Free Republic

Bob the barrel has made landfall after finally breaking through the ice of Fremont Lake. This year’s Fremont Lake Ice Off Guess, a long-running fundraiser for the Pinedale Lions Club, ended at 6:25 a.m. Sunday when the bright yellow barrel that had been sitting out on the frozen lake since March was found 200 yards away from the Upper Fremont Lake boat ramp. The winner of the contest, Mike Nystrom, guessed that Bob would reach the shore at 6:35 p.m. May 3. He was about 12 hours off, but still won the $500 prize. “Your guess is active until the...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces are preparing to launch a fresh military offensive in the coming weeks to maximize the pressure on Ukraine and strengthen the Kremlin’s negotiating position in ceasefire talks, Ukrainian government and military analysts said. The move could give Russian President Vladimir Putin every reason to delay discussions about pausing the fighting in favor of seeking more land, the Ukrainian officials said, renewing their country’s repeated arguments that Russia has no intention of engaging in meaningful dialogue to end the war.

***** Tunes For Our Troops ~ The Freeper Canteen Music Dedication Presents: 🌼 Spring Has Sprung 🌼 *****~ Support The Artists You Hear Throughout The Canteen! ~ ***** Warning: Not all music may be appropriate for children! Please click with caution. Thank you!Tunes For The Troops This music is provided for the entertainment of our Troops, Veterans, Allies & Their Families! Enjoy the variety of musical selections that the Canteen DJs provide throughout the thread. Please ping any DJ with your requests for the Troops! Thanks to all the DJs for their time & effort providing entertainment for the...

If you think the son/niece/grandchild in your life is sprouting before your eyes now that the winter clothing has been shed, you're probably not imagining things. Researchers have long studied the connection between seasonal changes and youth growth patterns, with substantial evidence pointing to higher rates of growth among children in the Northern Hemisphere during the spring and summer months. While we might question results drawn from, say, a 1930 publication, newer research has validated these older findings: A 2015 study of 760 Danish students aged 8 to 11 revealed the most growth recorded around April and May, while a...

Joshua Schulte, a former CIA computer engineer suspected of leaking classified hacking tools to WikiLeaks, said he is being subjected to “torture” while awaiting trial for espionage. Mr. Schulte, 30, said he is being inexplicably held in solitary confinement and denied access to his medication, writing materials, legal documents and lawyer, according to a letter addressed to U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty filed in Manhattan federal court Monday. “My fellow slaves constantly scream, pound and claw at their cages attempting to get attention for basic needs to be fulfilled. I count myself lucky to be able to eat,” he wrote...

Iranian intel agents sought to kidnap American journalist The State Department informed Congress late Tuesday that it would waive sanctions on Iran's illicit oil trade so that the country can access frozen funds from South Korea and Japan, the same day the Department of Justice announced charges on an Iranian spy network that sought to kidnap an American. The waiver, signed by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, allows the "transfer of Iranian funds in restricted accounts to exporters in Japan and the Republic of Korea," according to a notification sent to Congress by the State Department. The waiver allows Iranian...

SPRING, Texas (KHOU) - Parents of preschoolers in Texas say they are shocked after finding out their children were given sleep aids by their teachers. They said their children told them they were given “sleepy stickers” that would make them fall asleep. The patches in question are sleep aids containing melatonin, among other ingredients, and intended for adults. One of the children at the school, 4-year-old Layne Luviano, broke the case open in September when she snuck one of the stickers out of the classroom. “She kind of pulled up her little shorts and said, ‘Mom, look this is my...

The media obsession in vilifying Jack Texeira for “leaking” TOP SECRET and SECRET documents and judging him guilty without any benefit of doubt, is just another symptom of the authoritarian fever that grips many inhabitants of the United States. Forget the first amendment. Stay in the dark and trust the Government to tell you what you need to know. Before you join the mob eager to lynch the poor kid, let me share what some of my friends who are veterans of the CIA and the Air Force have said about this affair in the past few days. Both men...

Spring has sprung! And I'm feeling rather like the dramatis personae in what is apparently now just another of those "problematic" pictures, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (although, personally, I far prefer the director's cut, Fourteen Brides for Fourteen Brothers - presumably even more problematic): Oh, the barnyard is busy In a regular tizzy And the obvious reason Is because of the season Ma Nature's lyrical With her yearly miracle Spring, Spring, Spring...In Spring a young man's fancy turns to songs about a young man's fancy. Not that you have to be homo sapiens to feel the old sap rising...

A Kentucky groundhog died on Groundhog Day — just days after predicting an early spring. Major, a nearly 10-year-old rodent meteorologist living at the Second Chances Wildlife Center, peacefully succumbed overnight to heart issues brought on by his age, the center’s staff said. “He was full of amazing energy up until the end. He will forever be in our hearts. It’s a sad day for us at the Center, especially for those who have been with us his whole life,” the refuge announced on Facebook. “We know you are sad too. Hugs to all of our friends. Know that he...

Too hot to handle! A hapless visitor to Yellowstone National Park’s world-famous hot springs got a thermal surprise after dunking her hand in the spring’s steaming-hot waters. In a video that has gone viral, a man and a woman defy legal restrictions and common sense when they dismount a park boardwalk at Silex Spring on the Fountain Paint Pot Nature Trail in Wyoming. The pair then scurry down a grassy embankment and approach the 174-degree hydrothermal pool.

Russian agent 'betrayed spy ring for money' A top Russian secret service agent suspected of blowing the cover of a sleeper spy ring in the United States was a heavy drinker who betrayed Moscow purely to make money, sources said on Wednesday. Alexander Poteyev, who will go on trial in absentia for treason in Moscow on May 16, is charged with having tipped off Washington about a ring of 10 Russian spies who were later deported in the biggest post-Cold War spy scandal. The Izvestia daily Wednesday published a slew of new information about Poteyev, saying he was linked to...

Nationwide home prices increased in February after falling for seven consecutive months, according to data released on Tuesday. New S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index data showed that prices rose from the previous month by 0.2 percent after seasonal adjustment. Prices were up by 2 percent year-over-year. The 20-City Composite index, which measures price growth in major U.S. metro areas, showed a 0.4 percent year-over-year gain. Miami, Tampa, and Atlanta posted the highest annual increases. The bump in home prices reflects a return to normal for the spring buying season, Zillow senior economist Nicole Bachaud said in a...

Ukraine is ramping up for its highly anticipated spring offensive, powered by a huge arsenal of tanks and other weapons being delivered by Western allies, along with newly organized brigades. “The frontline is priority number one. We are also actively preparing new brigades and units that will show themselves at the front,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address. “Everyone in Ukraine must understand that the main task of the state is the de-occupation of our territories, the return of our lands and our people from Russian captivity.”

Below the surfaces of freshwater springs, lakes and rivers, sunken landscapes hold clues about the daily lives, beliefs and diets of the first humans to settle in what is now the United States. But submerged prehistory, as the study of these millennia-old sites is widely known, is often overlooked in favor of more traditional underwater archaeology centered on shipwrecks...From Miami to Lake Huron to Warm Mineral Springs, these are three sites driving the conversation about the nascent discipline.The hunt for sunken evidence of early humans in North America began some 60 years ago with a swirl of controversy in southwestern...

Nearly one year has passed since the baby formula shortage began impacting America’s kids and parents — and the issue may not end this year. A new report by Reckitt Benckiser, the maker of Enfamil, indicates shortages are expected to persist until at least the spring of 2023. Amber Bergeron, a Louisiana mother of four, confirmed to “Fox & Friends First” on Thursday that feeding her eight-month-old twins has been continuously difficult for her. “I’m beyond struggling,” she said. Bergeron shared how she was down to only half a can of her formula of choice last week and wasn’t able...

Case/Incident #22-18836 Just after 2:30 p.m. today, Kirkland Police Department (KPD) responded to several reports of a suspicious incident at the DeYoung Pavilion on the campus of EvergreenHealth Medical Center. A patient who arrived for an appointment at the DeYoung Pavilion was in possession of a firearm spring and barrel. Upon contact, the person did not have a functioning weapon. A hospital staff member who saw the firearm spring and barrel reported it to security, who then notified KPD. The incident set off the building alarm, which prompted evacuation of the DeYoung Pavilion, not the main Medical Center building. The...

Spring is in full swing, and normally that means allergies for many. But with COVID-19 cases increasing again, you may be asking yourself if you have the virus or if it’s just allergies. Allergies affect as many as 60 million people per year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And this allergy season, coronavirus infections are back on the rise in Los Angeles County, with a 40% increase in cases, public health officials said last week. Pair that with gusty winds picking up in the next few days, and you’ll be asking yourself...

Symptoms from the new omicron variant’s subvariant — named the BA.2 variant— might be mistaken for spring allergies, experts recently told CBS News. Why it matters: The coronavirus pandemic has hit a lull period in the United States. As spring emerges, the new coronavirus variant symptoms might be mistaken for simple spring allergies.

It seems I’ve been cold for weeks. My husband laughs, because he grew up in Pennsylvania, often sitting in deer stands in below-freezing weather, and tells me that I don’t know what ‘cold’ is. But I’m a hot-house plant – at least, I’ve become one in old age – and I’ve just wanted to ball myself up in a blanket for days on end, even here South of the Mason-Dixon. I haven’t done much cooking lately, and have pretty much lived on store-bought comfort foods, especially soup and little chicken pot pies. But I’m looking forward to Spring which...