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(From left to right: feinswinesuksass, AnnaZ, lowbridge, Mercuria) Q: Why did the lowbridge go to California? A: To meet and greet California FReepers! :-) The first week of July I had a week off from SKULE SKOOL, and I decided to use that time to come out to California and meet face to face many of the California FReepers that I have admired for so long. Henchster Henchster picked me up at my motel room and treated me to a day in Pasadena! :-) We hit many of that city's Cultural Spots , and to blend in with many ...

Sino-Japan Bilateral Trade Expected to Hit US$95b This Year Despite the obvious slowdown in the world economic growth and the severity of the general trade environment, Sino-Japan bilateral trade still reported a fairly great growth in the first half of this year. Both import and export volume presented a two-digit increase. Although there will be some unfavorable factors in the second half of the year, it is still possible to create a new record for the whole year as long as the two governments adopt a consultative and promotional policy. According to official Japanese statistics, the total volume of bilateral ...

BRIAN BRINDLEY, who has died aged 69, was a flamboyant Anglo-Catholic canon whose extravagant tastes would have been more easily accommodated in Renaissance Rome than in the postwar Church of England. Learned, witty and vain, he was for many years one of the great adornments of the General Synod. Indeed, he was probably the most extraordinary-looking clergyman of modern times. He wore his grey curly hair in a style resembling a periwig and dressed in lavish Roman monsignoral attire, including buckled shoes with four-inch heels, which he had painted red. In another man, such idiosyncrasies would have ensured a career ...

PEOPLE     FIRST  !!! The Endangered Species Act has recently resulted in the financial ruin of 1,400 families in Klamath Falls, Oregon, and the death of four firefighters in Okanogan National Forest in Winthrop, Washington. THESE   PEOPLE   WERE   SACRIFICED   TO   PROTECT   FISH  !!! IT’S   TIME   TO   STOP   THE   INSANITY   !!! Sign   the   Petition  to   Stop  Taxpayer   Funding   of   the  OUT-OF-CONTROL   Endangered   Species  Act. PEOPLE   FIRST !!

Once ranked among the top three, it's now in 20th position and may slide even further because of slow growth AUCKLAND - New Zealand, which has one of the slowest economic growth rates in the developed world since 1985, risks becoming the first country in 50 years to lose its 'developed' status unless it changes its economic course, economist Robert Wade told a conference here. Prof Wade, a London School of Economics specialist on the 'Asian tigers', was quoted yesterday by the New Zealand Press Association (NZPA) as saying the country needed a national strategy to develop the economy. He ...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 3, 2001 AP (CBS) CBS News has learned the hot political question of whether the federal government will put its money muscle behind stem cell research is going to get answered this month. George W. Bush will announce his decision sometime during his vacation, reports CBS News's Bill Plante. Mr. Bush is still consulting with authorities in science and ethics - but he promised Friday to have a decision before Congress returns in September. Either way, a lot of people are going to be unhappy. During the campaign, and as recently as May 18, Mr. Bush said ...

Washington, Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush signed into law a five-year renewal of measure threatening sanctions against foreign oil companies that invest in Iran and Libya. His administration had favored a two-year renewal, and oil companies and the European Union wanted the sanctions scrapped. ``We should review sanctions frequently to assess their effectiveness and continued suitability,'' Bush said in a written statement. Still, Bush said his administration shares ``the Congress' deep concerns about the objectionable policies and behavior of Iran and Libya.'' The sanctions law is aimed at nations the U.S. considers ``rogue states'' for allegedly ...

Aug. 3 — President Bush prepared for a month-long working vacation at his Texas ranch by celebrating a string of legislative victories at a White House ceremony Friday, declaring, “We’re ending deadlock and drift and making our system work on behalf of the American people.”But Bush could suffer reverses in the fall when he squares off with the Democrat-controlled Senate on two key issues — energy and patients rights. ON FRIDAY, the Senate approved a GOP farm aid bill that would provide $2 billion less than Democrats want. It was a sweet ending to a week in which the ...

Washington, Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- For most of the week, President George W. Bush faced the prospect of leaving town for a month with his legislative agenda stalled and his opponents having plenty of time to revel in his defeats. That changed around 5:30 p.m. yesterday, when the president leaned from his chair and shook hands with Representative Charlie Norwood, a Georgia Republican, on a deal over patient rights legislation. A few hours later, the House rescued Bush's plan to allow oil exploration in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The twin wins may be short lived; Democrats can still ...

'Bush at His Best' The Washington Post has a behind-the-scenes account of how President Bush wooed Rep. Charlie Norwood on the Patients' Bill of Rights, which passed the House yesterday: On July 26, President Bush sat in the Oval Office with Rep. Charles Whitlow Norwood Jr., laying it on thick. Bush spent several minutes lavishly praising the Georgia Republican for his skill in leading a band of rebels that had outmaneuvered Bush the day before on a patients' bill of rights. But Bush soon dispensed with the pleasantries. "So now that I've kissed your [rear end], what do I ...

PLEASE JOIN US AND DEMAND GARY CONDIT'S RESIGNATION, AUGUST 4TH AT 920 16TH STREET, MODESTO, CA. STAND UP AND BE COUNTED AND HAVE FUN DOING IT!! VOICE YOUR OPINION BEFORE IT SLIPS AWAY!! HIGH NOON!! WE DEMAND HIS RESIGNATION FOR OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE!! EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE AND JOIN US TO TELL HIM WE WILL NOT PUT UP WITH THIS!! GET THOSE SIGNS READY AND LET'S SHOW OUR SUPPORT FOR THE RESIGNATION DEMAND!! FREEP THE CREEP!!

Summarizing his first six months in under six minutes, President Bush declared on Friday an end to Washington's "deadlock and drift" and promised to return from his monthlong August vacation with new policy ideas."Our nation has needs that will not wait," Bush said in a 5½-minute Rose Garden address meant to celebrate the accomplishments of his first half-year in office and sketch an agenda for the remaining half."Within a limited budget, we must have an active, compassionate government. Beginning in September, I'll be proposing creative ways to tackle some of the toughest problems in our society." Looking ahead to ...

Bush points to new tone, outlines goalsBy Greg Botelho CNNWASHINGTON (CNN) -- Halfway through his first year in office, President George W. Bush detailed what he identified as his administration's successes and outlined its goals in a Rose Garden speech Friday afternoon.Flanked by his Cabinet, the president said civility and integrity had returned to Washington since he took office in January, fulfilling his pledge made on the campaign trail."Together with Congress, we're proving that a new tone, a clear agenda and active leadership can bring significant progress to the nation's capital," Bush said. "We're ending deadlock and drift and ...

W A S H I N G T O N, Aug. 3 — For the next 30 days, it will be home on the ranch for President Bush. With his administration 6 months old, Bush is set to shed the confines of the White House and head to his sprawling ranch in Crawford, Texas, to begin a monthlong, outside-the-Beltway retreat. "I'm headed home to the heartland to listen to the American people and to talk about the values that unite and sustain our country," Bush said in a Rose Garden speech this afternoon. 'A Little Fishing, … A Little ...

A SIX-YEAR effort to enforce a worldwide ban on biological weapons collapsed yesterday after Washington’s decision to pull out of the talks. The 56-nation working group in Geneva had been trying to agree to a protocol enforcing the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. “Quite a number of delegations would be reluctant to engage in continued negotiations among themselves in the absence of a major negotiating partner, that is the United States of America,” Tibor Toth, the Hungarian diplomat who has chaired the negotiations, said. The US shocked other nations last week when its chief negotiator said that the Bush Administration had ...

Friday, August 3, 2001 Chinese government-owned firms would be denied access to US stock and bond markets under legislation due to be introduced yesterday by a powerful US senator and frequent China critic, Republican Jesse Helms. The United States "cannot and should not subsidise the barbarous, Communist Chinese Government when China tortures, imprisons, and murders its own people", Senator Helms said. The senator's statement specifically listed oil companies PetroChina and Sinopec as companies that would be de-listed under the legislation, which requires Senate and House approval and President George W. Bush's signature to become law. Senator Helms, the top Republican ...

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.

'No to Knives' campaign in Erzurum The first effects of the "No to Knives" campaign, started three months ago in Erzurum by members of the media and the Chief Police Station, are being seen. Ensar Balci, a member of the campaign commission, said that some 46 people had turned in their knives already. Stabbing had been a major crime in Erzurum for a long time. People turning in their knives, many of them youths with low income levels, have explained their need to carry them as self defense. Balci reported that financial aid and gifts awaited those contributing to the ...

(8/3/2001) Broadcasters Lose Major Battle in Online Streaming Case. Judge Rules Against Radio. A federal court has thrown out a challenge from the broadcasting industry against the U.S. Copyright Office, which ruled late last year that radio stations must pay extra royalties to broadcast over the Internet. The U.S. District Court for eastern Pennsylvania dismissed the case brought by the NAB. NAB President/CEO Eddie Fritts was quick to respond. "Broadcasters, record companies and consumers have long enjoyed a symbiotic relationship whereby airplay on radio stations benefits all parties, along with generating enormous revenues for the record labels." "We're disappointed that ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Female senators said they are focused on policy-making this summer, even if some Americans seem more interested in the case of a missing intern. Heavy media coverage of the disappearance of Chandra Levy ''gives a very false picture of the United States Congress, it gives a very false picture of what people do with their time, how we behave,'' Sen. Dianne Feinstein said. Major issues are being debated in Washington and ''instead, we are all sort of captivated with what has become a huge drama. And I think the drama, in a way, belittles what all ...