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...

Political operatives connected with renamed ACORN affiliates are in position to help swing close, competitive races for left-leaning candidates in the 2012 elections, according to former insiders and policy analysts who are familiar with the network’s operations. An ambitious rebranding scheme that began earlier this year has now accelerated to include affiliates in at least 12 states. The bankruptcy filing the organization slyly submitted on Election Day is properly viewed as “a head fake” and a “public relations gimmick” arranged to distract attention away from the partisan political activities of renamed affiliates, sources say. It is worth recalling that the...

California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown said in a report Thursday that the community organizing group ACORN engaged in "highly inappropriate behavior" in the state but violated no criminal law. Brown's office launched an investigation of ACORN's California operations at the request of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last September after the release of videos that appeared to show ACORN employees advising people about how to engage in prostitution and other other illegal activity.

Naturalists are baffled this fall by a shortage of acorns in the eastern U.S. Residents in some areas report plenty of acorns, while others have seen none at all Acorn growth runs in cycles, so a lean year may be normal after last year's big crop Some scientists fear the shortage will affect squirrel populations (CNN) -- Up and down the East Coast, residents and naturalists alike have been scratching their heads this autumn over a simple question: Where are all the acorns?Oak trees have shed their leaves, but the usual carpet of acorns is not crunching underfoot.In far-flung...

Amid the squirrels and jays pouncing on acorns early this fall was 10-year-old Junior Girl Scout Amanda Diacont. As Tropical Storm Ernesto whipped the white oaks around her family's vacation campsite near Cape May, Amanda poked out of her canvas tent and swept falling acorns into empty milk jugs, working to earn her Inchworm of Service badge by contributing to the state Forest Service annual acorn collection. She filled 2 1/2 containers. "Every five minutes we would go out and get some more," said Amanda, who is from Ringoes, Hunterdon County. "I probably could have filled 10-ish, but my mom...

New Insights Into Healthful Compounds In Native American Diets In an advance toward understanding the early California Native American diet, food scientists have identified the full range of phytochemicals in tanoak acorns. Acorns were a staple in the diet of early Native Americans in California, comprising up to 50 percent of total food intake, Alyson E. Mitchell and colleagues note in a report in the current (Oct. 4) issue of the ACS biweekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Acorns are still used by Californian Native Americans -- special processing is needed to make the nuts edible -- to make...

Acorns and EmbryosRobert P. George and Patrick Leehe prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) recently invited two members of the President’s Council on Bioethics to reflect on the ethics of using embryonic stem cells in biomedical research. Paul McHugh, a professor of psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University, explained his opposition to the destruction of human embryos created by the union of gametes, but sought to distinguish such embryos from what he dubbed “clonotes”: that is, embryos brought into being by cloning (a process known technically as “somatic cell nuclear transfer” or SCNT). He argued that human “clonotes” are not...

I have a new 'axis' designation to offer fellow freepers when referring to the embittering democrats. The Axis of Acorns equal the bitter little democrat nuts unfit for aural consumption that have rained down from the clintonized socialist tree. Bitter?... yes, they prove their bitterness over 'falling from power', by daily obstructing and working tirelessly to undercut this administration in Bush's effort to defeat terrorism and strengthen our nation, to reduce the degeneration of our Republic caused by years of societal engineering leadership from the democrats.