Free Republic

Any cattlemen out there? I'm thinking about raising one for meat. It would be more like free range veal as I'd get it in April and slaughter it in October. Any experience? Is this a good idea? I'm trying to avoid hay which is expensive. Is that long enough to get good weight? Anything to watch out for?

Does anyone know or have links to intel assets that were lost, killed, compromised, etc because of the leaks that Bradley Manning gave to wikileaks?

When Star Wars: Episode VII was first announced, it seemed like the entire world had exploded, Alderanian-like with excitement. Star Wars themed news was spewing out of every orifice of movie information, most of which turned out to be nothing more than pure speculation and the delayed fantasies of fan-boys the world over. Since then we’ve all calmed down a bit. The clean up after our Star Wars themed binge party has begun and now we’re actually getting some solid details. J.J. Abrams will direct, Toy Story 3‘s Michael Arndt will scribe, and it looks like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill...

The House, under the leadership of Speaker John Boehner, has precipitated a postponement in the debt ceiling fight until May. This represents a strategic choice by Boehner to make the Sequester fight, not the debt ceiling fight, the next major engagement. Much of the mainstream media now is accusing Congress of “kicking the can down the road.” They are missing the strategic implications. In retrospect, at the Battle at Fiscal Cliff, Boehner took President Obama to the cleaners. He did it suavely, without histrionics. While Obama churlishly, and in a politically amateurish manner, publicly strutted about having forced the Republicans...

The House is safe and it appears Romney is more likely to win than not. The important thing is the Senate? Anyone know the outlook over all? any links or comments?

The buzz is that Ann Romney's speech was off the charts and that Chris Christie's speech was moderately good but didn't have the red meat people wanted. I tend to disagree. Christie's speech was fantastic but in a much more subtle way. He showed the stark differences. Thoughts?

The issue of $716 billion in spending cuts to Medicare has taken center stage, with accusations flying about who is raiding Medicare and pushing Granny off the cliff. So here are the facts: In 1997, the Republican Congress passed, and President Bill Clinton signed, the Balanced Budget Act (BBA), which gradually reduced payments to Medicare providers as part of a plan to reduce overall federal spending. The key to the policy is the Sustainable Growth Rate, which requires the government to adjust payments for physician services each year so that growth in Medicare spending does not exceed the growth of...