Free Republic

“Scientists fear ‘Day After Tomorrow’ climate change,” shouts the headline on MSNBC. According to two new studies, global warming could (supposedly) shut down ocean circulation. This could drop vast stretches of Asia into drought and expose the entire Northern Hemisphere to severe ice and snow. “This change would be sudden and sharp enough to roil civilization—happening in as little as three years and resulting in as much as an 18-degree Fahrenheit drop in average temperatures,” says this article by Tony Dokoupil. Dokoupil tells the story of Jud Partin, a geophysicist at the University of Texas, who gathered new geological data...

The government issued their monthly retail sales this past week and four of the biggest department store chains in the country announced their quarterly results. The year over year retail sales increase of 2.4% is pitifully low in an economy that is supposedly in its sixth year of economic growth with a reported unemployment rate of only 5.3%. If all of these jobs have been created, why aren’t retail sales booming? The year to date numbers are even worse than the year over year numbers. With consumer spending accounting for 70% of our GDP and real inflation running north of...

“Is the number of volcanic eruptions worldwide increasing? “Yes,” answers Michael Snyder in this startling article.“ During the 20th century, there were a total of 3,542 volcanic eruptions globally. That works out to approximately 35 eruptions per year. That may sound like a lot, but according to Volcano Discovery there are 36 volcanoes erupting around the world right now. In other words, the number of volcanoes erupting as you read this article is greater than the 20th century’s yearly average.“ And all of this is part of a larger trend. In 2013, we witnessed the most volcanic eruptions worldwide that...

These iPhones are dressed to kill. [UPDATE – August 13, 10:00 AM] In Manitoba, Canada, a man attended a crowded beach with the iPhone 6 gun case mentioned in this article tucked into his bathing suit. Forced to assume that the handle sticking out of the man’s pants was a real handgun, multiple police officers, armed with rifles and tasers, were sent to the beach to address the situation. When it became clear that the man was armed with merely a cell phone case, the frustrated officers let the man go after destroying the case. Sgt. Bert Paquet of the...

In this world, we have a lot of dangers. Giant sharks, fatty foods, all scary things. One very real, and scary, thing we have today, is the manipulation of social media for underage dating (which means exactly what you think it means). Coby Persin decided to use his prank abilities to get parents to see those dangers, and their daughters (right before their eyes no doubt) decide to go meet random strangers who say they're 17...but they're definitely not. (Video at link.)

The trend is significantly increasing the chances that storms will drench California this winter, according to a new report released by federal scientists. They say conditions are lining up in ways not seen since the winter of 1997-98, when downpours filled reservoirs and sent rivers raging during the last major El Niño.The chances are now “greater than 90 percent” that El Niño conditions that began in March will remain through this winter, according to the monthly El Niño report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. http://www.mercurynews.com/drought/ci_28458401/california-drought-el-nino-weather-event-is-biggest Thanks to Marcus Muraca for this link. “It is interesting to note the...

The liberal media has been going absolutely berserk over Donald Trump’s remarks on immigration. However, they are ignoring his stances on other issues, some of which are very insightful. In his book, “Time to Get Tough: Making America #1 Again,” published in 2011, Donald Trump laid out a plan to transform America’s tax code, and it is beautiful. Trump’s code, which he calls the “1-5-10-15 income tax plan,” is a simplistic way to fix our nation’s broken taxation system, without putting the strain on any particular group of people. Under Trump’s tax plan, those making up to… $30,000 per year...

(note: Translated using Bing translator.) It was confirmed the news about the impact of a meteorite in Qazvin, Iran, there would be serious damage Breaking news: has just confirmed the news of a meteorite impact near Qazvin, Iran, not too far from the capital Tehran Iranian State. The news of the meteorite in Iran has just been confirmed by all the major news agencies in Iran, many of whom speak of damage (when wounded or victims have not been confirmed, although on the web are circulating rumors). The meteorite fell near Qazvin, but also near Karaj, Zanjan and Hamedan. The...

Iran has confirmed that a meteor has hit somewhere in the northern part of the country. The meteor landed in Avaj in the province of Qazvin, Mohammad Ali Ahani, director of Qazvin Crisis Management Staff said, Mehr news agency reported July 31. Also, there have been reports that some pieces of rock have hit areas in Eshtehard, Alborz Province, Arsalan Qasemi, governor of Boeen Zahra, county in Qazvin Province, said. Another local governor of Takestan County, Qazvin Province, said that the area witnessed the passing of the meteor, but nowhere in the district under his supervision had been hit.

On June 28, 2015, following a nominal liftoff, Falcon 9 experienced an overpressure event in the upper stage liquid oxygen tank approximately 139 seconds into flight, resulting in loss of mission. This summary represents an initial assessment, but further investigation may reveal more over time. Prior to the mishap, the first stage of the vehicle, including all nine Merlin 1D engines, operated nominally; the first stage actually continued to power through the overpressure event on the second stage for several seconds following the mishap. In addition, the Dragon spacecraft not only survived the second stage event, but also continued to...

The countdown is beginning for today’s launch of the Atlas 5 rocket to haul the Air Force’s GPS 2F-10 navigation satellite into orbit. Clocks are picking up the seven-hour sequence of work that will prepare the booster, payload and ground systems for blastoff at 11:36 a.m. EDT (1536 GMT). The launch team will begin powering up the rocket to commence standard pre-flight tests. Over the subsequent few hours, final preps for the Centaur's liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen systems will be performed, along with a test of the rocket's guidance system and the first stage propulsion and hydraulic preps, internal...

Just after 9 a.m. Thursday morning a good citizen of Toronto saw a dead raccoon on the sidewalk. He alerted the city’s contact centre to come get the animal. The city responded 12 minutes later. Animal Services was notified, they said. But around noon the raccoon was still there. And someone put a note next to it. Six hours after being reported to the city, the raccoon was still on the sidewalk. People had started to create something of a memorial to it. City Councillor Norm Kelly, who is surely one of Canada’s greatest Twitter users, saw the raccoon tweet...

On Monday, Maria Chappelle-Nadal, a Democratic state Senator representing Ferguson, Missouri, posted a $1000 reward for information regarding Facebook critics. According to Fox 2, racist, profane comments were allegedly posted about her on a pro-union Facebook page. Nadal, Fox 2 added, has a strong pro-labor voting record and was angry about the comments, which have since been removed. "$1000: If you can find out his union membership & who employs him (other than his bar)," she tweeted. "Must provide proof." "What a lovely picture of Che Guevara on your page, @MariaChappelleN," said actor Nick Searcy, referring to the background she...

Governors in New Hampshire and Maine are set to make a decision on if the carry of a concealed handgun without a permit will be signed into law in coming days. In New Hampshire, Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) has promised gun control groups she would veto a narrowly successful measure placed on her desk this week. In Maine, Gov. Paul LePage (R) earlier voiced support for a proposal that passed the state legislature by large margins, but has since vowed not to sign any bills under protest of the lawmakers’ refusal to act on eliminating the state’s income tax. LePage’s...

Is something really big about to happen? For months, people have been pointing to the second half of this year for various reasons. For some, the major concern is Jade Helm and the unprecedented movement of military vehicles and equipment that we have been witnessing all over the nation. For others, the upcoming fourth blood moon and the end of the Shemitah cycle are extremely significant events. Yet others are most concerned about political developments in Washington D.C. and at the United Nations. To me, it does seem rather remarkable that we are seeing such a confluence of economic, political...

What happens if you put a 9-foot-long missile in the passenger seat of your convertible and drive for an hour on busy South Florida streets on the day the President of the United States is visiting? Nothing at all. “Some people were a little horrified, but nobody did anything,” Boca Raton businessman Tom Madden said. Madden drove from Dania Beach to Boca Raton on Thursday morning with the business end of an Israeli Air Force air-to-surface missile rising from the passenger seat of his topless Volvo. “I drove 35 miles an hour on U.S. 1 all the way,” Madden said,...

. . . and he/she happens to have heard of that joke before, what can he/she do? I imagine it's a bad idea for him/her to call BS and refuse to follow the order, right? -snip- When my mom worked rotation on OR as a new nurse, she was often sent on errands like "bring back a sterilized fallopian tube." Once she figured out what was going on, she took it as permission to take a coffee break. Then she got sent out to get a pair of left-handed trauma scissors. So, she went and got coffee. After a few...

AMAZING VIDEO of a pair of outlaw tower climbers climbing the Shanghai Tower, the world’s second highest tower, from the street and up into and through the clouds until they get 650 meters off the ground. The rest of the skyscrapers remain far below with their tops pointing straight up through the clouds like hungry children holding their hands up and open hoping to catch a dropped morsel. Check out what the guy does at the 5:00 mark and be ready to vomit all over your tablet. Its sickenly frightening and I am not even all that scared of heights....

“What do floods in Texas have to do with the coming Ice Age?” asks reader Caroline Snyder. “Quite a lot actually! “Looking at the historic record, we only have to go back to the 16th Century; a time when the Little Ice Age was causing devastation across Europe, but what of the South-West US?“ This article, amongst other things, looks to first hand accounts by Europeans amongst other things. Little Ice Age (Excerpt) – “…if you think it’s cold here in the Southwest now, you should have been around back in the days when the Spanish, Mexicans and Anglos settled...

The experimental aircraft, which has a wingspan bigger than a jumbo but weighs little more than a large car, left Nanjing at 02:39 (18:39 GMT). It is likely to take Mr Borschberg five to six days of continuous flight to reach his central Pacific destination. He will try to stay awake for much of that time, taking only short catnaps. His progress will be monitored the entire way from a control room in Monaco. Meteorologists and flight strategists will constantly update him on the best route to follow.