Free Republic

Jun 20, 2002 Weeks Before 1995 Oklahoma Bombing, Government Warned of Possible Terror Attacks on Federal Buildings By John SolomonAssociated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Just weeks before Timothy McVeigh bombed the Oklahoma City federal building in 1995, U.S. authorities 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...

This week's Pentagon leak that Stephen Cambone would become the new head of program analysis and evaluation (PA&E) is an attempt to rectify a problem that has nagged at the Bush Pentagon since at least last summer: Independent, incisive analysis of military programs has not been consistently available from the secretary's civil service staff, in the view of several senior defense officials. They say that has thwarted Rumsfeld's ability to dramatically "transform" the armed services to meet changing threats and to defend such moves on Capitol Hill. There has been talk of replacing Barry Watts, the current PA&E director, since...

Israeli occupation blocking Mideast peace  -  Annan   By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS, June 20 (Reuters) - Resolving the Middle East crisis depends "first and foremost" on Israel withdrawing its settlements from Palestinian territory and ending its occupation, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Thursday. In a closed-door briefing to the U.N. Security Council chaired by Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara, Annan also faulted the Palestinian Authority for failing to do all it could to stop suicide bombings and assure Israel's security. "Even recognizing their limited capacity to act at present, the Palestinian Authority and its leadership must do more to de-legitimize terrorism among the...

The US Navy's (USN's) nuclear attack submarine (SSN) force structure is inadequate to meet the long-term demands of the war on terrorism, senior service officials said last week. However, tentative navy plans may cause cuts in submarine force structure. The problem, the officials said, is that increased demand from regional combatant commanders has risen dramatically since the beginning of the war on terrorism, causing severe operational tempo (OPTEMPO) challenges that threaten to overstretch the current SSN force of 54 boats. Adm Frank Bowman, Director of Naval Nuclear Reactors, explained: "As one direct result of 11 September, the combatant commanders'...

Question: My Mother was a christian and she converted 16 years ago, her family is still christian. I for the time being live with them, and my Uncle my Mothers real brother lives with his parents i.e. in the same place as I do. While I mentiones this to some friends they said that I have to wear a Hijab infront of him. I do not agree because he is a Mahram even though he is a christian. Please help me with this. Answer: Praise be to Allaah. Your maternal uncle is considered to be a mahram for you, and...

Jon Erickson remembers his last Navy homecoming. His ship, the aircraft carrier Oriskany, arrived in Alameda following a war tour off North Vietnam. The year was 1970. "No one was on the pier when we came back – it was pretty sad," Erickson said. "There were protesters at the gate. All the sailors were getting harassed and spit on." Erickson saw no repeat yesterday when his son, Ian, a petty officer 3rd class, returned with about 1,000 shipmates aboard the amphibious assault ship Bonhomme Richard from a 61/2-month deployment in the war on terrorism. Also arriving at the San...

By Susan Collins, R-Maine, who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee and its subcommittee on seapower, emerging threats and personnel. Seapower is among the most essential components of our national security posture and an important part of ensuring that the United States meets its global commitments. Currently, our naval forces are providing immediate access and forward deployed combat power, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Further, our naval forces are the United States’ only sovereign global warfighting capability. As Adm. Vernon Clark, chief of naval operations, so eloquently stated once, "Our...

Asia's question of the moment is how to deal with an economically rising China. A few years ago, Guangdong province picked up the moniker of "workshop to the world," but increasingly China's entire coastline lays claim to that title. The Japanese feel comfortable investing in Liaoning, Americans and Europeans in and around Shanghai, Taiwanese in Fujian, and Hong Kong Chinese in Guangdong. In a stunningly wide variety of manufacturing niches, from the most menial assembly work to semiconductor wafer fabs, China seems to have uncovered comparative advantages, and it's impossible to avoid the conclusion that this is due in...

. Just Bite Me !!

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  More than half the explosive-detection machines now at airports are not being fully used to screen checked baggage, even as the government plans to buy hundreds more of the minivan-sized equipment, the Transportation Department said Thursday.</p> <p>Inspector General Kenneth Mead said the machines should screen at least 1,250 bags a day, but only 12 of 138 machines are reaching that level. Transportation Security Administration head John Magaw acknowledged the problem and said it would be fixed as trained federal baggage screeners replace private employees.</p>

Dean, Liddy, and Hitler Wallowing in Watergate for 30 Years June 17th marked the 30th anniversary of the most famous third-rate burglary in American history. Watergate is a story that will never cease to quench the thirst of liberal reporters hell bent on exhuming Richard Nixon and trying his remains for treason. The media has a renewed interest in who Deep Throat is, speculating on usual suspects like Alexander Haig and unusual suspects like Pat Buchanan. Through this entire hullabaloo, there has not been much discussion on anther intriguing question: Who is the more honorable man—John Dean or G. Gordon...

<p>Senior officials of the Phoenix Diocese acknowledged Wednesday that they unwittingly approved a man with a 20-year criminal record to serve as a priest in one of the most prominent Hispanic parishes in the Valley.</p> <p>The same man, who never was a priest, duped the Tucson Diocese just a month earlier.</p>

What can I do to get someone to fall out of love? 08-Nov-1974 Dear Cecil: This question might seem like it's more up Ann Landers's alley than yours, but I have faith in you, Cece. What can I do with my roommate, who is so helplessly in love (with what I consider to be a perfectly useless girl, to boot) that he's in a continual daze? The dishes never get washed, the bathroom is a mess, his clothes are piling up in the kitchen, and all he can do is hold long, heavy phone conversations at weird hours of the...

WASHINGTON -- A gourmet food company is recalling a batch of St. Nectaire semisoft cheese imported from France because it may be contaminated with listeria, a potentially deadly bacterium. Recalled is the "L'or des Domes" brand of St. Nectaire cheese that bears a production date of April 14 -- written as 14/04/02 -- and the lot number 0004114. The cheese, distributed in 4-pound paper-wrapped wheels, was sold through restaurants, gourmet shops and distributors in California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. Consumers should not eat the recalled cheese but return it to the place of purchase for a...

Power play in church?Catholic family suing over pastor's treatment of them Thursday, June 13, 2002 By Allison Hantschel It sounds like a good deal: Commit time and money to the church and get a tuition-free Roman Catholic school education. But to Bill and Marianne Bruss of west suburban Winfield, the program at St. John the Baptist school became a power struggle between them and the church's pastor. The Brusses filed a lawsuit Monday in DuPage County alleging their pastor, the Rev. Guy Vaccaro, was trying to kick them out of the church they joined 15 years ago and their two...

<p>Government auditors said Thursday they had discovered the Ministry of Defense had valued 1,175 brass nuts at a staggering $122 million, or $104,000 each.</p> <p>After a little stocktaking, the auditors valued the whole collection of hardware at just $1.73, just 14 cents per nut.</p>

Deputies didn't have to go far to recover a stolen vehicle and capture a suspect in its theft -- he drove it right to Bedford County Jail. A 1994 Isuzu Rodeo with a Georgia tag was blocking the drive around the old jail building about 11 a.m. Tuesday. A license check showed the SUV had been stolen in Dalton, Ga. Larry A. Price, 33, Tullahoma, was inside the jail attempting to schedule an appointment to see an inmate, said Deputy Brian Farris. When Price exited the jail, Farris asked if the Rodeo belonged to him. Price said he had purchased...

[I think most of us would agree that it was the Nazi occupation of Europe. Yet when we look, we're hard pressed to find one example of, say, the French Resistance using terrorism. They had plenty of opportunities, but they never once targeted the wives and children of French collaborators, or even the wives or children of German officers stationed in France. Why didn't they? Because they weren't terrorists. They were democrats. Or take an example closer to home: the struggle of blacks for civil equality in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. That struggle never...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. MAYFIELD HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Parker Hannifin Corp. will cut 850 to 1,000 jobs, largely due to slow sales of semiconductors, and take various charges against some of its assets, a company spokeswoman said Thursday. The suburban Cleveland-based manufacturer of technical parts made about 60 acquisitions in the past 10 years. It will take a charge of $37 million related to the decline in value of those acquisitions as required by new accounting rules. The company announced the financial issues Wednesday, and in a conference call a company official mentioned related job...

NEWARK, N.J. -- An attempt by two Middle Eastern men to buy a fake ambulance spurred authorities to issue warnings that terrorists may seek to use bogus emergency vehicles as weapons, authorities said. About two weeks ago, two men walked into Movie Time Cars Inc., a Lyndhurst company that rents replicas of ambulances and police cars to TV and film producers. The men offered to pay cash to buy a replica ambulance, said Joe Sargo, the company's owner. Sargo, suspicious, told the men he does not sell vehicles to anyone. The men quickly left, but an employee jotted down...