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Israel's Response - So Far The Israel Defense Forces are currently operating in towns throughout Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) in response to the latest wave of murderous Palestinian Authority terrorism. The army began issuing emergency call-up orders to reserve soldiers this afternoon. Troops backed by armored vehicles have taken up positions in the PLO-controlled towns of Jenin and Kalkilye, while other forces are deployed on the outskirts of Ramallah, Shechem and Hevron, and still others have entered Bethlehem. Soldiers discovered and destroyed a bomb-making factory in Jenin, in which were found several ready-for-use devices. In Gaza last night, IDF...

In a flurry of last-minute negative advertising, candidates in two closely watched Alabama runoffs have taken to the airwaves to harshly criticize their opponents with less than a week to go in the campaigns.Three runoff elections are slated to take place in Alabama on Tuesday, after two Senate challengers and candidates in a pair of House races failed to garner at least 50 percent of the vote in June 4 primaries. The high-profile 7th district runoff race between Rep. Earl Hilliard (D-Ala.) and attorney Artur Davis (D) continues to grow nastier as the campaign heads into the final weekend....

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. BEIJING -- About 1,000 laid-off oil workers blocked traffic in northeastern China Thursday to demand more government assistance, a rights monitoring group said. Protests began Sunday, with workers blocking roads around the Shengli Oil Field Administration offices and in the surrounding city of Dongguan in Shandong province, the Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy reported. The administration recently laid off 21,000 workers by offering them a lump sum payment of $500 for every year of employment, after which workers could make no further claims on the company, the Hong Kong-based...

The United States should continually press to boost levels of international trade: This view has become a mantra even among many trade policy critics. Maybe one of these days, these figures will stop simply parroting this position, and explain exactly why expanded trade is an unalloyed good -- because nothing known so far about economics or America's own interests supports it. The case for encouraging trade makes sense in many circumstances. By encouraging competition as well as specialization, trade can and often does promote the efficient use of resources, boost economic growth, and give consumers more choices, better quality, and...

Llama attacker gets three years in prison Brandon R. Eldred, who pleaded guilty in the beating of three pet llamas in East Lake, begs for leniency. But the judge says a probation violation "blew that opportunity." By ED QUIOCO, Times Staff Writer© St. Petersburg Times, published June 20, 2002 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brandon R. Eldred, who pleaded guilty in the beating of three pet llamas in East Lake, begs for leniency. But the judge says a probation violation "blew that opportunity."A weeping Brandon R. Eldred pleaded with a judge for leniency, saying he should be sentenced lightly for his crimes because he...

It is possible for reasonable people to disagree on policy questions, but when they move beyond citing logic and evidence and start trying to categorize their opponents in philosophical terms, it opens up a new line of argument. Debaters resort to defining their allies or opponents in ideological terms in order to attract an audience based on the definition rather than on the facts of the case. If someone says Argument X is a 'conservative' position, they are either trying to win to its banner those who think of themselves as conservatives on other grounds, or rally those who think...

<p>What did the FBI know of possible terrorist attacks before September 11? The CIA? The White House? President Bush's dog Spot? The media and Congress are demanding answers, and not without reason if the purpose is to try to ensure terrible mistakes aren't repeated.</p>

NEW DIANA AUTOPSYIt was murder! She was pregnant!MARTHA STEWART JAILBIRD? Will She End Up Decorating a Prison Cell..Paul McCartney to be a Father at Age 60Football Star Tells All-My Steamy Affair with Halle BerryGarth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood Bitter Engagement Breakup

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - A fighter plane flew too low at a military airport in central Sweden on Thursday, burning six visitors on the ground, three of them seriously, an air force spokesman said. Radio reports said the Swedish-built "Viggen" — or "Thunderbolt" — jet swept just 10 yards above the group in the airport near Uppsala, 40 miles north of Stockholm. Officials did not say how low the plane was flying, but a news release from the air base said the group of seven people were watching a jet exhibition 75 yards from the runway. One of the injured...

(Uniondale, Long Island-AP, June 19, 2002) — An honors student at Kellenberg Memorial High School has been told not to come back for her senior year because she has refused to sing a medley of songs from the play Jesus Christ Superstar. Megan Gaffey says she and her family consider the songs blasphemous. As part of the spring concert, the school's chorus sang several selections from rock opera. But Gaffey, a member of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Franklin Square, said the medley was offensive. Gaffey says she asked to be excused during that medley or not to participate in...

NEWTON — District Attorney David Flaherty Jr. says he won’t take any action against Assistant District Attorney Jason Parker for accidentally firing his pistol in his office at the Catawba County Justice Center on Friday morning beyond making him pay for a broken window. Parker, a candidate for district court judge, and Sean McGinnis, another assistant district attorney, were at the county firing range Friday morning brushing up on shooting skills, according to Flaherty. When they returned to Parker’s office around 8 a.m., Parker’s .380 semi-automatic accidentally discharged, according to Maj. Coy Reid of the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office. The...

Refugees rush to beat new rules at Canadian borders Last Updated Wed, 19 Jun 2002 20:46:44 LACOLLE, QUEBEC - Refugees are lining up at Canada's borders, trying to beat the clock before new immigration rules come into effect later this month. At the crossing at Lacolle, Que., for example, 150 people were waiting to be processed on Wednesday. A normal day will see 15-20 people cross. After days of travel, entire families find themselves packed into a waiting room with no beds and little food, while they wait their turn to fill out the paperwork and get their refugee...

We often hear people complain that northern California doesn't have enough affordable housing. Why is this? Well, if we really want to know why, it would help if we compared northern California to a different geographical location - one that does have affordable housing. So let's compare northern California to Houston, Texas. A one bedroom apartment in Houston might rent for $500 a month. But in northern California, the exact same apartment might rent for three times as much. Are the landlords in northern California greedy? Yes. Of course they are. However, the landlords in Houston are just as greedy...

House leaders moved one step closer to creating a Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday but have agreed to put off tackling nettlesome committee turf wars until next year. While Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) hailed the bipartisan cooperation involved in Wednesday's easy passage of a resolution to establish an ad hoc leadership committee that will oversee the massive government reorganization, partisan seams were already beginning to show. The panel, chaired by Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-Texas), will consist of a bipartisan group of nine House leaders with a one-seat GOP majority. Majority Whip...

Mark Montini is CEO of Campaign Secrets, Inc., the ultimate campaign toolbox. As Vice President for Operations at the Leadership Institute, Mark was influential in training over 12,000 candidates and activists from all 50 states, and launched the Broadcast Media Program and a National Leadership Program. When Mark served as President of the Conservative Leadership PAC, he increased revenue from $100,000 to nearly $5 million. Mark has spoken in Chile, Poland, Greece, and Kazakhstan, as well as American University’s Campaign Management Institute, American Medical Association PAC, American Conservative Network, Reform Party of Canada, New Democracy Party of Greece, and New...

Higher Immorality? For Some Religious Groups, Drug Laws Do More Harm Than Drugs Themselves For Jennifer Wallace, the revelation came four years ago, after she found out that a friend of hers who she knew came from a devout Christian family smoked marijuana, and she became worried about the young woman. Wallace, a devout Christian herself, started looking into the research on marijuana and what she found surprised her. She said she found no evidence to back up the horrible things she had heard about the drug, and when she searched the Bible for any reference to it she found...

The city of Indianapolis wants Lucian Anderson's house. The rickety, unoccupied abode he owns at 2544 N. Central Ave. is one of several run-down homes in Fall Creek Place, a Near-Northside neighborhood that officials have targeted for massive urban redevelopment. For more than two years, a team of city lawyers and planners has been acquiring land and sprucing up houses in the area, then selling some of them to a mix of low- and moderate-income buyers. The only problem is that Anderson doesn't want to give up his home. "This is a property that he's been working to rehabilitate, and...

Even a Hypocrite is Half-Right CHELMSFORD, MA—Hypocrisy is seen as a mortal sin in the public debate of ideas. A debater is constantly looking for a “gotcha” moment in which he can catch his opponent in an apparent contradiction in argumentation. At that point, the debater pounces and proclaims that his opponent is intellectually bankrupt and an embarrassment to society. But is hypocrisy really so bad? The New Testament is filled with references of Jesus chastising the Pharisees and Saducees for being self-righteous hypocrites. Christians are told to look inward before judging others, to love our neighbors as ourselves, and...

Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair (R) and his wife Cherie sit during speeches at St Andrew's Roman Catholic Secondary School in Glasgow June 20, 2002. Earlier in the day Prime Minister Blair faced jounalists in the first of his daily presidential style news conferences seeking to bypass media carping and sell his policies directly to the British voters. REUTERS/Ben Curtis/POOL

<p>Determined to keep up momentum for the campaign finance movement, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Russell Feingold, D-Wis., unveiled a new proposal Wednesday to give airtime vouchers to candidates and parties funded by a new fee on broadcasters.</p> <p>Billed as legislation that would offer candidates “free airtime” to reduce the cost of advertising and increase the face-time candidates get on the expensive airwaves, the legislation is a follow-up to the senators’ successful passage of a soft-money ban and other campaign finance restrictions earlier this year.</p>