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In the decade or so in which same-sex marriage has been a matter of public debate, several arguments against it have been abandoned. Some opponents initially claimed marriage was about children and so gays couldn't marry. But courts made the obvious point that childless heterosexuals can marry and so the comparison was moot. Others said a change in the definition of marriage would inexorably lead to legal polygamy. But homosexuals weren't asking for the right to marry anyone. They were asking for the right to marry someone. Still others worried that if one state granted such a right, the entire ...

Police Say Boys, Girls Gang Raped Girl Case Being Investigated AKRON, Ohio, 2:30 p.m. EDT August 3, 2001 -- Akron police have arrested six teenagers accused of beating up and raping a 16-year-old girl in a field behind Buchtel High School, NewsChannel5 reports. Police say that the attackers beat the girl, stomped on her and kicked her in the head, while several of the teens sexually assaulted her. They also believe that the incident, which allegedly happened last Sunday, was gang-related, The Akron Beacon Journal reports. The suspects are three boys and three girls. All of them are 14 to ...

There is nothing more American (for the government, anyway) than collecting taxes and selling drugs. But the innovative IRS regional office in Covington, Kentucky, has managed to combine the two operations. Yesterday (Thursday, Sept. 19) five IRS employees were indicted for selling crack cocaine. Listed in the indictment are Larry Cummings, Gina Wells, Gregory Thornton, Holly Armstrong, and Corey Thomas, according to the office of public affairs (606-292-5652). All have been placed on administrative leave. They will be arraigned in federal court in Kentucky on November 4, or thereabouts. I've been to the Covington IRS office. They have a big ...

Senate Says Vacation More Important Than Judicial Vacancies According To P.R.Newswire, 8/3/2001 15:45 People for Common Sense Courts WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- With one of every eight federal judgeships vacant and 40 judicial nominations pending, the United States Senate today took bold action -- and began a month-long vacation. "Senate leaders showed their true colors today," said Oklahoma Gov. Frank A. Keating, national chairman of People for Common Sense Courts. "By abandoning Washington for a month, they abandoned any hope of resolving the growing judicial crisis any time soon. Obviously, their vacation is more important to them than maintaining ...

Jail guards accused of urinating on several inmates through metal grate in roof   Wednesday, August 1, 2001 Breaking News Sections (08-01) 12:19 PDT SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) -- Authorities are investigating allegations that two jail guards urinated on inmates playing basketball in an indoor recreational area. Greene County Sheriff Jack Merritt said the case would be handed over to the county prosecutor's office on Wednesday. He would not release the names of the guards. Merritt called the Sunday night incident "a terrible embarrassment." Inmate Dewayne Zurley called girlfriend Jessica Perkins on Monday and told her that he and three ...

Friday August 3 3:10 PM ET Rosie O'Donnell Breaks Silence on Her Depression NEW YORK (Reuters) - Talk show host Rosie O'Donnell said she has been on anti-depressants for two years after having been depressed and in denial about her condition for years, according to the September issue of her magazine.In the upcoming issue of ``Rosie,'' available on newsstands on Aug. 7, O'Donnell wrote, ``I think I have been depressed for years.''Saying she was in denial about her condition during that time, O'Donnell wrote, ``I wasn't depressed. I was sad, yes, and moody, but not 'depressed.' I had reasons for ...

Join the FR smokers lounge bump list...click on the logo Welcome Friends, foes, and associates to the completely remodeled Free Republic... Smoker's Lounge Here you will find a comfy place to smoke, drink, joke or whatever. We always have a great time, so sit back, relax and... Smoke 'em if you got 'em shssh shsshs shsshssh shsshsshs shsshssh shsshs shssh shssh shsshs shsshssh shsshsshs shsshssh shsshs shssh shssh shsshs shsshssh shsshsshs shsshssh shsshs shssh shssh aaaaa,:`___________________________||`,:'.",`.;'`,:'.',`: A very special thank you to Registered for providing us with this fine logo....we will bear it with pride.

When the first iron spike was driven into a wooden sleeper in the 1840s near Omaha in the United States, little did people realize how the railroad drive would dramatically open up the Wild West. The resulting rapid development of a large chunk of America is now the stuff of folklore and Hollywood westerns. Today, China hopes its pioneering "great leap west" into the hinterlands will provide a similar, if less dramatic, result. Last month, Beijing officials celebrated the commencement of a $2.4 billion railroad linking Golmud in Qinghai province to the capital of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, Lhasa, planting ...

Resurgence of Liberty in Boston? Is Boston, the “cradle of liberty,” bestirring after generations of somnambulance to the ancient siren call of its creed? Is the “Athens of America” reacquainting itself with genuine intellectual thought? Will the “Hub of the Universe” reclaim its moral birthright, which was as the champion of freedom and common sense? Will Boston once again view itself as the proverbial “City on the Hill?” Stay tuned, several recent initiatives point in that direction. Libertarian candidate for Governor Carla Howell will soon file an initiative petition to abolish the state’s personal income tax. Howell recently garnered 12% ...

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. productivity data due out on Tuesday could shatter the belief in a ``new paradigm'' economy of high growth and low inflation, triggering a stock market crash, a leading investment bank has predicted. Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein said in a note to clients that revisions included with second quarter productivity numbers will revise away the ``productivity miracle'' of recent years, cited has a major factor in the bull market of the 1990's. ``Investing in the U.S. miracle will in retrospect be seen as a sick joke. The markets will be forced to confront this harsh reality on August ...

Senate takeover spells big donor bucks for prominent Democrats By Sharon Theimer, Associated Press, 8/3/2001 15:33 WASHINGTON (AP) Senate Democrats cashed in quickly on their new power, taking in hundreds of thousands of dollars from donors within days of taking over the chamber. In June, Tom Harkin of Iowa raised nearly half the money his campaign has collected this year as farm interests flooded him with donations during his first month as chairman of the Agriculture Committee, new Federal Election Commission reports show. Two senators with possible presidential aspirations experienced similar good fortune. John Edwards of North Carolina raised more ...

Alright ladies, my name is Mike and I am 23 year old conservative male. I just graduated from William and Mary and will be attending law school at the University of Virginia this fall. Now, my problem is that I have been unable to find a nice, sweet, pretty, conservative woman to date or have companionship. Most of the young women today are very liberal, and I am looking for someone who is intelligent and can talk about current events. I am a very kind, thoughtful, handsome young man, so please let me know if you're interested! Thanks.. Mike

Taiwan's economy has hit a wall. President Chen Shui-bian is desperate to find a way out of the quagmire, but the only escape route may be the one that goes via the mainland. When Taiwanese businessman George Liu recently entered the Holiday Inn Crown Plaza in Shanghai, he couldn't help but notice the contrast with the atmosphere back in Taipei. Standing in every corner of the lobby were well-dressed foreign buyers waiting to be picked up by local businessmen, who would invariably arrive in black limousines. The place was abuzz with conversations being held in at least half a dozen ...

"One of the more interesting aspects of the opposition's efforts has been their obsession with my wife." --Bill Clinton, West Palm Beach, Florida, November 3, 1996. It's true. I am obsessed with Hillary. Gennifer Flowers quoted Bill as saying of Hillary: "That woman's eaten more pussy than I have." Well, frankly, I'm jealous. I also find it noteworthy that Hillary's been trying to kill a friend of mine. But never mind that. If you want to know the truth, I'm even more obsessed with Bill. He's hard to figure. Someone once told me you can never understand a person ...

q¶?< Wash. (AP) - The London-based editor of Forbes Global magazine has died on a guided ascent of Mount Rainier. Park officials said a heart attack was the most likely cause. Lawrence ``Laury'' Minard, 51, died Thursday at an elevation of about 12,000 feet, said Peter Whittaker, operations manager of Rainier Mountaineering Inc. His 16-year-old daughter also was on the climb.

POGO WAS RIGHT Quite a few years ago there used to be a syndicated comic strip, which appeared in newspapers all across the land. Walt Kelly created it, and he called his comic strip "Pogo". My memory is a bit hazy, but from what I do remember Pogo was a fictionalized alligator that lived in the Okefinokee Swamp in Florida with several other characters whose names I definitely do not remember. Most people alive today have never heard of Pogo, nor have they had the pleasure of reading Mr. Kelly's comic strip because the strip went out of syndication years ...

Setting the stage for a potentially bitter fight with President Bush over immigration reform, top congressional Democrats laid out an unapologetically liberal plan yesterday to give legal status to millions of undocumented immigrants. The Democrats demanded that Bush go far beyond what are believed to be relatively modest reform proposals presented by his advisers and adopt options that are more immigrant-friendly. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., and House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt, D-Mo., released a policy manifesto calling for legalization of undocumented immigrants from any nation who have worked at least 90 days in the United States during the ...

"We are going to have trucks across this nation," the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform's Greg Cunningham told me in a phone interview this morning. Cunningham, the director of CBR, who is a former assistant U.S. Attorney, Reserve Air Force Colonel and Pennsyslvania legislator, has a vision that he believes will keep growing. The Center for Bio-Ethical Reform has shocked the abortion industry with a fleet of billboard trucks that show the results of an abortion --- it is not just tissue mass, it is a forming baby in the first trimester that is recognizable as a baby. Cunningham's quest has ...

Top 25 Most Evil People of the Millennium Check out who made #2 and #6!

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Commerce Department's computer networks, which contain some of America's most valuable business secrets, have security holes easily accessible to Internet criminals, federal investigators say. A report, prepared by the General Accounting Office and obtained by The Associated Press, states that the department as a whole was put at risk by the security holes. "Individuals, both within and outside Commerce, could gain unauthorized access to these systems and read, copy, modify and delete sensitive economic, financial, personnel and confidential business data," the report says. "Moreover, intruders could disrupt the operations of systems that are critical to the ...