Free Republic

For decades, huge bundles of cocaine have washed up on Florida beaches, having been smuggled from South and Central America. Hauls are often dumped at sea (both to give to smugglers and evade law enforcement), and currents and tides push them to shore. In June, the U.S. Coast Guard seized over 14,100 pounds (6,400 kilograms) of cocaine in the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, with an estimated value of $186 million. With so much cocaine entering the waters, Tom "The Blowfish" Hird wanted to find out whether the thousands of sharks off Florida were ingesting the dumped narcotics, and —...

The seven castaways of "Gilligan's Island" have found a home at Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment. The studio and production company have begun development on a feature film based on the iconic CBS sitcom, which generated solid ratings during its three seasons between 1964 and 1967 and then found something close to eternal life in syndication. Charles Roven and Richard Suckle are onboard to produce for Atlas, with Brad Copeland penning the screenplay. Original show producer Sherwood Schwartz is aboard to exec produce along with son Lloyd Schwartz. Plans are for a contempo take on the well-known premise and characters,...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Twd59PrqCNg

Members of Congress are becoming frustrated with bureaucrats who have put roadblocks in the way of a program to arm airline pilots that Congress first authorized months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Three years later, only an estimated 4,000 of the more than 95,000 commercial pilots have participated in the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) program. But this lack of participation does not indicate a lack of pilot interest, proponents say. They claim the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has intentionally stymied the program. A soon-to-be-released poll from the pro-gun Airline Pilots Security Alliance indicates upwards of 50,000 commercial...

Gilligan's Island vs. the Taliban By Catherine Seipp Why do they hate us? Here are some of the usual answers: Israel. McDonald's. The Gulf War. Infidel American women who run around in short skirts with heads uncovered. Hollywood. U.S. arrogance and naivete about other cultures. To all that, I suggest another reason: "Gilligan's Island." Shakespeare scholar and literary critic Paul Cantor wrote "Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture In the Age of Globalization" before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. (The book will be published in November.) But his argument that "Gilligan's Island" was really, at its core, not just a silly '60s...

Farmers may lose water to minnowWed, Jan. 29, 2003 9:27 AM ETBy the Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE (AP) Indian pueblos along the Rio Grande and others who use the river's water could face a very dry year if the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a federal judge's decision on the silvery minnow, a Bureau of Reclamation official said Tuesday. The bureau made public the federal government's draft biological assessment for 2003 for the middle Rio Grande, where the tiny endangered fish lives. U.S. District Judge James Parker last year said the bureau and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife should...

Parker Ruling Puts Minnow Before People Now, it's official. The Rio Grande silvery minnow is entitled to all the water it needs from the Rio Grande -- both native flow used by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District and imported San Juan-Chama Project water bought and paid for by contractors including the city of Albuquerque. What's left over will be divided among those entitled to it on a pro rata reduced delivery. The conservancy district, Albuquerque, the federal government and the state all will likely appeal. Substituting his judgment for that of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. District...