Free Republic

No power here in eastern Honolulu. Out all night and continuing this morning. High winds took off part of our plastic lanai roof, uprooted tree in front yard which is currently covering sidewalk. Cable box cover torn off and blown into front yard. You'd think a hurricane came through. No ETA of power return. Ah! Life in paradise.

New York City's democratic-socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani explained why he requires two forms of IDs to shovel snow, but opposes IDs for casting a ballot. "Casting a ballot is a human right that should not be infringed by requiring the voter to prove his or her identity," the Mayor said. "It would be like requiring an ID to be allowed to breathe. In contrast, shoveling snow is a job that pays $30 per hour of labor. It would be fiscally irresponsible for me to spend public money without knowing who I am paying to do the work." "Republicans say that...

The last week has been kind to its newly-innaugurated democratic-socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. A massive blizzard left mountains of snow in the streets, more than a dozen homeless inhabitants froze to death, and rats are feasting on uncollected garbage piled up everywhere except right outside his Gracie Mansion residence. "I'm new to the job," the Mayor reminded everyone. "I know the burdens will get heavier, but right now I struggle to imagine how it could be better." Hmm, maybe haul away the garbage and snow plow the streets? Could that make things better?

Good Saturday afternoon folks. I’d like to invite y’all to check out my Indie Conservative Christian short story that is available for free today on Amazon. It’s a former Amazon best seller in several Christian genres. It addressses the hypocrisy of climate change while celebrating the power of prayer and God's sovereignty. The book can be downloaded using the amazon link above or linked from my web site at: https://congareeridgearts.com/payton-finds-his-purpose Thanks and have a good one!

Climate activist Greta Thunberg is in the news once again. As usual, she’s making national headlines for the wrong reasons. Italian authorities have fined and banned Thunberg from Venice, Italy after she was part of a group that dumped green dye in the Grand Canal. Fox News reported more on Thunberg’s actions: Climate activist Greta Thunberg has been slapped with a 48-hour ban from entering Venice, Italy after joining Extinction Rebellion protesters in dyeing the Grand Canal bright green, according to reports. The Swedish activist, 22, was also fined $172 along with roughly 35 other demonstrators involved in the action,...

Former Vice-President and unsuccessful Democrat nominee for president in 2024 Kamala Harris wants the voting age to be lowered from 18 years-old to six-years old. "Look, the children of today fear that climate change will wipe out their future," she said. "They will be the biggest victims of the catastrophic damage done by global warming. They should have a voice in choosing who will be making climate policy. The only way this can be accomplished is to enable them to cast ballots for the Democratic Party." "By the age of six most children are in school and learning to read,"...

In 2021, Random House published a book by software tycoon Bill Gates titled How to Avoid a Climate Disaster. The message was clear: The world is heading toward a climate catastrophe if humans keep using fossil fuels. Everyone in the world had been hearing that message loud and clear for the previous two decades, and Gates, who’s been moonlighting as a climate expert for just as long, was not only one of the loudest voices to broadcast it, but someone who had put piles of money where his mouth was.But something very interesting happened this week. Sure, he still believes...

What I want everyone at COP30 to know. Climate change is serious, but we’ve made great progress. We need to keep backing the breakthroughs that will help the world reach zero emissions. But we can’t cut funding for health and development—programs that help people stay resilient in the face of climate change—to do it. It’s time to put human welfare at the center of our climate strategies, which includes reducing the Green Premium to zero and improving agriculture and health in poor countries. There’s a doomsday view of climate change that goes like this:In a few decades, cataclysmic climate change...

In a stunning and significant pushback to the “doomsday” climate activist community, Bill Gates, a leading proponent for carbon emissions reductions, published a remarkable essay Tuesday that argued resources must be shifted away from the battle against climate change. Instead, Gates argues, the world’s philanthropists must increase their investment in other efforts aimed at preventing disease and hunger. Climate change is not going to wipe out humanity, he argued, and past efforts that strive for achieving zero carbon emissions have made real progress. But Gates said that past investments fighting climate change have been misplaced, and too much good money...

Live video of Hurricane Melissa.

New research reveals that climate fairness calculations have long favored wealthy, high-polluting nations by letting them delay urgent action while shifting responsibility onto vulnerable countries. Credit: Shutterstock Scientists have uncovered a hidden bias in climate pledges that rewards big polluters and penalizes vulnerable nations. Past calculations allowed high emitters to dodge responsibility and delay action. The new approach emphasizes historical responsibility, demanding steep cuts from wealthy countries and funding for poorer ones. Climate Goals Under Scrutiny Climate efforts are falling short of the Paris Agreement’s targets. To stay on track, each country is expected to contribute its ‘fair share’ of...

A groundbreaking new analysis has emerged, challenging the mainstream narrative on “global warming” and throwing a wrench in the radical climate agenda.According to researchers from the University of Exeter, the biggest factor driving global warming since 2001 isn’t the rise in carbon dioxide (CO2) levels, but rather a reduction in sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution.The revelation has major implications for the “global warming” debate and for the “environmental” policies that push for costly regulations and collectivist government control.The researchers found that the decline in SO2 emissions, which have been linked to industrial and maritime pollution, has resulted in darker clouds, causing...

The classic rock group known as the Steve Miller Band has announced that they are canceling all remaining dates on their current tour because of the weather, or more specifically, the ‘extreme’ weather conditions brought about by climate change. Rock and roll just isn’t what it used to be, apparently. The group made the announcement on Twitter/X. Variety reports:

NEW YORK 🚨 The 28th street subway in Manhattan is nearly underwater.

Maybe it's the insatiable need for attention, maybe it's the desperation felt by unimpressive also-rans to come up with anything provocative enough to generate some kind of reaction, or maybe it's the obnoxious preoccupation that DC-dwellers have with their own egos that prevents the exercise of basic human decency. But whatever it is, the penchant far too many politicians demonstrate to crawl on top of freshly dead bodies - particularly those of innocent children - puff their chests out and use soul-searing pain as a perch for their own pet agenda remains one of the most deplorable social cancers plaguing...

With the crazy weather we have been having (fires, floods, heat, etc). I thought it would be nice to start to a thread with recommendations for the sake of preparedness.RecommendationsBest Overall App: AccuWeather for its balance of accuracy, usability, and short-term forecasts.Best for Storm Chasing: RadarScope for professional radar data.Best Overall Weather Radio: Midland WR400 for reliable, localized alerts and home use.Best Portable Radio: Sangean MMR-88 for emergencies or outdoor activities.Best Budget Radio: Kaito Voyager KA500 for affordability and versatility.

A slow-moving storm that dumped more than a foot of rain in the Texas Hill Country has killed 27 people, with dozens more missing, and officials are saying they weren’t prepared because the National Weather Service got the forecast wrong. Wonder if Donald Trump and Elon Musk laying off 600 National Weather Service staffers earlier this year could have had anything to do with that? …Deadly flash floods are, unfortunately, not uncommon – 10 teens at a summer camp died during a flash-flood event from a storm that dumped 11 inches of rain in Kerrville in 1987, and 13 people...

London has been thrown into chaos after a massive power outage crippled the city’s subway system. Commuters were left stranded as multiple Underground lines shut down, forcing thousands to seek alternative routes. The disruption, attributed to a failure in the National Grid, caused widespread delays and station closures, with Waterloo, Tottenham Court Road, and Holborn among the worst affected. The outage struck during the afternoon rush hour, bringing the city’s transport network to a standstill. Transport for London confirmed that the Bakerloo and Waterloo & City lines were completely suspended, while the Elizabeth, Jubilee, and Northern lines suffered severe delays....

United States government agencies have come together to advance the understanding of persistent contrails and their impacts to inform future decision making. Current models indicate that persistent spreading contrail cirrus has a significant net warming impact on the global climate; however, the magnitude of this impact is uncertain. Research is needed to improve scientific understanding, reduce process-level uncertainties, develop integrated decision support tools and mitigation strategies, and demonstrate and assess prediction and operational capabilities. Improved understanding will allow the U.S. to make informed decisions that will ensure U.S. competitiveness in the aerospace sector while managing the impacts of civil aviation...

Today, the Washington Post is reporting the EPA Administrator is considering recommending to the White House that the EPA’s 2009 CO2 Endangerment Finding be rescinded. Let’s look at a few of the reasons why this might be a good thing to consider. The Science The science of human-caused climate change is much more uncertain that you have been led to believe. The globally-averaged surface temperature of Earth seems to have warmed by 1 deg. C or so in the last century. The magnitude of the warming remains uncertain with a 30% range in different thermometer-based datasets, and considerably weaker warming...