Free Republic

In an unusual campaign to hedge their political bets, a coalition of 11 leading environmental groups has quietly drafted a ballot measure asking California voters next year to approve the largest parks and water bond in state history. The proposed measure, now awaiting a title and summary from California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, would raise $5.4 billion to shore up aging levees in San Francisco Bay's delta, build new drinking water treatment plants, fund flood control, restore salmon runs and purchase new parklands from Monterey Bay to Lake Tahoe to inner-city Los Angeles. --snip-- ``We're hopeful the governor and the...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 21, 2005 – Mosul is a microcosm of Iraq. It's the second-largest city in the country, and contains all kinds of people who make up the ethnic stew that is this nation. Shiia Arab, Sunni Arab, Kurds, Turkomen, ethnic Iranians, Assyrians and many other ethnicities settled in Mosul, taking advantage of its location astride ancient trading routes, and amid fertile land that turned the region into the wheat belt of the Middle East. The city is the capital of Ninewa province. In Judeo-Christian heritage, Ninevah was the home of the prophets Jonah and Isaiah, and it has the...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq, Dec. 16, 2005 – Nothing makes Army Lt. Col. Jamie Gayton more angry than someone saying coalition projects in East Baghdad have no effect. "We are making a difference every day in the lives of average Iraqis," said Gayton, the commander of 2-3 Brigade Troops Battalion and responsible for coalition projects in East Baghdad. Sadr City is a part of the area of operations for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, a unit of the 3rd Infantry Division. Hundreds of projects in the area of 2.6 million people have changed life in the neighborhoods. When Americans...

Some of the trucks, front-end loaders, and giant back-hoes provided by the Non-Construction Sector for ongoing maintenance of the Sweet Water Canal in southern Iraq. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region Division photo. Canal Projects Deliver Water, Self-sufficiency Work to ensure the Sweet Water Canal water quality and reliability also provides local Iraqis the tools necessary to maintain this resource. By Denise CalabriaGulf Region DivisionU.S. Army Corps of Engineers BAGHDAD, Iraq, Dec. 5, 2005 — Due to the desert-like climate and high salinity of water in southern Iraq, two million residents of Basrah have long relied upon the...

Iraqi teachers clean in preparation for the first day of school. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Polli Keller Sulayminyah School Projects Nearly Complete The school renovations included plaster repair and painting, as well as installation of ceiling fans and window screens and new playground equipment. By Polli Keller Gulf Region North U.S. Army Corps of Engineers MOSUL, Iraq, Oct. 12, 2005 — School days are here and Sulayminyah school renovations are nearing completion. Seven out of ten schools renovated in the Sulayminyah district are complete. The other three are ninety percent finished and will be ready for...

BILLINGS, Mont. - A new study suggests natural gas development in western Wyoming is forcing mule deer into less suitable winter range and affecting the animals' movements in an area known as the Pinedale Anticline. The number of mule deer on the Mesa winter range dropped a "disconcerting" 46 percent from 2002 to 2005, according to the report from Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. Models and maps indicated that, through at least three winters, deer tended to favor areas further away from well pads. Such behavior suggests that seasonal drilling restrictions may not be achieving what land managers had intended, the...

TALLIL, Iraq, Aug. 8, 2005 — With a major neighborhood electrical refurbishment project getting underway in the city of Najaf, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Gulf Region South District has earmarked most of the money for distribution projects, which means a voltage level from 33 kilovolts down to the levels used by houses and small shops. “The plants aren’t operating at full capacity for one reason or another. The plants are old and haven’t been well maintained over the years for example. This power shortage causes the three hours on/ three hours off of electricity that Iraq experiences...

Kofi Annan had what perhaps was the quote of the week recently. In an editorial displayed in The Washington Post, Annan said of Iraq: “In a media-hungry age, visibility is often regarded as proof of success, but this does not necessarily hold true in Iraq.” Most of Iraq’s successes have been away from the camera. They have been too far away for most Americans to see. President Bush has stated that “successes” abound in Iraq, but he has failed to elaborate. Therefore, I followed Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s advice and searched for the real facts about Iraq. We do see...

Were a lyricist to pen words to this imaginary "Bankruptcy Forever" March the lyricist could combine the serious with the absurd. Alas, absurdity often plays well in Congress. Because there is no effective germaneness requirement in the Senate Rules, human imagination cannot envision the projects upon which Congress appropriate taxpayers' money. How about $1.5 million for a bus stop in Anchorage? ("The Streetcar Named Desire" in New Orleans evidently struck out but "The Bus Stop Named Profligate" made it.) Or $1 million toward the National Flag Museum in Pittsburgh? ("National" Flag in Pittsburgh?) Or $1 million for a DNA study...

A “universal recipe” for building a “dream team” has been devised by scientists studying the make-up of the groups behind hit Broadway musicals and successful science projects. The perfect creative team contains just the right mix of veterans and rookies, suggests the mathematical modelling study, carried out by Luís Nunes Amaral at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, US, and colleagues. “All the best teams seem to have a certain number of newcomers,” says Amaral, who works on complex systems and network analysis. But he adds: “The successful teams also have a fair number of people who are established.” Taking completely...

Perhaps you're wondering what the Appalachian Fruit Laboratory in Kearneysville WV wants to do with $3,638,000 of your hard-earned tax dollars. Maybe you want to know why animal waste management in Bowling Green KY costs the federal government $2,300,000. (What are those animals eating -- too much of that Appalachian Fruit?) Possibly you just want to know why $100,000 of the money you send to the IRS is going to teach Iowans who want to plant trees in the Trees Forever Program about the injuries snow can do to those trees. I'm more concerned with the damage pork-barrel projects like...

- Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the 2005 Congressional Pig Book, a sweeping compendium of the pork-barrel projects in the federal budget. Congress spent more tax dollars on pork this year than in any other year in history. For fiscal 2005, appropriators stuffed 13,997 projects into the 13 appropriations bills, an increase of 31 percent over last year’s total of 10,656. In the last two years, the total number of projects has increased by 49.5 percent. The cost of these projects in fiscal 2005 was $27.3 billion, or 19 percent more than last year’s total of $22.9 billion....

[VHFCN] Real news from Iraq Went to an AUSA dinner last night at the Ft. Hood Officers' Club to hear a speech by MG Pete Chiarelli, CG of the 1st Cav Div. He and most of the Div. have just returned from Iraq. Very informative and, surprise, the Mainstream Media (MSM) isn't telling the story. I was not there as a reporter, didn't take notes but I'll make some the points I remember that were interesting, suprising or generally stuff I had not heard before. It was not a speech per se. He just walked and talked, showed some slides...

WASHINGTON (AP) - California would get more than $25 billion in highway and public transportation money under a giant transportation bill that passed the House of Representatives this week. Hundreds of projects would be funded - from $400 million to extend Los Angeles' light-rail Gold Line through East Los Angeles, to $11 million for a seismic retrofit of the Golden Gate Bridge, to $153 million for the Mission Valley East light-rail extension in San Diego. The bill also includes language to allow California's law letting hybrid cars into carpool lanes to take effect. All 53 California House members voted Thursday...

The FBI's failure to roll out an expanded computer system that would help agents investigate criminals and terrorists is the latest in a series of costly technology blunders by government over more than a decade. Experts blame poor planning, rapid industry advances and the massive scope of some complex projects whose price tags can run into billions of dollars at U.S. agencies with tens of thousands of employees. "There are very few success stories," said Paul Brubaker, former deputy chief information officer at the Pentagon. "Failures are very common, and they've been common for a long time." The FBI said...

Thousands of residents of subsidized housing in New Jersey got a last-minute Christmas gift this week, after federal officials agreed to a complex arrangement that advances 21 housing authorities $80 million to renovate old buildings.The authorities will repay the money over 20 years, using 30 percent of their annual appropriation for capital maintenance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. And they benefited from a joint borrowing operation overseen by the state."It's a good news story for housing authorities for once," said David Gardner, executive director of the Morristown Housing Authority, which helped organize the borrowing effort through...

WASHINGTON - Despite soaring deficits, the government spending plan awaiting President Bush's signature is chock-full of special items for industries and communities. Consider $443,000 to develop salmon-fortified baby food, or $350,000 for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Lawmakers from both parties who approved the $388 billion package last weekend set aside plenty of money for projects certain to sow good will in their home districts. The time-honored practice flourished despite the ballooning deficit, less money for federal programs and rising unease about how government will finance the futures of Medicare and Social Security. For instance, there was $50,000...

Strip the Army of those Bradley Fighting Vehicles[1] used in the Golf War. And take away the big M-1 Abrams Tanks[2] the Army likes so well. Strip the Navy of the last few fancy Aircraft Carriers[3] so popular to provide air cover. Then, scrap the Aegis anti aircraft system[4] the Navy depends on to search, track and guide missile functions. Scrap those P-3 Orion[5] upgrades, too. The Navy doesn't really need the better anti-submarine warfare aircraft. Over at the Air Force, let's get rid of the B2 stealth bomber[6] that sneaks in on targets and wages destruction. Also get rid...

<p>A federal judge refused to shut down more than $100 million in Yosemite Valley construction projects, saying environmental arguments for delay in a long-running lawsuit were unconvincing.</p> <p>But U.S. District Court Judge Anthony W. Ishii did order Yosemite National Park to decide a limit on how many people could visit the sensitive Merced River, which runs through the glacial valley.</p>

CLEVELAND (AP) -- The city's public housing agency is trying to resolve a lengthy dispute by accommodating the needs of a 772-pound tenant immobilized by her weight. Carmen Bowen, 44, has been involved in a two-year dispute with the Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority over how much work must be done to help her move around her apartment. The agency is about to provide her with a handicapped-accessible apartment with extra space to allow an oversized wheelchair to turn. Bowen lives with her 19-year-old son and a caregiver. Still, Bowen filed a discrimination complaint, saying the agency took too long. Housing...