Free Republic

What do heat waves, floods, droughts, rising sea levels, forest fires, hurricanes, African wars, mass extinctions, disease outbreaks, and human and animal migrations from South America and the Middle East have in common? According to climate activists, they are all caused by dangerous man-made global warming. And this, in turn, is supposedly caused by rising carbon dioxide (CO2) levels resulting from our use of fossil fuels. They might as well add alien invasions to the list, because it is all nonsense. Indeed, the climate scare industry has achieved such a level of absurdity that, on February 1, journalist Andrew Revkin...

What we have been seeing worldwide, from India to the UK to the US, is the rebellion against the inner circle of no-skin-in-the-game policymaking “clerks” and journalists-insiders, that class of paternalistic semi-intellectual experts with some Ivy league, Oxford-Cambridge, or similar label-driven education who are telling the rest of us 1) what to do, 2) what to eat, 3) how to speak, 4) how to think… and 5) who to vote for. But the problem is the one-eyed following the blind: these self-described members of the “intelligenzia” can’t find a coconut in Coconut Island, meaning they aren’t intelligent enough to define...

BELLEVUE, WA – -(Ammoland.com)- You heard it straight from the horse’s mouth. Jay Carney said Obama will sign the UN Arms Trade Treaty “before the end of August…We believe it’s in the interest of the United States.” This is very strategic timing considering Congress is on a 5 week vacation lasting thru the month of August! These back door tactics are nothing new for the Obama Administration, which is why we are using tactics of our own to stop his anti-gun agenda. We have the home fax numbers of every Senator so while they are absent from the Capitol we...

How good was Gallup’s vetting of the questioners at the 2d Presidential debate held at Hofstra on Long Island? One explicitly feminist question was asked by undecided voter Catherine Fenton: And it’s Katherine Fenton, who has a question for you. QUESTION: In what new ways to [do] you intend to rectify the inequalities in the workplace, specifically regarding females making only 72 percent of what their male counterparts earn? By a strange coincidence, there happens to be a Catherine Fenton who in 2008 identified herself as the Media Coordinator of CodePink Long Island. Is she the same Catherine Fenton? Presumably...

One of two nurses' assistants charged in the thefts of wedding bands from ailing, elderly veterans pleaded guilty today in Roanoke Circuit Court to eight felonies. Ashley Michelle Sweeney, 23, of Ferrum admitted that in January she accepted rings taken from four patients at the Virginia Veterans Care Center on Shenandoah Avenue in northwest Roanoke. She also admitted selling them at two pawn shops along Williamson Road. Judge Clifford Weckstein found Sweeney guilty of four counts each of receiving and selling stolen property, offenses that carry a combined maximum penalty of 120 years in prison. She will be sentenced at...

DENVER (CBS4) – Two men are facing charges in a crime that has family members shocked. They are accused of putting their deceased friend into a car and then heading out for a night of bar hopping. Jeffrey Jarrett died last month. The cause of Jarrett’s death is still being investigated. Jarrett’s family is appalled by what happened. Two of his friends, Robert Young and Mark Rubinson, allegedly loaded his body into a car, hit a bar in Denver then another one in Aurora, before finally taking Jarrett, 43, home. Rubinson, 25, and Young, 43, then ended their night at...

11:07 p.m. by Jarett Henshaw ROANOKE CITY - Troy Bird ran as a Republican for the House of Delegates in 2009 against Democrat Onzlee Ware. “I do give him credit because he did get some votes, but he was actually cordial and very statesman like. We never had an mud slinging,” said Ware. Ware won that race by more than 20 points. Bird has now been arrested and charged with forcible sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, and taking indecent liberties with a minor. “Charges are, that’s what they are, only charges I’ll reserve any opinion about the outcome of this case...

Unable to make a July payment on the $9.2 million Buena Vista borrowed to build the Vista Links golf course, the city could lose its municipal building, its police station -- and its golf course. BUENA VISTA -- Gamblers who bet the house and lose end up with their furniture on the lawn and no place to live. The city of Buena Vista has bet the house -- its city hall, actually -- and is now in danger of losing it as payment for a multimillion-dollar debt. Residents looking to fight city hall could suddenly have nowhere to fight. If...

A report that Congressman Rick Boucher might be contemplating retirement brought a quick denial this week from the Abingdon Democrat. It also brought an interesting reaction from a leading Republican who's considering a challenge, Salem Delegate Morgan Griffith. When Washington news organizations suggested that Rick Boucher might be ready to retire from his seat representing the ninth district, the congressman quickly sent them a statement saying he had given no consideration to retiring and is planning to seek re-election. After the news reached Richmond, Salem Delegate and House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith said he's still weighing a possible run for...

A quick search of the Interwebs for the term “political suicide” will return a significant number of stories on the pending Democrat-pushed healthcare “reform” legislation and their seemingly inexplicable political death spiral. Virtually every poll says that the public rejects the bills in the Senate and House, Barack Obama’s popularity is tanking, and virtually no one on the Right OR the Left is happy with them. So the natural question is: Why are the Democrats pushing this? The characterization of the Democrats’ actions as “political suicide” is somewhat inaccurate. It would be more apt to call it “political hari-kari”, as...

1:54 a.m. The Wythe County Sheriff’s Office says Interstate 77 between Wytheville and West Virginia has been shut down due to the weather, and accidents blocking the highway. All other traffic on I-81 and I-77 is moving slowly with only one lane of traffic open. National Weather Service says Roanoke has received a foot of snow. Blacksburg at 11.2 inches. VDOT says multiple sections of Interstate 81 are not moving, on both the northbound and the southbound side from Rockbridge County through Wythe County .

A deadline looms for businesses to glean usable parts from hundreds of automobiles. Last summer's Cash for Clunkers program has clogged auto salvage yards with a glut of trade-ins that are too damaged to drive but too good to be sent directly to scrap. The less glamorous side of the auto industry is having trouble digesting the byproducts of the buying frenzy that put nearly 700,000 new automobiles on the nation's roads -- and took the same number off. The future of millions of usable auto parts is in limbo as a critical deadline looms this winter under the federal...

Every day, nearly 2,500 missing-persons reports are filed across the United States. Few of those reports receive any media attention. Yet the disappearance of Virginia Tech student Morgan Dana Harrington went from local newspaper and television stations to cable television's "Nancy Grace" in 48 hours. According to some television and digital journalism experts, Harrington's case skyrocketed because of a confluence of circumstances including her connection to the site of the largest mass school shooting in U.S. history. Those experts say that the disappearance of the 20-year-old from Roanoke County made national news because: -- Harrington is a young, pretty, blue-eyed...

The orange and white stray cat was brought to Vinton Veterinary Hospital on June 26th and tested positive for rabies four days later. A notice went up on neighbors doors in the Garden City area of Roanoke City. The cat had been seen in the 1500 block of Hillview Avenue. Heather Reed is a Veterinary Technician at Vinton Veterinary Hospital and now has to undergo rabies shots after being bitten by the rabid cat. She says, “I was at home when the health department called me and um got a little frantic because i am five months pregnant and i...

Another day, yet another political sex scandal. Do we need any more reasons to begin a wholesale cleaning of our political house? How can we expect these people to make conscientious decisions? by Michael Naragon Mark Sanford’s admission of his affair on Wednesday prompted differing reactions from different people. Rush Limbaugh, in a rare moment, was nearly speechless upon hearing the announcement. My cynicism toward all politicians kept me from being shocked by the news. My reaction was one of anger, pure and simple. In a time when so many critical issues face the nation, and liberals–including their cohorts in...

Video at link State Police are investigating the death of a 17-year-old after Martinsville (VA) Police used a stun device on a teenager Thursday night. It happened at 307 Rives Road. When 10 On Your side came to the apartment on Friday afternoon, the door was already open, but nobody was inside. What appears empty now, was swarming with police and investigators Thursday night. Justin Gregory, 15, says his friend, 17-year-old Derick, died after a Martinsville officer used a taser on him. Gregory told us Derick and Derick’s mother had only lived in the home for about a week; however,...

A registrar drew fire for pointing out possible effects of students' registering to vote. A Montgomery County official's attempt to outline state elections law for thousands of Virginia Tech students this week prompted a swift reaction from Barack Obama campaign officials, who worried the statement could have a "chilling effect" on a massive registration effort now under way. Montgomery County Registrar Randy Wertz said he wrote the news release, distributed through the county's Web site, amid concerns that the hundreds of Tech students registering to vote using their Blacksburg addresses would essentially change their permanent address. That, he wrote, could...

The woman, identified by police as Loraine May, was found by her son Thursday evening inside her home on Elliot Avenue (see map). He called 911 and officers responded around 5:00pm. The two dogs suspected by police in the attack, a golden lab mix and an Australian Shepherd mix, were taken into custody by Brevard County Animal Control. Police said they don't believe her third dog, a cocker spaniel, was involved. Read entire post at link.

Would all who are so inclined please pray for 2 young men at my daughter's high school, who have been stricken with MRSA? One is fighting for his life, and his situation is very serious. The infection is in his bloodstream, and he could lose his life. The other young man may lose his leg. Can you please pray for Ashton and Cody? There are 2 high schools in my area, that have students who've been infected with MRSA.

West Nile Virus Decimates Suburban Birds WASHINGTON - Birds that once flourished in suburban skies, including robins, bluebirds and crows, have been devastated by West Nile virus, a study found. Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study. The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been known anecdotally.