Free Republic

PHILLIPSBURG, NJ -- A retired Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing at least 12 children served as a weekend priest in the St. Philip & St. James Catholic Church more than a decade ago. The Rev. James T. Hanley on Wednesday became the first New Jersey priest to be defrocked since the sexual abuse scandal broke nationwide in January. Hanley, 64, served at several Morris County parishes in the Diocese of Paterson, NJ since he was ordained in 1962. He has been accused of sexually abusing children and teen-agers in at least three of the five parishes he served...

REMAINING U.S. CEOs MAKE A BREAK FOR IT -- Band of Roving Chief Executives Spotted Miles from Mexican Border San Antonio, Texas (UPI)- Unwilling to wait for their eventual indictments, the 10,000 remaining CEOs of public U.S. companies made a break for it yesterday, heading for the Mexican border, plundering towns and villages along the way, and writing the entire rampage off as a marketing expense. "They came into my home, made me pay for my own TV, then double-booked the revenues," said Rachel Sanchez of Las Cruces, just north of El Paso. "Right in front of my daughters." Calling...

By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush ( news - web sites) said he will briefly transfer the powers of the presidency to Vice President Dick Cheney ( news - web sites) on Saturday while under sedation for a colon screening. Photos AP Photo For only the second time, the 25th Amendment of the Constitution will be invoked and Cheney will be acting president for "a matter of hours," White House counsel Al Gonzales said after the surprise announcement. Bush, who turns 56 next week, said doctors recommended the procedure — a colonoscopy — because...

Don't you think it's time you followed through with your reservations? It won't be the same without you at FRiva Las Vegas. See details below. Oh look, they're baa-aaack!  Well you guys must be pretty tough.  Here's the scoop.  You're on your way for a brand new day.There's danger ahead so watch your step.  Victoria Famine  Let me see, which shall it be?  Oh look, it's clue one for day three.Clue code: 496 Don't forget, you must copy this code. Write this down."Clue one: Code 496"Key Words: paper tiger(Set preferences to "match all words" and "order by post time".) (The...

MOSCOW — Russia has told its Arab allies in a series of meetings that they will not be immune to any U.S. military campaign against Iraq. Arab diplomatic sources said Moscow has warned several countries including Iran and Syria that they could be included in any U.S. war in the Middle East. The message was blunt: Washington will not limit its military campaign to Iraq and seeks to topple Middle East regimes deemed as terrorist sponsors, the sources said. Russian Foreign Ministry officials have met with their counterparts in several Arab countries and discussed scenarios of any U.S. drive against...

New York’s hi-tech industry remains confident in Israeli partner By GWEN ACKERMAN The state of New York’s business sector, which has had a long, fertile relationship with Israel, is standing by its veteran partner and has not been put off by the current geopolitical, economic or security situation, says the director of the New York State Trade Office here. “I have 35 companies that I am working with at the moment from New York who are all anxious to develop relationships with Israeli companies and distributors and the like,” Gerry Stoch told The Jerusalem Post, noting that NY exports to...

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional in public schools. I’ve seen a number of libertarians applauding this development, but I take no comfort from it. This is no retreat for government, the public sphere continues to expand without limit, and everywhere it expands it drives out freedom of conscience, which includes religion. “They shouldn’t be using our tax money to promote religion in public schools”. Well, of course not. But what about all the people who would not willingly pay for a school that does not incorporate prayer and religion? When...

Friday, June 28, 2002 ©2002 Associated Press URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2002/06/28/state2051EDT7784.DTL (06-28) 17:51 PDT SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Bank tellers smelled marijuana on the weekly cash deposits from an interior design business. They told authorities, who cracked a huge indoor pot-growing operation. The marijuana was being grown in homes ranging in value from $136,000 to more than $343,000, including one on Spokane's scenic High Drive. Five people in their 50s and 60s were arrested on federal drug charges. The five made initial appearances Friday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cynthia Imbrogno on charges of manufacture of more than 100 marijuana plants. "This was...

MY RESUME is long and distinguished.I'm not talking about "Daily News columnist," "1210 talk-show host," "lawyer" - or even my appointment in the Bush administration. (That's Bush the Father, not Bush the Son.)I'm thinking of my earlier credentials: Window washer. Magician. Maintenance man. Flower delivery boy. Pool-store driver.These were just some of my summer jobs. I was always out hustling. One year, a buddy and I painted street address numbers on curbs for a buck a house. Even now, I will look outside on a sunny day and wish I could do it again, for just one day. Even those...

The celebration of the fifth anniversary of Hong Kong's return to China has been overshadowed by a set of opinion polls showing low public confidence in the territory's government.More than three out of four people believe that "the overall condition of Hong Kong has become worse [since] its reunification with China" - an increase of 10 percentage points since last year - according to a poll by Hong Kong University. Fewer than one in five have confidence in the new ministerial team of the chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, announced this week, says another poll from the Chinese University of Hong...

Troopers blast King's request for state employees to take furlough days Friday, June 28, 2002, 4:28 PM Email story to a friend By NewsRadio WMTW 870/1470 AM and 106.7 FM AUGUSTA -- The head of the State Troopers Association is blasting Gov. King for his administration's request that troopers voluntarily take three days off without pay to help make up for the state's $180 million budget shortfall. Mike Edes says troopers are overworked and underpaid as it is. "He wants us basically to take a thousand days off. When you add up -- we've got 330, 320 road troopers,...

LIEUTENANT GENERAL MICHAEL DELONG, DEPUTY COMMANDER, CENTRAL COMMAND BRIGADIER GENERAL MIKE GAUTHIER, COMMANDER, CANADIAN TASK FORCE IN SOUTHWEST ASIA LOCATION: MARRIOTT-WATERSIDE, TAMPA, FLORIDA TIME: 12:01 P.M. EDT DATE: FRIDAY, JUNE 28, 2002 GEN. DELONG: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name -- I'm Lieutenant General Michael DeLong. I'm the deputy commander of Central Command. General Franks is my boss. With me today is Brigadier General Mike Gautheir, who is the commander for the Canadian Task Force in Southwest Asia, the Afghan area. The sole purpose of the briefing today is to convey to the public the findings of the investigation...

UN to Fight Down to Wire on Peacekeeper Immunity BY IRWIN ARIEFF UNITED NATIONS - (Reuters) - The United States vowed on Friday to fight down to the wire to keep its peacekeepers out of reach of a new global war crimes court and renewed a threat to kill the U.N. mission in Bosnia if it did not get its way. Complicating the situation, the top U.N. legal adviser suggested for the first time that a U.S. move to shutter the U.N. Bosnia mission could also close down the Balkan state's far more strategically important NATO-led multinational peacekeeping force --...

Mr. Brad Edmonds states: Let me be among those who say that the court got this one right,........... Lew Rockwell/Brad Edmonds Comments on the 9th Circuit Decision....If you DISAGREE with this gentleman as I do, I suggest following the link and letting him know... FReegards, David C. Osborne

<p>Reality video may have sunk to a new low with the one-hour shockfest titled "Bumfights," a new video on sale through the Internet that depicts homeless men and women fighting each other and participating in dangerous stunts.</p> <p>Inspired by a street fight they saw in San Francisco, a pair of film school dropouts who live in Las Vegas shot or solicited footage of fights of the homeless, fake abductions, sexual acts and drug use, and compiled it in a wildly popular video that is billed as "the most hilariously shocking video you've ever seen or your money back."</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Wednesday it will test up to 750,000 wild deer and elk annually for a contagious, brain-wasting disease that may be spreading throughout the country.The deadly ailment, known as chronic wasting disease (CWD), has affected nine Western and Midwestern states. Federal officials said they expect five new outbreaks each year for the next three years.Scientists do not know whether CWD can infect humans who eat meat from diseased animals, but the World Health Organization has advised against eating venison or any part of an animal showing signs of the disease.CWD has been found...

OWEN CONNOR, a white Zimbabwean farmer, committed a crime yesterday. Helped by half a dozen of his workers he poured seed maize into a fumigator and then bagged it. A power cut had prevented Mr Connor, 68, completing the job by Monday so he decided to risk two years in jail rather than lose the grain. Yesterday marked one of the more bizarre twists of modern African history as President Mugabe’s Government banned most of the country’s white farmers from growing food amid Zimbabwe’s worst famine in a century. Within 45 days 2,900 designated farmers must leave their property altogether....

Attorney is ordered to clean houseBy KELLI YOUNG Tribune ChronicleWARREN - The city Health Board has given a Warren attorney until the end of July to clean up his home on Drexel Avenue N.W., where health officials said the man and his family used 5-gallon buckets as a toilets. The board gave the cleanup order Wednesday to homeowner Albert Swartz, 1507 Drexel Ave. N.W. Swartz also has to show the board that he intends to keep it clean, or the house will be demolished. The city issued a condemnation notice earlier this month.Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Pinti said a main...

4,000-year-old seal of Egyptian pharaoh found in stable ruins on Scottish estate By Paul Kelbie Scotland Correspondent 05 June 2002 An ancient Egyptian seal belonging to a pharaoh who died almost 4,000 years ago has been uncovered in the rubble of a Scottish stable block. The delicately carved soft blue-grey stone, which measures only 45mm (2in) in height, was found during excavations of Newhailes, a 17th-century country house in Musselburgh, near Edinburgh. The seal is highly polished and bears a series of hieroglyphics inside a royal cartouche, which experts have been able to identify as an official seal of office...

The US nuclear attack on Hiroshima paved the way for September 11 and its aftermathNow that the number of innocent civilian victims killed collaterally in Afghanistan by the US bombardments is equal to the number killed in the attack on the Twin Towers, we can perhaps place the events in a larger, but not less tragic perspective, and face a new question: is it more evil or reprehensible to kill deliberately than to systematically kill blindly? (Systematically because the same logic of US armed strategy began with the Gulf war.) I don't know the answer to the question. On the...