Free Republic

They were the model of US-Chinese friendship - the Flying Tigers, young American pilots who fought for China in World War II. Three of the legendary fliers have returned to China in the last few days to mark the 60th anniversary of their ragtag volunteer force, telling war stories at a government-sponsored conference and meeting Chinese veterans in an air of nostalgic camaraderie. The evocation of wartime solidarity could hardly be better timed, or its warmth more welcome. After months of tension with Washington over a spy-plane collision, the jailing of scholars and other conflicts, Beijing is eager for a ...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - The state deficit isn't official yet, but recommendations on how to weather it are already blowing in. State officials will meet on Thursday to determine the size of the budget deficit - estimated at between $500 million and $800 million dollars. At this point, there's little agreement on the significance of the numbers or the solutions. Some experts say Florida won't be hit as hard it was in the deficits of the early 1990s. But the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a Washington think tank, says Florida will be hit worse than other states this ...

The Bush administration wants to give the Chinese government an advance look at plans for testing its proposed missile defense shield. It hopes to persuade Beijing we mean them no harm. To "sweeten the pot," the administration is also prepared not to object if China wishes to resume underground nuclear testing in order to "modernize" its weapons stockpiles and keep them current. The rationale is that they're going to modernize anyway, so why not try to earn their trust? Have we so soon forgotten last spring's spy plane incident during which Beijing extracted the maximum amount of propaganda and humiliation ...

The Washington Post published an online article on Sept. 7 about social worker negligence. Is it against policy to post a link to the article on this board?

Senator Phil Gramm of Texas has decided to tell President Bush he will not seek reelection. This comes on the heels of Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina deciding to retire. Are these retirements related? I actually think they may be. I think that the Jim Jeffords act of political expediency and dishonor - handing majority control of the Senate over to Tom Daschle almost immediately after winning reelection as a Republican - has created a ripple effect. I know the Democrats have a mere one-vote majority, but they were, and they remain, emboldened. They're trying to destroy the Bush ...

Facing a 19-point deficit in the polls, former Mayor Bret Schundler, the state's Republican candidate for the November gubernatorial election, entered the final 10 weeks of his campaign in a self-dubbed "Jersey City Success Bus Tour" that highlighted concrete examples of his accomplishments in office. But the tour's success was shaky, as a group of anti-Schundler protesters greeted the bus at each stop to highlight the flaws of his administration with signs and chants. Signs that said, "Thanks for the $23 million debt" or "We won't allow you to do to the state what you did to Jersey City!" bobbed ...

Fox does not believe in the embargo against CubaMexico will continue its friendship with the communist islandMIAMI, Florida - The president of Mexico Vicente Fox spoke clearly: his country will maintain friendly relations with Cuba, in spite of the fact that this Caribbean island does not enjoy a democratic government. He thinks that an economic embargo, as the one that United States has maintained against Fidel Castro for more than four decades, "is not the solution". In the capital of the exiled CubansFox visited the south of Florida -capital of exiled Cubans- just before the end of a three day ...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott said on Sunday he would be open to a proposal to reduce the payroll taxes paid by U.S. workers for Social Security (news - web sites) and Medicare. ``I think the payroll tax is too high,'' the senior Republican told CNN's Late Edition. ``I would be interested in entertaining a bipartisan effort to consider (cutting it).'' During negotiations over Bush's $1.35 10-year trillion tax cut, which the president signed into law in June, many Democrats had expressed interest in a reduction in the payroll tax, especially for low income Americans. But those ...

U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of the most influential blacks in the Bush administration, said Sunday she did not think African-Americans should be compensated for the past wrongs of slavery. Rice said the United Nations conference on racism, which ended in Durban, South Africa, Saturday without U.S. participation, looked too much at the past by focusing on the issue of reparations for slavery and on finding ways to condemn Israel. Slavery ended in the United States 138 years ago with the stroke of Abraham Lincoln's pen and civil rights leaders such as Jesse Jackson have demanded that blacks ...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, one of the most prominent and influential blacks in the Bush administration, dismissed the idea Sunday of reparations to compensate the descendants of slaves.</p> <p>"Given the fact that there's plenty of blame to go around for slavery, plenty of blame to go around among African and Arab states, plenty of blame to go around among Western states -- I think we're better to look forward, not point fingers backward," Rice said on NBC's "Meet the Press."</p>

THE heat was intense, the flies infuriating and the mood ugly. A Macedonian commander clenched his red beret and spat in disgust. Isolated and outgunned, he had just learnt by mobile phone that his men would not be getting their milk. Albanian rebels from the National Liberation Army (NLA) had kidnapped the milkman and two other Macedonians at the local petrol station. "Every week they take people," railed the commander, who calls himself "Bumbar" (hornet) and is one of the leaders of a shadowy Macedonian paramilitary force known as the Lions. "The Albanians cut the fingers and ears, they rape, ...

I had been told to expect a nice young man. And Chris Monzel appears to be exactly that. Coughing wetly into a tissue, he apologized for his cold and said he hoped he wouldn't pass along his germs. Which he got the usual way. His kids, he explained. Cincinnati's most junior council member is a dad who baby-sat his daughter while his wife attended to her career. He's a Harvard graduate who volunteered his time in New York's inner city. He keeps pictures of his kids in his small office on the third floor of City Hall. Nice. And ...

AS AL GORE watched his White House dreams slowly disappear last year, he stunned his closest aides by trying to enlist the help of America’s most famous pushy single mother. Few had heard of Erin Brockovich until Hollywood immortalised her role as the tireless leader of a successful grassroots compensation claim against a polluting power company. But with his hopes fading by the day, Mr Gore believed that Ms Brockovich’s success in her own David v Goliath battle could help to swing things his way. The Vice-President wanted her to fly from California to Florida and to go knocking ...

A mystery girlfriend of embattled Congressman Gary Condit said that he was "stalking her" in a way that left her "scared," according to letters she wrote to a friend that were obtained by the National Enquirer this week. What's more, the friend of the unidentified Condit paramour, who first went public to Judicial Watch in August, said she was warned that she'd wind up like Chandra Levy if she didn't clam up about what she knows. "I can make people disappear with a phone call," a close Condit aide allegedly threatened his lover's female pen-pal. Neither woman has been named ...

By JANET SPENCER Staff Writer A Wellford man was gunned down Saturday when witnesses said he returned from jail to apologize for his behavior. Jonathan Hunter, 37, of 102 Padgett Court was shot six times at the Sugar Shack, a gathering place on Frey's Creek Road opposite the Palmetto Landfill. Hunter was in fair condition in Spartanburg Regional Medical Center, spokeswoman Michelle Wais said. Hunter underwent surgery after he was driven to the hospital by a cousin who witnessed the shooting. Spartanburg County sheriff's Lt. Ron Gahagan said Hunter had been arrested Friday in the vicinity of the Sugar ...

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 with ...

FLORIDA FREEPER ALERT -- President Bush to Visit Sarasota, Tuesday, 11 Sep, 8:00amFlorida Freepers -- your help is needed! President Bush will be visiting Sarasota on Tuesday arriving at 8am at the airport. USSS has put up a "protest area" at New college which is directly across from the airport arrival site. If possible, we are looking to get appoximately 60 pro-Bush protestors across from the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in the protest area to counter any anti-Bush protestors who will be there from the RATS! With Reno announcing, more anti-Bush protestors are expected! Please help if you can! Details: Time: ...

Did anyone else see Datleine tonight? I usually don't bother with it, but tonight it caught my eye. It's about "The Lost Boys", young Christian men from Sudan who are brought to the U.S. by various churches. They followed 2 groups- one in Rochester, NY the other in Seattle. Watching these young men was fascinating. All the things they are trying to learn, such as indoor plumbing, grocery stores, etc. In one shot they were in an airport in Europe. They were fascinated by the running water and the automatic faucets. In Rochester they were taken to Wegman's to go ...

When I was a freshman I went to a talk on dating, given on campus as part of a "Christian Formation" series. One of the things the speaker said was "Feelings don't really matter. Feelings come and go. What matters is compatibility." I've heard the same idea expressed many other times this way: "Love is not a feeling; it's a decision." The de-emphasis on "feelings" was a fundamental aspect of a general philosophy of dating promoted on campus (though certainly not shared by all) at the time. Dating was (and still is) regarded by many as "a process of marriage ...

&nbsp; THE TOWER OF BABBLE IN DURBAN by Emanuel A. Winston Middle East Analyst &amp; Commentator When mankind wished to challenge G-d in His Heaven, they built a ziggurat (a tower) which was to reach the skies. When G-d saw the arrogance of man, he struck them in a way that caused each to babble in language the other could not understand. In Durban, the same kind of fools assembled to assault the Jews in a psycho-babble that displayed for all to see, how little they have progressed from the days Nimrod’s Tower of Babble. I listened to NPR ...