Free Republic

Freshly groomed corduroy slopes at Deer Valley, before they turn to mush So here’s the deal, today is our last ski day of the season. Technically the resort is open through Sunday but the weather for the rest of the week is going to be warm and/or rainy. Now, there was a time when I loved skiing in spring’s soft, slushy, corn snow. But that time was about 20 years ago, when my knees still had reasonably functioning cartilage and tendons that still had a little stretch left in them. So today is it: the last day of the season...

While not bothering to calculate it down to the precise minute, spring is arriving in the northern hemisphere today. I’ll confess that I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately and this winter has been a particularly trying one for a number of reasons. But this is the time when hope springs eternal, plants begin to bloom, love is in the air and all of that romantic nonsense, right? Why not find something pleasant to focus on even in the midst of far too much depressing news.I’d first like to share with you a column written back in the...

If you're sniffling and sneezing a lot more lately, you're hardly alone. Climate change is making seasonal allergies worse, an expert says. "With the combination of increased temperature and carbon dioxide, we are seeing a dramatic change, and allergy sufferers can probably feel that change," said Dr. Richard Weber, president of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. "We are experiencing longer allergy seasons, earlier onset and there is just more pollen in the air," said Weber, who's also an allergist at National Jewish Health in Denver. About 40 million Americans have seasonal allergies -- also known as hay...

The spirit of Spring Break is alive and well on the freeways of Miami. Bizarre footage has emerged showing a young woman twerking on top a moving car as it speeds off into the sunset. The scantily-clad woman seems completely unfazed by the passing cars or the fact that she's only a slip away from a potentially deadly fall onto the MacArthur Causeway.

Washington’s Japanese cherry trees are expected to be at peak bloom between March 14-17, the National Park Service announced Wednesday.

An ardent liberal friend asked me if I had seen the colors and fashions scheduled to be sold for Spring 2017? She remarked that they were unlike any she'd seen before and that she was stunned at how much of the clothing features black, grey, white, beige etc. Normally, the season features colorful, cheerful tones to enliven the season. That made me wonder if the fashion industry is not satisfied with it's initial protest of the Trump presidency. Initially, they canceled their traditional parties etc. I thought then that they just might done sack-cloth and ash. It might well be...

The CEO of Twitter seemingly believes America is currently experiencing civil unrest comparable to the Arab Spring, a series of revolutionary protests, coups and civil wars in the Arab world a few years ago. While the social media company appears to be treading water after a rough past few months, which includes a number of high-level staff departures and a sinking valuation, Twitter Founder Jack Dorsey sees his platform’s influence in society remaining largely the same, if not growing. “A lot of the same patterns we’ve seen during the Iranian Green Revolution and the Arab Spring,” Dorsey said Wednesday at...

As I sit here looking out over the back yard, I see at least 40 robins that are migrating north en masse. I suppose they are telling us something. It seems that the winter of 2017 will never happen. The robins are moving north in January to get an early start on spring. Down the street on severely sloping ground, a neighbor years ago planted some crocus bulbs. The plant found it's desired habitat and has spread all over. There are hundreds and hundreds of the pale lavender flowers now. They began to bloom early last week and are now...

A group of self-described revolutionary-style patriots with a million mobilized militia members are heading to downtown Washington, D.C., this week to bring a simple message to political leadership, from President Obama to House Speaker John Boehner: Get out. They’re called the Operation American Spring — and they’re vowing to oust the likes of Mr. Obama, Mr. Boehner, Attorney General Eric Holder, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Sen. Mitch McConnell, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Raw Story reported.

TRES RIOS, Costa Rica (AP) — On a warm spring day, Floribeth Mora was in her bed waiting to die from a seemingly inoperable brain aneurysm when her gaze fell upon a photograph of Pope John Paul II in a newspaper. "Stand up," Mora recalls the image of the pope saying to her. "Don't be afraid." Mora, her doctors and the Catholic Church say her aneurysm disappeared that day in a miracle that cleared the way for the late pope to be declared a saint on April 27 in a ceremony at the Vatican where Mora will be a guest...

The warm weather across the Tampa Bay area is a sure reminder that the Spring is right around the corner. Along with nice weather, it's also time for longer days. Daylight Saving Time is quickly coming for 2014. Since 2007, Daylight Saving Time, or DST for short, begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. For 2014, that means it is time to 'spring ahead' this weekend. This Saturday night, Tampa Bay area residents need to change their clocks. March 9 is the second Sunday in March this year, so at 2:00 Sunday...

Today started like any other day for me: take the “terrorist princess” outside, get a cup of coffee, and sit down to peruse the news while checking email. After seeing a news post about the Obama administration using two executive orders that will determine who in this country will or will not be allowed to purchase guns, I became infuriated and decided to turn to my email. Yesterday, I had received a tag about an interesting event scheduled for May 16, 2014; however, I had a hard time trying to fathom it so I began my research. Little did I...

Deposed Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi is to stand trial on charges of committing and inciting violence, a state prosecutor decided on Sunday, an escalation of the army-backed authorities’ crackdown on his Muslim Brotherhood. The prosecutor, Hesham Barakat, referred Morsi and 14 other Brotherhood members to a Cairo criminal court on charges of “committing acts of violence, and inciting killing and thuggery”, the state news agency reported.

While broken bolts on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge are commanding everyone's attention, Caltrans has another problem on its hands - 96 seismic shock absorbers on the western span, some of which began leaking lubricant just three years after they were installed. The estimated cost of the fix - $13 million. And, like the brittle bolts on the eastern span, there are questions as to whether Caltrans ordered the right shocks - or dampers, as they are known - in the first place. The dampers are located between the bridge towers just below the roadway, and are...

An early spring is on the way, according to groundhog "Punxsutawney Phil." When the Pennsylvania groundhog emerged from his dwelling at Gobbler's Knob Saturday morning, he did not see his shadow. "And so ye faithful, there is no shadow to see, an early Spring for you and me," proclaimed Bob Roberts, one of Phil's handlers.

Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a man the Associated Press tracked down on Wednesday, has been identified by U.S. federal authorities as the key figure behind the incendiary Innocence Of Muslims, the news agency reports, citing a federal law enforcement official..... The U.S. government is tracking down a filmmaker for making a video that criticizes Islam.

The Arab Spring takeover of Egypt by the Muslim Brotherhood has run amok, with reports from several different media agencies that the radical Muslims have begun crucifying opponents of newly installed President Mohammed Morsi. Middle East media confirm that during a recent rampage, Muslim Brotherhood operatives, “crucified those opposing Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi naked on trees in front of the presidential palace while abusing others.”

A large-scale IDF exercise in Judea and Samaria, the first in three years, is preparing soldiers in the Menashe Brigade for a possible "Arab Spring" rebellion. The brigade is based near Jenin, located in central Samaria between the Mediterranean Coast and the Jordan River. “The drill tested main scenarios of a potential violent escalation in the region, including terrorist attacks on a local road, terrorists infiltrating a community and killing civilians, abduction of soldiers, numerous explosives set on a fence and more,” military spokesmen reported on the IDF Website. Forces from the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), Israeli Police, Israeli emergency...

Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) has reminded the president-elect, Mohamed Mursi, of its own powerful position in the country. The military issued a statement saying it expects all state institutions to respect the constitution – a barely-disguised warning to the newly-elected Muslim Brotherhood member. The move followed a decision by Mursi to revoke the military council's executive order which last month dissolved the Islamist-majority parliament. The dissolution had been backed by a June 14 Supreme Court ruling that said a third of the legislators were elected illegally. On Monday, Egypt's highest court said that its rulings are...

Vice President Joe Biden, speaking at a high school commencement ceremony in Virginia on Thursday, called the Arab Spring a “democratic movement”--on the same day that the Egyptian high court nullified the Islamist majority parliament and the Egyptian military assumed control of the legislature. “The democratic movement that swept across the Middle East, the so called Arab Spring, began when a lowly fruit vendor set himself ablaze to protest a corrupt government, igniting a confrontation magnified by social media that literally set off a revolution that was waiting to happen for well over 200 years,” Biden said in his speech...