Free Republic

Amid concerns that protesters outside Sacramento's federal courthouse could compromise the prosecution's case against the operator of a Chico medical marijuana dispensary, a federal judge has ordered that jurors be transported to his courtroom from an undisclosed, remote location before each session. This week's two days of peaceful protests were spurred by U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr.'s decision denying defendant Bryan James Epis the use of a medical marijuana defense, in which Epis alleged federal offenses could be lessened by the circumstances in which they were committed. In this case: compassion, supporters say. "Us patients are out here...

WASHINGTON -- Senators joined the House of Representatives on Thursday in backing a $20 million plan to clean up the worst of the James River's ``Ghost Fleet'' of decrepit merchant ships. Senators authorized the Navy to shift the needed funds to the U.S. Maritime Administration, which would oversee the project. Plans call for scrapping 135 ships; 73 of those are moored in the James near Fort Eustis in Newport News. The money for the project is to be provided in separate legislation. Twenty-three of the ships in the James are considered ``high risk.'' That means their hulls have rusted...

A scare raises serious concerns about safetyBy Larry Lange, Seattle Post-Intelligencer Reporter A Navy truck carrying an empty tank used to haul radioactive liquid briefly closed one lane of a state highway in Bremerton yesterday when a rear brake overheated. The incident raised new questions about the movement of hazardous material across the state. The brakes overheated about 200 yards from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard gate, sending smoke into the air from a rear wheel. The driver of the Navy truck cooled the brakes with an extinguisher. "There was no radioactive release, there were no injuries and there was...

Today is the final journal entry. Other stories will be upcoming upon the return of the Times-Union staffers. ABOARD THE USS JOHN F. KENNEDY -- Blasts from the FA-18 Hornet on Catapult 4 rattle the deck of the aircraft carrier. Petty Officer 3rd Class Elvis "Junior" Medina and I are sitting in the center deck hatch between Catapults 3 and 4. Colored wands used by controllers on the flight deck light up the Kennedy's topside. Medina is flipping through pages in a manual as one of the flight deck "shooters," responsible for launching aircraft, looks on. Before each aircraft is...

PALM BEACH, FL - Eileen Harrington, the Federal Trade Commission's point person on the national do-not-call list and other proposed rules, went into a den of telemarketers Friday and got an earful of complaints. But Harrington, who met with industry representatives for a roundtable discussion at the DMA Teleservices Conference 2002 held here at The Breakers hotel, gave back as good as she got. "You don't have a lot of credibility, to be perfectly honest," Harrington, the FTC's director of marketing practices, told the audience of approximately 50 telemarketers. If telemarketers had adhered to the present rules, which give each...

Attending a concert at Fresno, CA's Selland Arena has always been dampened by their "event staff"'s overbearing 'crowd control' techniques. And it's always interesting what they choose to overlook and what they crack down on. But at last nite's Sammy Hagar/David Lee Roth concert, they outdid themselves with one small act. Choosing to ignore the blatant weed smoking and partial nudity, they went straight for a deadly menace: 2 beach balls. These two dangerous and evil beach balls were tossed out by the crowd during intermission. The crowd was having a great time batting these around. But the Event Staff...

When General Eric K. Shinseki became the Army’s thirty-fourth Chief of Staff, in June of 1999, he declared that he would transform the ponderous Cold War force that stared down the Soviets for half a century into something more useful in the disordered new millennium. He said that he wanted an Army that was nimble, light, and lethal, a force supple enough to perform peacekeeping missions or to fight an all-out war against a country like North Korea or Iraq. He said he would wean the Army from the tanks and armored fighting vehicles it loves, and replace them...

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. The boy -- 9 years old, neatly dressed, a very polite child -- walked up and extended his hand. The gesture caught me by surprise. I was in a Wal-Mart store here -- and this was not an encounter I had come to the store expecting. "Thank you," the boy said softly. He smiled. The adults with him -- they are his foster parents -- then introduced me to the boy, and to his two younger sisters. "He's been wanting to say thanks," the foster father said. I had to turn my head away, because I didn't...

Domestic Concerns will Vie with Terrorism in FallCriticisms of Bush and Congress as Job Worries IncreaseReleased: June 27, 2002Navigate this reportIntroduction and Summary Other Important Findings and AnalysisData TablesAbout this SurveyQuestionnaire Introduction and SummaryThe upcoming congressional election may be as much a referendum on domestic concerns as on the war on terrorism, as the public’s economic anxiety increases and its frustration with Washington mounts. Voters say that domestic matters such as health care, education and the economy come up in conversation as frequently as the war on terrorism. And while President Bush’s overall approval ratings remain quite strong, just...

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. ALAN KEYES, HOST: Welcome to MAKING SENSE. I`m Alan Keyes. Up front tonight, what`s up with the courts? I`m sure you`ve noticed the swirl of controversy over some recent court decisions including especially the decision that was taken, striking down the Pledge of Allegiance and removing the words "under God" from the pledge. There`s been a firestorm of reaction around the country, and it`s a reaction that I think that speaks not only of rejection of this decision, but a heart around...

THE HEAD OF Israel’s intelligence service has warned Nato that Iran is not only pressing ahead with a nuclear weapon programme but is developing missiles capable of hitting Europe and North America. Ephraim Halevy, the Mossad director, told Nato chiefs in a confidential briefing this week that Iran represented the most serious threat to stability in the Middle East and a danger to the West as well. Mr Halevy, a veteran diplomat, told Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, the Secretary-General, and other Nato representatives that Iran was investing heavily in the construction of a missile with a range beyond...

Suspected acts against development in the area A fire destroyed what was to be the $725,000 home of Pedigo Bay developer Steve Smith south of Lake Monroe Thursday. No one has claimed responsibility for the fire and it's unclear whether it's arson. Speculation that it could have been set by environmental activists has arisen because the home is in a development that has been strongly criticized by environmentalists and because activist groups have taken responsibility for several previous incidents. These incidents include: - May 4, 2002: An explosion damaged a truck at Sims Poultry on North Madison Street. Several other...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  Three former British bankers have been charged by the United States with wire fraud in an alleged $7.3 million scheme involving Enron Corp.</p> <p>The charges against the bankers were the first involving Enron as a company, as opposed to the indictment in March of its auditor, Arthur Andersen LLP. Andersen was convicted of obstructing justice for shredding Enron audit documents.</p>

If NATO is to keep its rightful place in preserving trans-Atlantic security and stability, then the big Prague summit this November must not only be about enlarging the alliance and clarifying its purpose as advertised. The allies must also limit NATO's future role, both geographically and politically, so that enlargement doesn't wind up weakening the alliance. The race for membership is entering the final stretch. The leaders of the nine candidates for membership will meet next week in Riga to ready themselves for a final push toward Prague. All the signs suggest the U.S. and the European allies will...

<p>H, MY ... God! Since no politician can afford to be seen as godless, no matter how completely they lean on the everlasting arms of lobbyists, they rushed to fax machines to be the first to cast stones at the ruling Wednesday by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. A three-judge panel held that the phrase ''one nation under God'' makes the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.</p>

The Federal Government has moved to buy United States Joint Strike Fighter aircraft in its biggest defence acquisition, predicting that Australian industry will secure lucrative development and supply contracts. Australia intends to buy up to 100 aircraft, at a cost of more than $8billion, which will replace Australia's aging F/A-18s and F-111s. It was disclosed yesterday that the Prime Minister, John Howard, was earlier this month given a private briefing in Washington by executives from Lockheed Martin, the company developing the new planes. But any hopes of bipartisanship on the planned purchase were dashed when the Labor Opposition claimed...

<p>The food police at the Center for Science in the Public Interest have jumped on the recent health scare involving French fries and potato chips. Not surprisingly, its new effort at food terrorism is self-debunking.</p> <p>Swedish "scientists" surprised us in April with their finding that baking and frying high-carbohydrate foods — like bread and potatoes — forms in the foods "high" levels of acrylamide, a substance that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency labels as a "probable carcinogen."</p>

In a challenge to Bush administration plans for a missile defense shield, China and Russia on Thursday submitted a joint proposal to the Conference on Disarmament for a new international treaty to ban weapons in outer space. It marked the first joint Russia-China initiative on the issue, which has long been a priority for Beijing because of its fears that U.S. development of a missile defense will inevitably involve outer space. "We support the urgent adoption today of all measures possible in order to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space, rather than waste subsequently huge efforts and...

National Defense: US officials are wondering if Taiwan is really prepared to pay for the eight diesel-powered submarines the Bush administration has agreed to sellBy Charles Snyder, Staff Reporter in Washington The high up-front costs of designing diesel submarines that Taiwan wants to buy from the US have emerged as the chief stumbling block to the deal, US government sources said. The issue emerged as a Ministry of National Defense (MND) team headed by Vice Admiral Wang Li-shen wound up two days of intensive talks with the Pentagon on the submarines and other US weapons sales to Taiwan. In a...

There are two big problems with the Bush administration's Latin America policy: one, it is being run by the Treasury Department; two, the Treasury Department is being run by Paul O'Neill. That, at least, is what you keep hearing in Latin American capitals these days, as Argentina's financial crisis seems to be spreading to Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, and government officials are increasingly vocal in their complaints about the U.S. Treasury's reluctance to come to the rescue of crisis-ridden countries. In recent days, O'Neill -- a former chairman of the Alcoa aluminum manufacturing giant who has become known for his...