Free Republic

The Melanesian Boundary Plateau was built in four different volcanic phases ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Scientists have unraveled the mystery behind how a volcanic superstructure the size of Idaho formed beneath the Pacific Ocean. Called the Melanesian Border Plateau, a team of international researchers determined the more than 85,00-square-mile structure was created when dinosaurs ruled the Earth 145 to 66 million years ago and is still growing to this day. Researchers used seismic data, rock samples and computer models to identify four periods of volcanic eruptions deep beneath the surface that started 100 million years ago. The submerged structure was also found to...

Last year I pegged this day as "Ray Epps Day" but it's becoming clearer as time moves on than an event was manufactured in Washington DC... What a horrible day incitement entrapment lives lost and a horrible authoritarian injustice imposed on so many punished by process. The Prisoners of January 6th deserve justice... The Jeffrey Epstein Update I had to revise this song to KC and the Sunshine Band "That's The Way I Like It"... one anonymous deposition from a girl who was underage in his presence quoted Epstein making angry threats to other people on the phone like: "You're...

Retired California public employees are flocking to Idaho with their pension funds and becoming the financial "lifeblood" of at least one Idaho town, ruffling feathers with some locals who are taking issue with the "liberal baggage" of the new residents. The Los Angeles Times reported this month the town of Eagle, Idaho, has seen an influx of retired cops and firefighters moving to their town with many of them identifying as conservative but who "seem practically socialist to the old guard" with their large pensions. Two California transplants squared off in the most recent mayoral race, and the key issue...

United States District Judge for the District of Idaho, B. Lynn Winmill, has granted a motion for preliminary injunction to block the January 1, 2024 implementation of House Bill 71, which was signed into law following the 2023 Idaho Legislative session. HB71, also called the Vulnerable Child Protection Act, was written by the Idaho Family Policy Center and sponsored by Representative Bruce Skaug. The legislation was written to stop hormone changing drugs, puberty blocking drugs, and sex-change surgeries from being prescribed for minor children in Idaho for the reasons of ‘gender dysphoria’ and transitioning children from their birth sex to...

An Idaho law passed this year that bans gender-affirming care for minors will not go into effect on Jan. 1, as planned. A federal judge on Tuesday granted a preliminary injunction on the lawsuit against the ban. House Bill 71, "The Vulnerable Child Protective Act" was signed into Idaho law in April. It outlaws gender-affirming care for transgender minors; including puberty blockers, hormones and surgeries. The law finds any doctor that provides gender-transition care guilty of a felony, punishable by up to 10 years of prison time. After the law was signed, a lawsuit was filed against the state on...

WASHINGTON –U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) introduced the ATF Accountability Act, which would provide transparency to gun owners across America on rules made by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The ATF engages in a secretive classification review process where the agency decides whether a particular firearm is regulated by the National Firearms Act and refuses to make final public rules regarding classification. The ATF’s lack of transparency creates significant uncertainty for both gun-owning Americans and firearm manufacturers. “The ATF’s ability to designate firearms behind closed doors puts law abiding...

A Washington DC firm, The Institute for Legislative Analysis (ILA), has published its report on the 2023 voting records of all 105 Idaho Legislators. ILA describes its mission as, “Advancing the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution by increasing transparency within Congress and the 50 state legislatures.” Advertisement ILA uses a scoring system they have dubbed the Limited Government Index (LGI). They call this the “ultimate scorecard,” and based its creation on the work of the American Conservative Union’s ratings work, which took a decade to develop. “With over 38,665 votes the LGI’s congressional application has more unique sampled...

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jim Risch, following the release of the Biden administration’s Columbia River Basin announcement, doubled down in his opposition to dam breaching and reiterated that it is solely Congress that could remove the federal dams in the Columbia-Snake River System. “Congress—and Congress alone—can authorize removal of the dams on the lower Snake River. Bureaucrats, activist litigation, nor this administration’s radical agenda will determine the fate of any of the Northwest’s federal dams,” said Risch. “This litigation effort was useless: It occurred behind closed doors, between two parties who wanted the same end result—to tear out our dams,...

The recent agreement between the Biden Administration and the states of Washington and Oregon and the tribes on dam breaching represents a missed opportunity. Instead of working together to find common ground, the signatories to the agreement pandered to their political supporters and paid no attention to the REAL impacts dam removal would have on Idahoans. As Idaho state leaders, we are united in our strong opposition to removing the dams because it would eliminate a clean source of energy (hydropower) that powers the entire region, harm agriculture, and fundamentally change our economy for the worse. Sustaining healthy salmon and...

They were anything but in and out. Burger lovers were so desperate to try Idaho’s first In-N-Out they waited up to eight hours in line — with some even camping out overnight. The excitement for the California-based chain’s celebrated patties, fries, and shakes was so intense that hundreds were already waiting for the drive-thru when it opened in Meridian on Tuesday at 9 a.m., much earlier than typical hours, the Idaho Statesman reported. The demand meant it was anything but fast food — with signs soon warning those joining the massive line to expect seven- to eight-hour waits, the outlet...

A question is haunting the dwindling tribe of blue state conservatives: What happens when all their like-minded friends leave and the entire state becomes an impoverished, crime-ridden version of San Francisco? It seems that a growing number of people aren’t sticking around to find out. From today’s Zero Hedge: "Escape Liberal Hell": Oregon, Washington Republicans Flee PNW, Join California Conservatives In Idaho America is witnessing a seismic shift in its demographic landscape. Recent data from Idaho reveals an unprecedented trend: people are migrating not just for jobs, schools, or lifestyle, but for political alignment. The movement is reshaping the country,...

At first, the ads seemed like a pandemic-era curiosity, a niche political pitch playing on the red state, blue state divide. “Escape liberal hell,” counseled one sales video from a Boise, Idaho, real estate agent. “Here are seven reasons conservatives flock to Idaho.” “Time is not on your side, flee the city NOW before the coming collapse!” read another ad for 5 acres in Moyie Springs, Idaho, listed for $259,000 by a Sandpoint, Idaho, company called Black Rifle Real Estate. (Motto: “Ready. Aim. Move.”) The idea that people would pick up and move solely for politics has seemed like a...

They tell us it’s not happening in Idaho. They also tell us it’s a good thing that it is. Earlier this week, the City of Pocatello honored a drag queen story time group with their “Human and Civil Rights” award. They specifically lauded the group for “providing educational spaces for children.” It’s clear that this award was given in response to recent protests by concerned parents against exposing children to drag events and the gender confusion they promote. It’s no exaggeration to say that there are people out there who really are after your kids, and they will call anyone...

Long-range weapons, homemade silencers, thousands of rounds of ammo, untraceable firearms and a miniature cannon were seized during the execution of a search warrant Monday in Pinehurst. In total, 18 firearms were seized by the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office with support from the Pinehurst Police Department and assistance from the local tactical medical unit. "This is the largest gun seizure we are aware of for the Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office," the sheriff's office reported on social media. Shoshone County Sheriff's Capt. Seth Green said gunpowder, fentanyl and methamphetamine were also seized during the Silver Valley Task Force search, along with...

Idaho National Laboratory experienced a massive data breach on Sunday night, leading to the leak of employee addresses, Social Security numbers, bank account information and much more. INL media spokesperson Lori McNamara tells EastIdahoNews.com the breach is being investigated and federal law enforcement are involved. “Earlier this morning, Idaho National Laboratory determined that it was the target of a cybersecurity data breach, affecting the servers supporting its Oracle HCM system, which supports its Human Resources applications. INL has taken immediate action to protect employee data,” says McNamara. “INL has been in touch with federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI...

Some of the posts on this blog reposted to "Free Republic" I support FR regularly and hope... Well, here we are again an excursion into Media Excellence. The Truth Detector is in the room this week. Rush Limbaugh's family a family of lawyers connected to the Republican Party in Missouri. They were fighters for the GOP in parts near the Confederacy where Democrats were the "Hood and Sheets" party... I got a Candace Owens Theme Song... Meanwhile in Israel Jews get the January 6th treatment... And Joe Biden's Secretary of State Tony Blinken is riding Israel's... In the end if...

A typo resulting in a multimillion dollar property value assessment error is expected to affect multiple taxing districts in Kootenai County and delay the distribution of property tax notices. County elected officials convened Thursday for a special meeting to address an overvalued lakefront property in the Rockford Bay Area. An assessor valuation amendment signed Oct. 24 by commissioners and Chief Deputy Assessor Ben Crotinger indicates the front footage of the parcel, was mistakenly entered by an appraiser as 6,966 feet instead of 69.66 feet. The error caused the property’s valuation to jump from $1.4 million in 2022 to $54.3 million...

The Democrats running Reclaim Idaho and their supporters are pushing a voter initiative which they are deceptively calling the “Open Primary Initiative” and falsely claiming that “Leaders are handpicked by political party committees” and that somehow Idahoans do not have the freedom to vote in all elections. These ridiculous claims are easily disproven with a tiny bit of rational thinking. Initiatives allow the citizens to pass laws directly without going through the legislative process. It starts with submitting the proposed initiative language to the SOS for review. Then the proponents must gather signatures from 6% of the voters in at...

The Eagle Police Department in Idaho apprehended three Venezuelan men in a major bank fraud operation. The suspects, Heli G. Tronconis-Atencio, 22, Cesar A. Cano-Muskus, 24, and Dioban J. Pineda-Urdaneta, 19, now residents of Florida and Utah, were arrested on Tuesday while attempting to set up fraudulent accounts at two different banks in the Eagle area, according to Eagle Police Department. The trio, now held in the Ada County Jail, faces charges of felony criminal conspiracy with bonds set at $50,000 each. Pineda-Urdaneta, in addition, is being held on an arrest warrant from Florida. This rapid development unfolded after...

A young Pocatello man and his mother were recently arrested after police say the man raped a 15-year-old girl. His mother later took the girl across state lines for an abortion without parental consent. Kadyn Leo Swainston, 18, and his mother, Rachael Swainston, 42 both of Pocatello, have each been charged with several felony crimes following a Pocatello police investigation that was launched in June after a 15-year-old girl’s mother contacted authorities to report that her daughter had been raped, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained. Kadyn has been charged with rape, second-degree kidnapping...