Free Republic

Tony Heller @TonyClimate Antarctic sea ice extent is 17% higher today than it was in 1979. Ice doesn't lie, but climate scientists do. https://noaadata.apps.nsidc.org/NOAA/G02135/south/daily/images/1979/12_Dec/S_19791224_extn_v3.0.png https://noaadata.apps.nsidc.org/NOAA/G02135/south/daily/images/2024/12_Dec/S_20241224_extn_v3.0.png

Striking Amazon and Starbucks employees have returned to work amid a busy holiday season, but the Teamsters union representing the Amazon drivers said tensions still persist.The Teamsters Union began striking Dec. 19 at seven Amazon facilities nationwide, alleging that the company disregarded the Dec. 15 deadline it had set for contract negotiations. The strike affected at least 200 facilities nationwide, but Teamsters only represents 7,000 Amazon drivers, which make up less than 1% of the total workforce.Amazon said the strike did not affect holiday operations, and the drivers ended the strike on Christmas Eve. “Make no mistake the Teamsters will...

Who says British punk rockers can't be prophetic?In the U.K., the Brits are "making plans for Nigel," albeit not quite in the way the punk band XTC had envisioned.According to Breitbart News:Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party has now overtaken the UK’s traditional party of government, the Conservatives, in membership, crossing the historic threshold weeks sooner than expected.The most recent public figures for paid-up full members of the Conservative Party, certainly the oldest political party in the United Kingdom and possibly the oldest political party in the world, put it at 131,680 in November. Nigel Farage’s Reform UK — which he...

It is welcome news that Sweden’s Aid Minister, Benjamin Dousa, has said that Sweden will no longer fund UNRWA, apparently satisfied with Israel’s evidence that it has been a HAMAS front. The Arabs there need not worry, though, because Sweden is going to increase the amount of its aid, only using other agencies. Lucky for them. However, Israel could help itself by going further and attacking the very idea that the recipients of UNRWA largesse are “Palestinian refugees” entitled to such aid when there are virtually no refugees among them. And in any case, there is nothing Palestinian about them....

The family of a South Carolina bank teller gunned down during a 2017 robbery is livid after President Biden commuted her killer’s death sentence just days before Christmas. Now Donna Major’s family is left reeling through the holiday season, rattled by the news that the convicted criminal had been shown the mercy he refused to show others. “I was angry. I’m still angry. I am upset that this is even happening, that one man can make this decision without even talking to the victims, without any regard for what we’ve been through, what we’re going through, and completely hurt, frustrated...

CHICAGO — Shoplifters in Chicago are more than 100% more likely to be slapped with felony charges under Cook County’s new state’s attorney than they were under Kim Foxx’s administration. Retired justice Eileen O’Neill Burke took office on December 2 and immediately followed through on her campaign promise to adhere to state law by pursuing felonies against people who shoplift merchandise worth more than $300. Foxx ordered prosecutors to withhold felony charges unless the value exceeded $1,000 or the accused shoplifter had ten or more previous convictions. “The felony retail theft statute says that the value of goods has to...

[Catholic Caucus] A Soldier’s Christmas StoryEditor’s Note: The following was first published in The Remnant many years ago. We’re publishing it again now in memory of the founding editor of The Remnant, Walter L. Matt, who went to his eternal reward in 2002. The article was written by the present writer when he was much younger, and it is essentially a retelling of the true story my father used to tell his nine children about an experience one Christmas Eve during World War II. Please remember him in your prayers. MJM IntroductionThe story I am about to tell is most...

For the second time in a month a stowaway was caught on a Delta Air Lines flight, sparking concerns.The flight, from Seattle to Honolulu, was preparing for takeoff when crew members discovered the unticketed passenger onboard, leading to the plane returning to the gate on Christmas Eve on Tuesday, Dec. 24. Delta Airlines said that safety protocols were followed, resulting in the passenger’s removal and subsequent detention by law enforcement. The identity of the person has not been released. “As there are no matters more important than safety and security, Delta people followed procedures to have an unticketed passenger removed...

Join with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. AULD LANG SYNE by Sissel Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I...

WESTWOOD, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Police are searching for the suspects who allegedly yelled a homophobic slur at a UCLA student near campus and threw wads of paper at the victim. According to the UCLA Police Department, the incident happened on Christmas Eve around 6 p.m. The video featured in the media player above is the ABC7 Los Angeles 24/7 streaming channel The student was walking westbound on the north sidewalk of Weyburn Avenue when a black Mercedes-Benz convertible with four occupants drove up next to the victim, police said. That's when police said one of the occupants yelled a...

When America’s naval ships engage in friendly fire, something has gone terribly wrong.Once again, the spotlight is on the failure of President Joe Biden’s military policies. There are few other explanations for the US Navy assigned to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea being in a position to shoot down one of its own fighters. Questions that need to be answered: What were the Pentagon’s maritime and air policies from which the rules of engagement (ROE) were created? What training procedures led those manning the combat information center radar and weapons operators to identify a US Navy F/A-18EF, the...

After 20 years of teaching, I thought I’d heard every argument in the book from students who wanted a better grade. But recently, at the end of a weeklong course with a light workload, multiple students had a new complaint: “My grade doesn’t reflect the effort I put into this course.”High marks are for excellence, not grit. In the past, students understood that hard work was not sufficient; an A required great work. Yet today, many students expect to be rewarded for the quantity of their effort rather than the quality of their knowledge. In surveys, two-thirds of college students...

The story we’re about to share reveals a failed ten-year experiment by officials in San Francisco, who tried desperately to prove that whites and Asians aren’t better than anyone else when it comes to math. Needless to say, it failed miserably. The truth—one most people are afraid to say out loud—is that the left was, once again, covering for black students, who tend to score much lower in math (and other subjects). This isn’t “racist”; it’s just facts. Brookings:African Americans score lower than European Americans on vocabulary, reading, and math tests, as well as on tests that claim to measure...

Fans of the Christmas classic "It’s a Wonderful Life" are livid over Amazon's abridged version of the movie on its streaming service. The 1946 hit film, which follows the life of businessman and banker George Bailey, sparked outrage after Amazon cut a pivotal portion. Amazon's abridged version doesn't include what many consider "the most important scene," known as the "Pottersville scene," in which George wishes he had never been born, prompting his guardian angel to remind him that he needs to earn "his angel wings." Outraged fans said the scene sets up the rest of the movie and, without it,...

After battling through a shoulder injury for weeks, the Cowboys have opted to shelve Lamb for the remainder of the season in what is the most pivotal matchup of the year for fantasy managers. The team released a statement following the decision, saying that his injury has now progressed to a point that he will be listed as ‘Out’ for the remaining two games of the season.” Despite his injury Lamb still performed at a high level for the Cowboys.

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack. But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus. “It was like watching a field hospital on an active...

The incoming Trump administration will confront some huge financial challenges. It will have to cope with the vast increase in the national debt created by the Biden administration’s reckless spending. It will also need to maintain the solvency of the Social Security system after decades of financial irresponsibility by politicians of both parties. On top of all this, there is an urgent need to build up American military defenses, which have been neglected while taxpayers’ money has been lavishly spent on such things as subsidizing electric cars and paying hotel expenses for illegal immigrants. There is no question that doing...

California farmers could soon enjoy bumper crops thanks to President-elect Donald Trump’s pledge to lift water restrictions. But who will pick them if he follows through on his deportation threats? The country’s largest agricultural constituency backed Trump in November, bucking California’s deep-blue electorate over his campaign promises to “open the faucet” and deliver more water to the state’s parched, conservative-leaning Central Valley. But now it’s reckoning with an uncomfortable contradiction: Trump also campaigned on mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, who make up at least half of the state’s agricultural workforce. That’s left California’s agricultural barons, who employ the most farm...

As Gov. Gavin Newsom enters the second half of his final term, healthcare stands out as his most ambitious but glaringly incomplete initiative for California residents.The issue will probably define his national profile for better or worse, and the incoming Trump administration brings a new wrinkle.SACRAMENTO — Nearly six years after he took office vowing to be California’s “healthcare governor,” Democrat Gavin Newsom has steered tens of billions in public funding to safety net services for the state’s neediest residents while engineering rules to make healthcare more accessible and affordable for all Californians. More than a million California residents living...

Authorities are piecing together an attempted robbery in north Harris County, where the victim turned the tables on his attackers, who actually turned out to be young children. According to Major Suarez with the Harris County Sheriff’s Office, it happened just after midnight. Responding officers were called to an apartment complex on N Houston Rosslyn off Hwy 249 and found a person with several gunshot wounds. That person was later found to be a young child, whose age wasn’t disclosed as of this writing. Emergency crews rushed him to a nearby trauma center, where at last check, he was in...