Free Republic

SACRAMENTO - Though Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger campaigned against "special interests" and "politics as usual," one of his most formidable tests will come as he juggles the demands of powerful California home builders, commercial developers and real estate interests that lavished money on his campaigns.

As the KAL flight rose out of Incheon Airport the standard announcements were given, first in Korean by a strong authoritative female voice with a hint of menace in it, then in English by a strong authoritative masculine voice that made us know that there were dire consequences of failure to follow the rules. Then they were done in Vietnamese and the voice was soft and feminine in that loveliest of languages and I thought I would be delighted to observe the rules and regulations for the owner of that voice. As her gentle suggestions came to an end I...

Residents of San Martin cherish their open spaces, roadside fruit stands, farm animals and quiet. That's why some want the unincorporated community to become Santa Clara County's 16th city -- to defend its agricultural countryside from encroaching developers. Fed up with being what many longtime residents refer to as the county's ``dumping ground,'' supporters of San Martin's cityhood want the political clout that would give them control over land use.

More Than 100,000 Families Live In Illegal Housing in New York City By BENJAMIN SMITH Staff Reporter of the Sun The population boom of the 1990s brought with it a surge in the city’s illegal housing market, with more than 100,000 families now living in “underground” units around the city, a new report says. The types of illegal housing range from overcrowded, Dickensian tenements in Chinatown to airy artists’ lofts in Williamsburg, but the greatest growth in the 1990s came in Queens, the study from the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, a New York Citybased think tank, found. There, many...

For decades urban planners have adhered to the mantra that urban sprawl increases pollution and housing costs, more driving time to work and shopping, stress, and the escalating consumption of scarce farmland and open space. Urban planning to implement what Al Gore calls “smart growth” supposedly corrects these problems and creates more livable, inexpensive homes for all. Irrefutable evidence, however, shows that urban planning creates the very nightmares it is supposed to eliminate. In the process, it strips urbanites of one of their most fundamental civil liberties — property rights. Land-use control has been a goal of socialists for many...

Autism appears to be caused by a reduction in the brain at birth and then extremely rapid development in the first few months of life, researchers in San Diego, California said. "What we've discovered is really very startling - the first glimpse of when autism begins," said Eric Courchesne, director of the autism research center at the Pediatric Hospital of San Diego. "Excessive brain growth does not allow time for accumulation of experiences and emotions that guide and shape normal behavior." Autism is a developmental disability that typically appears during the first three years of life, resulting from a neurological...

No tour of Jody Menendez's house is complete without meeting the squirrels, Laurel and Hardy. Jody's hanging out near the gate on the east side of her 1 1/4-acre spread, calling: Come here, guys, come here, guys, but they're no-shows. The two must have prior commitments this afternoon among the almond trees and Mondale pines, because they're certainly not frightened of Menendez. "I hand-raised them as babies," she explains, "and just recently turned them out on the property. One of my dogs got to the mom squirrel, so I had to raise the two little guys myself." But the real...

PARRISH -- Joan Hodges and her husband, Mack, moved to Parrish's rural pastures to escape the noise and bustle of booming Pinellas County. Seventeen years later, subdivisions with manicured lawns and deed restrictions have grown around the Hodgeses and their River Wilderness neighbors. The very sprawl they sought to escape has followed them, and they may have helped make it happen. Even as River Wilderness builds out its final phase, thousands more homes are planned in the coming years for Parrish and Ellenton. The influx of families fleeing cities such as Tampa and St. Petersburg means crowded roads and schools...

Developers dispute mayors' fear that 1,900 homes would be burden Melissa Mayor David Dorman is ready for a fight. He and other Collin County mayors are lining up to oppose a planned 1,900-home development in the northwest part of the county near Celina. Even though the subdivision of moderate-priced homes falls outside city boundaries, a growing list of mayors says the influx of residents could overburden their roads, school systems, parks and other services. They're planning to protest with a state agency and say they may seek legal action to block the development, which would be formed as a municipal...

In a related matter, the supervisors delayed discussion of a "punch list" of Concord Chase residents' complaints about "poor workmanship" such as poor insulation, leaks and stormwater runoff. Many Concord Chase residents want Toll's license revoked until all the problems are fixed. More than 40 residents of Concord Chase, or about 40 percent, levied complaints against Toll Brothers for poor workmanship.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - In the middle of the Southern California desert, resort guests can travel by gondola to waterfront bistros, homeowners can water-ski on a manmade lake, and golfers can tee off at more than 100 courses made lush and green from constant watering. How much longer can this go on? That is what some are wondering since the federal government in April cut the amount of water California can draw from the Colorado River - a rollback that has thrown into question the long-term future of the Coachella Valley, a resort and retirement mecca 110 miles east of...

Half the human race -- 3 billion people -- still lives on less than $2 a day. More than 1 billion do not have safe water to drink. Two billion lack adequate sanitation. Another 2 billion have no electricity. These aren't numbers but men, women and children who wake up each day to hunger, disease and despair. Lifting humanity out of poverty is one of the greatest moral challenges of the 21st century. And whether we, the world's greatest democracy, rise to that challenge carries profound implications for freedom, growth and security worldwide. That is why President Bush has made...

WASHINGTON - A temporary rule allowing some road-building in remote areas of national forests will not be renewed, the Bush administration said Wednesday. The decision effectively reinstates a Clinton-era rule blocking development on 58 million acres of federal land. "Our intention is ... to let the interim directive expire," Agriculture Undersecretary Mark Rey said Wednesday. Environmentalists said the decision strengthens the rule put in place during the Clinton administration's final days and later upheld by a federal appeals court. "It means the roadless rule will become the operative law for the Forest Service," said Mike Anderson of The Wilderness Society....

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate Armed Services Committee (news - web sites) has voted to lift a ban on research and development of low-yield nuclear weapons in the United States. A provision repealing the 10-year-old ban was included in the 2004 national defense authorization bill, which the Senate committee passed Friday. The bill must still pass through the US House Armed Services Committee, the full House and the Senate and can be amended at each stage. US President George W. Bush (news - web sites), whose administration had requested the repeal, would then have to sign the bill to...

The New Area 51 The Air Force has abandoned top-secret testing at its once most secret test site. We know why and we know where they moved it to. BY JIM WILSON A cloud of brown dust snakes behind me as I speed down the desolate desert road. A dozen miles ago, I passed the solitary steel mailbox that marks the turnoff for Area 51. For a place that isn't supposed to exist, it's odd that the "secret" air base occupies whole chapters of aviation history. It was here, in 1955, that the U-2 spyplane first took wing. In...

<p>Some Laguna West residents say Tsakopoulos hasn't kept his vow to donate land to a wildlife preserve.</p> <p>A group of residents is considering whether it can force one of the area's most well-known developers to donate 1,400 acres of open space to a wildlife refuge, fulfilling a promise many residents say attracted them to buy homes in Laguna West.</p>

<p>One of the world's richest men wants some of his money to go to the dogs.</p> <p>A nonprofit group headed by retired billionaire industrialist Stephen D. Bechtel Jr. plans to help establish 330 acres outside Lincoln as wetlands for wildlife habitat -- and a site to train hunting dogs.</p>

<p>City Council is expected to vote tomorrow on final approval of legislation that would give churches and other religious structures special treatment when it comes to historic designations. The vote should be no, and council should go back to the drawing board.</p>

Are there any AEs or pilots who could tell me - conjecture is fine - why we developed the F-102? It seems like this low thrust jet was probably one of the worst designed fighters I've ever seen or read about (the thrust to weight ratio is absurd). I would have thought that with the F-4 - proof that a Coke machine could fly if you put a big enough engine on it - coming up to speed around the same period that the 100 series would be a non-starter. I singled out the 102 because of the specs I...

For Immediate Release February 21, 2003 DEVELOPER RAY SMITH RESORTS TO LAST MINUTE DESPERATION TACTICS(Chancellorsville, Va.) - The Coalition to Save Chancellorsville Battlefield released the following statement today in response to a telemarketing campaign conducted by proponents of the controversial rezoning of the Mullins Farm. On May 1, 1863, the Union and Confederate armies collided on the Mullins Farm in the opening clash of the historic battle of Chancellorsville."Dogwood Development Group President Ray F. Smith is running scared. He knows the tide is turning against his effort to develop the 790-acre Mullins Farm. Smith is now resorting to 11th hour...