Free Republic

46 minutes of unaldulterated FUN! CLICK THE PIC TO START THE FUN! MUST HAVE REAL PLAYER INSTALLED!!! The Little League® Pledge I trust in God. I love my country and will respect its laws. I will play fair and strive to win. But win or lose I will always do my best.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Supreme Court ruling upholding the use of taxpayer money to send children to religious and other private schools will encourage the establishment of school voucher programs nationwide, experts predicted Thursday. "It took one of the biggest arguments off the table," said Paul E. Peterson, a voucher researcher and director of the Program on Education Policy and Governance at Harvard University. "The ruling now focuses the attention on the other important argument - do vouchers help kids, are they the best for kids," Peterson said. "That argument will come out on to the table across the...

Man casts first stone Stockpiling rocks as weapons may have preceded sculpting them into tools. 21 June 2002 JOHN WHITFIELD A thrown rock can carry the force of a revolver bullet. Our instinctive feel for the ideal projectile could explain the design of hand-grenades, the collecting habits of geologists, the size of handballs and the weight of the imperial pound, says an engineer. Understanding that instinct could illuminate the lives of prehistoric hominids, believes Alan Cannell, who lives in Curitiba, Brazil. He thinks that selecting and stockpiling rocks as weapons may have preceded sculpting them into tools1. For millennia, a...

Early this month, Major-General Amos Yaron, director-general of Israel's Defence Ministry, flew in secretly twice to meet his counterparts in New Delhi. Yaron's visits were in response to urgent Indian requests for a spy satellite and an anti-missile system. Yaron, says a recent issue of Jane's Foreign Report, had to turn down both requests. Jane's reported that India wanted to "buy or borrow" Israel's newly-launched Ofek-5 spy satellite. Yaron said Israel needed to keep it on an Iran-Syria-Iraq orbit, that it could not, even temporarily, be sent over Kashmir at the present time — as New Delhi wanted. Yaron also...

I pledge allegiance (Well, not PLEDGE exactly, I CHOOSE to do this of my own free will) to the flag (Not necessarily the American flag mind you, it may be the gay flag or the black nationalist flag, it’s MY choice) Of the United States of America (See above) And to the Republic, for which it stands (But only for things I like and that don’t make anyone feel bad) One nation, under God (Or Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, L. Ron Hubbard, the Wind Goddess, my Neighbor’s dog, or, better yet, make that under No God) indivisible (Except by race, sexual...

KUALA LUMPUR, June 27 (IslamOnline) - Recent raids carried by Muslims in certain areas of Mindanao are raising eyebrows in the military which says they do not know how to deal with the situation, sources close to the Bangsamoro people told IslamOnline. The raids were neither military nor did they involve rebel attacks against military targets; they were mostly in the spirit of an Islamic revival that scares the local authorities the most. A confidential intelligence report obtained by the source said a new movement in Mindanao, called the “Balik Islam” or “Back To Islam” movement is gaining grounds nationwide....

Make-A-Wish Foundation Burglarized Dina Kaplan Reports on Make-A-Wish Burglary (LOUISVILLE, June 26th, 2002, 5:55 p.m.) -- A Kentucky charity that helps make dreams come true for sick children is forced to postpone a major fundraising auction after a burglary. Someone broke into the Make-A-Wish Foundation's main office Tuesday night, and stole hundreds of gifts that were meant for auction. WAVE 3's Dina Kaplan has the story. All the thief left behind were a package of barbecue sauce, a basket from McDonald's, and the authenticity note for two signed baseballs -- but the baseballs themselves were stolen. Now a room at...

Some Americans Being Vaccinated Against Smallpox Virus Email story to a friend Bio-terrorism has been a topic of concern since September 11th, with a specific focus on the smallpox virus. The question is should Americans be vaccinated? And if so, is there enough vaccine to go around? WAVE 3's Lori Lyle has more on a new study to answer those questions. Because of the ongoing threat of terrorism, the government has been stockpiling the smallpox vaccine for months. And now, for the first time in about 30 years, Americans are being vaccinated against smallpox. The first in the nation are...

I'm loving this backlash against the Courts on their ruling on the Pledge of Allegiance. Even some liberals, like John Kerry and Robert Byrd, have to go with the flow. John Kerry called it "the most absurd thing I ever heard of", and Robert Byrd called for the house to pray to the Almighty, the most Supreme Judge in the Universe. IF CONSERVATIVES ARE SMART, THEY WILL SEIZE ON THIS LIKE A PIT-BULL, and MAGNIFY THE BACKLASH AGAINST THE LIBERAL-JUDICIAL ACTIVISM OF THE COURTS. If we followed the line of reasoning in this ruling, then the Declaration of Independence would...

NAIROBI, Kenya- Sudanese government planes bombed two church compounds in rebel-held southern Sudan, injuring at least four people, a Roman Catholic group said Thursday. The Sudan Catholic Bishops Regional Conference said four bombs struck the residence of Bishop Johnson Akio Mutek in Ikotos on Tuesday night. The bombing injured "many people including four Kenyans" and destroyed the bishop's residence and a youth center, said a statement by the conference released in neighboring Nairobi. Another 12 bombs were dropped near church schools in Isoke, the group said. A church spokesman said no one was injured and the bombs did no damage....

Everyone assumes that John Paul II's successor will be a conservative. Don't bet on it. The Vatican, the 109-acre inter-national headquarters of Roman Catholicism, works at the leisurely pace of an institution that has seen it all over 2,000 years of history. This is a place that closes shop every day at 1 p.m., where decisions that might take weeks in other organizations can be "studied" for years, awaiting an "opportune" moment to be announced. It is not accustomed to working under pressure of tight deadlines, as it showed in late April, when all 13 American cardinals were summoned for...

SRINAGAR, June 27: Unidentified gunmen, believed to be separatist militants, have massacred five members of a Bakerwal family in foothills of Pirpanjal forest range, in Shopian area of south Kashmir, during last night. Meanwhile, militants struck on Police in the capital city here this evening, killing an Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) and a constable. Militants have also killed three Armymen in a landmine blast near Chandanwari, on the highly sanitised Amarnathji pilgrimage route, in south Kashmir. Reports available to EXCELSIOR from south Kashmir this evening said that five members of a Bakerwal family from Rajouri were massacred by gunmen in...

Penny launches gubernatorial bid; opponents ready to attack By Michael Khoo Minnesota Public Radio June 27, 2002 Former Democratic Congressman Tim Penny said Thursday he is leaving the Democratic Party to run for governor on the Independence Party ticket, a move encouraged by retiring Gov. Jesse Ventura. But Penny will face a challenge for the IP nomination. And if he succeeds there, he'll face a crowded field in November. Tim Penny AGE/BIRTHDATE - 50; Nov. 19, 1951. BACKGROUND - Born near Albert Lea. Lives in Waseca. EDUCATION - B.A. in political science from Winona State University in 1974. CAREER -...

Politics Democrat turned republican endorses democrat Wednesday, June 26, 2002, 5:50 PM Kevin Rader/Political Reporter MARION COUNTY, June 26 - This is interesting at best. A former democrat turned republican says he's still a republican as he endorses a democrat. And oddly enough no one is surprised. So turns the world of Marion County politics. Former Marion County Sheriff Joe McAtee says he is still a republican. But some would argue that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a duck. And Wednesday McAtee, who lost his bid for the republican...

Mounties could use wood to combat G8 cyber-terror Japanese magnetic wood blocks radio signalsBy Tony Dennis, 27/06/2002 12:24:52 BST AS THE INQ recently reported, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police monitoring the G8 summit had to be granted special permission to jam the airwaves thereby preventing terrorists from using radio signals to remotely explode devices. That's because radio jammers are illegal in certain countries including North America, Britain and Australia. However, a Japanese scientist, Hideo Oka and his team from Iwate University in Morioka, Japan, has developed a special magnetic wood that can effectively block common radio signals. According to a...

<p>SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (CNN) -- In the investigation into 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart's disappearance, authorities have turned their attention to a Jeep Cherokee owned by the Smart family's former handyman -- one that has miles on its odometer that are unaccounted for, a law enforcement official told CNN Thursday.</p>

Scientists spot light struggling against black hole Scientists have found evidence of light fighting to escape the pull of a black hole. They say it is something predicted by Einstein which has never been observed until now. Telescopes found weakened light coming from a region around the black hole which could only have had its energy sapped by gravity. The observations were made using the Chandra X-ray Observatory and the XMM-Newton satellite. The points of light will help astronomers map the curved space-time around a black hole. Scientists used a spectrograph to analyse the light from a galaxy named NGC...

SHANGHAI, China, June 27 (UPI) -- Chinese health officials estimate 850,000 people in the country are now infected with human immunodeficiency virus, an increase of more than a quarter of a million over last year's figure, but health workers and experts say many more people who may have contracted the infection that causes AIDS are not accounted for in the central government's statistics. For example, a recent U.N. report has put the number of HIV-infected Chinese at more than 1 million and warns China could have 10 million HIV/AIDS sufferers by 2010 unless it acts decisively to educate the public,...

BLUE SPRINGS, Mo.- A Boy Scout leader was charged Thursday with 32 counts of sexually abusing boys, police said. David Neil Brown, 40, of Blue Springs turned himself into police Thursday and was charged with 19 counts of first-degree sodomy and 13 counts of second-degree sodomy, police Sgt. Mike Kruger said. He is being held on $1 million bond. Kruger said Brown abused six boys from 13 to 15 years old, most of them in the last two years. "He's a Boy Scout leader, and that accounts for some of his victims," Kruger said. "Others were friends or acquaintances of...

John Entwhistle of the rock band Who died in Las Vegas, Thursday June 27, 2002. This JUST came on as a "Fox News Alert".....probably more info. coming in the next hours.