Free Republic

Iran claims nuclear project breakthrough By Philip Sherwell in New York (Filed: 30/04/2006) Iran is developing an advanced centrifuge that would allow it to accelerate its controversial uranium enrichment programme, a senior official told state television yesterday. Mohammad Saidi, the vice-president of Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, made the claim a day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran had ignored a United Nations ultimatum to end enrichment work. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: Iran will never renounce its nuclear programme A more sophisticated breed of centrifuge would allow scientists to speed up purification of uranium towards the 90 per...

4/20/2006 - MANAS AIR BASE, Kyrgyzstan (AFPN) -- Almost nothing changed on the outside of the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing headquarters here until the final week of the renovation. There was always something indicating work -- trenches, heavy machinery, dusty workers taking a quick break at the gazebo. But the metal exterior itself didn’t give any indication of the work going on inside until the end. “You couldn’t see any difference on the outside,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Williams. “People were probably watching this whole time thinking -- what have those guys been doing all day?” What they’ve been doing...

OBOCK, Djibouti, April 20, 2006 – A pier construction project sponsored by the United States will help bring income to this impoverished village and make access to the area easier for U.S. Navy ships fighting the war on terrorism. (From right) Navy Rear Adm. Richard Hunt, who commands Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa; U.S. Ambassador to Djibouti Marguerita Ragsdale; and Navy Secretary Donald Winter listen as Djiboutian officials speak at a groundbreaking ceremony for a new pier in Obock, Djibouti, April 20. Photo by Jim Garamone  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The first thing you notice...

In championing the so-called “Frontier Line,” a Western states electric power development and transmission project, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who signed a memorandum of understanding on it yesterday, is embracing the newest frontier of the old energy economy. The Frontier Line is about coal-fired electric power. That’s why the Frontier Line would originate in coal producing Wyoming and is embraced by the coal lobby of the Mountain West. They have the coal power, we have the electricity market in need. The out-of-state wind farms that are talked up by Schwarzenegger and his energy czar, Joe Desmond -- who will depart his...

Gov. Marijadeen Patan of Khost Province (center left) helps hold a ribbon as U.S. Army Lt. Col. David A. Bushey cuts it during March 25, 2006, ceremonies marking the start of a project to rebuild the Matachena Madrassa, the largest religious school in Khost, Afghanistan. Bushey is commander of Task Force Wolfpack, composed primarily of soldiers from the 4th Battalion, 25th Field Artillery Regiment, part of the 10th Mountain Division’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team, based in Fort Drum, N.Y. U.S. Army photo by Spc. Amber Robinson-Sonoda Governor, Khost Residents Celebrate Madrassa Project Start A ribbon-cutting ceremony marked the start...

Black Activists Support Judge's Ruling to Hold New Orleans Elections on TimeFri Mar 31, 5:26 PM ET To: National Desk Contact: David Almasi of Project 21, 202-543-4110 ext. 11 or Project21@nationalcenter.org WASHINGTON, March 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- As the Reverend Jesse Jackson and others prepare to march in opposition to scheduled city government elections in New Orleans, members of the black leadership network Project 21 are supportive of a New Orleans- based federal judge's ruling clearing the way for voting to be held on and leading up to April 22. In his March 27 ruling, U.S. District Court judge Ivan...

Has anyone's children ever done a Mouse Maze for a science project? My 10y.o. has a science project due by April 4th. She would like to try to do a Mouse Maze with her gerbil and Egyptian Spiny Mouse to see who can learn it. I've no idea how much time a rodent needs to learn a maze. I just surfed a few university sites too and it seems they without food and water for about a day or too to encourage the mouse to learn the maze. Anyone have experience doing this? We do have a back up project...

Massachusetts' attorney general is demanding that contractors refund $108 million for poor work on Boston's "Big Dig," which is the biggest public works project in U.S. history and has been plagued by leaks and delays. Attorney General Tom Reilly's office plans to sue Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff and other companies if the two sides do not reach an agreement over some 200 complaints of shoddy work in putting a major highway running through downtown Boston underground... Costs for building the 7.8 mile underground roadway through Boston ballooned from under $3 billion to the current $14.6 billion.

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2006 – Karen Stark never liked to sew. But thanks to her efforts, deployed servicemembers throughout the world are getting handmade "cool ties." Hazel Houck uses a donated sewing machine to make a cooling tie in Edmond, Okla. Houck volunteers with "The Hugs Project," sending polymer gel neck scarves and helmet inserts to deployed troops. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The Oklahoma woman has found her mission organizing groups through "The Hugs Project," a nonprofit organization manufacturing reusable neck scarves and helmet liners with polymer gel inserts that keep cold for hours at...

CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2006) -- Deployed Marines often depend on their ability to freely travel the skies to accomplish their missions. If that ability is endangered, so are those missions. At Camp Taqaddum, the condition of the flight line here is in need of improvement, which is where the Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 133, 30th Naval Construction Regiment, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force is coming into action. The unit is helping ensure that airborne assets and transportation remains a dependable facet the overall military force here. Petty Officer 1st Class Timothy A. Gridley, in charge of the runway project...

WOODBRIDGE, Va., Feb. 10, 2006 – As he maneuvered his wheelchair through rooms under renovation yesterday, former Army Staff Sgt. Eugene Simpson celebrated the purchase of his new house and raised awareness that the project still needs more help to reach its goal. Homes for Our Troops recently purchased this house in Woodbridge, Va., and has begun renovations to accommodate former Army Staff Sgt. Eugene Simpson's injuries. The sergeant's spine was severed by shrapnel when he was serving in Iraq. The renovation is expected to last four months. Photo by William D. Moss  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available....

"GMUG" stands for the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests. Combined, they encompass some 2.9 million acres of National Forest lands in Central and Western Colorado. These three forests are home to some of the most outstanding recreational opportunity in the West. Right now, the forest's are revising their Forest Plans. These management plans provide broad guidance on what activities may or may not occur on these lands. The BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC), a national recreation advocacy group that champions recreational access and responsible use of public and private lands, is growing increasingly concerned about the influence several anti-access groups...

For the first time in more than 20 years, U.S. nuclear-weapons scientists are designing a new H-bomb, the first of probably several new nuclear explosives on the drawing boards. If they succeed, in perhaps 20 or 25 more years, the United States would have an entirely new nuclear arsenal, and a highly automated factory capable of turning out more warheads as needed, as well as new kinds of warheads. "We are on the verge of an exciting time," the nation's top nuclear weapons executive, Linton Brooks, said last week at Lawrence Livermore weapons design laboratory. Teams of roughly 20 scientists...

At the dawn of the atomic age, scientists began work on what might have been the nastiest weapon ever conceived.Those who came of age during the era of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl are probably too young to remember the happy days when "our friend the atom" promised electricity too cheap to meter and cars that would run forever without a fill-up. With atom-powered subs like the Nautilus cruising under the polar icecap in the mid-1950s, could anyone doubt that atom-powered rocketships, airplanes, and even automobiles would be far behind? A funny thing happened to that dream on its way...

The "Wolverines," joined by "Team Kodiak" and Afghan soldiers and contractors, worked to complete a 66-kilometer road project before the onset of winter. By Combined Forces Command-Afghanistan CAMP WOLVERINE, Afghanistan, Jan. 10, 2006 — Commerce, transportation and travel have always been difficult in the remote windswept mountains and valleys of Zabol Province in eastern Afghanistan. That fact, however, has recently changed. In the latter part of this past year, two U.S. Army engineer companies, the 173rd Combat Support Company and Charlie Company, 864th Engineer Battalion, took a significant step in establishing stability and economic growth outside of Qalat, the provincial...

FORT HUACHUCA — At 14, Daniel Rich is one part site supervisor and another part worker. The Buena High School ninth-grader needs to be both, as he leads and does labor that hopefully will earn him the rank of Eagle Scout, as a member of Boy Scout Troop 431. Sunday, Daniel had the support of others from his Fort Huachuca troop, a couple of scouts from Troop 444 in Sierra Vista, family members, friends and soldiers from Company B, 305th Military Intelligence Battalion and Headquarters Company of the 111th Military Intelligence Brigade in renovating trails on the post’s Heritage Park....

The $580,000 project compliments a recently-completed sewer and paving project. BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 26, 2005 — Residents of Al Ameen, a southeastern Baghdad neighborhood, will soon reap the benefits of their first-ever water network, courtesy of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team with construction management by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The $580,000 project is 95 percent done, and is scheduled for completion by Nov. 7. “This project will provide potable water and fire hydrants to an area that has never had a water network.” Mike Mitchell, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers “This project will provide potable water and fire...

Hi everyone. I have a pretty important research paper to write. It's going to be on something political...I need some advice though..my potential topic is: 1.) Iraq is better off now than it was before the liberation. I need to fill up 6-7 pages on this if I were to choose to do it. I need to prove 3 points. What 3 points could I prove? I was thinking about the first point being about the Hussein regime and what life was like under Saddam Hussein...but I'm not sure what other points I could prove..and do you guys think I...

The word "reinvent" is a dumb term, having an overtone of redundancy. After all, when you have invented something, it exists. You can revise it or change it, but you can't "reinvent" it after you have already invented it. I never heard the term when I first entered the workforce. But somewhere in the 1970s or so, corporate executives-began using the word, and using it a lot. Then as now, the nation had its usual economic ups and downs, but suddenly after one downturn, our nation was heavily laden with companies that had reinvented themselves. What happened is that after...

LISTEN, Libertarian! By Tim Condon October 9, 2005 Libertarians are such losers. I know, this is not a way to endear myself to them, even when my best friends are all libertarian or near-libertarian. But success is staring them in the face, and a significant proportion of them deploy massive brainpower and argument to make sure that nothing ever gets better. It's incredible. LISTEN, libertarian! It's over 30 years later, and we're still hearing endless platitudes that keep us from gaining political power in the service of individual freedom. "All we need to do is a better job at selling...

ANAHEIM, California (Reuters) - The Republican favorite for a California congressional seat was forced into a runoff with Jim Gilchrist, founder of a volunteer border patrol group, and three other candidates after failing to capture a majority of the vote. With all precincts reporting in Tuesday's special election for the 48th Congressional district, former state Sen. John Campbell had collected 46 percent of the votes cast, followed by fellow Republican and former state Assemblywoman Marilyn Brewer at 16.7 percent. Gilchrist, who founded the Minuteman movement and is running as an American Independent Party candidate, drew 14.4 percent, followed by Democrat...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 4, 2005 – The American Security Council Foundation recently launched "Project Freedom" to highlight the accomplishments being made by American servicemembers in the war on terror. The project encourages civilians to write stories about these accomplishments and submit them for publication by the foundation. "The goal of Project Freedom is to raise the American public's awareness of and put a human face on the extraordinary, good things our soldiers, sailors and airmen are doing every day in the war on terror and in reconstructing Iraq and Afghanistan," Brian Williams, director of operations for the foundation, said. The foundation...

KATRINA'S AFTERMATH A Barrier That Could Have Been Congress OKd a project to protect New Orleans 40 years ago, but an environmentalist suit halted it. Some say it could have worked. By Ralph Vartabedian and Peter Pae, Times Staff Writer September 9, 2005 latimes.com In the wake of Hurricane Betsy 40 years ago, Congress approved a massive hurricane barrier to protect New Orleans from storm surges that could inundate the city. But the project, signed into law by President Johnson, was derailed in 1977 by an environmental lawsuit. Now the question is: Could that barrier have protected New Orleans from...

New Mexico, Arizona Governors Debate Borders By BARRY MASSEY Associated Press Writer August 30. 2005 1:56PM With just three words - "state of emergency" - border state Govs. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Janet Napolitano of Arizona injected urgency into a simmering national debate over illegal immigration. First Richardson, then Napolitano, declared a state of emergency this month in portions of their states along the border with Mexico. In doing so, they freed state money for local governments and law enforcement to cope with what they describe as increasing border crime and problems related to illegal immigration. Politically and...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Aug. 20, 2005) -- Members of the Camp Lejeune’s Environmental Management Division joined a group of Boy Scouts from the base’s Troop 490 and Jacksonville’s Troop 597 to take part in an environmental awareness project aboard the base Aug. 20. As the final stage in becoming an Eagle Scout, Daniel Griffith, the project leader, designed, organized and executed the mission in an effort to increase public awareness of the dangers of pollution in regards to storm drains and water run-off. The project has created publicity on the subject through the utilization of mass media...

The Harvard Civil Rights Project did Californians an enormous favor in March when it released a report establishing that high-school dropout rates in the state were more than double what school bureaucrats claimed. ... If anything made plain the insincerity of the teachers union-dominated education establishment in trying to help schools improve, it was this proof that the establishment fudged the numbers. That's why it's so dismaying to see the Harvard group throw its weight behind the educrats' continuing crusade to undermine the centerpiece of California school reforms: making passage of a comprehensive exit exam a condition for a high...

President Ronald Reagan loved to rail against Congress' pork-barrel spending. But critics say that didn't stop Congress from earmarking $2.3 million for landscaping on the freeway that bears his name, one item among the $24 billion worth of special projects tacked onto the transportation bill signed Wednesday by President Bush. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who opposed the bill with four other senators, said the amount directed to special projects was "egregious." And he singled out Simi Valley's long-awaited landscaping project along Highway 118. "I wonder what Ronald Reagan would say?" McCain asked about the fiscally conservative president. In the city...

Wake! For the Sun, who scatter'd into flight The Stars before him from the Field of Night, Drives Night along with them from Heav'n, and strikes The Sultan's Turret with a Shaft of Light Portland, Oregon -- So begins The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, one of the best-known poems in the world and perhaps the most famous piece of Persian literature. The several hundred quatrains that make up this enduring 11th century work have been translated into dozens of languages and inspired countless readers and scholars with their beauty. At least nine editions of The Rubaiyat are currently in print...

Under criticism for missing a rare chance to help secure $400 million for a coveted car-pool lane on the 405 Freeway, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger stepped up Wednesday and promised to support the project -- if Van Nuys Rep. Howard Berman can deliver the federal money. Schwarzenegger came through none too soon for Berman, a Democrat, who has been lambasting the governor for failing to commit to the state's 20 percent in matching funds, which are needed to get the project eligible for consideration in the $300 billion federal highway bill now being negotiated on Capitol Hill. "We support your effort...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A company that sought state approval for a major development deal on the city's waterfront made substantial campaign contributions to politicians who controlled the project's fate, a newspaper reported Saturday. Campaign finance records show that Mills Corp., which long has lobbied to build a $210 million retail and sports complex on Piers 27-31, contributed at least $53,250 to Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, state Attorney General Bill Lockyer and state Controller Steve Westly in the months before and after they endorsed the project, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Westly and Bustamante, who sit on the three-member California...

The Genographic ProjectPublic participation, including yours, is critical to the Genographic Project's success. Here's how you can get involved: Purchasing a Public Participation Kit will fund important research around the world—and open the door to the ancient past of your own genetic background. With a simple and painless cheek swab you can sample your own DNA. You'll submit the sample through our secure, private, and completely anonymous system, then log on to the project Web site to track your personal results online. This is not a genealogy test and you won't learn about your great grandparents. You will learn,...

An effort to create the first computer simulation of the entire human brain, right down to the molecular level, was launched on Monday. The “Blue Brain” project, a collaboration between IBM and a Swiss university team, will involve building a custom-made supercomputer based on IBM’s Blue Gene design. The hope is that the virtual brain will help shed light on some aspects of human cognition, such as perception, memory and perhaps even consciousness. It will be the first time humans will be able to observe the electrical code our brains use to represent the world, and to do so in...

One of the adolescent things about liberals is that they won’t accept consequences of their actions, but will hold adults, Conservatives, to answer. This is becoming more obvious every year. The Minuteman Movement is spreading, as it should. And their mission and acceptance is becoming more obvious with every month! California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has said that he would not obstruct the Movement’s arrival in California. For this he takes heat. Now, Texas Governor Rick Perry says about the same thing for the Movement’s coming to Texas. For this, he, too, is taking heat. One of the things Americans respect...

LAS VEGAS - The founder of the Minuteman Project rolled into the Sin City on Sunday. Jim Gilchrist, however, didn't come to gamble or get a lap dance. He came to deliver his oft-repeated anti-illegal immigration message. He also spelled out his version of hitting the jackpot: deport the millions of illegal aliens occupying the United States back to Mexico. Send them back by plane or bus, give them money and do it civilly, he said. ''That's what I have in mind,'' Gilchrist told about 200 people who cheered him at the downtown Las Vegas convention center. He made his...

WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller told lawmakers Tuesday he still doesn't know how much it will cost to complete the bureau's computer overhaul, already well over budget and behind schedule. He also refused to state publicly the cost of the initial phase of the Sentinel system, the planned successor to a failed project that was supposed to greatly improve management of terrorism and other criminal cases. "There are certain sensitivities involved," Mueller told the Senate Appropriations Committee's Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee, explaining that the FBI soon would invite contractors to compete for the work. The FBI has yet...

The researchers behind the Screensaver-Lifesaver project – which uses the ‘idle time’ of millions of computers worldwide to screen for anti-cancer drugs – are now turning their attention to fighting pancreatic cancer. The Screensaver-Lifesaver project is run out of the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR) Centre for Computational Drug Discovery under the direction of Professor Graham Richards, Chairman of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Oxford. In a recent joint statement with the NFCR and Dr. Daniel Von Hoff of the Center for Targeted Cancer Therapies at the University of Arizona and the Translational Genomics Research Institute,...

In The Arizona Minutemen II, I mentioned that Arizona’s Minuteman Project is restoring the concept of Militia in its proper light, and that the mission of any Militia is that – made up of everyday constituents – Militias of everyday constituents have always been the first line of defense. Adding power to this concept is the resonant idea of putting more cops on the street, the official equivalent to constituent-manned Militia. Sheer numbers with legal authority both have. President Clinton enunciated this policy when he promised 100,000 new officers on the street, though it never became a reality, even as...

Editor's note: Each week, WorldNetDaily White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asks the tough questions almost no one else will ask. And each week, WorldNetDaily brings you the transcripts of those dialogues with the president and his spokesman. If you'd like to suggest a question for the White House, submit it to WorldNetDaily's exclusive interactive forum MR. PRESIDENT! By Les Kinsolving At today's White House news briefing, WND asked presidential press secretary Scott McClellan about the president's view that those involved in the Minuteman Project on the U.S.-Mexican border are vigilantes and confronted the spokesman with Border Patrol comments about agents'...

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The governors of four Western states announced their support Monday for the building of 1,300 miles of power lines that would carry electricity from the coal fields of Wyoming to energy-starved Southern California. In a memorandum of agreement, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal established a compact that will try to speed government and regulatory approvals for the power lines and the plants that would generate the electricity. "There's a growing recognition in the West that what was once viewed exclusively as a...

As Sempra Energy broke ground on its $800 million liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Baja California this week, the state's legislature launched an official inquiry into the project. The investigation, which began yesterday, is led by Guillermo Aldrete Hass, the leader of the legislature's foreign affairs committee. He said he will ask federal officials to suspend the permits for the project while the investigation continues and legal challenges remain unresolved. "There hasn't been transparency from the beginning to the end," Aldrete said. "We want to know the economic and environmental impacts – both negative and positive." Of particular concern,...

Free Staters enable surprise victory over educrats in New Hampshire town It may not change the world, but a small victory for freedom in New Hampshire may indicate interesting things to come in the Live Free or Die state. March 8 saw local elections across New Hampshire which, as usual went both well and badly for freedom depending on where you live. A small but ultra-active group of libertarian migrants appears to have made the difference in at least one controversial election, in the southwestern town of Keene (pop 23,000). To the glee of taxpayer groups and the fury of...

TUCSON - A Mexican national with an extensive criminal history in the United States, who said he is a member of a Mexican gang, was taken into custody Sunday by agents from the U.S. Border Patrol's Naco Station. Arrested was Eulogio Soriano-Vasquez, 30, who was apprehended after crawling under the border fence west of Naco. He was taken into custody with a small group of illegal immigrants who tried to enter the United States around 6 a.m. During his processing, it was discovered Soriano had been arrested for the possession and sale of cocaine in Palm Beach, Fla., in March...

"Revolt of the Porcupines" This is the latest media coverage of the Free State Project, our movement which is working to bring 20,000 liberty lovers to New Hampshire, reduce government, etc.

Maize reveals traces of old breeding project Emma Marris Gene suggests ancient culture selected patterns in its corn. Teosinte grass (left) compared to "reconstructed" primitive maize, created by crossing teosinte with Argentine pop corn. © The Doebley Lab The people of Mesoamerica are largely responsible for the golden corn we grow today, having domesticated tough teosinte grass thousands of years ago and bred it into modern maize. Researchers have now located the gene responsible for some of the traits that the Mesoamericans were selecting. The discovery should help scientists understand how plants develop, and reveals just how strict the ancient...

John Kerry Longface Project Update -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From hundreds of entries, we’ve selected project managers in three cities to lead the effort in creating a John Kerry Waffle Head. In order to get this done, we need your help! If you’d like to participate in the creation of the John Kerry Waffle Head, please contact the project manager responsible for your city. Columbus, OH Carol Lynne Bosshole3@yahoo.com Pittsburg, PA We're looking for a new project manager, please email longface@glennbeck.com if you're interested in this position. Updated - October 18th Here is the latest update from Carol in Columbus... The first photo...

The Free State Project is picking up speed as Libertarians and other freedom-minded people begin moving to a small state where they hope to make a big difference. New Hampshire was chosen last fall as the destination for thousands of small-government advocates who are promising to move in and try to staunch the onslaught of socialism. Now they're starting to make good on their promise. An estimated 300 or 350 Free Staters (or Porcupines, as they call themselves) attended the first semi-official gathering in New Hampshire June 24-27. Though the Porcupine Freedom Festival wasn't officially sponsored by the FSP, "it...

With the effort to rebuild the Bay Bridge now almost $5 billion over budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday said Bay Area residents should cover the cost overruns and called for a November ballot measure in which voters would decide how to do it. "Gov. Schwarzenegger is not going to take important transportation money from all over the state, including Southern California, to pay for the cost overruns of the Bay Bridge," said Vince Sollitto, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger. Officials announced Monday their intent to send a bill that would include the call for a November vote as well as...

ORIGINAL THREAD ASKING FOR FREEPER HELP The meeting referenced in the thread above went very well. We believe that we are moving forward and the money will be committed. Now, I need some more of your research help. Please be as specific as possible. I need information that justifies the war in Iraq --- info on yellow cake, info on weapons found, etc. I need links to the lying statements of the RATS that misquoted the President. He never said an attack was imminent --- he said we needed to act before it became imminent. They will be many quotes...

Medici Project Turns Up Mystery Bodies By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery NewsGrand Duke Cosimo I July 21, 2004 — The project to exhume the remains of several members of the Medicis, the family that dominated the Florentine Renaissance, has taken a new turn this month as researchers discovered a secret crypt containing the mysterious bodies of seven children and an adult. The vaulted chamber was found under a stone floor behind the main altar of the Medici Chapels at Michelangelo's church of San Lorenzo in Florence. The researchers stumbled across it while searching for the final resting place of the last...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two conservancies paid $13.2 million to purchase 4,520 acres of sensitive desert habitat once slated to become the site of a new city, the conservancies announced Thursday. In addition, the Nature Conservancy and the state-owned Coachella Valley Mountains Conservancy said they would buy about another 4,000 acres as part of their plan to protect sand dunes and palm oases and to create a wildlife corridor between the nearly 800,000-acre Joshua Tree National Park and the 20,000-acre Coachella Valley Preserve in southeastern California. The land was once slated as the site of the Joshua Hills development, which...