Free Republic

Perhaps the most notorious case of mass hysteria in colonial America, the Salem witch trials saw around 200 people accused of witchcraft, with 19 found guilty and executed. Another man was crushed to death for refusing to plead, while five others died in jail. The incident began in February 1692 when a group of young girls claimed to have been possessed by the devil and accused other women of being witches. Hysteria spread through colonial Massachusetts and a special court was convened to hear trials of those accused. By September public opinion turned against the trials and they eventually closed...

Stefani McDade, a cronie of Russell Moore—both of whom seem to have taken up residence as thought-leaders in leftist Christianity—has been named the “theology editor” at Christianity Today. Yes, that Christianity Today—once a respectable outlet for serious Christians but now a glorified progressive mouthpiece masquerading as a platform for the faithful. McDade recently published an article and then took to Twitter/X to endorse one of the most foolish, irresponsible ideas a professing Christian could have, shipping your children off to public schools. In her tweet, she equates public schools with “strength training” for children’s faith, urging parents to let their...

A report released Monday by USC’s Understanding America Study (UAS) suggests the use of hyperbolic terms to describe global warming has no effect on people’s perceptions of the urgency of climate change. The study notes that climate crusaders like the UK’s Guardian newspaper have officially opted for expressions like “climate crisis” and “climate emergency” in an attempt to raise concern and convey urgency, yet it would seem that such efforts are in vain. “Instead of ‘climate change’ the preferred terms are ‘climate emergency, crisis or breakdown’ and ‘global heating’ is favoured over ‘global warming,’ although the original terms are not...

Hurricane Beryl has wreaked havoc in parts of the Caribbean – and put the role of climate change under the spotlight. With maximum sustained wind speeds of more than 160mph (257km/h), it became the earliest category five Atlantic hurricane in records going back around 100 years. In fact, there has only been one previous recorded case of a category five Atlantic hurricane in July – Hurricane Emily, on 16 July 2005. The causes of individual storms are complex, making it difficult to fully attribute specific cases to climate change. But exceptionally high sea surface temperatures are seen as a key...

Democrats don't believe the election comes down to this; nor should we. Democrats have a slogan this presidential election: “Democracy is at stake.” Or, they might have a slogan. They’re still running the numbers on it, and they’re not quite sure whether to go with it. While Biden’s “brain trust” is reportedly committed to that message, other Democrats aren’t so sure; apparently it doesn’t poll all that well. By debating the strategy, they’re making it clear that they don’t really believe it. Of course, treating it as a campaign tactic makes that obvious. If Democrats seriously believed Trump was a...

VIDEOMany astronomers have stated that our total eclipse of the sun by the moon is a unique event in the entire universe since the odds against it make it almost an impossibility. Yet here it is happening on the one place in the universe where we know there exists intelligent life that can appreciate such a miraculous event, CLOUDY weather is predicted for much of the path of totality in the United States. As a result we now have an outbreak of extreme Eclipse Anxiety as you can see in this video. The funniest reaction was from Al Roker who...

Surprise hotel cancellations in Buffalo, New York, darkened dozens of visitors’ eclipse-viewing plans, ending their stays in one of the prime viewing spots for the April 8 solar eclipse before they even began. Multiple would-be guests told WIVB that their plans to stay at Buffalo’s Aloft hotel were abruptly canceled just one week before their planned trip due to overbooking by travel agencies and third-party sites like Booking.com. Some of the travelers had made their reservations up to two years before the planned visit, when they first learned that Buffalo would be in the path of the eclipse, a New...

Multiple regions across the US declared a state of emergency in preparation for the solar eclipse that will transverse the continental US on April 8. While Monday’s eclipse will be at least partially visible throughout all 48 contiguous states, officials are concerned that tourists will flood areas where the totality can be viewed. The path of totality-where the moon completely blocks the face of the sun – begins in Texas and heads in a narrow band up toward the Northeast, stretching across portions of 13 US states and parts of Canada and Mexico. There will not be another visible total...

former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines has emerged as a powerful advocate for the integrity of women's sports. Poised beyond her years — she's 23 — Gaines has handled everything that the frothing, hate-filled advocate Left has thrown at her because she speaks the truth. She recently spoke before the House Oversight Committee and brilliantly smacked down an idiot Democrat who called her "transphobic." Another female NCAA athlete has been getting some attention for speaking truth to insanity. .. volleyball player Macy Petty spoke about her two biggest concerns regarding trans athletes, the first being a growing number of stolen opportunities...

Esparto High School near Sacramento confirmed it canceled a game after it said six players tested positive for COVID-19. Two California high schools have confirmed that they canceled football games because of COVID-19 cases among students. Esparto High School near Sacramento confirmed that it canceled a game after it stated that six players tested positive for COVID-19. It also stated that multiple players were also injured and that it didn't have enough players for a game. This comes as there have been concerns that virus-related rules might be reimplemented in the coming months. ... Hundreds of miles away, a high...

National Public Radio was in a frenzy the other morning but it felt like the movie Groundhog Day: they were spreading tremendous alarm about the rise of Covid cases. We have to stop the spread, the announcer said, and that’s why masks are coming back to classrooms. However, they added, relief is on the way in the form of a new vaccine. Rinse, repeat — as the shampoo bottles say. This line of thinking — stop the spread to reduce strain on hospitals, mask up, and so on — is being echoed by all major media organs. Leading the way...

In 1590, in Scotland, an elderly woman named Agnes Sampson was arrested. She was from East Lothian. Earlier in her life she had been a midwife and a healer, but lately she had been living in poverty. She was tried, found guilty and taken to Edinburgh Castle where, on 28 January 1591, she was strangled to death by rope and then burnt at the stake. Her offence? Climate change. RTWT - Long read but worth it

Make electricity unreliable and unaffordable and you’ll soon turn your economy to ashes. Australia is on the brink of a major recession, and energy costs are front and centre. Power prices will jump by 25 to 30% next month following the closure of yet another perfectly operable 2,000MW coal-fired power plant. Since the Federal Government’s Renewable Energy Target was ramped up by the Labor government in 2010, Australians have been hit with double-digit percentage increases in their power bills every year since. Households are being hammered by rising interest rates and power bills that they simply cannot afford. Then there...

For the past half-century or more, manufactured scares have been a recurrent part of life. Every year a very small number of people are killed (usually only 1) or injured by bears here in Hokkaido, Japan. However, the news media invariably plays up these incidents. As a result, for a few weeks every year some hiking trails in Sapporo are ritually closed off to the public after some bear sightings. Many people I know have a great fear of bears, though the actual risk of being killed by a bear is extremely small. Their chances of dying in a bathtub...

“The shelter closed to prevent the spread of the disease in the community and the death of hundreds of animals being housed at the shelter,” said Shelter Supervisor Jon Gary. “We want to protect as many animals as we can.”

28 Feb 2023 Be aware that both the Jan 2023 and Feb 2023 Antarctic Sea Ice Extents have set new record lows for Sea Ice Extents. Each day in January was lower than all previous years sea ice extents, and (now) February's Antarctic Sea Ice Extents have been released. They too were lower than all previous years of the satellite record period (1978-2023.) The NCIDC Sea Ice publicists will certainly report this event. But. What the NSIDC and other Global Warming publicity boards will NOT mention is the ever-increasing, all time record-breaking HIGH Sea Ice trend around Antarctica from 1992...

The UN secretary-general said that nuclear war is "back within the realm of possibility" following Russia's warning earlier this year it was putting its nuclear forces on alert amid its war in Ukraine, which threatens to draw NATO into direct combat with Russia. Since then, nuclear threats have continued to raise concerns a nuclear weapon could be used in a conflict for the first time in decades.

Lady Susan Hussey repeatedly asked about Ngozi Fulani's background at the event, asking where in Africa she came from, leaving Ms Fulani feeling insulted as she explained she is British. Lady Susan, who was a member of the Buckingham Palace household, resigned and apologised over "unacceptable and regrettable comments" made at a reception held by the Queen Consort. Ms Fulani, CEO of Hackney charity Sistah Space, a group that supports African and Caribbean women affected by domestic and sexual abuse, said she had suffered "trauma" and "damage" after being "invited and then insulted" at the event. And speaking to LBC...

Policymakers across the world banned choral singing during the COVID-19 pandemic after taking wrongful interpretations of a high-profile outbreak as facts, a new study suggests. The study, set to be published in Public Health, a British journal, revisits what was widely reported as a “super-spreader event” in March 2020 at Skagit County in northwest Washington State. Among 61 Skagit Valley Chorale members who attended the March 10 rehearsal at a local church, 53 were diagnosed with COVID-19 within a few weeks, including two who died. In a report that had since been used by governments across the world to justify...

It has been said before, by many people, that there are four boxes in politics: The Soap Box (or expressing yourself), the Ballot Box (voting), the Jury Box (legal challenges to bad voting or speech suppression), and the Cartridge Box (the use of firearms). The Soap Box has been squelched by an unholy alliance between government and social media (and search engines), although Elon Musk may rescue Twitter. So, the Soap Box is mostly gone. The Ballot Box has been diminished, almost to the point that it doesn't even matter any more. This has been done through a combination of...