Free Republic

Daniel Weintraub: There's no shame in doing nothing for Edison(Published July 24, 2001) To understand why state lawmakers are inching closer to handing over billions of dollars of consumers' money to California's second-largest utility, you need to appreciate the collective psyche of the Legislature. Not appreciate as in enjoy. But appreciate in a scientific way, in the manner of an anthropologist studying the mores of a foreign culture. Confronted with a big problem, legislators think they need to solve it. Doing nothing is not a comfortable option. It makes them feel ineffective and impotent. When the governor is demanding ...

Jesuit Vocations: Life of St. Ignatius A Biography of Ignatius Loyola The Life of St. Ignatius of Loyolaby Rev. Norman O'Neal, S.J.Early Life of St. IgnatiusInigo de Loyola was born in 1491 in Azpeitia in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa in northern Spain. He was the youngest of thirteen children. At the age of sixteen years he was sent to serve as a page to Juan Velazquez, the treasurer of the kingdom of Castile. As a member of the Velazquez household, he was frequently at court and developed a taste for all it presented, especially the ladies. He was much ...

Remember those men who drug James Byrd to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas? Two were sentenced to death; the third to life in prison. He avoided the death penalty by agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors in the trial. Even though these men received the maximum penalty for their crimes, the incident still became the primary example in a drive for a new “hate crime” law in Texas? Just what was that law supposed to accomplish that had not already been done with the two death sentences? Consider this. Are these so-called “hate crime” laws really just a ...

U.S. SAYS SYRIA PRODUCES BIO WEAPONS WASHINGTON [MENL] -- The United States has accused Iran, Iraq and Syria of producing biological weapons. U.S. officials said these programs are in violation of the 1972 ban on biological weapons. The accusation was the first that publicly identified Damascus as being engaged in both chemical and biological weapons. The accusation was made by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and later supported by Secretary of State Colin Powell. The two secretaries were attending a meeting in Canberra, Australia. "When the treaty was signed, it was clear the people participating thought it was not verifiable," ...

Lawyers close to Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson say he is devastated by the nearly unprecedented rebuke of his conduct by the US Court of Appeals. The nation's second-highest court was unanimously critical of Jackson's handling of the Microsoft antitrust case and ordered that a new judge hear subsequent motions. The court said Jackson was guilty of judicial misconduct through highly improper public comments both on and off the record while the case was under consideration. Jackson came under similar criticisms during his handling of former DC Mayor Marion Barry's cocaine trial, but this was the first time he'd been so ...

MIDI - YOU'RE SO VAIN -- use the second version He's walking to the building just like a rock star onto a stage His coat strategically held in his left hand He's hiding a secret rage He has one eye on the girls as he's checking out hot ones' age And he has dreams that tonight he'll be scoring...he will be scoring Oh, where's his brain...it must be in the pants he is wearing Where is his brain...he keeps it in the pants he is wearing...Gary, Gary He started this many years ago...he never has been naïve He had ...

Received today via email: Dear friends and colleagues, Pardon the mass mailing, but time is important here. Poul Anderson has left Alta Bates hospital in Berkeley and is in hospice care at the Anderson home in Orinda. His daughter Astrid, his brother John and his niece Janet are flying in today to be with him. When I spoke with Poul the day before yesterday, he was weak but lucid; both Poul and Karen welcome email messages. Their email is trigonier@earthlink.net. Karen has supported Poul with courage and creativity during his month-long stay at Alta Bates. She has prepared meals of ...

America Wants To Know: Who the Hell is Barbara Olson? Olson, a loathsome talking head and central character in the VR-WC, gave an interview last week to the London Telegraph. In that interview, she called Bill Clinton's late mother -- a courageous, loving working woman, who raised her son as a single mom and then had to deal with an alcoholic husband (maybe Laura Bush has something to say about that particular difficulty) -- a "barfly." She also contrasted President Clinton's mother negatively with Barbara Bush: "Is your mother a barfly who gets used by men? Or is your mother ...

ACKNOWLEDGES CONCERN OVER EGYPT'S NO-DONG WASHINGTON [MENL] -- For the first time, the Bush administration has publicly expressed concern over the prospect that Egypt has developed a No-Dong-class intermediate-range missile with North Korean help. Administration officials have acknowledged that the Egyptian No-Dong issue has become an issue between Cairo and Washington as well as between the White House and Congress. The officials said the State Department is taking the lead on the issue. Assistant Secretary of State William Burns was asked about Egypt on Thursday during a hearing of the House International Relations subcommittee on the Middle East and South ...

A Nashville man, taunted because he was carrying his girlfriend's purse as he led a blind male friend into a restroom, was shot to death by his tormentor early yesterday in the Opry Mills parking lot. Willie B. Huston, 38, of 1704 Edmondson Pike, suffered a single gunshot wound to the chest and died during surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center shortly after the 3:10 a.m. attack, Metro homicide detective Sgt. John Lash said. The gunman is a black man who weighs an estimated 200-220 pounds, stands about 5 feet, 6 inches tall and is about 25-30 years old. He ...

WASHINGTON, July 31 (UPI) - The beliefs that Western cities sprawl most because residents rely heavily on cars, and that Northeastern and Midwestern cities have higher population densities is not accurate, a joint report from a Washington think tank and a California-based research group says. In "Who Sprawls Most? How Growth Patterns Differ Across the U.S.," which the authors describe as the first national study on the topic -- researchers from the Ventura, Calif.-based Solimar Research Group examined the growth of urbanized land in comparison to population change for every metropolitan area in the United States. The study was ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (July 31, 2001 10:49 a.m. EDT) - Gov. Gray Davis' press secretary says he owns stock in the same California energy company as five state consultants who were fired because of worries over conflict of interest. Steve Maviglio confirmed Monday that on June 20 he bought 300 shares of stock in Calpine Corp., a San Jose-based power generator that has received about $13 billion in state contracts to supply electricity for up to 20 years. Secretary of State Bill Jones called for Maviglio's termination. Jones is a candidate for the GOP nomination to challenge Davis in November ...

Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Av 11, 5761 Israel Time: 08:56 (GMT+3) Tensions run high over Temple Mount around Tisha B'Av fast By Moshe Reinfeld, Ha'aretz Correspondent and Itim News Service The row over the Temple Mount Faithful's demand to lay a cornerstone on the top of the Temple Mount on Sunday continued Saturday, with Communications Minister and acting Public Security Minister Reuven Rivlin saying that the group would not be allowed access to the Mount to lay the marble stone. Jerusalem Police on Saturday accused the Islamic movement of provocation and of attempting to inflame the issue of the ...

BY T. W. ("BILL") CARR, ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER DEFENSE & FOREIGN AFFAIRS PUBLICATIONS, LONDON. PRESENTED AT THE SYMPOSIUM ON THE BALKAN WAR YUGOSLAVIA: PAST AND PRESENT CHICAGO, AUGUST 31 - SEPTEMBER 1, 1995 Introduction On June 12, 1994, US President William Clinton made a "symbolic" speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin in which he made it clear to the world that a reunited Germany was the United States' key European partner in bringing about a new world order. At associated meetings he referred to Chancellor Helmut Kohl as: "Helmut is my principal partner in Europe" . . . and ...

Police authorities across the country on Tuesday kept up the crackdown of electoral law violations in Sunday's House of Councillors election with more arrests reported in Chiba, Shiga, Yamanashi, Hiroshima and Fukuoka prefectures. In Chiba Prefecture, the police arrested a 58-year-old woman in Katsuura on suspicion of tampering with the ballot, by taking three female acquaintances to the local absentee voting station on separate occasions and giving them pieces of paper bearing the name of Yuichiro Uozumi, a successful candidate from the New Komeito party. In Moriyama, Shiga, the police arrested the head nurse of the Shiga medical center ...

Welcome to BaseCamp In the world of mountaineering, BaseCamp is where a climb begins. It's where the big tents get set up; where the food and fuel are stored. It's the fallback point in case of bad weather - the place everyone agrees to gather. So it is at FreeRepublic. Thanks to JR, we immigrants from TOS have been blessed with this space to launch our individual summit bids on the Mt. Everest of the world's political websites. If you run into a storm on the Forum, fall back to BaseCamp ! Stock up on nourishment, advice, or asbestos ...

Woman sues to become moose  Newfane, Vermont-AP -- A Vermont woman has gone to court in hopes of becoming a moose. Susan Lawlor is challenging the tradition that only men can be full-fledged members of the Loyal Order of Moose. Lawlor says the Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge 527 in Bellows Falls discriminated against her because woman are not allowed full membership. Instead, they're allowed to become "Women of the Moose." And Lawlor says women are expected to serve Lodge members and their guests. Lawlor also claims that she and two other women were terminated from their jobs at ...

reprinted from http://www.sianews.com "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Voltaire (1694 - 1778) Lately I’ve been hearing a lot of discussion on “hate speech.” For those of you who haven’t heard this wonderful term yet, “hate speech” is speech that may offend someone or hurt their precious feelings. Many people out there like the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), and GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) want to outlaw “hate speech.” Example- a few years back, Dr. Laura called homosexuality “deviant” on her television show and got crucified ...

A Plot for the Farmers Without a national farmers' organization, experts argue, rural discontent could explode. Beijing worries such a group could threaten its strategy of urban growth By Bruce Gilley/BEIJING Issue cover-dated August 02, 2001 CHINA HAS A women's organization. It has a students' organization. It has organizations for youths, consumers, journalists and writers. It even has one for Taoists. But there is one group that has long been denied its own official national body: farmers. The formal reason is that communist China was founded for and led by farmers and workers. Therefore, Beijing argues, their interests are ...

Note to FREEPers: My wife challenged me to allow her to speak out on an issue. Being the nice guy I am, I did so, hoping that JimRob and the Freepers would understand. The following liberal psychobabble does not necessarily represent my views. Thank you, The Overseer RIGHT-WING HYPOCRISY ON DAVID BROCK There's a lot of discussion about David Brock's forthcoming book about the right-wing in America and his second thoughts about his place. Brock was at the height of conservative popularity after publishing two books, one on Anita Hill and the other on Hillary Clinton. The books, Brock now ...