Free Republic

The slow-moving landslide near Yakima that spurred evacuations and a round-the-clock watch on Interstate 82 earlier this year is still on the move — but the latest monitoring suggests nature may be applying the brakes. The 4 million-cubic-yard chunk of hillside appears to have slowed its rate of descent from a peak of 1.7 feet a week in January to 1.4 feet a week in June.

A forensic profiler whose career has included work on the double-murder case against O.J. Simpson and the Natalie Holloway disappearance says Barack Obama is confessing he’s under enormous pressure and is “slipping mentally.” “Not madness such as total loss of control mentally, but more and more drastic behavior seen in disturbed traumatized leaders,” said Andrew G. Hodges, M.D., who wrote “The Obama Confession: Secret Fear, Secret Fury.” Hodges, an expert who previously suggested Obama was revealing alarming ideas about martial law and described how the president wants “total gun control,” provided to WND an analysis of some of Obama’s recent...

THE second week of the federal campaign is under way, with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd facing accusations that he cheated in last night's debate by referring to notes. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott goes into the second week of the campaign in a promising position, with most commentators declaring him the stronger performer in the debate and the latest Newspoll, published in The Australian today, showing he has narrowed Mr Rudd's lead as preferred Prime Minister from 14 points to nine points.

From the March 13, 2013 White House press conference: White House press secretary Jay Carney: “Mara?” NPR reporter Mara Liasson: “You said earlier that Republicans consider this [the sequester] a home run, you called it a ‘tea party victory’…”

GENEVA – Antarctic glaciers are melting faster across a much wider area than previously thought, scientists said Wednesday — a development that could lead to an unprecedented rise in sea levels. A report by thousands of scientists for the 2007-2008 International Polar Year concluded that the western part of the continent is warming up, not just the Antarctic Peninsula. Previously most of the warming was thought to occur on the narrow stretch pointing toward South America, said Colin Summerhayes, executive director of the Britain-based Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research and a member of International Polar Year's steering committee. But satellite...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Fewer foreign fighters are slipping into Afghanistan since Pakistan launched its offensive in August against Al-Qaeda and Taliban militants in border tribal regions, the Pentagon said Wednesday. In a media briefing, US Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell welcomed "stepped-up operations" by the Pakistani military in Peshawar, and in Swat in particular, over the past two months. "It is stepped up not just in terms of tempo, but in terms of effectiveness," Morrell said. "As a result, we have seen some improvement in the flow of foreign fighters across the border into Afghanistan." He said the assessment came...

NEW ORLEANS - A new report by scientists studying Louisiana's sinking coast says the land here is not just sinking, it's sliding ever so slowly into the Gulf of Mexico. The new findings may add a kink to plans being drawn up to build bigger and better levees to protect this historic city and Cajun bayou culture. If the land is shifting — even slightly — engineers may need to take that into consideration as they build new levees and draw lines across the coast to identify areas that should and shouldn't be protected. Researchers have known for years that...

Humility Becomes HimOn Phil Donahue's MSNBC program last night, Jesse Jackson described himself as the most 'inspirational black Amercian of all time.''No one has inspired more blacks for hope in America than I have,' he modestly declared.Take that Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.!Here is the whole transcript (link)