Free Republic

Former President Donald Trump is acknowledging that his not-yet-launched 2024 presidential bid would not include his former vice president. Trump told the Washington Examiner his hypothetical run for re-election would most likely not select former Vice President Mike Pence as his running mate. "I don't think the people would accept it," Trump said, alluding to his supporters' anger with Pence for failing to support Trump's false claim he actually won the 2020 race. Trump wanted Pence to somehow overturn the election's results during the congressional certification of the Electoral College votes, notes the Examiner, but Pence explained he didn't have...

The Pacific is the biggest ocean on Earth, but it's getting smaller every day. Australasia and the Americas are inching closer together, and in about 350 million years the Pacific will effectively close. That's when plate tectonics - the process driving all that slow motion, and one that geologists have assumed to be continuous - may grind to a halt.

An asteroid at least 500 feet long will make a rare close pass by Earth next week, but there is no chance of an impact, scientists reported Thursday. The object, known as 2007 TU24, is expected to whiz by Earth on Tuesday with its closest approach at 334,000 miles, or about 1 1/2 times the distance of Earth to the moon. The nighttime encounter should be bright enough for medium-sized telescopes to get a glimpse, said Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which tracks potentially dangerous space rocks. However, next week's asteroid...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA managers announced Thursday that they would press ahead with the first space shuttle launch of the year next week, three months later than originally planned because of a hail storm that pockmarked the spacecraft's external tank. After a two-day meeting at the Kennedy Space Center, NASA officials agreed to launch Atlantis at 7:38 p.m. EDT June 8 on a mission to deliver a new pair of solar arrays to the international space station. "The team is really pumped to get this done this time," said Mike Leinbach, NASA launch director. "We've been doing three months...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - NASA said on Friday it would be at least late next week before the first shuttle mission since the 2003 Columbia accident can be launched, after Discovery's liftoff was postponed two days ago because of a fuel sensor problem. "The simple things did not provide us any resolution to the problem," said deputy shuttle program manager Wayne Hale. The sensors are designed to shut off the shuttle's three main engines before fuel runs out to avoid damaging them. A premature shutdown could force a shuttle to make an emergency landing or prevent it from reaching...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Democratic Assembly and Senate leaders announced Friday they have reached an agreement on a state budget, delaying a debate on the thorniest spending issue - public education. The spending plan approved Friday by the conference committee doesn't raise taxes and is balanced, according to Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez and Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata. However, not all legislators agreed that it is, indeed, balanced. "When you have a budget and the largest part is education, to suggest that you've balanced this budget is absurd," said Sen. Dick Ackerman, R-Tustin. "This is about narrowing the differences that...

WASHINGTON - The federal commission that distributes voting funds will decide next week whether to audit California Secretary of State Kevin Shelley's use of the money. The four-member U.S. Election Assistance Commission will vote on the issue at a regularly scheduled meeting Jan. 27, according to a commission press release Tuesday. It would take a 3-1 majority to proceed. The panel has two Democrats and two Republicans. The Election Assistance Commission was created by the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to administer more than $3 billion being distributed to states under the act to improve voting systems and replace...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, who was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in October, will not be present when the Supreme Court reconvenes next week to hear oral arguments, the Washington Post reported. The paper, quoting a court spokeswoman in the news article published on its Web site, reported that Rehnquist would be absent for at least two more weeks during the court's next session that runs from Nov. 29 through Dec. 10. The chief justice, 80, missed oral arguments in the first two weeks of November, though he initially said he could be on the bench...

Why the Newsweek Poll will Break the Democrats Hearts I’ve listened in to the liberal talk shows in the San Francisco Bay Area, as well as some of the Democrats in Los Angeles. And listening to them and their liberal talk, the tone for a lot of them is that, with the latest Newsweek poll, Kerry has now already won the election. They are really up, tune them in and listen. And, that’s great news for the Bush supporters. Because for folks who have been into politics and debates for the last 30 plus years, we know, this debate certainly...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A much-anticipated plan to reform the state's mammoth public health program for the poor will be ready for review next week as part of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's revised budget proposal, officials said Wednesday. The Medi-Cal reform plan, which needs approval of both the federal government and the Legislature, is expected to call for higher co-payments and new limits on care for enrollees of the system. The governor also wants to impose new regulation on care for the blind and disabled and may also seek a cap on enrollment. Medi-Cal reform comes forward as key lawmakers Wednesday also...

Spectacular meteorite storm set for next week A spectacular display of shooting stars not likely to be repeated for 30 years takes place next week. The Leonid meteors generate a shower of activity every November, but this year they are predicted to whip up a storm. It will happen at around 4am on Tuesday November 19. Sky-watchers may see several brilliant shooting stars every minute on a clear night, despite a nearly full moon. The Leonids are not expected to return in such numbers until at least 2034. On the other hand, meteors, like the weather, are notoriously unpredictable, and...

12 June-An upcoming gathering of dozens of celebrities who lend their names as advocates of the United Nations will be an important step in their efforts to promote the world body's work, a senior UN official said today. "The purpose of the meeting is to deepen their understanding of the UN and its many roles, to strengthen their connection to the whole UN system, and to reinforce their roles as advocates and spokesman who inform, who inspire and raise awareness and raise funds, who travel to the frontlines and help us carry our message to a larger public," Gillian M....