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Panic in Krakatoa town By Sebastien Berger, South East Asia Correspondent (Filed: 18/05/2005) Thousands of people fled an Indonesian town yesterday fearing a second Karakatoa disaster. Word spread in Bandar Lampung, destroyed by the volcano in 1883, that the volcano's successor had erupted and triggered a tsunami along the Sumatran coast. Only daybreak revealed that Anak Krakatau, or Child of Krakatoa, was not exploding. Fears of disaster in Sumatra remain high after the Boxing Day tsunami and the Nias earthquake in March.

Why is Harry Reid acting like David Koresh? Becuase conservatives are winning. In 1987, Rush Limbaugh sat down at a microphone at radio station KFBK-AM in Sacramento and began broadcasting something called "The Rush Limbaugh Show." The rest is history. The "rest"--the inexorable 15-year rise of conservative ideas and clout across what Howard Stern calls "all media"--is described in a provocative new book by Brian C. Anderson, "South Park Conservatives." What was once a mostly exclusive liberal country club--television, the press, book publishing, even the campuses--has become heavily integrated with aggressive, even crude, conservatives. As described by Mr. Anderson, a...

During the worst of the Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis, I visited Israel and made a documentary ("Israel in a Time of Terror") about how Israelis regarded and lived with the murdering of their fellow men, women and children. I will forever regard the Israelis of that period as achieving a rare level of national greatness: They were able to go on living normal lives, returning the next day to the same cafes bombed the day before, riding on the same bus line that the day before had its passengers blown up, blinded, maimed and brain damaged. While making the...

THE NEW YORK OBSERVER will report tomorrow: 'Former 60 Minutes Wednesday executive editor Josh Howard has told colleagues that before he resigns, the 23-year CBS News veteran will demand that the network retract remarks by CBS president Leslie Moonves, correct its official story line and ultimately clear his name'... In the event of a lawsuit, Mr. Howard has told associates that he would like to see Moonves put under oath to talk about his own roles in the network's stubborn, hapless defense of the flawed segment on President Bush's National Guard service. Howard has also indicated to colleagues that he...

Not sure if this is the right place or format for this, but the mods can move it, if not. Received a panicky e-mail message from my brother, last night. He says he has been talking to some "very smart" friends, in St. Louis, that tell him that social security reform will include cutting about half of social security disability recipients off the program. He went on to say that, the Republicans (those meanies) were intent on kicking anyone off ssdi that wasn't confined to a hospital bed. He forsees having to get a janitor's job followed by slow starvation....

Must see TV this morning to see if Katie Couric is showing her "bitter main stream media" face this morning as she discusses the Iraqi elections. It'll be curious to see if her sad angry steely eyed gaze will be worse than back on November 3rd after Kerry's loss.

Third explosion in eight days injures three Alex Sanz/Eyewitness News Saturday's blasts marked the third such incidents since New Year's Eve last Friday.  The explosions occurred underground on West Market Street where it meets Capitol Avenue, and sent three people to the hospital with minor injuries. "We had what I consider a major explosion.  It sounded literally like a sonic boom." said Indianapolis firefighter John Harding.The force of the blast shattered store-front windows, ripped gashes in concrete floors and shook buildings for blocks.Witness Jack Bayt recalled, "You can see the glass and the door frame laying on the street." Tonight, the...

AMERICA'S pharmaceutical industry is putting out an advisory about the latest potential threat to its health: Michael Moore. The filmmaker, whose targets have included General Motors ("Roger & Me"), the gun lobby (the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine") and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11"), has set his sights on the health care industry, including insurance companies, HMOs, the Food and Drug Administration — and drug companies. At least six of the nation's largest firms have already issued internal notices to their workforces, preparing them for potential ambushes. "We ran a story in our online newspaper saying Moore is embarking on a documentary...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Tuesday, November 16, 2004 PANIC: Specter In SERIOUS TROUBLE, Cancels Santorum Meeting, Cornyn Said To Be Leaning Against, New Senators Decline Comment If Specter cancelled a Monday night New York City event with Santorum, you know he's in serious trouble! American Spectator: Specter was expected to attend last night's meeting with Sen. Rick Santorum, and to mount his most public defense for the chairmanship of the Senate Judiciary Committee. ... Word among senior Senate staffers was that Specter over the past 36 hours has grown increasingly alarmed at what he is hearing out of the GOP caucus in the Senate....

(Source : ProMed Reactor #2 at the Balakovskaya nuclear power plant,near Saratov,Russia,shut down on Thursday,11/11/04 after a water pipe burst. There was no radioactive release;however,some residents reported seeinga white cloud over the reactor,while others reported the presence of vehicles with military license plates in the area.A panic began. Residents jammed telephone lines.Radio stations began broadcasting "helpful advice" on how residents could protect themselves. Greenpeace activists flooded into the area,handing out pamphlets,that warned of the danger from nuclear reactors,and urged residents to begin takin iodine as soon as possible.Radio stations began "updating" their advice with Greenpeace materials. Frightened Saratov residents ignored...

Inquiries from Americans wanting to move to New Zealand have "exploded" since George W Bush was re-elected president. The Immigration Service's website had 10,300 hits from the United States the day after the election. Usually it gets 2500 hits a day. And the phones of its US marketing directors in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, have been ringing nonstop since the election. Marketing director Don Badman said there had been up to 300 telephone calls and emails a day. "We've been doing this for 11 months and it's been building up to about six to eight calls a...

He is still acting if this thing is close, while every one else including the Kerry camp is ready to call it a night.

WASHINGTON - More than half of the many Americans with a relative who is at high risk of danger from getting the flu say they're worried about the vaccine shortage, according to an Associated Press poll about the crisis that has health officials scrambling for solutions and politicians blaming each other. AP Photo AP Poll: Widespread Worries About Flu Crisis (AP Video) Yahoo! Health Have questions about your health? Find answers here. The U.S. flu vaccine shortage became public two weeks ago when British regulators cited contamination problems in closing one of the two companies that make vaccine for the...

FOX News To Control Camera Coverage For Entire Press During First Debate And Saying They Will Not Follow Guidelines Agreed To By Candidates by Samuel A. Stanson It's truly hard to imagine. We've warned again and again that, above all else, the Kerry campaign had to guard against FOX News getting its hands on the debates. We told you the Bush team would work any angle possible to get FOX involved, and that if the Kerry campaign allowed this, we've warned for months now, they would lose the election. All seemed safe, as the moderators and hosts for the agreed...

Top Ten Signs the Kerry Presidential Campaign is Having a Meltdown: 10. Whenever John Kerry lies down to take a nap, campaign volunteers begin to draw a chalk line around him. 9. Campaign manager stops asking, “Could I have the latest poll numbers?” and starts asking, “Could I have the number of that truck driving school I saw on TV last night?” 8. The campaign loses the volunteer responsible for giving Kerry his daily core beliefs. 7. The Today Show bumps Kerry’s big campaign appearance in favor of Tony Danza. 6. In a Peoria breakfast diner, Kerry becomes irate when...

KABOOM! That's the giant sucking sound of John Kerry's presidential campaign imploding. In the few, short weeks since the Republican National Convention, the Kerry campaign has: Ignored its best Democratic strategist - William Jefferson Clinton - and sought to search and destroy itself over Vietnam. From its mouth-to-mouth effort to raise the dead horse that is the president's National Guard service to its struggle to explain how Kerry could be both a war hero and an antiwar hero, the Kerry campaign has repeatedly dismissed Clinton's advice to move on. Stayed negative. Kerry's recent heart-freezing speech at the National Guard convention...

It is funny to go around and read the various Democrat websites today and take a look at some of the news. The Los Angeles Times has a funny editorial from yesterday complaining that Dan Rather was "set up." Who did it? Dan Rather was had! It just keeps going. The story just keeps getting added to. You've got a Houston Chronicle story today on Bill Burkett and you've got a Washington Post story today on Bill Burkett. It's two different people. If you listen, if you read the Washington Post, there's an effort to rehabilitate Bill Burkett and make...

DEMOCRAT challenger John Kerry’s election campaign is in turmoil. The presidential hopeful is in trouble and is running out of time, while President George W Bush presses ahead in the polls.In a desperate attempt to claw back the slide, Kerry decided to revamp his team by bringing in veteran Clinton operatives such as Joe Lockhart, John Sasso, Michael Whouley and Mike McCurry to oversee key parts of the campaign. But the move has caused more division and chaos in the campaign and the arrival of the Clinton team means Kerry’s original campaign strategist, Bob Shrum, has seen his influence diminished....