Free Republic

Doctors Perform Fetal Brain Surgery By KARIN MILLER The Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Sleeping in his mother's cradled arms, Neal Borkowski appears to be a typical baby, developing like most five-week-olds. But little Neal may owe his normalcy - and his life - to an amazing procedure performed on him even before his birth. In what is believed to be a surgical first, doctors opened his mother's uterus two months before Neal was born and performed surgery to relieve a buildup of water on the brain, a condition that leaves one in every 2,000 babies severely brain-damaged. Surgeons ...

COLOGNE, Germany — President Clinton will tour economically distressed parts of the United States from July 5 to 8 to call attention to the need for new investment in the rural and urban communities, the White House said Saturday. Clinton will be joined by a bipartisan delegation of business representatives and members of Congress on a trip that will take him across the country. White House spokesman Joe Lockhart, with Clinton in Germany during a European tour, said Clinton will begin his trip in the depressed Appalachia area of the Kentucky Highlands and then will travel to Clarksdale, Mississippi, a ...

What is Hillary saying??

Web posted 6/18/99 at 2:30 p.m. EDT (Manchester, NH) - Steve Forbes, Republican presidential candidate, today announced a list of 321 supporters and activists who will organize the Forbes campaign's efforts in 144 New Hampshire cities and towns. Mr. Forbes made the following remarks: "Today, I'm pleased to unveil the most comprehensive New Hampshire ground organization to date. My campaign has the support of the most savvy and knowledgeable political veterans in the Granite State. And it is a tremendous honor to have drawn in so many political newcomers - their fresh perspectives and insights are welcome and essential. ...

The Russian contingent that declared its sovereignty over Pristina's airport is a stark sign of how deeply the Kosovo war has eroded the already deteriorating US-Russian relationship. Although we still don't know who made the decision to send in the Russian troops, Boris Yeltsin seems to have signed on after the fact, if not before. What we don't know is whether Yeltsin was convinced of the wisdom of the action or whether it was in effect imposed on him. Whatever the origin of the move, the fact and symbolism of those 200 Russian troops racing across the border from Bosnia, ...

An End Run Around the Internet Tax Moratorium? A coalition of state and local government groups will try to hammer out its own Net tax plan Who needs an Internet Tax Commission to tax sales on the Net? Not governors, legislators, or local officials. Business Week has learned that a coalition of seven state and local government groups -- including the National Governors' Assn. and the U.S. Conference of Mayors -- will try to do an end run around the congressionally mandated commission due to meet for the first time on June 21-22 in Williamsburg, Va. They hope to ...

he future role of the Kosovo Liberation Army has become the blind spot in the Kosovo peace plan. NATO is attempting to shed light on the issue by meeting with KLA leaders to discuss "demilitarization," but the ensuing debate has become more pedantic than practical. Under the current plan, NATO will still leave hundreds of thousands of small arms--assault rifles, handguns and grenades--in the hands of the KLA. The term "demilitarization" has gradually replaced "disarmament," both in the U.N. Security Council resolution and at NATO headquarters. In a Defense Department briefing on June 15, Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon explained the ...

This newly created NATO Pilot's IQ test just got to me from Belgrade. A QUESTIONNAIRE - FOR NATO PILOTS ONLY-: 1. WE (NATO PILOTS) ARE BOMBING TELEVISION, RADIO AND INTERNET STATIONS AND RELAYS IN YUGOSLAVIA BECAUSE: a) we are teaching the Yugoslavs about the freedom of speech b) we are showing the Yugoslavs what is real democracy c) because we are true patriots-we like only American programs, news, movies and music 2. COLATERAL DAMAGES IS: a) dead women and children b) captured soldiers c) who cares anyway as long as it's not me? 3. WE (NATO PILOTS) ARE KILLING ...

California Changes GOP Primary Plan By SCOTT LINDLAW The Associated Press ONTARIO, Calif. (AP) - California Republican party leaders voted Saturday to change their presidential primary from a ``winner-take-all'' system to one that would allow multiple candidates to split the state's many delegates. The party's executive committee voted 52-12 to change the system for California's March 7, 2000 primary. Backers of the change said it would make the candidates focus their campaigns earlier and thus help produce stronger party support for the eventual presidential nominee. But it was also seen as a signal to the perceived front-runner, Texas Gov. George ...

The Essay Of The Week winner this week is: Norman Liebmann (firehat) Prevail, Zon, Prometheus, Joanie-f, are given honorable mention as first, second, third and fourth runners up. Hflynn takes the honors for Quote Of The Week. Don't miss our Bonus Bytes from: Marathon, Common Tator, Boris, Joe Montana, Question Assumptions, Midmich, KC Burke, FrogMom, DugwayDuke, Bruinbirdman, Cvengr, Anochka, Is Cus'n, Ron C, FloridaCracker, Republic, Buckeroo, Jai, Donh, SauronOfMordor, VeritatisSplendor, R9etb, Hugin, Theresa, Fraudbuster, Gritty. Having tracked the writing of fellow Freepers for several months, I have noticed that some weeks are very different from other weeks in the amount ...

Since the loss of the link to the alley chatroom, freepers have needed a place to chat. Here it is. Visit and chat a bit with your fellow freepers. WelcomeToFreeperville!

Colorodans Seek Violence Protection By ROBIN McDOWELL The Associated Press DENVER (AP) - Denver's police chief on Saturday said security might have to supersede students' rights in the wake of the Columbine massacre, and others called for school prayer, gun control and stronger families to prevent another killing spree. ``Maybe we have to close off the campuses, so kids cannot leave the school grounds for lunch,'' the police chief, Tom Sanchez, said at a summit on school safety attended by teen-agers, public officials and national experts. ``Maybe kids will have to give up some of their individual rights.'' Gov. Bill ...

WRAPUP-Fierce fighting reported in Kashmir By Narayanan Madhavan NEW DELHI, June 19 (Reuters) - India reported fierce fighting in Kashmir on Saturday as its ground troops pushed ahead with a weeks-long offensive to flush out guerrillas from snowy mountain heights. New Delhi said it enjoyed international support because major nations had identified a Pakistani role in the infiltration in the disputed region, while Islamabad has made a counter-move to win international support. But Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said the conflict must be settled bilaterally. The conflict has pushed the two nuclear-capable states into their worst confrontation in nearly 30 ...

Kashmir rebels have height edge - India air chief By Syed Amin Jafri HYDERABAD, India, June 19 (Reuters) - Indian troops will take time to evict Pakistan-backed infiltrators in Kashmir because they enjoy a strategic advantage of height, India's air force chief said on Saturday. ``It is difficult to push the infiltrators out immediately. They are on the top of the hills and a few are enough to dominate a large area,'' Air Chief Marshal A.Y. Tipnis told reporters in the southern city of Hyderabad. India's fighter jets began pounding positions inside its side of Kashmir's ceasefire line on May ...

Serb leader urges refugee return to Kosovo By Deborah Charles BELGRADE, June 19 (Reuters) - A senior Serbian official on Saturday urged Serbs who have fled Kosovo to return to their homes within the next 48 hours, saying the government would accompany them, provide fuel and organise their return. Milovan Bojic, deputy prime minister of Serbia, said institutions in Kosovo were still working and the KFOR international peacekeeping force had guaranteed the safety of all citizens in Kosovo, regardless of their nationality. ``We should make the most of this moment to go back to Kosovo in numbers in the next ...

SNIPThe fact that Ferguson bought the 9-mm. Ruger legally in a state (California) that has some of the tougher restrictions on buying guns, and used it in New York, a state that also has some of the strictest gun controls, shows how ineffectual our gun control laws are. The Brady bill, which took years to pass and was hailed as a breakthrough in creating a national system of gun control, could have done nothing to stop Ferguson. Sheryl McCarthy, Rampage Theories Miss The Key Point. , Newsday, 12-13-1993, pp 03.

Mattel Stifles Tarzan's Hand Action EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Mattel Inc. is changing the packaging of its Tarzan action figure after some people said the doll's movements were sexually suggestive. Raising the right arm of the 12-inch-high ``Rad Repeatin' Tarzan'' switches on a recording of his jungle yell. The problem is that the spring-loaded arm can be pumped rapidly up and down from Tarzan's chest to below his loin cloth, a motion that some people call suggestive. Although nobody has complained to the company, Tarzan's performance has been noted in messages on some Internet chat rooms since the doll ...

Milosevic won't free Australians - Downer By Deborah Charles BELGRADE, June 19 (Reuters) - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said on Saturday Yugoslavia has rejected his request to free two Australian aid workers detained during NATO's bombing campaign. Downer, who arrived in Belgrade on Friday to try to secure the release of CARE Australia workers Steve Pratt and Peter Wallace, said Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic refused, citing domestic political concerns. ``The difficulty here at the end of the day is the balance of domestic political factors,'' Downer told reporters. ``He is clearly of the view he does not want to ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Most of the 45 House Democrats who bucked their party by voting to loosen background checks at gun shows hail from districts with lots of hunters or other conservative voters. They're much more likely than other Democrats to have received donations from the National Rifle Association. And some had to stave off strong Republican challenges last fall. "Democrats are reflecting, in many of these cases, their constituents and their districts," said Democratic political consultant Peter Fenn. The bill that carried the divisive amendment ultimately failed in the House on Friday, but the battle over the amendment ...

By The Associated Press UROSEVAC, Yugoslavia (AP) -- William Cohen walked into a hero's welcome Saturday in this war-weary town in southeastern Kosovo. Chants of ``USA, USA'' and ``Cohen, Cohen'' -- thank-yous for a new future -- greeted the American defense secretary. ``Hello, peacemakers,'' one ethnic Albanian man shouted as Cohen and his entourage strolled in bright sunshine through Urosevac's main square to meet Army airborne troops who are in the vanguard of a rapidly expanding NATO peacekeeping force. Another man, overcome with joy, grabbed Cohen in a long bear hug and kissed him firmly on the cheek as U.S. ...