Free Republic

It is a terrible time to be a news consumer. Sadly, the only way to explain today’s media is to write them off as either malicious or hopelessly incompetent. Consider “lobstergate,” one of the more achingly idiotic so-called controversies in recent years. This episode begins with a watchdog report from OpenTheBooks finding that, in the fourth quarter of 2025, the Pentagon spent an estimated $6.9 million on lobster tail, $2 million on Alaskan king crab, and $15.1 million on ribeye steaks. Now, if you have served in the U.S. armed forces, or you know someone who has, you know all...

Human beings used fire to cook food hundreds of thousands of years earlier than previously thought, an Israeli-led group of researchers has suggested.They found evidence in the 780,000-year-old remains of a huge carp-like fish discovered in northern Israel.The scientists noted "the transition from eating raw food to eating cooked food had dramatic implications for human development and behaviour".The previous earliest evidence of cooking dated from about 170,000 BC.The remains of the two-metre (6.5ft) fish were found at the Gesher Benot Yaaqob archaeological site which spans the River Jordan about 14km (8.5 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee.Researchers led by...

Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the National Restaurant Association with stern advice about the fare they should serve up -- less butter and cream, fewer fries. “I’m not asking any of you to make drastic changes to every single one of your recipes or to totally change the way you do business,” she said. “But what I am asking is that you consider reformulating your menu in pragmatic and incremental ways to create healthier versions of the foods that we all love." She also gave them advice on advertising. “It’s not enough just to limit ads for...