Free Republic

It's not long now until the 2024 total solar eclipse and, weather permitting, it should be a spectacular celestial event. As exciting as it is, there are a number of safety concerns, particularly in the parts of the US that will be in the path of totality, with some now announcing the deployment of the National Guard. The 2017 total solar eclipse, gorgeous as it was, took place during the solar minimum, the part of the Sun's 11-year cycle where activity is at its minimum. This year's eclipse coincides with the solar maximum, meaning not only should we get a...

The President's Residence hosted an official reception Wednesday evening with heads of state and delegates from around the world who have responded to President Reuben Rivlin's invitation to the International Holocaust Forum. The event is also attended by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Blue and White Chairman Benny Gantz, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Esther Hayut, IDF Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and others. Speaking at the reception, Rivlin said: "This is a historic gathering, not only for the State of Israel and the Jewish people, but for all of humanity. Tonight...

Burnt toast can expose people to more pollution than if they were standing at a busy road junction, a study has claimed. Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin found burnt toast was especially harmful and the safest way was to “go for gold” – allowing the bread to turn a light gold colour. The team of experts built a mock-up of a three-bed house and equipped it with monitors to assess how everyday activities impacted on air quality. Roasting and frying can also prove to be toxic, the research found. Researchers in the US found the least harmful...

President Trump posted a pre-Thanksgiving tweet to trigger the snowflakes before the holiday. ....... President Trump: You just can’t win with the Fake News Media. A big story today is that because I have pushed so hard and gotten Gasoline Prices so low, more people are driving and I have caused traffic jams throughout our Great Nation. Sorry everyone!

Test flights of a driverless hover-taxi will take place in Singapore next year, a German aviation firm said, the latest innovation to offer an escape from Asia's monster traffic jams. Millions of commuters in the region's cities have to contend with chronic gridlock every day, sparking a race to develop new ways to avoid the snarl-ups. While the developed city-state of Singapore does not suffer major congestion, it is seen as a perfect test-bed for new technologies due to its compact size and openness to innovation. German firm Volocopter said Tuesday it will conduct the test flights in Singapore in...

A New Jersey town has banned out-of-town motorists during rush hour to prevent them from clogging its roads while using the enclave as a shortcut to the George Washington Bridge with the use of GPS navigation apps. Residents and employees working in Leonia must display town-issued yellow hang tags in their vehicles to access the closed-off secondary roads.

He is a passionate campaigner on green issues, and now Jeremy Irons has backed a campaign to ban lorries from the quaint Oxfordshire town where he lives. The Oscar–winning actor has thrown his weight behind an action group to prevent HGVs using the narrow streets of Watlington as a rat-run between the M40 and M4. The market town—reputedly the smallest in the country—is regularly snarled up with lorries whose drivers, looking for a shortcut between Oxford and Reading, are directed there by their satnavs. …

Nothing will ruin a pleasant drive quicker than the sight brake lights coming towards you on the highway. Miles ahead, someone or something has spooked the bejeezus out of traffic and now you're about to pay for it with your free time. The mighty flow of America's highways is about to be plugged by you and a couple hundred of your closest strangers. The next time a traffic jam's iron grip has you in its clutch, you can at least take heart knowing that scientists have figured out why they happen and who's to blame. Follow the jump for this...

In a few places around the world--such as downtown London--drivers pay higher tolls for entering city centers at peak rush hour. The idea of "congestion pricing" is to reduce traffic and pollution by giving drivers an incentive to travel at off-peak times. Now a professor at the University of Texas at Austin has shown how a complex extension of this idea could greatly speed up rush-hour traffic flow throughout an entire network of highways and secondary roads in a U.S. metropolitan region. Using a computer model of driver behavior on the freeway system around the cities of Dallas and Fort...

WASHINGTON -- Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta announced on Tuesday a White House initiative to relieve highway, aviation and freight congestion, largely with the help of private fees and tolls. "Congestion is not a fact of life. We need a new approach and we need it now," he said. The plan includes fast-tracking a modernized air traffic control system and building extra-wide interstate highways that could serve as "corridors of the future," he said. Because of "trucks stalled in traffic, cargo sitting on the dock at overwhelmed seaports (and) airplanes circling over crowded airports, congestion is costing America an estimated $200...

Annual study shows city still reigns supreme atop list of clogged cities, at a cost of $391 million By Kate Alexander AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF Tuesday, May 10, 2005 For the fifth consecutive year, Austin earned the dubious distinction as the most congested medium-size city in the country, according to a national analysis of urban traffic. Rush-hour traffic inched along Austin's streets and highways at a slightly slower pace in 2003, the most recent year that data is available. Over the year, traffic congestion consumed 51 hours on average for each peak-hour driver, up one hour from the year before, according to...

• Field organization. Vice-President Al Gore may have won the 2000 New Hampshire primary — and subsequent primaries, which fed on the New Hampshire–generated momentum — thanks to a traffic jam. At least that’s what many Democratic operatives with experience in New Hampshire seem to think. Today, when people look back at the 2000 Democratic-primary season, the prevailing memory is of Gore trouncing former New Jersey senator Bill Bradley. But he beat Bradley in New Hampshire by just four points, a relatively narrow margin of 6395 votes. The bulk of these votes — more than 3000 — came from Hillsborough...

Traffic and Tax Cuts By Robert H. Frank. If you think you spend too much time stuck in traffic now, watch out - more is on the way. TRAFFIC JAMS ARE a nuisance, but they are more than that. Studies have shown that compared with people who walk or take public transportation to work, people who face protracted commutes in heavy traffic are more likely to experience high blood pressure. They have more frequent disputes with their coworkers and families. They suffer more frequent and more serious illnesses. And they are more likely to experience premature deaths. Traffic jams are...