Free Republic

Mother: Son did not kill innocent Iraqis Family reflects on ordeal involving Candler soldier ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The parents of a North Carolina soldier charged with killing three Iraqis and planting weapons on them say their son turned down a plea offer and maintains his innocence. Staff Sgt. Michael A. Hensley, of Candor, is one of three soldiers charged with murder and obstruction of justice. The deaths occurred between April and June south of Baghdad. "In your worst nightmare, you don't think something like this could happen," Jannette Hensley said Tuesday. The Hensleys are from the Asheville area and have...

The great Christmas standstill By David Millward, Transport Correspondent and Richard Holt Last Updated: 5:57pm GMT 22/12/2006 The misery has worsened for passengers at Britain’s airports today as freezing fog forced hundreds of domestic and European flights to be cancelled. A blanket of fog engulfs a runway at Heathrow People stranded at Heathrow woke from a few hours sleep slumped over café tables to hear the news that further flights had been cancelled. Whilst conditions are still predicted to be bad overnight, forecasts for the weekend have improved. British Airways plans to start operating domestic services in and out of...

In more than twenty years of columns, I’ve never written one specifically for a new publication. But every rule has its exceptions. This is for the San Francisco News, launched just a week ago by my friends from the Canyon News in Los Angeles. And, if any place in the US is nostalgic to me, San Francisco is the place. I graduated from college and got married in 1964. My intention was to go to law school, and I applied various places. Boalt Hall, at the University of California in Berkeley, gave me a maybe, so I drove to California...

MONTEREY, Calif., Feb. 9 (UPI) -- There may be no fog and it's the middle of the day, but Monterey's broken foghorn wails away -- around the clock because its switch is stuck "on." Its switch is stuck and nobody locally can fix it, said Boatswain Mate First Class Lance Benedict of the Coast Guard. The guard's repair unit, based in San Francisco, has been alerted. The foghorn is at the end of the Coast Guard Pier off Lighthouse Avenue to prevent water travelers from running into the breakwall, Benedict said. When conditions were foggy a couple of nights ago,...

Wednesday, April 13, 2005 Fog... At 6:30 a.m., on a cool Spring morning, I set out to take my youngest child to school. I say child as though he is still in fourth grade - but the truth is - more a young man, at the tender age of sixteen - now worrying about his driver's license and of course, a girl. I get him safely to school - after maneuvering through the foggy back roads of our home county - luckily I know every bump in the road, and the car sort of steers itself. He is busily talking...

HAIA, Norway (March 1, 2005) -- The depth of the snow near the field training area during Exercise Battle Griffin stands nearly 2 meters. The temperature is a crisp, steady, 12 degrees Fahrenheit - brrrrr!Although the sun is lengthening its daily routine in and around central Norway, dangerous conditions are extreme. Teams have been out testing the snow and electronic transmitters have been issued to all land force participants in case of an avalanche.In these conditions, just getting to the training ranges is a success.The Marines of Marine Air Ground Task Force 25 assembled near the city of Trondheim in...

<p>In dense afternoon fog Wednesday, about 200 cars smashed into one another in a series of crashes that killed two people and left mangled vehicles piled up over a seven-mile stretch.</p> <p>The crash - mid-Michigan's worst in recent history - shut down all lanes of Interstate 96 from U.S. 127 to beyond Webberville. A total of 37 people, including three with severe injuries, were taken to three hospitals.</p>

At least 2 dead in pileups on I-96 near Lansing 1/12/2005, 11:16 p.m. ET By DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press ALAIEDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — Two people were killed and at least 37 others were injured in multiple pileups involving about 200 vehicles in thick fog Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 96 east of Lansing, authorities said. A 14-year-old boy was killed when the sports utility vehicle he was riding in and about 10 other vehicles — including a semi — crashed in the westbound lanes about 3 p.m. EST near Williamston, Ingham County sheriff's officials said. The boy's mother and...

At least 50 vehicles piled up on I-96 near Lansing 1/12/2005, 4:31 p.m. ET The Associated Press ALAIEDON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — An estimated 50 to 75 vehicles piled up in thick fog on eastbound Interstate 96 east of Lansing on Wednesday afternoon, the Ingham County Sheriff's Department said. There were injuries and at least one fatality, but details were not yet known, Capt. Rick Miller said. "It's very foggy out there, so we were having trouble counting the vehicles," Miller said. The pileup occurred on I-96 near Williamston. A portion of the interstate was shut down in both directions...

Brooklyn Park skydiver, known as expert in risky hobby, apparently misjudged area

Just announced that the ENTIRE New Jersey Turnpike has been CLOSED due to fog.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2003 January 23 Launch of the Sun Pillar Credit & Copyright: Lauri A. Kangas Explanation: On January 16, NASA's space shuttle Columbia roared into blue morning skies above Kennedy Space Center on STS-107, the first shuttle mission of 2003. But this is not a picture of that launch! It was taken on the morning of January 16 though, at sunrise, looking eastward toward Lake Ontario from just outside...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 December 30 A Sun Pillar Credit & Copyright: Dave Liquorice Explanation: Have you ever seen a sun pillar? When the air is cold and the Sun is rising or setting, falling ice crystals can reflect sunlight and create an unusual column of light. Ice sometimes forms flat, stop-sign shaped crystals as it falls from high-level clouds. Air resistance causes these crystals to lie nearly flat much of...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 22 Full Moon, Lake, and Leonids Indeed Credit & Copyright: Image: Blake Suddeth; Haiku "Leonids Indeed": Susan Ode Explanation: Full of itself moon - EVERYONE SHOULD LOOK AT ME.What's 33 years? And for those who need a story ... photographer Blake Suddeth took over a hundred digital pictures early Tuesday morning in order to capture this single, gorgeous 10 second exposure of a "Leonid of the...

Customary Law and Sentencing Summary:Today we look at a controversial sentencing decision in the N.T. where a 50 year old traditional Aboriginal man was sentenced to only a day’s imprisonment for the statutory rape of his promised wife [child bride -ed]. Freeper summary inserted: politically correctness / cultural marxism fogs the view of society elites and gatekeepers - graduates and learned people. Here seen (below) reaping the whirlwind of social engineering, humanism, UNESCO multiculturalism and relative morality -- Australian justice is standing on sand not rock and I blame the judicial activism that infects even the highest court in the...

Cedar Grove - More than two dozen vehicles were involved in a deadly, fiery crash on a foggy interstate highway Friday morning, the Wisconsin State Patrol says. Sheboygan County Sheriff's Capt. Dave Adams said there were fatalities in the accident, but it was too early to know how many. Authorities had no immediate word on other injuries. Sheriff's authorities closed parts of Interstate 43 near the Sheboygan-Ozaukee county line after the 7:30 a.m. accident. The accident involved at least 25 vehicles in both the southbound and northbound lanes, according to the State Patrol. At least eight vehicles were on fire,...