Free Republic

An Indian villager burrowed for 14 years with a hammer and chisel to cut a tunnel through a mountain so that his neighbours could reach nearby fields and he could park his truck outside his home. Ramchandra Das, 53, who lives in eastern Bihar state, carved a 10m-long, 4m-wide tunnel through the hill range from his village of Kewati. Das took up the Herculean task after villagers found the 7km trek over the mountain increasingly arduous. When the authorities refused to help to cut the journey time, Das began carving his way through the earth in the direction of the...

-- Rescuers hoping to find two hikers missing on the frigid slopes of Oregon's Mount Hood faced worsening weather conditions Monday night as forecasters predicted white-out conditions that could severely hinder search efforts. == Up to 2 feet of snow is expected to fall Monday night into Tuesday at the elevation where rescuers are searching for any signs of Anthony Vietti, 24, and Katie Nolan, 29, who have been missing since early Friday. A third hiker who was with them, 26-year-old Luke Gullberg, was found dead Saturday.

Since Obama is rather attached to describing everything he does as “unprecedented”, “I have achieved an unprecedented level of transparency”, “I played an unprecedented amount of golf this year” and “I just wasted an unprecedented amount of money”... in honor of the Liar in Chief, we can make “unprecedented” the word of the day. First up is Obama’s unprecedented deficit. The current real cost of ObamaCare is up to 2.5 Trillion dollars and rising. The Senate Republicans’ chart demonstrates that the total for all of these costs—based on CBO projections for the bill’s true first 10 years—is $2.5 trillion. And...

Tehran - Iran's nuclear chief said on Tuesday his country built its newly revealed uranium enrichment facility inside a mountain and next to a military site to ensure continuity of its nuclear activities in case of an attack. Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, who also heads the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran, said the site near the holy city of Qom is next to an ammunition depot controlled by the elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force. He said the only connection between the Qom nuclear facility and the Guard is the Guard would protect it against possible attacks.

Why this mountain? My little puzzle is: I have a specific reason for posting these pictures now of the photogenic Mount Assiniboine in Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, Alberta (adjacent to Banff and Kootenay National Parks). Anybody astute enough to guess what the reason is? (Click all but the second for full-size.)

What, one might ask, is the appropriate metaphor for California's convoluted budgetary situation? Would be it be Enron, which cooked its books to fool investors and lenders? Perhaps a Third World country whose rulers run up a mountain of debt while squandering revenues? Or both? Whatever it may be, years of irresponsibility by politicians and voters alike have left California with ongoing spending obligations that are nearly 50 percent higher than its ongoing revenues – roughly $110 billion a year in the former and $75 billion in the latter – and debts that would be daunting even were the economy...

First note: at the Hawaii Volcano Observatory Webcams page, you can see the two Halemaumau cams. Over the past few days, glow from the wall vent has been very bright at night, indicating that the surface of the pond is high. In the Overlook Webcam, in the AM around dawn, it's been possible to see the surface of the pond. A further rise and spillover onto the floor of Halemaumau would be very, very interesting to see. On to the images for today. Not having seen anything of remarkable interest, I decided to go with one of America's best rock...

WASHINGTON, June 3, 2009 – The loss of his right arm while serving in Iraq made something as simple as eating a challenge for retired Marine Capt. Jonathan F. Kuniholm, who recently set out with three other wounded veterans to conquer Mount McKinley, also known as “Denali” because it’s located in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Reserve. Army Lt. Col. Marc Hoffmeister, top left; Army Spc. Dave Shebib, top right; retired Marine Capt. Jon Kuniholm, bottom left; and retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Matthew Nyman -- all wounded veterans -- are attempting to summit North America's highest peak, June...

"The Lady of the Lake" is such a romantic name that mud boots would spoil the Arthurian image, but it can't be helped. In search of such mystery and beauty, I traveled to Lake Drummond in Suffolk, 30 minutes west of my house, and also to Mountain Lake near Blacksburg, some five hours farther. In between, I passed numerous other lakes without stopping because they were not as interesting as these two on opposite sides of the state. They are fraternal twins, sharing the name "lake" and the basic blueprint of water in a hole, but nothing else. One is...

A Massachusetts man and his climbing partner from Vermont were "incredibly fortunate," officials said, to survive with only minor injuries after they were caught in an avalanche and tumbled 800 feet down a slope at New Hampshire's Mount Washington last weekend. Daniel Zucker, 46, of Danville, Vt., said he and Tim Finocchio of Holbrook were nearing the top of the Dodge's Drop area at Tuckerman Ravine at about 12:30 p.m. Saturday when the snow gave way. He described a terrifying plunge down the slope in which he wondered if he would survive. "There's this roaring sound that's constant, and you're...

Haven't done this for awhile; and this one might be a toughie (except, possibly, if you've been there and recognize it). One hint: it's an easy hike to the top.

Obama pulls the plug on the nuclear industry's last best hope. We've seen a lot of hyperbole lately about the significance of a presidency that's all of six weeks old. I hesitate to add to it. But the following statement happens to be the literal truth. The ramifications of the 2008 presidential election will be felt for 1 million years. One million years is a long time. A million years ago, Homo erectus (who looked like this, not this) was getting ready to invent the hand axe and discover fire. Yet 1 million years is the length of time that...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2008 – Many wounded warriors who have served in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom have paid the price for their participation in combat. Depending on that price, many view not only themselves as a hero, but those who were lost. Army Spc. Susan Downes holds an Afghan girl during her tour there in 2006. Downes was seriously wounded there in November 2006 when the convoy she was riding in ran over a bomb. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “I was just doing my job. I think we all were,” said...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Pro-government Sunni Muslim gunmen and militiamen loyal to Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Hezbollah battled with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in the northern city of Tripoli on Monday. The violence, which broke out when Hezbollah gunmen fought pro-government forces in Beirut last week, is the worst since the end of the 1975-90 civil war in 1990. Security sources said six people were wounded when Sunni government supporters in Tripoli's Bab Tebbaneh district exchanged machine gun and grenade fire with Alawite militiamen allied to Hezbollah in the nearby Jebel Mohsen area. The fighting later gave way to the occasional...

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Police captured a more than 100-pound mountain lion in a Las Vegas neighborhood Wednesday, authorities said. Police and animal control officials tracked the animal to a back yard after it eluded capture early in the day and then reappeared Wednesday afternoon. The animal was tranquilized and captured without incident, Las Vegas police spokesman Bill Cassell said. It was handed over the Nevada Division of Wildlife and will be released in a less densely populated environment, he said. No injuries were reported. Authorities estimated the mountain lion weighed between 100 pounds and 110 pounds. It was first...

A hunter was attacked by a mountain lion Sunday near Kalispell. The hunter told officials he was several miles in on a trail when he heard what sounded like the scream of a mountain lion. A short time later, he heard a growl and turned to see a lion about 10 to 15 feet away. The man dropped his rifle and rushed to get behind a tree. The lion pounced on his back and knocked him into the tree. The collision made the lion lose its grip and the hunter reached his pistol and fired a shot... He met several...

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan, Aug. 16, 2007 – Whether crawling over dirt mounds to inspect a school, hiking mountains 9,000 feet above sea level, or handing out stuffed animals, members of the Panjshir Provincial Reconstruction Team are pushing progress in Afghanistan. “It’s a very unique job,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Christopher Luedtke, PRT commander who deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah. “No day is ever the same here in the Hindu Kush (Mountains).” A combined team of airmen, soldiers, U.S. civilians, and Afghans make up this team north of Kabul. They support the construction of micro hydro plants for...

The Mountain Meadows Massacre By Richard E. Turley Jr. Managing Director, Family and Church History Department Print E-mail Richard E. Turley Jr., “The Mountain Meadows Massacre,” Ensign, Sep 2007 This September marks the 150th anniversary of a terrible episode in the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On September 11, 1857, some 50 to 60 local militiamen in southern Utah, aided by American Indian allies, massacred about 120 emigrants who were traveling by wagon to California. The horrific crime, which spared only 17 children age six and under, occurred in a highland valley called the Mountain...

A portion of a park in Ventura was closed for a week after several mountain lion sightings. A mountain lion was spotted in the hills next to faculty condominiums on Pepperdine University campus last week, feasting on a freshly killed deer. "A resident contacted us when he saw the mountain lion," Monica Loeffler, spokeswoman for the property management office at Pepperdine, said. "It was right near the Drescher condos below Via de la Casa and above the play structure on Mariposa." there have been a couple of high-profile cases in California in recent years. A cyclist was killed by a...

Whatever you call them, pups Arnie and Angel could be the first of a new breed. Cath and Graham Wilson think they might have uncovered a new breed of dog after their Dalmation Tom mated with their seven-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog Cassie. Cath and Graham, of Croston, Lancs, have dubbed the two unlikely puppies Bernations.

04/13/2007 BY NOBUYUKI WATANABE, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Humans may have trekked up a mountain 35,000 years ago in what is now Tochigi Prefecture to dig up raw obsidian ore to process into stone tools, archaeologists say. Trapezoid stone tools unearthed on Mount Takaharayama in the prefecture will shed light on early human history in Japan, they added. The tools indicate human beings at the start of the Upper Paleolithic Era (roughly 35,000 years ago) were already "mining" raw stones to produce tools, not just picking them up off the ground, the researchers said. Previous finds had led experts to believe...

The operators of a Northern Arizona ski resort cannot use recycled sewage to make snow, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. In a unanimous decision, the judges said there is no evidence that denying the operators of Arizona Snowbowl the ability to use sewage for artificial snow would force the facility, located on U.S. Forest Service land, to shut down. They said there is no “compelling governmental interest” in having artificial snow on the San Francisco Peaks. The judge said the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act requires government agencies to use the “least restrictive” means of interfering...

HOOD RIVER, Ore. - Two climbers still missing on Mount Hood may have been swept to their deaths over a treacherous cliff by howling winds of more than 100 mph after they left their possibly injured companion behind in a snow cave to get help.

Hollywood movie "Brokeback Mountain" is scheduled to stage at Seton Hall University, a Catholic institution founded in 1865. The film is currently listed on the university’s web site under “Multicultural Program Film & Lecture Series.” Catholics are being called to peacefully protest because the film: >>> Approves same-sex relations, adultery, nudity, profanity and drug use. It is a blow to Catholic education, America’s Christian roots, the institution of the family and very foundations of morality and society. >>> "Brokeback Mountain" is the antithesis of authentic Catholic education. It scrambles human emotions and encourages students to tolerate sin. The U.S. Conference...

The mysterious twinkles called the Brown Mountain Lights, for centuries the subject of folklore, scientific intrigue and starry-eyed fascination, are headed for the great crossroads of fact and fiction: the Web. And Appalachian State University astronomer Dan Caton, whose real work is studying binary stars, hopes to shed his distinction as the world's foremost expert on something he's never actually seen. Caton plans to install a webcam, a video camera that sends images to a Web site, in hopes of capturing the dots of light that dance across the dark hills on the Burke-Caldwell county line. He reckons that 95...

Not quite Ansel Adams quality, but a nice black-and-white image of Nevada Huandoy in the Andes: Color image: the sheer rockface on the left (right front in the black and white image) is apparently a well-known climber's challenge: On another note, this place in France, the "Cascade du Sautadet", looks like a theme-park water ride (you can actually swim there, but caution is advised). The formation is due to wind and water erosion.

9/12/2006 - MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho (AFPN) -- More than 160 Airmen from the 726th Air Control Squadron here deployed Sept. 10 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Their mission is to monitor the airspace over a battlefield and provide military leaders with a clear and accurate picture of that area, allowing commanders to make informed, real-time decisions. "We are self-sufficient and are comprised of 27 Air Force specialty codes. We are capable of going into the middle of nowhere and supporting ourselves," said Master Sgt. Todd Kern, the 726th ACS first sergeant who did not deploy with...

Ancient gold coins found in Kyrgyz mountain lake 16:34 | 30/ 08/ 2006 BISHKEK, August 30 (RIA Novosti) - Possibly the world's most ancient gold coin has been discovered in a high mountain lake in Kyrgyzstan, the chief of an archeological expedition said Wednesday. Academic Vladimir Ploskikh said an expedition from the Kyrgyz-Russian Slavic University found a 70-gram octagonal gold artifact on the northern side of Lake Issuk-Kul. "This is probably the earliest form of metal money found in Central Asia, and may have served as an archetype for later gold coins," he said. "If this [hypothesis] is confirmed, the...

Four Russian mountaineers have gone missing in Pakistan on the world's second highest mountain, K2.

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan — Warriors of Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 10th Special Troops Battalion, 10th Mountain Division, along with Soldiers of Task Force Tiger, began Operation Mountain Lamb by visiting the village of Qalyuzbashi near Bagram recently. The goal was to empower the village elders by allowing them to take charge of the set-up and distribution of humanitarian items. In less than an hour, all 50 boxes and bags of clothes, school supplies, and boxes of candy were gone as both children and adult men went through the line. “We love you Americans!” said one village elder through an interpreter. “Four...

WASHINGTON, June 15, 2006 – A bus bombing in Afghanistan killed several passengers this morning, and Operation Mountain Thrust continues in the southern portion of the country, military officials said. A bus exploded near the intersection of highways 1 and 4 in Kandahar City at about 8 a.m. today. The explosion, caused by a bomb on the bus, killed seven and injured 17. It was believed to be a deliberate attack against Afghan civilians. Afghan national security forces and coalition forces have responded by assisting with the evacuation of casualties to the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar City. "This is a...

A mountain lion prowling around for easy meals has been scaring a...family ever since it killed one of the family's cats two weeks ago. About 2:30 a.m. ...Carrie Ann Warner heard noises outside that she assumed came from raccoons ... As the house had no windows on that side, she opened the door a little, a piece of firewood in one hand. One of her cats scooted out the door, right into the clutches of a mountain lion not 2 feet from her. Warner threw the firewood and hit the animal in the head as it carried off her cat....

U.S. Army Col. John Nicholson (second from left), Task Force Spartan commander, illustrates friendly and enemy positions for U.S. Army Gen. John P. Abizaid (second from right), U.S. Central Command commander, as U.S. Army Brig. Gen. John M. Custer, U.S. Central Command commander director of intelligence, and U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, Combined Joint Task Force-76 commander, look on May 2, 2006, at Provincial Reconstruction Team Asadabad headquarters. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pintagro CENTCOM Commander Visits 'Mountain Lion' Battlefields General Abizaid also met with U.S. Marines of Task Force Lava, wrapping up his...

A musical mystery today surrounded Britain's highest mountain after a piano was discovered near its summit. Volunteers clearing stones from the 4,418ft peak were astonished when they discovered the musical instrument on Ben Nevis. An appeal has now been launched to find out how and why the piano came to be within 200 metres of the top of the mountain. The piano was recovered at the weekend by 15 volunteers from the John Muir Trust, the conservation charity which owns part of Ben Nevis. The squad was removing litter and stones called cairns from the summit plateau when they spotted...

The mountains skipped like rams… – Psalm 114 "Moving mountains" has come to mean doing the impossible. Yet at least once in the past, one mountain relocated a fair distance away. This feat took place around 50 million years ago, in the area of the present-day border between Montana and Wyoming. Heart Mountain was part of a larger mountain range when the 100 km (62 mile) long ridge somehow became detached from its position and shifted about 100 km to the southwest. This "migrating mountain" has garnered interest from geologists and geophysicists around the world who have tried to solve...

PRESIDENTIAL NEWS OF THE DAY: For a change, a pleasant, even delightful and funny story from the Associated Press about President Bush. An AP reporter accompanied GWB on what the reporter described as a "lung-busting" mountain bike ride this morning in Northern California, and later filed this report (unfortunately no photos were up on Yahoo as of 1:00pm Pacific time): Bush Takes Muddy Bike Ride on Earth Day By SCOTT LINDLAW, Associated Press Writer LAS POSADAS STATE FOREST, Calif. - President Bush marked Earth Day with a lung-busting mountain bike ride high above Napa County wine country, dodging ruts that...

A 7-year-old boy hiking with his family was attacked Saturday by a mountain lion... The boy, whose name was not released, was apparently in a group taking a short hike at a scenic area of Flagstaff Mountain, Division of Wildlife spokesman Tyler Baskfield said. "The father turned and saw the cat had a hold of the young boy," ... The group began screaming at the cat and throwing rocks and was able to free the boy... the mountain is prime habitat for the cats, and there had been several recent sightings of mountain lions in west Boulder.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should withhold federal funds from a California college given the failure of the college to ensure the safe presence of military recruiters on campus, the Secretary was advised by a public interest law firm in a letter released today. According to news reports, military recruiters were forced to flee yesterday from a University of California Santa Cruz job fair because of a raucous mob. Mountain States Legal Foundation advised Rumsfeld that the college’s actions violate the Solomon Amendment, which requires that colleges permit military recruiters on campus or lose all federal funds. UC Santa Cruz...

WASHINGTON, April 12, 2006 – Coalition forces, in cooperation with the Afghan National Army, began "Operation Mountain Lion" yesterday to establish security, deter the re-emergence of terrorism, and enhance the sovereignty of Afghanistan, military officials reported today. Afghan and coalition forces killed six insurgents today while conducting offensive operations in the Marawara district of Afghanistan's Kunar province. Military officials in Afghanistan said Operation Mountain Lion is part of the coalition's ongoing series of offensives that aim to disrupt insurgent activities, deny them sanctuary and prevent their ability to restock. "This operation is helping the government of Afghanistan set the security...

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq (ARMY NEWS SERVICE, March 23, 2006) – Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, discovered four caches in Abu Ghraib during a five-day period beginning March 11. The caches contained 32,000 pounds of explosives. Officials believe the sites were possible cells of operation for improvised explosive devices due to their seemingly hasty placement. “Since we began exploiting these caches, the number of IEDs in our own area of operation has dropped to almost zero,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Brown, commander, 2-22 Inf. He added that finding the caches has...

BUSH:IRAQ UP TO THE NEXT GUY (Rocky Mountain News Headline) ---------------------------- Bush: Iraq pullout a choice for a later President (MSNBC HEADLINE for same AP Story by Terrence Hunt) Amid public unease, president suggests U.S. troops will stay through 2008 Updated: 9:59 p.m. ET March 21, 2006 WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday the decision about when to withdraw all U.S. troops from Iraq will fall to future presidents and Iraqi leaders, suggesting that U.S. involvement will continue at least through 2008. Acknowledging the public’s growing unease with the war — and election-year skittishness among fellow Republicans — the president...

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, captured two terrorists in Abu Ghraib Feb. 26. Soldiers from the battalion’s Company B were conducting a routine inspection of vehicles in western Abu Ghraib. Prompted by his previous experiences in Iraq, 1st Lt. Scott Treadwell, Co. B, ordered his Soldiers to search a suspicious vehicle. Treadwell’s men discovered two known murderers of Iraqi civilians. The two men were carrying rifles and contracts for the murder of other Iraqis. A day prior, Soldiers from the battalion’s Co. C found a large weapon...

WASHINGTON, March 5, 2006 – Soldiers with the U.S. Army's 10th Mountain Division nabbed terrorists and confiscated weapons during an operation in Baghdad Feb. 26. The soldiers, assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, were conducting vehicle inspections in western Abu Ghraib. 1st Lt. Scott Treadwell had ordered his soldiers to search a suspicious vehicle. Treadwell's men found two known murderers of Iraqi civilians. The two terrorists were carrying rifles and contracts for the murder of other Iraqis. The capture of the two assassins was inspiring to the soldiers, who conduct patrols every day...

'Brokeback Mountain' Leads Academy Awards With Eight Nominations By Stephanie Cole 'Brokeback Mountain' leads the 78th Annual Academy Awards this year with eight nominations. 'Crash' and 'Capote' will face off against the Ang Lee love story in the Best Picture category, along with 'Good Night, And Good Luck' and 'Munich.'

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan, Feb. 21, 2006 – The 10th Mountain Division assumed command of Combined Joint Task Force 76 at a ceremony here today, replacing the Southern European Task Force. Army Maj. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, 10th Mountain Division commander, assumes command of Combined Joint Task Force 76 in Afghanistan as he receives flag from Army Lt. Gen. Karl W. Eikenberry, commander of Combined Forces Command Afghanistan, at Bagram Air Base Feb. 21. Army Maj. Gen. Jason K. Kamiya (second from left), who heads Southern European Task Force, is the outgoing CJTF 76 commander. Photo by Sgt. Douglas...

U.S. Army soldiers with Task Force Catamount arrive for duty at Forward Operating Base Sharona, Afghanistan, Feb. 10, 2006, to replace Task Force Fury. The Catamounts are assigned to 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pintagro 10th Mountain Troops Arrive in Paktika Province Task Force Catamount arrives at Forward Operating Base Aned, ready to replace Task Force Fury and for their induction into “Team Paktika.” By U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael Pintagro 3rd Brigade Combat Team FORWARD OPERATING BASE ANED, Afghanistan, Feb. 16, 2006...

A look at how liberal cultural elites gave "blockbuster" stature to a perverse movie -- Brokeback Mountain -- and what they hoped to accomplish. John Wayne and Gary Cooper must be spinning in their graves. Liberal as Hollywood is, they never would have thought the industry they loved would put out a movie in which the protagonists are cowboys who give the term "rough riders" a new, blue meaning. But alas, Tinseltown has obliged with Brokeback Mountain. Based on Annie Proulx's short story for The New Yorker, it is the tale of two sodomite sheepherders, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger)...

Hollywood Does It Again by Jennifer King, Managing Editor February 3, 2006 "The Heretical Housewife"Liberals have become so predictable, it’s almost boring prognosticating what they’ll do next. Anything to poke a stick in the eye of the unlettered bourgeoisie. All efforts must be aimed at insulting plebian Red America. Thus, at the “Golden Globe” awards, the alleged precursor to the Oscars, the winners included a plethora of tediously tendentious offerings. Brokeback Mountain, a movie about gay sheepherders whose illicit lust destroys both of their heterosexual marriages, won for best drama, best director, best original song (which some wag dubbed, “Homos...