Free Republic

Interplanetary adventurers must contend with deadly solar radiation – but the moon's magnetic memories may hold the key to safe space flightBORED on their six-month journey to Mars? Not a bit of it. Whenever the astronauts look out of the window, they find themselves mesmerised by the glowing, shimmering sphere of plasma that surrounds their spacecraft. Hard to believe that the modest electromagnet at the heart of their ship can produce something so beautiful. Not that the magnet's raison d'être is aesthetic, of course. Its main function is to keep the astronauts from a slow, horrible death by radiation sickness....

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is set to develop a system that will let machines or robots have visual intelligence similar to humans. DARPA said the program, known as Mind's Eye, should generate the ability for machines to have the perceptual and cognitive underpinnings for recognizing and reasoning about the actions it sees and report or act upon it.

The following necessitates a BARF ALERT! Allen West is a Hypocrite and Other Goodies by Sam Fields At some point during his campaign someone has to ask Allen West, Republican candidate for Congress: “Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?” While he might deny party membership, he would have difficulty disputing that his 22-years Army stint was living the Marxist dream. West – the retired Army lietuenant colonel running the second time for Congress in U. S. House District 22 – never had to spend a day worrying about corporate bankruptcy, competition, layoffs...

Note: The following text is a quote: Three Louisiana individuals sentenced for transporting illegal aliens Defendants Part of Large Scale Operation to Transport Illegal Aliens LAKE CHARLES, La. - Members of a large scale illegal alien transportation operation based in Sulphur, La., were sentenced in federal court yesterday following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. U. S. District Judge Patricia Minaldi sentenced Carolyn Joyce Metcalf, 62, to 30 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release; Terri Lynn Fields, 41, to 27 months in prison, followed by three years supervised release; and Jean Morgan Vincent,...

Magnetic fields used to date Indian artifacts June 22, 2008 REPUBLIC COUNTY - You might be surprised what you can learn from a campfire. A campfire that has been cold for, say, 300 years. Stacey Lengyel hopes she can tell, within 30 years or so, when it was used. Lengyel, a research associate in anthropology at the Illinois State Museum, is the country's leading authority on archeomagnetic dating, a process built around two phenomena: when heated, magnetic particles reorient themselves to magnetic north; and over time, magnetic north is, literally, all over the map. "They call it a 'drunken wander,'...

It’s just like old times. National reporters are again scouring Arkansas. Except this time it is Republican Mike Huckabee’s record, not Democrat Bill Clinton’s, that is the subject of interest. Over the course of more than a decade as governor, Huckabee granted over 1,000 commutations and pardons, and they’re currently being examined closely by journalists. The latest to draw national attention is a commutation of Eugene Fields, who had multiple drunk-driving convictions.

Contact: Payson Sheets Payson.Sheets@colorado.edu 303-492-7302 University of Colorado at Boulder CU-Boulder team discovers first ancient manioc fields in Americas Prehistoric manioc plantation buried by volcanic ash about 600 A.D. may help explain how Maya supported dense populations CU-Boulder anthropology Professor Payson Sheets maps ancient household at site of Ceren in El Salvador. A University of Colorado at Boulder team excavating an ancient Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has discovered an ancient field of manioc, the first evidence for cultivation of the calorie-rich tuber in the New World. The manioc field was discovered...

“I was in love with a beautiful blonde once. She drove me to drink. It’s the one thing I’m indebted to her for.” — W.C. Fields, Never Give A Sucker An Even Break

WASHINGTON, Feb. 26, 2007 – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff fielded questions Feb. 22 and 23 from active duty, National Guard and Reserve troops in Alaska at the Army’s Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, and at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. The troops asked Marine Gen. Peter Pace about equipment shortfalls in the Guard and Reserve, varying tour lengths among the services, whether there should be a joint force utility uniform for all the services and the possibility of a civilian service corps. Pace told the troops the budget includes about $21 billion for new equipment...

Photo #1. Somewhere on planet Earth a USAF C-141B Starlifter Cargo and Troop Transport lights up the sky with a spectacular and awesome flare release. USAF Image ID: 021205-O-9999G-017. PhotographerSenior Airman Greg Davis, United States Air Force Courtesieshttp://www.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/021205-O-9999G-017.jpghttp://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060914.htm (photo as sized above, ALT text, caption info) Photo #2. Italy, August 28, 2006: A Member of Explosive Ordnance Mobile Unit Eight (EODMU-8) practices static line parachute proficiency operations with combat equipment on board Naval Air Station (NAS) Sigonella, Italy. USN Image ID: 060828-N-3572Z-025. PhotographerMass Communication Specialist Seaman Chad Zenthoefer, United States Navy Courtesieshttp://www.news.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=38550 (caption)http://www.news.navy.mil/management/photodb/photos/060828-N-3572Z-025.jpghttp://ChamorroBible.org/gpw/gpw-20060905.htm (picture as sized above, ALT text)...

Eliot Spitzer is running for governor as the best guy to clean up Albany, including its corrupt "pay-to-play" system of shaking down interest groups for campaign donations and other goodies. So what the heck is he doing jetting around on the Gulfstream of a Wyoming businessman who wants to run race tracks and build casinos in New York? It's one thing for Spitzer to pile up money and endorsements from insiders... Accepting deeply discounted air travel from a gambling mogul doing lots of business with state government - as Spitzer and an aide did in May - is too cozy...

Grigory Perelman a no-show for his Fields Medal.Four mathematicians were today due to collect gold medals and glory in Madrid, Spain, having been declared winners of the 2006 Fields Medals — referred to as the 'Nobel prizes' of mathematics. But only three turned up. Grigory Perelman, a reclusive Russian mathematician who was widely expected to be one of this year's winners (see 'Maths 'Nobel' rumoured for Russian recluse'), was indeed honoured at the opening ceremony of the International Congress of Mathematicians. But after a round of applause, president of the International Mathematical Union John Ball said "I regret that Dr...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger answered constituents questions that were sent in via computer Tuesday in his first-ever live online video question-and-answer session. The governor took nine questions on topics ranging from game wardens, to gay marriage, to illegal immigration, to his favorite color – which he revealed is red. “I like the color red because it is fire and I see myself as always being on fire and being charged up,” he said. The 20-minute Webcast, dubbed 'Ask Governor Schwarzenegger,” started at 10:38 a.m. and was moderated by political reporter Marcey Brightwell from Sacramento's KXTV News 10. Brightwell chose...

US crops left to rot as Mexicans leave the fields for better-paid jobs Low pay, harsh conditions and security checks force immigrant workers into other sectors Dan Glaister in Calexico Saturday February 4, 2006 The Guardian (UK) Standing in the early morning darkness just 50 metres inside the United States, Roberto Camacho is doing his best to ward off the cold. Dressed in a black bomber jacket with a baseball cap pulled low over his brow, he shuffles from foot to foot as he waits for a lift to work. After 15 years working in the fields of California for...

The crew at Pow3rline points us to this exceptional shredding of Erica Jong at, of all places, the Huffington Post. "1. Are you allowed to drive a car? Y/N 2. Must you be accompanied at all times in public by a male escort? Y/N 3. If you were to say "what the hell" and drive to the mall by yourself, would you be immediately surrounded by bat-wielding male police officers? Y/N 4. Could you be beaten for saying “what the hell”? Y/N 5. When you go outside on a hot summer day, can you wear shorts and a t-shirt? Y/N...

Front page item on al-Jazeera website.The claim is,Jewish settlers are poisoning the fields-using rat poison pellets-to kill Palestinian sheep. (Sounds as if it belongs in the "Ba-a-a-a-h" file.)

FBI Probes Allegations On Fields © copyright: Times Record, 2005 Former Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Ron Fields has been on administrative leave from the Department of Homeland Security since last summer because of an FBI investigation and grand jury proceedings, his attorney confirmed Friday. Eddie Christian of Fort Smith said the investigation is the “biggest witch hunt he’s ever seen.” Christian said the FBI has accused Fields of dealing drugs and of ordering Jay C. Rider, then a Fort Smith police captain, to shoot a Fort Smith woman, Lori Murchison, in 1995. Christian also represents Rider. “It’s based on...

POLITICAL MEMO Jeanne Shaheen, the former governor of New Hampshire and Kerry-Edwards campaign chairwoman, is the keynote speaker. Faye Wattleton and Robin Chandler Duke, among the best-known women's rights advocates in the country, are chairwomen. And C. Virginia Fields, the Manhattan borough president who is hoping to become the city's first female mayor, is the beneficiary. They will all come together on Thursday at a "Women for Fields Kickoff Mayoral Breakfast" at a Midtown hotel, a fund-raiser for her campaign that is expected to be Ms. Fields's largest so far and one that sends the unmistakable message that she believes...

Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields has quietly tapped a presidential campaign veteran for her mayoral run later this year, The Post has learned. Fields has hired Diane Feldman, who polled women's issues for Sen. Kerry's presidential bid. She will poll New Yorkers on various issues for Fields.

Women's pay gap widens in some fields Reuters News Service Dec. 9, 2003, 11:42PM WASHINGTON -- American women lawyers, salespeople, accountants and print journalists make far less than their male counterparts and have a wider wage gender gap than U.S. women overall, a new survey reported Tuesday. The survey by the National Association for Female Executives echoes findings last month by the General Accounting Office, which noted that women earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. But the latest survey noted that some fields have an even bigger wage gap. "No matter how much you...