Free Republic

While predicting the exact timing is tricky, scientists say said an eruption could occur later this year or even tomorrow. Deep below the Pacific, a restless seafloor volcano off Oregon is showing signs it may soon stir again. Axial Seamount, a submarine volcano located nearly a mile beneath the ocean surface, is flexing its geologic muscles. Perched on a hot spot along the Juan de Fuca Ridge, where the Pacific and Juan de Fuca tectonic plates are slowly pulling apart, the volcano is steadily inflating with magma, increasing the frequency of small earthquakes. Researchers with the National Science Foundation’s Ocean...

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2025/04/president-trump-lifts-commercial-fishing-ban-central-pacific/President Donald Trump signed two executive orders and a proclamation aimed at reducing regulatory burdens on the U.S. fishing industry, and combating unfair foreign trade practices and reopening 400,000 square miles in the Pacific Ocean to commercial fishing.The area, previously protected by Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama to preserve the marine environment and historic sites around Wake, Baker, Howland, and Jarvis Islands, Johnston and Palmyra Atolls, and Kingman Reef, was deemed redundant with existing laws.Trump’s “Unleashing American Commercial Fishing in the Pacific” proclamation argues that commercial fishing can coexist with ecosystem and wildlife preservation.After reviewing Proclamations 8336 and...

April 18, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of Ernie Pyle’s death on the battlefield Eighty years ago, Ernie Pyle, one of America's most recognized war correspondents, was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- Eighty years ago, one of America’s most recognized war correspondents was killed while covering the Battle of Okinawa during World War II. When it came to telling the story of the American soldier fighting the good fight overseas, no one compared to Ernie Pyle. “He exemplified the courage and the willingness to hear the story of the common soldier,...

MILWAUKEE -- Ed Miklavcic said the secrets to his longevity are simple: He took care of himself and worked hard. It showed on Wednesday at American Family Field, where the 105-year-old Miklavcic, a World War II veteran and the second-oldest living survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, threw a ceremonial first pitch for the ages prior to the Tigers-Brewers game. Brewers outfielder Sal Frelick and manager Pat Murphy were among those who visited with Miklavcic before his pitch. He is one of 15 veterans of Pearl Harbor alive today after this week’s passing of 106-year-old Vaughn P. Drake Jr....

[Video] After an outcry, the Army has republished a history of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team on its website. WASHINGTON, D.C. (Hawaii News Now) -- The U.S. Army has republished an article detailing the history of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team on it’s website. https://www.army.mil/article/283793 The article was republished Saturday, replacing the webpage that was taken down sometime earlier this month, https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/03/14/history-nisei-go-broke-wwii-unit-removed-army-website/ triggering an outcry from relatives of members of the unit and others, including U.S. Congressmen Ed Case of Hawaii and Mark Takano of California, whose great uncle was a veteran of the 442nd. The 442nd, combined with...

China’s spying campaign is pervasive and relentless. Former Federal Bureau of Investigation Director, Christopher Wray said, ““The PRC [People’s Republic of China] has made it clear that it considers every sector that makes our society run as fair game in its bid to dominate on the world stage, and that its plan is to land low blows against civilian infrastructure to try to induce panic and break America’s will to resist.” Well said by former Director Wray, but if the FBI and Department of Justice had spent less time spying on Catholics, Pro-Lifers, and School Board attendees, maybe they would...

Multimillion-dollar estates in the wealthy cliff-dwelling enclave of Rancho Palos Verdes in Southern California are slowly sliding toward the ocean, yet they still carry hefty price tags. Almost 200 homes in the area are listed for sale, ranging from an $899,000 condo to a $22 million seven-bedroom mansion. However, most are not affected directly by the land movement, which is concentrated in an area called Portuguese Bend. "Portuguese Bend is clearly on borrowed time," says LAist. New aerial mapping showed the long-known and slow-moving landslides on the bluffs have sped up due to heavy rain in 2023 and early 2024,...

More rallies in Hawaii as DOGE cuts hit NOAA in the islands HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A march and rally in support of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) was held on Saturday. A newly formed citizen group called Allies in Resistance hosted the event in honor of human rights champion and former U.S. Rep. Patsy Mink. Mink was a champion of Title IX, which is part of the Education Amendments of 1972. It is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on gender in any school or education program. Organizers said the march started at 11 a.m. at Iolani Palace. The...

A deep sea fisherman has unveiled his latest creepy capture – a nightmarish creature being likened to an alien. Sporting a large, bulbous body that resembles a brain, shrunken eyes and gaping mouth, the fish appears like something from another planet. But fisherman Roman Fedortsov plucked it from a northern part of the Pacific Ocean, sharing footage of the find with his 600,000 followers. He identified the beast as an Aptocyclus ventricosus – also known as the smooth lumpfish or smooth lumpsucker. The species of marine ray-finned fish is found in the deep sea and measures up to 44cm. While...

Scientists have been left baffled after discovering something vast and radioactive lurking in the depths of the Pacific Ocean. An international team of scientists has found unexpectedly high levels of the rare radioactive isotope beryllium-10 in samples from the Pacific seabed. And they believe it could have been caused by a blast of radiation from space more than 10 million years ago. Beryllium-10 is an isotope - a variant of an element with a different number of neutrons in its atomic nuclei, formed when cosmic rays hit oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. After forming, this isotope falls to...

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned Europeans this week that "realities" prevent the U.S. from being its security guarantor, and to expect a drawdown of U.S. forces in the region. "We are focusing on security of our own borders. We also face a peer competitor in the Communist Chinese with the capability and intent to threaten our homeland and core national interests in the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth told a meeting of a Ukraine Defense Contact Group in Belgium on Wednesday. "The U.S. is prioritizing deterring war with China in the Pacific. Recognizing the reality of scarcity and making the resourcing trade-offs to...

An international team of geophysicists using a new imaging technique that measures the speed of seismic waves caused by earthquakes to locate the juncture of tectonic plates in the Earth’s mantle say they have discovered the remnants of what appears to be a “lost world” beneath the Pacific Ocean. Previous methods to locate these junctures between tectonic plates have always found them where scientists expected them to be. However, this latest joint effort by geophysicists from ETH Zurich and the California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech) found indications of these zones at locations that display no indications of tectonic plates...

Southern California is about to be blasted by one of its most powerful Santa Ana windstorm in recorded history. It may not be #1, but the combination of high population, drought conditions, abundant fuel, and mountain wave strength may create world-record high fire danger.

Actor James Woods returned with wife Sara to the couple’s fire-ravaged Pacific Palisades neighborhood on Friday, discovering that their home survived the massive fire that started Tuesday and destroyed many of the homes, businesses, and schools in the Los Angeles suburb, including the homes of their neighbors. Like many people who fled their homes during the flash fire, Woods assumed his home was destroyed, given that large flames were literally at his backyard.

The first sign of an impending cataclysm in the summer of 1831 was an eerie dimming of the Sun, which for days appeared bluish green across the Northern Hemisphere. In the ensuing weeks, foul weather and a long cold snap triggered crop failures and famines in India and Japan. The instigator was long presumed to be a climate-altering plume from a major eruption, but the volcano’s identity had been one of the great unsolved mysteries of volcanology. “It’s like a whodunit,” says Clive Oppenheimer, a volcanologist at the University of Cambridge. At long last, the culprit has been unmasked in...

The Panama Canal is considered a VITAL National Asset for the United States, due to its critical role to America’s Economy and National Security. A secure Panama Canal is crucial for U.S. Commerce, and rapid deployment of the Navy, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and drastically cuts shipping times to U.S. ports. The United States is the Number One user of the Canal, with over 70 percent of all transits heading to, or from, U.S. ports. Considered one of the Wonders of the Modern World, the Panama Canal opened for business 110 years ago, and was built at HUGE...

A new study reveals a 30-year acceleration of equatorial Pacific currents, driven by stronger winds, with implications for global climate and El Niño patterns. The findings, based on NOAA-supported data, may enhance climate model accuracy and ENSO predictions. A crucial ocean layer essential to the dynamics of the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). A recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans reports a marked acceleration in upper-ocean circulation within the equatorial Pacific over the last three decades. The primary driver of this acceleration is intensified atmospheric winds, resulting in stronger and shallower ocean currents. These changes may influence...

[Video] Ira “Ike” Schab Jr. of Portland is one of the few remaining survivors of that day, and the only one left from the USS Dobbin. HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -- A 104-year-old respected war veteran and Pearl Harbor survivor is back in Hawaii. Ira “Ike” Schab Jr. of Portland touched down in Honolulu Tuesday ahead of the 83rd commemoration the attack on Pearl Harbor. He’s one of the few remaining survivors of that day, and the only one left from the USS Dobbin. His flight was met with a water cannon salute, and at the gate, sounds of the Navy’s U.S....

Intense winds smashed the Pacific Northwest on Wednesday morning as a strengthening low-pressure storm system, known colloquially as a “bomb cyclone,” moved in from the Pacific Ocean leaving chaos and at least one person dead in its wake along with mass power outages. The rare storm system combines heavy rain with high wind to create what scientists call as an “atmospheric river.” The phenomenon also known as “bombogenesis” could intensify so rapidly in the Pacific Northwest over the next 24-hours it has the potential to become a “triple-bomb” three times the strength of a regular bomb cyclone, according to the...

Microscopic granules of sweet potato starch (kūmara) have been discovered with Asia-Pacific taro and Pacific yam (uwhi) at Triangle Flat, a site located on the northern tip of New Zealand's South Island, according to an RNZ report. Researchers from the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka determined that the Māori cultivated these crops as early as A.D. 1290 to 1385. "The first people who came here, came here to garden as well as to hunt things and they demonstrated from the outset that they were really sophisticated gardeners and they continued to be sophisticated gardeners over time," said archaeologist...