Free Republic

“The removal of so many iconic, beautiful palm trees, including royal palms, will have a negative impact on our historic, cultural and economic brand,” Meiner wrote in an email. “Millions of tourists throughout the U.S. and the world annually visit Miami Beach and palm trees are an integral part of our brand. There are only a handful of tropical climates in the United States where palm trees can grow.”

Genetic analysis of plant species has long pointed to the lowlands of southwest Amazonia as a key region in the early history of plant domestication in the Americas, but systematic archaeological evidence to support this has been rare. The new evidence comes from recently-exposed layers of the Teotonio archaeological site, which has been described by researchers as a "microcosm of human occupation of the Upper Madeira [River]" because it preserves a nearly continuous record of human cultures going back approximately 9,000 years. In this study, Watling and colleagues analyzed the remains of seeds, phytoliths, and other plant materials in the...

Scientists have grown a tree from what may be the oldest seed ever germinated. The new sapling was sprouted from a 2,000-year-old date palm excavated in Masada, the site of a cliff-side fortress in Israel where ancient Jews are said to have killed themselves to avoid capture by Roman invaders. Dubbed the "Methuselah Tree" after the oldest person in the Bible, the new plant has been growing steadily, and after 26 months, the tree was nearly four feet (1.2 meters) tall.

Police are searching for a gunman after a series of shootings in the Palms area of Los Angeles Thursday afternoon left one dead and three other people injured. The shootings prompted LAPD to go on a citywide tactical alert, a spokesperson said. Eight shots were heard in the 3000 block of Motor Avenue around 3 p.m. near Woodbine Park. A woman was heard screaming and a vehicle fled the scene at a high rate of speed, according to an LAPD spokesperson. One person was killed in the shooting, according to LAPD Sgt. Vincent Aguirre. Three other people were injured, possibly...

et out the cigars—Methuselah, a Judean date palm tree that was grown from a 2,000 year old seed, has become a papa plant. Elaine Solowey, of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura in Israel, recently broke the good news to National Geographic: “He is over three meters [ten feet] tall, he's got a few offshoots, he has flowers, and his pollen is good," she says. "We pollinated a female with his pollen, a wild [modern] female, and yeah, he can make dates." Methuselah sprouted back in 2005, when agriculture expert Solowey germinated his antique seed. It had...

April 17, 2011Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion At the Procession with PalmsAt the MassResponsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel At the Procession with PalmsMt 21:1-11When Jesus and the disciples drew near Jerusalemand came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find an ass tethered,and a colt with her.Untie them and bring them here to me.And if anyone should say anything to you, reply, ‘The master has need of them.’Then he will send them at once.”This happened so that what had been spoken through the prophet...

Boy Survives Falling Off Balcony After Bouncing Off Palm Trees A four-year-old boy had a lucky escape after falling from a 17th floor hotel balcony only to bounce off palm trees and land with minor injuries. By Paul Thompson 06 Jun 2010 Rescuers found Joey Williams still alive after he bounced off a cluster of palm trees and landed on a dirt surface near the hotel's swimming pool. Apart from surviving the 80ft fall he somehow managed to land between two pipes jutting up from the ground. Less than four hours after the fall at his hotel in Miami, Florida,...

April 1, 2007                                      Palm Sunday of the Lord’s Passion                                Psalm: Sunday 12           Reading 1At The MassResponsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel At the Procession with PalmsReading 1Lk 19:28-40 Jesus proceeded on his journey up to Jerusalem.As he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of his disciples.He said, “Go into the village opposite you, and as you enter it you will find a colt tethered on which no one has ever sat.Untie it and bring it here.And if anyone should ask you,‘Why are you untying it?’ you...

Wednesday, February 21, 2007When he lived in Chicago, the Rev. Lou Brusatti remembers, people would see his clerical collar and stop him on the street every Ash Wednesday."Hey, Father, you got any ashes with you?" Brusatti, now the humanities dean at St. Edward's University in Austin, quickly learned to carry a small bag of ashes with him on the day when Christians begin their 40-day Lenten journey.There's something powerful, Brusatti said, about the cross-shaped mark millions of Christians receive on their foreheads every year on Ash Wednesday, which is today. It's a public sign of one's faith, a reminder of...

There's the the new commercial with the billionaire Maloof brothers. If you have that much, a $6,000 Carl's Jr. Six Dollar Burger Combo Meal is a piffle. For the rest of us, its wretched excess.

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. Sergeant Major, thanks for the introduction. It's an honor to be here. I've been really looking forward to coming to Twentynine Palms. The General told me that I'm the first President ever to have come. It's an honor to be the first President, but he also reminded me that my mother beat me to the punch. (Laughter.) I want to share some thoughts with you right quick. One, I'm incredibly proud of the United States Marine Corps. (Applause.) You bring honor to our country. You represent the very best of America. You represent...

Pope Benedict XVI blessed palm fronds and olive branches Sunday in the Vatican, opening a ritual-filled Holy Week that pilgrims in Jerusalem celebrated in a procession retracing Jesus' triumphant return to the holy city some 2,000 years ago.Wearing embroidered red vestments, Benedict processed through St. Peter's Square in Rome, which was lush with the palms and olive trees that are emblematic of the ceremony.The pope told tens of thousands of people gathered under a brilliant springtime sun that the olive branches were symbols of Christ's peace, the palms symbols of his martyrdom. Palm Sunday marks the beginning of the church's...