Free Republic

This really ticks me off, I completely missed Saturday’s Earth Hour – the purely symbolic 60 minutes where countries around the globe switch off their lights at 8:30 p.m. local time to highlight the importance of international unity in the fight against climate change. The ruins of the ancient world in darkness – just like in the olden times. Symbolic!I blame the media for the lack of coverage. There was no local news coverage even in Park City where people tend to go rabid over “light pollution” ruining their “dark sky.” If you haven’t experienced this strain of liberal mania...

Wednesday night, scores of people turned up at a town hall meeting in the Village of Barrington Hills, Ill., 40 miles outside of Chicago. Residents are resisting a new lighting ordinance being entertained by the village government. In a bid to win plaudits from the International Dark-Sky Association—which fights outdoor lighting as a blight that blots out the starry splendor of the natural night—local officials want radically to restrict how residents use light on their properties. In response, some 200 people, out of a village of 4,000, have formed a group they call Homeowners Against Lighting Ordinances, or HALO. Barrington...

WASHINGTON A previously unrecognized galaxy appears to be merging with the Milky Way, bringing hundreds of thousands of stars into our home galaxy that scientists had not noticed until now, astronomers said. A survey of the northern sky has detected a huge, but diffuse structure within the confines of the Milky Way that does not seem to fit in with other parts of the galaxy that contains our solar system, scientists said Monday. Robert Lupton of Princeton University told a meeting of the American Astronomical Society that the large but faint collection of stars rises almost perpendicular to the flat,...

Dark-sky Advocates to Push for Nationwide Lighting Reforms [light pollution] Energy and lighting specialists from throughout the U.S. and Canada are gathering in Boston, Massachusetts, this weekend for a meeting of the International Dark-Sky Association (IDA). They'll be taking aim at the ubiquitous pall of urban skyglow known as "light pollution," its effects on our health and our society, and what can be done to halt and reverse its spread. Members of the news media are welcome to attend the sessions on Friday, October 25th. These invited talks and panel discussions will take place at the Museum of Science in...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 July 23 The View from Everest Credit & Copyright: Roddy Mackenzie Explanation: What would it be like to stand atop the tallest mountain on Earth? To see a full panoramic vista from there, scroll right. Visible are snow peaked mountains near and far, tremendous cliffs, distant plateaus, the tops of clouds, and a dark blue sky. Mt. Everest stands 8.85 kilometers above sea level, roughly the maximum...

Let us begin with the understanding that there is no such thing as "light pollution," yet this idiotic notion is generating legislation to "save the night skies" from it. It is one more example of the way environmentalists will use any bizarre excuse to secure control over our lives and our property rights. The fact that publicly elected officials would give serious consideration to such nonsense reflects the degree to which environmentalism has destroyed common sense. Where's the connection, you ask? Consider being told it is against the law for you to put up Christmas lights as decoration or...