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Warmer-than-average conditions are most likely across the Southern tier of the U.S. and much of the Eastern U.S. with the greatest likelihood of above-average temperatures in the Southeast. Below-average temperatures are favored for southeast Alaska and the Pacific Northwest eastward to the northern Plains. The Upper Mississippi Valley and small areas of the Great Lakes have equal chances for below-, near- or above-average temperatures. ..wetter-than-average conditions are most likely in parts of the North, primarily in the Pacific Northwest, northern Rockies, Great Lakes, Ohio Valley and western Alaska. Drier-than-average conditions are favored in south-central Alaska, southern California, the Southwest, and...

CHICAGO (AP) - Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Thursday announced an end to his 10-week-old stay-at-home order, declaring that every region of the state has met conditions necessary to allow more social interaction amid the deadly coronavirus pandemic. The state will move into the third phase of the Democrat's five-stage “Restore Illinois” plan, a step that will see reopening of manufacturing and retail, outdoor dining at restaurants and small social gatherings. Restless residents have agitated for more freedom to leave their houses and resume some sense of normalcy. In loosening the restrictions, Pritzker cited more favorable conditions, including decreased hospitalizations and...

...into separate cultures as settlers spread WestYou might think you live in a nation of 50 unified states, but according to author and journalist Colin Woodard, the U.S. is a lot less united than we like to think. According to Woodard, the country is divided not by state lines but is in fact separated into 11 neatly delineated nation states where dominant cultures are explained by who their early settlers were 'and the lasting cultural fissures they established.' Woodard writes in Tufts University's alumni magazine that the original North American cultures developed in isolation from each other in distinct regions...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The "modest" US economic recovery is slowing in some parts of the country, the Federal Reserve warned in its latest Beige Book report published Wednesday. "Economic activity has continued to increase, on balance, since the previous survey," the Fed said in a report, last published in early June, while noting significant head winds. "Among those Districts reporting improvements in economic activity, a number of them noted that the increases were modest, and two districts, Atlanta and Chicago, said that the pace of economic activity had slowed recently." The Fed's statement is unlikely to dampen concerns -- fanned...

You have to give State Rep. Bryan Lentz credit for doggedness. Last month, the Delaware County Democrat introduced, for the second time, a bill in the Pennsylvania General Assembly to create a regional authority that would own and operate the Philadelphia International and Lehigh Valley International airports. The idea is to reduce flight delays in Philadelphia. Here's the theory behind the measure: By planning development and operations at both airports on a regional basis, airlines could be persuaded or required to use underutilized Lehigh Valley more and congested Philadelphia less. Ideally, Lentz would like to see a tristate authority that...

Bright Nebulae of M33 Credit & Copyright: Ken Crawford (Rancho Del Sol Observatory) Explanation: Gorgeous spiral galaxy M33 seems to have more than its fair share of bright emission nebulae. In fact, narrow-band and broad-band image data are combined in this beautifully detailed composite to trace the reddish emission nebulae, star forming HII regions, sprawling along loose spiral arms that wind toward the galaxy's core. Historically of great interest to astronomers, M33's giant HII regions are some of the largest known stellar nurseries - sites of the formation of short-lived but very massive stars. Intense ultraviolet radiation from the...

Shedding Light on the Protein Big Bang Theory March 13, 2009 — The precise three-dimensional structure of a typical protein molecule is so complex, its origin would seem hopeless by chance. What if evolutionary biologists were to discover a whole host of proteins literally exploded into existence at the beginning of complex life? We can find out what they would think by looking at an article on the “protein big bang” found on Astrobiology Magazine...

Security progress in Basra is “overwhelming” and Iraq’s second-largest city could be “another Dubai in the coming decade,” the commander of Multi-National Division - Southeast said July 14, referring to the bustling international business hub. British Army Maj. Gen. Barney White-Spunner told Pentagon reporters via teleconference from Baghdad that Operation Charge of the Knights - ordered by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in March - has “well and truly” turned the tide in the city. Before the operation, militias controlled large parts of the city. Militia leaders, many under control of Iran, intimidated the populace and turned the city into...

WASHINGTON More cities across the country are considered at high risk of a terrorist attack, according to a new list of funding priorities from the Homeland Security Department. Last year the department made 45 cities or regions eligible for a competitive counterterrorism grant program. This year, the list has been expanded to 60 areas that can apply for the nearly $782 million available, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The urban area grants are one of the department's most popular and most intensely debated programs. The department divides the regions at highest risk of a terrorist attack into...

Lawless region's vote on joining Russia rattles West By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow (Filed: 18/09/2006) Moldova's breakaway region of Trans-dniestr voted yesterday in an internationally unrecognised referendum to decide whether one of Europe's most lawless corners will become part of Russia. Western officials fear the vote could sour relations with Moscow, spread instability in the former Soviet Union and hamper efforts to diminish the access of terrorists to a vast stockpile of unmonitored weapons. The result, due today, is expected to confirm that the territory in eastern Moldova — about twice the size of Luxembourg — will maintain its separatist...

Sunnis enraged as Iraq prepares to divide itself into regions By Oliver Poole, Iraq Correspondent (Filed: 07/09/2006) The future of Iraq as a sovereign nation was thrown into jeopardy yesterday after a new law was introduced to parliament that would enable the break up of the country into semi-autonomous regions. If passed, a self-ruling Shia state is likely to emerge in the south, based on the autonomous region Kurds have already established in the north. It would not only be able to levy its own taxes and govern itself but, Shia politicians say, would have its own armed guards posted...

Odesa – Metropolitan Ahafanhel (Savvin) of Odesa and Izmail of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church-Moscow Patriarchate (UOK-MP) is at the top of the election list of the Party of Regions of Ukraine (PRU) for the Regional Council in southern Ukraine’s Odesa region. This means that, based on the PRU’s success in the March elections, the metropolitan is the first in line to be asked to serve in the government. Religare.ru posted the news on 25 January 2006. The list was approved at a session of the regional organization of the UPR on 24 January 2006. Metropolitan Ahafanhel actively participated in the...

Newsweek magazine published a scoop last week. Based on an unnamed source, Newsweek informed the world that American interrogators of suspected Islamic terrorists at Guantanamo Bay had flushed pages of the Koran down a toilet. If this were true, the interrogators would be both morally wrong and stupid. The words of the Koran and the pages on which they are written are considered intrinsically holy to Muslims. As it happens, it was not true. Like Dan Rather and CBS News, Newsweek put politics and craving a scoop ahead of truth, not to mention ahead of America's security. As I said...

Some 22 billion barrels of stranded oil could be recovered from onshore California -- including mature fields in the Kern County area -- with the application of carbon dioxide technologies. This is according to a series of reports the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy released Wednesday. Nationwide, the reports indicate there is potential to recover more than 43 billion barrels of oil from stranded oil resources in six regions using the latest CO2 enhanced oil recovery techniques. The regions include onshore Gulf Coast, offshore Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alaska, Illinois and onshore California. According to the Office of Fossil...

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!

A Regions Hospital research technician scalded Thursday after being trapped in a large walk-in washer used to sterilize equipment died Friday from severe burns.

Editor's note: Readers may be interested in two related stories: "Invested in Terrorism" and "BBC: U.S. Damned if it does and damned if it doesn't". -ALJ Douglas Farah uncovered the story of al-Qaeda's involvement in West Africa's diamond smuggling while reporting on Africa for the Washington Post, which he described in Blood from Stones: The Secret Financial Network of Terror (New York: Broadway, 2004). Mr. Farah, now a consultant, freelance writer on terror finance and national security matters, and a senior fellow at the Consortium for the Study of Intelligence, addressed the Middle East Forum in New York City on...