Free Republic

WASHINGTON - Female and male lawmakers work together in committee meetings and on the House floor, but they aren't working out together in the exclusive gym for House members. Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky., says the 62 female House members are discouraged from exercising in the gym in the basement of the Sam Rayburn Building across Independence Avenue from the Capitol. "Some of the best scuttlebutt has been settled over a run on the treadmill. A lot of business has been done in the gym," said Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif. On Northup's request, a "Committee on the Gym" will study any ...

OHRID, Macedonia (AP) -- A Macedonian police officer died early Wednesday in a gun attack by ethnic Albanian rebels, while internationally mediated peace talks continued in an effort to end five months of conflict, state radio reported. On the outskirts of the tense and mostly ethnic Albanian-populated northwestern city of Tetovo, militants opened fire on a police checkpoint, killing an officer. It increased the death toll on the government side to 41 since clashes began in February, the radio said. In what appeared to be the worst blow to rebels' ranks so far, five senior officers of the ethnic ...

I work in a bank office with quite a few young adults (20-30). I can't believe what just happened. I walked into the back room where 3 of the young girls were discussing the W check we will be receiving. They were disgusted that they would have to pay taxes on it and owe it again next yr !!! I asked them what they were talking about that no taxes were due and they were adamant that they read it in the paper that not only are taxes going to be due on it, but that they wouldn't be receiving ...

"How You Can Stop Abortion In America!" Do you want to stop abortion in America? Now you can. We don't know each other, but it's time we did. My name is Norma McCorvey. You probably know me best as "Jane Roe." That's what I was called as the original plaintiff in the "Roe v. Wade" Supreme Court case that legalized abortion on demand. Believe it or not, after many years working for abortion clinics, I rejected the "pro-choice" position I once had, renounced my part in Roe v. Wade, and I now work to reverse the tragedy of abortion in ...

John Woodfolk remembers cutting Chandra Levy a duplicate set of house keys in early May.    The fact that three investigators showed up to interview him Tuesday shows how many questions remain unanswered in the search now 3 months old.    By his account, Woodfolk could be the last person known to have seen Levy before her disappearance. She was last heard from, via e-mail, on May 1. That was just about the time, Woodfolk claims, that he made keys for her at the hardware store where he works.    "I know it was her, because she left her name on the (key) ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People closely resembling the prehistoric Jomon of Japan crossed a land bridge from Asia into the Americas as the last Ice Age waned 15,000 years ago to become the first human inhabitants of the Western Hemisphere, according to a study published on Tuesday. An international team of researchers led by C. Loring Brace of the University of Michigan's Museum of Anthropology said those people gave rise to the native inhabitants south of what is now the border between Canada and the United States. The findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, represent the ...

Carey Under 'Psychiatric Care' By Nekesa Mumbi Moody AP Music Writer Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001; 1:09 p.m. EDT NEW YORK –– Mariah Carey is under psychiatric care following last week's hospitalization, which her publicist now says was the result of an "emotional and physical breakdown."

The past, present and future of the universe is about to be revealed in unprecedented detail by Britain's biggest academic supercomputer, called the Cosmology Machine, based at the University of Durham. Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Patricia Hewitt launched the “time machine” on its first simulation program today when she switched on the £1.4 million state-of-the-art installation at the University’s Physics Department. The Cosmology Machine takes data from billions of observations about the behavior of stars, gases, galaxies and the mysterious dark matter throughout the universe and then calculates, at ultra high speed, how galaxies and solar systems formed and ...

WASHINGTON - At least 22,000 Web sites were infected and fears of an Internet-wide slowdown persisted Wednesday as the viruslike "Code Red" worm began to take hold. But officials remained hopeful that enough computers were inoculated to avoid major interruptions. The infection rate seems to be on par with the worm's first outbreak last month, said Alan Paller, research director at the Sans Institute, a computer security think tank working with the government to monitor the Internet. If it continues at its current rate, "We'll see some substantial effects as we did on (July) 19th." Government officials said the ...

Palestinian hopes for Arab summit fade as Egypt pours on cold water CAIRO, Aug 1 (AFP) - Palestinian hopes for an emergency Arab summit to address the deteriorating situation in the region faded on Wednesday, as Egypt poured cold water on the idea during a visit by Yasser Arafat. "It is illogical to consider a summit every time something happens," Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said after meeting the Palestinian leader in Borg el-Arab on the Mediterranean coast. "What use would a summit be now?" Mubarak said he favoured intensifying ongoing efforts in the region and called on the United States ...

What are we doing to children? They can no longer have imaginations. They can no longer have innocent flirtations, even in the first grade. And worse, they can no longer do the right thing and get a hero's appreciation. They have become victims of a totalitarian nightmare called "zero tolerance." First graders have been suspended for sexual harassment for stealing a kiss from a fellow classmate. Others have been charged with drug possession for sharing an aspirin. Still others have felt the wrath of the intolerant for having politically incorrect thoughts written in class papers. The outrages continue to pile ...

Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in KosovoRambouillet talks 'designed to fail' Ramboulleit revisited: The State of the Press and the Press of the State DepartmentRambouillet - Imperialism in DisguiseTHE RAMBOUILLET ACCORD: A DECLARATION OF WAR DISGUISED AS A PEACE AGREEMENTWhy Kosovo? The Anatomy of a Needless War (part III)

The jailing of a Texas reporter who refused to give her research to U.S. prosecutors has raised concerns that Attorney General John Ashcroft is reversing a policy that gives journalists wide latitude in protecting confidential sources and unpublished information. At the Justice Department's request, a federal judge jailed freelance writer Vanessa Leggett on July 20 on contempt of court charges after she refused to turn over notes, tape recordings and other material she collected while researching a book on the slaying of Doris Angleton in 1997. Angleton was the wife of Robert Angleton, a millionaire ex-bookie who was acquitted in ...

JERUSALEM (August 1) - The US condemned Israel in the strongest terms yesterday for its helicopter attack on the Hamas headquarters in Nablus, in which eight persons, including two children passing by, were killed. The State Department described the attack as "excessive," "reprehensible," "highly provocative," and a type of escalation that will lead to "disaster." The tough words were echoed at the White House, where spokesman Ari Fleischer described Israel's assassinations as a violation of a US-brokered cease-fire - which has failed to take hold since it was agreed to by Israelis and Palestinians in June. "When the president talks ...

Macedonian Parties Make Breakthrough on Language Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2001 OHRID, Macedonia (Reuters) - Macedonia's political parties trying to end a five-month insurgency by ethnic Albanian rebels have made a breakthrough on the key question of use of the Albanian language. "We have obtained today an agreement from the four political parties on the question of language," European Union peace envoy Francois Leotard told reporters after talks between Macedonian and ethnic Albanian political leaders in southern Macedonia. "But this accord...hinges on the outcome of the political discussions, notably on the issue of the police," he added. Details of the ...

Bill Clinton is having a coming-out party this week. After months spent out of the spotlight, the former president can't stand it any longer. So he's throwing himself a big shindig in Harlem to formally open his post-presidential offices, inviting former Cabinet members and staff, as well as other New York dignitaries. He wants attention, and you can bet he'll get it. Not that he didn't get plenty of notice just after he left office, what with all the stories about presidential pardons for tax cheats and drug dealers. But this time, he wants to do it up right -- ...

Revolutionary For the first time, the primacy of the individual was asserted in America's founding document July 1, 2001 When Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence and it was signed by the other founders, something truly extraordinary, nearly miraculous, occurred in human history. For the first time a sizable community of men and women went on record asserting the importance of the human individual. To declare so boldly that it's held to be self-evident that we are all equal in having rights to our lives, liberties and pursuits of happiness is something that goes way beyond what the Magna ...

HOUSTON (AP) -- An accused killer's suicide note will not clear his brother in a murder-for-hire scheme, a prosecutor said Monday. Roger Nicholas Angleton, 55, was found dead in his Harris County Jail cell Saturday. He had bled to death after cutting his neck and wrists with disposable razor blades. In a final note, Angleton claimed full responsibility for the April 16 slaying of his sister-in-law, Doris McGowan Angleton, 46. In the note, he said he killed Mrs. Angleton in an attempt to blackmail his brother, 48-year-old Robert Angleton, who owed him money. Roger Angleton said he was taking his ...

Leake deputy struck, killed at driver's license checkpoint CARTHAGE (AP) -- Leake County Deputy Willie Perry, 58 was killed this past weekend when struck by a vehicle at a roadside driver's license checkpoint. Sheriff Greg Waggoner said the incident occurred at 10:30 p.m. Sunday about six miles north of Carthage on Mississippi 35. Waggoner said Perry was pronounced dead at the scene. He said Monday the driver of the car was being questioned but no charges had been filed. He declined to identify the driver. The sheriff said Perry, who had been with the department since January 2000, and another ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Childhood innocence and television are an increasingly uneasy mix, according to a study released Wednesday. Youngsters watching TV during the so-called family hour last season were exposed to bawdier humor and more coarse language and violence than in 1999, according to the Parents Television Council. ``I don't think enough parents realize just how awful it's become,'' L. Brent Bozell III, president of the conservative watchdog group. ``Some of the worst programming is now being put on during that hour and it's being directed deliberately at children.'' Bozell noted that the study looked at broadcast television, ``not ...