Free Republic

In 1987, countries of the world agreed to the Montreal Protocol, a treaty designed to phase out chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, responsible for destroying ozone in the stratosphere. The protocol has worked as intended in reducing these substances, and early healing of the ozone “hole” over Antarctica has been subsequently hailed by scientists. But the study by Ball and his colleagues focused instead on the lower latitudes where the vast majority of humans live. There, the scientists found a relatively small but hard-to-explain decline of ozone in the lower part of the stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere that extends from...

Another day, another extremely false “academic” study. More like “epidemic” study. An epidemic of false information and bias. We’ve often talked about the efforts of the left to push an agenda by fabricating factoids. But this is just rich. This new study wants us to believe 1/3 of Californian teens are queer. Of course, it’s from California. Researchers out of the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law and the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research analyzed data from the 2015-2016 version of the California Health Interview Survey, which collected data from 1,300 households.

WASHINGTON — When Lauren Greene, a former communications director for Representative Blake Farenthold, sued him claiming sexual harassment, among her complaints was that he “disclosed that a female lobbyist had propositioned him for ‘a threesome.’” Mr. Farenthold, in legal documents, said that Ms. Greene had it wrong. The woman wasn’t a lobbyist, he said. As allegations of sexual misconduct rock Capitol Hill — three lawmakers announced their resignations last week alone — Mr. Farenthold, Republican of Texas, stands out as the survivor. He was sued over accusations of sexual harassment three years ago, paid out an $84,000 settlement, financed by...

The ozone hole over Antarctica shrank to its smallest peak since 1988, NASA said Thursday. The huge hole in Earth’s protective ozone layer reached its maximum this year in September, and this year NASA said it was 7.6 million square miles wide. The hole size shrinks after mid-September. This year’s maximum hole is more than twice as big as the United States, but it’s 1.3 million square miles less than last year and 3.3 million square miles smaller than 2015.

Despite the promise of creating 600 permanent jobs, the ethane cracker plant being built about 40 minutes northwest of Pittsburgh by car continues to face scrutiny from environmental groups. Shell Chemical Appalachia decided in 2012 that Beaver County would be the site of a new $6 billion plant to manufacture plastics. Shell chose the Beaver County location because of its proximity to natural gas supplies and because the majority of North American polyethylene — the most common plastic — customers are in a 700-mile radius of Pittsburgh. In a statement published on its website, Shell said it expects to employ...

Maryland is suing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for failing to act on a petition requiring power plants in five upwind states to reduce pollution, the state’s attorney general and an official in Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration said Wednesday. The Hogan administration says 70 percent of Maryland’s ozone problem originates in upwind states. Maryland petitioned the EPA in November for a finding that 36 power plant units in Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia are emitting air pollution affecting Maryland in violation of the Clean Air Act’s “good neighbor provision.” In January, the EPA issued a six-month extension to...

Venezuela. Syria. Russia. Iran. Libya. Iraq. Afghanistan. Saudi Arabia. Israel. All of these countries have one thing in common. They're all a part of a global war being waged by the United States. To some, the war is one of nation building and global dominance, to others it's a life or death battle for the greater good. On the global chessboard, there are three major players. The United States, Russia and China. All of the other players are nothing more than pawns. This game has been playing out for decades, but it can only have one winner. To better understand...

HAPPY FRANNIVERSARY TOOOO MEEEEEEE

In the period from 2000-2015, the hole in the ozone layer shrank by more than 4 million square kilometers—nearly a billion acres—according to a new report in the journal Science. During the 1980s and into the 1990s, news of a massive hole in the ozone layer caused worldwide panic, stoked by everything from rumors of sheep being blinded by increased atmospheric radiation to the fear of a skin cancer pandemic and even comparisons to “AIDS from the sky.” Now scientists at MIT along with others have found that since 2000 the ozone hole has actually shrunk by an area half...

I remember about 11 years ago the first time I was banned here for saying something controversial Those were the Glory Days Jim could raise his quarterly goal in a week now a days I watch it take three months sometimes so let's brainstorm how to make this site better

I have completed exhaustive analysis of the disputed Trump crowd shot and the CNN gigapixel crowd shot. As much as it pains me to say, the two images match quite well and the disputed crowd shot is legitimate and represents the actual crowd size. There was no deception on the part of the media. I have four decades of experience as an advertising photographer. I am qualified to make this kind of analysis. As a Trump supporter and voter I think it does us a great disservice to not deal honestly with issues such as these. In this case even...

The First Family have traded their sundresses and shorts for winter coats once more as they returned home after two weeks of vacation in Hawaii. A downbeat-looking Sasha and Malia departed Air Force One for what is likely the last time when they touched down at the Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on Monday. Malia was wrapped up in a red coat and lace-up ankle boots, while Sasha kept warm in a fleece-lined denim jacket and knee-high boots. Following close behind them were Obama and Michelle, both of whom coordinated in black and gray ensembles that matched the East...

Hey, y'all! I was banned for being a "never-Trumper" and now I am back. Thank you, Jim. Well, Trump won. I actually voted for him - as I always have (conservative losers VS. leftists) but I doubted his long-term political survival. I was wrong. I do not apologize for my taste but I will admit he was the best candidate. Now, it remains to be seen if he will be what all [C]onservatives want/wish/pray for him to be. Given some of his apparent appointments, I am not too sure. We shall see. If you want to flame me, go ahead....

Verbally convicting Trump and pretty much calling him a sexual predator.

Trump has a loose hold on some holier than though Republicans. They have high standards and are willing to let the world blow up around them to prove it. Hillary wants to play in the mud because she lives there in the devils playground. The media will spin any story as their master tells them. How he handles this is key. If I were him I would bring my wife out and discuss the situation openly in public the same way the Clinton's played the American people years ago. Melania needs to represent female forgiveness with Trump being remorseful for...

May 2nd 2016 I was banned from FR for criticizing FR. Suddenly my account is active again. What happened? I post this in news/activism only because someone may have an answer and my account is "too new" to allow me to email Jim Rob to find out.

If you think about, there are not many who can give up football because of the recent protest. America has few real patriots anymore. Yes I am talking to you. To take a stand about anything that happens in this crazy backwards world is only for the few and faithful. The rest of you are just all talk. and that is how we got here today.....

First Trump had a great speech on immigration with his 10 point plan. It does look like he is going soft on deporting everyone though. Hopefully not as immigration softening is not good. But now the bad news...Trump still hasn't embraced the wisdom of free trade. Make no mistake about it - just as prochoice = baby killing, fair trade = economy crushing protectionism. Has anybody seen any sign that Trump is coming over to the free trade globalist camp? My only hope is that he will "soften" his position on trade deals just as he seems to be softening...

A nearly three-decade-old ban on chlorofluorocarbons is gradually healing the hole in the ozone layer above Antarctica, according to a newly published study. The analysis, published in the journal Science, found that the Antarctic ozone hole shrunk by more than 4 million square kilometers -- roughly half the area of the contiguous United States -- between its peak level in 2000 and readings last year. Researchers attributed the findings to a drop in atmospheric chlorine that originated from chlorofluorocarbons, which were virtually banned worldwide in 1987 under the Montreal Protocol. CFCs were formerly used in dry cleaning, refrigeration and aerosols,...

Is Trump a KGB Agent? By Julio Severo Cliff Kincaid, a Catholic who sees widespread Russian conspiracies in every crisis and problem in this world and outside it, has written a number of articles against what he sees as a Trump-Putin “romance.” He consistently denounces Putin and now he denounces the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump too. Last year, Kincaid published an article suggesting that evangelical author Don Hank was receiving Russian money to support Putin. His Brazilian friend Olavo de Carvalho fully agreed, and published the Kincaid piece in Portuguese at his Brazilian website Mídia Sem Mascara, and...