Free Republic

HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) -- New cracks appear in Elke DeMuynck's ceiling every few weeks, zigzagging across her living room, creeping toward the fireplace, veering down the wall. Month after month, year after year, she patches, paints and waits. "It definitely lets you know your house is constantly shifting," DeMuynck said. So do the gate outside that swings uselessly 2 1/2 inches from its latch, the strange bulges in the street and the geology students who make pilgrimages to her cul-de-sac. DeMuynck could throw her paint brush from her front stoop and hit the Hayward Fault, which geologists consider the most...

Fault East of Bay Area 'Locked and Loaded' Saturday March 25, 2006 7:31 PM By SCOTT LINDLAW Associated Press Writer HAYWARD, Calif. (AP) - New cracks appear in Elke DeMuynck's ceiling every few weeks, zigzagging across her living room, creeping toward the fireplace, veering down the wall. Month after month, year after year, she patches, paints and waits. ``It definitely lets you know your house is constantly shifting,'' DeMuynck said. So do the gate outside that swings uselessly 2 inches from its latch, the strange bulges in the street and the geology students who make pilgrimages to her cul-de-sac. DeMuynck...

WASHINGTON, March 10, 2006 – The military's recruiting mission in and around New Orleans is slowly recovering in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005, local recruiting officials reported. Jacob Cristina, of Metairie, La., recites the Navy's oath of enlistment, given by Cmdr. Charles Schug, commanding officer of Navy Recruiting District New Orleans, during a Jan. 25 enlistment ceremony at the command's headquarters. Cristina was NRD New Orleans' first applicant to be sworn in at the headquarters since Hurricane Katrina caused it to be moved. Cristina signed up to become an aviation structural mechanic and ships out...

USS RONALD REAGAN, At Sea (NNS) -- Vice Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, commander, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/commander, U.S. 5th Fleet (COMUSNAVCENT/5th Fleet), commander, Combined Maritime Forces visited USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) Feb. 27 to welcome the ship’s crew, air wing and embarked carrier strike group staff to the 5th Fleet area of operations (AOO). The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is currently supporting Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, as well as conducting maritime security operations (MSO) in the Persian Gulf. Reagan’s aircraft have been supporting ground troops in Iraqi around the clock since arriving in the 5th...

WESTERN AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq(Jan. 9, 2006) -- For more than two weeks, Iraqi Army soldiers and U.S. Marines with 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, conducted sweeps along the Euphrates River shore to disrupt terrorist operations in the area. The battalion-wide Operation Red Bull consisted of Iraqi soldiers and U.S. Marines in the “Triad” area of Haditha, Haqlaniyah and Barwana searching more than 20 kilometers of shoreline. The search revealed 75 weapons caches terrorists planned to use during attacks in the region. Since the battalion came to the area in early September, they have concentrated on securing and maintaining their...

NASA Earth Observatory has this neat graph of the lawn area in the United States. It's a very close match to the "night light" image made a couple of years ago. I linked the little picture below to the bigger one (which is only 380 K). Click on the link for the accompanying article. Yann-Arthus Bertrand took this impressive photograph of the "crater lake" inside the caldera from the Pinatubo eruption of 1991:

Paris-Area Riots Gain Dangerous Momentum Friday November 4, 2005 3:46 AM By JAMEY KEATEN Associated Press Writer AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, France (AP) - A week of riots in poor neighborhoods outside Paris gained dangerous new momentum Thursday, with youths shooting at police and firefighters and attacking trains and symbols of the French state. Facing mounting criticism, Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin vowed to restore order as the violence that erupted Oct. 27 spread to at least 20 towns, highlighting the frustration simmering in housing projects that are home to many North African immigrants. Unrest flared for an eighth straight night Thursday, though...

U.S. Army Sgt. Joseph P. Hebert, a paratrooper with Company C, 2nd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, searches a house in Zormat, Afghanistan, during Operation Nijmegan , Sept. 12, 2005. Operation Nijmegan was a joint operation conducted by Afghan National Army soldiers and U.S. Army paratroopers from 2nd Battalion. U.S. Army photo Joint U.S.-Afghan Patrol Combs Zormat Area Operation Nijmegan kicked off with a search of a village suspected to be housing an enemy organizer and ended with distribution of humanitarian assistance items. By U.S. Army Sgt. Chuck D. Meseke Combined Task Force Devil ZORMAT, Afghanistan, Oct. 6, 2005...

WASHINGTON - In a spirited attack, the State Department's spokesman on Friday accused Syria of making trouble not only for Iraq, by allowing foreign fighters to infiltrate the country, but also for Lebanon and the Palestinians. "Syria, more and more, is being recognized as a destabilizing element in the region," Adam Ereli said Friday. "It's not just about Iraq; it's about Iraq, it's about Lebanon, it's about the Palestinian Authority. Because there's a connection between Syria and terrorism and murder and mayhem in each of these three different areas." Syrian President Bashar Assad's government insists it is doing what it...

The Tucson Fire Department and Golder Ranch Fire District will be deploying firefighters to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, officials said. Four Golder Ranch firefighters were the first to be sent out this morning at 6, said Battalion Chief John Sullivan. Tucson Fire will follow with six firefighters next week, according to spokesman Capt. Paul McDonough. Both agencies are responding to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is asking city fire departments to send a total of 1,000 two-person teams. Golder Ranch will be providing medical attention as well as canvassing areas to assist people who have...

The Tucson Fire Department and Golder Ranch Fire District will be deploying firefighters to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina, officials said. Four Golder Ranch firefighters were the first to be sent out this morning at 6, said Battalion Chief John Sullivan. Tucson Fire will follow with six firefighters next week, according to spokesman Capt. Paul McDonough. Both agencies are responding to a request from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which is asking city fire departments to send a total of 1,000 two-person teams. Golder Ranch will be providing medical attention as well as canvassing areas to assist people who have...

Mall at Sierra Vista The Mall at Sierra Vista is teaming up with the American Red Cross to help raise fund for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Starting Monday, the mall will display free-standing donation sites with remittance envelopes for shoppers wanting to donate to the Red Cross. Shoppers can then mail their contributions to the Red Cross. "Our hearts go out to all of the people affected by this disaster," said Diana Coleman, the mall property manager. "As a business and community partner in the areas being impacted, we want to offer our support in any way we can." The...

Where in the world is Osama bin Laden? Let's face it. He shouldn't be hard to find, especially from a Predator, an aerial reconnaissance vehicle that can read the minute hand of a wristwatch from an altitude of 26,000 feet. Bin Laden is very tall – slightly over 6'6" – and incredibly thin, less than 150 pounds. He wears shalwart kameez – the loose-fitting tunics and baggy pants of al-Qaida and Taliban soldiers – and, when the weather is cold, he dons a camouflage jacket. Although he was born in 1957 and far from retirement age, the al-Qaida chieftain appears...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Hundreds of federal and local law enforcement agents arrested suspects in an operation targeting an immigrant smuggling ring Thursday night, officials said. The operation was carried out in Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Anaheim and other cities by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and local law enforcement, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles. More than three dozen search warrants were served. It was unclear how many arrests were made in the operation, which began Thursday evening, Mrozek said. A second law enforcement operation was under way in San Francisco in a...

Feds and local cops in New York nabbed almost a hundred illegal aliens who are suspected of participating in gang activities that include violent offenses, drug trafficking, prostitution and sex crimes. A joint criminal investigation in the New York City metropolitan area has resulted in the arrest of 95 criminal alien gang members, all of whom now face removal from the United States. The arrests are the culmination of a joint four-month investigation conducted by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, the New York City Department of Probation, Yonkers, NY Police Department officers and other local law enforcement agencies that...

Vet is shepherding war-dog honor By Mike McPhee Denver Post Staff Writer Thursday, March 31, 2005 A Vietnam War veteran and Denver-area native is on a mission to create a national monument in Washington, D.C., to the dogs that soldiers used in combat. John Burnam, who served two tours of duty as a war-dog handler in Vietnam during the 1960s, presented his case Wednesday to the Colorado legislature, which passed a resolution supporting his efforts. More than 4,000 dogs, mostly shepherds, were used in Vietnam for scouting, finding hidden explosives and tracking. Most died in Vietnam, with only about 250...

Counterterrorism efforts got a major boost last week when an American district court found three Muslim organizations and one individual, mostly based in the Chicago area, guilty of funding Hamas and fined them an astonishing US$156 million.The four were found liable for their roles in the murder of an American teenager, David Boim, on May 13, 1996, when he was shot by Hamas operatives as he waited for a bus near Jerusalem. This case is important in itself, providing some measure of justice and relief for the Boim family. Beyond that, it helps fight terrorism in four ways.First, it validates...

RENO, Nev. - President Bush (news - web sites) has signed into law a measure creating what conservationists say will be the largest piece of federally protected wilderness in Nevada — an area about half the size of the state of Delaware. The measure is seen as a compromise between environmentalists and developers who want to tap more water for the Las Vegas area. It creates 14 wilderness areas measuring a total of about 1,200 square miles, but also establishes a utility corridor that would allow authorities to build a pipeline to tap into groundwater in the region. Officials want...

Democratic Convention Media Area Not Ready Fri Jul 9,11:12 PM ET By JENNIFER PETER, Associated Press Writer BOSTON - A pavilion for working news organizations at the Democratic National Convention is not up to city codes and requires about $300,000 worth of work just two weeks before the event begins. "The building is not ready to be occupied," Lt. Richard Powers, a member of the fire department's public information office, said Friday. "They have certain standards which they haven't met." The pavilion is next to the FleetCenter sports arena, site of the convention. Several news organizations, including The Associated Press,...

Source: American Geophysical Union Date: 2004-06-15 USA's Built-up Surfaces Equal Ohio In Area WASHINGTON - If all the highways, streets, buildings, parking lots and other solid structures in the 48 contiguous United States were pieced together like a giant jigsaw puzzle, they would almost cover the state of Ohio. That is the result of a study by Christopher Elvidge of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Geophysical Data Center in Boulder, Colorado, who along with colleagues from several universities and agencies produced the first national map and inventory of impervious surface areas (ISA) in the United States. As calculated...