Free Republic

Where, oh where, is the planet's missing heat? In 1999, the feverish rise in Earth's surface temperatures suddenly slowed, even as greenhouse gas emissions escalated. This unexpected slowdown has been called a global warming hiatus or global warming pause. Most climate scientists don't think this hiatus means global warming went kaput, but the reason (or reasons) for the slowdown has scientists flummoxed. Researchers have offered more than two dozen ideas to explain the missing heat.

"fingerprints will have to be scanned before a person can purchase items at the grocery store."

Click on link.

As we await word that Quinn and Rose are returning soon, - and it looks like something is in the works - our friendly group of dedicated FReeper Q&R fans will continue to meet in our usual spot as we always have! So grab your coffee - or whatever you choose to start your day - and drop in for some political chit-chat, or just to shoot the breeze! We are all coming from - or going to - work, but we all stop in to say ‘hi!’ Feel free to join us!

It takes a lot to make me angry. But one thing that will do it every time is the occasional college administrator who hides behind a university spokesperson or public relations firm. Last week, Bryan College made the serious mistake of attempting to contact me through a hired public relations firm. They made the additional error of having their public relations specialist ask me questions about the “substance” (that means accuracy) of my reporting about Bryan. To be as clear as possible, I am the reporter in this situation. That means I am the one asking the questions. After Bryan’s...

National Geographic‘s Vincent J Musi will quite literally do whatever it takes to get the animal portrait he’s looking for, including kneeling in urine while singing Tom Jones’ “What’s New Pussycat?” to a growling Snow Leopard… hand gestures included.

n the wake of the controversial caught-on-camera chokehold death of Eric Garner, the city’s public advocate is pushing to equip city cops with body cams to record all interactions with the public. “We’ve got a tool at our disposal, which is used in other jurisdictions, that in fact can improve police-community relations,” Public Advocate Letitia James said Thursday. “The question is why it isn’t implemented in New York City.” The waterproof three-ounce cameras James demonstrated, worn on a lapel or belt, would record audio and visual for up to eight hours on a single battery charge. On July 17, a...

Actor Robin Williams was cremated and his ashes were scattered in San Francisco Bay, according to his death certificate. Williams was found dead in his Northern California home August 11 from what investigators suspect was a suicide by hanging. The certificate, obtained by CNN on Thursday, says his ashes were scattered off the coast one day later.

President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela has announced a mandatory fingerprinting system in supermarkets to combat food shortages and smuggling. He said the system would stop people from buying too much of a single item. But the opposition in Venezuela rejected the plan, saying the policy treated all Venezuelans as thieves. Critics said fingerprinting consumers of staple products was tantamount to rationing and constituted a breach of privacy. Up to 40% of the goods which Venezuela subsidises for its domestic market are smuggled to Colombia, where they are sold at much higher prices, the authorities say.

Researchers have carried out the biggest ever comparative study of stone tools dating to between 130,000 and 75,000 years ago found in the region between sub-Saharan Africa and Eurasia. They have discovered there are marked differences in the way stone tools were made, reflecting a diversity of cultural traditions. The study has also identified at least four distinct populations, each relatively isolated from each other with their own different cultural characteristics. The research paper also suggests that early populations took advantage of rivers and lakes that criss-crossed the Saharan desert. A climate model coupled with data about these ancient water...

I GOTS TO GET ME SOME FREE STUFF

[Deputy] Love, a 13-year veteran, responded to a domestic-violence call Aug. 15 at a mall in Lakewood, where a man and woman were fighting. As one deputy interviewed the woman, Love went to search the mall for the suspect, later identified as Frankie Estrada, 21. He found Estrada and was walking him out of the mall when Estrada attacked him, knocked him to the ground and began kicking and stomping on Love’s head and neck, authorities said. A bystander intervened and pulled Estrada away long enough for other deputies to reach Love. Sheriff’s investigators are not releasing the good Samaritan’s...

Economists say regional poverty trends are ‘alarming.’ Redlands-based economist John E. Husing issued a dire warning Wednesday, as elected officials from across Southern California pledged to reignite Lyndon Johnson’s war on poverty: “If we do not solve this problem, we are not going to want to live in Southern California. The communities are going to become unhinged.” Husing is one of several economists who looked at findings from the 2012 American Community Survey and state Employment Development Department to find out where poverty is concentrated in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, Ventura, San Bernardino and Imperial counties. Some of the results...

Now that's weird...about 15 minutes ago, Discovery Channel posted a message from the original "Mythbusters" duo of Adam savage and Jaime Hyneman. In it they wished the trio of Tory Bellaci, Grant Imihara, and Kari Byron a fond farewell and wished them "all the best". There were no announcements from Discovery about any problems or arguments with the three prior to this. In fact, the trio represented 'Mythbusters' at the Emmy Awards just this last week. No one saw this coming. Already, the response on the 'Mythbusters' Facebook page is off the charts. The fans of the show are giving...

Late 1960s: Economy Class Seating on a Pan-Am 747 The 1960's were barely done when Pan Am again set a standard the rest of the world was forced to follow. Pan American's Boeing B-747 Jumbo Jets brought down the cost of long distance air travel once again. Source: Pan Am Historical Foundation

Okay, Whovians, your long wait is over. On August 23, BBC America will broadcast the first episode of the new season of the classic science fiction show, “Doctor Who.” It will introduce Peter Capaldi, 56, as the latest incarnation of the Doctor.

For the third time this summer, computers in the House have been blocked from editing Wikipedia due to a string of controversial edits. Anonymous users operating from an Internet Protocol (IP) address linked to the House were banned from editing the site for a month late on Wednesday. The action came after a series of edits people using the IP address made to pages on the user-generated encyclopedia about transgender people that many on the site considered offensive.

Lt. Col. Tony Shaffer (Ret.) is a CIA-trained former senior intelligence officer and he says that the rescue operation for American journalist James Foley wasn’t successful because President Obama “dragged his feet”. "Thursday morning, Shaffer appeared on WMAL radio in Washington, D.C., to discuss the ISIS execution of American journalist James Foley earlier this week. He told me and co-host Brian Wilson that the recently revealed rescue attempt led by Special Forces earlier this summer failed because President Obama was slow to give the go-ahead: I’m hearing from my friends in the Pentagon, they are giving him every single option...

And also her costume appears to be painted or possibly even just tattooed on. And I guess she’s in a crawling position, even though she’s clearly perched on a ledge, so she doesn’t really need to do the whole “wall-crawling” thing.

Amazing photo from SECCHI HI2 dated August 18, 2014. What the heck is that thing?! The big dot on the right with the line going through it is the planet Venus.