Free Republic

Urgent Update/Announcement:Klamath Basin Crisis Petition TAKING THE KLAMATH PETITION TO THE STREETS (August 4th and 5th, 2001) The Klamath Petiton has gathered over 22,000 signatures. This is an outstanding achievement and the people of the Klamath Basin and all of us who are fighting with them to reverse the tyranny of denying farmers their irrigation water rights are grateful beyond measure to all who have signed. We are seeking to reach goals of 100,000 by August 21st, 2001 signatures and then 1,000,000 signatures by January 1st, 2002. These numbers, if reached fairly quickly, will cause governmental officials, who should be ...

(ITAR Provision exemptions sought) Push for an "environment of openness" in international research WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Science Committee Chairman Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY) and Ranking Member Ralph M. Hall (D-TX) called on the Administration to "remove the cloud of confusion and uncertainty that currently overhangs our nation's space science research enterprise" when U.S. researchers collaborate with scientists from other countries. In a joint letter, Reps. Boehlert and Hall called on President Bush to expeditiously "clarify the situation by reiterating the policy consensus reached during the Reagan Administration, namely that fundamental research shall remain exempt from the provisions of the ITAR ...

he United Nations admitted yesterday that misjudgments and deliberate evasions had marred its handling of a videotape related to the kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers last October by Arab guerrillas in Lebanon. But United Nations investigators said the tape, which was made one day after the abduction and showed armed guerrillas with two suspected getaway cars, did not contain information about the kidnapping itself, or shed light on the condition of the three Israelis. Secretary General Kofi Annan, who had ordered the investigation, said in a statement after the report's release that he regretted the errors by United Nations ...

MIAMI (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents are investigating whether murder charges should be filed against two Cubans suspected of organizing a voyage in which Cuban migrants died after their boat capsized off Florida, the Border Patrol said on Friday. Twenty-two Cubans were rescued after the accident on Wednesday in a storm in the Florida Straits. Two others died and the Coast Guard suspended its search late on Thursday for a woman and three children still missing and presumed dead. The survivors were brought ashore in Key West early on Friday and turned over to the Border Patrol -- two as ...

Domino Sugar For Sale BALTIMORE, 12:22 p.m. EDT June 20, 2001 -- In a London board room, businessmen are negotiating the sale of something near and dear to every Baltimorean - the plant adorned with the giant red Domino Sugars sign that has loomed over downtown for a half century. The 120-by-70-foot sign and its 650 neon tubes are a landmark most city residents can't imagine the city without. The sign rests atop a 20-acre plant complex that employs about 500 and is the last of a dozen refineries that once processed imported sugar cane in the city. London-based Tate ...

Bush could sack consumer safety chiefFrom Kelly Wallace and Dana Bash CNN Washington BureauWASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush could legally remove the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission after his nominee to lead the agency hit a Senate roadblock, White House aides said Friday.The Senate Commerce Committee voted Thursday to reject Bush's pick as chairman of the agency, Mary Sheila Gall, on a 12-11 party line vote. But senior White House aides would not say whether Bush is considering dismissing the current chairman, Ann Brown.The Senate vote on Gall was the first outright rejection of a Bush nominee. ...

MODESTO, Calif. (AP) — Rep. Gary Condit returned Friday to face an uncertain future with his California constituents, leaving behind growing unrest among his Washington colleagues. Arriving at San Francisco's airport, Condit began his summer congressional recess the same way he has spent most of the past three months — avoiding photographers and reporters who wanted to question him about affairs and missing intern Chandra Levy. He said nothing as he rolled his duffel bag toward an exit. He has not been publicly spotted since — not at his home or his office in Modesto.Passenger Diane Peacor, who sat ...

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 mind, ...

Probably the surest way to understand the depth of dissatisfaction among many conservatives with the Republican Party is to be a conservative columnist who often defends Republicans. You wouldn't believe the passion in the e-mail I get from fellow conservatives who have long since abandoned the Republican vehicle, believing it no longer serves the causes in which they believe. Maybe if Republican mainstreamers could understand the reasons for conservative angst, they could alter their approach and prevent further defection from the party. A recent story in the Washington Post nicely illustrates the absence of commitment of too many congressional Republicans ...

I just read a book about depression, Unholy Ghost, a memoir of melancholy. Noted writers describing the indescribable darkness that haunts as many as 12 million American women. I am one of the haunted. I think I have been depressed for years. It runs in my family, along with alcoholism and an absurd ability to deny the obvious. My aunt was mentally ill. She tried, unsuccessfully, to end her life. No one ever told me this; I found it out my usual way. I eavesdropped on the grown-ups. Even when they thought they were alone, my parents never used the ...

Letter they want to send in your name!Take Action! Don't Let Bush Sell Out our Forests! RIGHT NOW, the Bush Administration is trying to undo the Roadless Area Conservation Rule -- an immensely popular forest conservation measure that protects the America's last wild national forests from logging, mining, and drilling -- so that their friends in the timber industry can log in every last corner of these national treasures. To protect these forests, we need you to TAKE ACTION NOW! Tell me more Subject: Preserve the Roadless Area Conservation RuleDear [ Decision Maker ],I am writing to support the Forest ...

WASHINGTON -- Chances of passing a "patients' bill of rights" that President Bush can sign may depend on the willingness of Sen. John McCain to forge a compromise in the Senate-House conference. Rep. Lindsey Graham, who led McCain's presidential primary campaign in South Carolina last year, is urging the senator to help out the president. Graham is a trial lawyer who supports HMO reform but feels the latest version of the bill agreed to by Bush and Republican Rep. Charlie Norwood of Georgia constitutes progress and, with some changes, should be approved. A footnote: Although the Bush-McCain relationship has improved, ...

PHOENIX (AP) — Candidates for the highest state offices in Arizona and Massachusetts lined up for taxpayers' campaign cash Wednesday, the first day they could officially declare their intent to run races paid for entirely with public dollars. All eight gubernatorial candidates in Arizona and four out of seven in Massachusetts have said they intend to run elections funded entirely by taxpayers, according to Public Campaign, the Washington-based group helping promote state efforts. In Arizona, three candidates — one each for governor, attorney general and secretary of state — officially signed up Wednesday to forego private campaign funds. ``This illustrates ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Iraq has rebuilt its air defenses since U.S. and British warplanes attacked radar and communications targets around Baghdad on Feb. 16, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Friday. Rumsfeld offered no indication of whether or how the United States would respond, but he seemed to hint that any retaliation would go beyond the limited set of targets in the February raid. ``One tends to want to do things that will have somewhat more lasting effects,'' he told a Pentagon news conference. He noted that the February attacks struck air defense sites that had been linked by fiber-optic ...

Trapped in Macedonia Carlotta Gall New York Times Service Tuesday, July 31, 2001 Poverty and a Decade of Balkan Conflicts Feed a Network of Sex Slavery VELESTA, Macedonia This village, tucked down in the southwestern corner of the country near the border with Albania, is one of the strangest places in this part of the Balkans. It has the high-walled brick homes and rutted lanes typical of villages here, but amid the hay barns there are more than a dozen neon-lit nightclubs and sex bars with names like Madonna and Paradiso. Beneath the strange combination of rural quiet and ...

MEET THE PRESS: The president's proposed trip to talk with American journalists in Washington is more likely now that China is in `make-nice mode,' US analysts say WASHINGTON China's government has demanded that the George W. Bush administration reject an attempt by President Chen Shui-bian (³¯¤ô«ó) to visit Washington, calling the proposal a violation of Chinese sovereignty. "We are letting them know what we think about it," Chinese embassy spokesman Zhang Yuanyuan (±i´©»·) said of the protest Thursday to the US State Department over the possible Chen trip. Such a visit would be the first to Washington by a Taiwanese ...

(CNSNews.com) - News that the Secretary of the Interior will ask for a review of the biological opinion that banned irrigation water for Klamath Basin farmers was greeted with joy and caution in the Basin."Farmers want real science. We want it!" said Merrill farmer James L. Moore, who is also the acting executive director of the Klamath Water Users Association. "We're applauding any review as long as it's open and unbiased."The Associated Press has reported that the National Academy of Sciences could vote at its September meeting to undertake the review. Then, scientists would be chosen and they could have ...

Americans many times have a hard time understanding the situation in Israel. People who don't really understand the situation and get their news from CNN, may come out with the impression that the Israeli's are the bad guys. This is because Americans don't understand Muslim/Arab culture. It is the complete opposite of our modern, Western, Judeao-Christian culture. I served a number of years in the Israeli military and I'd like to tell you a story we (a group of American volunteers) were told a few months after enlisting. I came out of this story with a new understanding of Muslim ...

On the eve of leaving for Taiwan and China, US Senator Joseph Biden was yesterday quoted as saying he did not believe President George W. Bush would repeat his pledge to defend Taiwan against a Chinese attack. Asked whether he expected the Bush administration to stand by the President's April pledge to defend Taiwan against the mainland, Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted Senator Biden as saying "they won't". An aide said that after Senator Biden requested clarification on the issue, Mr Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote back that Washington's "one China" policy had not changed. The Senator ...

WASHINGTON — Legislation opening government programs to religious groups bars prayer and preaching with tax dollars -- unless a participant pays with a voucher. And while it attracted little attention during last month's debate, the bill approved by the House gives Cabinet secretaries the authority to convert up to $47 billion worth of social spending into vouchers. That would allow participants in after-school, anti-crime and other programs the chance to shop around for religious or secular services. And it could allow for significant government money for programs that weave religion into the fabric of their programs. Under the bill approved by ...