Free Republic

Dave Matthews says lawmakers have been able to convince the nation that the public is “powerless” against gun violence and the “vulnerability of innocent people in this country is a sacrifice we have to make if we want to be truly American.” “It’s so mind-bogglingly cruel. It’s insanity,” the Dave Matthews Band frontman said in an interview with USA Today, published Friday. “I have no idea how people can stand up and say it’s ‘not guns’ and ‘it’s not the [National Rifle Association],’ it’s just mental health. And then do nothing to address the fact that from the ‘80s we’ve...

A staggering 83% of Americans think the U.S. has gone off the rails amid record high inflation, shortages of baby formula, sky-high gas prices and mass shootings, a sobering new survey released Tuesday reveals. The Gallup Poll found only 16% of adults surveyed said they are satisfied with the way things are going in the country at this time, 83% are dissatisfied with the remaining 1% having no opinion.

Traveling for 64-miles along the border between Chama, New Mexico and Antonito, Colorado, the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad chugs its way up and over the 10,015 foot high Cumbres Pass. Built in 1880, the C&TS Railroad has revealed the staggering beauty of the American west for nearly a 140 years. Filmmakers Annie and Russell O. Bush tell the the story of those who built and maintain this American tradition through the lens of lifetime railroader John Bush in this powerful short.

A man hit and killed by an Amtrak train Monday morning in Moorpark had been placing flowers on the tracks for another man fatally struck on Saturday by an Amtrak train, authorities said. Monday's fatality occurred around 11:33 a.m., when a northbound passenger train from Los Angeles was traveling through the city at about 70 mph, according to the Ventura County Sheriff's Office, which provides police services in the city. The man, described as a 47-year-old Moorpark resident, was hit near Avenida Colonia and Nogales Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene. Tracks in the area pass underneath Highway...

Man dies after his vehicle carrying 2,000 pounds of missing railway plates overturns By Jeff Hampton The Virginian-Pilot Jul 21, 2017 Updated 13 hrs ago AULANDER, N.C. A man died Tuesday after he lost control of his vehicle loaded with more than 100 railway plates missing from a work area. Tarris Lamont Wilkins, 40, of Windsor, died at the scene about 7 a.m. on Brick Mill Road north of Windsor, said 1st Sgt. Rodney Sawyer of the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. The 1995 Ford Explorer was loaded with more than 100 rail plates weighing about 2,000 pounds, he said....

Metro officials on Saturday said excessive heat was the probable cause for a train derailment Friday in Prince George’s County. Investigators said a “heat kink” due to extreme high temperatures and direct exposure to sunlight likely caused the rails to expand, resulting in the derailment. The derailment was reported on the inbound stretch of the Green Line near the West Hyattsville Station around 4:45 p.m.

The Las Vegas Monorail was developed at a cost of $650 million — but based on its meager ridership and revenue levels it’s now worth just $16 million to $20 million. That caused a bankruptcy judge to express skepticism Monday about Las Vegas Monorail Co.’s plan to emerge from bankruptcy in which it would still be encumbered by $44.5 million in debt — more than twice its value as a company. On top of that, Judge Bruce Markell noted, the monorail’s own financial projections show it facing a deficit of $38.4 million in 2019. “I don’t buy it,” Markell told...

SNIPPET: "WASHINGTON – Some of the first information gleaned from Osama bin Laden's compound indicates al-Qaida considered attacking U.S. trains on the upcoming anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. But counterterrorism officials say they believe the planning never got beyond the initial phase and have no recent intelligence pointing to an active plot for such an attack. As of February 2010, the terror organization was considering plans to attack the U.S. on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. One idea outlined in handwritten notes was to tamper with an unspecified U.S. rail track so that a train would fall...

SNIPPET: "CHARLOTTE, N.C.— The FBI is asking for the public's help in identifying a man who was seen near a restricted area along the light rail near uptown Charlotte. A worker monitoring security cameras said the man was spotted in the area in late April, according to investigators. The man was clearly in an area he wasn't supposed to be in and was acting suspiciously, the FBI said."

MILLIONS of commuters in London endured a grim journey to work today after staff on the Underground train network walked out for the second time in a month, sparking calls for tougher strike laws. People were forced to walk or cycle in heavy rain, squeeze on to packed buses or brave heavy traffic by driving as only 30 per cent of the Tube trains were running in the morning rush hour, according to operator London Underground. The strike follows a walkout in early September as part of a dispute between trade unions and London Underground managers over the planned axing...

Note: Photo included. "France: Riots over killing of Muslim man Cars burned, police shot at after authorities kill hold-up suspect near Grenoble" News agencies Published: 07.17.10, 17:47 / Israel News SNIPPET: "Rioters burned cars, attacked a tramway and shot at police in the French city of Grenoble overnight in protest at the death of a local Muslim man, identified as 27-year- old Karim Boudouda, fleeing police after allegedly holding up the city's casino." SNIPPET: "Police said they intervened after local residents stopped a tramway by setting a fire on the rails and stoned it. At least 50 cars were burned...

UNITED NATIONS - Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega accused the U.S. of imposing a worldwide dictatorship and defended the right of Iran and North Korea to pursue nuclear technology in a speech Tuesday before the U.N. General Assembly meeting. Ortega also angrily denounced President Bush for criticizing Cuban leader Fidel Castro during his speech earlier in the day. Ortega, who took office in January, said little had changed since he last addressed the world body as the Marxist leader of Nicaragua's Sandinista-run government two decades ago. "The presidents of the U.S. change. And they may come to office with the greatest...

BOSTON - Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia railed against the era of the "judge-moralist," saying judges are no better qualified than "Joe Sixpack" to decide moral questions such as abortion and gay marriage. "Anyone who thinks the country's most prominent lawyers reflect the views of the people needs a reality check," he said during a speech to New England School of Law students and faculty at a Law Day banquet on Wednesday night. The 70-year-old justice said the public, through elected legislatures — not the courts — should decide watershed questions such as the legality of abortion. Scalia decried his...

‘I-69 is dead’ State, federal officials disagree on status of road By Matt Whittaker The Monitor WESLACO, November 9, 2005 — There are not enough federal dollars for an Interstate highway to the Rio Grande Valley, state officials said Tuesday “I-69 is dead in the state of Texas,” Texas Transportation Commissioner Ted Houghton told about 75 area city officials and business leaders at a lunch discussion about transportation issues. “The road fairy has been shot.” But federal lawmakers said the project to create an Interstate linking major commercial centers in Mexico, the United States and Canada is still alive and...

While others wage political war over the gay-marriage amendment, the state's anti-toll road forces have launched a vitriolic fight against two little noticed propositions on Tuesday's ballot. The Texas Toll Party is targeting Proposition 1, a straightforward constitutional amendment to begin the process of moving freight rail lines out of densely populated urban areas, and Proposition 9, which would authorize six-year terms for members of regional mobility authorities. If blocking toll roads is your passion, opposing Proposition 9 has some logic, although that position is shortsighted. Toll roads are inevitable. Allowing members of the governing boards to serve six years...

Austin, TX (OPENPRESS) November 3, 2005 -- The majority of Texans are opposed to tax increases and the Trans Texas Corridor, and if enough of them learn that Proposition 1 is a smoke screen for a tax increase, they are expected to vote "no" against the proposal. "I am confident that if Texans knew the financial impact involved, and the unlimited corporate welfare of the rail fund, they would vote against Proposition 1 and defeat it," said Sal Costello, founder of People for Efficient Transportation. "No one wants east coast toll roads here in Texas, or billions in tax increases...

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Egypt's top Islamic cleric delivered a fierce sermon against terrorism Friday at the main mosque in Sharm el-Sheik, the Red Sea resort struck in deadly bombings a week ago. Even the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, branded as terrorist by Washington, says Muslim clerics have to act to curb extremism. After the unflagging bloodshed in Iraq and this month's London bombings, the Sharm attack has deepened what has been a growing debate in the Muslim world over how Islam should deal with terrorists who act in its name. Mohammed Sayyed Tantawi, grand imam of Al-Azhar - one...

Leading cleric rails at injustice of 'Muslim bashing' By Nick Britten (Filed: 28/07/2005) The most senior Islamic cleric in Birmingham claimed yesterday that Muslims were being unjustly blamed in the war on terrorism and that the eight suspects in the two bombing attacks on London "could have been innocent passengers". Mohammad Naseem, the chairman of the city's central mosque, called Tony Blair a "liar" and "unreliable witness" and questioned whether CCTV footage issued of the suspected bombers was of the perpetrators. He said that Muslims "all over the world have never heard of an organisation called al-Qa'eda".Mr Naseem, who was...

Texas transportation officials are expected to negotiate a plan this month that would launch the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's grandiose vision of future transportation. The first planned route would run through Central Texas from Oklahoma to Mexico, and its first segment would be a four-lane toll road from Dallas to San Antonio. But officials in Houston and along the Gulf Coast are paying close attention. They're not alone. "The whole nation is watching Texas to see if we can pull it off," said Texas Transportation Commission Chairman Ric Williamson, Perry's appointee and go-to man for getting the corridor built....

Brownsville vies for major highway corridors McAllen, Laredo also in running for interstate linking Canada to Mexico By Gilberto SalinasThe Brownsville Herald March 6, 2005 — Brownsville is among three South Texas cities playing a game of musical chairs for two major highway corridors. When the music stops, one city will come out empty-handed in its bid to land Interstate-69 and Trans-Texas Corridor-35. Both projects remain in the planning stages, but state transportation officials have already narrowed the competitors to McAllen, Laredo and Brownsville. “There’s two legs and three locations. In the Rio Grande Valley, we’re going to get at...