Free Republic

Washington -- Advocates for the poor and immigrant groups couldn't have been more excited. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, a national figure with a bully pulpit, was pushing to get welfare benefits restored to legal immigrants and demanding more money for child care. But then Clinton did what they called the unthinkable. In early May, she signed on to a welfare plan by centrist Democrats that would increase work hours and force states to put more recipients to work. That set them off. There were protests outside her New York office and at her home here where opponents came carrying waffles...

In a special way those here back home are serving our country along with their loved ones .It is not easy to be apart from those we love. Never in our hearts of course but in the day to day of being able to see each other. As the months go by, many of our soldiers will miss precious moments in the lives of their children. Some will miss the birth of their babies. Many will miss Thanksgiving and Christmas. They will also miss birthdays, anniversaries, that first “baby step”, first days of school, graduations and all the other...

AUSTIN -- With so many people speaking a language other than English at home these days, it's not surprising that government agencies, politicians and private businesses are communicating in foreign tongues like never before. But it's not always pretty -- or even comprehensible. From the subways of New York to the Democratic and Republican Party headquarters in downtown Austin, bloopers abound -- some of them harmless, some just irritating and some possibly dangerous. Mead Johnson had to recall 4.6 million cans of its Nutramigen baby formula last summer after discovering faulty and possibly hazardous mixing instructions in Spanish. A class-action...

SAN CRISTOBAL DE LAS CASAS, Mexico -- In recent years, Agustin Gomez Mendez and other Maya Indians in far southern Mexico have taken yet one more sharp turn in a long quest for redemption, deciding that Jesus Christ isn't their personal savior after all. "There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is his messenger," says Gomez Mendez, a poor farmer and father of six who converted his family to Islam in 1996 under the tutelage of Spanish missionaries. Over the past few years, about 300 evangelical Christian Maya have converted to Islam in southernmost Chiapas state, which has been...

Argentines have long fretted about their position at the edge of the world. Now, immersed in the worst economic crisis in their history, they are worried they might drop off altogether. Geographically the country may be almost a stone's throw away from Antarctica. But during the 1990s the miracles of global capital appeared to bring Argentines closer to the northern hemisphere. Carlos Menem, then president, declared Argentina to be a part of the First World. Its links to the developed world certainly intensified over the past decade. Dozens of daily flights linked Buenos Aires to the US and Europe. Investment...

<p>Just two days after a grand jury cleared six Minneapolis officers in the March shooting death of a Somali man, Police Chief Robert Olson faced Somali community members in a meeting that was marked more by conciliation than confrontation.</p> <p>Several audience members told Olson and other police officials during the meeting that they could not understand why deadly force was used against Abu K. Jeilani, 28, who was mentally ill and was carrying a machete on the streets of south Minneapolis on March 10.</p>

OUSTON, June 22 — The Enron Corporation used undisclosed reserves to keep as much as $1.5 billion in trading profits off its books during the California energy crisis, according to six former managers and executives who handled or reviewed the accounts.The enormous reserves, which would have doubled the company's reported profits, were hidden in late 2000 and early 2001, as energy prices soared in California and politicians accused trading companies like Enron of price gouging. The former Enron officials said that the company swelled the reserves in hopes of damping the political firestorm.Further, some former executives said, Enron manipulated...

Osama bin Laden is to give another televised address to the world. The al-Qaeda leader is to deliver a hate-filled video on July 4, American Independence Day. The announcement was made on the Arabic Sahab website which issues daily information on the war in Afghanistan. Bin Laden was pictured on the site, kneeling between two al-Qaeda officials. His spokesman Sulaiman Abu Ghaith says: "America should get ready and fasten its safety belt. "We will come to them from where they don't expect. Yes, we will wage attacks but at the right time, at the place we want, in the way...

Portfolio StrategyBuy Stocks NowKenneth L. Fisher, 07.08.02, 12:00 AM ET Even if it's not the start of a real bull market, the rebound should last long enough to vaporize Wall Street's emerging consensus that there can't be a big up-move soon. It is finally time to get fully invested, although maybe only temporarily. Investors have dug down into pessimism too far for stocks not to pop upward nicely. My shift may surprise recent readers, who have seen me unremittingly bearish for 18 months. But bear markets last only so long. Why now? Among the most basic market rules is that...

The US: low inflation, reasonable growth, big commercial deficit, small fiscal deficit, low savings. The EU: low inflation, low growth, little commercial surplus, small fiscal deficit, high savings. Japan: deflation, very low growth, big commercial surplus, big fiscal deficit, high savings.

Mexico doesn't have enough water to pay its debt to the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Jeffrey Davidow admitted this week. During a conference of governors of border states, held in Phoenix, Arizona late this week, Davidow said local leaders have to find a solution to the water shortage plaguing the region. He added the U.S. would accept a partial payment on water Mexico owes its neighbor. U.S. officials have come out recently saying Mexico needs to give more water from the Rio Bravo del Norte - known in the U.S. as the Rio Grande - to drought-stricken Texas...

MIAMI (AP) - Gov. Jeb Bush and Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris criticized the chairwoman of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on Friday for saying they have not done enough to ensure Florida's flawed presidential election isn't repeated. Bush called the Mary Frances Berry's commission "a badly discredited institution" and saying it is reopening a controversy "that most Floridians have long forgotten." President George W. Bush, the governor's brother, won the White House in 2000 after a partial recount of the state's ballots."Florida is indisputably a national leader in election reform," Bush said, saying the state will spend $30...

<p>The surge of patriotism that followed the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks hasn't sparked an increase in military enlistments, but the number of people applying to be FBI special agents has exploded.</p> <p>"On a national level, we've received more applications in the last four months than we've received in the last four years," said Nick Rossi, a special agent in the FBI's Sacramento office.</p>

Blair suffers a double defeat on asylum seekers at Seville summit By Francis Elliott in Seville (Filed: 23/06/2002) European Union leaders yesterday moved to establish an EU border police force to patrol shores, ports and crossing points against illegal immigrants. The dramatic attempt to strengthen "fortress Europe" could mean foreign guards wearing an EU uniform patrolling in Britain. European leaders gather for a group photo at the end of the Seville summit The heads of government said that the moves were a stepping stone to the creation of a fully fledged European-wide force which would act in tandem with...

BY JOHN PYE Associated Press GWANGJU, South Korea (AP) &#8212; South Korea kept its improbable World Cup run alive Saturday, upsetting Spain 5-3 in a penalty-kick shootout after a 0-0 tie to become the first Asian nation ever to reach the semifinals. Hong Myung Bo scored the game-winner after goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae saved a penalty by Joaquin Sanchez. More World Cup USA-GERMANY: GER 1, USA 0: U.S. dream ends In defeat, American fans upbeat Voeller unhappy with his team's play, but he'll take win Donovan saddened by near-misses Reyna, Friedel may quit U.S. team Bared bellies, merriment at match...

PALESTINIAN CHILDREN WEARING ‘MARTYR NECKLACES’ ICEJ NEWS - 06/21/2002 Palestinian children have traded in their Pokemon cards for a new craze: necklaces with pictures of "martyrs" of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. "I used to have plenty of Pokémons — my school bag was half full of them," 14-year-old Saleh Attiti said. "I threw them all away. They're not important now. The pictures of martyrs are important. They're our idols." The trend started in November when a shopkeeper in Nablus, Assam Kanaza, made a plastic medallion for a family whose son was killed. Other families took notice and now...

OMAHA -- Chris Carmichael hit a three-run homer in his first start in almost a month as Texas beat South Carolina 12-6 to win the College World Series on Saturday and make Augie Garrido the first coach to win national titles with two schools. In winning its fifth national title — and first since 1983 — to tie Louisiana State and Arizona State for second on the list of CWS championships, Texas relied on the solid pitching of freshman closer Huston Street.The Longhorns celebrate the program's fifth National Championship. Street, selected the Most Outstanding Player, became the first player with...

Israel Ties Al-Arian To Jihad Board By MICHAEL FECHTER mfechter@tampatrib.com Published: Jun 23, 2002 TEL AVIV - Sami Al-Arian, the professor being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for alleged ties to Middle East terrorists, helped found the governing council of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and then served on it, current and former senior Israeli intelligence officials say. The panel is called the Majlis Shura and functions like a Jihad board of directors. It has an unknown number of members and offers advice on such matters as money and organization. It appears to have been formed in the early 1990s,...

First Visit to an Orthodox Church--Twelve Things I Wish I'd Known by Frederica Mathewes-Green Orthodox worship is different! Some of these differences are apparent, if perplexing, from the first moment you walk in a church. Others become noticeable only over time. Here is some information that may help you feel more at home in Orthodox worship--twelve things I wish I'd known before my first visit to an Orthodox church. 1. What's all this commotion? During the early part of the service the church may seem to be in a hubbub, with people walking up to the front of the...

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