Free Republic

FEBRUARY 26, 2004. HEARING ROOM. Rep. Frank Moral questions Arthur Cockroach, CEO of Eternal Broadcasting. Q: Have you ever uttered the word f***? A: Where? Q: Anywhere. A: I may have, once. In 1981, when an elephant stepped on my metacarpal in India. Q: What punishment would you say fits that crime? A: Perhaps a public beating with a whip, sir. Q: Are you making an oblique reference to The Passion of Christ? A: Not consciously. If I have erred or sinned, I will submit to additional torture. Q: What about Janet Jackson's right breast? A: I never saw it...

A former Special Forces green beret who served in Vietnam has touched a nerve with fellow veterans after penning a scathing column hammering Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. "I've been deluged with e-mails," Don Bendell told WND. Most of the e-mails and phone calls he's received are from fellow Vietnam veterans, though he says some are from military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. "Take a look at my website," Bendell said, "and the number of guest-book entries." Bendell says the servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan who have contacted him have been "fervent" about their desire not to see Kerry...

Senator John Kerry, a decorated battle veteran, was courageous as a navy lieutenant in the Vietnam War. But he was not so courageous more than two decades later, when he covered up voluminous evidence that a significant number of live American prisoners—perhaps hundreds—were never acknowledged or returned after the war-ending treaty was signed in January 1973. The Massachusetts senator, now seeking the presidency, carried out this subterfuge a little over a decade ago— shredding documents, suppressing testimony, and sanitizing the committee's final report—when he was chairman of the Senate Select Committee on P.O.W./ M.I.A. Affairs. Over the years, an abundance...

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK Critics ask why flu shot doesn't match strain Mercury in vaccine found to be 250 times higher than recommended Early in the 20th century an influenza known as the "Spanish Flu" claimed the lives of an estimated 20 million to 40 million people worldwide. It has been called the pandemic of 1918-1919, one of the most devastating in recorded history, claiming more lives than the "Great War" of 1914-1918, and even topping the death toll of the Black Death, or bubonic plague, that swept from far China in the 1330s across the face of Europe well...

<p>"If you want to send a message, call Western Union," said Hollywood pioneer Samuel Goldwyn to filmmakers and stars who sought to use their movie projects to advance some political agenda. Although the telegraph is a largely irrelevant alternative in this Internet age, the thinking behind Goldwyn's advice remains sane and solid: Political preachments, on or off camera, only interfere with the entertainment value of creative work by major Hollywood stars. Recent comments by some of the prime participants in the triumphal box-office hit The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King illustrate the uncomfortable implications of trying to impose timely messages on timeless fantasy.</p>

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says former Gov. Howard Dean and other Vermont officials violated federal law by releasing secret protection plans for its nuclear power plant in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The NRC's charge had Vermont officials scrambling to impoundtop-secret nuclear documents the Democratic presidential front-runner wrongly made public. Some of the documents regarding the Vermont Yankee nuke plant include so-called ``safeguards information,'' which is to be released under ``need to know requirements and . . . not publicly releasable,'' said NRC spokesman Scott Burnell. The documents are included in files Dean made public - even...

Return of the King boffo at BO: $100m take in 24 Return of the King, the third installment in Michael Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, has racked up a stunning $US57.6 million (NZD $98 million) opening day box office take. In the US alone, the film earned $US34.1 million with the balance coming from 19 international markets, including New Zealand. The film broke opening day records in many market territories -- including Great Britain, Germany and Scandanavia, according to Hollywood Reporter>. Global opening day records set by the film include biggest Wednesday and biggest December day. The film is...

WASHINGTON — On Seattle radio yesterday, Rep. Jim McDermott questioned the timing of Saddam Hussein's capture, saying, "I'm sure they could have found him a long time ago if they wanted to." His comments came during an interview on "The Dave Ross Show" on KIRO-FM. "I've been surprised they waited, but then I thought, well, politically, it probably doesn't make much sense to find him just yet," he said. "There's too much by happenstance for it to be just a coincidental thing that it happened on this particular day," he continued. Later yesterday, the Seattle Democrat said he did not...

"MedImmune, the manufacturer of FluMist, recently announced that it signed an agreement that makes FluMist, the new intranasal influenza vaccine, readily available to people as they shop at Wal-Mart, the worlds biggest retailer." [1] As the physician in charge of a bustling Integrative medical clinic, questions about vaccines frequently arise. After reading about the MedImmune-Walmart joint venture, I felt compelled to warn our patients and our internet subscribers of the potentially serious complications that may come from direct and passive exposure to this new vaccine. I also wanted to give a "heads up" to everyone regarding the onslaught of advertising...

<p>As noted yesterday, network analyst "Patriot" has been tracking information that indicates another al-Qaeda taped message is forthcoming. Information is now widespread on numerous terrorist message forums that indicates another voice-over of dead terrorist Abdul al-Atibi (al-Otaibi) and images of Osama bin Laden is scheduled to be broadcast next week. Information suggests that the message will address the "American hell in Iraq" and also indicates growing displeasure with Al Jazeera's failure to act as a mode of transmission for the tape. The message suggests that al Jazeera must air the new message in its entirety or face unspecified consequences. The initial message was posted by "The Jihad Falcon," a terrorist or terrorist enabler that is known to analysts and considered as a previously reliable source.</p>

Stealth Merger: Drug Companies and Government Medical Research Some of the National Institutes of Health's top scientists are also collecting paychecks and stock options from biomedical firms. Increasingly, such deals are kept secret. Case Studies JOHN I. GALLIN : A Clinic Chief's Desire to 'Learn About Industry' RONALD N. GERMAIN: A Federal Lab Leader Who Made $1.4 Million on the Side JEFFREY SCHLOM: A Cancer Expert Who Aided Studies Using a Drug Wanted by a Client RICHARD C. EASTMAN: A Federal Researcher Who Defended a Client's Lethal Drug JEFFREY M. TRENT: A Government Accolade From a Paid Consultant • What...

Glaxo chief: Our drugs do not work on most patients By Steve Connor, Science Editor 08 December 2003 A senior executive with Britain's biggest drugs company has admitted that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them. Allen Roses, worldwide vice-president of genetics at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), said fewer than half of the patients prescribed some of the most expensive drugs actually derived any benefit from them. It is an open secret within the drugs industry that most of its products are ineffective in most patients but this is the first time that such a senior drugs...

An ABC News special tonight hosted by Peter Jennings is the latest example of the anchorman's inability to comprehend his biased reporting, says a former colleague. Peter Jennings (Photo: ABC News) "How to Get Fat Without Really Trying," airing at 8 p.m. Eastern time, reflects Jennings' belief his calling as a journalist is to protect the "peasantry in America," charges former ABC News correspondent Peter Collins, according to CNSNews.com. "It's not a one-side attack because in their minds, they have convinced themselves that this is the source of the problem," Collins told CNSNews.com, "and in order to save the peasantry...

Flu Season to Be Bad But Not Pandemic, Experts Say 48 minutes ago Add Top Stories - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The current U.S. influenza outbreak may be unusually early and somewhat more severe than usual, but health experts said on Monday it is not the killer pandemic they have been warning will eventually come. And while there is strong demand for flu vaccine, there are no signs that people who most need to be vaccinated -- the elderly, pregnant women, infants and those with weakened immune systems -- will...

61,000 Baghdad residents 'executed' From correspondents in Baghdad December 09, 2003 SADDAM Hussein's government may have executed 61,000 Baghdad residents, a number significantly higher than previously believed, according to a survey obtained today by The Associated Press. The bloodiest massacres of Saddam's 23-year presidency occurred in Iraq's Kurdish north and Shi'ite Muslim south, but the Gallup Baghdad Survey data indicates the brutality extended strongly into the capital as well. The survey, which the polling firm planned to release tomorrow, asked 1178 Baghdad residents in August and September whether a member of their household had been executed by Saddam's regime. According...

Revealed: how drug firms 'hoodwink' medical journals Pharmaceutical giants hire ghostwriters to produce articles - then put doctors' names on them Antony Barnett, public affairs editor Sunday December 7, 2003 The Observer Hundreds of articles in medical journals claiming to be written by academics or doctors have been penned by ghostwriters in the pay of drug companies, an Observer inquiry reveals. The journals, bibles of the profession, have huge influence on which drugs doctors prescribe and the treatment hospitals provide. But The Observer has uncovered evidence that many articles written by so-called independent academics may have been penned by writers...

SAN FRANCISCO – In a potential blow to the Bush administration's legal strategy in the war on terror, a federal appeals court has overturned part of a sweeping law the government has increasingly used to arrest or prosecute suspected terrorists. The decision Wednesday by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals involves a 1996 terrorism law that outlaws financial assistance or "material support" to organizations classified as terrorist by the State Department. The court struck down part of the law, ruling that it is unconstitutional to punish people, sometimes with life in prison, for providing "training" or "personnel" to a...

<p>SEATTLE -- The wife of Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kerry said yesterday that suspected terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay should be given prisoner of war status.</p> <p>"They were captured while fighting a war," Teresa Heinz Kerry said at an informal discussion with minority activists in Seattle. "They should have the rights that other prisoners of war have had."</p>

London (CNSNews.com) - An European agency responsible for monitoring racism has suppressed a report on anti-Semitism because it found that Muslims and pro-Palestinian groups were behind many of the incidents, an author of the study alleged Monday. The Vienna-based European Union Monitoring Center on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) commissioned the report by the Center for Research on Anti-Semitism at Berlin's Technical University after an upsurge in anti-Semitic violence in early 2002.The EUMC declined to release the findings after senior officials at the monitoring center said that there were problems with the data used.But Juliane Wetzel, a co-author of the report,...