Free Republic

A group of just over 100 homeless people in California's Los Angeles County and San Francisco Bay Area were given $750 per month for a year — no questions asked. The newly released results of the first six months of the study into the impact of a basic income and social support intervention reveal what the recipients spent the influx of cash. ... Those who received the $750 monthly stipend were less likely to remain unsheltered and closer to having enough money to meet all of their basic needs as compared to a control group who accessed usual homeless services,...

Brian Stelter, a former CNN host and noted media pundit, is joining Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. Stelter will serve as a Media and Democracy Fellow and convene a series of discussions about what the center described as “threats to democracy and the range of potential responses from the news media.” “These discussions with media leaders, policy makers, politicians, and Kennedy School students, fellows, and faculty will help deepen public and scholarly understanding about the current state of the information ecosystem and its impacts on democratic governance,” the school said in an announcement. Stelter...

The four swine in the study always wanted to be the first at the computer each dayThere are three bright blue walls displayed on a black screen. Move the cursor to a wall, the computer goes bloop! and a treat pops out. After some success, one wall disappears. With only two walls, it’s a little bit harder. Then, after more bloops and treats, the screen drops down to one blue wall. For a pig moving the joystick with its snout, it takes serious skills to get the cursor to that one blue wall. Read More But four pigs, named Omelet,...

Anew piece in the Wall Street Journal by CTUP’s Stephen Moore and Casey Mulligan reports that the “stimulus” bill will reduce employment by between 6 and 8 million jobs because it pays people not to work. The new bill will create one of the largest expansions in government welfare benefits since LBJ launched the failed War on Poverty (poverty won). The bill includes six months of weekly $400 bonus unemployment benefits on top of the normal weekly benefits, a $3,000 per-child tax credit, an expansion of food-stamp and rental-assistance benefits, $2,000 per person checks, and expanded health-care benefits. A family...

Liberal billionaire George Soros said Thursday that the U.S. economy could be headed for calamity as a result of President Donald Trump’s efforts to juice American business and stock prices ahead of the 2020 election. “Trump’s economic team has managed to overheat an already buoyant economy,” Soros warned his guests at an informal dinner at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “The stock market, already celebrating Trump’s military success, is breaking out to reach new heights,” he said. “But an overheated economy can’t be kept boiling for too long. If all this had happened closer to the elections, it...

A 14-year-old New Orleans student on Saturday (March 10) became one of the latest to face charges after police say the student posted several threats against ReNEW Dolores T. Aaron Academy on Curran Boulevard. The school shooting threat, discovered Friday, forms one of more than 106 such threats made toward Louisiana schools since the Feb. 14 shooting that killed 17 students and teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., according to the FBI's New Orleans Field Office and the Louisiana State Police. New Orleans area schools have been the targets of a number of threats in the...

Petco said Monday it has removed all remaining Chinese-made dog and cat treats from its website and stores nationwide because of concerns they have sickened thousands of pets and killed 1,000 dogs in the U.S. since 2007. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says initial tests have not connected the Chinese jerky and rawhide treats to the illnesses, but the San Diego-based company and its rival PetSmart vowed in May to ban the snacks. Petco is the first national pet retailer to pull the treats from its 1,300 stores. Phoenix-based PetSmart Inc. said Monday that it plans to have them...

1. A giant chocolate cupcake topped with whoppers. 2. This multi-layered chocolate on chocolate beauty. 3. The wonder that is this frozen chocolate pudding cake. 4. Chocolate doughnuts smothered in delectable chocolate glaze (and sprinkles!).

PetSmart is the latest major pet food retailer to say it will stop selling dog and cat treats made in China because of ongoing fears that they are making pets sick. The company plans to have the treats off all of its store shelves by March 2015. "This is something we've been working toward for some time, and feel it's the right thing to do for pets and our customers," said PetSmart spokeswoman Erin Gray. Investigators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration haven't been able to prove that treats made in China are making pets ill. But since 2007,...

Federal health officials are warning pet owners to be cautious about feeding their dogs jerky treats as they continue to investigate a treat-related illnesses that has left nearly 600 dogs dead and sickened more than 3,000 others. The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday issued an alert to consumers about the illnesses and deaths tied to jerky treats from China. Officials say the exact cause of the illnesses remains unknown. "This is one of the most elusive and mysterious outbreaks we've encountered," Bernadette Dunham, director of the FDA's Center for Veterinary Medicine, said in a statement. "Our beloved four-legged companions...

The Summer of 2013 officially began only last Friday, but already it has a good shot at achieving a dubious distinction in the annals of parental indulgence. This could be the summer that ice cream trucks for dogs go mainstream. Ever since the K99 ice cream truck set up shop in the parks of London during the summer of 2010–to the tune of the Scooby Doo theme song, no less–the trend of cruising trucks full of specially-made canine ice cream treats and cookies has been spreading and appears to be hitting its jaunty stride. Last summer, they started dropping by...

Chinese government officials overseeing plants that make chicken jerky pet treats blamed for thousands of illnesses and deaths among American dogs have refused to allow U.S. inspectors to collect samples for independent analysis, newly released records show. Investigators with the federal Food and Drug Administration came away empty-handed after conducting April inspections at four jerky treat manufacturing sites in Liaocheng and Jinan, China, according to the records. The plants make pet treats sold by the St. Louis-based Nestle Purina PetCare Co., including the popular Waggin’ Train jerky brands. Chinese officials stipulated that FDA officials could collect samples only if they...

The UK may not have the reputation for the most exciting or adventurous cuisine in the world, and looking at this array of astonishing edible 'treats' from around the globe, it seems we have along way to go. If any of these nibbles takes your fancy you may have go further afield than the shelves of your local Waitrose or Sainsbury's to see the likes of boiled rat, armadillo or caramelised locust. So those with a strong constitution should make their way to far-flung places such as Malawi, the Ivory Coast or North Korea where some of these crazy snacks...

The Original Treats Ingredients (Nutrition Information) * 3 tablespoons butter or margarine * 1 package (10 oz., about 40) regular marshmallows * - OR - * 4 cups miniature marshmallows * 6 cups Rice Krispies® Directions 1. In large saucepan melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

After months of sending cards and cookies, a group of second-graders at Lyons Elementary School received a special visit from their pen pal, Air Force Capt. Mark Uberuaga. Uberuaga, a combat search-and-rescue pilot, spent three months in Afghanistan before returning Feb. 4. He stopped by Elizabeth Wiley's classroom Thursday to thank the children for their support and to fill them in on his trip. As he told students that he piloted a HH-60G Pave Hawk aircraft, one student had to make sure he heard Captain Mark - as the kids referred to him - correctly. "Wait, did you say you...

This is a youtube video for dog lovers. It's cute. Enjoy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XivhwO_zWWg

I am always the treat maven at our house on Halloween, while the QC wanders the neighborhood with the younger boys, drinking a beer with the other husbands and making sure the kids don't throw up from too much sugar before they even get home. I answer the door, exclaiming over costumes and admonishing the much older kids still out begging for candy they could buy themselves. This year, I think I shall have two treat bowls. Bowl One: An extravaganza of delectables. All the best, regular-sized, deluxe candy bars. Twix, Snickers, Milky Way, Reese's, Hershey's, you-name-it. Freely given, shared,...

Day in and day out, I get served slop in a bowl for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I guess it’s not so much slop as it is dry hard pellets that taste like cardboard and lamb. So imagine my surprise when my old man pulled his chair up to the computer and surfed over to blissful biscuits to order me my very own Heaven Scent Pizza. I drooled uncontrollably as my father read me the ingredients…whole wheat flour, carrots, celery, parmesan cheese, garlic, basil, etc. No additives whatsoever. Sure it didn’t have any lard, but this pie tastes and smells...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: Imagine, if you will, walking in the rain but instead of raindrops coming out of the sky it’s bacon flavored bubbles. Sound like a dream you’d twitch to? Well, purchase the Bubble Buddy and according to its maker, Happy Dog Toys, it may very well come true. Recently I was in PetSmart, perusing the aisles with the old man in tow when the Bubble Buddy caught my eye. Once I read the packaging, I knew I had to get one for myself. It read… * Blow ‘em! Chase ‘em! Chomp ‘em! * Get ready for bubble...

Bo (woof) In Commentary: My old man loves beer and he refuses to give me any. He tells me that alcohol, hops and carbonation are bad for my innards. I don’t buy it. I think he just wants all the beer for himself. That excuse is now going out the window because look at what I just found out on the internet. Dog Beer! You heard right. 3 Busy Dogs has created Bowser Beer. It’s just for dogs and it tastes like beef. Let the party begin… (Introducing Bowser BeerTM Does your dog drink responsibly?) I will say that lately...