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Bad weather may have triggered the fall of the Roman Empire. When the Visigoths and other northern barbarians upped sticks and headed south into Roman territory in the 5th century it might have been to escape the cold and poor harvests. Waning sunspot activity is a symptom of a weakened Sun, which could make the world cool by around half a degree. Meteorologist Kevin Pang found that sunspots were conspicuously absent from the historical record. "That was just about the time the Roman Empire fell in 476," he says. The gaps in sunspot sightings coincided with high levels of carbon-14...

The letter signed by seven members of the House Intelligence Committee is at once blatant lobbying for an amendment that would expand Congressional access to classified intelligence and a potent example of its dangers. When the majority of Democrats on the most sensitive committee in Congress are disposed to leak a briefing in order to stigmatize the CIA, it is a harbinger of more dangerous leaks to come. Should the amendment pass, among those with access to state secrets are a congressman who went on a high-profile propaganda trip arranged by Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi Intelligence Service, a former federal judge...

Tell the world what Obama means to you! Here's a brilliant response: "President Obama was able to sit down with our cold war enemy and get them to soften their rhetoric on our missile defense system, and commit to a better relationship going forward. He is the man."

The report in the week just ended on new claims for unemployment insurance was at first blush positive, showing initial claims dropped below 600,000 (to 565,000, the lowest level since January) but a glimpse behind the curtain revealed some anomalies to the numbers -- at least one of which will be repeated in the next report.

I don't get to the lower level of Washington's Union Station much, but today I passed through and saw "My Obama Shop" — that's the actual name of an entire store devoted to all things Obama. My phone takes lousy pictures, but a blogger at Cato has a photo. Obviously there's a market for this sort of thing (I'm assuming it's not a government-owned business, at least for now) is a way there never would be for "My Bob Dole Shop" or "My John McCain Shop," but it's still kind of creepy. In fact, the very fact that there is...

Modern glaciers, such as those making up the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, are capable of undergoing periods of rapid shrinkage or retreat, according to new findings by paleoclimatologists at the University at Buffalo... The proof of such rapid retreat of ice sheets provides one of the few explicit confirmations that this phenomenon occurs. Should the same conditions recur today, which the UB scientists say is very possible, they would result in sharply rising global sea levels, which would threaten coastal populations...The researchers used a special dating tool at UB to study rock samples they extracted from a large fjord...

Despite persistently high unemployment, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Friday the Obama administration's economic stimulus plan is on the "expected path." "There's been substantial improvements in arresting what was the worst recession globally we've seen in generations," Geithner told lawmakers Friday. Geithner's remarks came amid waning public support for President Barack Obama's economic policies. Republican critics say the rising unemployment rate is proof that the $787 billion stimulus has not helped reverse the effects of the recession. "I was just wondering, where do you think your plan went wrong?" asked Rep. Bill Posey, R-Fla. About 2 million jobs have been...

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) stands with Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev during a family photo at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy July 10, 2009 Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi (L) speaks with France's President Nicolas Sarkozy as he leaves the final meeting at the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy July 10, 2009. After two days of talks focused on the economic crisis, trade and global warming, the final day of the G8 gathering in Italy looked at the problems facing the poorest nations. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev holds up a 'worldwide coin' as he discusses the concept of an international...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recently revoked Gov. Mark Sanford's access to classified federal security information, then reinstated it after acknowledging that the suspension was made in error. It was unclear late Thursday whether the suspension was related to Sanford's secret trip last month to Argentina to meet his mistress....

With Tony Blair launching his own plan to save the world (groans), and the G8 leaders also unveiling their thoughts about global warming, this is a big week for environmental fanaticism. Whatever he or they offer, it will not be enough to quell the warmists' semi-religious fervour. They are like medieval preachers, proclaiming to baying crowds that the end of the world is nigh. Well, is it? There are two separate climate issues - the extent of global warming and the role that humanity plays in it. Some facts help. The famous 1996 report by the International Panel on Climate...

John Kerry Will Hold Oversight Hearings on Obama’s Afghanistan SurgeJuly 10, 2009 01:25 PM ET By John Aloysius Farrell, Thomas Jefferson Street blog I caught up with Sen. John Kerry this week and asked him about, among other things, the U.S. war in Afghanistan. Kerry, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, disclosed that he's decided to hold oversight hearings on the Obama administrations handling of the war. You can read about it at GlobalPost. Kerry is one of the few top government officials who can impact U.S. policy to have fought in Vietnam. He soured on the war, and...

...Yet everyone is posting about his ogling girls and his daughter's wardrobe. Please, let's get back on track people! Our country is being destroyed!

The president of the University of California (UC) said on Friday he would propose to its regents that they approve pay cuts through furloughs to shave $515 million from the public university system's costs amid the state's broader budget crisis.

In 1979 the disco industry was worth an estimated $4bn - more than movies, television or professional sport - and accounted for up to 40% of the singles chart. But that same year on 12 July, the actions of one disgruntled rock DJ sparked a revolution that some believe signalled the death of disco. Steve Dahl had left his radio show in Detroit in protest when it adopted an all-disco play list. He found a new home at Chicago's WLUP Loop radio - it was the station "where Chicago rocked". With fellow DJ Garry Meier, they tapped into a growing...

WASHINGTON — After a mass killing of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Taliban prisoners of war by the forces of an American-backed warlord during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan, Bush administration officials repeatedly discouraged efforts to investigate the episode, according to government officials and human rights organizations. American officials had been reluctant to pursue an investigation — sought by officials from the F.B.I., the State Department, the Red Cross and human rights groups — because the warlord, Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, was on the payroll of the C.I.A. and his militia worked closely with United States Special Forces in 2001, several...

Former Vice President Al Gore declared that the Congressional climate bill will help bring about “global governance.”“I bring you good news from the U.S., “Gore said on July 7, 2009 in Oxford at the Smith School World Forum on Enterprise and the Environment, sponsored by UK Times.“Just two weeks ago, the House of Representatives passed the Waxman-Markey climate bill,” Gore said, noting it was “very much a step in the right direction.”Gore touted the climate bill, claiming it “will dramatically increase the prospects for success” in combating what he sees as the “crisis” of man-made global warming.“But it is the...

Over 850,000 copies sold! #1 on the NYTimes Bestseller List for 13 out of 14 weeks!Buy it… read it… live it!“Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

The Obama administration is developing an initiative to take money from the $700 billion program for the banking system and make it available to millions of small businesses, which officials say are essential to any economic recovery because they employ so many people, according to sources familiar with the plan. The new effort -- which would represent a striking shift from the rescue program's original mandate -- would direct billions of bailout dollars toward a program that aims more at saving jobs than righting the financial system. A proposal being floated by senior Treasury Department officials calls for using the...

Rangel to Unveil Health Bill MondayBy Steven T. Dennis Roll Call Staff July 10, 2009, 4:33 p.m. House Ways and Means Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) said Friday afternoon that the House’s health care bill would be unveiled Monday and would include a $540 billion tax increase on people making more than $350,000 a year. The tax increase, which would take effect in 2011, would hit the wealthiest Americans, Rangel said. Rates would become progressively higher, with those making at least $500,000 paying one rate and those bringing in $1 million or more paying the highest rate. He said the surtax...