Free Republic

Once upon a time there was a wicked vizier who was jealous of the sultan's power and sought the throne for himself. He did everything he could to undermine the sultan's authority by making him seem to be a weak and ineffectual leader. The vizier arranged for the sultan's fastest runner to be cut off at the knees, then screamed at the runner for failing to win a 24-mile race. He hung an anchor around the neck of the sultan's best swimmer, then protested that it was "an outrage" when the swimmer failed to beat swimmers from other nations across...

<p>A medical examiner's report on the death of diet guru Dr. Robert Atkins suggests that he had a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension.</p> <p>The document, a report of external examination from the chief medical examiner's office in New York, also says that at his death Dr. Atkins weighed 258 pounds. Dr. Atkins died in April last year at age 72 of a head injury from a fall on ice while walking to work. The report attributes the death to a "blunt impact injury of head." The report was sent to The Wall Street Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates a vegetarian diet and has long been critical of the Atkins approach.</p>

The nearly 165,000 people around the world who lost money to former PTL televangelist Jim Bakker will soon get some money back: $6.54 each. The deal approved by a judge Friday ends a 15-year battle in criminal and civil courts that dethroned the flamboyant preacher, defamed his television ministry and left hundreds of victims going to their graves without compensation. U.S. District Court Judge Lacy Thornburg of North Carolina's Western District gave a Charlotte law firm 30 days to hand out the money to those who sued Bakker in civil court after he was found guilty in 1989 of wire...

Bush is a shameless charlatan, says Pyongyang By Sang-Hun Choe in Seoul 31 January 2003 North Korea called George Bush a "shameless charlatan" and his State of the Union address an "undisguised declaration of aggression" yesterday. A Foreign Ministry spokesman said the North would never allow the US to "wantonly encroach upon its sovereignty and dignity". Mr Bush had described North Korea's government as an "oppressive regime" that "rules a people living in fear and starvation". Relations with Washington have deteriorated since October when American officials said North Korea had admitted having a nuclear programme in violation of a 1994...

Jesse Jackson biographer Kenneth R. Timmerman said Tuesday night that there's "a strong possibility" the celebrated civil rights leader could soon find himself under indictment for illegally funneling tax-exempt money into Democratic Party political campaigns. "Jesse Jackson has been using nonprofit dollars for political campaigns, especially during campaign 2000 and campaign 1996. That's just flatly illegal," Timmerman told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly. When asked whether the financial wrongdoing could lead to a Jackson indictment, Timmerman contended, "I think there's a strong possibility. The evidence is against him." Timmerman's book, "Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson," is the first investigative...