Free Republic

USA Citizens Day - July 1st Immigration Control Rally Nationwide Rally on Saturday, July 1st, at noon, at your City HallMay 1st - Million of Illegal Aliens Marched in our StreetsTwelve million illegal aliens demonstrated their political power, and declared May 1st to be A Day Without Undocumented Workers ( illegal aliens ). They boycotted the USA, all US businesses and institutions. Millions of them marched in our streets, carried Mexican flags, shouted "Si se puede!", and demanded new laws from our Congress. July 1st - U.S. Citizens Nationwide Rally for Immigration ControlRally to stop our continuous invasion by...

Evolution persisted in agricultural era Bruce Bower Natural selection continued to sculpt humanity's genetic identity after the Stone Age gave way to farming around 11,000 years ago, according to a new DNA analysis. A team led by Jonathan K. Pritchard of the University of Chicago identified survival-enhancing gene variants that began spreading through human populations between roughly 10,800 and 6,600 years ago. The scientists scanned the genomes of 89 East Asians, 60 Europeans, and 60 Africans to find DNA stretches recently affected by natural selection. Their technique exploits the tendency of DNA regions containing advantageous genes to spread quickly through...

Florida Capital: TallahasseeState abbreviation/Postal code: Fla./FLGovernor: Jeb Bush, R (to Jan. 2007)Lieut. Governor: Toni Jennings, R (to Jan. 2007)Senators: Mel Martinez, R (to Jan. 2011); Bill Nelson, D (to Jan. 2007)U.S. Representatives: 25Historical biographies of Congressional membersSecy. of State: Glenda Hood, R (to Jan. 2007)Atty. General: Charlie Crist, R (to Jan. 2007)Chief Financial Officer: Tom Gallagher, R (to Jan. 2007)Organized as territory: March 30, 1821Entered Union (rank): March 3, 1845 (27)Present constitution adopted: 1969Motto: In God we trust (1868)State symbols: flower orange blossom (1909) bird mockingbird (1927) song “Suwannee River” (1935) Nickname: Sunshine State (1970)Origin of name: From the...

Hurricane-Felled Timber Worth Billions United Press International U.S. timber companies are scrambling to harvest tons of timber felled by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The companies are moving as quickly as possible to recover the millions of trees before they rot, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday. Industry analysts estimate that more than 20 billion board feet are down, enough to build 1 million houses. Timber down in Louisiana is worth $900 million; in Mississippi, the felled timber is worth $2.4 billion, experts estimate.

Neolithic agricultural community’s daily life shown in amazing detail in dig at ancient site Well-preserved settlement in Kastoria, northern Greece, dating 7,500 years ago illuminates the characteristics of rural life of the times Remains of buildings (trenches for foundations, poles, wall coating, floorings) in the western section of the excavation. By Iota Sykka - Kathimerini The finds at Avgi in Kastoria are far from common. At a site of 3.5 hectares near the Aghia Triada municipality, a 7,500-year-old rural community has been unearthed. Rare miniature vessels the size of a ring, nine fine impressive stamps, 20 human and animal-shaped idols,...

The first time Bono and Madonna got together to save Africa, the unintended consequence was the death of perhaps as many as 100,000 people. That's aid expert David Rieff's conclusion in the July 2005 issue of the resolutely liberal American Prospect magazine regarding the end result of Live Aid in 1985. Billed as "The Greatest Show on Earth," Live Aid was a multivenue rock concert held on July 13, l985, in London and Philadelphia in order to raise money for famine relief in Ethiopia. With an estimated 1.5 billion viewers watching the live broadcast in 100 countries, the event reportedly...

The European Commission is planning a radical overhaul of the Common Agricultural Policy. The CAP currently costs European taxpayers £30 billion. In the midst of an attack on the controversial EU farm subsidy regime from Tony Blair, Brussels is attempting to reassert its political leadership of the 25-member trading bloc by putting on the table proposals which could dramatically alter the CAP. The Commission is floating the possibility of using its upcoming CAP review process to reduce farm subsidy payments to individual farmers. To replace this, the Commission proposes to increase payments for regional rural development. The move, revealed by...

This is the moment when we list our priorities for the new year, counting off the most important social challenges the country faces and the remedies we'd like to see our elected officials adopt. Normally, we urge that all this be accomplished in a spirit of bipartisanship. All that requires a leap of faith that's beyond us this season. Instead, we'd like to pick out a few areas that may be a little lower on the agenda, but where the need is aching and the potential bridges between the parties are already clear and sturdy. All it takes is a...

Contact: José Iriarte iriartej@si.edu 202-786-2094 x8350 Smithsonian Institution A complex agricultural society in Uruguay's La Plata basin, 4,800-4,200 years ago A complex farming society developed in Uruguay around 4,800 to 4,200 years ago, much earlier that previously thought, Iriarte and his colleagues report in this week's Nature (December 2). Researchers had assumed that the large rivers system called the La Plata Basin was inhabited by simple groups of hunters and gatherers for much of the pre-Hispanic era. Iriarte and coauthors excavated an extensive mound complex, called Los Ajos, in the wetlands of southeastern Uruguay. They found evidence of a circular...

Gal Luft is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington, D.C. He is a specialist on strategic issues and energy policy with a PhD in strategic studies from Johns Hopkins University. A former lieutenant colonel in the Israel Defense Forces, his writings have appeared in Commentary, Foreign Affairs, the Los Angeles Times, Middle East Review of International Affairs, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. Mr. Luft addressed the Middle East Forum in Philadelphia on October 27, 2004. Introduction In both World War Two and the Cold War, the side best deploying scientific...

Democratic politicians and left-leaning commentators, seeking to ex plain President Bush's victory, argue that Republicans have persuaded blue-collar voters to ignore their economic concerns and instead vote based on cultural issues like gay marriage, gun control and abortion.... The inspiration for this line of thought is Thomas Franks' recent book "What's the Matter With Kansas."... Social issues clearly played a crucial role in President Bush's re-election. But the notion that heartland voters are disregarding their economic well-being is wildly at odds with the facts, as a close look Franks' book and poll results makes clear. As long as Democrats continue...

On September 19, 1997, the New York Times announced the discovery of a group of earthen mounds in northeastern Louisiana. The site, known as Watson Brake, includes 11 mounds 26 feet high linked by low ridges into an oval 916 feet long. What is remarkable about this massive complex is that it was built around 3400 B.C., more than 3,000 years before the development of farming communities in eastern North America, by hunter-gatherers, at least partly mobile, who visited the site each spring and summer to fish, hunt, and collect freshwater mussels... Social complexity cannot exist unless I it...

Tuesday marked the 25th anniversary of Egyptian president Anwar Sadat's landmark journey to Jerusalem, but rather than being marked by pomp and circumstance, it was reported that Cairo is cutting agricultural ties. An-Nahar, which reported that the agriculture minister said the government decided to end agricultural ties, wrote that the reason is "the Israeli government's negative position, which is not in line with the principle of peace in the region." One Israeli official expressed surprise at the report, saying most of the agricultural ties were cut following Operation Defensive Shield earlier this year. "We are very sorry about this," he...

FL Gov. Jeb Bush Statement by Governor Jeb Bush in Opposition to Congressional Authorization of Private Financing of Agricultural Sales to Cuba For Immediate Release Thursday, April 18, 2002 Contact: Katie Muñiz (850) 488-5394 TALLAHASSEE -- "As early as this afternoon, the U.S. House of Representatives may be considering a Motion to Instruct House Conferees on the Farm Bill, H.R. 2646, to support the U.S. Senate position lifting restrictions on the private financing of trade in agricultural goods to Cuba. I respectfully urge the U.S. House of Representatives to reject this motion. Authorizing financing for Cuba is troublesome from a...