Free Republic

Deputy Jill Constant jumped into the water and held the manatee's head above water for two hours until wildlife officials arrived to take over the Manatees can weigh 1,000 pounds in Florida, but that didn’t stop a determined sheriff’s deputy from cradling one in her arms for hours so it wouldn’t sink and drown in the Intracoastal Waterway. Pinellas County Deputy Jill Constant notes the ailing manatee had been seen trying to beach itself after reaching the point of exhaustion. It’s suspected the large mammal was suffering from exposure to toxic red tide blooms. “This manatee is going to die...

Sarasota’s Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium announced that one of its beloved manatees, Hugh, died Saturday at age 38. [Snip] After showing a behavior change Saturday, animal care staff at Mote monitored him before he became unresponsive in his habitat late Saturday afternoon, Mote said in a Facebook post. [Snip] “Hugh’s indelible and lasting legacy will be one of an invaluable contribution to the scientific understanding of manatee behavior and contributions to the conservation of his species,” Mote Marine’s Facebook post read. “Our team is forever grateful for the time we had with Hugh and his contribution to manatee conservation,...

A manatee was found with the word “TRUMP” scrawled on its back in a Florida swimming hole, prompting an investigation from the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, reports said Monday. The defenseless animal was spotted with the political inscription over the weekend in the Blue Hole headwaters of the Homosassa River in Citrus County — about 80 miles northwest of Orlando, the Citrus County Chronicle reported. SNIP “It’s been my experience that this is very out of character for this community,” Craig Cavanna, a senior federal wildlife officer in charge of the investigation, told the outlet.

An escalation in immigration enforcement over the past year has brought a new level of anxiety for the several thousand migrant farm workers living in Vermont. For the first time since 2010, arrests and detentions by the U.S. Border Patrol increased in Vermont, New Hampshire and northeastern New York last year. The workers – many of them undocumented – are critically important to the state’s farm economy. To give you a sense of how important, consider that twice a year the Mexican government comes to a Vermont farm community to help hundreds of its citizens with financial and legal advice,...

I have, for the last two or three years, done an April Fools Day thread. One, for example, said I would no longer post "I'd hit it". Another time, I posted that Google apologized for a Socialist doodle. Another time, I opused.But this year, I will not be posting an April Fools day thread. It's time to get serious in America. We need to stop screwing around and joking.These are tough, bitter times, and there is no room for humor or petty little 'April Fools Day' threads. Let's get over this stupid tradition, shall we?

Anti-weapon hysteria — for instance, suspending children from school for using their fingers as guns, talking about shooting a bubble gun, or even throwing an imaginary grenade — is not confined to the United States, nor is it confined to children. A British man was recently visited by armed police for the offense of posting a picture of an action figure with a weapon on Facebook. According to the Daily Mail, on December 7, 43-year-old Ian Driscoll of Gloucestershire posted a photograph of an Action Man figure, the British equivalent of G.I. Joe, along with a toy Alsatian dog, on...

I post many items here, from business to politics and evrything in between, and sometimes entertainment as a nice distraction from all of the corrupt politicians. Recently I tried to post an article about a supermodel who is pregnant. I thought it was a mistake after it was pulled the first time, but it was pulled a second. What is so objectionable to this news item? And is there a place we can look for a set of rules, as I have seen much worse than this posted int he past.

<p>If you look hard enough, you can find some green shoots, but here's the truth. The decline in world industrial output is tracking very close with what we saw during the Depression. This chart was put together by economists Barry Eichengreen and Kevin O'Rourke, as part of a broader study comparing this downturn with the Great Depression. The good news, they say: The policy response has been much better this time around.</p>

After a 27-hour trip to Florida, Dennis the manatee, rescued from the frigid waters of Cape Cod, died in Orlando yesterday as SeaWorld employees carted the mammal to a rehabilitation center. The International Fund for Animal Welfare, based in Yarmouth Port , confirmed that the animal died at approximately 3 p.m.

Far from his Florida home, the manatee loitered along the shore in Dennis on Wednesday afternoon. Wildlife groups made tentative plans today to rescue an injured Florida manatee this weekend that has been lingering near the shore off Cape Cod. Representatives from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and the Cape Cod Stranding Network said that they hope to "attempt to rescue" the manatee by capturing it with a net this weekend. They are looking for a plane to transport the sea cow back to Florida, where veterinarians would rehabilitate it and release it...

A manatee that traveled 720 miles up the Mississippi River to Memphis in October and eluded his would-be rescuers was found dead today on the banks of a lake. Police said the manatee was discovered around 1:30 p.m. at Lake McKellar, a slackwater lake off the Mississippi River south of Memphis. The manatee was first spotted in October in the Wolf River harbor just north of the densely populated downtown area. But the animal disappeared a few days later and wasn't seen again until its body was found today. Sea World officials say they have no plans to return to...