Free Republic

<p>Fire and police brass are on alert for a new and especially insidious threat - terrorists bearing bombs in replica cop cars, ambulances or firetrucks.</p> <p>Fears of such a tactic were fueled this month when two unidentified Middle Eastern men tried to purchase a replica ambulance from a company in north Jersey, law-enforcement sources told The Post.</p>

<p>With her bodyguard in tow, Martha Stewart yesterday arrives for a media meeting, where she insisted she did nothing wrong - sending shares of her stock soaring.</p> <p>June 20, 2002 -- Martha Stewart faced her public for the first time yesterday since the ImClone scandal broke - and it paid off to the tune of $63 million.</p>

asir Arafat claims that he was born in Jerusalem, but he was actually born in Cairo. He claims to belong to the prominent Jerusalem family of Husseini, but he is at best only distantly related to it. He claims that he turned down a chance to go to the University of Texas, but according to one biographer, the Palestinian-born writer Saïd K. Aburish, it is highly unlikely that he was ever accepted. He claims to have disabled ten Israeli armored personnel carriers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, but Israel didn't even have ten APCs in the sector he was...

ABU DHABI — Saudi Arabia has airlifted hundreds of Al Qaida militants home from Iran this year. Gulf and Saudi opposition sources said the airlift began in January. They said Iran granted Riyad permission to send Saudi government jets to evacuate hundreds of Al Qaida and Taliban members detained by Iran. The Saudi nationals were fleeing approaching U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Saudi nationals were said to have comprised a significant portion of the estimated 10,000 Al Qaida agents who had been based in Afghanistan, Middle East Newsline reported. Fifteen of the 19 suicide attackers on New York and Washington on...

<p>June 20, 2002 -- WASHINGTON - The nation's eavesdropping agency intercepted ominous messages on Sept. 10 - "The match begins tomorrow" and "Tomorrow is zero day" - but nothing was done until it was too late, sources said yesterday.</p> <p>The National Security Agency didn't translate the pair of pre-9/11 Arabic-language messages until Sept. 12, the day after the terror attacks, intelligence officials told a congressional panel.</p>

<p>June 20, 2002 -- Cops are offering a $2,000 reward for help in finding those who've been setting American flags on fire outside homes in Franklin Square, L.I.</p> <p>Since May 13, there have been 11 flag-burning incidents, eight of them occurring on May 30, police said.</p>

<p>A gay Catholic priest looted his working-class Queens parish by playing "sugar daddy" to an 18-year-old go-go dancer who lived with him in a church rectory, a shocking lawsuit charged yesterday.</p> <p>Among other allegations, the suit says the Rev. John Thompson looted $14,000 from a candy drive - and bragged he was untouchable because "he could bring down half the [Brooklyn] diocese with what he knew" about other gay priests.</p>

"READ MY LIPS", Screw Retired Disabled Vets Bush treatens to veto Senate Military Bill that will fund/authorize CONCURRENT RECIEPT for Retired Disabled Veterans Excerpt: Senate OKs Pay for Disabled Vets By Jim Abrams Associated Press Writer Wednesday, June 19, 2002; 6:38 PM WASHINGTON –– The Senate on Wednesday defied a White House threat that President Bush will use his first veto against a $393 billion defense bill if Congress extends full retirement pay to disabled veterans. You can read the full article here: The Washington Compost My appologies to Jim Robinson and FR for posting the entire article from the...

<p>June 20, 2002 -- Reparations for descendants of slaves here would be "divisive," Mayor Bloomberg said yesterday, shooting down an idea for a city-funded commission to study the emotionally charged issue.</p> <p>The mayor's comment came after Councilmen Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn) and Bill Perkins (D-Manhattan) held a hearing calling for a commission to recommend compensation for city descendants of African slaves.</p>

Owner of dangerous dogs temporarily forbidden to have pets Megan Baldino Anchorage, Alaska, June 19 - The owner of two dogs that attacked a 6-year-old boy in Eagle River will not be allowed to own any pets for two years. Erin Meyers with Anchorage Animal Control says Paul Turner's right to own any animals was suspended Wednesday. Turner's rottweiler was put to sleep Tuesday. His mastiff is still being quarantined and will stay in Animal Control for 15 days. That's the amount of time Turner has to file an appeal. If Turner does not file an appeal, the mastiff...

<p>At the H Street home of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), five linguists can create a media stir simply by translating, accurately, Arabic-language news stories on their black Dell computers.</p> <p>From its nine-room office, which looks more like the corporate headquarters of a small Saudi oil company, MEMRI distributes, via e-mail and fax, translations of comments about America in mainstream Arabic-language newspapers and in speeches by Muslim leaders.</p>

PGA: Voter Miscount? Opponents of the controversial PGA village project are calling it another Florida. They say massive miscounts of PGA petitions stink of voter fraud. One example they're using, 55 signatures invalidated. 44 of which they say should have been counted as valid registered voters. The "Save Our Aquifer" campaign asked for their own copies of the thousands of invalidated signatures. Their own review is finding as much as 80% of the signatures should have been counted. But were tossed out by the city. Some of the reasons: Leaving the "e" off the end of a street name...

Metro Ordinance Against Tall Grass Passes The Metro council is fed up with tall grass. In a vote Tuesday night, the council passed a law against unkempt lawns above 12-inches tall on any vacant lot or rental unit. If you've got a well-defined landscaping plan with tall flowers, you can get a waiver from the Metro government.

Non-Working Vehicles in Davidson County Can't Be Parked on Lawn The Metro government doesn't want to look at your old, undrivable cars anymore. The Metro council held a third and final reading for the junk car ordinance, so now it's law. Any non-working vehicles must be properly stored in a garage or at least parked on a driveway. That means no cars in your yard in Davidson County.

<p>Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle yesterday sounded as if the consuming task of fund raising might discourage him from pursuing the presidency in 2004.</p> <p>Asked if he had finished reading "Master of the Senate," a book about former Senate Majority Leader and President Lyndon Johnson, Mr. Daschle said he was struck by how little of the 1,200-page book is devoted to fund raising.</p>

<p>Chained to the desk? Work like a dog? Then bring the dog.</p> <p>Advocates of the fourth annual "Take Your Dog to Work Day" hope everyone will drag Bowser to the office tomorrow to celebrate canines, their calming effect and dogdom in general.</p>

Archerd: Stone to Israel -- leave the West Bank Wed Jun 19,11:02 PM ET By Army Archerd, Daily Variety Senior Columnist HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - With yet another suicide bombing in Jerusalem Wednesday night -- the second in that city in two days -- I thought it was time to talk to Oliver Stone about his documentary on Yasser Arafat ( news - web sites). He said he is editing the Canal Plus-financed film for TV with no outlet yet set in the U.S. He is also at work on his theatrical feature about Fidel Castro ( news - web sites),...

<p>The government and lawyers for U.S.-born Taliban follower John Walker Lindh reached a broad agreement on use of classified material at Lindh's upcoming trial, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said yesterday in Alexandria.</p> <p>Judge Ellis said the government has agreed to declassify some documents, summarize others and withdraw additional documents.</p>

WASHINGTON, Jun 20, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Just weeks before Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, U.S. intelligence and law enforcement received several warnings that Islamic terrorists were seeking to strike on American soil and that a likely target was government buildings, documents show. The information, though it was never linked to McVeigh, was stark enough that the Clinton administration urged stepped up security patrols and screening at federal buildings nationwide, including those in Oklahoma. The government, however, didn't fortify buildings with cement barriers like those hurriedly installed after McVeigh detonated his explosive-laden truck...

The President of the United States, George W. Bush, has asked that all Americans and Canadians unite together in a common cause to root out terrorists hiding in our community. Since the Taliban cannot stand nudity and consider it a sin to see a naked woman that is not one's wife, on Saturday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. EDT, all North American women are asked to walk out of their house completely naked to help weed out any neighborhood terrorists. Circling your block for one hour is recommended for this anti-terrorist effort. All men should position themselves in lawn chairs in...