Free Republic

A record-setting dive into the world's deepest and most mysterious underwater trench proves that even the most remote places on Earth aren't immune to plastic waste.

The United State District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands recently ruled that existing gun laws, written by a peace corps volunteer in the 1970's, are unconstitutional, and violate the Second Amendment, in several provisions. The House and Senate of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands reacted to the Court ruling by passing an extremely restrictive bill, S. B. No. 19-94(pdf), entitled "To regulate the possession of firearms in the Commonwealth.", in a special session on 5 April, 2016.  The bill passed the Senate unanimously.  The short title is the SAFE Act (Special Act for Firearms Enforcement), perhaps...

The U.S. District Court of the Northern Mariana Islands has issued a strong ruling that enforces the Second Amendment in the Commonwealth.  The long running lawsuit filed by David Radich and his wife, Li-Rong, was settled on 28 March, 2016.  The ruling enforces the findings in Heller and McDonald, both of which are referenced.  Here are the primary findings of the Court:The import ban on handguns and handgun ammunition is unconstitutional,Refusing to use “family defense” or “self-defense” as a valid reason for issuing a Weapons Identification Card” (WIC) , required for purchasing a firearm, is unconstitutional.Refusing to issue a...

Donald Trump has won the Republican caucus in the Northern Mariana Islands, picking up nine pledged delegates, according to the local GOP. Trump won 73 percent of the total 471 votes cast in the remote U.S. territory on Tuesday, followed by Ted Cruz with 24 percent, John Kasich at .02 percent and Marco Rubio at .01 percent. Jason Osborne, the executive director of the Northern Mariana Islands Republican Party, shared results of the winner-take-all caucus early Tuesday morning on Twitter and Facebook. Breaking News: @realDonaldTrump has just been declared the winner of the CNMI Rep Caucus with 72.8% of the...

Trump took home 73 percent of the vote and will win all nine delegates, according to Jason Osborne, who was the executive director of the local Republican Party.

The Second Amendment case of the Radich family in the Northern Mariana Islands suffered an unexpected setback earlier this month.  A judge in the U.S. District Court dismissed the case.  From stripes.com: Earlier this month, a U.S. District Court judge dismissed the case because the Department of Public Safety commissioner does not have jurisdiction over importation of handguns into the Northern Marianas. The judge gave the Radiches the option to continue their suit by filing an amended complaint that includes the import ban and names the Customs Service as a defendant. The amended complaint is expected to be filed...

The Federal court in the Northern Mariana Islands has set a date for the hearing on summary judgment for the lawsuit to uphold the second amendment in the Islands.  From mvariety.com: THE District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands scheduled a March 12, 2015 hearing on the motion for a summary judgment on the constitutionality the commonwealth Weapons Control Act being challenged by a U.S. Navy Gulf War veteran and his wife.From radionz.co.nz: They want to be issued handguns for self-defence, following a home invasion which left Mrs Radich badly beaten. Our correspondent, Mark Rabago, says the Act is...

The race is on to reach the deepest place in the ocean: the Mariana Trench, which plunges 11km (7 miles) down. Fifty years after it was first conquered, four teams are vying to return. It will be an epic journey that will push submersible technology to its limits and put the lives of those piloting the vessels at grave risk. Each team has a unique approach, but over the course of the next year only one will be crowned the winner in this journey beyond the abyss.

Gigantic amoebas have been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest region on Earth. During a July 2011 voyage to the Pacific Ocean chasm, researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and National Geographic engineers deployed untethered landers, called dropcams, equipped with digital video and lights to explore the largely mysterious region of the deep sea. The team documented the deepest known existence of xenophyophores, single-celled animals exclusively found in deep-sea environments. Xenophyophores are noteworthy for their size, with individual cells often exceeding 4 inches (10 centimeters), their extreme abundance on the seafloor and their role as...

SAIPAN, Northern Marianas – A volcanic eruption near the Pacific's Northern Mariana Islands shot clouds of ash and vapor nearly eight miles into the sky, federal scientists said. The eruption occurred early Saturday and appeared to come from an underwater volcano off Sarigan, a sparsely inhabited island about 100 miles north of the U.S. commonwealth's main island of Saipan. The Northern Marianas are about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. USGS volcanologist Game McGimsey said Sunday that scientists are still trying to pinpoint the source but evidence is pointing to an underwater mountain. "People on the island (Sarigan) heard a loud...

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands Mar 29, 2005 — Researchers want to excavate an old Japanese jail where aviator Amelia Earhart and her navigator were rumored to have been detained before they vanished in 1937. The Historic Preservation Office of the Northern Mariana Islands has applied for a grant with the National Park Service to fund the excavation, hoping to solve the 67-year-old mystery of what became of Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan. The Northern Mariana Islands, about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii, were administered by Japan from 1914 to 1944 and are now a U.S. commonwealth. "In the past,...