Free Republic

Preface. In reading the history of nations, we find that, like individuals, they have their whims and their peculiarities; their seasons of excitement and recklessness, when they care not what they do. We find that whole communities suddenly fix their minds upon one object, and go mad in its pursuit; that millions of people become simultaneously impressed with one delusion, and run after it, till their attention is caught by some new folly more captivating than the first. We see one nation suddenly seized, from its highest to its lowest members, with a fierce desire of military glory; another as...

People anthropomorphize animals all the time. Amusingly, usually. And most of us are guilty (although I have a workmate who never indulges in this behavior. She did call me the other day, though, to have me instruct her in the pronunciation of the word, so that she might not sound like a fool while she ridicules those of her acquaintance who imagine their dogs to be smiling at them.) I myself frequently imagine Horus to be gazing at me in loving adoration, while he more probably is projecting the little dotted butcher’s lines onto the contours of my flesh and...

From cyborg housemaids and waterpowered cars to dog translators and rocket boots, Japanese boffins have racked up plenty of near-misses in the quest to turn science fiction into reality. Now the finest scientific minds of Japan are devoting themselves to cracking the greatest sci-fi vision of all: the space elevator. Man has so far conquered space by painfully and inefficiently blasting himself out of the atmosphere but the 21st century should bring a more leisurely ride to the final frontier. For chemists, physicists, material scientists, astronauts and dreamers across the globe, the space elevator represents the most tantalising of concepts:...

Yes, kids, science is a wonderful thing. But not nearly as wonderful as climate modeling, which can perform supernatural miracles. Honest! Climate modeling can raise the level of the oceans (even without Obama's intervention), it can burn up the planet a hundred years from now, and Shazzam! -- the models can save us again -- all without leaving your video games, and without the benefit of the real-world data that you need for boring old regular science. At least, that's what Nature -- the oldest science journal in the world, going back to Isaac Newton -- now claims. According to...

It doesn’t take a team of scientist and a ten year study to understand the basics of cause and effect. Whether it’s a sociological explanation or a scriptural tenant the same rule along with its associative principles appear as the immutable law of reciprocation. Some call it karma while others use the more folksy phrase “what goes around, comes around” but by any other name it is still best summarized by the words of the Apostle Paul who said “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Gal 6:7)

I wonder what happened to Thomas Newton, Conservative Poet? We haven't heard from him in a while. --Tarquin Farquart, snoops.com Your post will not be visible until a moderator has approved it for posting. --snoops.com THE BASTIONS OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM Let the name of Moses be stricken from every book and tablet, stricken from every pylon and obelisk of Egypt. Let the named of Moses be unheard and unspoken, erased from the memory of man for all time. --Sethi, The Ten Commandments screenplay We have the power. We can block the printing Of every important sonnet that He writes, and...

Secret writings by Isaac Newton reveal his views on the Jewish return to IsraelThe world famous 17th-century scientist Isaac Newton, who discovered gravity and revolutionarized mankind's understanding of physics, may also have been the first Christian Zionist, secret writings have revealed. A new exhibition at the Hebrew University's Jewish National and University Library, Newton's Secrets, which display original writings, drawings, and maps dating back 300 years, reveal startling views held by Newton, which stray far from the scientifically pure image traditionally associated with him. "Tis said that they who sleep in the dust shall rise again some to reward and...

A Jerusalem exhibit of Isaac Newton's manuscripts has some newly-discovered papers showing Newton's calculations of the exact date of the Apocalypse. Using the Book of Daniel, Newton argues that the world will end not earlier than 2060. "It may end later," Newton writes, "but I see no reason for its ending sooner. This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be, but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophecies into discredit as often as...

JERUSALEM: Renowned British scientist Sir Isaac Newton, the father of modern physics and astronomy, predicted the world would end in 2060. He made the prediction in a 1704 letter that went on show in Jerusalem on Sunday. A famed rationalist, who secured a royal exemption from the ordination in the Church of England that was normally expected of academics of his day so he would not have to follow its teachings, Newton nonetheless based his prediction on a Biblical text. Working from verses in the Book of Daniel, the elaborator of the classical laws of gravity, motion and optics argued...

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found; was blind, but now I see.� Whether Catholic, Orthodox or Protestant, nearly every American Christian knows John Newton’s beautiful hymn, “Amazing Grace.� Believers have sung it for more than 200 years. Its words and melody speak to one of the deepest instincts of the human heart: the need for deliverance. Like St. Augustine before him, Newton discovered that “our hearts are restless until they rest in (God).� A former slave trader, Newton converted to Christianity during a storm on...

NEWTON — The town is reviewing the merits of an anti-illegal immigration ordinance that, if passed, would become the second of its kind in the state. The law would deny businesses permits and city contracts for five years for employing illegal immigrants and fine landlords up to $10,000 for allowing them to rent. It also would make English the town's official language. "I have nothing but respect for people who come here legally and work hard," said Newton Councilman Philip Diglio, who presented councilmembers with a draft of the ordinance at Monday's public meeting. "I have nothing against any particular...

Embedded in the heart of a supernova remnant 10,000 light-years away is a stellar object the likes of which astronomers have never seen before in our galaxy. At first glance, the object looks like a densely packed stellar corpse known as a neutron star surrounded by a bubble of ejected stellar material, exactly what would be expected in the wake of a supernova explosion. However, a closer 24.5-hour examination with the European Space Agency's XMM Newton X-ray satellite reveals that the energetic X-ray emissions of the blue, point-like object cycles every 6.7 hours-tens of thousands of times longer than expected...

Group wages battle against Massachusetts gay culture BOSTON — The minute they spotted the mannequins in Macy's department store window celebrating the city's Gay Pride week, Brian Camenker and the watchdog activists at MassResistance jumped into action. The group quickly posted a photo of the window on their Web log under the caption: "Male mannequins with (apparently) enlarged breasts, one wearing a rainbow skirt." Within days, Macy had removed the mannequins but left up a list of pride week events. It was the latest victory for a group dedicated to battling what it characterizes as the aggressive gay and lesbian...

Using data from ESA's XMM-Newton X-ray observatory, an international group of astrophysicists has discovered a spinning neutron star that seems to be tumbling slowly - a find that could provide new insight into the evolution and structure of these super-dense objects. Spinning neutron stars, also known as pulsars, generally rotate on highly stable axes. Thanks to their periodic signals, emitted either in radio or X-ray wavelengths, they can serve as very accurate astronomical clocks. Regarding pulsar RX J0720.4-3125, however, the team found that over the past four and a half years, its temperature has been rising - until very recently,...

An open letter to Helen Donovan, editor of the Globe on its article "Gay principals soon take helm at both Newton high schools." Dear Helen: Under your supervision – or that of another of the homosexuality marketeers now running the Globe – we got this latest little goodie: "Jennifer Price, 34, is a doctoral student at Harvard's Graduate School of Education who lives in Newton with her spouse and their two young children. She takes over at Newton North High School in July." Now, Helen, you're not intentionally avoiding a franker use of English just so the precipitously declining...

Newton officials are calling their refusal to allow FBI agents access to library computers without a warrant during a terrorist threat last week “their finest hour.” Law enforcement officials say it’s a “nightmare.” Police rushed to the Newton Free Library after tracing a terrorist threat e-mailed to Brandeis University to a computer at the library. But requests to examine computers Jan. 18 were rebuffed by Newton library Director Kathy Glick-Weil and Mayor David Cohen on the grounds that they did not have a warrant. Cohen, defending the library’s actions, called the legal standoff one of Newton’s “finest hours.” “We showed...

Letter: 'Gay Day' not for 'the public' Wednesday, December 28, 2005 A few days before Newton North's all-day "Gay Day" assembly, a parent called and asked me to attend it for him because he had to work. I'd been to several over the past few years, when my own children were students. (It was on Dec. 7 - they had Gay Day instead of Pearl Harbor Day.) I called the superintendent's office and was told that this year "the public" was not allowed. Taxpayers in Newton who aren't Newton North parents have been to assemblies there in the past without...

NEWTON, MA-- A Halloween controversy is brewing in Newton, where one elementary school has banned all traditional Halloween activities. The principal of Underwood Elementary School says it has come to the school’s attention that Halloween traditions are offensive to some people’s religious beliefs. Some families, David Castellini said, have even kept their children home from school on Halloween because of this. A letter went home to parents explaining the changes. But at a school where even the teachers normally dress up for Halloween, not everybody is welcoming the change. This morning, an hour-long PTO meeting addressed the new policy. While...

Members of a Kansas church known for staging antigay protests nationwide plan to picket on Saturday the Newton South High School,where a play about a gay murder victim is being produced.

Creationism, Christianity, and Common Sense September 26, 2005 by Alan Burkhart Here we go again. According to a Washington Post article from 09/25/05, a group called “Answers in Genesis – USA” is building a museum in Cincinnati dedicated to the proposition that the universe was created exactly as stated in the Bible. In other words, God created the universe in six days, and He did it only about six thousand years ago. The group’s president, Kenneth Ham, is quoted in the Post as saying, "This is a battle cry to recognize the science in the revealed truth of God." Science...

MEMPHIS — Tennessee state Rep. Chris Newton will plead guilty to taking bribes from undercover FBI agents in exchange for legislative favors, his lawyer said Monday. A plea hearing for Newton was set for Tuesday before U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla. "He’s going to be pleading guilty as charged," said defense lawyer Thomas Greenholtz of Chattanooga. If McCalla accepts the plea, which is expected, Newton will become the first state lawmaker charged in the Tennessee Waltz investigation to admit guilt. Two men described as bag men for lawmakers have pleaded guilty. Newton and four other current or former lawmakers are...

NASHVILLE -- State Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, said Sunday night he plans to resign his seat in the state House of Representatives effective Nov. 1. Newton was one of five current or former lawmakers arrested May 26 in a federal bribery sting codenamed Tennessee Waltz. He has pleaded not guilty in federal court. "I prayed about it and I'm at peace with my decision," Newton said in a telephone interview from his home Sunday. "I'm convinced this is the right thing to do at this time." Newton said he has informed House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, and House Minority Leader...

The “Cartesian Split” Is a Hallucination; Ergo, We Should Get Rid of It by Jean F. Drew The Ancient Heritage of Western Science The history of science goes back at least two and a half millennia, to the pre-Socratics of ancient Greece. Democritus and Leucippus were the fathers of atomic theory — at least they were the first thinkers ever to formulate one. Heraclitus was the first thinker to consider what in the modern age developed as the laws of thermodynamics. Likewise Plato’s Chora, in the myth of the Demiurge (see Timaeus), may have been the very first anticipation of...

PUBLIC SCHOOL WARS - MATH SCORES INCLUDE STUDENT'S ANTI-RACISMFeb 17, 2005 - FreeMarketNews.comby staff reportsNewton Public Schools in Newton Massachusetts seems to have added a politically correct component to their math curriculum. According to their “benchmarks” – statements of requirements for achieving a given academic outcome - the primary objective for the district’s math teachers is to teach “respect for human differences.” Students are to be able to “live out the system-wide core value of ‘respect for human differences’ by demonstrating anti-racist/anti-bias behaviors.” The matter first came into the public spotlight last month in an article written by Tom Mountain...

In some public schools math teachers do more than teach algebra and geometry — they give their students lessons intended to purge what they consider racism. The "anti-racist education" program in place at Newton Public Schools in Newton, Mass., a wealthy, liberal niche of the Bay State, has angered some parents who believe the school district is more concerned about political correctness than teaching math skills.

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. .................................................................. .................... ........................................... . U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. . . Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their...

Current theory is that nothing CAN travel faster than light (photons), and it is upon this that the theory of relativity rests. How about we change that definition to "nothing travels faster than light", ie that it is not impossible to exceed light speed, it is just that at the moment nothing does. Suppose a particle of light (photon) has some mass (otherwise it would not exist). Suppose we envisage a photon travelling at light speed. We are travelling in our turbocharged faster than light speed vehicle. We come up behind the photon and give it a little nudge. Does...

The school department was recently forced to publicly admit that the sixth-grade MCAS math scores have steadily declined over the past three years to the point where 32 percent of sixth-graders are now in the "warning" or "needs improvement" category. This means that if we were to attach a letter grade to these sixth-grade MCAS math results it would be a D-plus, with only 68 percent of the students passing. Brown Middle School fared so poorly that it is now subject to be placed under the federal No Child Left Behind Act for failing to keep pace under the minimum...

GUEST OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR London WE have now entered what is being celebrated as the Einstein Year, marking the centenary of the physicist's annus mirabilis in 1905, when he published three landmark papers - those that proved the existence of the atom, showed the validity of quantum physics and, of course, introduced the world to his theory of special relativity. Not bad for a beginner. "It's not that I'm so smart," Einstein once said, "It's just that I stay with problems longer." Whatever the reason for his greatness, there is no doubt that this determination allowed him to invent courageous new...

The Hollow Earth Perhaps some of the most bizarre scientific theories ever considered were those concerning the possibility that the Earth was hollow. One of the earliest of these was proposed in 1692 by Edmund Halley. Edmund Halley was a brilliant English astronomer whose mathematical calculations pinpointed the return of the comet that bears his name. Halley was fascinated by the earth's magnetic field. He noticed the direction of the field varied slightly over time and the only way he could account for this was there existed not one, but several, magnetic fields. Halley came to believe that the Earth...

On Plato, the Early Church, and Modern Science: An Eclectic Meditation By Jean F. Drew God, purposing to make the universe most nearly like the every way perfect and fairest of intelligible beings, created one visible living being, containing within itself all living beings of the same natural order. Thus does Plato (d. 347 B.C.) succinctly describe how all that exists is ultimately a single, living organism. At Timaeus20, he goes on to say: “There exists: first, the unchanging form, uncreated and indestructible, admitting no modification and entering no combination … second, that which bears the same name as the...

Something strange is tugging at America's oldest spacecraft. As the Pioneer 10 and 11 probes head towards distant stars, scientists have discovered that the craft - launched more than 30 years ago - appear to be in the grip of a mysterious force that is holding them back as they sweep out of the solar system. Some researchers say unseen 'dark matter' may permeate the universe and that this is affecting the Pioneers' passage. Others say flaws in our understanding of the laws of gravity best explain the crafts' wayward behaviour. Excerpted - see link

Gravitational anomalies An invisible hand?An unexplained effect during solar eclipses casts doubt on General Relativity “ASSUME nothing” is a good motto in science. Even the humble pendulum may spring a surprise on you. In 1954 Maurice Allais, a French economist who would go on to win, in 1988, the Nobel prize in his subject, decided to observe and record the movements of a pendulum over a period of 30 days. Coincidentally, one of his observations took place during a solar eclipse. When the moon passed in front of the sun, the pendulum unexpectedly started moving a bit faster than...

Newton vs. The Clockwork Universe By Jean F. Drew As Wolfhart Pannenberg observes in his Toward a Theology of Nature: Essays on Science and Faith (1993), the present-day intellectual mind-set assumes that there is no relation or connection between the God of the Christian faith and the understanding of the world in the natural sciences. Ironically this separation of God from the world is commonly credited to Sir Isaac Newton, the father of classical mechanics, whose ground-breaking work on the laws of motion and thermodynamics seemed to posit a purely mechanistic, deterministic, “clockwork universe” that was not dependent on God...

Attacking” President Bush November 27, 2003 “Some are attacking the president for attacking the terrorists,” says a new Republican TV ad for President Bush. In its verbal sloppiness, this message is fully worthy of the president himself. Of course nobody is “attacking” him in the same sense that he is “attacking the terrorists,” with real bullets and bombs. Various people are criticizing him, some with measured language, some with verbal abuse, but all of them are well within the limits of the “freedom” and “democracy” he says he wants to promote around the world. So why does he allow and...

Where Have You Gone, Isaac Newton? By David Harriman          More and more today, we are inundated with foolishness masquerading as science. Psychic hotlines proliferate, politicians consult astrologers, and people reject their doctor's advice in favor of "alternative healing" dispensed by quacks. In the past, defenders of real science could be relied upon to expose and debunk such nonsense. So where are these defenders today?         Unfortunately, they are too busy dreaming up foolishness of their own.         This is not, of course, the first time in history that people have believed their fates could be read in the stars and their diseases...

Roger Crowder, Republican candidate for State Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, discusses strategy with Ellen Jernigan of the DeSoto County Area Republican Women and GOP Executive Committee. SOUTHAVEN — Two candidates for statewide office — Scott Newton, Republican contender for attorney general and Roger Crowder, GOP candidate for state agricultural and commerce commissioner — both are seeking to be “firsts.” Newton, a former FBI agent from Ridgeland, is seeking to become the state’s first Republican attorney general, while Crowder, a retired state agricultural marketing specialist, is seeking to become Mississippi’s first Republican commissioner of agriculture and commerce, not to...

Over the past several years, there has been a growing romantic image of the Black Panther Party. Those guys who swaggered in their black leather jackets and berets, carried their copies of Mao's "Little Red Book" and talked more stuff than the radio are now seen as Robin Hoods of the black left, destroyed by FBI infiltration and the hot lead of local police departments. This image completely distorts what the Panthers really were and how they functioned during the wild years following the 1965 Watts riot. Purported revolutionaries seemed to rise from the sidewalks of Watts. Some were agents ...

Sir Isaac Newton, Britain's greatest scientist, predicted the date of the end of the world - and it is only 57 years away. His theories about Armageddon have been unearthed by academics from little-known handwritten manuscripts in a library in Jerusalem. The thousands of pages show Newton's attempts to decode the Bible, which he believed contained God's secret laws for the universe. Newton, who was also a theologian and alchemist, predicted that the Second Coming of Christ would follow plagues and war and would precede a 1,000-year reign by the saints on earth - of which he would be one....

If Newton saw today's astronomical evidence, would he come up with a different law of gravity? A growing number of people think so, says Marcus Chown There's something wrong with our understanding of spiral galaxies such as our own Milky Way. The stars in their outer parts are being whirled around far too fast. Like children on a speeded-up roundabout, they should be flung into intergalactic space. To explain why this does not happen, astronomers have been forced to propose that the visible stars and nebulae are supplemented by at least 10 times more invisible stuff. The gravity of this...

"Beam Me Up Scotty" Anti-gravity: Fact or Fiction? Dearborn High video/computer students are the first high school students in the world to build an "antigravity???" machine for 2002-2003 Metro-Detroit Science Fair. Yes, you can say impossible. Yes, you can say it defies Newton's 3rd law of gravity. Yes, you can say it's done with smoke and mirrors. Nevertheless three teenage Dearborn High students, Luke Duncan, 16, Ethan Rein, 17, and Jim Bergren, 16, built and flew an "antigravity???" aircraft last Sunday in the school video/computer studio. It has no fans, no jets, and no engines. It makes no sound, and...

BU Academy gay alliance shut down By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON -- A support group for gay and lesbian students at a preparatory school run by Boston University has been disbanded at the direction of university chancellor John Silber, who said he believes it encouraged premarital sex. Silber gave the orders to the BU Academy headmaster James Tracy, who complied. "We're not running a program in sex education," Silber told The Boston Globe. "If they want that kind of program, they can go to Newton High School. They can go to public school and learn how to put a...

Fifteen years in the making, fast-selling book proposes 'A New Kind of Science' NEW YORK -- To the countless would-be scientists whose careers foundered on the baffling shoals of calculus, a brilliant physicist who earned his Ph.D. at 20 and snagged a MacArthur "genius" grant at 22 seems an unlikely source of comfort. Yet Stephen Wolfram has some inspiring words for the mathematically challenged. In his self-published and unexpectedly popular book, Wolfram argues that sophisticated mathematics has led science astray in its effort to explain the natural world. "A New Kind of Science" proposes that simple rules, not complex equations,...

Service tax garners only 17 votes in Tennessee House By TIM WHALEY A plan to broaden the sales tax to exempt services garnered only 17 votes in the Tennessee House on Thursday, but House members did authorize the use of state reserves from the rainy day fund and 28 earmarked funds to cover a $480 million current year budget deficit. House members then agreed to adjourn until June 19, with only one regular session day left. After that last day expires, lawmakers will not be paid for their services, and only 11 days will remain to pass a budget. The...