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Given to environmentalist lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose fight for "green" energy apparently stops as soon as the results might spoil his view. Kennedy penned an irate New York Times op-ed in December, condemning the proposed building of wind turbines around the Nantucket Sound. While Kennedy criss-crosses the country in his jet-fuel-burning private plane stumping for alternative energy sources, he wants an exception for his own backyard. Greenpeace spokesman Chris Miller was not pleased, saying: "It's about a vision for healthy oceans, not the view from the Kennedy compound."

A plan to build what could become the first large offshore wind farm in the United States would be effectively killed by a proposed amendment to a Coast Guard budget bill now making its way through Congress, people on both sides of the issue say. The amendment, offered by Representative Don Young, Republican of Alaska, would prohibit new offshore wind facilities within 1.5 nautical miles of a shipping lane or a ferry route. That would rule out construction of the installation, proposed for Nantucket Sound. The budget bill awaits action in a House-Senate conference committee. The developer, a private company...

CRITICS OF PROPOSED US offshore wind farms have recently lauded efforts to develop deep-water offshore wind energy technologies that would allow wind farms to be built far from shore. They suggest that advances in research and development are proceeding at such a rapid pace that thousands of wind turbines could soon be operating off the northeast coast without encroaching on anyone's view or posing any threat to the environment. Clarification about the current state and potential of deep-water offshore wind energy appears timely. The US Department of Energy estimates the wind energy potential off the United States coast to be...

Opponents of a plan to build the first offshore U.S. wind farm in Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts were a step closer on Friday to blocking the $900 million project. Negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed late on Thursday to give Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney the power to block a plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC to put 130 giant wind turbines near the resort islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Backers say the project could generate enough electricity for most of Cape Cod and nearby islands. Opponents include wealthy residents with yachts and shorefront property near...

The infamous environmental group Greenpeace is targeting Sen. Ted Kennedy for opposing a wind farm in the Nantucket Sound because it would interfere with the view from his Hyannisport mansion. Greenpeace is launching a nationwide TV ad campaign against Kennedy, with spots that portray the Massachusetts Democrat as Godzilla. The Cape Cod Times reports: "In the 30-second spot, a cartoon Kennedy looms over the water like a Japanese movie monster, pounding wind turbines as they sprout from the water, and barks, 'I might see them from my mansion on the Cape.'" Kennedy's nephew, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is a leading...

3/29/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- An armed F-16 Fighting Falcon is “watching” the road below for the convoys rolling through a dangerous land. The concept of using fighter aircraft equipped with targeting pods to monitor the battlespace is known as non-traditional intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, or NTISR. Air Force NTISR operations began only four years ago and are the result of increased demand for complete battlespace awareness. With the production and development of traditional ISR capabilities struggling to keep pace, leveraging fighters, bombers, and air mobility aircraft in a similar role is helping ensure information dominance. “Before NTISR, we...

WSBT/AP) Senator Evan Bayh says he’ll introduce legislation designed to prevent minors under age 17 from buying violent video games. The Indiana Democrat says there's growing evidence that such games increase aggressive behavior in children. He says the bill would prohibit anyone under age 17 from purchasing M-rated games without the express consent of a parent. M-rated games are those that under a video industry rating system should only be sold to players 17 or older. “There is growing evidence that exposure to graphic violence does have consequences in terms of anger hostility and violent behavior on our children,” Bayh...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Bills helping smokers quit their habit, cracking down on drunken drivers and aiding homeowners who lose their houses in fires or other natural disasters cleared legislative hurdles Thursday. DRUNKEN DRIVING: The Assembly approved a bill that would let law enforcement officers impound the vehicle of a suspected drunken driver, if that driver had a previous conviction for driving under the influence. The bill, by Sen. Jack Scott, D-Pasadena, was approved on a 55-13 vote and sent to the governor. Opponents said the bill went too far in fighting drunken driving by seizing property before a case went...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Could Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have another "woman problem" on his hands? He has made headlines in recent months by deriding political opponents as "girlie men" and publicly ridiculing a group of nurses at a state women's conference. His latest effort to paint the state's teachers as little more than a balky special interest group has angered many critics, who have begun to question why constituencies dominated by women have been singled out for such tough talk. "He behaves like an arrogant patriarch with respect to women's occupations," said Rose Ann De Moro, executive director of the...

EVERY other Sunday afternoon since April 2003, advocates of animal rights have gathered with bullhorns across from 279 Central Park West, near 88th Street. They are there to protest Huntingdon Life Sciences, a product-development company that does scientific tests on animals, and its chief executive, Andrew Baker, who lives in the building. Or does he? Months ago, residents heard that he had moved out. And so, they wonder, why don't the protesters stop? "Someone would first of all have to provide really good proof that he's not in the building," said Camille Hankins, who organizes the events for the group,...

There has recently been a huge media feeding frenzy on the prospect of laser devices being used to blind pilots of commercial airliners. The reports note that no damage was done to the crew, and the planes landed safely. There is an assumption that lasers are being used to blind pilots. The type of laser that could blind two pilots would, first, have to be highly sophisticated and expensive and, second, would have to hit the cockpit from the front of the aircraft. A difficult feat on an object moving over 300 miles per hour. The recent events involved lasers...

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!

WASHINGTON - Seeking to bolster its credentials on global warming, the United States signed an agreement Tuesday with 13 other nations that calls for investing up to $53 million in companies that will profitably control emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas. Emissions of methane, mainly from landfills, are ranked second behind carbon dioxide emissions among industrial gases scientists blame for warming the earth's climate. "Today we're planting a seed," Mike Leavitt, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (news - web sites), told representatives of the countries at a ceremony co-sponsored by the American Petroleum Institute and the National Mining Association....

ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) - Hundreds of protesters marched through San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties in opposition to a federal crackdown on illegal immigration resulting in 160 arrests. As many as 1,000 demonstrators hoisted signs and shook maracas while trekking from Ontario to Pomona on Sunday, accusing immigration authorities of unfairly targeting Hispanic communities. "Why are they targeting Latinos?" Abel P. Medina, an organizer and member of Hermanidad Mexicano Nacional Ontario, said during the march. "We haven't received any numbers (showing) they have arrested any Canadians or any Europeans." U.S. Border Patrol agents have stopped people on streets and coming...

Intelligence community officials have informed prominent rabbinical figures that they have been targeted by terrorists and instructed the rabbis to act accordingly. Chief Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar have been informed by intelligence community officials that they are potential targets for terrorists and must take the appropriate precautions. Also on the terrorists' lists are Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and leading Kabbalist Rabbi Yitzhak Kaduri. Some of the rabbis have already made changes in their schedule in compliance with intelligence and security officials' recommendations. Rabbi Yosef, for instance, has canceled some of...

So today we are joined by a senior official from the coalition headquarters at CentCom to shed some light on how we go about striking legitimate military targets while sparing no effort to protect innocent civilians. ---- (Background briefing on U.S. military practices and procedures to minimize casualties to non-combatants and prevent collateral damage during military operations. The slides shown during this presentation are available at http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Mar2003/g030305-D-9085M.html ) Staff: It is not quite afternoon. It's -- good morning, and thank you for joining us today, and welcome to this background briefing on the targeting process. Last week we talked in...