Free Republic

How long have the scientists known about the predicted pole-shift, expected date and likely causes, outcomes?

California vineyards flooded as torrential rain causes chaos By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 02/01/2006) Northern California's famous wine country suffered widespread flooding yesterday after powerful storms pummelled the region. Rivers overflowed their banks, engulfing homes and triggering mudslides that blocked roads across the area. At least a dozen people were rescued from the rushing waters and, with more rain forecast, emergency officials urged residents in low-lying areas close to rivers to evacuate. The heaviest rain hit the Napa Valley area, just north of San Francisco and home to more than 200 vineyards, including the Robert Mondavi Winery, Francis...

When a rock hits the calm surface of a pond, ripples form at the point of impact and travel outward in expanding circles. The story begins with a young man and his dream - a dream of overcoming his health problems and flying for the Air Force. The boy, Ryan Penne, 14, of Chico, Calif., stepped into dreamland last year at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., when he and his family were guests of Col. Darryl W. Burke - then the 9th Reconnaissance Wing's vice commander - for a comprehensive base tour as part of the Make-A-Wish program. Ryan suffers...

ALSTEAD, N.H. - Prolonged, heavy rain caused flooding from North Carolina to New Hampshire over the weekend, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate, knocking out electricity, weakening dams and making roads impassable. At least four people died, including two people killed in New Hampshire when a car apparently drove off a washed-out bridge into flood waters, officials said Sunday. A fifth person was missing and feared dead. Gov. John Lynch returned from Europe to take charge of relief efforts in New Hampshire. He declared a state of emergency and called in 500 National Guard members for assistance. "This is the...

Aug. 12: They came in wheelchairs to the Rasmussen Senior Center in Oildale Thursday to hear their congressman tout the new federal prescription drug plan that goes into effect on Jan. 1. What they heard angered some of them. As U.S. Rep. Bill Thomas detailed the controversial plan and opened up the floor for questions, he seemed unprepared for the reaction. Thomas and the state's secretary of health and human services had spent the previous 15 minutes detailing what the government was going to do for seniors and disabled Americans. But it sounded like folly to many of the seniors...

THE LAST WORDThere is a certain strain of expert who believes that Osama bin Laden is a political genius who is using terrorism to accomplish political aims. If true, it follows that, while the West should pursue Islamist terrorists militarily, we should also seek politically to alleviate the conditions which so inflame them. Okay, let's just name names--I'm talking about Michael Scheuer who suggests in his books that bin Laden is a genius on par with America's Founding Fathers and that in order to win the war on terrorism, America needs to stop agitating Islamists by stationing troops in Saudi...

I'm surprised the British are surprised they were attacked by Muslim terrorists, today. It's not surprising, given the following (and we should learn some lessons here): 1) Abu Hamza Al-Masri and his Finsbury Mosque: Sheikh Hamza, a/k/a Captain Hook (he has hooks for hands, as he lost both in an explosion), regularly preached hate at his mosque. And surprise, surprise, it produced Richard Reid, the Shoe Bomber, among the mosque's other "luminaries." Masri was involved with Muslim extremist group, Al-Muhajiroun (affiliated with Al-Qaeda), and planned to host "The Magnificent 19" celebration, honoring the 9/11 hijackers. Brits pay over a million...

The revelation that Deep Throat was actually Mark Felt, the No. 2 man at the FBI during the Nixon Presidency, has focused new attention on the Watergate era and the political consequences that followed. But with the revelation that Felt was the informant that brought down Nixon should also come some attention to the investigations into the FBI and Felt's activities after Watergate and the consequences the nation suffered on 9/11 as a direct result. First, in regard to Felt and Watergate, the liberal media today are all lauding him as a hero because without him Nixon might not have...

Illegal aliens: Democrats stumped By Froma Harrop PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Hillary gets it. Hillary Clinton says she's against illegal immigration. And she would fine employers who hire illegal aliens. Pundits say the Democratic senator from New York is using this hot-button issue to position herself for the 2008 presidential election. It's a way to hit Republicans from the right. Polls show huge majorities of both Republicans and Democrats oppose illegal immigration - and are frustrated that President Bush won't do a thing to stop it. But this issue does not belong to the right. Or it shouldn't. Illegal immigration hurts...

As the U.S. Marine Corps helicopter lifted from the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon at daybreak on April 30, 1975, I thought about the carnage that would result from a heat-seeking missile fired by Vietnamese Communist forces gradually encircling the besieged capital of the dying Republic of Vietnam. Exhausted by a lack of sleep for the previous week, I no longer felt fear, only curiosity. Tears welled up in my eyes, perhaps due in part to the anguish of witnessing the tragic events unfolding before me, but also from caustic smoke belched out of rooftop incinerators glowing cherry-red...

Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr. has found himself in a wide range of settings across church and state since he unveiled his "Black Contract With America on Moral Values." One day, the conservative minister is on stage with some of the nation's top African-American thought leaders at an Atlanta church. Less than two weeks later, he's at a U.S. Senate office building in Washington addressing a room filled predominantly with white evangelical leaders. Despite criticism from some African-American ministers that he's the black equivalent of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Jackson says he is comfortable in both places. As he...

I believe I may be the only person in America who isn’t for or against President Bush’s proposal to save Social Security. Unlike everybody else who seems positive that it is either brilliant and benevolent or stupid and evil, I really don’t have an opinion. As a result, I’m highly suspicious of everyone who claims to have a real handle on the pluses and minuses of his proposal. I mean, facts are facts, and an awful lot of you watch “The Fear Factor” and voted for Kerry and Edwards. Why on earth would I believe you when it’s about something...

I have wondered what the true calling of Western Islamic groups really is oftentimes as I read about what they are doing and what they are trying to accomplish. Groups such as CAIR, ADC, CIOCG, IAP, and others have been very proactive in trying to push out literature to the people of this nation in media and through civil activities that tell us how harmless they are and how they have no ties to terror, how peaceful they are. There have been lawsuits all over the nation that have tried to squelch the Free Speech of Americans who have done...

When Richard Gere played an “American Gigolo” in 1980, who knew he’d actually become one, twenty-five years later? This week, Gere is pulling tricks for jihadist Palestinian Johns supporting terror. Gere’s not just claiming to speak for “the entire world” in ads for Sunday’s Palestinian elections. He’s co-starring with two Palestinian terrorism supporters, Sheikh Taissir Rajab Al-Tamimi and Atallah (a/k/a Theodosios) Hanna. In an ad sponsored by “One Voice” (more on that group, below), Gere appeals to Palestinian voters: “Hi, I’m Richard Gere, and I’m speaking for the entire world. We’re with you during this election time. It’s really important:...

Last week Kofi Annan presided over a UN seminar on "Islamophobia," explaining with a straight face: "When the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry -- that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with 'Islamophobia.' The word seems to have emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Today, the weight of history and the fallout of recent developments have left many Muslims around the world feeling aggravated and misunderstood, concerned about the erosion of their rights and even fearing for their physical safety." The focus, not unexpectedly,...

LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) - A Democratic city councilman is demanding that a baker remove photos of President Bush from his stand in Lancaster's farmers market, saying the city needs a "healing period" following the bitterly contested election. City Councilman Nelson Polite asked baker David Stoltzfus last month to remove the pictures. When Stoltzfus refused, Polite threatened to try to enact a city ordinance that would ban all political material from public places. "I just feel that since it was a close election and the city's so divided, that we should have a healing period," Polite told the New Era of...

Baseball's big party got thrown a curveball before it even began. Officials from the sports world and the city government were in Union Station today to confirm what was already widely known -- that the Expos are being re-named the Washington Nationals. But before the media event got underway, D-C Statehood Green Party member Adam Eidinger jumped onto the stage holding a sign protesting Mayor Tony Williams' planned stadium deal. Eidinger was jumped by several men, including former Washington Senators announcer Charlie Brotman. A tussle ensued, and the podium nearly fell over, before security managed to drag Eidinger off stage....

Full Disclosure: John Edwards often speaks of "two Americas" — one that "pays the taxes" and another that "gets the tax breaks." Meet Teresa Heinz Kerry and her tax accountants. John Kerry wants to raise taxes on everyone making over $200,000, rolling back Bush's "tax cuts for the rich." So why did his wife pay only 12.5% of her income in taxes last year? According to documents released by the Kerry campaign, Teresa Heinz Kerry in 2003 paid taxes at a rate barely above the rate paid by the lowest-income Americans who actually pay taxes. She reported a total income...

Federally funded consultants hired by Secretary of State Kevin Shelley spent time registering voters for largely Democratic constituency groups and at partisan rallies, including one to "take back the White House," according to staff activity reports released Thursday. Other contractors, paid thousands of dollars through federal funds from the 2002 Help America Vote Act, described outreach efforts at, among other things, the NBA All-Star week festivities, a reggae festival, a Janet Jackson "salute" and a community event on behalf of Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, D-Los Angeles. In several cases, consultants delivered "letters of commendation" from the Democratic secretary of state...

Call it the Chips Ahoy! School of International Studies: Fifth-graders at Fratney Street School in Milwaukee learn about causes of terrorism with a small bag of cookies and a large map of the world. Bob Peterson teaches students that overpopulation and poverty help make it easier to recruit terrorists for attacks like those on Sept. 11, 2001. Schools have been teaching about Sept. 11 since that morning nearly three years ago, but this year, Families of September 11, founded by victims' relatives, is honoring Peterson and three others for curricula on terrorism's root causes. At a Smithsonian Institution conference today,...