Free Republic

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24, 2007 – A senior Navy leader lauded Louisville for its “America Supports You” spirit as hundreds of sailors participated in Louisville Navy Week, April 16-21. America Supports You is a Defense Department program that spotlights and facilitates support for the nation’s servicemembers by the American public and the corporate sector. “The Navy and Louisville enjoyed a busy six days, culminating in Thunder Over Louisville,” a six-hour air show capped by the largest annual fireworks show in America, said Navy Rear Adm. Michael C. Vitale, who commands Strike Group Two aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. “Louisville...

APRIL SHOWERS bring summer power. That's the upside all of those gloomy, rainy days. Some of that water, collected as Sierra snow pack, will flow into rivers and generate hydropower. It's one of the factors responsible for this summer's adequate power outlook, state officials say. The positive outlook comes despite the possibility a pair of natural-gas-fired power plants in the East Bay may shut down soon. Last Thursday, Mirant Corp. gave 90 days notice to state regulators that it may have to shut down a unit at its Antioch plant and another one at its Pittsburg plant if the company...

MARINE CORPS RECRUIT DEPOT SAN DIEGO (Jan. 13, 2006) -- The Marine Corps is a cornucopia of people. It's an array of black, white, brown, red and yellow, and its varied folk practice a plethora of religions. In the last year, two recruits, who happen to be brothers, came separately from perhaps the Corps' most uncommon origin - the Amish Order. "It's a very small world within the Amish community," said Pvt. Abner A. Miller, Platoon 1152. "Usually it's a 20-mile circle. We go as far as the horse and buggy take us." Miller grew up in a sheltered environment....

MOSUL, Iraq, Dec. 12, 2005 – Whether the key to a bright future for a country is to educate the children of the present will be tested in northern Iraq over the next generation, based on the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region North. The 324 schools renovated in Iraq's seven northern provinces under the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund will benefit 42,000 students. All but nine of the schools are completed, and only one of those will not be finished by the end of January, officials said. Officials also noted that under the Commanders Emergency...

MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (Dec. 6, 2005) -- A Baton Rouge, La. native was presented the Purple Heart Medal here Nov. 30 for injuries he suffered while deployed to Iraq in September. Lance Cpl. Ryan Cahill, an infantryman with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, and several members of his unit had been searching for improvised explosive devices in Karmah, a city outside Fallujah, at the time he was injured. “The IED went off about five to 10 yards from the humvee I was driving,” said the 19-year-old Cahill. “There was a lot of confusion that followed, because I...

Always look on the bright side... By Alexis Akwagyiram BBC News Robbie's Angels, Sinatra's My Way and Queen's Who Wants to Live Forever are among the top choices of songs played at funerals. Putting aside what it says about the nation's musical tastes, is this the dumbing down of death? And it's whispered that soon,if we all call the tuneThen the piper will lead us to reasonAnd a new day will dawnfor those who stand longAnd the forest will echo with laughter Followers of those hell-raising 70s stadium rockers Led Zeppelin will recognise these words as the lyrics to the...

The final book by the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ offers his secrets for peace and joy while facing death. Six months before his death last July, Dr. Bill Bright began writing The Journey Home: Finishing with Joy. Bright, who battled pulmonary fibrosis -- a terminal lung disease -- dictated the book, which gives practical instruction on how everyone can prepare for their eventual death. Bright's widow, Vonette, says the book offers insights for both believers and non-believers. "I think to the non-Christian, he's talking about the real joy it is to know God personally and really trying to...

The future looks bright Language can help to shape the way we think about the world. Richard Dawkins welcomes an attempt to raise consciousness about atheism by co-opting a word with cheerful associations Saturday June 21, 2003 The Guardian I once read a science-fiction story in which astronauts voyaging to a distant star were waxing homesick: "Just to think that it's springtime back on Earth!" You may not immediately see what's wrong with that, so ingrained is our unconscious northern hemisphere chauvinism. "Unconscious" is exactly right. That is where consciousness-raising comes in. I suspect it is for a deeper reason...

WASHINGTON (Talon News) -- Hispanics have a bright outlook on life in the United States, feel enfranchised, and do not feel particularly discriminated against, a New York Times / CBS News poll conducted in July shows. Perhaps the most important information uncovered by the poll relates to Hispanics' relative ease with the ethnic situation in the United States. 64% of respondents said that there has never been any specific instance when they felt discriminated against because of their ethnicity, compared to 25% of non-Hispanic blacks who felt that way and 71% of non-Hispanic whites. Fully 75% of Hispanics felt that...

Astronomy Picture of the DayDiscover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 28 1006 AD: Supernova in the Sky Credit & Copyright: Tunç Tezel Explanation: A new star, likely the brightest supernova in recorded human history, appeared in planet Earth's sky in the year 1006 AD. The expanding debris cloud from the stellar explosion is still visible to modern astronomers, but what did the supernova look like in 1006? Astronomer Tunç Tezel offers this suggestion, based on a photograph...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 17 SN 1006: History's Brightest Supernova Credit: Frank Winkler (Middlebury College et al., AURA, NOAO, NSF Explanation: Suddenly, in the year 1006 AD, a new star appeared in the sky. Over the course of just a few days, the rogue star became brighter than the planet Venus. The star, likely the talk of everyone who could see it, was recorded by people who lived in areas...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 16 NGC 253: The Sculptor Galaxy Credit: A. Watson (UNAM) et al., Hubble Heritage Team (STScI / AURA), NASA Explanation: NGC 253 is not only one of the brightest spiral galaxies visible, it is also one of the dustiest. Discovered in 1783 by Caroline Herschel in the constellation of Sculptor, NGC 253 lies only about ten million light-years distant. NGC 253 is the largest member of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 February 7 Orion on Film Credit & Copyright: Matthew Spinelli Explanation: Orion, the Hunter, is one of the most easily recognizable constellations in planet Earth's night sky. But Orion's stars and nebulae don't look quite as colorful to the eye as they do in this lovely photograph, taken last month from Vekol Ranch south of Phoenix, Arizona, USA. The celestial scene was recorded in a five minute...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 20 Colorful Clouds of Orion Credit & Copyright: Robert Gendler Explanation: Revisiting one of the most famous nebulae in planet Earth's night sky, astrophotographer Robert Gendler has constructed this stunning, color-enhanced mosaic of the region surrounding the Great Nebula in Orion. As seen here, the clouds of Orion are dominated by the reddish emission nebula M42 near the bottom of the image, with blue reflection nebulae,...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 1 The Pleiades Star Cluster Credit & Copyright: David Malin (AAO), ROE, UKS Telescope Explanation: It is the most famous star cluster on the sky. The Pleiades can be seen without binoculars from even the depths of a light-polluted city. Also known as the Seven Sisters and M45, the Pleiades is one of the brightest and closest open clusters. The Pleiades contains over 3000 stars, is...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 21 Starburst Galaxy M94 Credit & Copyright: Hillary Mathis & N.A.Sharp (NOAO), AURA, NSF Explanation: What could cause the center of M94 to be so bright? Spiral galaxy M94 has a ring of newly formed stars surrounding its nucleus, giving it not only an unusual appearance but also a strong interior glow. A leading progenitor hypothesis holds that an elongated knot of stars known as a...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 October 19 Io's Surface: Under Construction Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA Explanation: Like the downtown area of your favorite city, the roads you drive to work on, and any self-respecting web site ... Io's surface is constantly under construction. This moon of Jupiter holds the distinction of being the Solar System's most volcanically active body -- its bizarre looking surface continuously formed and reformed by lava flows....

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 August 4 Spiral Galaxy NGC 2997 from VLT Credit: FORS Team, 8.2-meter VLT, ESO Explanation: NGC 2997 is a grand design spiral galaxy. Its small nucleus and sprawling spiral arms give it a type Sc designation. NGC 2997, pictured above, is speeding away from us at about 1100 kilometers per second, which would place it at about 55 million light years distant, given current estimates of the...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 April 28 Doomed Star Eta Carinae Credit: J. Morse (U. Colorado), K. Davidson (U. Minnesota) et al., WFPC2, HST, NASA Explanation: Eta Carinae may be about to explode. But no one knows when - it may be next year, it may be one million years from now. Eta Carinae's mass - about 100 times greater than our Sun - makes it an excellent candidate for a full...