Free Republic

I'm writing on a story I heard about the spread of the Burmese python in Florida. This is also my first post on this site. Despite all our objections against the dangers of blind and excessive "green" regulations by the federal government, conservationism SHOULD NOT be seen as a strictly progressive movement. In the context of invasive species, these types of pests infest an area the size of Delaware every year in this country (according to the Audubon Society). Pythons roam the Everglades. Chinese privet chokes out vital understory species in the Southern uplands. Zebra mussels crust the surface of...

To revoke the tax exempt status of all Islamic organizations in the United States. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

February 3, 2015. Update by Pastor Sergey Kosyak sent to his congregation: English version. "Just returned from Debaltsevo. I'm overcome by emotion. The situation is similar to that of all other towns and villages close to the frontlines: there is no power, no gas, no water, a lot of destruction and constant shelling. However, that fact didn't disturb me as much as people's attitudes: they are filled with hatred, bitterness, their minds made up. I got kicked out of the bomb shelter when I offered to help them evacuate. They are not only sick physically, but also spiritually. There are...

As we watch horrific images of beheadings from the country formerly called Iraq - a country that is disintegrating into various tribal fiefdoms before our eyes - it is easy to forget that it was once the cradle of civilization. In point of fact, Arabs are latecomers to the area. They are first mentioned in the mid 9th century BCE as a tribal people subjugated by the Assyrians. Way before that, the area was home to the Babylonians. First records indicate that Babylon was established as a city around the 23rd century BCE. It stood about 50 miles south of...

Why shouldn't this man be (or have been) allowed to marry his dolphin sweetheart? After all, it's only "love" that matters in holy matrimony, not building a family and a safe environment in which to raise kids. It's all to do with "feelings" these days, little else is important, and obviously we are here talking about the feelings of adults. (The feelings of children of anomalous families carry little weight.) Love in particular, however defined. For some people, like paedophile Oscar Wilde who was paying to have sex with working-class rent boys, the definition of love is lust. A...

Freeper Friends: A close friend lost her job a week ago. This afternoon she called me feeling very depressed and anxious. I'm trying to be there for her and offer her words of encouragement. As she is a devout Christian, I'm looking for some Scripture that might lift her up. Can any of you help me? Thank you.

It’s a day of wild stories in the tech sector, with Amazon (AMZN) reportedly looking to open a huge chain of stores and Google (GOOGL) said to want to compete with Uber in the ride sharing market. Neither blockbuster story has been confirmed. Amazon isn’t commenting on the report that it might want to take over stores from near-bankrupt RadioShack. And Google is indirectly denying the report it would take on Uber, a company it has backed via its venture capital unit. But would either move make sense? Both are certainly debatable and full details obviously are not available. There’s...

Cruz: Block Lynch Until Obama Blinks On Immigration Stalling the attorney general nominee would be a ‘concrete’ tool ‘to rein in the president’s lawlessness,’ he says. By Manu Raju 2/3/15 Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is demanding that Republicans block the nomination of Loretta Lynch as attorney general until President Barack Obama relents on his immigration policies. The likely presidential candidate said in an interview Tuesday that Republicans should use “every procedural tool” to block Obama’s move to defer deportations for roughly 5 million undocumented immigrants — calling on the GOP-led Senate Judiciary Committee to block her nomination and Senate Majority...

One of the great things about being married are the many instances where you broaden each other's cultural horizons. Having been married for almost four years now, I'm proud of how much Sister Babe's knowledge base has expanded. She can speak more intelligently about the Philadelphia Eagles' depth at the Tight End position than many Philly residents. She admitted that after enough exposure to some of the music that I listen to, when Black Sabbath comes on the radio it doesn't sound as heavy to her as it used to. She's been around enough WWE Pro Wrestling playing in the background...

Last spring, for the first time in 20 years, Indiana farmer Jim Benham planted his fields entirely with soybean seeds that hadn’t been genetically modified to withstand herbicides. It wasn’t because the 63-year-old suddenly had embraced the anti-GMO movement. Instead, he was drawn to a nearly 14% per-bushel premium for non-GMO soybeans offered by a local grain terminal, which sells them to Asian feed processors. Mr. Benham is among a small but growing number of Midwestern farmers moving away from biotech seeds developed by Monsanto Co. , DuPont Co. and other companies in response to lower crop prices over the...

FEBRUARY 3, 2015 ANOTHER ISIS ATROCITY LIEUTENANT AL-KASASBEH IS BURNED ALIVE. By Tom Rogan Lieutenant Moaz al-Kasasbeh saved many lives. Serving against the Islamic State (ISIS), he helped prevent the slaughter of thousands of innocent men. He helped prevent the capture and sexual slavery of thousands of women. And he helped preserve the better future of thousands of children. His time on earth was well spent, struggling against a death cult. Yet, by the way in which it has murdered him, the Islamic State has again made clear what choice it offers to the world: slavery or death. After flirting...

Once upon a time, within the art-adorned walls of a lakeside mansion in Deephaven, Minnesota, there lived a lord and a lady. That’s what Colin and Andrea Chisholm often called themselves, anyway. The Chisholms’ total assets amounted to $97 million, including some $3 million in cash. The “lord and lady” spent lavishly on traveling, upscale restaurants, entertaining guests, massages, original works of art, a collection of purebred dogs and even a million-dollar yacht. In April 2011 alone, they shelled out more than $23,000 just on travel and luxury items. But there were some expenses—like groceries and health services—which they avoided...

Newly hired University of Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh will make three times as much money if his football players hit their academic goals than if Harbaugh is named the Big Ten Coach of the Year. MLive did a story on Harbaugh’s contract that states the coach will earn $150,000 if the players hit certain academic bench marks. Harbaugh will get $50,000 if he’s picked as the league’s top coach. The academic bonus is 3 percent of Harbaugh’s $5 million annual salary. ForTheRecord says: Ann Arbor Public Schools teachers who are evaluated and given the highest rating of “highly effective”...

"The Des Moines Register reports on a conference call that Scott Walker, the Wisconsin governor who is all but certain to run for president, held with Republican activists in Iowa. The call contains some preliminary hints as to how the debate over what the GOP economic agenda should look like might unfold during the GOP primaries — which, in turn, could have ramifications for the 2016 general elections.... ....If Walker agrees with the harsher Ryan formulation — one that holds overtones of Mitt Romney’s “47 percent” sneer — it suggests a direction that the arguments in the GOP primary might...

Yep. I'm PIMPING A BLOG! Don is probably a cousin of mine, haven't exactly sorted out all the begats and begots. If I'm correct in my research his direct ancestor Abraham Honaker made the gorgeous flintlock rifle I've talked about in other threads. Don just uploaded this video, it's worth watching. Don is another old curmudgeon, and us curmudgeons stick together, blood kin or not.

A legally armed man stopped a string of robberies related to online ads in Georgia, by shooting and killing the robber.   It appears that at least four other robberies were committed before the robber was shot.   The old adage, if it looks to good to be true, it probably is, applies.  In a twist, the robber offered high prices for the goods, then robbed the victims of the goods at gunpoint.  It is more common for robbers who set people up online to pretend to be sellers, who then steal the cash.  Cash is much more desirable than property,...

Saying that President Obama’s apology for 50 years of aggression, discrimination, and abuse of his country by the United States government “was a good start,” current Cuban dictator Raul Castro demanded further concessions as the price for normalizing relations between Cuba and the US. First on Castro’s list was compensation for the economic damage done to Cuba by the US trade embargo. “Prior to this embargo Cubans had the highest standard of living in Latin America,” Castro pointed out. “Now, Cubans are worse off than any country in the western hemisphere.” Castro called upon President Obama to “use his executive...

“The focus on positive vs. negative thoughts is juvenile. It’s minor-league foolishness. And it leads people to obsess about their own minds. People aren’t passive magnets that attract and repel. That’s utter nonsense.” (The Underground, Jon Rappoport) The law of attraction is stated in two ways. First, positive thoughts attract positive results in life, and negative thoughts attract negative results. This is mainly a descriptive overview. It doesn’t apply to people who consciously do something to change their own thoughts. It’s a “philosophic” basis for understanding why people get what they get in life. Therefore, one assumes, if a hundred...

Last year, the New York Times predicted the end of snow. This week, its employees had trouble getting to work because of a travel ban caused by the blizzard. And those New Yorkers still subscribing to the print edition of the Old Gray Lady of Eight Avenue were even more out of luck. Snow wasn’t over, but the New York Times was. A few days after the New York Times forecast a snowless future in 2014, a major snowstorm (which didn’t read the paper and wasn’t aware of the 97% scientific consensus) hit shutting down airports, causing major accidents and...