Free Republic

Editorials Executive order reverses 25-year-old ban to let park visitors carrying loaded guns National parks are supposed to be sanctuaries, not only for people, but for wildlife as well. But the possibility that the peace and tranquility of federal parklands will be violated has increased with the latest executive order by President Bush that will allow concealed loaded weapons in federal parks and wildlife refuges. The new rule reverses the ban on loaded weapons in federal parks that was signed by President Ronald Reagan more than 25 years ago. If this is the legacy that Bush wants to leave the...

NASA’s quest to send astronauts back to the Moon and then to Mars has been undermined by NASA’s strange reluctance to provide justifications for its ambitious Vision for Space Exploration, even in the face of the ritual questions about competing earthbound priorities. The space agency’s stand is particularly strange because the lunar explorations of the Apollo astronauts have provided a solid reason to resume exploration of the Moon, namely Apollo’s great bounty of scientific information. Thanks to the lunar samples and other data from Apollo, most scientists agree today on the early history of the Earth and the Moon. They...

It is the adults who should be afraid this Halloween. Not of ghouls and goblins, but of permanently scarring their children. In a recent study of six- and seven-year-olds in the Philadelphia area, Penn State psychologist Cindy Dell Clark found that most parents underestimate just how terrifying the holiday can be for young kids. Halloween has been scaring the heck out of kids of all ages for centuries. Two thousand years ago, Celts living in what is now the United Kingdom celebrated their new year at the end of October. During these days of transition from the end of summer...

We now hear the argument that since weapons of mass destruction (WMD) have not - so far - been found in Iraq (news - web sites), there has been a massive intelligence failure, and we never should have gone to war. But failure to find stockpiles does not mean the ultimate peril did not exist. Far more important were Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's history, capability and intent, and the serious and long-term threat he posed to a vital region, to America's allies and to our national security. First, Saddam had used WMD - against Iran in the mid-1980s, and he...