Free Republic

California’s experiment with global warming regulations reminds me of a story about a foolish, old dog who lost his bone in the water when he tried to grab its reflection. Similarly, California’s leaders risk sacrificing the jobs and industries we have today on a hope and a prayer that the “green jobs” and “green industries” of the future will be better and more plentiful than those we already have. When Governor Schwarzenegger signed AB 32, California’s Global Warming Solutions Act, into law more than three years ago, he declared that the sweeping new regulations imposed by the measure would be...

Taiwan's air force said Sunday that it had received more than three million dollars' worth of parts and maintenance service because of a flaw in the island's French-made Mirage fighter fleet. A fully armed French-made Mirage fighter jet patrols the sky above Hsinchu, Taiwan. Taiwan's air force said Sunday that it had received more than three million dollars' worth of parts and maintenance service because of a flaw in the island's French-made Mirage fighter fleet. The air force had been effectively compensated in November over cracks in the blades of several Mirage engines which had prompted the air force to...

Argentina seeks secondhand fighter purchase By Argentina is examining a $100 million proposal to buy 12 ex-Jordanian air force Dassault Mirage F1CJ fighters and one F1BJ trainer, having rejected a Spanish offer for a similar number of F1s. The deal is being considered as its remaining Mirage IIIEA/DAs are due to be withdrawn in 2012. In a separate move also intended to enhance its air force's air defence capabilities, Buenos Aires is considering the purchase of two Saab 340s equipped with Erieye airborne early warning radars. The developments come after defence minister Nilda Garré earlier this month outlined a short-term...

November 26, 2009 Dubai World and properties built on sand David Wighton: Business Editor’s commentary The world’s tallest building will open in Dubai in just five weeks’ time and visitors to its observation deck on the 124th floor will be able to look down on the half-finished buildings and empty construction sites that now litter the Gulf emirate. Dubai’s once-booming economy has deflated and its property sector, with its ludicrous architecture and record-breaking buildings, has collapsed. An estimated 400 projects worth more than $300 billion (£180 billion) have been cancelled, shut down or are on a go-slow as developers try...

Obama Eyes $310 Billion in Tax Cuts" the headline blares. The Obama team comes to town to start the new year, and the run-up to his inauguration, with this announcement. How sly. This Obama tax cut package is to be part of the broader stimulus package now estimated to cost $775 billion. The problem is that there are tax cuts and there are tax cuts, and there are other things Obama calls tax cuts that are not even tax cuts. The "tax cuts" Obama is proposing for his stimulus package, like the rest of his stimulus package, are not going...

McCain MirageThe senator is not ready-for-prime-time commander-in-chief.By Andrew C. McCarthySenator John McCain’s ascendancy in the Republican presidential race has been truly remarkable. Yet, it’s no groundswell. To this point, about two out of every three primary and caucus participants have voted against him. If the Democrats and independents some states permit to crash the Grand Old Party were factored out, his standing in the Republican base would be even less impressive. Still, you have to hand it to his admirers: They have parlayed his thin support into an aura of inevitability. The glow could intensify this week, when McCain is...

Can’t hit India? No use for Pak - Islamabad shy of F-16 minus Mirage-buster IMTIAZ GUL Islamabad, Sept. 11: Pakistan’s long-delayed F-16 purchase from the US has stalled again just before the two sides were to ink the deal as Islamabad has realised that the jets would be useless in combat with the Indian Mirage 2000. Pakistan was to sign what is called a letter of acceptance with the US to buy at least 18 new F-16 multi-role combat aircraft. But Pakistan Air Force (PAF) officials informed General Pervez Musharraf a week ago that the aircraft did not have the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 17, 2006 – While competing for its share of the tourism market on the famed Las Vegas Strip, the MGM Mirage hotel and casino has earned something perhaps just as valuable: employee approval. The National Committee for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, a Defense Department agency, has announced that the MGM Mirage is one of 15 recipients of the 2006 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award. The award publicly recognizes employers, nominated by employees serving in the National Guard and reserves, for exceptional support above the requirements of federal law. Several MGM Mirage employees nominated...

Under certain weather conditions, some people say they can see across lake. Scientists skeptical CLEVELAND - Scientists say it's a mirage, but others swear that when the weather is right, Clevelanders can see across Lake Erie and spot Canadian trees and buildings 50 miles away. Eyewitness accounts have long been part of the city's history. ``The whole sweep of the Canadian shore stood out as if less than three miles away,'' a story in the Plain Dealer proclaimed in 1906. ``The distant points across the lake stood out for nearly an hour and then faded away.'' ``I can see how...

SOUTHWEST ASIA, May 9, 2006 – The French Navy Carrier Air Wing returned to the coalition fight last week, flying their first missions in support of Operation Enduring Freedom since November. "Our main mission while we are here is to support troops on the ground and contribute to reconnaissance efforts as well," said Lt. Col. Gerard Brunel, commander of the French detachment at the Combined Air Operations Center. It is Central Command Air Forces policy not to disclose the specific location of its forward headquarters or the CAOC. The French also hope to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Indian...

The Mirage that Is Derailing the Rebuilding of New Orleans By Ari Kelman 1-02-06 Mr. Kalman, the author of A River and Its City: The Nature of Landscape in New Orleans, teaches history at the University of California, Davis. The flood was voracious; it swallowed whole neighborhoods, ending hundreds of lives. But the battered levees have been repaired. They again stand between New Orleans and catastrophe, holding the Mississippi and Lake Pontchartrain in check. The antique drainage system, too, is back online. Any water that falls in the city, every drop of rain or tear shed, ultimately flows through canals...

BISHKEK, Aug 3 (Reuters) - France has deployed fighter jets in Tajikistan as part of international efforts to boost security during a September parliamentary election in next-door Afghanistan, a French military official said on Wednesday. "Six Mirage fighters have been deployed in (the Tajik capital) Dushanbe," Major Frederic Lemoine, deputy French military attache to Central Asian neighbour Kyrgyzstan, told reporters at U.S.-led air base Ganci near the capital Bishkek. Shortly after he spoke, two large-body C-135 FR refuelling planes landed at Ganci. "These refuelling jets are due to support the Mirage fighters in Tajikistan," he said, adding that the operation...

India clears major defence deals, likely to buy jets from Qatar [India News] New Delhi, March 29 : The Indian government Tuesday cleared several major defence deals, including a proposal to buy 12 used Mirage 2000 fighter jets from Qatar. The move came days after the US announced plans to sell F-16 jets to Pakistan. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the country's highest decision-making body on security issues, gave the green light to a proposal to begin negotiations with Qatar on buying the French-made Mirage jets. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh chaired the meeting of the CCS. The CCS also...

French connection armed Saddam By Bill Gertz THE WASHINGTON TIMES The United States stood by for years as supposed allies helped its enemies obtain the world's most dangerous weapons, reveals Bill Gertz, defense and national security reporter for The Washington Times, in the new book "Treachery" (Crown Forum). In this excerpt, he details France's persistence in arming Saddam Hussein. First of three excerpts New intelligence revealing how long France continued to supply and arm Saddam Hussein's regime infuriated U.S. officials as the nation prepared for military action against Iraq. The intelligence reports showing French assistance to Saddam ongoing in the...

The grey mineral on Mars that points to a watery world may be a mirage, say researchers. Grey hematite, the main reason the rover Opportunity was sent to Meridiani Planum on the Red Planet, may in fact be another form of hematite, scientists say, and therefore not such a strong clue to water after all. The debate hinges on how scientists have interpreted data from Opportunity's spectrometer, a device that analyses the rainbows or spectra of light reflected from the mineral's surface. U.S. researcher Dr Laurel Kirkland of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston and team published their work...

And the winner of The Greatest Song Of ALl Time as determined by me is . . . (drum roll, please) . . . . Tommy James and the Shondells ' MIRAGE ' ( applause )

As Roy Horn, of Siegfried & Roy, continues to recover from injuries sustained in a tiger attack on Friday night, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals faxed a letter yesterday to Horn's hospital room expressing the group's hope that he make a full recovery but urged the duo to retire their animals and build a sanctuary. "Perhaps Friday's frightening incident will make you realize that a brightly lit stage with pounding music and a screaming audience is not the natural habitat for tigers, lions, or any other exotic animals," PETA Vice President Dan Mathews wrote.

Turkey, which says it lost $30bn (£19bn) in trade with Iraq after the 1991 Gulf war, is preparing to compete for a substantial share in the business of rebuilding Iraq. The foreign ministry said yesterday it had appointed Ahmet Okcu, a senior diplomat, to co-ordinate government and private sector lobbying efforts. Nihat Ozdemir, head of the Turkish Contractors' Union, said he would be pleased if Turkey could secure 20 per cent of the reconstruction contracts, which could be worth as much as $100bn. Tusiad, the Turkish business association, is sending a mission to Washington next month to "warm up bilateral...

Two pilots of F1 Mirage killed at the time of a collision Two pilots of F1 Mirage killed at the time of a collision Two pilots of two F1 Mirage of the air base 112 of Rheims were killed Monday morning, at the time of the collision of their apparatuses on this basis, announced the SIRPA Air. The two apparatuses carried out a mission of drive on the basis when they were struck in flight. The two pilots did not manage to eject themselves. One of the planes was crushed in end of runway and the second in a...