Free Republic

A string of a dozen volcanoes, at least several of them active, has been found beneath the frigid seas near Antarctica, the first such discovery in that region. Some of the peaks tower nearly 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) above the ocean floor — nearly tall enough to break the water's surface. "That's a big volcano. That's a very big volcano. If that was on land it would be quite remarkable," said Philip Leat, a vulcanologist with the British Antarctic Survey who led a seafloor mapping expedition to the region in 2007 and 2010. The group of 12 underwater mountains lies...

FALL RIVER (CBS) — There’s another strange twist after a woman’s body was found floating in a public pool in Fall River, possibly going unnoticed for days. The mayor of Fall River says “that health inspectors from the City visited the pool on Monday and on Tuesday and inspected the facilities,” which was during the time that body was believed to be in the water. Marie Joseph was at the pool on Sunday and hadn’t been seen since. It wasn’t until Tuesday night, when some kids broke into the Veteran’s Memorial swimming pool and found Joseph’s body floating in the...

Reporting from North Las Vegas, Nev.— Charles Mills can barely afford to stay here. But he also can't afford to move. That's why the 44-year-old heavy-equipment operator was preparing to leave his wife and young daughter here and go where he could find work — the Oklahoma oil fields. Mills has a mortgage to pay, even if its size pains him. He purchased his house in 2006 for $308,500. Current value: $105,797. "We talked about it: What can we do with the house?" Mills said. "Nobody's going to buy it. Nobody's going to rent it. If we walk away, my...

Now we know what is really causing global warming. It's not caused by man, it's caused by penguins farting underwater. We better get Al Gore out there to put meters on their derrieres so we can check the rate of global warming gasses emanating from these birds before the polar caps completely melt. This is a funny video of a penguin that farts in the face of another penguin who does an about face and heads the other way. Follow the link below to see the video of a Penguin Farting in Another Penguins Face.

China Told U.S. of Underwater Nuclear Plant in N.Korea China obtained information in 2008 that North Korea has a secret underwater nuclear facility in its coastal waters, leaked U.S. diplomatic cables show. According to a Sept. 26, 2008 cable from the U.S. Consulate in Shanghai disclosed by WikiLeaks, a North Korea expert in Shanghai announced this in a meeting about the six-party nuclear talks with Christopher Beede, the political and economic chief at the consulate. The expert said the nuclear declaration the North submitted to China, the chair of the six-party talks, in May the same year was "incomplete" and...

Hannity was surprised to hear a famous ex Air Force General tell him “That Is A Missile, Shot From A Submarine!” I quote retired Air Force Lieutenant General Tom McInerney (ex commander of 11th Air Force in Alaska) “I spent 35 years flying fighters, and you can see the guidance system kick in, I have watched that film 10 times, I am absolutely certain that that is not an aircraft, but a sub launch ICBM missile!!!” See the video and judge his words for yourself. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LivRJOWrcpA&feature=player_embedded#! I will next post a clickable link.

As underwater archaeologists dive to recover 300-year-old artifacts from the shipwreck presumed to Blackbeard’s flagship, the effort to keep the public a part of the project are all 21st century. A six-week dive expedition at the Queen Anne’s Revenge shipwreck site began this week, and anyone interested in following its progress can do so via the Facebook page Blackbeard’s-Queen Anne’s Revenge. Full information on the project is also available at the website qaronline.com. After a day of field preparations, a Wednesday afternoon Facebook post announced the biggest news of the expedition: “Returning to USCG Fort Macon. Still need to get...

Momentum Gathers For A New, Massive Bailout Of Homeowners Joe Weisenthal Sep. 19, 2010, 8:48 AM A new federal program that would be tasked with a massive refinancing of mortgages for strapped Americans has been chattered about for awhile, though The White House has never indicated that the idea is on the table. But the calls are growing louder. This time it's from the NYT op-ed page, where former Bush advisor (and now Columbia business prof) Glenn Hubbard along with Columbia's Chris Mayer are calling for exactly that -- a massive new agency to bail out underwater homeowners via refinancing....

This is a great video and photos of an underwater statue of Christ off the shores of Florida. It is awesome. I never knew it existed. Here is the link to the...Video of "Christ of the Abyss"

The Obama administration is trying to jump-start its sputtering plan to tackle the foreclosure crisis with an effort to assist up to 1.5 million homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth. The Federal Housing Administration will allow lenders to give these "under water" borrowers refinanced loans if the lender agrees to forgive at least 10 percent of the original mortgage amount. The plan, which was announced in March, is being made available starting Tuesday. The FHA said in a document published last month that between 500,000 and 1.5 million homeowners are projected to be helped....

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is trying to jump-start its sputtering attempts to tackle the foreclosure crisis with an effort to assist homeowners who owe more on their properties than their homes are worth. The Federal Housing Administration will allow lenders to give these borrowers refinanced loans if the lender agrees to forgive at least 10 percent of the original mortgage amount. The plan, .. announced in March, .. available starting Tuesday. The FHA said .. between 500,000 and 1.5 million homeowners are projected to be helped.

A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who held his 4-year-old daughter’s head underwater in a kitchen sink at their Yelm home as punishment for not reciting the alphabet will spend the next two months in jail. Joshua Ryan Tabor, 27, was sentenced Thursday; he earlier had pleaded guilty under an Alford plea to three counts of third-degree felony assault of a child, domestic violence, as part of a plea deal. Under an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit guilt but concedes there is enough evidence to convict if the case goes forward at trial. As part of the plea deal,...

From CoreLogic Real Estate News and Trends •23% of mortgaged properties (11 million) were under water by $766 billion at the end of the second quarter of 2010 •An additional 2.4 million had less than 5% equity – That makes 28% negative or near negative •5 million borrowers are in “severe negative equity” and defaults will be high for an extended period •Top 5 states: Nevada 68%, Arizona 50%, Florida 46%, Michigan 38%, California 33%

With todays cars and not many manual window cranks what do we do if we go in the water?

Ironic isn't it, that the day after a Federal Judge lifts the Deepwater Drilling Ban, BP has another accident and the cap is off the well, and uncontained or restricted oil is now flowing into the Gulf again. Not to mention the $2 Billion dollars that Petrobras was loaned and their stock is down from a Monday high of $39.45 to currently $36.25. As reported last year by the Wall Street Journal; The U.S. is going to lend billions of dollars to Brazil's state-owned oil company, Petrobras, to finance exploration of the huge offshore discovery in Brazil's Tupi oil field...

More tough news for Twin Cities metro homeowners surfaced this morning as home values in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area slid 4.6 percent in March from a year ago. More troubling, the real estate website Zillow.com calculates that more than 268,000 Twin Cities area single-family homeowners with mortgages owe more than their homes are worth. That number is about 41.2 percent of the total. That compares with an estimated national average of 23.3 percent of single-family mortgages with negative equity, according to the report.

To walk, or not to walk? That is the question for nearly a quarter of US homeowners who can still make their mortgage payments but are “underwater,” or living in a house worth less than the amount they owe on the mortgage. Should such homeowners with “negative equity” simply pack up and leave, mailing the house keys to their lender in a desperate act known as “jingle mail”? Or should they honor the “promise to pay” in their loan contract and keep up with monthly payments, hoping for steady growth in home prices? ...But by and large, many “underwater” Americans...

More than 11.3 million homeowners -- nearly one-fourth of all Americans with a mortgage -- owe more on their loan than their home is now worth... More than 10% of people with mortgages owe 25% more than their home is worth. The number of underwater mortgages increased by about 620,000 from the third quarter... Another 2.3 million mortgages had less than 5% equity in their home, which could be wiped out if home prices fall further. Underwater mortgages are concentrated in few states: California, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Michigan and Georgia. In Nevada, 70% of mortgages were underwater. In California, more...

NEW YORK - One of every five U.S. homeowners owed more on their mortgage than their home was worth in the fourth quarter, a trend that poses a serious threat to the U.S. housing market's recovery, real estate Web site Zillow.com said on Wednesday. Homeowners with "underwater'' mortgages are more prone to defaults and foreclosures. They typically do not qualify for refinancings and are unable to sell their homes because they would need to cough up cash at closing time to pay off their mortgage.

February 3, 2010 No Help in Sight, More Homeowners Walk Away By DAVID STREITFELD In 2006, Benjamin Koellmann bought a condominium in Miami Beach. By his calculation, it will be about the year 2025 before he can sell his modest home for what he paid. Or maybe 2040. “People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,” Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?” After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan...