Free Republic

Earth’s land lost much of their ability to absorb the carbon dioxide humans pumped into the air last year, according to a new study that is causing concern among climate scientists that a crucial damper on climate change underwent an unprecedented deterioration. Temperatures in 2023 were so high — and the droughts and wildfires that came with them were so severe — that forests in various parts of the world wilted and burned enough to have degraded the ability of the land to lock away carbon dioxide and act as a check on global warming, the study said. The scientists...

A UW-Madison professor is revisiting "Hillbilly Elegy"-- JD Vance’s memoir-- eight years after the book was picked by the university as the "Go Big Read" book of the year. Hillbilly Elegy describes Vance’s experience in Appalachia, Kentucky and upbringing in Middletown, Ohio– diving into concepts such as poverty, addiction, and "hillbilly culture." This was published in 2016, and in 2017 UW-Madison chose to distribute the book through the “Go Big Read” reading program. This program selects one book per academic year to give to all the incoming freshmen and center discussion around the book’s themes, like a massive book club....

The world recorded its hottest ever day, as many parts of the Mediterranean face extreme wildfire risks. Sunday witnessed the highest average temperature on Earth, breaching a previous record set a year ago, according to provisional data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. Global average temperatures have already hit or exceeded a key climate threshold for 12 months, highlighting the challenge in limiting global warming to below 1.5C above the pre-industrial era. Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of heat waves, bringing extreme weather events from flooding to wildfires. Extreme heat has wreaked havoc across many...

On Sunday, June 23rd, the DSA National Political Committee (NPC) voted to endorse Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) so long as she fulfills the following conditions: * Publicly opposes all funding to Israel, including the Iron Dome * Participates regularly in the DSA Federal Socialists in Office Committee * Publicly opposes all criminalization of Anti-Zionism, such as bills advancing the IHRA definition which conflates criticism of Israel with anti-semitism * Publicly supports BDS (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction) to end Israeli settler-colonialism This initial endorsement request was considered upon request of New York City DSA’s Steering Committee (NYC-DSA SC). Earlier this week,...

WASHINGTON — Several of President Joe Biden’s closest allies, including three people who are directly involved in efforts to re-elect him, told NBC News they now see his chances of winning as zero — and the likelihood of him taking down fellow Democratic candidates growing. “He needs to drop out,” one Biden campaign official said. “He will never recover from this.” For two weeks, Biden has struggled to stabilize his campaign following a late-June debate debacle. His ongoing clean-up effort, which is scheduled to include top aides meeting privately with Democratic senators and a presidential news conference Thursday, has done...

From the outset of President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, the plan for winning was to make former President Donald Trump so unpalatable that voters uneasy with the incumbent would vote for him anyway. But now Biden is stuck in a political tailspin, with an abysmal debate performance highlighting his inability to make a case against Trump and prompting a collective national hand-wringing about his ability to do his job while an increasing number of House Democrats say he should leave the race. To get voters to focus on the threats posed by a second Trump administration, Biden’s own allies say...

PARIS (AP) — A coalition on the left that came together unexpectedly ahead of France’s snap elections won the most parliamentary seats in the vote, according to polling projections Sunday. The surprise projections put President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance in second and the far right in third. The lack of majority for any single alliance plunged France into political and economic turmoil. Final results are not expected until late Sunday or early Monday in the highly volatile snap election, which was called just four weeks ago in a huge gamble for Macron. The deeply unpopular president lost control of parliament,...

CNN — In the first week of a new Trump administration, President Joe Biden’s climate wins would get put through the shredder. First to go could be the executive orders, including the one protecting 13 million acres in Alaska from oil drilling and another aiming to dramatically increase the number of EVs on the road. He would pull America out of the Paris Climate Agreement (again) and could even nix the country’s participation in the global climate treaty itself – a promise among countries to prevent “dangerous human interference with the climate system.” Over the weeks and months that follow,...

The Paris Olympic village will be fitted with 2,500 temporary cooling units when athletes arrive later this month, organisers said Tuesday, in a blow to the event's eco-friendly credentials. The organising committee had initially announced they would steer clear of air conditioning in the athletes' accommodation, instead using a geothermal cooling system. The complex in a northern suburb of Paris was built as a showcase of environmentally friendly technology and has a geothermal cooling system that uses cool water pumped from deep beneath the ground. But the lack of air-conditioning has long worried some national Olympic teams, with athletes concerned...

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to let voters decide on a potential sales tax hike to fund affordable housing and homeless services. According to the Affordable Housing, Homelessness Solutions & Prevention Now initiative put forward by the Our Future Los Angeles Coalition, the proposed tax increase would fund a “comprehensive homelessness response program” and invest in new strategies to address encampments and create affordable housing. Supporters of the initiative, who submitted more than 400,000 signatures to the county Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk last month, held a rally Tuesday before the Board’s vote. “We can no longer...

Bernie Sanders has single-handedly brought the term “democratic socialism” into the contemporary American political lexicon and shaken millions of Millennials out of their apathy towards politics. Even if he does not win the Democratic nomination, his impact on American politics will be evident for years to come.Sanders has convinced a great number of people that things have been going very badly for the great majority of people in the United States, for a very long time. His solution? America must embrace “democratic socialism,” a socioeconomic system that seemingly works very well in the Scandinavian countries, like Sweden, which are, by...

Artificial intelligence will result in adults earning a basic income, billionaire Elon Musk said. AI could lead to a world of self-driving vehicles and other computers and machines that replace humans in work settings and perform virtually all physical and mental labor, Business Insider reported. When that happens, Musk said adults, regardless of their wealth or employment status, will receive a universal basic income.

Climate anxiety is becoming more and more widespread. Taking direct positive action can help you cope with your eco-anxiety while helping to address the climate emergency. Climate anxiety is not a pathology but a healthy response to a real threat. Inaction is related to feeling powerless whereas action is about taking control. My team of social psychologists recently surveyed over 1,200 people in collaboration with charity GlobalGiving UK. This research focused on eco-anxiety and other drivers of donations to provide disaster relief for climate-related disasters. So, if you want to act but don’t know where to start, here are three...

Climate change deniers have found a new champion in Kenyan farmer Jusper Machogu. On social media, he has become known as a flagbearer for fossil fuels in Africa, but there is more to his campaign than meets the eye. Since he began posting debunked theories about climate change, he has received thousands of dollars in donations – some of which came from individuals in Western countries linked to fossil-fuel interests. Mr Machogu insists this has not influenced his views, saying they are genuinely held. Scientists have proven that the Earth is heating up because of greenhouse gases that are emitted...

Another ignorant CNN contributor has no idea what form of government we have in America. He and his followers double down on X HERE

Imagine a not-so-distant future where you own nothing and have no privacy. It’s a cashless society where everyone must use digital currency and possess a digital ID while living under the rule of a global government. It may sound like something straight out of George Orwell’s chilling novel, 1984. Yet today, some very powerful global players, led by the World Economic Forum and with the enthusiastic backing of some Western leaders, major corporations and the UN, are promoting this radical transformation of society. They call it “The Great Reset.” How does it affect Christians? What role does the United States...

Spain's conservative People's Party wins 34.2% of the vote, ahead of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist Workers' Party with 30.2%. Almost all the votes have been counted. Recall that Sanchez recently called for the recognition of a Palestinian state and condemned Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many Americans still aren’t sold on going electric for their next car purchase. High prices and a lack of easy-to-find charging stations are major sticking points, a new poll shows. About 4 in 10 U.S. adults say they would be at least somewhat likely to buy an EV the next time they buy a car, according to the poll by The Associated Press, while 46% say they are not too likely or not at all likely to purchase one. The poll results, which echo an AP-NORC poll from last year, show that President Joe Biden’s election-year plan...

Spirit Airlines Inc. is losing its chief financial officer to another troubled company — Hertz Global Holdings Inc. — as the carrier works to restructure a crushing debt load and the car rental company reboots after a failed bet on electric vehicles. Hertz is rebuilding after acquiring a fleet of mostly Tesla EV models that renters didn’t want and that cost more to repair than the company anticipated. Hertz also has been hurt by plummeting values for the EVs it bought after Tesla cut prices, resulting in higher-than-expected first-quarter losses of $392 million.

During patriotic holidays, the news media applaud the Founding Fathers. But rarely does anyone mention some important facts about them: that they were smugglers, tax evaders, and traitors. Not only is this important, it is also praiseworthy; it produced the most advanced civilization ever known. The Revolution is often said to have begun in 1775 at the Battle of Lexgton [sic]. In truth, it began in the 16th century when the first colonists began traveling to the New World. Consider the hardships these people faced. Abandoning their relatives and friends, they boarded small leaky boats like the Mayflower—which was only...