways to the...

Democrats have no problem with voter fraud because it serves them. If it served us, they would care mightily. Ponder an absurd exchange. Suppose you are having dinner with a contract killer. You know he’s a contract killer because he’s made a point of making sure you know. He’s whipped out his cell phone to show you video of his work. He has more than one example. “Look at this one,” he says. “That’s where I shoot him in the back of the head. And look there. That’s me. I’m smiling for the camera.” To whatever extent, on such an...

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) NOTE: Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Mississippi is a very conservative state, but the elected representatives at the state and national level are major RINOs. My state of Mississippi is a very conservative state, but the elected representatives at the state and national level are major RINOs. The people of Mississippi are starting to wake up to that fact. In the primaries held this week, two incumbent Republican congressmen failed to reach the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff. District 3 incumbent Michael Guest obtained only 46.9% of the vote while his top challenger received 47.5%. Meanwhile, District 4 incumbent Steven Palazzo only received 31.6% of...

The FBI warned Friday that it will not “tolerate violence, destruction, interference with government functions, or trespassing on government property” after an armed man was arrested earlier this week near Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home. On Wednesday, officials arrested 26-year-old Nicholas John Roske near Kavanaugh’s Maryland home and said he allegedly wanted to kill the justice after a leaked draft opinion suggested the Supreme Court would soon overturn Roe v. Wade. In a joint statement issued by U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves and Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office Steven D’Antuono, they said the agencies are...

Police shot and killed a man who was purportedly "aggressively" trying to enter an elementary school in eastern Alabama. The incident came just two weeks after 21 people — 19 students and two teachers — were murdered in Uvalde, Texas, when a teenage gunman entered an elementary school and went on a shooting rampage. What happened? Etowah County Sheriff Jonathon Horton said that a man, identified as 32-year-old Robert Tyler White, arrived at Walnut Park Elementary in Gadsden, Alabama, around 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning. According to Gadsden City Schools superintendent Tony Reddick, White "aggressively" attempted to enter the school, checking...

A message to Clarence Thomas from Reverend Papa Joe. 💖 #BansOffOurBodies pic.twitter.com/wSkItoDUvd— FederalFelonMouse (she/her) (@LiteraryMouse) June 10, 2022

A once manly, robust American sport is nothing more than a woke joke that uses its market power to enforce Maoist speech and thought controls. Jack Del Rio, the defensive coordinator for the Washington Redskins (and yes, I’m deadnaming a football team originally named to honor the Native American fighting spirit), very politely suggested that, if the Democrats are going to get hysterical about January 6, they also need to take seriously the summer of BLM riots. For his temerity in failing to respect Saint George Floyd, the drug-addicted ex-con, and not taking sufficiently seriously the worst day in American...

IPray For The Peace of JerusalemGenesis 18Abraham Pleads for Sodom 16 When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is...

DES MOINES — Three political advocacy organizations spent a combined total of more than $636,000 on Republican statehouse primary campaigns in this past week’s elections in Iowa, state campaign finance records show. And those groups — Americans for Prosperity, the American Federation for Children and The Family Leader — got plenty of bang for their buck: The candidates the groups supported won 14 of the 17 statehouse primary campaigns that the groups invested in, and a 15th candidate leads in a campaign that was decided by a mere two votes after the preliminary count. That batch of victorious Republican primary...

Warships from the U.S. Navy sailing off the coast of California in 2019 were swarmed by drones from a nearby Hong Kong cargo ship on multiple occasions, the Navy has revealed. The incidents were all reported between March 30, 2019 and July 30, 2019. Seven different vessels were involved. One of the warships reported in their official memo that the Hong Kong ship was observing them, noting: 'MV Bass Strait likely using UAVs (unidentified aerial vehicles) to conduct surveillance on US Naval Forces'.

Former President Donald Trump reacted Thursday night to the first primetime Jan. 6 Committee hearing, labeling it as a “political witch hunt” via Truth Social. The former president reacted to the hearing on his social media platform in a series of posts. Trump called out the partisan hearings as well as former Attorney General Bill Barr’s alleged inaction over the results of the 2020 president election. “So the Unselect Committee of political HACKS refuses to play any of the many positive witnesses and statements, refuses to talk of the Election Fraud and Irregularities that took place on a massive scale,...

10/2/2013 - Can the aroma of peanut from passengers eating peanut on a plane cause anaphylaxis in a peanut allergic passenger? For those with peanut allergy, there has been a persistent concern about the risk of having a reaction from casual exposure to peanuts while on an airplane. Specific concerns have been raised about reported airborne reactions from inhaling peanut dust or peanut butter vapors or aroma, from being in close proximity to peanuts, or from coming into contact with contaminated surfaces. This is understandable. However, the peanut allergic flier should rest assured that since the issue was first studied...

Thursday evening's disgraceful spectacle concocted by congressional Democrats and the media will go down in history -- but not in the way they intended. Thursday evening's disgraceful spectacle concocted by congressional Democrats and the media will go down in history -- but not in the way they intended. Far from shocking Americans with “new” testimony from a visibly terrified Ivanka Trump or a know-nothing Capitol police officer who described the Jan. 6 confrontations as “a war scene,” which it most certainly was not, Thursday's spectacle only reinforced the national divide between Trump supporters and the Democrats and the media elites....

A Republican running for attorney general in Oklahoma has contributed roughly $10,000 to 11 Democratic candidates for state and federal office since 2004, including President Joe Biden, according to records reviewed by The Daily Caller News Foundation. Gentner Drummond, a Tulsa attorney and wealthy businessman facing Attorney General John O’Connor in the general election, has a history of financially backing Democrats, Federal Election Commission (FEC) and Oklahoma Ethics Commission records show. Drummond, who also ran in 2018 for attorney general, refunded his $1,000 contribution to Biden’s presidential campaign in 2020 nine days after it was issued, according to FEC records....

Very difficult battles' Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says his country's forces are involved in "very difficult battles", including in the eastern Donbas region where Russia has focused its firepower. "Ukrainian troops are doing everything to stop the offensive of the occupiers," Zelensky says. He adds in his address that Ukraine must "not allow the world to divert its attention away from what is happening on the battlefield". 'Out of ammo' In the Mykolaiv region near the front line in the south, the regional governor calls for urgent international military assistance. "Russia's army is more powerful, they have a lot of...

"After years of claiming you can't challenge 'the science' they now claim you can't challenge their 'solutions!'" Gina McCarthy, President Biden's top domestic climate adviser, said tech companies should do more to prevent the spread of inaccurate information about climate change and clean energy. The tech companies have to stop allowing specific individuals over and over again to spread disinformation."