Free Republic

Today’s Cryptogram URQ BKUTIU TI VXURTVH STURXMU URQ HTNU, YMU URQ HTNU TI VXURTVH STURXMU SXKF. QDTPQ OXPB You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram) Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. Send me a private...

Coffee lovers, here’s one more reason to savor that morning cup o’ joe. Research shows 60 percent of coffee species found in the wild could soon go extinct. In a new study published in the journal Science Advances on Wednesday, researchers at Kew Royal Botanic Gardens say factors putting the future of coffee at risk include climate change, deforestation, droughts, and plant diseases. According to the study, a collaboration between scientists from the UK and Ethiopia, out of 124 types of wild coffee, 75 are at risk of extinction. About 35 of the 124 species grow in areas with no...

Wall Report: Border Rancher Finds Prayer Rugs! A border rancher reported seeing prayer rugs in a building on her property used by illegal aliens! Report of numerous illegal crossings by non-Mexicans or Central Americans... ISIS cells found... Also the latest on the border funding showdown, and GoFundMe campaign "We Build The Wall." Border Rancher: We've Found Prayer Rugs Out Here. It's Unreal! https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/ne... Border Region Exposed Years Ago for ISIS Cells Finally Gets Fence https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/20... Nancy Pelosi Suggests to Trump that State of the Union Be Delayed https://variety.com/2019/politics/new... President Trump's Favorite Approval Rating Poll Just Gave Him His Lowest Mark...

Erin Menefee’s doctors have a nickname for her: Supergirl. Similar to the comic book hero, the 26-year-old physical therapist has faced obstacles head-on with tenacity. But in her case, her superhuman strength comes in the form of running marathons less than two years after open-heart surgery. Menefee first noticed something wrong in December of 2015, when she took off on a long run during a break in her day at San Diego State University, where she was studying to become a physical therapist. At the time, the former collegiate runner for the University of Arizona was training for a transition...

I was going to post an article from The Hill. Headline: "Former congressional staffer claims lawmakers helped cover up rape" When I clicked on the article it came up "ACCESS DENIED". Before I refreshed The Hill homepage I took a screen shot. After I refreshed the homepage, the link to the article was gone. Here are the screen shots:

According to WXIX, Cody Lutz, his fiance Lucy and soon-to-be sister-in-law decided to build an over-sized snowman in the front yard after a big snowstorm hit the area. “We were playing in the snow, she’s from Mississippi so this is the most snow she’s ever seen in her entire life. I’m from Buffalo so this is no big deal,” Lutz told WXIX. “I love the snow!” But to make the snowman, Lutz decided to use a large tree stump in their yard for the base and covered it with snow. When Lutz came home on Monday, he saw tire tracks...

Deemed "Rewrite the Rules," the company's latest ad campaign, released on January 7, celebrates the diversity of its bridal buyers. The 30-second made-for-TV clip alternates between wedding scenes, starting with the outdoor forest nuptials between an interracial couple. Next, a bride and groom exchange vows at the altar, joined by their young daughter. The clip then flashes to a lesbian newlywed couple dancing among guests at their reception—as one bride's father playfully interrupts to request his own turn. The montage concludes with a bohemian bride and groom, happily running barefoot along a beach. The separate exchanges all individually pay modern...

A professional fisherman got a big surprise as he tried to launch his boat at Lake Sam Rayburn to practice for a fishing tournament this past weekend. Eric Jackson, of Rock Island, TN, told 12News his two-year-old Dalmatian, Bodi, stepped on the gear shift switch, putting the 38-foot RV in reverse.  Jackson says he was on the back bumper unloading his boat when the RV began backing into the lake. Jackson had been working to launch his boat at the ramps at the Umphrey Family Pavillion of Highway 255. He was planning a practice day before the Fishing League Worldwide 2019...

Further elaboration on the nature, evils, and workings of extremism in the modern world.

"The Secret Service was never contacted by Nancy Pelosi’s office or other Democratic congressional leadership regarding their ability to protect the president, members of the administration and Congress during the State of the Union, according to a senior law enforcement official at the Department of Homeland Security..."

Democratic Reps. Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey, Thomas Suozzi of New York, Vincente Gonzalez of Texas, Anthony Brindisi of New York, Dean Phillips of Minnesota, Max Rose of New York and Abigail Spanberger of Virginia attended the midday White House meeting in the Situation Room. The lawmakers are not part of Democratic leadership, which has been leading congressional negotiations, and are rank-and-file members mostly hailing from more moderate congressional districts...

Before Don got elected, Lindsey Graham called Donald Trump a racist, xenophobic bigot. Those are Lindsey Graham's words," Jolly said. "I doubt Lindsey Graham could tell you Donald Trump has had a change of heart in the last 24 months, I bet the change of heart has been with Lindsey Graham, not the president." "Or it could be that Donald Trump or somebody knows something pretty extreme about Lindsey Graham," Ruhle replied. "We’re gonna have to leave it there." Jon Cooper, chairman of the Democratic Coalition super PAC, explicitly accused Graham on Saturday of letting himself be blackmailed for "some...

Today’s Cryptogram W AEH CHOQ KWAMUWT WLJFYX OKH UJLAX GHMJLH OKH OLFOK KWQ W VKWYVH OJ CHO EOQ ZWYOQ JY. UEYQOJY VKFLVKEAA You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications, unfortunately they are copyrighted so we can't use them here. So, we're just going to make up our own. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram) Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated....

In a prior analysis, we estimated that the average net fiscal cost (taxes paid minus services used) of an illegal immigrant was $65,292 during their lifetime — excluding their U.S.-born children. This came to $65.3 billion per million illegal immigrants. The figures were expressed in 2016 dollars. Adjusted to 2018 dollars, it would be $69,570 per illegal immigrant, or $69.6 billion per million illegal immigrants. The reason illegal immigrants are unambiguously a net fiscal drain is that less-educated people, native-born or immigrant, earn on average modest wages and as a result they tend to make modest tax contributions, while needing...

It’s not just in Mario Kart—banana peels can be a real problem for many races around the country, not only causing hazards for runners and spectators, but leaving massive amounts of rotting waste behind for volunteers to clean up. Chiquita, the massive international fruit producer, is taking steps to change that. When the gun of the Walt Disney World 5K went off at 5:30 a.m. on Thursday morning, it signaled the start of Chiquita’s new role as the official banana sponsor of the entire Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend, as well as other runDisney events throughout the year. The move...

Kevin Costner is still making movies, more for a TV audience than the big screen, but just the same, many are very entertaining. If you haven't seen "Draft Day", currently available on Amazon Prime, it's worth watching. I won't give you much of the story, but let me say, it's a feel good movie, about a Cleveland Browns General Manager, Sonny Weaver (Costner), who just eight hours before the start of the NFL Draft, agrees to deal his Number 7 pick this year, and his 1st round pick for the next two years for the overall number 1 owned by...

Move over, Batman. Swim to the other side of Atlantis, Aquaman. There’s a new action figure in D.C.: Robert Mueller. The special counsel, who is investigating possible Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, now has his own 6-inch action figure, The Hill reported. A company named FCTRY is producing the $20 mini figure of Mueller, and pre-orders began Tuesday. On its website, the Brooklyn-based company proclaims that Mueller “is our only hope,” adding that “without being melodramatic,” the special counsel seems to be the last figure “standing between us and chaos.” FCTRY notes that the Mueller figure is the...

Weird Linux Display issue Some time back I retired my old Pine64 Media Center. I replaced it with an Intel NUC cube which I'd loaded up with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard disk. Soeed isn't really an issue with this system, so I went with spinnign platters rather than an SSD. I installed Linux Mint XFCE4 on it along with all of my music (90GB) and vids of various movies and cartoons I've ripped over the years. Everything is working great, and in fact, today I finally made it all the way through my first complete pass through...

*Passengers at America's busiest airport have been warned to allow at least three hours to get through security. *Long waits at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport come amid the record partial government shutdown. Transportation Security Administration agents, who handle security, are not getting paid, and many are not coming to work. *An airport spokesman told Business Insider the airport was still advising passengers to allow three hours on Tuesday. *Other airports have warned of long waits and fewer flights if the shutdown continues. America's busiest airport has warned passengers to set aside three hours to clear security, as the government shutdown...