Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Some of the millions of illegal immigrants living in the United States would be able to apply for renewable three-year visas under a plan being pushed by U.S. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Kennedy is teaming up with GOP maverick Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to launch the massive immigration reform bill this week. Conservative critics are expected to consider such a plan tantamount to amnesty for illegal aliens - setting the stage for acrimonious debate on Capitol Hill over immigration. ``These reforms will make our immigration policies more realistic and enforceable,'' said Kennedy (D-Mass.) The Kennedy-McCain plan is expected...

Despite intense repair efforts, the number of leaks discovered in Big Dig tunnels has exploded to 1,400 since last summer, nearly doubling the number of leaks contractors have been working to repair for months, officials confirmed yesterday. ``The number of leaks and their persistence demonstrates that we have a serious problem here,'' Attorney General Tom Reilly said last night. ``The leaks continue to occur, and the lack of a clear solution at this point is troubling.'' The struggle to stop chronic dripping leaks at roof joints in the Interstate 93 tunnel has left state and federal overseers worried that project...

All these folks leaving, just at the beginning of the Q2 FReepathon.I think some people are just having a hard time opening their wallets. ;)

Was just watching the special for the last episode. Pretty potent stuff. A thread to share your thoughts.

Adding a new headache to the trouble-plagued Big Dig, chunks of ''spray-on fireproofing" dislodged last night and fell from a steel girder on the ceiling of the Central Artery's southbound tunnel into a breakdown lane near the Government Center exit, officials said. The debris, which commuters reported to State Police at about 6:15 p.m., forced officials to close the right lane and breakdown lane for about an hour near Exit 24, said Mariellen Burns, a spokeswoman for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the Big Dig. There were no injuries and little effect on traffic, said Burns, who did not...

Just a heads up to listen to Imus this AM. He has been saying the election would be a disaster. He will also no doubt have on the usual suspects like Russett.

Three city firefighters were killed while responding to two separate apartment blazes — the deadliest day for New York firefighters since the 2001 terror attacks. Two of the victims — Lt. Curtis Meyran and John Bellew — were forced to jump from a fourth-floor window of a Bronx apartment building early Sunday as flames trapped them and four other crew members. The four other men were severely injured. The New York Daily News reported that one of the injured firemen, Brendan Cawley, lost his firefighter brother on Sept. 11. "When the fire from the third floor broke through to the...

Just found out my niece died the day after her 40th birthday. She was only 12 years younger than me, so when she was growing up we did fun stuff together. She was like a little sister to me. Her mother, my sister, is a breast cancer survivor and is not taking it well.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (CBS) - In one of the boldest space missions ever attempted, a small European-built probe will slam into the atmosphere of Saturn's mysterious moon Titan Friday for a two-and-a-half hour parachute descent to its smog-shrouded surface. Beaming pictures and a torrent of data to NASA's Cassini Saturn orbiter, the flying saucer-shaped Huygens probe will give scientists their first close-up look at one of the largest expanses of unexplored territory in the solar system. Researchers are hopeful Huygens will answer their most pressing questions: whether hydrocarbons fall like rain and form pools of liquid ethane and similar...

Just a heads up for the 8:30 (EST) segment for their review of the book that has Honest Abe as gay.

BOSTON -- The MBTA, struggling to cut a budget deficit, has removed approximately 80 chronically absent employees from its payroll, about half being fired outright and the rest accepting early retirement. "We got very aggressive," MBTA General Manager Michael Mulhern said Thursday. "Some folks had virtually abandoned their jobs, or were taking advantage of long-term absences." The employees let go had been away from their jobs for at least a year, had exhausted all their sick time and were no longer being paid, Mulhern said. Several workers were found to be abusing the state's worker's compensation laws, while others tried...

Sitting on the hill of an alien world millions of miles from home, a hardy NASA robot celebrates an anniversary Monday -- one year on the planet Mars. The Mars rover Spirit has come a long way since it hurtled down through the planet's atmosphere and came to a bouncy, airbag-protected stop at Gusev Crater on January 3, 2004. It has survived more than four times its initial 90-day mission, driven miles across the Martian landscape and weathered a red planet winter only to scale hills for its human handlers. A live webcast of NASA's One Year on Mars celebration...

The Associated Press Updated: 11:07 p.m. ET Dec. 24, 2004The Cassini spacecraft launched a probe Friday on a three-week free-fall toward Saturn’s mysterious moon Titan, where it will plunge into the hazy atmosphere and descend by parachute while its science instruments and cameras make observations. The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe is equipped with instruments to sample the chemistry of Titan’s thick atmosphere, and may reveal whether the surface actually has lakes or seas of liquid methane and ethane that have been theorized by scientists. A signal confirming release of the probe was received at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory at...

Just a heads up on the Leno show. The audience is loaded with troops and the theme is pro military.

Right after GW 1, Stormin Norman gave a briefing. One reporter complained that the Iraqi defenses (mine fields) were not up to expectation. The General stared right in his face and asked "You ever been in a mindfield?"Reporter goes "No"The General says, "it only takes one".I always wondered why he put it that way and with that intensity. Now I know. "He found several soldiers still trapped in the minefield. Schwarzkopf urged them to retrace their steps slowly. Still, one man tripped a mine and was severely injured but remained conscious. As the wounded man flailed in agony, the soldiers...

The Law and Order that just came on, appears to be ready to put the screws to the Guardian Angels and Curtis Sliwa.

NEW YORK Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was among the guests at the star-studded wedding bash for Star Jones, a co-host of A-B-C's "The View." Jones married fiance Al Reynolds yesterday in a Park Avenue wedding. Notables ranging from Clinton to Spike Lee packed into Saint Bartholomew's Church to watch Jones.

Report: Big Dig full of leaks Wednesday November 10, 2004 BOSTON (AP) The Big Dig is riddled with leaks that are dumping millions of gallons of water into the $14.6 billion tunnel system, according to an engineer hired to investigate the cause of a massive leak in September. Locating and fixing the hundreds of leaks could take up to 10 years, said Jack K. Lemley, a consultant hired by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to investigate the problem. He told the Boston Globe that repairing September's leak would require two months and traffic lane closures. The engineers also said they found...

By an odd coincedence the NBC series "West Wing" has killed off 2 Johns. John Amos (who played the Admiral) and John Spencer (who played Leo McGarry) are both now gone from last years crew. Just a thought.

Sean is on a roll today. Good news in the polls.