Free Republic

Really funny stuff. http://youtube.com/watch?v=LEaOkhWOZ1A

Jim Gordon May Have an Answer to our Energy Problems An alternative to oil? Check. Completely green? Check. Economical? Check. So why has the entrepreneur been sued, pilloried, and lampooned? From: FastCompany.com | July 2007 | By: Kermit Pattison Jim Gordon has a vision. It moves him so much that he abandoned his chair about an hour ago and paces the corridors and rooms of his Boston offices. He stops at a map of Cape Cod and taps his finger in the middle of Nantucket Sound. He wants you to understand why it's the perfect site for America's first offshore...

NANTUCKET — In response to a request from local police, federal immigration agents conducted a series of early morning raids yesterday searching for illegal immigrants on a list of about 26 "hard targets," most of whom had committed crimes on the island, the Nantucket police said. "This was not a roundup of people here illegally," Police Chief William Pittman said. Of the 18 people arrested, 16 had criminal histories and six had been ordered removed from the country by an immigration judge, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. Two others were picked up because they were in...

They came to Nantucket to mow lawns, clean hotel rooms, and build houses. But while living and working on the island, they became victims of crime. One was stabbed, another beaten, another robbed -- all by immigrants like them living in the island's shadow economy. Usually, such victims, afraid of being deported, spurn police. But this time they cooperated with Nantucket police, who spent months interviewing them and then called federal authorities. Yesterday at 4 a.m., 30 immigration agents landed on Nantucket on a Coast Guard ship, met local police, and raided several houses. By mid morning, they had arrested...

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said the round up targeted criminals whose convictions make them ineligible to remain in the United States. Sixteen of the 18 people arrested had been convicted of various charges, including drug offenses, assault and battery, possession of a dangerous weapon and larceny, said Paula Grenier, a spokeswoman for ICE in Boston. Six immigrants had final orders of deportation from an immigration judge but had failed to comply with the orders, Grenier said. Two people were illegal immigrants who now face deportation proceedings. "Today’s enforcement action was first and foremost a public safety operation," said Bruce...

BOSTON (AP) -- The National Hurricane Center says Tropical Storm Beryl has made landfall in Nantucket.

Fans of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy have long argued that he has fought the good fight ... But today, he is defending the indefensible: special interest legislation, tucked into a Coast Guard authorization bill, that would give Gov. Mitt Romney the power to veto the proposed Cape Wind energy project, even though it would be in federal waters. The project... more than five miles offshore of Cape Cod. The equivalent of burning 113 million barrels of oil per year. Proponents of Cape Wind say it is an important source of alternative, renewable energy, and it has the backing of such...

CRITICS OF PROPOSED US offshore wind farms have recently lauded efforts to develop deep-water offshore wind energy technologies that would allow wind farms to be built far from shore. They suggest that advances in research and development are proceeding at such a rapid pace that thousands of wind turbines could soon be operating off the northeast coast without encroaching on anyone's view or posing any threat to the environment. Clarification about the current state and potential of deep-water offshore wind energy appears timely. The US Department of Energy estimates the wind energy potential off the United States coast to be...

The infamous environmental group Greenpeace is targeting Sen. Ted Kennedy for opposing a wind farm in the Nantucket Sound because it would interfere with the view from his Hyannisport mansion. Greenpeace is launching a nationwide TV ad campaign against Kennedy, with spots that portray the Massachusetts Democrat as Godzilla. The Cape Cod Times reports: "In the 30-second spot, a cartoon Kennedy looms over the water like a Japanese movie monster, pounding wind turbines as they sprout from the water, and barks, 'I might see them from my mansion on the Cape.'" Kennedy's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a leading...

Opponents of a plan to build the first offshore U.S. wind farm in Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts were a step closer on Friday to blocking the $900 million project. Negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed late on Thursday to give Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney the power to block a plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC to put 130 giant wind turbines near the resort islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Backers say the project could generate enough electricity for most of Cape Cod and nearby islands. Opponents include wealthy residents with yachts and shorefront property near...

NANTUCKET, Mass. (AP) -- Nantucket joined several other historic tourist towns across the country in approving a measure that would ban chain stores from the island's downtown, a move endorsed by more than 480 residents at a town meeting. The rule would bar any new chains with more than 14 outlets that have standardized menus, trademarks, uniforms or other homogeneous decor from opening downtown. The ban would not affect gas stations, grocery stores, banks and other service providers. "I'm extremely gratified," said independent book seller Wendy Hudson, who proposed the ban. "I guess it feels validating ... people saw the...

Given to environmentalist lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose fight for "green" energy apparently stops as soon as the results might spoil his view. Kennedy penned an irate New York Times op-ed in December, condemning the proposed building of wind turbines around the Nantucket Sound. While Kennedy criss-crosses the country in his jet-fuel-burning private plane stumping for alternative energy sources, he wants an exception for his own backyard. Greenpeace spokesman Chris Miller was not pleased, saying: "It's about a vision for healthy oceans, not the view from the Kennedy compound."

A plan to build what could become the first large offshore wind farm in the United States would be effectively killed by a proposed amendment to a Coast Guard budget bill now making its way through Congress, people on both sides of the issue say. The amendment, offered by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, would prohibit new offshore wind facilities within 1.5 nautical miles of a shipping lane or a ferry route. That would rule out construction of the installation, proposed for Nantucket Sound. The budget bill awaits action in a House-Senate conference committee. The developer, a private company...

EAST HAMPTON, Long Island The plane that crashed in East Hampton, Long Island over the weekend had been bought in Georgia and was being flown home to Nantucket, Massachussetts. The pilot - 50-year-old William Holdgate of Nantucket was killed in the crash Sunday afternoon in the middle of East Hampton. His family says Holdgate bought the twin-engine Cessna 411 several months ago and had traveled to Georiga to fly it home. Holdgate owned a construction company in Nantucket and had been a pilot for about ten years. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board says they found a three...

BOSTON --Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., is heading for Nantucket with plans for an Aug. 12 fundraiser. Former President Bill Clinton and his wife will spend a week on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket vacationing and attending the fundraiser. Proceeds will go to Hillary Clinton's re-election campaign. The fundraiser will be held at the Nantucket home of Elizabeth Frawley Bagley and Smith W. Bagley. The Bagleys are Democratic activists who have previously hosted the Clintons. Tickets to the event will cost $1,000, The Boston Sunday Globe reported.

Bomb threat strands 170 Nantucket visitors HYANNIS - A bomb threat called in to Hy-Line Cruises Sunday night put a freeze on all ferry travel in and out of Nantucket, stranding at least 170 people on the island while officials scoured vessels and luggage in search of explosives. No evidence of bombs was found in the search and the investigation into the origin of the threat continues today. The call came in to the boat line's Nantucket ticket office at 8 p.m. from an adult male who gave an unspecific threat about a Hy-Line vessel blowing up if it left...

A bomb threat called in to Hyline Cruises Sunday night left dozens of ferry passengers stranded on Nantucket overnight, but daily cruises were expected to resume normal schedules Monday NewsCenter 5's Gail Huff reported that the cruise company reopened its ticket offices Monday and was planning to start selling tickets for the 6:30 a.m. ferry. Many of the people waiting in line to buy tickets were passengers who were stranded when ferry service was canceled Sunday night after a bomb threat was called in about 8 p.m. to HiLine's Nantucket ticket office. The U.S. Coast Guard set up a security...

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., who in recent weeks has emerged as the wind energy industry's public enemy No. 1, is also a Nantucket property owner. Alexander, who last month filed legislation that could hobble the emerging wind industry - including the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm - bought a seaside plot on the eastern edge of Nantucket four years ago for $800,000. Alexander and his wife own the half-acre property in Siasconset through a trust, according to a recent Senate filing. They have not built there and today the property is worth $1.25 million, according to the island's tax...

Fishing rules under scrutiny as search for fishermen ends By JAY LINDSAY BOSTON — The Coast Guard on Wednesday called off its search for five fishermen lost at sea when their scallop boat capsized in turbulent waters off Nantucket. [snip] The deaths sparked anger among boat owners and fishermen, who said federal rules which cut fishing days and penalize fishermen who leave fishing grounds early force captains to fish in dangerous weather to take advantage of limited opportunities. "You´re taking the skipper out of the wheelhouse and putting lobbyists and congressmen in the seat, making decisions for you," said Kevin...

Cape Wind Hearings At public hearings on Cape Cod and the Islands this week, Mass Audubon urged the United States Army Corps of Engineers to produce a supplemental draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed Cape Wind project to address key data gaps, particularly in regard to birds, which need to be filled before the document could be considered adequate to move forward to the Final EIS stage. Cape Wind would be the first offshore wind farm in North America and one of the largest in the world, consisting of 130 tower-mounted wind turbines arrayed in a grid over...