Free Republic

When Californians take their vehicles in for a tune up, smog check or oil change, the job should include fully inflating their tires. That one simple step could prevent an estimated 200,000 metric tons of greenhouse gases a year from going into the air, according to a new proposal that state air regulators are weighing to help California meet its global warming goals. Making tire inflation a mandatory regulation is among five new early action measures that would take effect by Jan. 1 2010 to help California reduce greenhouse gases by an estimated 25 percent by the year 2020. "There...

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi court trying Saddam Hussein's cousin — known as "Chemical Ali" — and other former regime officials for their roles in a 1980s military campaign against the Kurds said Sunday it would issue a verdict in two weeks. All face a possible death sentence if convicted of war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case. The decision will be announced on June 24, prosecutor Jaafar al-Moussawi told The Associated Press after a short court session that he said was attended by the six defendants, including Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam's cousin and the former head of the...

California Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer are embracing two different approaches to fighting global warming as the new Democrat-led Congress prepares to take action on the issue. Feinstein has attracted industry support with a bill targeting the electricity sector that would allow trades of pollution credits. Boxer, who chairs the Senate's environment committee that will hold hearings on the issue, has signed onto legislation aiming for more dramatic cuts of heat-trapping emissions. Both Democrats are citing California's landmark anti-global-warming law, passed last year, which imposed the nation's first cap on greenhouse gas emissions. They're also both optimistic about the...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2006 – Momentum continues to build as 48 U.S. cities -- a number that continues to grow -- prepare to sponsor America Supports You Freedom Walks to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The first Freedom Walk, inaugurated Sept. 11, 2005, in Washington, D.C., attracted more than 15,000 participants, including family members who lost loved ones in the attacks. The walk proved to be so meaningful to those involved that Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for public affairs, hopes to make it a nationwide observance. “We knew that it...

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2006 – Insurgents may still be working to derail the democratic process in Iraq. But it's important to look at the bigger picture as a three-year milestone approaches, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesperson said during a briefing from Baghdad yesterday. "On the 9th of April (2003) ... the statue of Saddam Hussein in Firdos Square was toppled," Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters. "Sometimes we get so caught up in the event of the day ... we forget progress has been made over the last three years." Saddam's regime was toppled and now Saddam is being...

WASHINGTON, March 16, 2006 – The White House today released President Bush's second-term National Security Strategy, a 49-page document that details how the administration intends to protect the United States, its interests and its people. In a speech today at the U.S. Institute for Peace here, Stephen Hadley, the president's national security adviser, explained the rationale behind the strategy. "The president's strategy begins with the recognition that America is at war," Hadley said. "Protecting the American people remains the first duty of the president of the United States. The president's strategy renews his commitment to maintain an American military without...

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) -- Since its first flight Dec. 17, 1963, the C-141 Starlifter has enjoyed a prestigious history. The last chapter of that history will be written in October when the Air Force's last C-141 unit, the 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, starts replacing its Starlifters with the C-5 Galaxy. Over the years, C-141s have carried cargo, passengers and patients around the globe. Air Force reservists flew many of those missions, first in an associate-unit capacity, and later in a unit-equipped role. In 1987, the 459th Military Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB,...

NEW ORLEANS (Army News Service, Sept. 21, 2005) -- Three weeks after the Gulf Coast was pummeled by Hurricane Katrina, Army emergency responders there are preparing for the possibility of a second round of severe weather from Hurricane Rita. After Rita hit the Florida Keys with winds up to 100 mph, the storm gained in strength over the warm Gulf of Mexico. The National Hurricane Center reported that as of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Rita had intensified to a category 4 hurricane, with sustained winds of 135 mph. It was moving westward at 14 mph toward the coast of Texas or...

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 7, 2005 – The approaching anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States gives Americans cause to think about things that happened before, during and after that day, the Army's chief of public affairs told an audience here Sept. 6. Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks told the Boulder Valley Rotary Club it's important to "reflect on the circumstances that led up to 9/11, what we faced on 9/11, and what we continue to face today." The general said he's reminded of Sept. 11 every day when he gets to his office, which is about...

MIAMI (AP) - A depression strengthened into Tropical Storm Harvey on Wednesday as it slowly approached Bermuda, forecasters said. Harvey, the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, had top sustained wind of about 40 mph, just 1 mph above the minimum for tropical storms. Harvey is the earliest eighth named storm on record for the Atlantic hurricane season, which began June 1. A tropical storm warning was posted for Bermuda, meaning tropical storm conditions were expected within 24 hours. One to 3 inches of rain was possible for the islands that sit about 1,000 northeast of Miami, meteorologists...

The government’s Assistant Attorney general, Shai Nitzan, said that it might be appropriate to keep Jews under arrest without indictment or trial as the date for executing the government’s plan to expel Jews from their homes in the Gaza region approaches. The procedure for arresting people without due process rights of indictment and trial, known as administrative detention, has been considered a measure to be used only for jailing suspected terrorists who pose an immediate threat to the country. Administrative detention has also been used on rare occasions against Jewish citizens, persons who were deemed dangerous because of their extremely...