Free Republic

One of nature's enduring enigmas is making an appearance once again, bringing a sibilant drone to the towns of Cape Cod, as it has every 17 years with startling regularity. Insects known as periodical cicadas are emerging from underground haunts for a final hurrah - a nearly monthlong orgy of come-hither songs, mating, and laying eggs - before dying and leaving their progeny behind to begin anew the curious and highly unusual 17-year growth period. Residents are bracing themselves. "We're thinking about moving to Boston to live with my daughter!" joked Jeanne Duchemin, of Mashpee, who recalls the inundation of...

ABOARD USS CAPE ST. GEORGE (NNS) -- The British staff of Combined Task Force (CTF) 58 debarked USS Cape St. George (CG 71) March 1 after commanding 72 days of successful maritime security operations (MSO) in the North Persian Gulf from aboard the Norfolk-based cruiser. Royal Navy Commodore Bruce Williams, commander, CTF 58 and his staff lead maritime security operations and the protection of two Iraqi oil terminals responsible for more than 90 percent of Iraq’s exported oil. For more than two months, Williams led the task force from aboard his flagship – Cape St. George. “It is with great...

ABOARD USS CAPE ST. GEORGE (NNS) -- USS Cape. St. George’s (CG 71) boarding team responded to a distress call by a Panamanian-flagged motor vessel while conducting maritime security operations in the North Persian Gulf Feb. 27. The master of Motor Vessel Hader, a diesel tanker, contacted Cape St. George via bridge-to-bridge reporting it had been fired upon and illegally boarded. One of Cape’s two Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) teams boarded the vessel and conducted a security sweep of the ship to verify that it was safe for the master and his 11 crew members to stay aboard....

Well, Senator Kerry, the flyover tour continues it must be just so hard on your stomachs. You are getting smarter though! You and the missus didn't even show up to that stupid Milwaukee Dairy Queen or that grubby Leon's BBQ place to throw your food away! Hey, I know you said you'd go, but you cleverly ducked that one and ate some fine cuisine at Pieces of Eight on the lakefront. Pretty slick my friend. It was a scenic location and the missus probably approved of that one. We understand that you and the missus are used to the finest...

Hurricane Isabel Advisory Number 44 Statement as of 11:00 PM EDT on September 16, 2003 ...Isabel heading for the mid-Atlantic U.S. Coast... at 11 PM EDT...0300z...a Hurricane Warning is in effect from Cape Fear North Carolina northward to the North Carolina/Virginia state line including Pamlico and Albemarle sounds. A Hurricane Watch is in effect from the North Carolina/Virginia state line northward to Chincoteague Virginia including Chesapeake Bay and the tidal Potomac. <,p>A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect from Cape Fear southward to Little River Inlet South Carolina. A tropical storm watch is in effect from north of Chincoteague to...

Wellfleet demands removal of decomposing pilot whales Town officials fret about the stench and a possible contamination of costly shellfish beds. By DOUG FRASER STAFF WRITER WELLFLEET - The heroic, but futile effort to save 57 pilot whales this week made breaking news across the country and around the world. Workers on the Wellfleet Shellfish Department boat Punonakanit tie pilot whale flukes together to make the whales easier to sink. The whales are to be towed today 50 miles north of Provincetown, to the east of Stellwagen Bank, and sunk in waters 300 feet deep. (Staff photo by KEVIN MINGORA)...