Free Republic

In a new study conducted in rats, scientists report evidence that vitamin K could help protect against aging-related cognitive declines associated with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. "Vitamin K2 demonstrated very promising impact in hindering aging-related behavioral, functional, biochemical and histopathological changes in the senile aging brain," said Mohamed El-Sherbiny, Ph.D. Vitamin K is a group of compounds that includes vitamin K1, found in leafy greens and some other vegetables, and vitamin K2, found in meats, cheeses and eggs. Previous studies have linked vitamin K with processes involved in brain functioning, and some studies have associated vitamin K...

Mukhtar Dzhakishev is by all accounts in miserable shape.Languishing in a “harsh” Kazakhstan prison colony that was once part of Stalin’s gulag system, he suffers from hypertension, hardened arteries and kidney disease likely triggered by a severe beating.“His life is constantly at risk,” one human-rights group warned in September, as it urged the international community to advocate on Dzakishev’s behalf.Largely unable to communicate with the outside world, the former head of Kazakhstan’s state uranium conglomerate has made one thing clear: he blames his arrest and 14-year prison term at least in part on a Canadian company’s corporate dealings.More specifically, Dzakishev...

Democrats from the House Intelligence Committee released several-thousand ads that had been run on Facebook as part of Russia’s efforts to interfere in U.S. politics from mid-2015 through August of last year. We broke down the numbers behind those posts, including how many clicks they got each month and how much they cost. We thought it would be interesting, though, to also pull out the most popular ads that were introduced each month to get a broad sense of which advertising efforts were actually effective. Below, the ad campaigns initiated in each month from June 2015 to August 2017 that...

And you thought Sidney Blumenthal was shady. Few people have heard of Cody Shearer, the unsanctioned diplomat, private eye, and Clinton flunky whose name surfaced in connection with the so-called intelligence reports Sidney Blumenthal was channeling to Hillary Clinton during her time at the State Department. But this shadowy fixture of the Clinton machine was everywhere in the 1990s — including war-torn Bosnia, where he became the subject of a State Department investigation after he represented himself as an agent of the U.S. government and took cash from a genocidal warlord. Now evidence suggests Shearer, working with his partner Blumenthal,...

TIGHAR is able to share details of our search for a conclusive answer to the Earhart mystery thanks to the international agreement signed in Washington, DC on March 20, 2012. The Republic of Kiribati, the sovereign nation of which Nikumaroro is a part, has granted TIGHAR the exclusive right to conduct research, search, and recovery operations related to the Earhart disappearance within the national borders of Kiribati. No one is authorized to undertake Earhart related search, recovery of artifacts or research within the boundaries of Kiribati (including Nikumaroro) without authorization from both the government of Kiribati and TIGHAR.

No churches should be permitted in Saudi Arabia, unless Pope Benedict XVI recognised the prophet Mohammed... "It would be possible to launch official negotiations to construct a church in Saudi Arabia only after the Pope and all the Christian churches recognise the prophet Mohammed." "If they don't recognise him as a prophet, how can we have a church in the Saudi kingdom?" Ashiqi's comments came after a declaration launched by the papal nuncio of the Persian Gulf, the archbishop Mounged El-Hachem, at the opening of the first Catholic church in Qatar last week. El-Hachem estimated three to four million Christians...

Food and drink: two things we just can't live without. When tough economic times arrive, these two items stay in the budget while others disappear. It's a matter of priorities for most, and consumer staples almost always come out at the top of the list. In recent months, there has been increasing focus on the possibility of an impending food shortage. This would force prices upward as supply diminishes and demand continues unabated. In similar fashion to rising oil prices, most will grin and bear it. Gas retailers have been very quick to pass on any increases in costs and...

Washington lobbying firms, trade associations and corporate offices are moving to hire more well-connected Democrats in response to rising prospects that the opposition party will wrest control of at least one chamber of Congress from Republicans in the November elections. In what lobbyists are calling a harbinger of possible upheaval on Capitol Hill, many who make a living influencing government have gone from mostly shunning Democrats to aggressively recruiting them as lobbyists over the past six months or so.

Time to dust off the whoopee cushions and hand buzzers. April Fools' Day is here and there's no better place for wisecracks and shenanigans than at work. In its annual April Fools' Day survey, CareerBuilder.com found 33 percent of workers have played a practical joke on a co-worker and 17 percent are planning office tricks for this year's holiday. Although it might be thrilling to finally one-up the office funnyman, pranks also help beat something that's no laughing matter: workplace stress. More than half of workers reported working under stress in another CareerBuilder.com survey. Stress and worry on the job...

On the flight home this morning, I was unfortunate enough to have a bleeder sit next to me. By bleeder, I mean he was invading my space because he was large and his body was spilling over into my seat. I've seen worse cases than what I had today but let's hear your experiences.

Please don't delete this as vanity, I need advice and would like to move quickly on this. I need ones that kids can get down too. Please reply quickly.

I did it!!! For years I have been tying to post an article during normal freeping hours that nobody would comment on for over an hour. It is quite a challenge really. FR has a wide range of interests, and if an article is too weird, then people will comment on its weirdness. Anyway, every few weeks I have been trying to find an article just so totally boring that there would be no reason for anyone to comment on it, and at the same time not be too weird as to merit a comment based on its weirdness. I...

d

Dmitry Brodsky and his motley band of anti-war protesters are few but tireless. With the same unrelenting regularity with which guerrillas lay mines in Chechnya and federal troops unleash artillery barrages, about two dozen protesters gather every Thursday on Pushkin Square to demand an end to their nearly four-year-old war. They have been coming to the bustling square in the city's heart since March 2000 -- enduring rain, snow, insults and occasional threats of violence as they display their slogans. Officials and the media ignore them, but that does not deter them. "It's hard to stand here for an hour...

Voluntary Alternatives to Taxation Stuart K. Hayashi Most Americans believe paying taxes is a patriotic duty. Yet this very nation was founded upon people evading taxes in 1776. When individuals don’t pay taxes, the government goes after them with guns, even though they haven’t used force on anyone else. Thus, taxation is an initiation of physical force against the individual’s right to life, liberty and property. Because taxation is forcible extortion, it violates your right to property. If you don’t pay taxes, you can be jailed, hence depriving you the right to liberty. And if tax “evaders” fight tax...

Since I am approaching my one year anniversary of being a "freeper" and since I have never contributed a dime to FR, jim or the republican party, I am going to beat the powers to be at FR and voluntarily leave, rather than have them come up with one of the cock and bull stories to ban me. Been fun,Bye

Show me a honest politician and I will show you someone who has never won an election.

State adopts kindergarten tests By Lori Horvitz | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 9, 2002 Starting in August, new state tests will determine whether children are prepared to enter kindergarten. Do the children know their colors, letters and shapes? Are they able to pay attention to stories and follow directions and classroom rules? Can they interact with adults and peers? Assessing 5-year-olds for these and other basic skills in the public schools is nothing new. However, for years counties used different tools to measure what children could do when they started school. Some school districts used informal checklists while others...