Washington, D.C.- Sen. James M. Inhofe is requesting congressional hearings into "Climategate."

Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, sent a letter  to Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) requesting the hearings on the recent disclosure of emails between some of the world’s most preeminent climatologists. Those emails reveal apparent attempts to manipulate data, vilify scientists with opposing viewpoints, and circumvent information disclosure laws.

"The emails reveal possible deceitful manipulation of important data and research used by the US Global Change Research Program and the IPCC," Inhofe wrote. "For instance, one scientist wrote of a ‘trick’ he employed to ‘hide the decline’ in global temperature trends, as well as discussed attempts to ‘redefine what the peer-review literature is’ to prevent papers raising questions about anthropogenic global warming from appearing in IPCC reports."

This controversy "could have far-reaching policy implications," Inhofe continued, "affecting everything from (to name a few) cap-and-trade legislation, state and regional climate change programs," and "the Environmental Protection Agency’s ‘Proposed Endangerment and Cause or Contribute Findings for Greenhouse Gases Under Section 202(a) of the Clean Air Act’…" These policies "will have enormous economic impacts, not least the EPA’s proposed endangerment finding, which, when finalized, will lead to a torrent of new federal regulations that will destroy thousands of jobs and make electricity and gasoline more expensive for consumers and small businesses." 

Click here for a copy of the letter

The American Family Association has ended its boycott of Gap, Inc. after the company aired a "Merry Christmas" commercial over the Thanksgiving weekend.

The AFA began the boycott to force Gap Inc., which includes Gap, Old Navy and Banana Repubic, to use "Christmas" in their advertising campaigns this holiday season.

AFA President Tim Wildmon said, "We’re in this fight because we are disturbed by the increasing secularization of our culture in general and Christmas in particular. We’re gratified that Gap has responded to the thousands of phone calls, emails and petitions from Americans who share our concerns."

The AFA is now turning its attention to other retailers.

Randy Sharp, AFA’s director of special projects, said AFA now is targeting Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

"We’re urging them to include ‘Christmas’ in their seasonal advertising. We’ll see what kind of response we get, and decide on the next step from there," he said. "Consumers have lots of options when it comes to buying electronics and sporting goods, and we think they’re going to want to buy them from merchants who show respect for Christmas in their appeal to shoppers."

American Family Association is a pro-family advocacy organization with over 2.5 million online supporters.

The group maintains a "naughty" and "nice" list of retailers here.

Washington, D.C.- Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.), has sent letters to several scientists, some of whom allegedly manipulated data to prove the scientific "consensus" of global warming, as well as to the inspectors general of several federal agencies, notifying them to retain documents related to the release of emails from the University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit in England.

"The stakes in this controversy are significant, as it appears that the basis of federal programs, pending EPA rulemakings, and cap-and-trade legislation was contrived and fabricated," Sen. Inhofe said.  "Moreover, it appears that, in an attempt to conceal the manipulation of climate data, information disclosure laws may have been violated.

Inhofe is the ranking member of the Senate committee on Environment and Public Works.

"I certainly don’t condone the manner in which these emails were released; however, now that they are in the public domain, lawmakers have an obligation to determine the extent to which the so-called ‘consensus’ of global warming, formed with billions of taxpayer dollars, was contrived in the biased minds of the world’s leading climate scientists."

The letters are the first step in the investigation of the climate scandal.  Last week, emails released by a computer hacker revealed that several leading climate scientists allegedly manipulated climate data and research used by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 

These scientists also appear to have refused outside access to their raw data, obstructed freedom of information requests, and plotted ways to prevent the publication of papers in peer-reviewed journals by scientists who question global warming alarmism. 

For more on this story, including video, click here.

Move America Forward, the nation’s largest grassroots pro-troop organization , said members of the U.S. Senate are putting politics over their country by changing positions to support President Obama’s desire to close Guantanamo Bay and bring terrorists onto U.S. soil.

“This is exactly what sickens the American people with politics.  Members of the Senate have been making it clear they opposed funding the transfer of terrorist detainees from Guantanamo Bay to the United States.  But, now at the drop of a hat from the Obama Administration, they cave in and expose their true feelings – diametrically opposed by American citizens,” said Shawn Callahan, Executive Director of Move America Forward.

As the Obama Administration has been reviewing possible locations to relocate GITMO here to America, Congress has refused to give funding or authorization to enact such a move.  Now, the Senate has given the authority and the funding to bring terrorists to the United States.

 “Bringing GITMO terrorists to the U.S. is dangerous. Not only will it give the terrorists a platform to recruit more terrorists from around the world, but the constitutional protections that will not be afforded to these enemy combatants will allow them to expose some of America’s intelligence secrets through trial discovery,” asserted Callahan.

The Senate previously voted 90 to 6 with 3 abstaining against allowing Obama to bring terrorist from Guantanamo Bay into the United States. At that time even Senator Harry Reid said, “This is neither the time nor the bill to deal with this. Democrats under no circumstances will move forward without a comprehensive, responsible plan from the president.”  Yet in today’s vote, all but one Democrat who previously had voted against GITMO in the U.S. changed positions.

“The Democrats in the U.S. Senate had the right idea in the first place and they knew that it was absolutely irresponsible to give President Obama the freedom to move GITMO detainees to the U.S. without a rational and detailed plan as to how it could be done while guaranteeing the safety of the American people.

“We have not seen that plan, most likely because there is no way to do it without putting innocent Americans in danger. These Democrats have gone back on their word by voting to allow President Obama to have this power without a plan for how to implement it. Obviously these Senators care more about the politics of appeasing the left-wing than protecting Americans from terror and being responsible with our homeland security,” concluded Callahan. 

The American Family Association has launched its annual “Naughty or Nice” listing of the nation’s top retailers and how they recognize Christmas.

The Christian organization reviewed several ares to determine if a company was “Christmas-friendly” in their advertising, including print, broadcast, web sites and personal visits to the store.

“Nice” stores include: Amazon, Bass Pro, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, K-mart, Lowe’s, Target and Walgreens.

“Naughty” stores include: Barnes and Noble, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Gap, Kroger, McDonald’s, Olive Garden and Victoria’s Secret. These were companies that refuse to use the world “Christmas” in their advertising.

You can view the entire list here. AFA already has called for a national “Christmas” boycott of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic.

In a press release, the AFA said, “You can stand with us and proclaim in your community that Christmas is not just a “holiday” focused on materialism, but a “holy day” when we celebrate the birth of our Savior. We can do it in a gentle and effective way by wearing the “God’s Gift – Merry Christmas” button.”

AFA is offering the buttons through their web site.

The group is only listing national companies and not local or regional ones. You can report on companies by sending a detailed report to christmas@afa.net.