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Street protests against American and British military action in Iraq have escalated into attacks by Muslim youths on Jewish demonstrators, sparking fears of a new wave of anti-Semitism across France. –London Sunday Telegraph, April 6, 2003 It would take many months for David de Rothschild to realize that what was happening to Jews in France was a powerful predictor of a war that was coming down history’s long stream. In May 2001, when he and a group of French business leaders arrived in Jerusalem for meetings with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and members of his Cabinet, he reluctantly agreed to...

A FEW days ago Georges Bigot, a French firefighter, was standing with colleagues on a street in a suburb of Paris waiting for reinforcements to help put out a fire started by rioters. Suddenly a television fell out of the sky in front of him. It had been heaved over a balcony eight floors up and shattered on the ground. “Have you ever seen a television exploding on the pavement?” asked Bigot wearily as he stood under a light drizzle. “Well, it gave me quite a shock.” As he spoke, thick clouds of smoke billowed from a textile warehouse set...

MIAMI - Frances Langford, whose steamy rendition of "I'm in the Mood for Love" captivated soldiers stationed overseas on Bob Hope's tours during World War II, died Monday. She was 92. Langford died at her home in Jensen Beach, her lawyer Evans Crary Jr. said. She had been ill with congestive heart failure, he said. Langford, a recording artist, radio star and actress from the 1930s to 1950s, joined Hope's troupe to boost wartime morale at military bases and hospitals through Great Britain, Italy, North Africa and the South Pacific. She entertained a new generation of soldiers in Korea and...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sun, Dec. 05, 2004 CARL HIAASEN FEMA A windfall of dubious hurricane payouts What a relief. Apparently you don't have to get hit by a hurricane to get hurricane money from Uncle Sam. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has paid out $28 million in storm funds to more than 12,000 Miami-Dade residents, none of whom were in the path of a single hurricane this year. Many live where there was little, if any, weather damage. Among the items replaced so far are 5,260 TV sets, 1,440 air conditioners, 423 personal computers, 1,091 microwave ovens, and two boat...

Tuesday, October 12, 2004 Posted at 4:00 PM, and updated thereafter. Bush-Cheney '04 senior strategist Matthew Dowd on CNN's Inside Politics earlier today: "I think fundamentally, this is going to be a race that is a choice, and I think what you see even in the Gallup poll, your poll, when you ask them on the important issues "Who do you trust more, who do you trust more to deal with Iraq?" the public trusts the president more; "Who do you trust more on the war on terror?" the public trusts the president more; even on the economy which has...

Special Reports Storms of the Century: 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane 1919 Keys/Corpus Christi Hurricane 1926 Miami Hurricane 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane 1953 Flint/Worcester Tornadoes 1954 Hurricane Hazel 1955 Hurricane Diane Floods 1957 Hurricane Audrey 1960 Hurricane Donna 1962 Pacific Northwest Big Blow1965 Palm Sunday Tornado Outbreak1972 Rapid City Flash Flood 1976 Big Thompson Canyon Flash Flood 1977 Johnstown Flash Flood 1978 New England Blizzard 1985 OH/PA Tornado Outbreak 1989 Hurricane Hugo 1991 Halloween "Perfect" Storm 1996 Blizzard 1999 Hurricane Floyd Floods The 1928 Palm Beach/Lake Okeechobee Hurricane was the country's deadliest since the Galveston hurricane of 1900....

BUSH'S US$50M BAILOUT Grenada, Jamaica, Haiti on rescue list Thursday, September 30th 2004 Victims in hurricane-ravaged islands such as Grenada, Jamaica and Haiti may soon have something to smile about, if a request from US President George Bush for $50 million to aid in international disaster and famine relief is granted by the US Congress. In a press release yesterday, the United States Embassy said the funds for the Caribbean formed part of a $7.1 billion supplemental budget request to assist US and international regions which were heavily damaged this hurricane season. So far, the United States has provided US$3.8...

LAKE WALES -- On his way to the first presidential debate in Miami, President Bush will stop in storm-battered Lake Wales today. A White House spokesman said the president will arrive at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa this afternoon and travel by helicopter to Lake Wales. His exact schedule was not released, but reporters and photographers accompanying him were told to be at the base at 1 p.m. for the short flight to Polk County. The St. Petersburg Times said Bush will take a walking tour of orange groves. Polk County's citrus industry has been devastated by the series...

...But none of that impressed me the way Jeb Bush did. Not for standing tall and radiating calm in crisis - you expect a governor to do that - but for a gesture that most Floridians might gloss over or even resent. As he has done with this season's other hurricanes, whenever he had a press briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee, Bush explained himself not only in English but in Spanish. Then, according to his spokesman, Jacob DiPietre, Bush did something many of us never saw. He repeated his message in interviews with Spanish language TV...

Here in Vero Beach. Don't look forward to this hurricane. I don't look forward to dealing more with State Farm. They have totally ripped us off from Frances. We had major, major damage.. all shingles, all tar paper; all ceiling down on the floor (save one room)along with blown in insulation. Major water damage. You can see all the tape seams on wall drywall.. can see where it is nailed. The adjuster says all the wallboard is still good in spite of this. He even tried to prove the drywall was still good by pushing on it. His hand went...

Warnings for the next hurricane to hit the United States have already been issued -- for Washington, D.C. Taxpayers should keep an eye on the aftermath. After most disasters, Congress acts like a whirlwind to rush to the aid of victims, as lawmakers should. A few members of Congress are also quick to take advantage of the situation to tack money for their pet projects onto such bills. "Congress simply has no shame," warned Tom Schatz, president of Citizens Against Government Waste. "Knowing that this is most likely the last opportunity to bring home the bacon before the election, members...

RESTORING ELECTRICITY NB Power crews will help after Ivan hits southeast U.S. NBers currently assisting in Florida BY PHIL ANDREWS Telegraph-Journal A contingent of NB Power workers currently helping Florida hydro crews deal with the ravages of hurricane Frances will also likely be part of the cleanup sure to follow from hurricane Ivan's wake in the southeastern United States. Dave Agnew, NB Power's director of operations services, said the utility has consented to requests by a power utility that serves Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Louisiana to help out with repairs in those areas, if, as expected, hurricane Ivan causes widespread...

LIVE SUNDAY NIGHTS9:30 PM TO 1:00 AM EASTERN REAL PLAYER: WABC...New York, NY (local and Internet only 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET)WNTK...New London, NH WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER MISC PROPRIETARY: WFLA...Tampa, FL (Liquid Compass)WJNO...West Palm Beach, FL (Liquid Compass)KFI...Los Angeles, CA (Liquid Compass)WIOD...Miami, FL (Hiwire)WGST...Atlanta, GA (Liquid Compass) KOGO...San Diego, CA (Liquid Compass) Drudge on the DialCALL IN 1-866-4-DRUDGE...XM: 166AIM: mdrudge

Back to DC for business, the President met with reporters and then members of Congress in the newly-remodeled Cabinet Room at the White House. He and Governor Bush of Florida assisted hurricane victims. Enjoy your Dose of W @ Sanity Island!

ASHEVILLE, N.C. -- North Carolina Department of transportation crews are working to reopen Interstate 40 and more than 215 primary and secondary roads due to mudslides, downed trees, and high water in the western region of the state. I-40 is currently restricted in both directions between mile markers 67-72 due to a mudslide on Old Fort Mountain. One lane is open in each direction, but traffic is moving very slowly through the area. NCDOT crews are hoping to reopen the road by Thursday morning. The worst conditions are found in counties surrounding the Asheville area and along the Tennessee state...

ARCHER, Fla. -- Dozens of sink holes have opened up in north central Florida after three days of heavy rain from Hurricane Frances, including one that swallowed a Chrysler LeBaron as a man parked to get breakfast at a grocery store. Lawrence Means, 43, had stopped for a cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits Tuesday when he felt the earth move beneath him. A sinkhole opened under his car and nearly swallowed the entire vehicle, which was left standing on its nose in the hole with only its trunk above ground. "I felt something drop and I tried...

High storm cycle is here to stay BY MARTIN MERZER mmerzer@herald.com Charley, Frances and Ivan. Three major hurricanes. Two assaults on Florida already and possibly a third by next week. Get used to it. This is the new normal. Scientists say we are in a period of enhanced hurricane activity that could last for decades, ending a 24-year period of below-average activity. They also say the law of averages has caught up with Florida, with a change in atmospheric steering currents turning the state into a hurricane magnet. ''People are suddenly alert, suddenly paying attention,'' said Stanley Goldenberg, a meteorologist...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Hurricane Frances did more damage to the Kennedy Space Center than any other storm in history, tearing an estimated 1,000 exterior panels from a giant building where space vehicles are assembled, officials said Monday. No space shuttles were inside the 525-foot-high building, a familiar landmark at the space center. But center director James Kennedy said he feared the damage could set back NASA's effort to resume shuttle launches next spring. Monday marked the first time anyone from NASA had seen the damage from the storm because the agency completely evacuated the space center — the first...

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Hurricanes Charley and Frances dealt Florida a one-two punch that ravaged citrus groves and ground the state's most important industry to a halt by keeping tourists away from its sandy beaches and fantasy-filled theme parks. State officials and executives at the Insurance Information Institute, an industry group, said it was too early to guess how much damage Frances wreaked on Florida. But economists said Sunday that Florida's economy should withstand the buffeting in the long term. "In terms of the long haul, I don't think it's going to depress Florida," said David Denslow, a University of Florida...

LIVE SUNDAY NIGHTS9:30 PM TO 1:00 AM EASTERN REAL PLAYER: WABC...New York, NY (local and Internet only 9:30-10:00 p.m. ET)WNTK...New London, NH WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER MISC PROPRIETARY: WFLA...Tampa, FL (Liquid Compass)WJNO...West Palm Beach, FL (Liquid Compass)KFI...Los Angeles, CA (Liquid Compass)WIOD...Miami, FL (Hiwire)WGST...Atlanta, GA (Liquid Compass) KOGO...San Diego, CA (Liquid Compass) Drudge on the DialCALL IN 1-866-4-DRUDGE...XM: 166AIM: mdrudge

LAKE WORTH, Fla. -- One northbound lane has been closed by a washout on Interstate 95 in Palm Beach County due to erosion from a washout blamed on Hurricane Frances. The Florida Highway Patrol says the pavement fell away from the slow lane at Tenth Avenue in Lake Worth. Traffic is squeezing into fewer lanes, and drivers are being asked to avoid the area. A construction crew is on hand, but the washout is still growing. Troopers are warning that other lanes may be affected later.

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 45B NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 3 AM EDT SUN SEP 05 2004 ...LARGE EYE OF HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES MOVING INLAND... ...EASTERN PORTION OF EYEWALL WITH STRONG WINDS STILL TO COME... A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST COAST OF FLORIDA FROM FLORIDA CITY NORTHWARD TO FLAGLER BEACH...INCLUDING LAKE OKEECHOBEE. A HURRICANE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR GRAND BAHAMA...ABACO...BIMIMI AND THE BERRY ISLANDS. A TROPICAL STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF FLAGLER BEACH TO ALTAMAHA SOUND. A HURRICANE WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT FROM NORTH OF FLAGLER BEACH TO...

Better Safe Than Sorry! Hurricane Frances just might be a down-graded hurricane when it reaches Florida. A few days ago, then a category 4 storm with potential to devastate a state barely recovering from Hurricane Charley, Frances prompted Governor Jeb Bush to order the evacuation of millions of people from the southeastern coastal areas of his great state. There will no doubt be naysayers who second-guess Governor Bush's evacuation order if Frances continues to degrade and becomes a weak category 2 or a weaker Category 1 hurricane. (Although both are dangerous.) Those who understand risk assessment, however, will understand that...

The gas shortage we here in Florida are expericening is another example of unintended consiquesces due to the State of Florida. The State of Florida gave the citizens an $0.08 per gallon break on gas during the entire month of August. Gas station ownwers purchased storage tanks full of gas at the decreased prices, and did not order gas as usual trying to get the most of the $0.08 per gallon windfall during the first few days of September. Just another example of unintended conciquesces.

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. 2004 September 3 Hurricane Frances Approaches Florida Credit: NASA, NOAA Explanation: A major hurricane is heading for Florida. Hurricane Frances, one of the stronger storm systems of modern times, may cross the eastern coast of Florida sometime tomorrow. Those in the path of a hurricane should take precautions. For example, NASA's Kennedy Space Center has completely shut down. The orbiting GOES-12 satellite took the above image of Hurricane...

. Hurricane Frances : Free Republic's Friday Discussion Thread (2004-09-03) ========================================= First, Thursday Night's Closing Summary (AlanCarp's Post): ETA Computer Model - Melbourne strike - taking 24 hours to approach the coast. Arrival 11am Sunday. Takes at least another 24 hours to cross Florida - exiting in the Big Bend region. GFDL Computer Model - Melbourne strike - similar to the ETA solution. A little quicker to the shore, arriving at 2am Sunday morning. GFS Computer Model - Melbourne strike, from a lower angle, and still slow to approach, arriving 8am Sunday morning. This is a worse-case solution, creeping up...

Fellow FReepers, let us all join together and pray for our brothers and sisters in the path of Frances. Many are still being afflicted by the ravages of the first two hurricanes, and the effects of a third may be unimaginable. Thank you all in advance!

For Jupiter, it was the big one. Local pioneer Bessie DuBois, who lived through it, called the hurricane that hit on Sept. 16, 1928, "the hurricane of the century."It was a Category Four storm, said Senior Hurricane Specialist Gil Clark of the National Hurricane Center in Coral Cables.The power of hurricanes is ranked by categories one through five. A five is very rare, and so is anything on the border lineApproachThis particular storm was not unnoticed before it struck Florida. Ships at sea recorded its movement and strength, beginning on Monday, Sept. 10, when the developing low pressure area was...

There it was, at the top of the Drudge Report: the many projected paths of Hurricane Frances. And then it hit me: it could go left, it could go right, it could go anywhere. Sound Familiar ? Let's give a big welcome to Hurricane Frances: The Kerrycane !!

. Free Republic Community: Welcome to Wednesday's Hurricane Frances news-twist ! It looks like a Melbourne Landfall after all, once again (to Section9's worst fears) churning it's way North along the Coast Highway ... Excellent Hurricane Frances Websites: HURRICANE ALLEY U.S. Weather Observers Patton@Bastogne Free Republic Member since 1998. General George S. Patton Jr. Website .

Hello all... I hope I am not stepping out of line here, if so, please forgive me, I've been reading FR for a long time but don't have much posting experience yet. I noticed there are loads of Frances threads, and it's hard to find which ones are dead and which ones have new info. So, perhaps we can make one official Frances thread so everybody knows where to get the latest or post the latest. Perhaps one of the mods could, hereafter, could rename the thread accordingly. I will start by posting the 11pm discussion from the NHC. Hurricane...

Hurricane Frances Intermediate Advisory Number 27a Statement as of 2:00 PM AST on August 31, 2004 ...Powerfull Hurricane Frances...with 140 mph winds...moving westward a little faster... a Hurricane Warning is in effect for the southeastern Bahamas ...Which includes Acklins...crooked...Inaguas...Mayaguana and Ragged Islands...and for the Turks and Caicos Islands. A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the central Bahamas which includes Cat...Exumas...Long Island...Rum Cay and San Salvador. A Hurricane Warning means that hurricane conditions are expected within the warning area within the next 24 hours. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. A Hurricane Watch means that...

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) - Even as tree limbs were cleared away and power gradually returned across eastern South Carolina after Tropical Storm Gaston, officials waited and watched Monday for Hurricane Frances. While Gaston caused some problems, "it's not the kind of catastrophic damage we see in a major hurricane," Gov. Mark Sanford said. He urged coastal residents to monitor Frances, which has 125 mph winds but is still days away from the Southeast coast. An evacuation would be tremendously difficult, warned Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. "The whole state would be naked," he said. "This will be a challenge...

The latest runs appear to be settling on a mid-Florida landfall. GFDL still outlier to right but shifting south. Still lots of time for that to change....dont count out recurvature. http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/at200406_model.html

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES INTERMEDIATE ADVISORY NUMBER 20A NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 8 PM AST SUN AUG 29 2004 ...POWERFULL HURRICANE FRANCES CONTINUES ON A SLOW WESTWARD TRACK... A TROPICAL STORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING LEEWARD ISLANDS...SAINT MAARTEN....ANGUILLA...BARBUDA...AND ANTIGUA. THE TROPICAL STORM WATCH MAY BE EXTENDED TO THE BRITISH AND U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS LATER TONIGHT. INTERESTS IN THE NORTHERN LESSER ANTILLES AND THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF FRANCES. AT 8 PM AST...0000Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FRANCES WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 18.8 NORTH...LONGITUDE 55.8 WEST OR ABOUT 480 MILES... 772 KM...EAST OF...

...And yet another tropical storm in August... Satellite images indicate that Tropical Storm Hermine...the eighth of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...has formed in the North Atlantic. At 5 PM AST...2100z...the center of Tropical Storm Hermine was located near latitude 32.4 north...longitude 71.0 west or about 325 miles...520 km...southeast of Cape Hatteras North Carolina. Hermine is moving toward the northwest near 10 mph ...17 km/hr. A gradual turn to the north is expected during the next 24 hours. Maximum sustained winds are near 40 mph... 65 km/hr...with higher gusts. Some strengthening is forecast during the next 24 hours. Tropical storm force...

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES ADVISORY NUMBER 16 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 5 PM AST SAT AUG 28 2004 ...FRANCES STRENGTHENS INTO THE SECOND CATEGORY FOUR HURRICANE OF THE 2004 ATLANTIC SEASON... A TROPICAL STORM WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FOR PORTIONS OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS ON SUNDAY. INTERESTS IN THE NORTHERN LESSER ANTILLES AND THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF FRANCES OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT 5 PM AST...2100Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FRANCES WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 17.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 52.6 WEST OR ABOUT 690 MILES...1110 KM...EAST OF THE NORTHERN LEEWARD ISLANDS. FRANCES IS MOVING...

Hurricane Frances Advisory Number 13 Statement as of 11:00 PM AST on August 27, 2004 ...Frances on track...eye getting larger... interests in the northern Lesser Antilles and the northeastern Caribbean Sea should closely monitor the progress of Frances over the next several days. At 11 PM AST...0300z...the center of Hurricane Frances was located near latitude 16.3 north... longitude 50.5 west or about 750 miles...1205 km... east of the Leeward Islands. Frances is moving toward the northwest near 12 mph...19 km/hr. A motion between northwest and west-northwest is expected for the next 24 hours or so. Maximum sustained winds are near...

...TROPICAL DEPRESSION SEVEN FORMS OFF THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST... ...TROPICAL STORM WATCH ISSUED... AT 5 PM EDT...2100Z...A TROPICAL STORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PORTIONS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. COAST FROM SURF CITY NORTH CAROLINA SOUTHWARD TO FERNANDINA BEACH FLORIDA. AT 5 PM EDT...2100Z...THE CENTER OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION SEVEN WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 31.6 NORTH...LONGITUDE 78.1 WEST OR ABOUT 140 MILES... 225 KM...SOUTHEAST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA. THE DEPRESSION IS NEARLY STATIONARY. A SLOW WESTWARD DRIFT IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATER TONIGHT. THIS MOTION COULD BRING THE CENTER CLOSER TO THE SOUTHEASTERN U.S. COAST ON SATURDAY. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS ARE...

BULLETIN HURRICANE FRANCES ADVISORY NUMBER 11 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL 11 AM AST FRI AUG 27 2004 ...FRANCES STRENGTHENS INTO A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE... INTERESTS IN THE NORTHERN LESSER ANTILLES AND THE NORTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN SEA SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF FRANCES OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS. AT 11 AM AST...1500Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE FRANCES WAS LOCATED NEAR LATITUDE 15.0 NORTH...LONGITUDE 49.0 WEST OR ABOUT 820 MILES ...1320 KM...EAST OF THE LESSER ANTILLES. FRANCES IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 10 MPH...17 KM/HR. A MOTION BETWEEN WEST-NORTHWEST AND NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR FOR THE NEXT 24 HOURS...

France's Conservatives Take a Beating By JOHN LEICESTER, Associated Press Writer PARIS - French voters delivered a stinging defeat to President Jacques Chirac's government and its program of painful economic reforms in regional elections Sunday that turned into a national vote of censure, according to exit polls. The heavy losses in many regions that will increase pressure on Chirac to reshuffle his conservative government, and perhaps even ditch his prime minister, the unpopular Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Polls of voters as the left voting stations showed the opposition left getting nearly half of the votes, compared with about 37 percent for the...

<p>DJ `Uncle Frank' wants to return to air as `Aunt Fran'</p> <p>Disc jockey Frank Bennett always liked to say that a woman in a billowy frock was God's gift to men on a windy day.</p> <p>But that was years ago, before Bennett stopped being Frank and became Frances, whose favorite clothes are billowy frocks.</p>