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Republicans and Democrats in Congress have authorized more than $110 billion in American taxpayer money to be sent to Ukraine to support the nation’s fight against Russia since the war started. Meanwhile, most of the nearly 2,000-mile United States-Mexico border remains without any barrier. As part of a year-end $1.7 trillion spending package, 18 Senate Republicans and nine House Republicans voted with Democrats to throw another $45 billion in taxpayer money at Ukraine — bringing the total amount of taxpayer money sent to Ukraine, authorized by Congress, to more than $110 billion.

Now, government officials are dialing up the pressure on Boeing to speed up development of the long-overdue rocket, called Space Launch System or SLS. The space agency contracted Boeing in 2012 to build SLS's core components. Bridenstine's remarks came after US Vice President Mike Pence said Tuesday at a National Space Council meeting in Alabama that news of more hangups with the SLS program were a "great disappointment," and the current timeline is "just not good enough." Boeing began building SLS's core stage, the backbone of the rocket, about seven years ago. Officials said at the time that SLS would...

From Jamestown in 1607 to Yorktown in 1781, there was no federal government. There was no United States. Yet generations of colonists had built forts, cleared lands, created farms, established workshops. Americans fed, clothed and housed themselves, creating one of the highest standards of living on earth for 3 million people. How could the U.S. government have built the roads and bridges if the U.S. government did not exist before 1789? There were no public schools until the 19th century. Colleges were the creations of religious denominations. The Pell grant had not yet been invented.

This is a vanity that is expressly not intended to sell anything, but just get opinions and associated demographics, whether the opinions are kudoses or catcalls. As long as you stay on topic you will not be considered a troll even if you positively loathe the music and tell me it's the most execrable thing since Satan. I want to know who it appeals to and who it doesn't. I would like to get some folks' reactions to the following song demos, which are free to download and pass around and keep as long as the trailer plugging the album...

When you're grilling, nothing's more handy than a digital thermometer...except maybe these: Tongs that incorporate a very fine temperature probe so you don't need to fiddle with multiple tools. Test 7 meat types (beef, veal, lamb, pork, poultry, turkey, and ground beef) to see if they meet the USDA regulations for char. Then, assuming you bought your meat from a decent butcher, disregard the hogwash and eat your burger so rare that you can feel the cow's heartbeat with every bite.

AUSTIN, Texas - The nation's largest offshore wind farm will be built off the Padre Island seashore, a critical migratory bird flyway, Texas officials announced Thursday. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson lauded what he said would be an 40,000-acre span of turbines about 400 feet tall able to generate energy to power 125,000 homes. "The wind rush is on," Patterson said. "We want to be number one. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines, that build the blades. ... We want to be the leader in the United States, if not the world." Superior Renewable Energy Inc.,...

NEW YORK - With a year to go before it even touches the water, the Navy's amphibious assault ship USS New York has already made history — twice. It was built with 24 tons of scrap steel from the World Trade Center, and it survived Hurricane Katrina. That combination of disasters gives the ship a unique standing among the 500 or so Avondale, La., shipyard workers building it, said Tony Quaglino, a crane superintendent who postponed retirement to have a hand in the New York's construction. "I think Katrina made us more aware of the tragedy in New York," said...

Aboriginal people built water tunnels Judy Skatssoon ABC Science Online Wednesday, 15 March 2006 The rainbow serpent, a key Aboriginal Dreamtime creation symbol, is closely connected with Indigenous knowledge of groundwater systems (Image: Reuters) Indigenous Australians dug underground water reservoirs that helped them live on one of the world's driest continents for tens of thousands of years, new research shows. The study, which is the first of its kind, indicates Aboriginal people had extensive knowledge of the groundwater system, says hydrogeologist Brad Moggridge, knowledge that is still held today. Some 70% of the continent is covered by desert or semi-arid...

WASHINGTON, March 13, 2006 – The U.S. military has sculpted its strategy to account for the different threats, cultures and circumstances posed by the global war on terror, the Joint Staff's chief of strategic plans and policy said in an interview here. Air Force Lt. Gen. Victor E. "Gene" Renuart Jr. said that while the Defense Department does focus a great deal of effort on Iraq and Afghanistan, the war on terrorism reaches well outside the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. "And each portion of that around the world has a different flavor and different requirements," the general said....

The luxury plane was exported to Havana from Russia Cuba is buying one of Russia's most up-to-date airliners, carefully crafted for President Fidel Castro's personal comfort. The purchase is part of an initial Cuban order for two brand new Ilyushin planes worth $110 million (£63 million) which Russian officials say is a shot in the arm for their struggling airline industry. To head off criticism that a new presidential jet is an expensive luxury in austere times, Cuba says one of its new planes is being used to ferry workers to and from Venezuela. To finance the deal, Cuba has...

'Doomsday' seed bank to be built Rice is one of the world's most important crops Norway is planning to build a "doomsday vault" inside a mountain on an Arctic island to hold a seed bank of all known varieties of the world's crops. The Norwegian government will hollow out a cave on the ice-bound island of Spitsbergen to hold the seed bank. It will be designed to withstand global catastrophes like nuclear war or natural disasters that would destroy the planet's sources of food. Seed collection is being organised by the Global Crop Diversity Trust. "What will go into the...

12/5/2005 - FORWARD OPERATION BASE QAYYARAH WEST, Iraq (AFPN) -- The sounds of hammers smashing nails and the buzzing of saws cutting wood, typically resonate through this forward Army outpost -- simply knows as Q-West. The 200-plus civil engineering Airmen of the 557th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron are nowhere near an airfield. And they are nowhere near any of their Air Force brothers and sisters. “It’s just us flying solo, wherever we are,” said Senior Airman Jesse Gent, a structural journeyman. “We’re kind of like a contractor, and we support the Army wherever they need us.” “We’ve had a pretty...

Corporate tax collections in Montana are up 50 percent in the most recent year, but evidently that’s not enough for State Senator Jim Elliott. He wants more revenue and he wants to find it by examining the tax return of every company filing in Montana.1 Senator Elliott has filed a lawsuit to force the Montana Department of Revenue to disclose corporate tax returns for those corporations with over $1 million in Montana sales. Apparently he does not trust the Montana Department of Revenue to do its job, because he wants to use this information to determine whether corporations are evading...

Why had Mesopotamians built Mari? French archeologist solves mystery of ancient Mesopotamian city purpose-built in desert for metallurgical industry. By Annick Benoist - PARIS The mystery of an ancient Mesopotamian city has finally been lifted after 25 years of meticulous work by a French archaeologist who has revealed it was one of the first "modern cities", purpose-built in the desert for the manufacture of copper arms and tools. In a new book entitled "Mari, the Metropolis of the Euphrates", Jean-Claude Margueron said the third millennium BC city, in modern day Syria, was "one of the first modern cities of humanity....

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Sen. Clinton built life on faith BY JANE FULLERTON SPECIAL TO THE DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Posted on Sunday, August 8, 2004 As Hillary Rodham Clinton builds the public record she began as Arkansas’ first lady, continued as the nation’s first lady and is now expanding as New York’s junior senator, her views on religion remain central to her outlook on life and her position on issues. Although she doesn’t go out of her way to publicize her religious views, neither does she shy from discussing them. Indeed, those who know Sen. Clinton believe her Christian faith has been the motivation for many...

Stonehenge: Built by Welshmen? By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News Building Mystery Solved? June 18, 2004 — At least three of the builders of Stonehenge were from Wales, according to archaeologists who found the builders' grave close to the Stonehenge site, and have linked the remains to stones used in the construction of the Salisbury Plain monument. The finding, which comes just before Sunday's summer solstice, not only sheds light on Stonehenge's origins, but also provides clues to prehistoric migration patterns within Europe following the Stone Age, which was the earliest known period in human culture. Most historians believe that Stonehenge...

Who Built the Pyramids? Not slaves. archeaologist Mark Lehner digging deeper, discovers a city of privileged workers. by Jonathan Shaw The pyramids and the Great Sphinx rise inexplicably from the desert at Giza, relics of a vanished culture. They dwarf the approaching sprawl of modern Cairo, a city of 16 million. The largest pyramid, built for the Pharaoh Khufu around 2530 B.C. and intended to last an eternity, was until early in the twentieth century the biggest building on the planet. To raise it, laborers moved into position six and a half million tons of stone—some in blocks as large...