Free Republic

Three Washington teens could face ten years in jail after being arrested for making skid marks on an LGBT rainbow road mural while riding e-scooters.

Companies like Bird and Lime allow able-bodied people to unlock a set of wheels with their smartphones. In cities around the country, you’ll see millennials scooting through town at speeds of up to 15 mph on their scooter rental. Riders pay $1 to start, then 15 cents per minute to ride—a small price to pay for convenient short-distance transportation. Because the scooters are dockless, riders abandon them as soon as they reach their destination. These next-gen “Bird droppings” litter America’s sidewalks and frequently block wheelchair users’ independence and freedom of movement.

In the 1990s, the remains of six Neanderthals -- two adults, two adolescents and two children -- were found in a small cave at Baume Moula-Guercy in the Rhône valley in southern France. The bones bear many of the hallmarks of cannibalism: cut marks made by stone tools, complete dismemberment of the individuals, and finger bones that look as if they've been gnawed by Neanderthal teeth, rather than by other carnivores. Remains from other sites in Croatia, Spain and Belgium also show evidence of cannibalism. But in each case, there has been a lack of evidence to answer the question...

In France, the Bell Beaker period lasted from around 2500 to 1800 BCE... But ceramics from as far back as the middle Neolithic -- around 5500 BCE -- and as recently as the Iron Age -- around 1000 BCE -- have also been found at the site... James and colleagues date a further eight individuals, using teeth from seven adults and one child. [Six of the teeth were from the Bell Beaker period, but one was much older -- dating to between 3650 and 3522 BCE -- and one much younger -- from 1277 to 1121 BCE... It's not known...

In two previous studies, researchers analyzed isotopes (an element that has a different number of neutrons than normal in its nucleus) in the women's remains, so they could piece together where the women had lived. But now, new research finds that these analyses were likely contaminated by modern agricultural lime... However, the researchers of the original studies are standing by their work... Both Bronze Age women are well known by archaeologists; the remains of Egtved Girl (the possible priestess) and Skrydstrup Woman were found in Denmark in 1921 and 1935, respectively. More recently, the Freis and their colleagues found that...

A coconut that was placed inside a coffin "sent fear" through staff at a crematorium when it exploded. Bolton Council has urged mourners to abide by crematorium rules and not "slip" items into coffins. Donna Ball, Assistant Director of Community Services, said a "hell of an explosion can sometimes occur". Other items of concern include mobile phones, TV remotes, e-cigarettes and bottles of alcohol. Ms Ball told the BBC: "We are asking people to be considerate regarding the items they place into coffins before the cremation process. "We have seen a rise in things like e-cigarettes, bottles of whisky and...

Vestal, NY (WBNG Binghamton) Standing just feet from a cement trail leading to Binghamton University's East Gym, biologist Ralph Garruto demonstrated how he has found ticks hiding in plain sight. "If you have a picnic table out over there, under a tree like that or just off to the edge, ticks are in this kind of leaf litter," Garruto said. Garruto has been studying tick behavior since the pests arrived in Broome County en masse six years ago. Through his research, he's found more ticks living around building and in man-made environments than in the deep woods. Recently, after testing...

Lime Prices Are Surging Jim Forsyth, Reuters Mar. 27, 2014, 1:16 PM SAN ANTONIO (Reuters) - Mexican restaurants in the United States are being squeezed by a sudden jump in the price of limes, an essential ingredient, which has led managers in places like San Antonio that are a hotbed for the cuisine to alter recipes. "Mexico received some heavy rains that destroyed a large amount of the lime crop, so with limited supplies we are seeing lime prices skyrocket," Bryan Black, director of communications for the Texas Department of Agriculture, said on Thursday. Texas like most U.S. states receives...

A chef was stunned to find she was almost banned from buying two limes from a supermarket - because they could be classed as a weapon. Marisa Zoccolan, 31, popped into the new Asda supermarket close to her home in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to pick up some groceries, including the citrus fruits. But when she tried to pay for them at the self-service checkout, the message 'amount exceeded, authorisation required' flashed up. An assistant then came over and told her that more than one lime was deemed a weapon - because the citric acid could be squirted in someone's eye.Marisa,...

Citrus species are among the most important fruit trees in the world. Citrus has a long history of cultivation, often thought to be more than 4,000 years. Until now, however, the exact genetic origins of cultivated citrus such as sweet orange (Citrus sinensis), lemon (C. limon), and grapefruit (C. paradisi) have been a mystery. A team of researchers from China has published a study in the Journal of the American Society of Horticultural Science that provides genetic evidence of the origins of a variety species of today's cultivated citrus. The research team, led by Zhiqin Zhou from Southwest University, analyzed...

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Book Description This is Mark Crutcher's compelling 320-page expose' of the American abortion industry. A unique and uncensored look at our nation's most wrenching social issue, it has already become a must read for anyone seeking to learn the truth about the abortion issue. It fully documents that women are being sexually assaulted, mutilated, and killed inside perfectly legal abortion clinics. It also shows how pro-choice groups have used raw political power to fight off regulation of the abortion clinic business. One chapter exposes a massive cover-up of abortion clinic disasters being carried out by an agency of the U.S....