Free Republic

Barack Obama’s leading polling expert is also a member of an elite, invitation-only collection of liberal moneymen. Paul Harstad is a member of the Democracy Alliance, according to documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon. The Alliance steers tens of millions of dollars to campaigns and groups backed by the White House, including the president’s Super PAC, Priorities USA, as well as to liberal nonprofits such as the Center for American Progress and Media Matters for America. Harstad is the closest direct tie between the administration and the secretive group, which does not disclose its members or donors. He has...

OSLO, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Worms squirming on a fishhook feel no pain -- nor do lobsters and crabs cooked in boiling water, a scientific study funded by the Norwegian government has found."The common earthworm has a very simple nervous system -- it can be cut in two and continue with its business," Professor Wenche Farstad, who chaired the panel that drew up the report, said on Monday.Norway might have considered banning the use of live worms as fish bait if the study had found they felt pain, but Farstad said "It seems to be only reflex curling when put...