Free Republic

Two years ago, the Pacific Sun, a cruise ship out of Australia, hit rough waters, and dozens were injured in the process. The ship’s troubles were serious enough that some wondered how safe we are traveling by sea in general, but for the most part that was the end of it. Until this week. Because this week, the internet came in, as two videos surfaced demonstrating just how bad the Pacific Sun’s situation was – bad enough that mainstream media started taking notice. From Postmedia News, via the Montreal Gazette: In one video, passengers and crew are sent careening violently...

TOKYO — The drizzly weather didn’t dampen the excitement at the annual spring imperial party last month as the royal family strolled along Tokyo’s Akasaka Palace grounds. Mao Asada, the Olympic figure skating silver medalist, was so overwhelmed when Emperor Akihito spoke to her that she managed only to repeatedly reply “yes,” and “thank you very much.” It was a typical reaction that shows the magnetic hold the emperor and empress have over the Japanese people. Missing as usual from the festivities was Crown Princess Masako who suffers from a stress-related disorder that causes anxiety and distress and only occasionally...

OCOEE, Fla. -- In Ocoee, American flags can be seen flying proudly along the city's streets, ahead of the holiday honoring the men and women who have served this country in the armed forces. But an upside down flag on Bluford Avenue is causing some controversy.

The new European group JCall raises a disturbing question: how could pro-Israel intellectuals like Alain Finkielkraut and Bernard-Henri Levy support a venture that is simultaneously anti-Israel and intellectually incoherent? JCall presented a petition to the European Parliament this week that asserted that Israel’s future “depends upon” peace with the Palestinians, so the European Union must “put pressure on both parties.” Then, abandoning the pretense of even-handedness, it added: “Systematic support of Israeli government policy is dangerous and does not serve the true interests of the state of Israel.” There was no comparable warning against supporting Palestinian Authority policies, some of...

All: This has probably been mentioned elsewhere, but I think it would be appropriate for all Patriots to fly the flag upside down, this July 4th. As you problably know, doing this signifies distress, and if there ever was a time when Our Country was ever truly in distress, this is it.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The US economy is in big trouble but policymakers agree on the need for a rescue, President George W. Bush reassured Friday as deadlock on a vast bank bailout plan slammed stocks and international bank lending. "We've got a big problem...we need a rescue plan," Bush said minutes after Wall Street shares dropped in line with a global trend and central banks again injected tens of billions of dollars to avert seizure on interbank lending markets. After a rescue for US savings giant Washington Mutual in the biggest-ever US banking failure, shock waves hit European financial...

Ethanol Industry in DistressBusiness Adviser: 16 Ethanol Plants Filing Bankruptcy, Many More to Come By Todd Neeley DTN Staff Reporter 06/20/08 4:37:15 PM OMAHA (DTN) -- The U.S. ethanol industry is in trouble and can expect to see a rash of bankruptcies and dismantling of at least some production, according to a specialist who helps companies in distress. Alex Moglia, president of Moglia Advisors based in the Chicago area, said he knows of at least 16 ethanol companies that are filing for bankruptcy, and there will be at least two to three times that number filing within the next year....

A minister embedded with some of the Marines who are alleged to have killed up to two dozen civilians in Haditha, Iraq, after one of their own died in a roadside explosion says he heard about the dead civilians but saw no distress among Iraqis or Marines in Haditha several weeks after the killings. "I knew he had been killed and there had been a response. I got the impression insurgents were killed and also some civilians got killed," the Rev. Christopher Price of suburban Atlanta recalled Friday of his conversations with Marines in Haditha in January. "As it was...

New Yorkers are more than stressed out. Many city residents have "frequent mental distress," according to a study released by the city Health Department. And they are not getting the help they need. Health officials said 1 in 7 adults living in the five boroughs reported frequent mental distress last year, compared with 1 in 10 in the state. The numbers were highest in northern and central Brooklyn, Harlem and the South Bronx. "Depression is a serious and underdiagnosed condition in New York City," said Dr. Lloyd Sederer, deputy commissioner for mental health services. "With so many New Yorkers having...

Coast Guard links man to 5 false reportsA hoax caller has endangered Coast Guard personnel and cost the service thousands of dollars searching the ocean for nonexistent stranded boaters, authorities said Tuesday. The Coast Guard received two hoax calls about 7 p.m. Monday, bringing the total to five in the past several days, said Donnie Brzuska, Coast Guard spokesman. The calls all come in the same way --broadcast from a marine radio over channel 16, a rescue frequency for boaters. The caller says, "Coast Guard, Coast Guard. Mayday, mayday. We're going down." Investigators determined Monday's calls were a hoax when...

I am going to apologize in advance for the metaphors to follow, but they do make the point. Politics is a lot like football. It is a team sport for individuals with similar goals. The team advances its agenda, sometimes in small increments, moving the ball toward “victory.” The only real difference between football and politics is that the players can change positions frequently. Sometimes a politician is the quarterback, sometimes he or she is the lineman. In all cases, everyone wins if they effectively execute the play that is called in the huddle. I know I am a lineman...

A Glimpse Ahead Timothy Snodgrass The Impossible Will Come Alive In 2005 01/28/05 In January of 2004, as we began to intercede for the New Year the Holy Spirit gave us the prophetic slogan, "The Seas will Roar in 2004". This year we were given a new slogan, "The Impossible will come Alive in 2005". As the veil of darkness begins to come down over nations and regions, along with great shakings will come great breakthroughs; signs, wonders, healings and a spectacular release of miracles in impossible circumstances. This year, although we are ultimately poised to gain much ground, there...

New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) has long been rumored as desperately seeking the democratic nomination for president in 2008. And while many political observers fully expect the power hungry former First Lady to hit the campaign trail within only a few months of being re-elected as a US Senator in 2006, US News & World report claims to have a confirmation of sorts. From USNews.Com's Washington Whispers: Hillary's in… You don't have to take it from us about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton 's desire to run for president. Her brothers, Hugh and Tony Rodham, say it's true. Friends...

Sloniker Sends: Got the following from an Army Guard pilot from Missouri currently serving in Balad Iraq: Jim, I will do my best to recount what happened on November 12, 2004. I will only try to relay the facts. It is Standing Operating Procure for us to fly in pairs. Nov 12 was no exception. After what seemed like a routine flying mission over Baghdad. Dan Milberg was leading his flight of two UH-60 Blackhawk's back to our base at Balad. They were about 20 miles from Balad flying over a large date palm grove. The area North of Baghdad...

Few things are as dispiriting as dashed expectations, and it is no exaggeration to say that millions of Kerry supporters are experiencing some level of distress in the wake of this week's election. Tomdispatch, a blog from the Nation Institute (TomDispatch@nationinstitute.org), did a pretty good job yesterday of describing the depression of many on the left. The blogger demonstrates how exit polls, which had stunned and depressed Republicans on Election Day, inspired elation among Democrats across the country. That, in the end, added to the despair many now are feeling. An excerpt: "How can I not start on a personal...

EUGENE, Oregon (Reuters) -- TV hardly gets much better than this. An Oregon man discovered earlier this month that his year-old Toshiba Corporation flat-screen TV was emitting an international distress signal picked up by a satellite, leading a search and rescue operation to his apartment in Corvallis, Oregon, 70 miles south of Portland. The signal from Chris van Rossmann's TV was routed by satellite to the Air Force Rescue Center at Langley Air Base in Virginia. On October 2, the 20 year-old college student was visited at his apartment in the small university town by a contingent of local police,...

Many Shall Call Me Lord Self-deception and believing, then living a lie. There are no quick answers to complex questions, but the questions concerning, God’s Word or “Revealed Will,” are plain for every generation to see.  Whether they are men and women who name Christ as their Lord or not, people want to play all kinds of games with God and His Word in an attempt to excuse themselves from their anti-cultural and suicidal behaviors.  These lifestyle choices center on ethical decisions requiring wisdom for greater understanding of the difference between good and evil.  From a Christian perspective, this point...