Free Republic

Scientists identified the specimen as a horned lark, which they believe could be an ancestor to two lark species alive now. Love Dalén - An intact 46,000-year-old bird was found for the first time in the Siberian permafrost. Archaeologists have uncovered many remarkable, ancient specimens from the Siberian permafrost. This time they found the mummified remains of a whole bird — and it still had its feathers and talons intact. According to CNN, the 46,000-year-old bird has been identified as a horned lark, or Eremophila alpestris, and scientists believe it could be a prehistoric predecessor to two subspecies alive today,...

As the definitely non-peaceful rioters continue their destructive, violent force in this most bizarre year, the know-it-all, know-nothing, life-insulated narcissist young adult offspring game-playing pouters of wealthy parents emerge — surprise! — unscathed.  The past few days provided some interesting examples. Clara Kraebber, 20 years old, the school-smart, life-dumb, over-educated, under-knowledgeable daughter of wealthy, highly accomplished parents, recently profiled on this blog for her protest demonstration temper tantrum for over six years, is currently confined in her family's second mansion — complete with four fireplaces to complement the ecologically correct heating system — in an upscale Connecticut suburb, awaiting the next...

WILMINGTON, Del. — At 9:40 p.m. on New Year's Eve, Jim Thorpe stole away from his church's all-night prayer meeting to grab a last-minute latte at the local Starbucks. "I needed one more hit before the Great Denial," he says. The next day he and hundreds of people in his church began their first annual Starbucks fast. "It's a killer," says Thorpe. "I thought forty days without food was tough, but this is psychological warfare." Some churches, tuckered out after long, sobering group fasts in past years, are opting for "fun fasts" — giving up Starbucks, scrapbooking, even Bed, Bath...

A person wrote a letter to the White House complaining about the treatment of a captive taken during the war on terror. This is the response. The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. Dear Concerned Citizen: Thank you for your recent letter criticizing our treatment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda detainees currently held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The administration takes these matters seriously, and your opinion was heard loud and clear here in Washington. You'll be pleased to learn that thanks to the concerns of citizens like you, we are creating the Terrorist Retraining Program, to be called...

The Internet is busy breathing life into a world once dominated by ancient technology and vacuum tubes. On a sunny Thursday afternoon, a handful of young students learn from amateur radio enthusiast Ian Soutar that the Internet has not only changed amateur radio, but also revitalized it completely. For example, says Soutar, anyone with a computer and an amateur radio ("ham") licence can get on-air: there are more than 10,000 broadcasting "nodes" hooked up to receive and broadcast voice-over-Internet communications. Soutar got involved with the Esquimalt high school ham club in part to keep the hobby from dying: most of...