Free Republic

A judge has ruled that coho salmon have been illegally listed as an endangered species, a victory that comes too late for the farmers of the Klamath River Basin and the families of four young firefighters. In the spring of 2001, the government ordered irrigation water cut off to 1,400 farms in southern Oregon and northern California to save suckerfish and salmon... [snip] Last week, federal judge Michael Hogan agreed with the Pacific Legal Foundation that the government violated the ESA when it failed to include hatchery fish in its assessment of the coho’s status. ...the Klamath community was practically...

SYDNEY, Australia -- Charlie Bell, the former president and chief executive officer of McDonald's Corp., has died of colorectal cancer in his hometown of Sydney, Australia, the company said. Bell, who was diagnosed with cancer last May, was 44 years old. "Charlie Bell gave his all to McDonald's," Andrew J. McKenna, chairman of the company's board of directors, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

NGA Invites Public Comment on Proposal to Remove Aeronautical Information from Public Sale and Distribution Bethesda, Md, Dec 3, 2004 -- The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) announced November 18, 2004, it is considering withdrawing its Flight Information Publications (FLIP), Digital Aeronautical Flight Information File (DAFIF), and Navigation Planning Charts from public sale and distribution. NGA has proposed to implement the changes on October 1, 2005. Today, NGA invites public comment on the proposed action through June 30, 2005. Comments may be returned to: aero.ocr@nga.mil or mailed to: National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Mail Stop D-111, Attn: Public Release of Aeronautical Products 4600...

I was very disappointed that John Hinderaker [Hindrocket] chose to take full credit for exposing the CBS memogate scandal rather than at least tipping his hat to those here on FreeRepublic who actually discovered and proved the fraud. Other than that little omission, he did well. He emphasised that the report failed to discuss the coordination between CBS and the Kerry campaign. He emphasized [in legalese, he's a lawyer] that CBS engaged in what he called "affirmative misrepresentation" - what us mere civilians would call outright lies, which puts the lie to their "we were rushed" defense. He mentioned the...

The Republican Party now seems to have it all: possession of the U.S. presidency and expanded control of Congress. Ironically, however, President Bush’s victory might destroy American conservatism. The GOP and conservative movement have lost their souls. Modern American conservatism grew out of the classical liberal tradition that birthed the U.S. For years Republicans emphasized their commitment to individual liberty and limited constitution government. They believed Washington to possess only specific enumerated powers. The most important domestic issues were matters for the states. Internationally American needed to be strong but responsible: War was a tool to protect U.S. security, not...

Fifty Seabees from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 40, forward deployed to Camp Shields, Okinawa, Japan, have shipped out to the tsunami-ravaged shores of Indonesia to assist with initial disaster recovery efforts, their command reported Jan. 6. An additional 300 are preparing to follow, as missions require. They will serve in the relief effort along with Marines from the 3rd Marine Division, and sailors from 7th Fleet. The initial wave of Seabees will focus on contingency construction, such as road clearing and runway repairs, while the sailors they accompany aboard USS Fort McHenry, an LSD class vessel, will use water...

Politics: The Democrats should be in the middle of a vital debate over their disastrous performance in national elections in recent years. So what do they do? They continue to fight lost battles. Losing a major election is usually a time to reflect on your strengths and, more important, your weaknesses. For Democrats, this seems now to be impossible. Their recent behavior will doom them to more electoral failure, and even possible irrelevance.

ATLANTA (AP) - The cancellation of 1,100 Christmas Day flights by Comair because of computer troubles is prompting calls for more investments in backup systems and other technologies to prevent further groundings and damage to an already struggling industry. The foul-up was hardly the first: A computer glitch grounded 40 Delta flights in May. A power failure created a computer problem that forced Northwest to cancel more than 120 flights in July. A worker keystroke error grounded or delayed some American and US Airways flights for several hours in August. "Obviously, the airlines have become way too dependent on computers,"...

A horse is dead and its rider in critical condition after colliding with a car in northeast Las Vegas. The accident happened about 6:00 PM Tuesday on North Walnut Road and Judson Avenue near East Lake Mead Boulevard. Police say the horse and rider darted into traffic, hitting a 1994 Chevrolet Beretta driven by 22-year-old Noe Renteria. 52-year-old Mike McCutcheon was thrown from the horse. The horse died shortly after the collision. McCutcheon was taken to a local hospital. A 13-year-old juvenile inside the car suffered minor injuries. Renteria was not injured. The accident remains under investigation.

HONG KONG, Monday, Dec. 13 - The Commerce Ministry in China announced Sunday night that it would impose tariffs on some textile exports, a step that could avert a trade war with the United States and the European Union over a new influx of low-cost Chinese garments that had appeared likely to flood Western markets starting Jan. 1. The ministry's Web site, where the announcement was posted, did not specify the level of these export taxes or what textiles would be taxed. If the tariffs are not high enough to limit the competitiveness of Chinese exports, then the Bush administration...

Rescue missions expensive, ineffective. CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Trying to save the famed Hubble Space Telescope with a robot would cost $2 billion with just a 50-50 chance of success, an aerospace research group is advising NASA in the coming days. And that thumbs-down is likely to be preceded by another potentially negative finding from the National Academy of Sciences, due to report on Wednesday. Both reports could spell doom for the popular, aging Hubble, whose fans have heavily lobbied to get it repaired to prolong its life and continue its stream of stunning and revealing pictures from space....

WEST PELZER - Three people were killed when a single-engine corporate plane crashed about 10:20 a.m. in bad weather Thursday in a residential area outside Williamston, authorities said. The flight plan of the plane, a Diamond A40 model registered to Accu-Pad, Inc., a silicone products manufacturer located at 1324 Harris Bridge Road in Anderson, remains unclear. The plane clipped power lines and hit trees around an abandoned home on Hardwood Road before it began to disintegrate and hit the ground inside a field with a "catastrophic impact," Anderson County Public Safety Director Tommy Thompson said. Identities of the three victims...

NEW YORK CITY-Late yesterday, a jury determined that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center constituted two occurrences for insurance purposes. This decision paves the way for the site’s master leaseholder Larry Silverstein, president and CEO of Silverstein Properties, to potentially collect billions more in insurance payouts. “I am thrilled with today's victory," Silverstein says in a statement. "But this is a win for all New Yorkers. Today's decision means an additional billion dollars of insurance proceeds will be available, which, together with Liberty Bonds, will ensure a timely and complete rebuild of the World Trade...

BEIJING (AFX) - Beijing will curb excessive investment in the energy sector by cracking down on the construction of power plants lacking approval from the authorities, the China Daily said, quoting a senior Chinese official. Xu Dingming, director of the Energy Bureau of the National Development and Reform Commission, said power plants with a generating capacity of 120,000 megawatts are being constructed without permission, putting China's sparse coal supplies and railway transportation system under "great stress," the China Daily said. "We are moving now," Xu told the paper, offering no further explanation. The paper added the projected capacity of the...

A reader writes, "Is Jimmy Carter sick or something? A gang of thugs just stole an election in Ukraine, and our former president and Nobel Peace Prize winner wasn't there to give it thumbs-up."

New security regulations have some airlines concerned safety is being sacrificed The uniformed screeners from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) have become familiar sights to air travelers across the country. But not all airport officials are happy to have them around. Nevada's Elko Regional Airport last week became the first airport in the country to apply to get rid of TSA screeners altogether and return to private employees. The airport, which handles just 15 flights a day, has 14 screeners. Elko director Cris Jensen said there were no problems with the government screeners, but he feels his airport can do...

State Finance: California's massive public employee retirement fund, dubbed Calpers, sacked its top executive this week. To that we say: It's about time. If you don't know about Calpers, or think it's of interest only to California, shame on you. Calpers is the largest public investment fund on earth, and wields enormous clout in stock markets around the world — including our own. So when the State Personnel Board voted 3-to-2 to fire controversial head Sean Harrigan, it made waves. Some blamed "big business" for the firing, others a secret deal between Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his big-money backers in...

Case results in the nation's first-ever felony spam convictions. A brother and sister were convicted this week of three felony charges of sending thousands of junk e-mails through servers located in Virginia, according to Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore. The convictions of Jeremy Jaynes, who was sentenced to nine years in prison, and his sister, Jessica DeGroot, who was fined $7500, were the nation's first-ever felony spam convictions, Kilgore says in a statement. A third defendant, Richard Rutkowski, was found not guilty, the attorney general says. The cases were heard in Loudoun County Circuit Court. The case was prosecuted by...

Dear Colleague: A few minutes ago you received a letter from congressman Oberstar about H.R. 5382 which will be before the house shortly. Mr. Oberstar’s objection to the bill is well intentioned but reflects fundamental misunderstandings about the bill. Here are some facts: The house passed earlier this year by a vote of 402 to 1 and earlier version of this bill (HR 3752) that gave the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) less regulatory authority over commercial human space flights than does the bill before us today. The Science Committee which has primary jurisdiction over this bill which was given the...

Divided federation is taking up issue of union consolidation as some leaders thirst for change Changes are brewing in the AFL-CIO. A new committee of union leaders is exploring possible mergers and how to put new life into organizing. And when transformations eventually are made, they are likely to have a significant impact on the labor federation’s Building and Construction Trades Dept. The leadership of long-time AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney is being tested and may be doomed by the defeat of Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. Unions spent more than $100 million in their attempt to send Kerry to...