Free Republic

House Conservatives want White House chief of staff Andy Card to go.They claim he's too much of a compromiser.The latest tiff:Card told Republicans last week that while Democrats aren't jumping to create the new Department of Homeland Security, Minority Leader Dick Gephardt's 'heart is in the right place.' Says one critic:'If he doesn't check out at the the end of the year, our guys will ride him until he does.'

June 27, 2002, 8:08AM Mexico official: U.S. policy leading to deaths on border By EDWARD HEGSTROM Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Using some of the strongest language yet to demand an amnesty for illegal immigrant workers, Mexican Foreign Minister Jorge G. Castañeda suggested Wednesday that U.S. policy is responsible for the death of Mexicans at the border. Castañeda, speaking before the League of United Latin American Citizens annual convention here, called on the U.S. government to reopen talks to "regularize" the status of the estimated 3 million Mexicans who live in the United States illegally. Negotiations on an immigration deal between...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — U.S. Special Forces are successfully employing a new tactic to get Afghans to turn over weapons hidden in their villages: logic. And a little muscle never hurts, either. Using leverage afforded by superior firepower, Special Forces teams are now "negotiating" with village elders to turn over hidden weapons caches. As a result, they are making some of their biggest weapons cache seizures in months, military officials and field soldiers said Tuesday. "It would be better for everybody concerned. You don’t need these weapons anymore, you’re not fighting anybody, why don’t you turn them in?" said U.S...

Uniformed military personnel working in office buildings outside the Pentagon are increasingly reporting incidents of possible surveillance of their activities by potential terrorists, a wide array of military and law enforcement officials tell Inside the Pentagon. Concern about such surveillance was heightened after the May 8 arrest of Jose Padilla. Also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, Padilla is an American citizen whom the U.S. government suspects of conspiring with al Qaeda terrorists to scout out potential sites for future domestic attack. Terrorism experts say the thousands of officers, enlisted personnel and defense civilians who work in commercial office buildings...

In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of “word for the day”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... fulminate \FUL-muh-nayt\, intransitive verb, transitive verb: fulminates, fulminating; fulminated fulmination, fulminator; noun fulminatory; adjective 1. To issue or send forth decrees or censures with the assumption of supreme authority; to thunder forth menaces....

A supposedly 'fragmented' GOP is proving surprisingly unified. News flash: Last weekend liberal Republican leaders threw their support behind conservative GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Simon. His message of improving education, reducing crime, and eliminating the state's budget deficit played well with this crowd. In fact, the 300 people attending a weekend retreat at former Assemblyman Brooks Firestone's ranch delivered a standing ovation to Simon, although few of them supported him in the primary. As Simon's campaign hoped, the more people see of their candidate, the better they like him. Anyone having read the endless string of major media editorials, op-eds,...

Thursday June 27, 9:28 am Eastern TimeReuters Business ReportGE's NBC Sees Pre-Tax Earnings Up 15 Pct. BOSTON (Reuters) - NBC Television, owned by General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News), on Thursday said it expects pre-tax earnings to surge 15 percent to $1.6 billion this year as the network capitalizes on top-ranked shows such as "Friends," which are driving ad sales at its stations. NBC executives gave the outlook during a presentation to analysts. They also said they expected pre-tax earnings of up to $1.9 billion in 2003. Conglomerate GE was expected to tell analysts during the presentation its second-quarter earnings...

The Pentagon is taking initial steps to develop a conventional submarine-launched ballistic missile that could penetrate hardened underground targets, like command and control bunkers and storage sites found in Iraq and North Korea, according to Defense Department sources and documents. The new "penetrator" weapon would be based on the Navy's premier Trident D-5 nuclear missile, swapping out the front end so the weapon could destroy a target conventionally only after it has burrowed deep into rock and reinforced concrete, according to defense officials. Launched from a stealthy submarine, the strategic-range missile's flight time to target would be measured in...

EAGLE BASE, Bosnia and Herzegovina — For soldiers on patrol with the Bosnian peacekeeping mission, the best way to stay in touch starts with the post exchange. That’s where soldiers are buying up two-way radios designed for civilian families on ski slopes or at the mall. The commercial two-way radios are smaller, more powerful and more reliable than Army-issue hand-held radios, said 2nd Lt. Drew Weaver, 1st Platoon leader from Company C, 1st Battalion, 151st Infantry Regiment of the Indiana National Guard. The National Guard unit is serving a six-month rotation at Camp McGovern as part of Stabilization Force...

URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/27/national1009EDT0551.DTL (06-27) 07:09 PDT WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down limits on what some judicial candidates may tell voters, a landmark free speech ruling that could heat up court campaigns around the country. Nearly 40 states elect some judges, and also restrict what they say or do while campaigning to promote an image of fairness and independence for courts. The Supreme Court, in throwing out strict limits in Minnesota on a 5-4 vote, said the rules, while well-intended, impose an unconstitutional gag order. ©2002 Associated Press   more... Minnesota is one of nine states that...

<p>FORT DETRICK, Md. (AP) --  A biodefense researcher whose home was searched by FBI agents commissioned a 1999 study depicting a hypothetical anthrax attack by mail, The (Baltimore) Sun reported Thursday.</p> <p>The study was commissioned by Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, 48, while he was working in McLean, Va., for defense contractor Science Applications International Corp., the newspaper said.</p>

Americans who read the headlines coming out of Washington this past year must be wondering whether the federal government can pound sand into a hole, let alone restore homeland security or win the war on terrorism. The FBI fails to investigate warnings of terrorist flight training. Immigration officials send visa notices to long-dead hijackers. The IRS help line gives the wrong answer to one out of four tax-law questions. The Social Security Administration can't answer almost a third of its phone calls. The US government gave $20 billion last year to the wrong people and has no plan to...

More than 11,000 personnel from 8 countries are taking part in the exercisesBy Gregg K. KakesakoThis year's multinational Rim of the Pacific naval exercises will concentrate on hunting submarines, a U.S. admiral said yesterday. Three diesel-powered submarines from Japan, South Korea and Australia will participate in the operation that is unlike past RIMPAC exercises, said Rear Adm. Mark Edwards, commander of USS Nimitz battle group's Cruiser-Destroyer Group 5.More than 36 ships, 24 aircraft and 11,000 military personnel from Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States are in the islands for the 18th in...

<p>On radio and TV, a growing number of ads are beseeching the public to thank or spank a particular candidate.</p> <p>What's noteworthy about all of those ads? The candidates claim to have had nothing to do with them.</p> <p>In Missouri, most of the ads target either Sen. Jean Carnahan, a Democrat, or her likely Republican rival, former Rep. Jim Talent.</p>

ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY -- In the stairwell a partially opened vent blows cool air on our soaked shirts. A sailor is propped in the doorway, one leg in the breezy stairwell and the other inside her sweltering work space. "You wanna come in here?" she says with a smile. Her face is covered with beads of sweat and her white T-shirt is stuck to her back, but we curiously follow anyway. A blanket of suffocating heat covers my bare face and forearms as I step through the hatch of the washroom. These utility-size washers and dryers...

<p>WASHINGTON -- The economy was even stronger than first thought during the first quarter, growing at a blistering 6.1% annual rate -- its strongest showing in more than two years.</p> <p>The third and final reading on gross domestic product -- which measures the total output of goods and services produced in the U.S. -- was even higher than the Commerce Department's most recent estimate of a 5.6% pace.</p>

Thursday June 27, 6:08 am Eastern TimeReuters Company NewsStudy says Omni cigarette causes fewer tumors in mice NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - Tobacco holding company Vector Group Ltd. (NYSE:VGR - News) said on Thursday a study showed that its reduced carcinogen cigarette Omni caused "significantly" fewer tumors in laboratory mice than the leading national brand. Preliminary results were obtained from a study on 40 mice, which were treated with the smoke condensate of Omni, and 40 mice with the condensate of the leading national brand. Philip Morris Cos. Inc.'s (NYSE:MO - News) Marlboro is the leading cigarette brand in...

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Ongoing military operations in Mexican border cities, along with two recent U.S. shootings involving Mexican soldiers, is raising the specter of border militarization here. On June 14, a vehicle transporting 23 undocumented immigrants was fired upon in the desert west of Mexicali, wounding six. Under fire, apparently from the Mexican military, the vehicle made it across the U.S.-Mexico border into California. While U.S. and Mexican officials are reviewing the incident, it appears to be only the latest in a series of events that may point to an increased presence of the Mexican military on the border...

Dr Jane Goodall thinks apes are almost human, so why, asks Aidan Hartley, doesn’t she punish one of her chimps for killing a boy? Dr Jane Goodall, the chimpanzee expert, wants legal human rights to be extended to great apes, because she claims that they are so similar to us. Why, then, has Frodo, the alpha male of her chimp study group in Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania, just got away with the macabre murder of a human child? The story begins on a morning in May. The wife and toddler son of Moshi Sadiqi, a park attendant, were...

PHILADELPHIA — Life for 9-year-old Fjolla Sylejmani is more than just about growing up. She wants to grow old. The young Kosovar girl just might have been given that chance thanks to a lot of folks looking out for her. On Thursday, the curly-haired blonde "with a winning smile" got long-overdue surgery to repair a hole in her heart that threatened to cut her life short, said her cardiologist, Dr. Jack Rychik. It had robbed the girl of her childhood. "Before the surgery, I feel myself tired," she said Monday morning while recuperating in the sixth floor of the...