Free Republic

It will be very easy for you to say, "Well, I will do something, some day. When I can afford it, I am going to." But would you let an old "grad" tell you one thing now? Giving is a habit. Get into the habit now, because you will never be able to afford to give and contribute, thus to repay the obligation you owe to those people who made this college possible, if you wait until you think you can afford it. Start now regardless of how small, and in the days to come when you are confronted ...

<p>DURBAN, South Africa  — The European Union agreed to a compromise calling on those responsible for slavery to find ways to restore the dignity of victims, resolving a key issue deadlocking the U.N. conference against racism, an EU spokesman said Friday.</p>

<p>"Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau apologized on the strip's Web site for using an Internet hoax on presidential IQs as the basis for Sunday's strip.</p> <p>The strip, a purported conversation between an unseen President George W. Bush and an adviser in the White House, cites as fact a purported ranking of presidential IQs based on public statements and writings. In the "study," Bush is said to have an IQ half that of former president Bill Clinton and a little more than half the average presidential vocabulary.</p>

White House Hides Clinton Fund-raising Scandal From Congress WASHINGTON - The House Government Reform Committee on Thursday prepared to subpoena the Bush administration for documents relating to Justice Department investigations of the Clinton administration's fund-raising scandal. But the White House said it was prepared to invoke executive privilege to keep the documents secret, shocking congressional investigators. Subpoenas were also planned for another set of documents related to Boston-area organized crime. Two sets of documents involve the Justice Department's decision not to seek an independent counsel after the 1996 campaign fund-raising scandals that hit both parties during the Clinton administration. The ...

I've been working at learning everything I can about the situation in the Klamath Basin for several months now, and I have to say that the more I learn, the more troubled I become. Every time I look at an aspect of what's happening in the Basin, the more twists and turns I find in the background. Connect the dots long enough, and you end up with a huge web of interconnected agendas that is mind-boggling. I think of the medical world, and I can understand the Klamath Basin situation as a sign of what might be called an "environmentalism ...

<p>The National Organization for Women is retreating from its support of accused child killer Andrea P. Yates, claiming it is only trying to ensure that the Yates tragedy sparks a long-overdue discussion of mental illness and the death penalty.</p> <p>In a statement released Thursday, NOW president Kim Gandy blamed the media for misinterpreting its position and said the organization had not established a legal defense fund for Yates – the Texas mother accused of drowning her five children – does not excuse her crime and was not raising money for her.</p>

Not long ago I decided to amuse myself by compiling a list of words and phrases — usually abstract nouns — that now mean the exact opposite of their original definition. Anyone with a little ingenuity and a working knowledge of the broadsheet press can play this game. There is ‘democratic’, for example, which nearly always means ‘undemocratic’; or ‘tolerance’, which, when closely examined, is pretty sure to mean ‘intolerance’; and even ‘extensive public consultation’, which when used by a local government planning department can be guaranteed to mean ‘a decision has been reached’. But by far the most problematic ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- A plan to restructure Weirton Steel Corp. and avoid bankruptcy includes the elimination of 550 jobs, or 13.8 percent of its overall work force. Some details of the reorganization, including the slashing of seven vice president positions and revisions to executive benefits, were released Friday as the Independent Steelworkers Union finished ratifying a new contract by mail-in vote. The union faces the elimination of 372 hourly positions, plus 78 clerical and technical employees. Another 100 management jobs would be eliminated. The company employs about 4,000 people overall. "Personnel ...

A House committee vowing to unravel ``one of the greatest failures of federal law enforcement'' in American history issued a sweeping subpoena yesterday for decades worth of FBI memos that might explain why the Bulger gang was not prosecuted until 1995. ``We need these documents to find out what happened in Boston,'' said James Wilson, chief legal counsel for the House Government Reform Committee. But the Department of Justice has already refused to hand over the ``deliberative documents'' under a new blanket policy against sharing with Congress internal paperwork related to any criminal investigation. Attorney General John Ashcroft is ...

POLITICAL dynasties will collide next week when Laura Bush makes her debut on Capitol Hill, where she has been summoned to the spotlight by the Democrat warhorse Edward Kennedy to face questions from Hillary Clinton. The shy, former public librarian, more usually seen at her husband’s side, will take her first solo steps on the political stage before the Senate education committee, chaired by the head of the Kennedy clan. Its line-up also includes her White House predecessor, whose outspoken approach Mrs Bush has from the outset made clear she has no intention of trying to emulate. In agreeing to ...

Red China's TV Coming to U.S. John L. Perry, NewsMax.comFriday, Sept. 7, 2001 The world's biggest communist regime and the world's biggest media capitalists are cutting a deal to bring Beijing's televised propaganda into millions of American homes. As part of the package, the People's Republic of China is prepared to allow Rupert Murdoch's STAR network to telecast directly to a prospering mainland province near Hong Kong. If the Australian mega-billionaire's deal with communist China goes through, the stateside partner of his own umbrella international conglomerate, News Corp., would be AOL Time Warner, another gigantic global media conglomerate that blankets ...

Last year's Fat Tuesday riot on South Street showed the area's ruffians have learned you can get drunk, break windows and trash property in Philadelphia as long as you don't bring an ID. Dozens of rioters nabbed on summary charges in last February's melee apparently walked free after giving phony names to police. State Rep. Alan Butkovitz, D-Philadelphia, has a solution: Permit cops to hold summary offenders until their identification is confirmed. But that idea was challenged in a legislative hearing yesterday as an attack on civil liberties. "I begin to wonder whether we really did defeat our totalitarian enemies ...

3. NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION: WE TRADED IT FOR MISSILE DEFENSE? The imperative of American defense policy for half-a-century has been to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, but we have now turned our back on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and about to abandoned (sic) the ABM treaty, and the administration is reassuring China that if they'll soften opposition to NMD,we'll be happy to share test results and we won't mind if they build a bigger missile fleet and resume testing.

China Cautions US on MDS China hopes that the US act cautiously regarding the MDS issue, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao said Friday. He noted that as the world's strongest military power, the United States insists on the development of its missile defense system (MDS), which is bound to damage the international strategic balance and stability and harm the common security of all countries. Zhu was asked to comment on U.S. reports that the U.S. government will ask the Chinese side for its support for the U.S. missile defense plan in return for not opposing China's expansion of its nuclear ...

FBI Seized Wanted Chinese Criminal, Coordinated Legal Relations ExpectedMany stories linger in Los Angels, New Jersey and New York that many "distinguished personages" from Chinese mainland purchased luxury elegant houses and squander money like water in the US. But who on earth knows among these people how many are corrupt officials or their spouses and offspring, or even criminals wanted by the Chinese government? For a long time, the United States has harbored these people since it's none of the business of the US government. But the prime days may have gone forever, the FBI has recently rounded up an ...

September 5, 2001 Thank you for contacting me to share your views regarding the ability of foreign nationals to enter the United States and become legal residents. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments about this important issue.As you may know, members of Congress and the Bush Administration are currently formulating proposals to reform the way immigrants enter our country. It is my strong belief that any such proposals must balance the interests of U.S. citizens, and our economy, while providing a fair, legal framework for those seeking to come to our Nation form other countries. I also believe ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. JONESBORO, Ark. -- Nestle USA chose Jonesboro for a new facility because of the city's quality of life, and city leaders said at a Thursday groundbreaking that the $165 million frozen food plant will make life in Jonesboro a lot better. The plant will bring 1,000 jobs. "This is the largest investment Nestle has ever made in a new production facility anywhere in the world," said Stephen Conliffe, president of Nestle USA's prepared foods division. Nestle, the world's largest food maker, cited the available work force and civic life in Jonesboro ...

LatelineNews: 2001-9-7] WASHINGTON - The United States is worried about reports of Chinese retaliation against U.S. banks in contact with Taiwan and has brought up its concerns with the Chinese government, the State Department said on Thursday. "We are concerned about the matter. We've already raised it with the Chinese government," said spokesman Richard Boucher. China warned on Tuesday it would not tolerate foreign companies pursuing "official" contacts with Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be a renegade part of its territory, Reuters reported. The issue erupted last week after reports that Beijing cut Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) out of ...

<p>LAKE SHORE, Minn. -- A retired Honeywell engineer expected to receive a federal tax rebate of $600, but his check from the IRS was a penny short.</p> <p>Days after Philip Gallion got a check for $599.99, he received a four-page letter from the IRS explaining that his rebate had been reduced to cover interest he owed on an underpayment of his 2000 taxes.</p>

Friday September 7, 7:02 pm Eastern Time New Yorkers feeling sting of economy, market meltdown By Philip Klein NEW YORK, Sept 7 (Reuters) - A pleasant, late-summer Friday should have been the perfect opportunity for New Yorkers to forget their worries, but concerns about job losses and the slumping stock market brought out the blues. With the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^SPX - news) hitting a three-year low, the Dow Jones industrial average plunging over 200 points, and U.S. jobless data showing a worsening economy, New Yorkers headed into the weekend with a worried state of mind. Friday's announcement ...