Free Republic

Al Gore believes that Donald Trump will not halt the momentum of the climate movement even if he withdraws the US from the Paris agreement. The environmental activist said that he was confident Trump would commit to the historic climate change agreement, but that even if he did not, it would still not be enough to reverse the move towards renewable energy in many American cities. “I think there’s an excellent chance that he will surprise many by deciding to stay in the Paris agreement,” Gore said. “The Paris agreement has an historic significance of its own,” he said. “And...

Synopsis: This is an anonymous source alert – and at least that’s more than either the Wash Post or the NYT has given you. A person on something called Boardnet – and within Boardnet, on something called - /pol/ - posted the following last Wednesday, May 17. “[I am a] 4th-year surgery resident here who rotated from WHC (Washington Hospital Center) last year, it won’t be hard to identify me but I feel that I shouldn’t stay silent.” ”Seth Rich was shot twice, with three total gunshot wounds (Entry and exit, and entry). He was taken to the OR emergency...

A black Texas congressman said Saturday that he’s been threatened with lynching by callers infuriated over him seeking impeachment of President Donald Trump. U.S. Rep. Al Green held a town hall meeting and played recordings of several threatening voicemails left at his offices in Houston and Washington, the Houston Chronicle reports . The seven-term Democrat told the crowd of about 100 people that he won’t be deterred. […] One male caller used a racial insult and threatened Green with “hanging from a tree” if he pursues impeachment. Another man left a message saying Green would be the one impeached after...

The Cuban Coast Guard reported, that they had captured an unmanned ship heading for the island, which is dared to be the SS Cotopaxi, a tramp steamer which vanished in December 1925 and has since been associated with the legend of the Bermuda Triangle. The Cuban specialists detected the ship surprisingly on May 16, close to a limited military zone, west of Havana. They made numerous unsuccessful endeavors to speak with the team, lastly prepared three watch vessels to block it. When they achieved it, they were amazed to find that the ship was really an about 100-year old steamer...

"The Ruini Report": If Only It Were a Joke The Anti-Fatima Apparition Gains Ground by Christopher A. Ferrara May 18, 2017 The findings of the long-awaited “Ruini Report” of the Ruini Commission (named after its chairman, Cardinal Camillo Ruini), concerning the validity of the so-called Marian apparitions at Medjugorje that have supposedly been going on since 1981, have now been revealed. The result of the Commission’s labors, which began during the reign of Benedict XVI, is just what one would expect in the post-conciliar epoch: a refusal to state clearly that a proposition concerning the Faith is simply true or...

In a story that encapsulates just how reckless social media can be in disseminating fake news — and how gullible people can be — a false report that Fox News’ Tucker Carlson was killed in a car crash swept across Facebook. A fake news site claimed Tucker “succumbed to his injuries and died overnight after being hit head-on while driving home,” according to The Inquisitr. …and the death hoax was shared on Facebook more than 16K times overall.

SNIPS On January 6, 2017, the U.S. Intelligence Community issued an “Intelligence Community Assessment” (ICA) that found Russia deliberately interfered in the 2016 presidential election to benefit Trump’s candidacy.  The news media and Trump critics have claimed this assessment ended the debate on this issue because it was the unanimous and objective conclusion of “all 17” U.S. Intelligence Agencies.  I also contended in my January article that the January 6 ICA was suspicious because it reached unusually clear judgments on a politically explosive issue with no dissenting views.  I previously thought the ICA’s unambiguous, dissent-free judgments were the result...

If you're sniffling and sneezing a lot more lately, you're hardly alone. Climate change is making seasonal allergies worse, an expert says. "With the combination of increased temperature and carbon dioxide, we are seeing a dramatic change, and allergy sufferers can probably feel that change," said Dr. Richard Weber, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "We are experiencing longer allergy seasons, earlier onset and there is just more pollen in the air," said Weber, who's also an allergist at National Jewish Health in Denver. About 40 million Americans have seasonal allergies -- also known as hay...

Two years ago when I was living in Nicaragua, my friends and I were at a house party drinking Flor de Caña rum. Hearing that I was a journalist, an acquaintance leaned in and said that there was something I needed to hear. She began to tell me a story about that very rum we were drinking, and how people were dying because of it. Many of the workers who harvested sugarcane for the rum were suffering from chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology (CKDu), she said, a kidney failure disease correlated with heavy workload, heat, dehydration, and possibly pesticides....

While President Trump has talked tough in the past about his skeptical views on climate change, his administration appears to be taking a more cautious approach to the issue on the world stage in the early days of his presidency. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson signed a document today calling climate change a “serious threat” to the Arctic and noting the need for action to reduce its potentially harmful effects. The document, known as the Fairbanks Declaration, concluded Tillerson's chairing of a meeting of the Arctic Council, a board made up of indigenous groups and the eight countries bordering...

African-American, Caribbean-American and Hispanic communities are typically located miles from South Florida beaches where climate change is most visible — but people who live in those areas are profoundly vulnerable to the effects, political leaders and climate science experts said Wednesday. And, panelists at a Fort Lauderdale conference said, there’s a growing awareness in minority communities of the implications of climate change. The environmental movement was long seen as the province of “white tree huggers,” said Caroline Lewis, director of the CLEO Institute. But that is changing, said Lewis, who is Caribbean-American. “Here in southeast Florida, it is almost flipping,”...

Four U.S. states have sued Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the Interior Department and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to block new leases of public lands for coal mining, according to papers filed on Tuesday in Montana federal court. State prosecutors for California, New Mexico, New York and Washington are arguing new coal extraction would exacerbate global warming and violate the federal government's statutory duty to use public lands "in a manner that will protect the quality of scientific, scenic, historical, ecological, environmental, air and atmospheric, water resource, and archaeological values," according to the filings. The move was one of...

A proposal to restructure one of California's landmark climate change initiatives goes before a state Senate committee on Wednesday, stepping up a legislative debate about the future of the state's cap-and-trade program. The measure would end the current program and impose a perpetually escalating tax on carbon emissions, with much of the revenue it generates going back to taxpayers to offset the higher bills they'd face for gas and energy. The bill, written by Democratic Sen. Bob Wieckowski of Fremont, would allow the state to charge a fee for carbon emissions that would apply to all industries, with a price...

The European Union urged the United States on Tuesday to keep funding U.N. agencies and stay committed to a global deal combating climate change. Agencies such as the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, the World Food Progamme and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR are funded voluntarily by governments and the United States is a top contributor to many of them. "Let me be very clear, and speak directly to our American friends. It is essential for us that we all keep investing in these U.N. agencies. They are as important to global peace and security as defense spending – or even...

In January, Kehler Liddell was the first gallery in the state to present an exhibit of protest art stemming from the inauguration of the current president. That show focused on a myriad of human-rights and philosophical concerns. The New Haven art space is doing it again, this time zeroing in on one topic: the environmental devastation of global warming. "We have deemed ourselves gods of this planet, deciding to abuse and ravage our home, rather than cherish her many gifts," Elizabeth Asstle-O'Donnell, one of the artists in the show, said in an artist statement. Asstle-O'Donnell contributed a piece made of...

Global temperatures could rise more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2026 if the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation shifts into a positive phase. The Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation, or IPO, is an ocean-atmosphere climate phenomenon that drives weather patterns and global temperatures. It's similar to the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, but covers a large portion of the Pacific. According to a new study by climate scientists at the University of Melbourne, a positive phase IPO would dramatically accelerate global warming. The IPO has remained in a negative phase since 1999, but significant oceanic and atmospheric warming over the last three years suggests the phenomenon...

As the world continues to take in Emmanuel Macron's resounding victory in the French election, attention is already turning to his plans for the next five years, with the environment likely to be a key part of the independent centrist's presidency. In 2015, global leaders gathered in Paris for the COP21 summit. It is feared that U.S. President Donald Trump could pull out of the deal. Whatever Trump decides to do, it is clear that Macron wants to harness the talents of climate change researchers working in what appears - at least in some parts - to be an increasingly...

As you know, we now have a roiling, renewed debate over whether a mix of Russian hacking and James Comey’s final week intervention in the November election shifted the balance in Donald Trump’s favor. Even more, it’s a public debate over whether Hillary Clinton should keep claiming this is so or just, in one side’s view, own up to her failed campaign and stop making excuses. Plenty of others have argued this case on the merits, particularly Nate Silver looking at Comey’s intervention and its effect on polls in the final week of the campaign. Others have delved into psychological...

A church organist was arrested Wednesday after he vandalized his own church with a swastika and pro-Trump graffiti in order to “mobilize a movement.” George Nathaniel Stang, 26, admitted in a handwritten statement to spray painting a swastika, “fag church,” and “heil Trump” on St. David’s Episcopal Church in Bean Blossom, Indiana. “I suppose I wanted to give local people a reason to fight for good, even if it was a false flag,” Stang wrote, according to a local NBC report. “To be clear my actions were not motivated by hate for the church or its congregation. I of course...

Climate change will bring some surprising effects: Bumpy plane rides, greater mood swings and more volcanic eruptions are just a few of the things we can expect over the decades to come. And yes, even more lightning. We're already familiar with some of the more evident effects of global warming such as melting glaciers and more extreme weather events. But few people are aware of some of the other, less obvious - and completely surprising - impacts of our changing climate, which could have a serious impact on the way we live. 1. Airplane turbulence will get worse 2. Icebergs...