Free Republic

Jailer fired after being charged with allowing inmate to escape The Associated Press June 19, 2002   11:28 am ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. -- A Northampton County jailer charged with accepting a bribe to allow an inmate to escape has been fired, Sheriff Wardie Vincent said Wednesday.Keith Williams lost his job just after investigators determined he had accepted a $20,000 check to help Darnell Mason, 34, escape from prison. The check turned out to be worthless.Investigators also found $500 in cash on Williams when they arrested him. He denied the money came from Mason.Mason, a former Gaston police officer, was...

How beautiful it is to kill and be killed By MOHAMMED NAJIB AND NEWS AGENCIES The Palestinian Authority condemned yesterday's suicide bombing, and denied Israeli accusations that it was to blame. "We condemn all attacks against civilians, whether Palestinians or Israelis," said Ahmed Abdel-Rahman, a senior aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat. "But at the same time, the Israeli government's accusations against the Palestinian Authority about responsibility for the attack are rejected." In condemning the attack, PA Culture and Information Minister Yaser Abed Rabbo said that it gives Israel a reason to escalate its military actions against the Palestinians....

<p>"There is no eating or smoking in the pool area. Children must pass the deep-water test to be in the deep end of the pool. And please stay away from the duck."</p> <p>A green-headed male duck, his mate and several little ducklings have been paddling around the Dormont swimming pool in the mornings before the man-made body of water opens to the public.</p>

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- When I began researching the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, I was immediately taken back by the polarization. People are generally in either pro-Israel or pro-Palestine groups, with very little room for someone in the middle. As Americans, however, we need a much broader perspective on this situation, whereby we aggressively search for a means for peace. The key is to stand as honest, neutral peacemakers rather than be dragged into the polarization. We must accept the facts and then morally support wherever these facts lead. We must not be either pro-Israel or pro-Palestinian but be pro-human life. Once we...

JANELLE CARTER, Associated Press WriterWednesday, June 19, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/19/financial0500EDT0025.DTL (06-19) 08:18 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Bush administration is lining up behind a prescription drug proposal that would require seniors to pay a $35 monthly premium and meet a $250 yearly deductible. But GOP leaders are facing stiff criticism that the plan leaves seniors dependent on private insurers and stuck with huge out-of-pocket costs. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson released an analysis Wednesday that his agency had done of the prescription drug plans offered by Democrats and Republicans. "Allowing for prescription drug coverage for...

Find the article here. More relevant now then ever.

Dear Friends, I wanted to let you know that my life has changed rather dramatically over the last two days. My husband and I have raised seven children to adulthood, and now thanks to a very sympathetic court we are adopting a 16 year old girl and her 2 year old son. She also is pregnant, and we will adopt her child too. It is a very long story that begins with us running into her in a grocery store as she was trying to get her friend (the clerk checking us out) to take her to an abortuary. God...

The Sante Prison in France is considered very hard to break out of. It's so well guarded that in 60 years only six prisoners have escaped. But in 1927, Leon Daudet made his break by simply walking out the front gate. How did he just walk out of a maximum security prison? He had one of his friends telephone the warden and tell him Daudet had been pardoned. The warden believed him and had Daudet released. What do we learn from this? It's not how strong you are, it's what you believe. If you believe a lie, you become subject...

Democrats See Corporate Misdeeds As Election Theme Copyright © 2002, Dow Jones Newswires By Rob Wells OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)-- The Senate's top Democrat thinks combatting corporate misdeeds is a winning election-year theme for his party. "I think corporate accountability will be an issue in the election, with or without this legislation," Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., told reporters Tuesday. He was referring to a bill the Senate Banking Committee approved, by a comfortable bipartisan vote of 17-4, that would create a new panel to inspect and punish accountants. The measure, sponsored by Senate Banking Committee...

JOHN R. BRADLEY, Associated Press WriterWednesday, June 19, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/19/international1138EDT0596.DTL (06-19) 08:38 PDT JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia will not allow outside investigators to question al-Qaida suspects who tried to shoot down a U.S. military plane, according to a government-controlled newspaper report Wednesday, a day after the kingdom announced its first such arrests since Sept. 11. The daily Okaz newspaper said access to the 11 Saudis, an Iraqi and a Sudanese will be limited to Saudi authorities because "the crimes that they committed or planned to carry out occurred or were going to take...

June 19, 2002, 7:42 AM CDT WASHINGTON -- Even as authorities played down uncorroborated reports of an Al-Qaida attack on the Southern California coast, the FBI was girding for possible attacks on July 4 and canvassing major celebrations around the country for signs of trouble. The FBI "is assuming a heightened security posture" because of a rash of worrisome intelligence reports indicating that major Independence Day celebrations could be attacked, according to a confidential law enforcement alert reviewed by The Los Angeles Times. Many of the intelligence reports -- which could stem from interrogations of captured Al-Qaida operatives -- are...

Cuba says 8 million back Castro petition Critics suspect many were coerced to sign anti-reform document 06/19/2002 By TRACEY EATON / The Dallas Morning News HAVANA - More than 8 million Cubans signed petitions backing Fidel Castro's socialist government as part of a referendum drive that ended Tuesday, the government said. The results will be presented to Cuba's National Assembly, which will consider a constitutional amendment declaring Cuba's socialist government to be "untouchable." Castro loyalists said the results show that people do not want change. President Bush last month demanded democratic change in Cuba, when he urged the Cuban...

PALM BEACH COUNTY TERM LIMITS COMMITTEE June 19, 2002 +++++ COMMISSIONERS ON THE RECORD... At Tuesday night's Palm Beach County Commission meeting meeting, commissioner Mary McCarty proposed that the commission CEASE an legal effort to try to keep the term limits referendum off the ballot. Commissioner Tony Masilotti voted with her, but the proposal was defeated 4-2, as Burt Aaronson, Carol Roberts, Addie Greene, and Karen Marcus voted to continue the effort. Commissioner McCarty deserves credit for putting this up for a vote. While there certainly was politicking all around, this vote brought the issue out in the open and...

An elementary school teacher who appeared in a pornographic gay video was suspended without pay by the Broward School Board on Tuesday, beginning a multistep process to fire him. But Anthony Vanchieri, who taught physical education at Coconut Creek Elementary, plans to appeal -- which puts the firing on hold, said his attorney Steve Rossi. School Board members said little before voting unanimously to support the administration's recommendation to fire him. The administration's petition stated, "Undoubtably, Respondent's actions have publicly disgraced the education profession as a whole, and violated School Board policies." Rossi countered the board should consider less-severe punishment...

<p>Silicon Valley entrepeneur Steve Kirsch is only partly joking when he reveals the code name for his next start up: The Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.</p> <p>Mr. Kirsch has committed $1 million a year to launch the Washington D.C. political advocacy group, and claims to have lined up other donors willing to put up an additional $10 million or more.</p>

This week's Steel on Steel radio broadcast began with an EXCELLENT summary of where we are today, nationally and globally, and how we got there. John Loeffler is about the best there is for "connecting the dots," and I highly recommend folks going HERE and listening to the -free- 20 minute sample, which is essentially John's monologue that I'm referring to. Steel on Steel is no longer a free subscription on the net, but each week he provides a free 20 minute sample. If you're wondering what in the heck is going on here in What's Left of America -...

Cyber Security Plan Contemplates U.S. Data Retention Law Internet service providers may be forced into wholesale spying on their customers as part of the White House's strategy for securing cyberspace.By Kevin Poulsen, Jun 18 2002 3:46PMAn early draft of the White House's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace envisions the same kind of mandatory customer data collection and retention by U.S. Internet service providers as was recently enacted in Europe, according to sources who have reviewed portions of the plan. In recent weeks, the administration has begun doling out bits and pieces of a draft of the strategy to technology industry...

NOTE: This article deals at first with Australian census numbers that may or may not be of interest to you. It then gets into a far more interesting point about the Marxist underpinnings of the media’s drive to declare “the traditional family” dead, as Australia's media did yesterday (See Australia's family snapshot fades, for an example), and ours has been doing since about 1972. The media doesn't seem to think so, but the family unit is alive and well, writes Miranda Devine. There was much gleeful stomping on the grave of the traditional family this week when the 2001 census...

Former Gov. Campbell endorses Sanford bidPeeler's 'negative attacks' prompts GOP heavyweight to abandon his neutral stance By LEE BANDY Staff WriterDisturbed by Lt. Gov. Bob Peeler's "negative attacks" in the Republican gubernatorial primary campaign, former Gov. Carroll Campbell abandoned his stance of neutrality Tuesday and endorsed former U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford for governor.His support gives a boost to Sanford's campaign just a week before Tuesday's runoff. The winner faces Democratic Gov. Jim Hodges in the Nov. 5 general election."This is a real blow to the Peeler campaign," said Ron Romine, a USC Spartanburg political scientist. "I think people are smelling...

After 80 years, teen to be buried Black 15-year-old to get Juneteenth sendoff; family couldn't pay fee 06/19/2002 Associated Press HOUSTON - A 15-year-old black Texan whose all-too-brief life was followed by an all-too-lengthy stay in a Central Texas funeral home is finally going to rest Wednesday. Mojo, as he's known in Calvert, is set for a Juneteenth burial more than 80 years after he was killed. For the Rev. Rodrick Jackson, the afternoon service will come not a moment too soon. "That's the day blacks were free," Mr. Jackson said, referring to the 137th anniversary of when the...