Free Republic

Maryland will become the latest state to adopt the clean-car rules that originated in California, phasing out new gas-powered car sales by 2035, Gov. Wes Moore (D) announced Monday. The Advanced Clean Cars II rule, first implemented in California in 2022 under a provision of the Clean Air Act, allows states to impose stricter car standards than their federal counterparts. The standards are not retroactive to existing cars or to used car sales. “Today, we’re talking about a major transformation that is going to define this administration—and that’s how we turn Maryland from a state powered by oil and gas...

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has moved the Upper Peninsula back to Phase 4 of her MI Safe Start economic reopening phases after a spike of coronavirus cases in the region. The region will move from Phase 5, “containing,” to Phase 4, “improving,” starting Oct. 9. It’s the first region in the state to do so, although Whitmer has consistently warned that the reopening phases would go back and forth depending on the data. **SNIP** The change to Phase 4 will require people who can work remotely do to so, mean schools must follow stricter requirements for masking and place smaller limits...

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force coordinator, said the US is in a “new phase” of the pandemic – with the outbreak more widespread than when it first swept across the US, according to a report. “What we are seeing today is different from March and April. It is extraordinarily widespread. It’s into the rural as equal urban areas,” Birx said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” She urged Americans to follow public health recommendations, including wearing a mask and practicing social distancing.

There is no doubt that the Coronavirus/Wuhan Virus/Wutang Clan virus or whatever you want or allowed by our media betters to call it, poses a real threat. It will spread, people will manifest symptoms and some will die. As of now, by and large, those who are dying, as with most outbreaks, are the most vulnerable amongst us. That could change and this could be the equivalent of the zombie apocalypse. It can be additionally stated with some certainty, that the Coronavirus has been an emerging issue since November of 2019. Many here and some in the media (named Tucker)...

Say goodbye to your 100-watt incandescent light bulbs. On Jan. 1, it’ll become increasingly challenging to find one on a store shelf in California. That’s because the state has ordered a phaseout of the high energy-consuming light bulb. The state is pressing to have the old incandescents replaced with newer, more efficient bulbs, such as compact fluorescents, halogens and light-emitting diode light bulbs, or LEDs. And beginning in 2012, 100-watt incandescents will be off the shelves completely. As is typical, California is getting a jump-start on a trend that will begin nationwide in a few years. Three years ago, the...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 13, 2007 – In addition to a drawdown of surge forces in Iraq, President Bush said tonight that he also had accepted Army Gen. David H. Petraeus’ recommendation to begin transitioning to the next phase of the U.S. strategy in Iraq in December. “As terrorists are defeated, civil society takes root, and the Iraqis assume more control over their own security, our mission in Iraq will evolve,” the president said during a televised address from the Oval Office. “Over time, our troops will shift from leading operations, to partnering with Iraqi forces, and eventually to overwatching those...

LOS ANGELES Attorneys who failed to get kingpins of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang acquitted on charges of murder, conspiracy and racketeering are trying a novel approach to save their clients from possible death sentences. The defense for Barry "The Baron" Mills and Tyler "The Hulk" Bingham have filed motions with a federal judge arguing that the government must present live witnesses during their clients' sentencing phase or nothing at all. The argument is based on the 2004 U.S. Supreme Court decision Crawford v. Washington, in which the high court found that defendants have the right to confront witnesses whose...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2006 – Iraqi security forces and U.S. soldiers of Multinational Division Baghdad yesterday launched the second phase of Operation Together Forward to increase security and reduce violence in Baghdad. The operation is a combined effort between Iraqi police, the Iraqi army, and Multinational Division Baghdad to reduce murders, kidnappings, assassinations, terrorism and sectarian violence in the city and to reinforce the Iraqi government’s control of Baghdad, U.S. officials said. Phase 2, which is supported by the government of Iraq, began with the combined forces of the Iraqi National Police and the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry...

WASHINGTON -- Congressional Democrats, seizing on public discontent over the war in Iraq, will offer legislation this week calling for a phased withdrawal of troops from Iraq and a shifting of forces to other nations, where supporters say American soldiers will be less likely to come under attack. The resolution, crafted by Democratic Senators Jack Reed of Rhode Island and Carl Levin of Michigan, will headline a second week of debate in Congress over the state of the war. It is the first real debate Congress has held on the war since the US invasion in early 2003. Senate Democrats,...

BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan, June 12, 2006 – The French military started its second phase of air operations in Afghanistan on May 26. During "Operation Serpentaire," a French Navy Super Etendard flies over southern Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. French air operations are in their second phase, which started May 26 and runs till October. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Dubbed "Operation Serpentaire," for Serpent-Eater, French aviators have performed close-air support and tactical reconnaissance missions supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force. This phase of the operation will support coalition efforts until...

AL ASAD, Iraq (March 13, 2006) -- Imagine every time your vehicle travels 3,000 miles, a group of highly skilled experts dismantle it, check all the fluids and parts for wear and tear, then quickly reassemble it. Not a very common occurrence for today's drivers, unless you are a pilot and your vehicle happens to be an F/A-18 Hornet with Marine All Weather Fighter Attack Squadron 533, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing. Eight highly skilled Marines with the Hawks' phase maintenance section are responsible for performing a complete maintenance check of the Hornets every time they...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 15, 2005) – Iraqi and U.S. Soldiers, together with Marines in Regimental Combat Team–2, began a new phase of “Operation Steel Curtain” Nov. 14 by entering the town of Ubaydi, located on the banks of the Euphrates River about 20 kilometers from the Syrian border. Many of the terrorists who are now fighting in Ubaydi are suspected to have fled from Husaybah and Karabilah, the first two cities that were secured by Iraqi and Coalition Forces at the beginning of the operation last week, officials said. Part of Ubaydi was cleared by Iraqi...

Wednesday opens a new chapter in the 16-year Bay Bridge saga, when regional politicians take the reins to oversee the project amid unanswered questions about why the public will pay twice — at unknown cost — for the same work. Specifically, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will be asked to approve freshly repackaged bids to build the bridge's tower. Caltrans is expected to advertise the project the next day but has not released an official cost estimate. MTC's new role results from lengthy negotiations in the Capitol this year and the new law they produced. It means the Bay Area will...

KIGALI, Rwanda (AP) - A nine-judge community court handed down its first conviction Thursday of a Rwandan accused of killings in the 1994 genocide, as authorities set in motion a system of trials designed to speed the task of deciding the guilt or innocence of the 63,000 people accused of taking part in the government-orchestrated slaughter. Genocide survivors have complained about the slow pace of implementing the community court system, known as gacaca trials, and what they say are lenient sentences given to those who confess their role. But Rwandan officials said they turned to the system to speed the...

U.S. Forces Launch Attack Into Southern Fallujah; Military Estimates 600 Insurgents KilledFALLUJAH, Iraq Nov 11, 2004 — U.S. forces backed by an air and artillery barrage launched a major attack Thursday into the southern half of Fallujah, trying to choke Sunni fighters in a shrinking cordon. The military estimated 600 insurgents have been killed in the offensive but said success in the city won't break Iraq's insurgency. The Fallujah campaign has also sent a stream of American wounded to the military's main hospital in Europe. Planes carrying just over 100 bloodied and broken troops were arriving Thursday at Landstuhl Regional...

Missile Defense Feasibility Study of Boost-Phase Intercept to be Released Tuesday, July 15, 2003 7/9/03 4:57:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: Assignment Desk, Daybooks Contact: David Harris of the American Physical Society 301-209-3238 or 240-460-2762 (cell) News Advisory: The feasibility of boost-phase intercept strategies for national missile defense is the subject of an independent study by the American Physical Society to be released July 15, 2003. Boost-phase intercept, or targeting enemy missiles while they are still under rocket power, is one component of proposed National Missile Defense systems. The report examines the feasibility of ground-, sea- and air-based intercept, space-based intercept...

Combat phase is over, says Powell as final push begins By Terry Kirby 14 April 2003 A week, to paraphrase the old adage about politics, is a long time in war. Or at least the kind of war we experience now. Last Sunday, the Iraqi regime was largely intact, its apparatchiks still maintaining the war was theirs for the winning. Outside Baghdad, the Americans drew close to a final confrontation with the Republican Guard and the British advanced into Basra. The conflict was still in the balance: protracted street fighting, a siege of Baghdad or a chemical-weapons attack by a...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 March 9 Farewell Jupiter Credit: Cassini Imaging Team, Cassini Project, NASA Explanation: Next stop: Saturn. The Cassini spacecraft, launched from Earth in 1997, has now swung past Jupiter and should arrive at Saturn in the year 2004. Pictured to the left is a parting shot from Cassini in January that would not have been possible from Earth: Jupiter showing a crescent phase. From the Earth and all points...

<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The global weather anomaly El Nino has strengthened and is expected to worsen the drought in the U.S. Plains states while drenching California and the Southeast through the spring, the government said Thursday.</p> <p>The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said El Nino, which is blamed for vicious droughts and floods worldwide, had entered its ``mature stage'' and would linger through April.</p>

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 3 Eclipse Over Acacia Credit & Copyright: Fred Espenak Explanation: On December 4th, for the second time in as many years, the Moon's shadow will track across southern Africa bringing a total solar eclipse to African skies. Reaching Africa just before 6:00 Universal Time, the narrow path of totality - corresponding to the path of the Moon's umbra or dark central shadow - will run eastward...