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Freepers I am requesting some help. My father has just found out that he can not drill for oil or mine for minerals on his own private property with which he Holds the mineral rights. This is property he and his family have owned the rights on for over 90 years. It is not in city limits - but out in the vast open spaces of Wyoming. It is not part of any national park etc. He has been told that a law or executive order was passed that removed that right from him (also removes a large asset without ...

CHICAGO — In an America that guards its civil liberties, police can't just shut down cities, make mass arrests and quarantine thousands of people. Or can they? Current and former federal officials said Friday that if there is a terrorist attack with biological weapons, private rights would quickly be swamped by the need to protect the public. State borders could close, vaccines could be rationed or commandeered, the Army could even take over cities within weeks of a deadly attack, an American Bar Association panel predicted. "To an extent, people are going to do what needs to be done and ...

California sues Texas for extradition of mom She is charged with kidnapping her children from her ex-husband. August 4, 2001 The Associated Press AUSTIN, Texas -- California filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to force Texas Gov. Rick Perry to extradite a woman who hid her daughters from their father, a convicted sex offender. Last year, California authorities asked Texas officials to extradite Debra Schmidt, who is charged with kidnapping her children from her former husband, Manuel Saavedra, who was granted custody. Then-Gov. George W. Bush did not sign the warrant, and neither has Perry. "I've never had ...

"WEEKLY POLL The media seem to be having difficulty explaining President Bush's popularity. Help them by grading his performance to date: Click Here for the poll.

MIDI - HATS OFF TO LARRY He has had some trouble, but…we will not be judgmental ‘Cause, after all, he’s a DemocRAT…his crimes are just incidental Hats off to Gary…he’s our guy still He spread his love around and gave girls a thrill He made them smile…folks will forget in a while Gary Condit, we are supporting you He played around, so what…we think he’s got the cutest butt We’d get out our kneepads if he asked…yes, we would Hats off to Gary…he’s our guy still He spread his love around and gave girls a thrill He had made ...

August 4, 2001 A Slow Train Across Siberia By RUSSELL WORKING LADIVOSTOK, Russia -- When you ride the Trans-Siberian Railroad from this Pacific seaport to Moscow, you spend a week traveling 5,778 miles with strangers — and keep in mind that once you have lugged your suitcases to the station, none of you will have a real chance to bathe. You share a compartment with three other passengers, sleeping on a mattress rolled out on a padded bench. Irritable conductors sometimes keep one toilet locked for their own use, creating lines at the other. Those who can't afford the dining ...

http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/Current_Releases/0621-167.html

Kirghiz government has worked out a special programme to increase yaks livestock in the republic. Once yaks livestock in Kirghizia was about 80 thousands. This undemanding animal grazes on mountain pastures, that any other animal cannot reach. And in these hard conditions they manage to put on weight and to supply their masters with many useful products.First of all, according to specialists, yak is easy to breed. It obtains food for himself, and in such places, where other animals simply cannot get to. Its usual pasture is a steep slope of a mountain ridge, even a sheep cannot hold its ...

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Tetovo, August 1 (MIA) – Policeman Coki Stojanovski from Tetovo was killed Wednesday, just after midnight, when the Albanian terrorists attacked the post of the Macedonian police near Tetovo – Brvenica road, MIA's correspondent reports. According to Tetovo Police, Stojanovski suffered from serious injuries in the head and in the body and his body was transferred to the Department of Jurisprudence in Tetovo Medical Center. Relatively calm, but tense is Wednesday morning in Tetovo with rare vehicles and passer – byes on the streets. The wife (C) of Macedonian policeman Coki Stoikovski, killed by Albanian guerrillas, is helped by her ...

HUD tightens controls on program that sells police, teachers half-price homes By MATT KELLEY The Associated Press 8/4/01 12:29 PM WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal officials are demanding repayment of about $1.2 million from 54 police officers and teachers who defrauded a program that helped them buy houses in return for living in poor, crime-ridden neighborhoods. Federal housing officials also say they have tightened controls on the program, which was suspended for four months because of fraud and mismanagement. The program resumed last week. "While most of the officers and teachers who purchase houses through these programs play by the rules, ...

8/3/01 Bush researching Clinton policies(BR) It will be months, possibly years, before the public gets access to internal Clinton administration papers, but requests from scholars and the Bush administration are already pouring in.(BR) Clinton library boss David Alsobrook says that the Bush White House wants to see documents spelling out national-security and foreign policy. (BR)Many scholars, meantime, are interested in former first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton's lawsuit- plagued healthcare task force.(BR) Nobody's yet interested in any of the Clinton administration's successes.(BR) Alsobrook, who helped organize former President Bush's library, says the requests are coming in unusually early. The reason: ...

L.A. bureaucrats tilt at backyard windmill An amateur inventor's homemade generator has run afoul of building and safety inspectors. August 4, 2001 By DANA BARTHOLOMEW and HARRISON SHEPPARDLos Angeles Daily News LOS ANGELES -- George Horvath wants to uncrunch the energy crisis with his very own windmill. Except the backyard invention that has powered Horvath's refrigerator since 1998 was broken up recently by order of Los Angeles building and safety inspectors, whom he says shrugged their shoulders at his quixotic plans five years ago. "You bet I'm upset," said Horvath, 68, a born tinkerer with a back yard full ...

SAN ANTONIO ­ Economists attending a Dallas Federal Reserve Bank conference here Friday criticized Senate action that would restrict Mexican trucks in the United States, saying it was motivated by politics rather than safety. The day before, Mexican President Vicente Fox vowed to block U.S. trucks in his country after the Senate approved safety standards that would subject Mexican trucks and drivers to stringent inspections and insurance requirements. Participants in Friday's conference on border transportation issues said the move violates the North American Free Trade Agreement, which called for free cross-border trucking. "I'm afraid that it's more a political issue ...

The prosecutor's office is tight-lipped. Probably because they're red-faced. For now, all anyone there will say is the government legal beagles are asking the cops for more information on the stupidest legal case in recent memory. TRANSLATION: Earth to Calgary Police Service. What the hell is going on? This move for more particulars is widely seen as a possible first step in dropping The Curious Case of The Radar Sign. You know, the silliness that has the city chattering. Three Calgary teens get their markers and their paper and make a simple sign. It reads RADAR AHEAD. A traffic ...

Like piecing together a broken mirror, the challenge of fixing elections reflects a dizzying array of problems -- from media mistakes and limited access for the disabled, to flawed voting machines and the danger of fraud. Over the past week, two studies that began after last year's presidential election offered detailed prescriptions for strengthening America's voting system so it won't seize up under the pressure of another close race. Consensus far outweighs conflict, but the few disagreements threaten to derail reform efforts -- as made clear by Thursday's GOP boycott of a key Senate committee vote on an election bill. ...

FERC judge sees gas supplier 'hanky-panky' Divisions of El Paso Corp. allegedly agreed to block other gas suppliers from using its pipelines to supply California. August 4, 2001 Bloomberg News WASHINGTON -- El Paso Corp. may have violated federal rules by letting its merchant energy unit outbid rivals for capacity on a natural-gas pipeline into California, a federal regulatory judge said. Curtis Wagner, a U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chief judge, is investigating accusations that the El Paso unit locked up more than a billion feet of capacity so other gas suppliers couldn't use it. California utilities and government ...

CALGARY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 3, 2001--(NYSE:TLM - news; TSE:TLM. - news) Talisman Energy AB (``Talisman AB''), a wholly-owned Swedish subsidiary of Talisman Energy Inc. (``Talisman Energy''), has commenced a public offer (the ``Offer'') for the purchase of the Class A and Class B shares of Lundin Oil AB (publ) (``Lundin Oil''), the Global Depositary Shares representing Class B shares of Lundin Oil (the ``Lundin Oil GDSs'') and certain warrants issued by Lundin Oil. Pursuant to the Offer, Talisman AB will pay a cash amount of Swedish Krona (``SEK'') 36.50 for each Class A and Class B share and each GDS. The ...

Bush's lure isn't the paycheck There must be some kind of high to working for the first family, because it sure ain't the money. White House salary figures obtained by Washington Whispers show that for most posts–except the very top–annual pay is equal to or less than former President Clinton's rate of three years ago. In fact, President Bush's $23 million payroll is $84,000 less annually than Clinton's in June 1998, although he's employing about the same number of staffers. And that's despite hiking the top rate from $125,000 to $140,000 for close aides including Chief of Staff Andrew Card, ...