Free Republic

n the November issue, we looked at how scientists are using DNA analysis to track down endangered species that are being hunted for food. Here, Dave Arnold talks about why some people prefer exotic meats. For the most part, Americans are obsessed with tenderness, and favor mild-flavored meat. We eat a fairly small number of animals, almost all of them slaughtered young, when their meat is at its least flavorful. Fortunately, some of us are starting to realize that meat can be much more interesting. As the food revolution continues to gain traction, our ancestral lust for robust, unusual meats...

WOODSIDE, Calif. — 1960s songbird Joan Baez is "resting comfortably" at an undisclosed location after falling 20 feet to the ground from a treehouse - a treehouse she purposely had built without walls because she wanted to sleep among real birds at her Woodside, Calif., home. (excerpted per Ape Pee rules, see link for more)

A Northeast Philadelphia man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday to making death threats to a U.S. congressman. Norman LeBoon, 38, threatened the life of U.S. Rep. Eric Cantor (R. Va) and the lives of Cantor's family members in several videotaped rants posted on YouTube.

Title of video is: Mysterious Missile Launches over Southern California Mystery Missile Launch "Lights Up the Sky" over LA: Watch the video and judge for yourself. Listen to the former Deputy Secretary of Defense, and former US Ambassador to NATO, Robert Ellsworth, and hear the laughing amazement in his voice as he tells the two reporters: "It is a big missile !!! Spectacular! Takes your breath away !!! Sub launched ICBM !!!" ... but what would he know?

OAKLAND -- City Councilwoman Jean Quan won the final tally Wednesday in Oakland's ranked-choice mayoral election, capping a dramatic eight days in which she came from behind and surged to victory because she had more second- and third-place votes than rival Don Perata. When first-place votes were initially counted after the Nov. 2 election, Quan had just 24 percent, and Perata had 35 percent. But Quan proved to be a more popular second and third choice among supporters of the other eight candidates, and in the end, she had 51 percent to Perata's 49 percent. Alameda County Registrar of Voters...

MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann has released a statement thanking supporters a day in advance of his return from a four-day, two-show suspension over unreported political donations. And, wouldn't you know it: Olbermann didn't even know about the rule he violated! Olbermann, who released the statement through his own people and not through the network, explains that he knew "nothing" about the "inconsistently applied rule" concerning donations. He says that the donations "merited a form of public acknowledgment," but that he wasn't trying to keep them secret. He also writes that he found out he was suspended "through the media."...

Harry Reid wins! Huge win: Multiple news orgs are calling the Nevada Senate race for Harry Reid over Sharron Angle.

Red Sox diehard Matt Damon promises to wear a Yankees cap (Gasp!) if 200,000 New Yorkers vote with the Working Families Party in tomorrow’s election. Say it ain’t so, Matty D.! Taking to YouTube to promote the progressive — some might say Commie — initiative, Damon, who just turned 40, said fans can “really cheer me up” by voting for the WFP. The Party, he claims, is for cheaper mass transit cards, clean water and more health care reform. “He says that last one like it’s a thing people would support,” points out Time maggie. “Aw! We’re glad to see...

"It's not a question of enthusiasm, it's a question of who is going to vote?," Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on "Charlie Rose." "This is not a national election; it is district by district," she said. Pelosi made the case that the midterm election is about local issues.

We live in a world of infinite “-isms.” Some are widely familiar – capitalism, communism, nationalism, Catholicism – while others are poorly understood. I always hesitate to categorize veganism among such systems of belief, because it is neither a religion nor an economic or political ideology. It is grounded in fact and does not seek to serve the interests of its proponents. It’s really less complicated than people seem to think. Despite its simplicity, many people have flawed perceptions of veganism. Either they view vegans as eccentric, self-righteous and elitist, or they admire them for their “extreme willpower” and level...

NEW YORK -- Water vapor and clouds are the major contributors to Earth's greenhouse effect, but a new atmosphere-ocean climate modeling study shows that the planet's temperature ultimately depends on the atmospheric level of carbon dioxide. The study, conducted by Andrew Lacis and colleagues at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York, examined the nature of Earth's greenhouse effect and clarified the role that greenhouse gases and clouds play in absorbing outgoing infrared radiation. Notably, the team identified non-condensing greenhouse gases -- such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluorocarbons -- as providing the core...

Hell Seriously Breaks Loose With Bill O'Reilly On The View (Whoopi, Joy Behar Walk Off The Set) Today Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar stormed off the set after getting in a heated argument with guest Bill O'Reilly, who said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11." Before she left, Whoopi screamed, "That is such bu*l*hit!" The tension began the moment O'Reilly walked on and didn't great the panel with the customary handshakes hugs, and instead, fist-bumped them. Joy asked him, "Do you have OCD or germ-phobia?" Shortly thereafter, he needled Whoopi about her standoffish body language, and then intimated—with some incredibly creepy...

A leading tea party activist broke ranks Monday to endorse Democratic Rep. Mike McIntyre of North Carolina, expressing concern about a Republican challenger who was once charged with murder in connection with his military service in Iraq. Deborah Johns said it appears that voters are ignoring Republican candidate Ilario Pantano's past.

<p>ST. LOUIS - For eight years, Janite Lee lived the good life.</p> <p>She moved into a gated community in Town and Country. She dined with world leaders. She had a reading room at Washington University's law school named for her.</p>

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7awFypTnrOw

The Republican Party has a history of using desperate times to call for drastic measures and when bailing out AIG, bolstering Medicare or bombing Iraq, that party has always been willing to go big and bold on some of the largest government expansions in this nation’s history. But what about cutting government? You know, that stuff GOP politicians always talk about during election time? One might think that in a political environment in which so many are desperate to reverse what they see as unsustainable government growth, Republican rhetoric might at least attempt to reflect that desperation. But when GOP...

Education is filled with problems today.  Lax discipline, unions, lousy teachers, lousy parents, single-parent homes, drugs, and the sad spiritual state of our country. So what do Democrats think we should do?  Send more money to the schools and raise the standards.  What do Republicans think we should do?  Send less money to the schools and raise the standards. Why doesn’t Congress pass a law for all SUV’s to be completely safe and get 50 miles per gallon?  Why doesn’t Congress pass a law that all jobs must pay at least $75,000/year and mandate every state to have 100% employment? ...

OK, Jimmy Carter, thanks for getting this Mattapan moonbat of ours out of North Korea. After 30 years, you finally freed a hostage. And a double thank-you for immediately screwing out of town. You saved me from having to lecture you: You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here. For once, I didn’t have to ask a has-been pol the eternal question: How can we miss you when you won’t go away? I’m sorry, but these occasional “humanitarian” missions of yours don’t make up for a lifetime of squalid embraces of the world’s worst tinpot dictators. And...

"Just to be clear, that is not what the Republicans are saying. Ever since Mamie Eisenhower and Barbara Bush, however, the Republicans have seemed a bit defensive about the women in their party. Take Tim Pawlenty: The governor is married to "a red-hot smoking wife," he has said, which is the kind of crack that might get a Democrat a wife who would just be hot under the collar. And Sarah Palin? Her handlers apparently worried so much that she wasn't smokin' hot enough for prime time after McCain picked her as her running mate in 2008 that the first...

FRONT GATE NOTES Below are Trooprally’s notes on the 276th consecutive DC Chapter FReep at Walter Reed. This was an interesting night. First, the buses left late. Second, we couldn’t determine whether there were one or two buses. Third, almost everyone showed up late. Trooprally said it is going to be a long night. Well it was! The DAV bus showed up way past 9:00pm, and then we waited and waited, for the Big Bus to show up. As we were leaving, the Big Bus arrived. Big Bus had made two stops tonight picking up the Wounded Warriors and...