Free Republic

Hope Florida connects the needy with existing private and nonprofit services to achieve self-sufficiency. To learn how to maximize community collaboration outside government, I traveled our state and held roundtables with our faith-based communities, nonprofits, businesses and state and local government partners. I saw the passion of Floridians spending their time and treasure helping others. But unfortunately, many were working in silos. Within Florida’s Department of Children and Families, we’ve turned state employees into “Hope Navigators.” These employees, who once processed government payments within “the system,” now help parents identify barriers to their family’s prosperity, map out individualized plans, and...

Soil can be considered black gold, and we’re running out it. The United Nations declared soil finite and predicted catastrophic loss within 60 years. “There are places that have already lost all of their topsoil,” Jo Handelsman, author of “A World Without Soil,” and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told CNBC. The impact of soil degradation could total $23 trillion in losses of food, ecosystem services and income worldwide by 2050, according to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. “We have identified 10 soil threats in our global report … Soil erosion is number one because it’s...

Just saw this episode tonight. This is one of the best episodes of Little House on the Prairie that I can remember. Immigrants trying to assimmilate to the USA and thankful for the opportunity. And the tax issues hurting the poor. Wish this were the case today!!

Critics of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, such as Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, were convinced months ago that it would harm the United States... ...International Trade Commission (ITC) was mandated to deliver its verdict... ...the findings landed with a thud. That was only partly because the document was 792 pages long; it also foretold of modest results. It predicted that, by 2032, U.S. real income would be 0.23% higher with the agreement than without and employment would be .07% higher (128,000 full time jobs). Hardly earth-shattering... ...There are limitations to these workhorse trade models... ...Few -- if any --...

When you're an outspoken black conservative like I am, you grow accustomed to vile names, hate mail, disdainful attitudes, snide comments, and the like. For reasons unknown, Caucasians espousing conservative values are not sellouts to their fellow white folk, but blacks and Hispanics are. So people like me, Star Parker, Allen West, Kevin Jackson, Niger Innis, and others develop our own methods of coping with our bullseye cardigans. Whether just laughing it off, addressing it head-on, or ignoring it, we either develop a thick skin or don't do what we do publicly. Pretty much all of these personal attacks come...

Crop rotation is the practice of growing different crops, on the same land, in sequential planting cycles ranging from 2 to 8 years...

You can visit solar homes near you.

Our ever so helpful government has decided that your wood burning stove is now a danger to the world. In another attempt to outlaw the off grid lifestyle, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the same agency that was recently caught using drones to spy on Americans, is now going after home owners who use Wood Burning Stoves to heat their homes. Shortly after the re-election of President Obama, the agency announced new radical environmental regulations that threaten to effect people who live off the grid. The EPA’s new environmental regulations reduce the amount of airborne fine-particle matter from 15 micrograms...

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS or Mormon) has a network of food canning and distribution centers around the nation, where volunteer church members donate time to can food grown on the church’s farms and orchards or purchased from other sources. The purpose of this network of canneries is to provide food to those who have been caught in disasters or just caught short by an ever-declining national economy. Millions of pounds of food are prepared for distribution annually in the LDS canneries. Recently, we have heard rumblings that the federal government has been paying very close...

The traditional eight-hour workday may soon be the exception rather than the rule. New evidence shows that we're reaching a tipping point in terms of workplace flexibility, with businesses seeing the wisdom of allowing employees -- young employees especially -- to work odd hours, telecommute, and otherwise tweak the usual 9-to-5 grind. One of the top 12 trends for 2012 as named by the communications firm Euro RSCG Worldwide is that employees in the Gen-Y or "millennial" demographic -- those born between roughly 1982 and 1993 -- are overturning the traditional workday. The Business and Professional Women's Foundation estimates that...

Washington's recent deficit reduction deal is only the latest, not the last. Deficit reduction is neither a temporary nor a localized phenomenon. Washington finds itself in contradiction to Americans' sentiments, and, even more importantly, their actions. While Washington continues its leveraging, America is de-leveraging. Some may still question whether deficit reduction is good economic policy, but no one is questioning it as political policy. The latter debate is over: Deficit reduction won hands-down. It has become the touchstone of fiscal conservatism, reaching across party lines and the nation — at all levels of government. Why is deficit reduction suddenly such...

This is a Gannett paper, so only the title and a link is allowed. Here is the link http://www.freep.com/article/20110809/NEWS06/110809045/State-puts-needy-families-notice-Assistance-may-running-out?odyssey=tabIt's ironic that a site called freep.com is not allowed at this freeper site.

— Africa can feed itself. And it can make the transition from hungry importer to self-sufficiency in a single generation.The startling assertions, in stark contrast with entrenched, gloomy perceptions of the continent, highlight a collection of studies published December 2 that present a clear prescription for transforming Sub-Saharan Africa's agriculture and, by doing so, its economy. The strategy calls on governments to make African agricultural expansion central to decision making about everything from transportation and communication infrastructure to post-secondary education and innovation investment.

All big oil and gas fields have geopolitical significance, but we haven’t seen a big oil find in recent years that could matter more than the Leviathan field in the Mediterranean Sea off of Israel. In recent days Houston-based Noble Energy and its Israeli partner Delek (controlled by Israeli billionaire Yitzhak Tshuva) announced that Leviathan could hold upwards of 4.3 billion barrels of oil. This is hugely important for Israel, which doesn’t exactly see eye-to-eye with its oil-rich Arab neighbors. Israel is almost completely reliant on imported oil, producing less than 4,000 barrels per day of its 250,000 bpd demand....

An inspirational, grassroots movement is afoot in the Bay Area (yes, another one), and it's going to make the world a better place. No, really. Granted, this region has sprouted its fair share of grassroots movements; however, this particular crusade - dubbed radical homemaking by New York writer and pioneering radical homemaker Shannon Hayes - seems particularly well suited to our socially responsible, food-obsessed, eco-zealous neck of the woods. In her recent book, "Radical Homemakers" (Left to Write Press; $23.95), Hayes, 36, makes a deeply personal and well-supported case - to be expected from someone who holds a doctorate in...

Brother Gregory -- the "Brother" is more of a nickname than an occupational title -- ministers from the Oregon desert where he lives with his wife, some of his grown children and grandchildren. Like other conservative Christians in this growing movement, Brother Gregory believes that Christianity has strayed too far from its roots, and has given its role in people's lives over to the government -- as with welfare programs or health care. ... "Christians should be looking for a way to take care of one another without forcing their neighbor to contribute to their welfare. In essence that's coveting...

Thinking of having a yard sale this weekend? Before you do, be sure to consult CSPC Publication #254 [PDF]. This handy 28-pager from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reminds the American people that, thanks to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, the government is totally in charge of your yard sale: This handbook will help sellers of used products identify types of potentially hazardous products that could harm children or others. CPSC’s laws and regulations apply to anyone who sells or distributes consumer products. This includes thrift stores, consignment stores, charities, and individuals holding yard sales and flea markets....

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2009 – U.S. forces in Iraq are equipping Iraqis with the skills they need to assume a greater role in their nation’s security. A bonfire lights the sky as noncommissioned officers from the 172nd Infantry Brigade welcome 22 graduates of the Blackhawk Warrior Leader Course into the leadership ranks at Forward Operating Base Kalsu, Iraq, March 7, 2009. U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Bethany L. Little  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. An integral part of that process is training, and U.S. forces are arming themselves with knowledge so they, in turn, can help outfit Iraqis...

Unemployed for a year and with an ailing wife at home, Mike Hammer stepped out of his truck in a Concord strip mall and walked into the heart of one of the most sophisticated private welfare systems in the country. Here, in a plain white box of a building, Hammer and other Mormons come to get groceries - everything from produce to meats, much of which comes from Mormon-owned farms and cattle ranches. Others come for counseling, employment help and a self-canning facility, where observant Mormons can up to a year's worth of food supplies in the event of an...

CAMP VICTORY, Iraq, July 30, 2008 – Last month, Iraqi soldiers in Taji recovered two broken-down Humvees on their own and restored them without any help from coalition maintenance personnel. Small accomplishments like that are becoming more and more common, and cumulatively they mark milestones toward the Iraqi security forces becoming self-sufficient. A member of the Iraqi security forces pulls security duty during the inauguration ceremony for the Najaf International Airport, July 20, 2008. U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Michel Sauret, Multinational Division Center  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The difference between the partnership he experienced with...