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LONDON –– Prince Charles was taken to a hospital Friday after falling off his horse while playing polo. It was unclear whether the 52-year-old heir to the British throne had broken any bones in the fall, said a spokeswoman from his St. James's Palace office. The accident happened at about 4 p.m., half way through the second period of play during a charity game in Cirencester, southwest England. Charles' two sons, princes William and Harry, were playing on their father's team and were planning to continue the game with a replacement player, the palace said.

Utilities might stall bond sale They object to the state's plan for repayment through consumer rates. August 3, 2001 By KATE BERRYThe Orange County Register California's attempt to sell $12.5 billion in bonds to recoup power-buying costs could be further delayed by opposition from the state's utilities to the way consumer rates would be used to repay the bonds. While the state gears up for the biggest municipal bond offering in history - already postponed from May until at least October - opposition is coming from the very utilities it has tried to save: cash- strapped Southern California Edison ...

President Bush to address next month's opening of United Nations General Assembly By Associated Press, 8/3/2001 12:50 WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush will go to New York next month for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly. Bush will address the General Assembly on Sept. 24 and remain in New York City through Sept. 26, using the occasion to meet foreign leaders and play host at a reception for heads of delegations, White House press secretary Ari Fleischer said Friday.

Two weeks ago, Senate supporters of human embryonic stem-cell research summoned four of their colleagues to testify at a hearing. Of the four senators selected, one was an opponent of ESCR; another was the sponsor of a compromise bill. The other two, lavishly praised for their advocacy of ESCR, were Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. Gordon Smith, R-Ore. Why Hatch and Smith? The obvious reason is that they, unlike the colleagues who praised them, are pro-life on abortion, thereby lending an air of consensus to ESCR. But beneath that answer lies another. Both men were introduced as graduates of ...

Let's get a few facts straight. Fact #1. Aegis-CEC was in development in 1994 and by 1996, 5 Navy ships (plus the shore simulators and the airborn platforms) were in existance for testing the networked air defense system. CEC was originally tested near Hawaii in Operation MOUNTAIN TOP. Fact #2. James Kallstrom has admitted in a tape recorded interview with Accuracy in Media's Reed Irvine that the ships closest to TWA 800 that night were in fact Navy ships on a classified exercise. The Navy has admitted to the ships but refuses to identify them on the grounds of ...

Just another coincidence or part of a pattern of influencing Davis? , Dan Walters, (Published Aug. 3, 2001) Gray Davis and the Barkett family of Stockton go way back -- at least back to the 1970s, when the Barketts were contributing, and helping to raise, campaign money for Davis' boss, then-Gov. Jerry Brown. For decades, the Barketts and other interrelated families -- especially family patriarch Joseph Barkett -- have been very influential figures in San Joaquin County financial and political circles, although their presence is rarely acknowledged publicly. The elder Barkett, a physician and businessman, was closely connected to Brown's ...

There are signs that some in Cuba are thinking about the future of the country after the passing of Fidel Castro. There are few guidelines for what might happen to an authoritarian Communist society in transition to some form of government that could survive and prosper in today's interconnected world. However, the examples of Russia and former Soviet client states might provide viable guidelines for a path to the future. A feature of Russia's recent history is the rise to prominence of young leaders and the gradual retirement of politicians, bureaucrats and managers of the old guard. With that in ...

Court Decides Mandatory Telecom Access to Apartment and Office Buildings P.R.Newswire, 8/3/2001 07:59 Is Unconstitutional Massachusetts Decision Has National Implications WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- Regulations giving telecommunications service providers mandatory access to apartment and office buildings are unconstitutional in Massachusetts, according to a state judge's ruling that is expected to have national ramifications. Suffolk County Superior Court Justice Mitchell J. Sikora ruled on July 25 that the state's regulations governing how building owners should manage and provide telecommunications access to their buildings constituted an impermissible taking of property without just compensation. Citing the U.S. Supreme Court's 1982 decision in ...

Something to Say Commentary rsmith@wbal.com What They Don't Talk About, and Why Friday, August 03, 2001 (August 3, 2001) The most important issues facing the American people – indeed, Western Civilization – are absent from public debate. Immigration, the purposeful demolition of European culture, the criminal density and complexity of our tax code, the true extent of racial antagonism and the reasons for it are just some of the things that come to mind in thinking about this fact of life. About the remarkable influx of Mexicans into this country, all we hear is George W. Bush chatting up ...

Senate Finance chairman says administration needs to focus on trade issues By Martin Crutsinger, Associated Press, 8/3/2001 12:33 WASHINGTON (AP) President Bush's chances of winning major trade legislation this year are growing dim in part because of White House confusion over who speaks for the administration on trade, the head of the Senate Finance Committee said Friday. Sen. Max Baucus said in an interview with The Associated Press that he has been frustrated by his inability to find that answer. ''I keep asking, 'Who do I talk to on trade? Is it (U.S. Trade Representative) Bob Zoellick, is it (Commerce ...

RIORDAN VOWS HE'LL STICK TO HIS BELIEFS By John Marelius, San Diego Union Tribune July 28, 2001 Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, a self-proclaimed "stumbling nerd," vowed yesterday not to mute his controversial stands on abortion and other social issues to placate Republican conservatives if he decides to run for governor. "I am against abortion, but I also support a woman's right to choose," Riordan said. "The general message is that this is about leadership. It's about who can make things happen in this state. It's not about whether we agree or disagree with somebody on a number ...

Controversial billboard trucks roll on Abortion-rights groups react to photos of mutilated embryos -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Julie Foster © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com The group behind southern California's mobile anti-abortion billboard campaign is continuing to expand its truck routes in the face of accusations that the group inaccurately depicts the embryos' ages on the display. Jon Dunn, president of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, told the Orange County Register the mobile billboards give inaccurate embryo and fetal ages to make them appear more developed. As reported by WorldNetDaily, the mobile campaign, sponsored by the Center for Bio-ethical Reform, consists of ...

I don't want to have you guys fight one another ... I simply want a list of **KNOWN** civilian and similar military aircraft that have gone down with center fuel tank explosion in the last 40 years I don't know of any ... but I don't know them all ... all famous wrecks (800 excluded) have **never** alluded to this type of accident ... so please, no fighting or name-calling ... a simple list, of date, location and aircraft type ... I'm just curious ... so if it be 727, 707, 737, 747, L-1011, KC-10, DC-10, KC-135, etc. please list ...

A Chinese publishing house is planning to release a love story thought to have been written by Saddam Hussein. The romantic Mills and Boon-type novel called Zabibah and the King has been translated by Iraqi diplomats. The Yangtze River Publishing House has already published a collection of stories by Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. Zhou Baiyi, head of the company, said: "President Hussein's work will attract Chinese readers because of his character and unique way of looking at the world." He said he was confident of success, reports the South China Morning Post.

Head teacher Brenda Wilson, speaking at the annual conference of the Professional Association of Teachers, attacked the pressures on pupils, parents and teachers created by the current admissions system. And she called instead for children to attend their nearest local schools - saying that "Hobson's choice is better than parental choice". "Parental choice is and always has been an illusion," she said, arguing that false expectations caused much distress for families. "Parental choice has increased parental anxiety without necessarily increasing their satisfaction," she said. 'Intimidating' Under the system of parental choice, parents are allowed to apply to any state school ...

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Free Republic has a rich history of activism -- we pull together when the going gets rough, and we're making headway! On behalf of Jim Robinson, who has so kindly consented to authorize this thread for the Breaking News category, I would like to invite you all to take five minutes from your very busy lives and make a phone call, send a fax or write an e-mail -- or do all three. Pertinent phone and fax numbers and e-mail addresses will be listed together at the bottom of this article post. You can call the White House. Ask for ...

White House looking for way to remove Clinton appointee as head of consumer agency By Associated Press, 8/3/2001 11:27 WASHINGTON (AP) White House officials are looking for ways to remove the current head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission after a Senate committee sank President Bush's choice to take over the panel. Asked Friday if the White House was studying whether it could legally strip CPSC Chairwoman Ann Brown of her post, Bush strategist Nicholas Calio replied, ''The issue has come up and, you know, there are legal opinions available.'' He said no determination has been made. ''We're reassessing,'' said ...

Col. Ron Williams, spokesman for U.S. Southern Command, told us yesterday that the Pentagon inspector general (IG) has given no indication when it will complete a probe into the climate at the higher levels of the Southern Command. "They've called who they want to talk to in a very confidential manner," Col. Williams said. The Washington Times reported yesterday that a female officer anonymously filed a hot-line complaint with the IG. She charges that Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, who heads Southern Command, tolerated anti-female attitudes that included a mandatory weekly run designed to make women drop out. Command ...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - A North Carolina woman has filed an alienation-of-affection lawsuit against a man she alleged entered into a homosexual relationship with her husband, ending their 11-year marriage, according to the lawsuit. Billie Jean Bonner filed suit in Charlotte, North Carolina, claiming her husband's alleged homosexual relationship with another married man broke up her marriage, according to the lawsuit filed last week in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. "The defendant, himself a married man, cultivated an adulterous relationship" with Bonner's husband, her attorney, Lane Williamson, said in the lawsuit, which sought unspecified monetary damages. Bonner, a jewelry broker who ...