Free Republic

"Scientists have an independent obligation to respect and present the truth as they see it," Al Gore sensibly asserts in his film "An Inconvenient Truth", showing at Cumberland 4 Cinemas in Toronto since Jun 2. With that outlook in mind, what do world climate experts actually think about the science of his movie?

MOUNT MERAPI, Indonesia - Mount Merapi erupted violently Monday, sending searing gas clouds and burning rocks down its scorched flanks and threatening villagers who refused to leave because of ancient mystical beliefs. The activity triggered renewed panic and fresh evacuations of some closest to the crater, but others ignored urgent warnings to leave. The volcano in the heart of densely populated Java Island had been rumbling for weeks, spewing ash high into the air and pushing lava to the surface, where it has formed a large unstable dome. On Saturday, authorities declared the highest danger alert, triggering mandatory evacuations for...

A Polipundit reader has reviewed the Goode Amendment - the "send troops to the border" provision and discovered some disturbing facts: The troops amount to one soldier with one current border patrol agent the troops have no arrest or detention powers THEY WOULD ONLY BE STATIONED AT THE BORDER FOR ONE YEAR. http://polipundit.com/index.php?p=13314 Here is the pre-amble; “To amend title 10, United States Code, to authorize the Secretary of Defense to assign members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, under certain circumstances and subject to certain conditions, to assist the Department of Homeland Security in the performance...

When a currency loses the confidence of its people, its fall becomes exponential, as has happened to the Zimbabwe $, where in 1982 one U.S.$ equalled 1 Zimbabwe $. Today around Z$200,000 buys one U.S. $ if you can find someone idiot enough to sell one for the Z$. In day-to-day terms, the smallest note in Zimbabwe a Z$500 is the size of a U.S.$. The price of a single-ply sheet of toilet paper is more expensive at around Z$867. The U.S.$ is nowhere near there, but clearly the U.S. Administration has no plan or even desire to rectify the...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. benchmark gold futures scaled a new 25-year high at $700 an ounce on Tuesday, boosted by relentless investor buying powered by geopolitical concerns and expectations of further price gains ahead, dealers said. By 11:30 a.m. EDT, June delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division was up $20.10 or 2.9 percent at a session peak of $700, which marked the loftiest level for futures since September 1980.

Nothing to Fear but the Climate Change Alarmists April 23, 2006 BY MARK STEYN SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST Do you worry? You look like you do. Worrying is the way the responsible citizen of an advanced society demonstrates his virtue: He feels good by feeling bad. But what to worry about? Iranian nukes? Nah, that's just some racket cooked up by the Christian fundamentalist Bush and his Zionist buddies to give Halliburton a pretext to take over the Persian carpet industry. Worrying about nukes is so '80s. "They make me want to throw up. . . . They make me feel sick...

Farmers fear free-range panic in the crucial run-up to Easter By David Derbyshire and Amy Iggulden (Filed: 08/04/2006) The poultry industry will be watching for signs of a consumer backlash against chicken and eggs today following confirmation of the first case of H5N1 bird flu in Britain. As thousands of callers rang the Government's hotline with reports of dead swans, geese, gulls and garden birds, farmers and health officials repeated assurances that there was no risk to public health. The run-up to Easter is traditionally a bumper week for sales of poultry and eggs and a slump in sales could...

Goldman Sachs Associate Global Markets Economist Michael Vaknin, who covers Israel says, “The economic repercussions are negative, and worse than we expected. The coalition will be less stable. Pre-election polls gave the impression that Kadima will link up with the Labor Party to create a majority bloc, but on the basis of the results, Kadima will have to bring in more parties, which will undermine stability, especially as there is no common denominator between the parties. “The election results indicate that the next government will focus on a social agenda, and we hope that the government will be able to...

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) has advised Nigerians not to panic over the total solar eclipse which will take place on March 29. Agency reports quote NIMET's Director-General, Liwhu Akeh as saying that the advice was necessary to enlighten people about the eclipse, which will be total in five states. The five states are Oyo, Kwara, Niger, Zamfara and Katsina. According to the report, Akeh's advice was contained in a statement signed by NIMET spokeswoman, Eva Azinge and made available to newsmen in Abuja. He said the eclipse, which will start from North-East, Brazil to Europe through Africa, would take...

French cat lovers panic after bird flu death By Colin Randall (Filed: 02/03/2006) France's pet owners reacted with panic yesterday to the confirmation that a cat found dead in Germany was killed by bird flu. Its animal protection society, the SPA, was bombarded with calls from people worried at their pet catching the disease's lethal H5N1 strain. Some abandoned their cats. "We are getting calls from cat owners wanting to know if there are risks," said Serge Belais, the society's president. "People are panicking." He had no numbers of abandoned cats but said: "The risk is that we'll see the...

'No panic' over bird flu threat Bird flu has been found in France and Germany The public has been told not to panic over the threat of bird flu as the government has taken "all necessary measures", the defence secretary says. John Reid was speaking after the H5N1 strain was found in birds in France, Iran and India. "It hasn't arrived [in the UK]. Don't let's panic. And I'm sure that the government has got all necessary measures there," he said. He said it was not possible to have a vaccine developed in advance. "The difficulty if bird flu ever...

John Gizzi, veteran political editor of the conservative weekly Human Events, normally is an optimist. Over the years I have watched him find the one possible thread to explain the rationale for the election of a conservative Republican. John knows more about politics than any 10 political junkies combined have forgotten. If there is a way to see a possibility for a Republican victory Gizzi makes the case. And that is as it should be inasmuch as he is writing to give conservatives hope. He and his paper's message are always the same: "Shoulder on." You can imagine my shock...

Book of Daniel's creator asking fans to contact stations The creator of NBC's The Book of Daniel is warning viewers that "bullies" at the American Family Association may succeed in their fight to kill the show unless viewers speak up. Jack Kenny, the creative force behind the prime-time drama about an Episcopal priest and his dysfunctional family, posted his appeal on a blog, www.blogofdaniel.com, whose host is the Episcopal Diocese of Washington. Kenny asked fans to contact stations in support of the show, and thank a dwindling number of sponsors for advertising during the Friday show, which airs at 10...

Anarchy in the Palestinian Authority (PA) spread to the Rafiah border crossing, which was closed Friday morning after European Union (EU) observers fled 100 armed PA policemen who formed a blockade. The gunmen who stormed the compound belong to the unstable ruling Fatah party of PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas. One of their members was killed in a clash Thursday between terrorists. After the compound was stormed, the EU's observers stationed at the crossing quickly fled the scene in panic while the gunmen prevented vehicles from reaching the crossing. The observers are responsible for monitoring the crossing and enforcing the agreement...

Like, I am sure, many other believers in what this country has been trying to do in the Middle East and particularly in Iraq, I have found my thoughts returning in the past year to something that Tom Paine, writing at an especially dark moment of the American Revolution, said about such times. They are, he memorably wrote, "the times that try men's souls," the times in which "the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot" become so disheartened that they "shrink from the service of [their] country." But Paine did not limit his anguished derision to former supporters of the...

Thursday November 24, 4:27 PM 80-kilometer slick flows into China's Harbin city HARBIN, China (AFP) - An 80-kilometer-long (48-mile) slick of highly toxic benzene flowed along the icy Songhua river into one of China's biggest cities, contaminating water supplies for up to four million people. The carcinogenic chemical reached the outskirts of Harbin, capital of China's northeastern Heilongjiang province, about 5:00 am on Thursday, authorities said. Although water supplies were cut off about 30 hours before the poisoned water reached the city and there were no reports of people being contaminated, the environmental impact of the potential disaster was still...

SOFIA (Reuters) - A flock of Bulgarian circus doves was barred from returning home on Thursday because of an outbreak of avian flu in Turkey. The 20 doves had been on tour in Bulgaria's southern Black Sea neighbor for several months with the Balkanski & Sons Circus as part of a menagerie that also includes horses and Siberian tigers. But they were refused re-entry after Sofia banned imports of live birds and poultry from Turkey and its northern neighbor Romania after both reported cases of bird flu last weekend. "This is really unfortunate for the circus. They had permission to...

Explosive devices found on the GA Tech campus.

Just heard this on FNC...the DHS is saying that attacks are possible in other cities and everyone should be especially vigiliant and that transit is not the only target ...More info soon.

"You f—-ing can't stop us now; it's too late." From ABC, with thanks to Jeffrey Imm: Oct. 7, 2005 — A source for information that has led to the terrorism scare on New York City's subways has identified at least one of the attackers by name and claims that the man already is in the United States, ABC News has learned. The New York Police Department and the FBI have no proof that the person named actually is in the country, or that the person named actually exists. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security emphasized that there is no...