Free Republic

PRISTINA, Yugoslavia, July 31 (Reuters) - NATO-led peacekeepers have arrested three men suspected of extorting money in Kosovo to finance ethnic Albanian guerrillas in neighbouring Macedonia, a spokesman said on Tuesday. Peacekeepers found 3,000 German marks ($1,343) and ID cards of the guerrilla National Liberation Army (NLA) in a black BMW car stopped in the southern Kosovo town of Prizren on Monday, said spokesman Squadron Leader Roy Brown. After questioning the three men in it, peacekeepers searched their houses, where they found materials implicating the men in the extortion of funds, he told Reuters. "This was extortion to raise ...

Legislators from her own party are questioning the emphasis put on overseas travel. For her role in last year's election recount that led to a George W. Bush victory, Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris has been the darling of Republicans across the nation. But closer to home, Harris' forays overseas are under fire from legislators from her own party. Buried on page 363 of the 420-page state budget is the creation of a special review committee to look at the $3.4-million Harris budgeted for international relations this year and the money spent since she took office. Legislative leaders are ...

A FEW WEEKS AGO I was lucky enough to get a good connection with the late James Jesus Angleton, long-time head of CIA counterintelligence, on the Chandra Levy/Gary Condit matter. Angleton pointed out that since Condit was a member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, he would be a prime target for recruitment by hostile intelligence services operating in Washington, which in turn might explain the disappearance of Chandra Levy. Since the living have not made noticeable progress, I revved up my ancestral ouija board and tried again. After bit, the words started to arrive. "Nothing's happening is it? ...

In a cloud of dust, a Red Cross truck arrives in this northwest Macedonian hamlet where seething Macedonian Slav refugees are queueing to receive their first small packages of international assistance. "We have become become refugees on our own territory," said one elderly Macedonian man on crutches, looking tearfully at his wife, as they queued up in the heavy sun to obtain the first ration tickets of their life. They are among 350 inhabitants of the village of Lesok who have fled and taken refuge in Zilce, following intense fighting over the past week near the flashpoint northwest town ...

News Max/Comment Max Eradicating the U.S. Constitution by Design Steve Farrell July 31, 2001 (Democrats in Drag: Third Way Fall From Grace, Part 5) Read previous articles in the series: Foreword Part 1. Technology, Sovereignty and the Third Wave Part 2. Clinton and Blair's Center-Left Democracy Part 3. Gingrich, Toffler and Gore: A Peculiar Trio Part 4: Groveling in the Gutter of the Gulags A half-century ago, in a classic exchange between two men on opposite ends of the moral and political spectrum, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev bragged to American patriot and Secretary of Agriculture Ezra Taft Benson: "Your ...

A concern for social justice is necessarily woven throughout the fabric of a fully formed Catholic conscience. It serves as the "crossbeams and walls of the living house of God," as our Bishops have so eloquently stated. Yet right at the very foundation of our house, an insidious evil lurks which threatens to undermine our efforts to construct a solid and Godly structure. Month in and month out, good-hearted, well-intentioned Catholics unwittingly direct their almsgiving towards organizations committed to funding so-called "abortion rights" activities. What’s worse is that this situation has existed for many years right under our noses, masked ...

Three black ministers called Monday for an end to the NAACP's economic boycott of South Carolina over the placement of the Confederate battle flag on Statehouse grounds. The flag battle is hurting the state and should come to an end, two local pastors and a Washington D.C. pastor and former government official said. They said they represent about 25 local black ministers and businessmen and said they can secure 200,000 signatures — from all ethnic backgrounds — to send to state and national NAACP leaders. "The war is over; the flag is down," said Lowell Gilliard, a Washington D.C. Baptist ...

Freep this poll on Virginia's race for Governor. Please go to web site and vote for Republican Mark Earley. http://www.political1.com/Virginia/virginia.asp

Posted at 1:12 a.m. PDT Monday, July 30, 2001 Davis to challenge power refund decision BY KAREN GAUDETTE Associated Press Gov. Gray Davis today will appeal a decision by federal energy regulators that could slash the amount California receives in electricity refunds to less than half of what the state contends it is owed. For months, Davis and other state officials have asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to find electricity prices charged since May 2000 to be unjust and unreasonable -- prices which climbed 10 times higher than in past years. The state contends it is owed $8.9 billion. ...

30-Jul-2001 -- ZENIT.org News AgencyZENIT material may not be reproduced without permission. Permission can be requested at info@zenit.org ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT: "THE EVIL OF EMBRYO DESTRUCTION" Archbishop Chaput on Stem Cell ResearchDENVER, Colorado, (Zenit.org).- ZENIT is reprinting a column written by Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput on the topic of human embryos and stem-cell research. U.S. President George W. Bush is now deciding whether to allow federal funds for such research.* * *In embryonic stem cell research, end does not justify the meansBy Archbishop Charles Chaput, O.F.M. Cap.In the debate over federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, some of the massive ...

Considerate guests use the gas station bathroom By DAVE BARRY I received a letter from a reader named Dick Demers, who relates a shocking story: It seems Dick and his wife had driven a long distance to visit his wife's sister. Wishing to refresh himself, Dick went into the guest bathroom, took a shower, then dried himself off. That's the story. Pretty shocking, huh? Dick's wife thought so. She was horrified. ``You used the GOOD TOWELS!'' she said. And he had. It's a mistake many guys make. A guy will be in a guest bathroom, dripping wet, and he sees ...

Fort A.P. Hill, Va. (CNSNews.com) - The Boy Scouts' values "are the values of America," President Bush told 32,000 boys attending the National Boy Scout Jamboree at a Virginia military base.In videotaped remarks played for the crowd on Monday, President Bush told the Scouts gathered at Fort A.P. Hill, "Every society depends on trust and loyalty, on courtesy and kindness, on bravery and reverence." He thanked the Scout for their service to their communities, and he commended them for upholding "values that build strong families, strong communities, and strong character.""Times and challenges change, yet the values of Scouting will ...

(CNSNews.com) - A California group is working to elevate the social status of pets by granting them legal rights of their own. The group "In Defense of Animals" (IDA), also wants to change the language of local laws so pet "owners" are referred to as pet "guardians" instead. "This simple wording change is an effort to elevate the status of animals beyond that of mere property to that of living, breathing sentient individuals with needs and rights of their own," IDA's website explains. Boulder, Colo., was the first city to include the term "guardian" in its local laws last July. ...

(CNSNews.com) - Another city has wielded its influence to boycott the Boy Scouts.The mayor of Gloucester, Mass., cancelled a city-sponsored funding drive for the United Way because of the group's allegiance to the embattled Scouts, according to Sunday's Boston Herald.The Scouts' policy against homosexual leaders angered Gloucester Mayor Bruce Tobey, who cut a program that let city employees donate money to the United Way. "You don't take a first step on the slippery slope of discrimination," Tobey told the Gloucester Daily Times. "The Boy Scouts do a good service for a lot of people, but the good cannot be coupled ...

Davis' top spokesman bought stock in power firm Adviser denies conflict of interest Lynda Gledhill, Chronicle Sacramento Bureau   Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Sacramento -- Already on the defensive over its energy advisers' financial holdings, Gov. Gray Davis' administration came under fresh attack yesterday when his chief spokesman admitted buying $12,000 worth of Calpine Corp. stock last month. Steve Maviglio, Davis' acting director of communications, denied that his purchase of the San Jose energy company's stock constituted a conflict of interest. He said he would sell the stock if Davis or administration lawyers asked him to. "I invested in a ...

Whilst the mass media used a fake Radavan Karadzic interview without any checks, the real reasons behind it are sure to shock, another Mao exclusive. For a brief moment it appeared to be a media bombshell. A small Croatian newspaper had succeeded in doing what CNN, the BBC and other mighty media organisations had failed to do. Seemingly they had convinced none other than Radovan Karadzic to give an interview after five years of devout silence. The so-called ‘exclusive’ with the former Bosnian Serb leader was published on April 6th in the tiny weekly newspaper BiH Danas. From this starting ...

QUICKLY now, who said it? "The great object is that every man be armed. ... Everyone who is able may have a gun." Most Americans of the liberal/left persuasion, the ones who believe guns are evil, might think it's Charlton Heston, president of the National Rifle Association. These days, lefty anti-gun nuts think of Heston as something akin to the Antichrist. They revile the NRA with a passion previously reserved for the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis. So Heston, of course, would be their prime suspect. No. 2 on the list would be anyone associated with the NRA. But, as ...

July 31, 2001 Davis' Energy Advisors Draw SEC Attention Probe: Under review is the possible use of inside information to buy power company stocks. GOP rival of governor requested the inquiry.          By WALTER HAMILTON JEFFERY L. RABIN and DARYL KELLEY, TIMES STAFF WRITERS The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a preliminary inquiry into whether energy consultants advising Gov. Gray Davis used inside information to trade stocks of power companies doing business with the state, a source with knowledge of the matter said Monday. The federal agency began its review late last week, the source said, ...

U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci has fired a rhetorical cruise missile across the bow of this country over our pitiful commitment to defence spending. And who can blame him? For decades we have sat comfortably in the shadow of our southern neighbour, secure in the knowledge that even if we strip our military into insignificance, the Americans will ride to the rescue. So we shouldn't be too shocked when the Americans remind us of our freeloader status, especially when it comes to NORAD and NATO. Okay, Cellucci didn't go quite that far. He merely offered a rather pointed reminder, couched ...

NEW YORK (AP) - Former President Clinton and Grammy-winning record producer and singer Kenneth ''Babyface'' Edmonds are teaming up to fight AIDS in Africa. Clinton, who moved into his post-presidential office in Harlem on Monday, was to hold a news conference with Edmonds on Tuesday to announce a new fund-raising and educational initiative to combat AIDS. Peter Paris, a spokesman for the International AIDS Trust, said Edmonds would go on a fact-finding tour through African communities ravaged by AIDS, and would raise money to fight the disease by staging concerts and producing a CD. Thousands of supporters greeted Clinton at ...