Free Republic

FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash., April 3, 2006 – Foreign exchange pilots from Australia assigned here are helping their U.S. counterparts carry out global air refueling, airlift and humanitarian assignments. The exchange program selects the best pilots in the Royal Australian Air Force with a minimum of 1,500 flying hours. Although instructional experience is not essential, it is a highly desirable factor to be selected for the three-year program, officials said. "They are sending us their best qualified pilots," said Air Force Maj. Dennis Bernier, 93rd Air Refueling Squadron assistant director of operations. "They are all outstanding pilots and huge...

BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM MARIA ADVISORY NUMBER 5 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 11 AM AST FRI SEP 02 2005 ...TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOURTEEN STRENGTHENS TO TROPICAL STORM MARIA...NO THREAT TO LAND... SATELLITE IMAGES INDICATE THAT TROPICAL DEPRESSION FOURTEEN HAS STRENGTHENED AND IS NOW TROPICAL STORM MARIA...THE 13TH NAMED CYCLONE OF THE 2005 HURRICANE SEASON. AT 11 AM AST...1500Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL STORM MARIA WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 21.3 NORTH...LONGITUDE 50.0 WEST OR ABOUT 880 MILES...1415 KM... EAST-NORTHEAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS AND ABOUT 1185 MILES...1910 KM...SOUTHEAST OF BERMUDA. MARIA HAS BEEN MOVING WESTWARD FOR THE PAST FEW HOURS BUT...

Climate change could make future hurricanes stronger, but it is unknown whether it will change the total number of storms. Kevin Trenberth from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) claims that warmer oceans and increased moisture could intensify showers and thunderstorms that fuel hurricanes. "Trends in human-influenced environmental changes are now evident in hurricane regions," Trenberth said. "These changes are expected to affect hurricane intensity and rainfall, but the effect on hurricane numbers remains unclear. The key scientific question is how hurricanes are changing." Sea-surface temperatures in the tropical North Atlantic – the breeding ground for most U.S. hurricanes...

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES ADVISORY NUMBER 11 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 11 AM AST FRI AUG 27 2004 ...FRANCES STRENGTHENS INTO A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE... INTERESTS IN THE NORTHERN LESSER ANTILLES AND THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF FRANCES OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT 11 AM AST...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FRANCES WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 15.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 49.0 WEST OR ABOUT 820 MILES ...1320 KM...EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. FRANCES IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH...17 KM/HR. A MOTION BETWEEN WEST-NORTHWEST AND NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS...

<p>Outsourcing white-collar jobs to low-wage countries such as India and China has thrown some Americans out of work, but a new report predicts that the trend will ultimately lower inflation, create jobs and boost productivity in the United States.</p> <p>The Information Technology Association of America, in a survey out Tuesday, acknowledges that the migration of tech jobs to low-paid foreigners has eliminated 104,000 American jobs so far, nearly 3 percent of the positions in the U.S. tech industry.</p>

Less than a week before the meeting between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Abu Mazen, Israeli security sources believe that Yasser Arafat is strengthening his hold on the Palestinian Authority. Recently Arafat received an urgent request for $20,000 to buy 6,000 meters of cloth to make uniforms for the Palestinian police. Arafat approved and signed it and instructed Finance Minister Salam Fayyad to transfer the money. Why is the chairman allocating funds, and why is he still involved with the security organizations, which should have been transferred to the supervision of the new prime minister, Abu Mazen?...