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Clinton to visit refugee camp in Macedonia COLOGNE, Germany, June 19 (Reuters) - U.S. President Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary will visit a refugee camp in Macedonia on Tuesday in a show of support for ethnic Albanians waiting to return to Kosovo, the White House said on Saturday. National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said the Clintons would also travel to the NATO airbase at Aviano, Italy, to congratulate the NATO and U.S. air crews that carried out the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia that forced Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to capitulate to allied demands. Clinton would meet leaders of Macedonia ...

Italy passes reforms to improve health care ROME, June 19 (Reuters) - The Italian government has approved disputed reforms designed to improve health care quality and provide patients with more options for treatment. The reforms, passed late Friday, force physicians working in state-run hospitals to give up private practice, and require doctors to retire at 67 rather than 75. Hospital department heads, now appointed for life, will be required to appear every five years before a panel of experts, who will decide whether to not to renew their assignments. The reforms allow local governments to set up insurance systems to ...

Gay Priest Bypassed for Bishop By BEN DOBBIN The Associated Press BATH, N.Y. (AP) - An Episcopal Church of America diocese elected a Newark, N.J., priest as its next bishop Saturday, narrowly bypassing a New Hampshire candidate hoping to become the church's first openly gay bishop. After five ballots, the Diocese of Rochester in western New York chose the Rev. Jack McKelvey ahead of the Rev. V. Gene Robinson and three other nominees to succeed retiring Bishop William G. Burrill at year-end. McKelvey, 57, a bishop suffragan or assisting bishop of the Newark Diocese for nine years and a priest ...

Over the past few months since Congressmen Bob Barr and Ron Paul discovered that somehow, due to some impossible to explain "error," Americans will be carrying a brand new national drivers' license next October. Barr and Paul are still attempting to get a moratorium on its implementation, but it is not likely they will be successful since the national driver's license that was "accidentally" created by an "unexplainable" congressional snafu in which the "law" that creates it was piecemealed through Congress in three separate pieces of legislation. Since the national drivers' license is a global ID card (i.e., internal passport) ...

  Senator Robert C. Carpenter North Carolina General Assembly 517 Legislative Office Building Raleigh, North Carolina 27601 (919) 733-5875 Robertc@ms.ncga.state.nc.us NEWS RELEASE: Saturday, June 19, 1999 ------- Carpenter Defends Highway Trust Fund Raleigh – Western North Carolina Senator Bob Carpenter rejoiced when the N.C. House passed and forwarded its budget proposal to the Senate. The House budget included language ending the practice of raiding the state’s Highway Trust Fund for other spending programs. Senator Bob’s rejoicing, however, turned downcast, last week, after Senate Democrat leaders restored the state’s habit of dipping into the Highway Trust, to the tune of ...

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 ...