Free Republic

U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL) misstated basic facts while praising communism in an online video conference this week. Garcia, who represents southernmost Florida in the U.S. House of Representatives, told video conference participants, “We’ve proved that communism works. If you give everybody a good government job, there’s no crime.” Garcia made his comments while discussing immigration, border security agents, and crime rates in El Paso, Texas. “Let me give you an example, the kind of money we’ve poured in,” said Garcia. “So the most dangerous — sorry, the safest city in America is El Paso, Texas. It happens to be...

Democratic Florida Rep. Joe Garcia — fresh off being caught eating his own earwax on camera — was caught red-handed (or is it yellow-fingered?) in another gaffe this week, claiming that low crime rates in border cities with lots of federal immigration workers is proof that “Communism works.” Garcia made the comment during a Google hangout he convened last week to talk about comprehensive immigration reform with supporters. The Democrat attempted to point out how, for all their talk about limited government, many Republicans are fine spending loads of government money on border security. “Let me give you an example,...

A U.S. congressman from Florida was caught last week digging his finger in his ear and then eating whatever it was he found. Representative Joe Garcia was at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on government surveillance, but it was his own reconnaissance mission that C-SPAN footage has now revealed. It was a live shot, in fact, and the Key West congressman had the poor timing to undertake his treasure hunt while sitting directly behind his colleague as she took the floor. Before the cameras have left him, the first term Democrat even looks at his fingers before putting them back...

Our earwax could help prove our identity and even reveal what we’ve eaten and where we’ve been, researchers have discovered. Scientists from the Monell Center say the substance could even reveal information about our sexual orientation and health. They say new tests could be developed to prove people’s ID—and their ethnicity could be determined simply by looking in their ear. “Our previous research has shown that underarm odors can convey a great deal of information about an individual, including personal identity, gender, sexual orientation, and health status,” said study senior author George Preti, Ph.D, an organic chemist at Monell. “We...

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — In an effort to help stop the spread of Southern California’s flu epidemic, one local hospital is asking all visitors to wear surgical masks while in the building. The effects of the flu on the Southland appear to be worsening each day, with nearly 100 confirmed influenza-related deaths, and dozens more expected by the end of the week. By this time exactly one year ago, the number of confirmed flu-related deaths was nine. In hopes of limiting the spread of the flu, Cedars Sinai Medical Center is handing out surgical masks to all visitors, whether symptoms...

How often do whales clean their ears? Well, never. And so, year after year, their ear wax builds up, layer upon layer. According to a study published Monday, these columns of ear wax contain a record of chemical pollution in the oceans. The study used the ear wax extracted from the carcass of a blue whale that washed ashore on a California beach back in 2007. Scientists at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History collected the wax from inside the skull of the dead whale and preserved it. The column of wax was almost a foot long. "It's kind...

In 2008 NASA decided to send one of the heights of modern art — The Beatles' 1969 track "Across the Universe" — into the cosmos. And for 2013, one of the pillars of internet folk art is preparing for takeoff: An animated GIF is about to be sent into space for the first time ever. The message will be beamed over a giant radio dish in California tomorrow as part of the inaugural transmission of Lone Signal, a project that's hoping to communicate with extraterrestrials. The GIF will be sent toward Gliese 526, a potentially habitable solar system 17.6...

SYDNEY (AFP) - Footage apparently showing the man tipped to become Australia's next prime minister eating his own ear wax has proved a hit on Internet video sharing website YouTube. The clip of opposition Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd has been posted three times on the YouTube.com website and attracted more than 200,000 web browsers. While Rudd enjoys a massive opinion poll lead heading into the November 24 election, the news website news.com.au suggested the footage "could do more damage to (his) election chances than any policy blitz". It shows Rudd sitting on the backbenches in the Australian parliament while...

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Earwax may not play a prominent part in human history but at least a small role for it has now been found by a team of Japanese researchers. Earwax comes in two types, wet and dry. The wet form predominates in Africa and Europe, where 97 percent or more of people have it, and the dry form among East Asians. The populations of South and Central Asia are roughly half and half. By comparing the DNA of Japanese with each type, the researchers were able to identify the gene that controls which type a person has, they report in today's...

"I thought that, as a timely reminder of the insincerity and emptiness of this 'liberty' cant, it would be fit to hear the musings and considered judgments of the neo-con infantry, the great Freeper horde at the blog of that name. A half-hour's examination of the frothy tirades and murderous incitements there would put any wavering mind out of doubt that what we have here is not a project for freedom and democracy, but, as the Freepers (who, being anonymous, do not dissemble their real opinions) readily fulminate, we have a racist war of civilizations, a comprehensive war against Muslims...

Swab Team Feels Pinch of Budget Jeff Hopper Special to the Times Five members of the twelve member Los Angelus Hazardous Materials Department were indicted Tuesday on waste charges. The District Attorney's office confirmed the five squandered 47 boxes of Quetips on side jobs and for personal use. Sources close to the investigation do not believe the five actually found the boxes "down by the LA aqueduct," as earlier reported. "There was ear wax and effluent debris on the majority of the swabs collected Sunday," officer Joe Petty said. "I think we know which direction we're going with this case....

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - While studying Japanese families with a rare movement disorder, researchers have discovered a region of DNA that may contain the gene for ear wax. A discovery of the ear wax gene could help shed light on the function of apocrine glands, fluid-secreting cells found throughout the body, and may even have implications for breast cancer. Some studies have found the women with a certain type of ear wax are at greater risk of developing breast cancer than those with another type. Ear wax, or cerumen as it is know scientifically, is produced by hair follicles...