Free Republic

Le Bourget (France) (AFP) - Nobel laureate Al Gore said at the Paris climate summit on Thursday that humanity must change how it lives, travels and grows food in order to avert global warming catastrophe. "Do we really have to change the energy and transportation and agriculture and forestry systems in the world and shift to a low-carbon pattern?" the former US vice president asked in a speech. "The answer is 'Yes'... because now the answer is coming from nature itself," he said. Gore pointed to a string of extreme droughts, record-breaking downpours and high tides, along with melting Arctic...

The US Congress, entrenched in a titanic budget battle, managed to come together Thursday to pass legislation that prevents a market shortage of helium. In a rare show of consensus between feuding Democrats and Republicans, the Senate unanimously passed a bill approved earlier by the House of Representatives that cancels closure of the national helium reserve. The closure had been planned for October 7, but manufacturers and the medical industry had expressed concern that the move would hurt them. The Federal Helium Program, operated under the Bureau of Land Management, supplies some 42 percent of the lighter-than-air gas used in...

From the Washington Post: Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said officials were acting on the assumption that a meltdown could be underway at that reactor, Fukushima Daiichi’s unit 3, and that it was “highly possible” that a meltdown was underway at Fukushima Daiichi’s unit 1 reactor, where an explosion destroyed a building a day earlier. Hours before he spoke, authorities began evacuating more than 200,000 residents from a 12.5-mile radius around Fukushima Daiichi and another nuclear power complex, made preparations to distribute potassium iodide pills, and warned people in the vicinity to stay inside and cover their mouths if they...

Pelosi's new position for Clyburn to avert Dem battle: 'Assistant Leader' By Molly K. Hooper - 11/13/10 04:00 PM ET House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked her colleagues Saturday to support Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.) for "Assistant Leader," a newly created third-ranking position at the leadership table. In a letter to her fellow Democrats, Pelosi wrote "should I receive the privilege of serving as House Democratic Leader, I will be very honored to nominate our outstanding colleague, Congressman Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, to serve in the number three House Democratic position. I will also ask the Caucus to...

WASHINGTON - In a dramatic reach across party lines, Senate centrists sealed a compromise Monday night to clear the way for confirmation of many of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, leave others in limbo and preserve venerable filibuster rules. "In a Senate that has become increasingly partisan and polarized, the bipartisan center held," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman (news, bio, voting record), D-Conn., one of 14 senators _seven from each party — to pledge their "mutual trust and confidence" on the deal. "The Senate is back in business," exulted Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., reflecting the view that...

Iraq Says It's Destroying More Missiles 58 minutes ago By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press WriterBAGHDAD, Iraq - Iraq (news - web sites) was destroying at least seven more Al Samoud 2 missiles on Monday, quickening the pace in an attempt to avoid war. U.N. weapons inspectors said Iraq would hand over a report about its unilateral destruction of anthrax and VX nerve agent. AP Photo Latest news: · Iraq Says It's Destroying More Missiles AP - 58 minutes ago · U.N. Faces Lobbying on Iraq Resolution AP - Mon Mar 3, 1:49 AM ET · U.S. Says Iraqi Jets Entered...