Free Republic

For the third time in 27 years, candidates from Columbus and Dayton will square off Thursday night for the chairmanship of the ailing Ohio Democratic Party. Franklin County Democratic Chairman Dennis L. White and Montgomery County Democratic Chairman Dennis. A. Lieberman each predicted yesterday that he has the votes to succeed David J. Leland as party leader. The party's executive committee, composed of the 66 central committee members, will elect a chairman during a 6:15 p.m. meeting at the Airport Hotel in Columbus. Leland, chairman since 1995, will resign after the meeting to become national director of Project Vote, a...

Report: Sept. 11 plot planned for 3 yearsFrom the Washington Politics & Policy DeskPublished 6/19/2002 9:38 AM WASHINGTON, June 19 (UPI) -- The Sept. 11 plot was probably planned by al Qaida as far back as 1998, intelligence officials reportedly told a congressional panel on Tuesday.The Washington Post and The New York Times said in their Wednesday editions that the planning probably began shortly after al Qaida bombed two U.S. embassies in East Africa.Lawmakers attended a closed session with top intelligence officials on Tuesday, and another closed-door session was expected Wednesday. Public testimony might be presented as early as next...

CNN founder Turner regrets equating IDF actions with terrorism By News Agencies CNN founder Ted Turner, reacting to criticism of his comments to a London newspaper about violence in the Middle East, said Tuesday he regretted "any implication that I believe the actions taken by Israel to protect its people are equal to terrorism." "My comments were part of a long and extensive interview that I gave two months ago when I was condemning the loss of human life," said Turner, vice chairman of CNN's parent company, AOL Time Warner. "The violence in the Middle East has reached an intolerable...

<p>After a decade of raising money, Rutherford County Muslims plan to break ground on a mosque this fall. The Murfreesboro Planning Commission will consider plans today for the Masjed Al-Iman, which means ''the mosque of faith.'' The proposed site is on East Northfield Boulevard near Pitts Lane.</p>

Egypt, Jordan opposes 'interim' Palestinian state AMMAN - Jordan and Egypt cast doubt on Wednesday on proposals for a provisional Palestinian state being considered by the United States and criticized Israel's threat to reoccupy Palestinian land in response to new suicide attacks. The foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, the only two Arab states with peace treaties with Israel, rejected any talk of a provisional Palestinian state and called for a timetable for an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Their comments were made in Amman following talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's...

<p>Conservative lawmakers called on President Bush to deploy thousands of troops along U.S. borders, saying the homeland security plan that the White House delivered yesterday to Congress would take years to crack down on illegal immigration.</p> <p>"Our nation's border security is our homeland's Achilles' heel," said Rep. Jim Ramstad, Minnesota Republican. "This situation must be corrected immediately if we're serious about preventing terrorism." The White House sent to Congress its plan to reorganize homeland security agencies into a Cabinet-level department, which officials said might have headquarters outside Washington for security reasons. Congressional leaders said they hoped to approve the plan by Sept. 11. Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge called approval of the department "the next critical step" in the war against terrorism.</p>

Toddler's survival story a true Miracle 22-month-old stranded in apartment up to 10 days after mother died 06/19/2002 Associated Press ATLANTA - A 22-month-old girl named Miracle survived for up to 10 days after her pregnant mother died, rummaging through a pantry and cabinets for whatever food she could find, police said Tuesday. Officers responding to a report of a foul odor and a swarm of large flies found her Sunday, standing next to her mother's body, which had decomposed so much that she had to be identified by fingerprints. Miracle was released from an Atlanta hospital Tuesday, and...

Europeans are always calling Americans “cowboys” and saying that we think, “life is like a John Wayne movie.” I wish they were right because it would make the entire “War on Terrorism” a lot easier. Unfortunately, we seem bound and determined to play the part of the Lone Ranger while we force Israel to take the role of our loyal sidekick Tonto. Not that the Lone Ranger was such a bad guy. He was a decent man who was an incredibly talented gunfighter. He was so much better than the villains he fought that he was actually able to shoot...

Group Warns of Risks Using Internet Cybersecurity Experts Warn of Risks Involved With Logging on to Internet The Associated Press A T L A N T A, June 19 — At a town hall meeting on cyber security, experts warned that the risks of going online have become especially prevalent as hackers find new ways to poke holes in Internet security systems. Tom Noonan, chief executive officer for Internet Security Systems, told the gathering Tuesday that logging onto the Internet is like entering a dangerous neighborhood. Risks include identity fraud and intellectual property and credit card theft."This is the...

<p>Shortly after Robert Doyle of St. Petersburg, Fla., got married, he and his wife embarked on a pilgrimage undertaken by thousands of new homeowners every year. They drove to High Point, N.C., in search of furniture bargains.</p> <p>They purchased several items, and as expected, a truck delivered their furniture three months later. But six weeks after their furniture arrived, they received something they didn't expect: a bill from the Florida Department of Revenue informing them they owed use taxes on their purchases.</p>

Catholic leader: Adamec failed to act By SUSAN EVANS, THE TRIBUNE-DEMOCRAT June 19, 2002 [Michael Rose speaking at Altoona appearance] A conservative Catholic leader contends Bishop Joseph Adamec of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese has known the identities of priests who molest children, but has failed to act. George Foster, president of the Lay Stewardship Foundation, said Adamec has allowed the statute of limitations to run out so that priests could not be prosecuted, and he has failed to remove abusive priests from contact with children. Foster made the accusation yesterday in response to Adamec’s criticism of Foster’s group...

<p>Southwest Airlines will start charging larger passengers for two seats on its 2,800 daily flights starting June 26.</p> <p>The airline which operates out of 58 U.S. cities and is the largest carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, will begin charging 'persons of size' for two seats if they think they may not fit comfortably into one.</p>

Arabs Slyly Building Wall Around Israel Tel Aviv (SatireWire.com) — Israel today continued to believe it was building a massive fence to seal off the West Bank instead of unwittingly footing the bill to construct the first stage of an 800-mile-long wall meant to seal off the entire state of Israel from everyone else. Since construction began Sunday, Arab leaders have continually condemned the barrier, statements that have successfully motivated Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to keep building it. "Israel should not unilaterally build a wall along its borders simply to keep Palestinians out," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said at...

Wednesday, June 19, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/19/international0850EDT0544.DTL (06-19) 05:50 PDT LONDON (AP) -- Just a day after the British prime minister's wife spoke out about Palestinian suicide bombers, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Wednesday he felt compassion for the bombers, but condemned such bombings as despicable. "When young people go to their deaths, we can all feel a degree of compassion for those youngsters -- they must be so misguided and depressed to do this," Straw was quoted as saying by The Times newspaper. "But behind those people are some very evil and unpleasant terrorist leaders who do...

CSIS_______________________________ Center for Strategic and International Studies 1800 K Street N.W. Washington, DC 20006 (202) 775-3270 (To comment: Acordesman@aol.com The Second Intifada and the Lessons of Jenin Dealing with the Grim Realities of Urban Warfare Anthony H. Cordesman Arleigh A. Burke Chair for Strategy Center for Strategic and International Studies April 24, 2002 Copyright Anthony H. Cordesman, all rights reserved. The cliché that truth is the first casualty of war is often all too accurate. The same, however, can be true of efforts to analyze war and to assign blame for military action. This has already been a major problem...

cellpadding="0"> June 19, 2002Inside Politics Greg Pierce News and political dispatches from around the nation.     ABC lets George do it Top Stories • Troops for border sought• Saudis reveal first arrests of al Qaeda• EPA says toxic sludge is good for fish• Suicide bus bomb kills 19• Veto threats by Bush ring hollow on the Hill• Mayor steps in to reform DMV• Southwest will charge large fliers extra fare      Former Clinton White House aide George Stephanopoulos will take over as anchor of the Sunday-morning public-affairs show "This Week" starting in September, ABC News announced yesterday.      Mr. Stephanopoulos, 41, who joined ABC News in 1997 as a political analyst...

Saudi Arabia's announcement on Tuesday that it had broken up a suspected al-Qaeda plot shows that the organisation is a serious threat inside the country. The Saudi authorities said the group, led by a Sudanese man, had been planning bomb and missile attacks there. Parts of a surface-to-air missile have been found near an airbase used by thousands of US airmen. So clearly the Saudi Government is facing a bigger problem with al-Qaeda than it would like to admit. Only a few days ago the Interior Ministry insisted there were no al-Qaeda sleeper cells in the country. But now that...

One relative describes him as immature and says he was set up. But federal prosecutors say he threatened to blow up the White House and a Florida power plant. Safraz Jehaludi was arrested by U.S. Secret Service agents on Monday at Kemper Risk National Services in Plantation, where he worked as a data entry technician. Federal prosecutors say the Miramar man, 22, sent an anonymous tip from his work computer to the FBI Internet desk on May 31, saying he had overheard “Safraz Jehaludi” state he was planning to blow up a Florida Power & Light Co. power plant and...

<p>Southwest Airlines will start charging larger passengers for two seats on its 2,800 daily flights starting June 26.</p> <p>The airline, which operates out of 58 U.S. cities and is the largest carrier at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, will begin charging "persons of size" for two seats if they think they may not fit comfortably in one.</p>

No sign of al Qaida raiders along LA coast By Hil Anderson From the National Desk Published 6/18/2002 8:47 PM View printer-friendly version LOS ANGELES, June 18 (UPI) -- There has been no sign of a boatload of al Qaida terrorists that intelligence reports indicated were sailing toward the Southern California coast aboard a merchant ship with the intent of coming ashore in the Los Angeles area, the FBI said Tuesday. "Obviously, we have investigated and are continuing to investigate, but we have no information to substantiate the report," Cheryl Mamura, an FBI spokesman in Los Angeles, told United Press...