Free Republic

Spending time outside in nature has its perks, and wildlife encounters can certainly be one of them. Some visitors in the Rio Grande Valley State Park had a different kind of encounter, though, when their trail camera caught something on film that they couldn't identify. They sent the tape to the Texas Parks and Wildlife team, who then released it to the public in a popular Facebook post. As you can imagine, the mystery creature has everyone talking. Guesses are pouring in front left and right as to what animal it is, though some of our favorite guesses are more...

The building of the world’s largest bioreactors to produce cultivated meat has been announced, with the potential to supply tens of thousands of shops and restaurants. Experts said the move could be a “gamechanger” for the nascent industry. The US company Good Meat said the bioreactors would grow more than 13,000 tonnes of chicken and beef a year. It will use cells taken from cell banks or eggs, so the meat will not require the slaughter of any livestock. There are about 170 companies around the world working on cultured meat, but Good Meat is the only company to have...

Ahead of the 2022 Super Bowl, Jack in the Box puts together the new, limited-time Super Snacking Box, which includes 90 Tiny Tacos and six dips for $20. Tiny Tacos are mini versions of Jack in the Box's Taco that featured seasoned taco meat inside of a crispy taco shell. They normally come 15 to an order for $3.49 (may vary). If you're doing the math, you can normally get the same number of tacos as in the Super Snacking Box by ordering 6 orders of Tiny Tacos for $20.94 (they'll just come in six separate boxes rather than one...

Can a limited-time only sandwich have a midlife crisis?Last week, Nirvana's Nevermind album celebrated its 30th anniversary, a milestone that left many fans feeling especially old. But today, McDonald's made an announcement that could leave those of a certain age feeling like they have one foot in the grave: Not only is the McRib coming back… it's celebrating its big 4-0. Yes, the iconic McRib was first launched in Kansas City, Kansas, forty year ago in 1981, a time when fast food limited-time only items still felt novel. To make '80s' kids feel even older, McDonald's goes so far as...

A New York Times analysis found no identifiable tuna DNA in Subway’s tuna sandwich, the newspaper reported over the weekend, citing tests conducted by a commercial lab. The Times bought 60 inches of Subway tuna sandwiches from three different Subway locations in Los Angeles. A reporter for the newspaper then removed and froze the tuna and sent it to an unidentified commercial food testing lab. The newspaper said it paid roughly $500 for the lab to conduct a PCR test to see if the substance had one of five different tuna species. After a month, the lab said it found...

BiteLabs grows meat from celebrity tissue samples and uses it to make artisanal salami. It all starts with your favorite celebrities, and a quick biopsy to obtain tissue samples. Culture Isolating muscle stem cells, we grow celebrity meat in our proprietary bioreactors. Meats In the tradition of Italian cured meats, we dry, age, and spice our product into fine charcuterie

For cultured meat—which has gone by many names including lab-grown meat, clean meat, or slaughter-free meat—the question has not been “if” but “when.” The development of growing animal cells into edible meat has continued, only the timeline was uncertain. Back in 2016, an Israeli company called SuperMeat even took a guess, suggesting their lab-grown chicken would be available by July 2021. Turns out they weren’t far off, but they also weren’t the first ones to get there. This weekend, Eat Just—which until recently was best known for its plant-based Just Egg—will become the first company in the world to have...

The McRib is back and better than ever! McDonald's premier rib sandwich has made its grand seasonal return to some 9,000 locations, the popular burger chain announced on Thursday. 'The McRib is made with 100 percent seasoned boneless pork, McDonald's signature sweet, tangy, barbecue style McRib sauce and served with dill pickles and mild, slivered onions on a toasted hoagie-style bun,' a company spokeswoman told KHOU.

Vegetarian food-maker Tofurky filed a lawsuit in Missouri on Monday seeking to defend its right to describe its products with meat terminology such as "sausage" and "hot dogs," as long as the packaging makes clear what the ingredients are. The Hood River, Oregon-based company and The Good Food Institute, which advocates for plant-based diets, say a Missouri law set to take effect Tuesday that bars companies from "misrepresenting" products as meat if they're not from "harvested livestock or poultry" is too vague and could be used to go after a range of vegetarian products that use such terminology. Tofurky says...

Good Catch Foods, the Pennsylvania-based startup which makes seafood out of plants, closed an $8.7 million Series A funding round yesterday. This ups their Series A from the $5.5 million the company announced in April. The round was led by New Crop Capital with participation from Stray Dog Capital, the PHW Group, Blue Horizon, and others. Founded in 2016, Good Catch Foods is developing plant-based alternatives to shredded tuna, crab cakes, and fish patties. They’re aiming to bring their fish-free tuna, which comes in three flavors and has roughly half the protein of “real” tuna, to market by 2019. According...

Last week was a momentous one for the future of genetically engineered foods, both in the U.S. and in Europe. On July 24, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Impossible Burger, an all-veggie burger that "bleeds" and sizzles just like meat. The burger's star ingredient — a protein called heme that renders blood red and helps make meat a carnivore's delight — was granted GRAS (generally recognized as safe) status. In 2015, the FDA had required that the $400 million Silicon Valley startup, Impossible Foods, demonstrate that their heme, made by genetically modified yeast, was safe. But across...

Spam, Spam, Spam, Spam…is there any food product that’s more divisive than Spam? When it comes to this American staple, you either love it or you hate it. But it’s actually one of the more intriguing food products out there, with a long, wild history. Here are six things that you probably didn’t know about this legendary tinned lunch meat.

The House on Thursday took the first step toward resuscitating the White House’s trade agenda by passing legislation granting President Obama fast-track authority. The bill now goes to the Senate, where the White House and GOP leaders are seeking to strike a deal with pro-trade Democrats. The House vote was 218-208, with 28 Democrats voting for it. This is the second time in a week the House has voted to approve the controversial fast-track bill. On Friday, the House voted 219-211 in favor of fast-track, which would make it easier for Obama to complete a sweeping trans-Pacific trade deal. In...

If the largest trade deals in U.S. history have any chance of becoming law, they will require an unusual alliance between the Obama administration and pro-trade Republicans. An emerging consensus is that this union could be tested soon, with the upcoming “lame duck” session of Congress considering a procedural bill called “Trade Promotion Authority” that would smooth both negotiation and congressional consideration of U.S. free trade agreements. For TPA to pass (now or next year), President Obama and Republicans will need to work together to overcome opposition from Democrats allied with traditional anti-trade groups, like environmentalists and labor unions. But...

On Friday, Congress disrupted President Obama’s plan for a sweeping transfer of U.S. sovereignty to an unaccountable group of foreign busybodies. Hurray for the stalwart Americans who resisted the demands of Obama, the Republican leadership, and the big-donor claque, but Speaker Boehner plans to give Congress another chance this week to make this dangerous mistake. The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would turn over to globalists the power to issue regulations about U.S. trade, immigration, the environment, labor and commerce. It’s called a “living agreement” which means the globalists can amend and change the text of the so-called agreement after it has...

Legal Memorandum #4 on Trade and Economic Freedom Why Trade Promotion Authority is Constitutional By Edwin Meese III and Todd F. Gaziano - November 2001 Congress is expected to vote soon on whether to grant trade promotion authority (TPA) to President George W. Bush. Some critics of TPA have suggested that it might compromise national sovereignty and may actually be unconstitutional. But an important aspect of national sovereignty is the right to enter into international agreements and to participate in their enforcement. Being bound by agreements, such as mutual defense treaties, does not weaken sovereign power even though it obligates...

President Obama's ambitious trade agenda unraveled Friday in a stunning setback delivered by his own party as the House rejected an important piece of a package aimed at fast-tracking a controversial trade pact he is pursuing with 11 other Pacific Rim nations. Hoping to salvage what could be a key part of his legacy, Obama dashed to Capitol Hill before the vote Friday for a rare early morning meeting with Democrats. But amid fears that a trade deal would hurt American workers, even Obama's dramatic personal intervention failed to generate the Democratic votes needed to bolster his unusual alliance with...

Excerpt: In the United States, this means the L-1 intra-company transferee, B-1 business visitor visa programs, and any other applicable visa programs could be used to permit temporary employees from abroad to work in the United States, and no economic needs tests (i.e., testing the labor market) could ever be imposed by Congress. To translate, that means that foreign firms would not be required to advertise jobs to U.S. workers, or to hire U.S. workers if they were equally or better qualified for job openings in their own country. (It should be noted that the L-1 is already restricted in...

This week, Congress has a historic opportunity to unite behind an issue that will create jobs, raise wages and solidify the U.S. as the leader in the 21st century economy. On Friday, the House is expected to vote on a bill known as trade promotion authority, or TPA. This legislation would empower Congress to dictate the terms of free trade agreements and ensure the U.S. secures the best trade deal possible for American workers, manufacturers, farmers and ranchers. This issue shares broad bipartisan support ranging from Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Congressman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and President Obama. Its passage is...

Reports that the National Security Agency (NSA) routinely breaks the law and violates court orders and the Constitution in order to collect private data of hundreds of millions of Americans has prompted some federal lawmakers to finally exercise a little oversight. “Press reports that the National Security Agency broke privacy rules thousands of times per year and reportedly sought to shield required disclosure of privacy violations are extremely disturbing,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), as reported by the Washington Post. The article in the Post also says Pelosi thinks “Congress should take steps to ensure that such incidents...