Free Republic

San Diego dittos! I can pay $1600 to go on a Mexican Rivieria cruise right out of my home port or FLY across the country to take the National Review Cruise for $3100. In the aftermath of what is expected to be a wave election I could enjoy the victorious company of like-minded conservatives. Negatives would be 2 full days of flying and dealing with the TSA. Since the GOP is run by idiots is it worth it? My friends you decide. Thanks.

BROWNSVILLE — At the groundbreaking ceremony Monday for SpaceX's commercial spaceport on the Texas Gulf coast, the founder of the aerospace company said the survival of mankind may hang on colonization of other planets. The company's future commercial orbital spaceport in Boca Chica, near Brownsville, could be a key player in the race to Mars, said Elon Musk, who is the CEO. “I'm an optimist,” Musk said. “I wouldn't have gotten into the rocket business otherwise.” Musk said SpaceX expects to begin construction on the site by mid-2015 and launch at least one commercial flight per month by late 2016....

Where is the automobile headed in our gradually warming world? Fully electric like the Chevy Spark, Nissan Leaf, or Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive? Plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt, Ford Energi models, or Porsche 918? Flying cars like the Terrafugia Transition? Something else entirely? One thing's for sure: Wherever it's headed, folks buying at the pointy end of the price pyramid will get there first and help field-test the tech for the rest of us. If you have both the means and the inclination to live your automotive life on the green-tech bleeding edge -- or if you need...

A jump, hop, and a rocket ride away lies Earth's blushing sister: Mars. While apparently lifeless today, some 4 billion years ago, Mars featured rivers, oceans, and potentially even microbial life. The good times obviously didn't last. On Earth, we fear asteroid impacts as harbingers of destruction, but to early Mars, they were cascading gifts of life. The energy and gas they provided helped keep the planet hot and wet. But as the solar system settled down after its turbulent birth, those impacts grew to be few and far between. At the same time, Mars' core was cooling, quieting the...

Researchers based in Norway believe that in around 10 years time cargo ships will have the technology to sail the seas without the need of a captain or crew. Marintek, part of the SINTEF group based in Norway, is one of a number of partners working on developing systems which can operate without the need for humans. The "Seatonomy" project is looking to have ships sailing without human crews in the next 10 to 20 years. The 12 million kroner ($1.9 million) research investment by SINTEF could actually improve ship safety as human error causes more than 75 percent of...

On September 11, 2001, Delta Flight 15 received a terse directive: “All airways over the Continental United States are closed to commercial air traffic. Land ASAP at the nearest airport. Advise your destination.” Far out over the Atlantic on a flight from Germany to America, the captain adjusted his heading to land at Gander, Newfoundland. Those aboard noticed that the airport was cluttered with commercial aircraft, and knew something was terribly wrong. Once on the ground, the captain told them that terrorists had hijacked three domestic flights. They were horrified when he described events involving the World Trade Center and...

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP)- Gasoline prices in Delaware continue to plummet as the price of crude oil has fallen nearly 70 percent from its mid-summer high. AAA Mid-Atlantic says the average price for a gallon of regular in Delaware is $1.71....

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Malaysia Airlines will cut 6,000 workers as part of a $1.9 billion overhaul announced Friday to revive its damaged brand after being hit by double passenger jet disasters. The staff reduction represents about 30 percent of its current workforce of 20,000. A search for a new CEO is underway, but there is no move to change the airline's name, which some branding experts had said was necessary for a successful makeover....

So the wife & I are thinking on taking the plunge. I commute about 75 miles a day round trip to work & back. Based on that, I pay over $410 in gas/month on a paid car that is just getting more expensive to maintain. Any other FReepers who are owners care to give your experiences? Is it worth it?

In the Donbass units of the right sector fight in the army. They are the preferential opponents not less right Russian national unities. BERLIN taz | The threat of Dmitri Jarosch, the boss of the right sector, had worked. Either the government will meet in Kiev the demands of the right sector, according to Jarosch last week, or one will draw off the forces fighting in the Don's bass of the right sector and they allow to march directly to Kiev. Contently Jarosch called off after a little while threatened march to Kiev. The government has followed to his demands...

The emails reveal Lai's links to right-wing US politicians.Media mogul Jimmy Lai Chee-ying has maintained close ties with right-wing politicians in the United States, according to documents leaked to the media. The documents, mostly email exchanges between Lai's top aide Mark Simon and others, were sent to major news outlets yesterday by the same person who last month leaked information about Lai's donations to Hong Kong politicians. The documents suggest Lai had regular contacts with US politicians. In one case, Simon acted as a go-between to set up a meeting between former Alaska governor Sarah Palin and a group of...

Could rocket scientists be an endangered species? You're probably betting "no," given the contemporary efforts to hurl hardware to the moon, to Mars, and to a passel of other unearthly locales. The rocket biz is busy, and it's diversifying. An enthusiastic troupe of private companies is also getting into the act, hoping to cash in by lifting off. It seems that "rocket scientist" is a job category that's here for the long haul, like "mortician." But all this activity masks an important point: rockets are not a terribly efficient way to lift things into space. For every pound of payload,...

Until yesterday, every physicist was laughing at this engine and its inventor, Roger Shawyer. It's called the EmDrive and everyone said it was impossible because it goes against classical mechanics. But the fact is that the quantum vacuum plasma thruster works and scientists can't explain why. Shawyer's engine is extremely light and simple. It provides a thrust by "bouncing microwaves around in a closed container." The microwaves are generated using electricity that can be provided by solar energy. No propellant is necessary, which means that this thrusters can work forever unless a hardware failure occurs. If real, this would be...

While New Yorkers like to think of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, as the epicenter of the American hipster, it's hardly the only place in the country where vegan, handlebar-mustachioed trustafarians ride their single-speeds to nanobreweries inside organic farm-to-table restaurants inside abandoned artist lofts tricked out with rooftop gardens where they grow only kale. Pretty much any US city, short of maybe Birmingham, AL, has some elements/neighborhoods of hipster culture at this point (you really just need a fixed-gear bike shop, right?), but these 10 cities are vying for the title of hipster-est. Behind Williamsburg, of course....

This looks fun! ======================= Bahamas Lobster Season: Lobster season in The Bahamas opens August 1 and runs through March 31st, and there are some very specific rules you must abide by as a visitor. Here are some of the rules: Taking lobster out of season is an obvious no-no. Nothing more needs to be stated on that. You must obtain a fishing permit when you clear customs. In Florida the permits are required for each person, however in the Bahamas the permits are obtained for the boat. If you’re on a chartered yacht, chances are they carry a legal fishing...

If you’ve turned on the TV, radio, looked at a newspaper, or used the internet in these past few weeks, you have heard of Kendall Jones. Kendall Jones is a 19 year old cheerleader studying at Texas Tech who has stirred up some recent controversy. She is a seasoned hunter that has been lucky enough to travel to Africa to hunt the big five; work alongside organizations to provide meat to local communities and help treat wounded animals. Recently, she has been targeted on social media sites and attacked by news agencies for having pictures of her hunts published on...

Perhaps sensing a leadership vacuum with Mayor de Blasio enjoying la dolce vita overseas, former Mayor Bloomberg is back in the news. With an international message: He's traveling to Israel to blast the FAA's decision to ban flights to Israel. Earlier today, the FAA announced that flights to and from Tel Aviv would be prohibited for up to 24 hours after reports of a rocket strike landing about a mile from Ben Gurion this morning. Which prompted Bloomberg to plan a trip. He wrote on his website: This evening I will be flying on El Al to Tel Aviv to...

Don Mullen: Why don’t America’s hotels provide hair products for black as well as white hair? Is there a way to get them to correct this “micro-aggression”? Jenée Desmond-Harris: Thanks for your question. I thought about the issue of hotel toiletries when I was writing the Race Manners column that answered the question, “Is Using Lotion a Black Thing?” In my opinion, the tiny moisturizer that most hotels provide is very clearly not designed for those who want or need to use it on their entire body (read: most black people). But off the top of my head, I’m not...

Back in March, Radio Sweden reported on the Swedish right-wing extremists, who went to Ukraine in order to support the cause of "nationalist", in their opinion, the revolution. Now, for the head of one of them, the separatists announced a cash award of 80,000 Ukrainian hryvnia (about 5000 euros). Italian war correspondent Fausto Biloslavo / Fausto Biloslavo able to meet with several Swedes fighting in Ukraine against the pro-Russian separatists. German edition of the Swedish Radio, he said that he met with Swedish neo-Nazis during his time with the battalion "Azov" in eastern Ukraine. According to him, the Swedes, whom...

On April 1, the U.S. economy dropped a whopping 2.9 percent for the first three months of the year (no fooling). The American workforce participation rate fell to a 40-year low. One-third of people aged 18-29 have moved back in with their parents. Millions of Americans this summer will enjoy yet another “staycation”: They just can’t afford to go to the beach or the mountains, even for a week — again. Swipe cut to President Obama: He’s eating shave ice in Honolulu; playing golf (some 180 rounds so far); jetting off to Martha’s Vineyard for a 15-day vacation in a...