Free Republic

VARANASI, India (Reuters) - Doctors in the Indian city of Varanasi have finally discovered the reason for a surge in the popularity of the free condoms they have been dishing out for family planning. Weavers in the holy Hindu city, also known for its silk industry, have been using government-distributed condoms to help in producing hand-woven silk sarees. Weavers rub the condoms on bobbins to speed up the weaving and stop yarn from snapping while making their world-famous brocade sarees. "It is the fine quality lubricant on the condom that does the wonder trick of speeding up the spin ...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Former President Clinton returned to Arkansas and outlined the future of his $200 million library that he said would be a lasting gift to his home state despite its many controversies. The library will be the most expensive U.S. presidential library and will house more documents and executive papers than any other presidential archives in history. ''When this building goes up, I think people will say we did the right thing,'' Clinton told about 1,200 guests Thursday at the city's Aerospace Education Center. Dr. Dean Kumpuris, a Little Rock city director, said ''Welcome to your ...

The Truth About Waco By Tanya Metaksa A new book tells a tale of deception, obfuscation and outright lies by the United States government which led to the death of seventy-four civilians “including twenty-four children and two pregnant women who delivered in their death throes.”  continue…

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The United States wants a complete overhaul of its border with Canada to cut down on delays to trade and travelers and could one day contemplate scrapping the 3,100-mile undefended frontier, the U.S. ambassador to Canada said. Ambassador Paul Cellucci told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday that the United States, Mexico and Canada -- which together make up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- should work toward closer integration. This could eventually include a common energy policy, the harmonization of immigration and other regulations and construction of a security perimeter around NAFTA rather ...

JERUSALEM (August 3) - The alertness and courage of an Egged bus driver yesterday prevented what police said would have been a horrific bomb attack by a teenage Palestinian south of Beit She'an. A bag carried by the terrorist, about 17, was found to contain three mortar shells, explosives, and a detonator. Had it exploded on board the packed No. 963 bus en route from Jerusalem to Kiryat Shmona, most of the passengers would have been killed or badly wounded. Instead, the driver, Menashe Nuriel, pushed the would-be bomber off his bus, got the bag away from him, and subdued ...

By NANCY MEERSMAN Union Leader Staff A police sketch of the suspect. Maybe the gunman thought the two sweet-mannered, over-60 women who were working behind the Baroody’s Market checkout counter Wednesday night would be easy prey. Big mistake. He didn’t count on the sudden appearance of 73-year-old Robert Baroody, who had been sitting, unseen, nearby, and in an instant stood alongside the gunman, face to face, gun to gun. “Don’t point a gun at my family. That’s when you’ve crossed the line,” Baroody said yesterday. “I told him to hold it right there,” Baroody said, admitting he fully expected ...

A Partisan Split Over Voting Reforms Republicans Chastised For Boycott Of Session By DAVID LIGHTMAN The Hartford Courant August 03, 2001 WASHINGTON - The ornate Senate Rules Committee room was an American pastiche - disabled people, people of color, women, men, all crammed together to watch senators write a bill aimed at correcting last year's voting abuses. But one group was notably absent: Republicans. The committee's nine GOP members did what is almost never done in the polite halls and rooms of the U.S. Senate: They boycotted the bill-writing session, a 90-minute meeting to compose what Democrats and activists maintain ...

JOSEPH PERKINS / THE SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE Davis administration hypocrisy on the energy crisis August 3, 2001 California Gov. Gray Davis has spent much of the past few months lambasting out-of-state electricity robber barons. "We're in a war with generators," he declared, "that are trying to bleed us dry. They're trying to ship every dime out of our state and back to Houston, Texas." Davis' remarks were, of course, an indirect swipe at President Bush, who, much to the California governor's consternation, refused to support government price controls on wholesale electricity. Because the president held fast to free-market principles, ...

Many people believe the son of God would not go to church if he were alive in present times, a survey claims.Figures show 43% of Christians agree that the existence of the Church as an organisation puts more people off Christianity than attracts them.The survey also found 71% of Christians only go to church a couple of times a year, on special occasions or not at all.Researchers from NOP interviewed 931 adults on behalf of the religious division of publishers Hodder and Stoughton.Only 40% of those questioned agreed that Jesus would go to church if he were alive today.Results also ...

Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Lesser of Two Evils By Jamie Glazov This August 6 and 9 mark the 56th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The use of atom bombs provided the best means of ending the war and saving lives. continue...

The Boy Scouts had trained Paul Marusak and Scott Ramel for the hiking and rafting at their camp in Colorado this week. But when a black bear ripped its way into the Johnson County Eagle Scouts' tent early Thursday, they had to rely on their instincts. Ramel, 18, of Shawnee, was unscathed after he chased off the bear shortly after midnight at Packard High Adventure Base, about 70 miles southwest of Colorado Springs. Marusak, 17, of Overland Park, needed bandages for a few cuts on his legs and back. The teens were to go rafting today and planned to stay ...

WASHINGTON — China's military has deployed its first high-resolution imaging satellite to gather information on U.S. forces in Japan and other targets in Asia, the Washington Times said Wednesday. The satellite, disguised as a civilian earth monitoring system, is being used by China's military for planning combat operations, such as targeting missiles at U.S. forces in Japan and elsewhere, and preparing for both missile and aircraft strikes on Taiwan, the newspaper quoted U.S. intelligence officials as saying. (Kyodo News)

Obey the Koran and Leave the Jews Alone By David Yeagley By what authority do official Palestinian broadcasts call on Palestinians to “butcher and kill” Jews?   Not by order of the Koran.  continue...

Doctors Sue to Stop Anti-privacy Rules Wes Vernon Thursday, Aug. 2, 2001 WASHINGTON - A high-profile organization of doctors is suing the Department of Health and Human Service. The doctors want to block so-called "privacy” regulations that would force doctors to allow government access to medical records without patient consent. In announcing the lawsuit, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) released a survey showing doctors are almost unanimously opposed to the rules because they would compromise patient privacy. The new HHS regimen is undergoing a two-year "fine-tuning” period. This legal action goes beyond a lawsuit filed by ...

Island of uncertainty Indonesian leader may bring some economic balance 08/03/01By Stewart Yerton Business writer/The Times-Picayune Business executives and political analysts are hopeful that new leadership in Indonesia will bring stability to the world's fourth most-populous nation and help foreign investors, including New Orleans-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. But much will depend on the Cabinet choices made by Megawati Sukarnoputri, who became president last week after Indonesia's parliament voted unanimously to install her into office. Another issue is whether Megawati can restrain a military that repeatedly has killed civilians when trying to quell civil unrest. Human-rights groups, meanwhile, ...

China: Made In America by Robert C. Nasir If you lived in a town, with many people, many businesses, and many places to shop, you what to buy, and where, based on the principle of value offered for value received. That is, you would seek the best price for what you want. Project further for a moment. Imagine that one of the store owners has arranged to force his workers to work only for him. They have no means to leave - the owner has effectively closed all avenues out of his employ. Imagine that he does not always pay ...

Fostered by the TV image of the LAPD cars with ‘To Protect and Serve’ stenciled on the fenders, and the general mis-conception that that’s what we do, the general public needs to wake up. Certainly we do Serve, but Protect? Not really. I work as a Deputy Sheriff in rural mid-America. In an 800 square mile county, but with a population of only 20,000, we are very much a reactive force. With hardly ever more than 3 cars working the roads, response time can easily be 20 minutes or more, if everything goes well. In a slightly different sense, it’s ...

Drilling vote dismays activists BY DON WALTON Lincoln Journal Star Nebraska environmental leaders expressed "profound disappointment" Thursday with Rep. Doug Bereuter's decision to support limited oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "We feel in his heart of hearts Rep. Bereuter knows this is the wrong thing to do," Sierra Club Nebraska energy coordinator Melissa Gardner told a small rally at the Capitol. "We urge Rep. Bereuter to listen to his heart and to the American people." The 1st District Republican congressman voted with the majority when the House late Wednesday approved drilling in the refuge, along with a ...

Energy bill still faces opposition in Senate Without 60 votes, filibuster a threat 08/03/01By Bruce Alpert Washington bureau/The Times-Picayune WASHINGTON -- Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, and other supporters of the ambitious national energy agenda passed by the House were celebrating their victory Thursday, but the bill faces a major challenge from opponents in the Senate. Tauzin, lead sponsor of the Bush energy plan legislation, said the bill has a chance in the Senate. "I know it will be a challenge in the Senate, but no one gave us a chance in the House either, and I think we have ...

It’s Time to Privatize Social Security By Larry Elder In California, state employees enjoy the California Public Employees Retirement System, a fund they pay into which invests in stocks, bonds, real estate, as well as dabbling in venture capital.  Why not let the state’s citizens—and, indeed, all American citizens—have the same options?  continue…