Free Republic

Though the Glenn Beck clips are classic examples of the nonsense this nitwit pushes out all day on his radio and TV shows, the interview with Samantha Bee from the CPAC future is the funniest thing I ever did see. Gunfloss... All independent voters should be rounded up, hog tied, have their eyelids stapled open like Alex and forced to watch this 3 minute video. One viewing would be enough for these 40% of the voters to end of all this crazy right-wing crap once and for all.

Plug-In Vehicles: Unconscionable Waste And Pollution Masquerading As Conservation by: John Petersen January 07, 2010 For eighteen months I've been blogging about the energy storage sector and discussing the current and potential markets for batteries and other manufactured energy storage devices. A recurring theme that I've discussed many times is the unrecognized but undeniable truth that while plug-in vehicles masquerade as conservation measures at an individual level, they're incredibly wasteful at a societal level. The conclusion is counter-intuitive and my articles on the subject invariably draw heated criticism from self-anointed defenders of the faith. Their arguments, however, do not change...

THE Federal Government must stop counting trees and start counting koalas as the animals suffer dramatic declines, it was claimed yesterday. Scientists will meet today in Canberra to debate whether koalas should be made a threatened species under federal laws. The Australian Koala Foundation yesterday released figures which it claimed showed falls in koala numbers across NSW and Australia were so dramatic it was vital they were granted federal government protection. And the conservation group said it feared Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett would refuse to list koalas as endangered because there was supposedly enough bush for them.

A Chicago suburb could not get anyone to fork over $1 for a home, the Belleville News-Democrat reported. The village of Barrington, Illinois put three older homes up for sale for just $1 each, but was not able to get any interested buyers. The suburb hopes to sell and relocate the homes in order to make way for redevelopment in the downtown area, according to the paper. If no buyers come forward, the village will demolish the houses, which many residents say hold an historic value.

Taxes fund environmental suits - Environmental law firms reap billions in fees to fund lawsuits October 15, 2009 The federal government has paid out billions of dollars to environmental groups for attorney fees and costs, according to data assembled by a Cheyenne, Wyoming, lawyer. Karen Budd-Falen of Budd-Falen Law Offices [main@buddfalen.com or 307-632-5105] said the government between 2003 and 2007 paid more than $4.7 billion in taxpayer money to environmental law firms -- and that's just in the lawsuits she tracked. The actual figure, she said, is far greater. "I think we only found that the iceberg exists," she said....

Obama Administration task force closing in on deadline for 'health care' for nation's shorelines, waterways IRVINE, Calif. USA - October 5, 2009 - A recently published administration document outlines a structure that could result in closures of sport fishing in salt and freshwater areas across America. The White House created an Interagency Oceans Policy Task Force in June and gave them only 90 days to develop a comprehensive federal policy for all U.S. coastal, ocean and Great Lakes waters. Under the guise of 'protecting' these areas, the current second phase of the Task Force direction is to develop zoning which...

Utah's elected leaders will present a united front this week against a bill backed by environmentalists that would turn vast swaths of the state's redrock country into federal wilderness. They say the legislation, which a House committee will discuss Thursday, covers too many acres, impedes private property rights and is little more than "propaganda" pushed by outsiders, like the bill's sponsor Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y.

Who Owns the Rain? Hint: It's Not Always Homeowners Across the country, resourceful homeowners have embraced rainwater capture as a way of conserving community water supplies while maintaining healthy gardens. Unfortunately, rain barrels are sometimes at odds with the law. Facing certain water scarcity, cities and states have begun to wrestle with the conundrum of water rights versus conservation. When it all shakes out, will you own the rain that falls on your own property? =============================================================================================================== Capturing rain may be one of humanity's most ancient methods of acquiring water, but now it's coming back in vogue. Rather than press their...

New projects could tackle the genomics of species both critically endangered and already extinct. On the first weekend in April, a couple of dozen leading molecular biologists, conservationists and museum curators gathered at Pennsylvania State University in University Park to brainstorm about ways of harnessing the power of the latest molecular sequencing techniques to conservation goals."The cost of genome sequencing is falling at an extraordinary rate," says workshop co-organizer Stephan Schuster of Penn State University, who was a driving force behind the 2008 sequencing of a woolly-mammoth genome, the first complete genome of an extinct animal. "Now it is possible...

Americans may have come to the point where average consumers frown upon Hummers, but for some reason, we draw the line at toilet paper. We believe so strongly in three-ply and cottony softness that many of us equate recycled toilet paper with cardboard. Toilet paper pushers from Kimberly Clark to Georgia Pacific tout the higher quality of their soft papers and sales for the high-end brands like Charmin Ultra and Quilted Northern Ultra have increased by 40% in some markets, according to a recent NY Times article.

Angelo Alderuccio, a 94-year-old retired public works employee from New Britain, might not strike everyone as an American hero. But in a country desperately seeking economic salvation, his tales of surviving the Great Depression are anecdotes for our times. During the 1930s, Alderuccio spent what he now considers "the best years of my life" in the Cobalt section of East Hampton, at the Civilian Conservation Corps' Camp Jenkins. He worked with 250 other men building trails in the Meshomasic State Forest, weatherproofing posts and rails for state roads and building a fire tower overlooking the central Connecticut woods. Like 3.5...

Two-faced California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency Friday, urging urban water systems to cut usage by 20%. “This drought is having a devastating impact on our people, our communities, our economy and our environment, making today’s action absolutely necessary,” the so-called Republican governor said. According to Brietbart.com,....

It's hard to imagine Valentine's Day without chocolate, but some scientists say that it's possible that chocolate could one day be in short supply.

It's been 62 years since conservationist Virgil McCroskey gave the Boy Scouts 400 acres of timberland near this village in Idaho's panhandle, with big ideas for a big new camp. But don't expect any pup tents or even the faintest whiff of smoke from Camp McCroskey these days. Rarely used for camping, the land instead has become a moneymaker for the Inland Northwest Council of Boy Scouts. Over the past 35 years, the council has repeatedly logged the property, collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some of the money helped pay the mortgage on council headquarters in far-off Spokane, a...

Hundreds of birds that dropped dead on Somerset County cars, porches and snow-covered lawns, alarming residents over the weekend, were all of a rather foul breed of fowl -- the notorious European starling, which the United States Department of Agriculture killed on purpose…. Yesterday, the USDA acknowledged a few mistakes of its own in spreading the word in the area around a Princeton Township farm, where it applied a pesticide Friday to kill 3,000 to 5,000 starlings plaguing a livestock farmer. "It was raining dead birds," said Franklin Township Mayor Brian Levine….

Only two sperm whales out of a pod of 50 are believed to be alive after a mass stranding off Tasmania's north-west tip. The whales grounded at Perkins Island, near the mouth of the Duck River at Smithton on Thursday night. Police were notified about 8.30pm (ADST) but were unable to get close to the whales due to the location and the tide. The area is only accessible by boat. Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Services spokeswoman Liz Wren said a helicopter flew over the island on Friday morning to assess the situation. "It's going to be difficult to get to...

Fishermen and hunters are outraged about a plan tucked in the governor's proposed California budget to shift $30 million out of wildlife programs. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to borrow money from the Fish and Game Preservation Fund, which comes from hunting and fishing license fees, and use it to prop up other state programs.

The Senate on Thursday approved a sweeping conservation measure as it tries to reverse years of rollbacks in environmental protection by the administration of outgoing President George W. Bush. On a vote of 73-21, it passed a package of nearly 170 land and water bills and sent it to the House of Representatives, which was expected to give it final approval. Barack Obama is set to sign it into law after he is sworn in as president on Tuesday, one of the first moves in what is likely to be a more aggressive approach toward the environment. Democratic Sen. Jeff...

The Air Car, made by French company MDI, could be launched by Tata Motors in India by 2010-11. Replying to an email query, the French company said, "We will release in France the first cars for the Air France company before June 2009. The cars will be available for the public at the end of 2009." Mumbai-based Tata Motors, India's third biggest car manufacturer had signed a licensing agreement with MDI for manufacturing the car in India. The agreement between the two envisages development and refinement of the technology. The Air Car doesn't require traditional fuel options like petrol, diesel,...

Your Help Needed to Save Dedicated Conservation Funding in Illinois! Over $25 million for conservation hangs in the balance Springfield, Illinois- Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF) are urging all Illinois members to contact their state legislators and ask them to support legislation restoring funding to dedicated conservation accounts. The Illinois General Assembly must act this month to restore $9.25 million in restricted funds diverted to pay state bills, or the state risks losing $16 million in federal dollars for fish and wildlife management. Pheasants Forever and other conservation organizations are working with legislators to ensure legislation is introduced...