Free Republic

Environmental ideology demands opposition to DDT despite the millions of malaria deaths its use could prevent. The West Nile virus deaths being reported across North America are a grim echo of a larger tragedy. Each year a million lives are taken worldwide by another mosquito-borne killer: malaria. Though nearly eradicated decades ago, malaria has resurged with a vengeance. But the real tragedy is that its horrific death toll is largely preventable. The most effective agent of mosquito control, the pesticide DDT, has been essentially discarded--discarded based not on scientific concerns about its safety, but on environmental dogma. The environmental crusade...

Closing the GapCALABASAS--Gazing at the chaparral valley and rugged mountainside, Chumash Charlie Cooke said Mother Earth and Father Sky would be happy to see what has happened in this place of quiet beauty. Turning first to the east, where the day begins, he placed a conch to his lips to bless the land with the shell's plaintive, foghorn-like tones. The sweet perfume of burning white sage wafted from an abalone shell in the direction of the morning sun. Then turning south, then west, and finally north, Cooke repeated the conch notes, accompanied by sage smoke. Done. Full circle. The land...

Swedes left with a monster problem THE placing of a mythical monster on Sweden’s endangered species list, in an apparent fit of bureaucratic zeal, has caused an administrative problem for the country’s authorities. "During a routine inspection of the environment court in Jaemtland recently, we came across a decision that attracted our interest," said Nils-Olof Berggren, a Swedish parliamentary ombudsman. "The court had turned down an application from a man who wanted to search for and hatch the monster’s eggs, probably believing [the application] was just a joke." However, Mr Berggren found there was an actual decision from 1986 placing...

Washington, August 4 Environmental changes, such as replacing forests with ranchland, combined with genetic mutations, can produce viruses like SARS and HIV, according to a research from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). Researchers reached this conclusion after studying viruses from two late-20th-century outbreaks of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) - a deadly illness that can cause brain inflammation in horses and people - in Mexico and compared them with a similar virus that does not usually infect horses or people. They suggested that replacing forests with ranchland along a 805-kilometre-long, 32- to 80-kilometre-wide stretch of Mexico's and Guatemala's Pacific...

The following are a sampling of REAL answers received on exams given by the California Department of Transportation's driving school (read Saturday Traffic School for moving violation offenders.) Q: Do you yield when a blind pedestrian is crossing the road? A: What for? He can't see my license plate. Q: Who has the right of way when four cars approach a four-way stop at the same time? A: The pick up truck with the gun rack and the bumper sticker saying "Guns don't kill people. I do." Q: What are the important safety tips to remember when backing your car?...

A birthday party is a great time to start educating your child about the importance of self sacrifice. After all, a birthday party is a selfish occasion. What in God's name does pin the tail on the donkey teach you about giving up everything that's important to you? As adults, we've learned that eating cake, receiving presents, and playing party games doesn't do squat for the needy or less fortunate of the world. But with all those children alone at your house, what could be a better opportunity to start your child and your child's friends on the road to...

Published in the Washington Times on July 20, 2004.It has been three and a half decades now since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first of a dozen men to walk on the Moon. The July 20 anniversary always brings joy and inspiration at that achievement but also disappointment that only twelve brave humans so far and so long ago have ventured to another world. Let us analyze these sentiments. Ayn Rand believed that each individual and society has a "sense of life," an emotional manifestation of their deepest appraisal of mankind and the nature of the world in...

Sure, football is a violence-glorifying testosterone orgy that should be banned. But that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy it when you're not out spiking trees or protesting your local gas station as a pollution- mongering crime against the Earth. But when you're watching 22 steroid- chomping overmuscled monsters (i.e, men) try to beat each other senseless in a series of imperialist land grabs, how do you know who to cheer for? We have the answer: Ranking the entire NFL in terms of What We Know Is Right. Our General Principles: Any animal is better than any human. Endangered animals...

Every year, at about this time, I make my personal protest against environmentalism by going out and enjoying nature. How, you might ask, can enjoying nature be considered an act of defiance against environmentalism? Consider how -- and why -- I enjoy it. I do not enjoy nature in some vague, general way. I enjoy my own particular patch of it -- the few acres where my wife and I live in a wooded, rural area. And the most precious part of our property, to me, is my orchard. What makes it so precious is that these dozen or so...

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry hit a small bump in what he hopes will be his road to the White House. He recently said on the American Urban Radio Network that, "President Clinton was often known as the first black president. I wouldn't be upset if I could earn the right to be the second." But rather than receiving praise from the people to whom he was pandering, he was criticized, with some black leaders demanding an apology. Blacks indeed should be upset with such a suck-up but, unfortunately, Kerry was simply playing the perverse game of collective identity politics...

Excerpted from the Columbus Dispatch, (compiled by Accent staff) 5/15/91 "Accent asked students at Columbus' Beck School, and Dublin's Chapman Elementary to study a list of 20 axioms with the key words missing." --If you can't stand the heat...get a Pool. --If you can't stand the heat...get out of the oven. --A bird in the hand is...messy. --Don't count your chickens...eat them. --You can't teach an old dog new...math. --When in Rome...do Roman numerals in math. --When in Rome...do bulls run around town? --Too many cooks...so little meals. --A fool and his money are...my best friends. --A penny saved is...one...

Line 1. Butter, a minimum of half a pound (8 oz.), but not to exceed 1 (one) pound. (See line 4.) Line 2. Sugar, light brown or white, unless you or your spouse had a financial account in a foreign country in 1990, in which case dark brown sugar must be used. Do not substitute molasses or honey. Use 1 (one) cup and adjust to taste. Line 3. Eggs, six or half a dozen, whichever is greater. Line 4. Semisweet chocolate, 6 oz. Nonfarm families may choose the optional method of using cocoa powder. If you elect the Cocoa Method,...

It is a conversation between President George W. Bush and National Security Adviser Condi (Condoleezza Rice): GEORGE : Condi! Nice to see you. What's happening? CONDI : Sir, I have the report here about the new leader of China. GEORGE : Great! Lay it on me. CONDI : Hu is the new leader of China. GEORGE : That's what I want to know. CONDI : That's what I'm telling you. GEORGE : That's what I'm asking you. Who is the new leader of China? CONDI : Yes. GEORGE : I mean the fellow's name. CONDI : Hu. GEORGE : The...

Last semester, I attended a Physics course. While it was very informative and well-taught, a professor made a remark which I disagreed with - During a lecture on electricity, he said that New Zealand's power grid was getting into disrepair because of "privatization". Is this professor really that ignorant of economics? Or is he subtly trying to get the students to vote for more government control? What should I say to him? Any ideas? Please, I need your help.

Upon reading and rereading Atlas Shrugged and The Lord of the Rings, I find comparison of the two tempting, for both of these novels display firm and compelling visions regarding personal philosophy and the rejection of Evil. One of the most unique aspects of Atlas Shrugged is its rational definition of Good and Evil based on the principles of Objectivism. Good is that which is free, independent, thinking, and productive. Evil is that which attempts to feed upon others through false premises. But fundamentally Good is strong and Evil is weak, for Evil can only perpetuate itself through the consent...

What makes a horror movie so terrifying? It’s not just the plotline, script and score. It’s being in a dark theater, where everyone is just waiting to be scared half to death. It’s the audience’s willingness to suspend logic, and enter the director’s make-believe world. Maybe most of all, it’s the special effects monsters, destruction and mayhem that practically convince us it’s all real. So it is with the supposed apocalypse of global warming. Climate change catastrophe theorists have crafted a clever script, generated some good computer what-ifs, and produced a pretty convincing fright flick. The only thing missing was...

8500 Pound Power Wench -"An in-debt discussion of the new tax laws is available by using the order blank in the tax return package or by calling 1-800-424-3676." -"Gordie Jefferson celebrated his birthday last week with a party for eight little fiends." -"A catafalque is a coffin draped in black crap." -"He received his graduate degree in unclear physics." -"And during the current fiscal year, Kinney plans to increase the number of uninformed sergeants by 14, making a total of 42." -"The commander had a firm but genital hold on his men." -"The conference's attitude was indicated by the almost...

This was an letter sent to the editor of one of the local papers where I live I don't remember which, I only cut it out. This may not be considerred a joke by some but I definately think it's funny. It was written by a Jim Richardson of Oroville, CA: "Dear Editor: In a late celebration of Earth Day, I decided to stop doing everything enviromentally damaging. I arose early, turned on the light, then realized I couldn't use electricity anymore; hydro-electric dams destroy scenic waterways, nuclear generates waste and uses up nonrenewable resources. I was hungry and was...