Free Republic

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Republican National Committee, seeking to strengthen its case against the new campaign finance law, has subpoenaed the New Democrat Network and several labor unions for details on their fund-raising. The RNC subpoenas and deposition requests seek information on campaign ads the New Democrat Network has run, how and when it solicits contributions, its top donors and communication between the political action committee and federal officeholders, include any lobbying. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee, helped found the PAC five years ago to promote the ideas of centrist, pro-business Democrats. The RNC requests...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 June 25 Venus and Jupiter Over Belfast Credit: Peter Paice Explanation: Venus and Jupiter appeared to glide right past each other earlier this month. In a slow day-by-day march, Jupiter sank into the sunset horizon while Venus remained high and bright. The conjunction ended the five-planet party visible over the last two months. Jupiter, of course, is much further away from the Earth and Sun than Venus,...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 25 (UPI) -- Police said Tuesday that a close aide to Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf had taken his own life, but Omar Asghar Khan's political allies said the former minister had been killed. "Apparently, it is a suicide, but we also are probing other possibilities, including murder," said Karachi Police Chief Asad Jahangir. Khan, a resident of Islamabad, was found hanging from the ceiling fan in his in-laws' home in Karachi. A note found near the body said: "To all my dear ones: I could not take it anymore. Please excuse me. I am doing this on...

John Travolta has got his "wings" and is celebrating by flying his family on a 35,000-mile trip across the globe. Travolta with wife Kelly and daughter Ella, 2who will fly with him on a two month trip The Pulp Fiction actor has qualified to fly a 747 jumbo jet following intensive training and he is taking wife Kelly Preston and children Jett, 10, and Ella, two, on a lavish two-month holiday. Travolta will pilot his own 707 jet to 10 countries and to 13 cities including London, Hong Kong, Rome, Tokyo, Sydney and New York. The jet - bought from...

NEW YORK - There is no Air Force One, no Marine Honor Guard; his finger is no longer on the proverbial button. When he left office, William Jefferson Clinton said good-bye to all that--and to his $200,000 presidential salary. (President George W. Bush earns $400,000, thanks to legislation Clinton signed.) He has to pay for his own house in Chappaqua, N.Y., which set him back $1.7 million, to say nothing of his senator wife's $2.85 million Washington home. But for Bill Clinton, private life has its rewards, among them ranking 18th on our Celebrity 100 list, just one place behind...

RAMALLAH, West Bank, June 25 (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called for reforms in the Palestinian Authority after talks on Tuesday with Yasser Arafat in the Palestinian president's Israeli-encircled office. "These reforms are absolutely vital. The Palestinian authorities must not be prevented from putting them into effect. They must go hand in hand with a return to a political process that is indispensable," Villepin said. "They must bring more transparency and more efficiency into the workings of Palestinian institutions and so pave the way for the creation of a Palestinian state," he told reporters in Arafat's battered...

SOMETIMES WE READ the Gospel and we shake our heads at other people's attitude toward Jesus. We say, how could they stand in his presence and not know him? How could they see him and not believe him? Or, was it really possible for his own to know him, and receive him not? Yet, right now in 2002, with all of our spiritual awareness and enlightenment, we too entertain prophets unaware. We pray for deliverance, and we remain oblivious to what it takes to change our situation. We run full throttle after prosperity, but we don't tap into the promises...

Did adoption lawyer really work 44 hours in one day? June 25, 2002 BY ABDON M. PALLASCH LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine is investigating charges a lawyer routinely billed the state's child welfare agency for more than 24 hours' work a day on uncontested adoptions. According to records obtained by Cook County Public Guardian Patrick Murphy, Joyce Britton had a busy week in April 2001: On Monday, April 9, she worked 34 hours. On Tuesday, she worked 44 hours. On Wednesday it was 29; 33 on Thursday, 25 on Friday, 42 on Saturday. On Sunday, she...

PARIS, June 25 (Reuters) - France's highest court ruled on Tuesday an unborn foetus does not have the legal status of a living person, overturning a bid by a woman to sue doctors for the death of her child during labour. The decision by the Cour de Cassation means it is impossible to be found guilty of homicide for killing an unborn foetus. Lawyers of the woman, Sophie Potonet, said their only hope was for parliament to change French law. It supports a similar ruling last year in which the court ruled that a drunken driver who caused the death...

Hot doggers grilled near Pentagon From the National Desk Published 6/21/2002 11:20 AM MADISON, Wis., June 21 (UPI) -- It could have been wurst. A pair of hot doggers taking their Wienermobile to the National Capital Barbecue Battle in Washington were pulled over by the Virginia State Police this week for driving too close to the Pentagon. Sarah Delea, a spokeswoman for Oscar Mayer, said Friday the pair was unaware Route 110 had been closed to truck traffic since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center. "A police officer let them know and was kind...

ABDARE, Iran (Reuters) - President Mohammad Khatami said on Tuesday Iran would accept the U.S. government's offer of humanitarian aid after a powerful earthquake killed 229 people and left thousands homeless. Asked by Reuters whether he would accept U.S. President George W. Bush's offer of humanitarian assistance, Khatami said: "Yes, we also accept that." When asked if this included U.S. government aid, he said: "Yes, help is help." Bush, who said he was saddened by the earthquake, made the offer despite having branded Iran in January part of an "axis of evil" for its alleged development of weapons of mass...

From the Sierra Club's Web Site profiling their leaders (not making this up): "Rhonda Anderson - Detroit, Mich. Environmental Justice Organizer (?????LOL!) "Rhonda Anderson came of age in Detroit during the '60s and remembers it all like yesterday: the assassinations, the Black Panthers, Vietnam, riots, tanks rolling through her neighborhood. "The day Martin Luther King was killed, I saw this huge black cloud coming down the street. It was kids from one high school coming to gather the students at our school to join them in a march through the streets. The first person in the crowd was a girl....

LAS VEGAS -- John Wayne Bobbitt was back in jail Tuesday after authorities in Las Vegas accused him of violating terms of his house arrest. His lawyer, Barry Levinson of Las Vegas, accused authorities of harassing Bobbitt, who gained fame in 1993 when his first wife cut off his penis. Bobbitt was being held at the Clark County Detention Center for violating restrictions imposed by a Churchill County judge. The judge confined Bobbitt to house arrest after he was arrested May 13 in Las Vegas on an assault complaint by his wife of less than two months. The 35-year-old...

Dr. Warren Carroll is well known to many good Catholics for his fine historical work and for having founded Christendom College in Front Royal, Virginia. Many of us have been instructed and edified by this or that segment of his work over the years, and for these contributions of his we are indeed grateful. It is well known that Dr. Carroll is not a traditionalist. But he isn't of the Fr. Brian Harrison variety, i.e., someone who, while not himself a traditionalist, moves easily in traditional circles and shares at least some of our concerns. To the contrary, Dr. Carroll's...

EXPLAINING ‘SOFT MONEY’ “Soft money” refers to the unlimited contributions that labor unions, corporations and individuals can give to the political parties. Although there is no limit on the amount of soft money a donor can give, soft money contributions must be reported to the Federal Election Commission. The top soft money donor in the 2000 campaign was the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, a labor union, which gave $5.9 million to the Democrats.Although soft money is ostensibly to be used for party-building and get-out-the-vote efforts, some of it has been used to pay for TV and...

MOST ORDINARY PEOPLE do not fit very neatly into any political category and may hold to a mix of views that include what would usually be seen as both Leftist and Rightist ideas. Among professional politicians and academics, however, there is generally a clearer polarization. So what is it that makes any given view "Rightist" or "Leftist"? In contemporary North American terms, what is it that makes one an archetypical "liberal" or an archetypical "conservative"? What is a Leftist or a Rightist position on any issue? The division obviously is real and the demise of the great icon of Leftism...

<p>BOSTON -- Republican Mitt Romney is eligible to run for governor, a state board ruled Tuesday, unanimously rejecting Democrats' claim that the time Romney spent in Utah overseeing the Salt Lake Olympics disqualified him as a Massachusetts resident.</p> <p>It is believed to be the first time a Massachusetts candidate for governor has been challenged on the residency requirement. Romney is the only Republican in the race, along with five Democrats.</p>

For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary June 25, 2002 Remarks by the President to Displaced Families Round Valley High School Eagar, Arizona 10:48 A.M. MDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. It's nice to see you. I'm sorry we're doing so under these circumstances. But I want you to know that a lot of people in our country are pulling for you. They understand the suffering that families are going through because of worry about your most precious possession, your home. They understand that a lot of you are living in tents when you'd rather be in your own...

Bats will receive new 700-acre home New I-70 interchange will destroy old habitat and likely kill some of the endangered animals. By George McLaren george.mclaren@indystar.com June 25, 2002 A new highway interchange on I-70 near Plainfield will wipe out 350 acres of habitat for the endangered Indiana bat and probably kill off several of the nocturnal mammals. That's the bat news. The good news: A formal plan announced Monday will result in permanent protection for more than 700 acres of wooded habitat and help guarantee a summer home for hundreds of bats in the future. The habitat conservation plan, negotiated...

NC FReepers,North Carolina has a proud tradition of defending liberty that began when the state was still a colony.These include the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the Halifax Resolves, and the Edenton Tea Party.The first two events happened on May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776, respectively, and are the two dates on North Carolina's state flag.The time has come for a new generation of patriots to step forward.We must help to return our state and nation to limited government and rein the insidious liberalism that has corroded our nation.Sound impossible? Good thing our forefathers didn't think so. It is up...