Free Republic

Not all of the information is out yet from the long form of the 2000 Census -- and that's partly why the government is already talking about replacing it. Social and economic information about neighborhoods across Washington will be released this summer, more than two years after the U.S. Census Bureau completed its survey at a cost of $6.5 billion. Trouble is, a lot of the "new" information will be old and inaccurate, since it won't take into account anyone who moved, died, was laid off or was born since April 2000. "Stale data can mislead or misinform," noted Kathleen...

Four S.Koreans Killed, 18 Hurt in Clash with NorthSat Jun 29, 3:05 AM ETBy Paul EckertSEOUL, South Korea (Reuters) - Four South Korean sailors were killed and 18 wounded in a clash with North Korean patrol boats on Saturday in waters off the west coast of the divided peninsula, South Korea said. Photos Reuters Photo The defense ministry said one South Korean vessel was sunk in the clash in the Yellow Sea at a point 170 km (105 miles) west of Inchon International Airport, through which tens of thousands of World Cup soccer visitors entered the country this month. "This...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --President Bush, who expressed outrage this week about the WorldCom financial scandal, vowed Friday to hold corporate executives accountable to a higher standard than "trying to fudge the numbers."</p> <p>Democrats too are using the issue to garner political support, criticizing the Republican administration for allowing corporate malfeasance to take place on a grand scale.</p>

From el Universal - Cartagena, Colombia - EDUARDO HERRÁN / El Universal EX- PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON cannot hide his emotion by the musical recibimiento of "the Singing Children" in the airport. The enthusiasm and the smile of the ex- American agent chief executive were secundados by president Pastrana and the mayor Carlos Diaz. Clinton says when arriving at Cartagena: Colombia deserves a breathing By LUIS CASTELLAR The Universal One Almost two years after his historical visit to Cartagena like agent chief executive in exercise, the ex- president of the United States, Bill Clinton, returned last night to the city. Clinton...

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) --President Bush Saturday will undergo a colonoscopy -- a diagnostic examination to check for early signs of colon cancer -- and will transfer power to Vice President Dick Cheney during the procedure.</p> <p>"It is the third such procedure I've had," said the president. "The doctors recommended I have another because the last time they found some benign polyps."</p>

JERUSALEM, June 29 (AFP) - Fifteen Palestinian militants who were holed up inside a Palestinian Authority building in the West Bank town of Hebron were killed when the army blew it up overnight, Israeli military radio said Saturday. The 15 were wanted men from the Hebron region who belonged to the Tanzim, a term Israel uses for fighters linked linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement, the radio said, quoting army officers. The militants were accused of involvement in attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians, the radio said.

<p>HEBRON, West Bank (CNN) The massive Palestinian security headquarters lay in ruins early Saturday, Palestinian security sources said, ripped apart by at least three explosions that punctuated a four-day standoff between the Israeli military and militants it said were inside.</p>

Are We Doomed To Be a Police State?by Rep. Ron Paul, MD U.S. House of Representatives, June 27, 2002Most Americans believe we live in dangerous times, and I must agree. Today I want to talk about how I see those dangers and what Congress ought to do about them.Of course, the Monday-morning quarterbacks are now explaining, with political overtones, what we should have done to prevent the 9/11 tragedy. Unfortunately, in doing so, foreign policy changes are never considered.I have, for more than two decades, been severely critical of our post-World War II foreign policy. I have perceived it to...

early two years after he lost his home state, Tennessee, in the 2000 presidential race, Al Gore and his wife, Tipper, have bought a new $2.3 million home just outside Nashville in Belle Meade, his associates said yesterday.The purchase is the latest indication that Mr. Gore is preparing to run again for president in 2004.Mr. Gore, a former senator from Tennessee, described the loss of his home state to President Bush as one of the more embarrassing aspects of his defeat in 2000. Mr. Gore later acknowledged that he had neglected Tennessee while living in Washington during his years...

Bush's new, improved, but still problematic plan A few short weeks ago, President Bush was preparing a speech announcing his plan to establish an interim Palestinian State. Then, something changed. A homicidal Palestinian boarded a bus in Jerusalem and detonated a bomb, massacring 19 innocent people and injuring more than 50 others. The White House announced that it would delay the president's speech. Most assumed that Bush would still call for the immediate creation of a Palestinian state, after once again condemning the latest act of genocide. But he surprised us this time and finally changed course. Bush said that...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's 2004 re-election headquarters will be in Washington, contrary to earlier speculation that retiring Counselor Karen Hughes would run his campaign from Texas when she returns to her Austin home in July. The campaign is to be handled by Ken Mehlman, who now heads the White House political affairs office, and Jack Oliver, currently deputy chairman of the Republican National Committee. Strategic direction in 2004 will come, as in 2000, from senior adviser Karl Rove. That arrangement, however, does not eliminate Hughes. As the most influential Bush adviser, she is expected to be aboard the presidential campaign...

Bush knew! There can be no other explanation for a federal appeals court decision to ban the Pledge of Allegiance in schools -a ruling which was subsequently put on indefinite hold. Forget ridiculous, absurd, outrageous. The ruling was just weird. To determine that "one nation under God" violates the constitutional prohibition against establishment of a religion is such a legal stretch and so out of touch with American reality that we can only figure it's a political scam. Not by the left, which would be too obvious, but by the right, which ultimately would benefit. Stay with me here. I...

I'm a total believer in this saying. I ought to be, since (I believe) I'm the one who actually coined it: "Things that you expect to happen usually take longer than you expect; but, once they get under way, they unfold much more quickly." That's exactly what's happened with the gold market. And it was completely predictable (reminding me of another saying, which is equally true: "Just because something is inevitable, doesn't mean it's imminent"). In any event, most gold stocks have recently doubled. Many, like Harmony, have tripled. Some, like Nevsun and El Dorado, have been ten-baggers. Presumably, many...

NITED NATIONS, June 28 — The United States has refused to budge in its demand to exempt American peacekeepers from the jurisdiction of a new International Criminal Court, raising the possibility that the United Nations mandate for the international forces in Bosnia will expire at midnight Sunday.The Security Council will meet again on Sunday evening in a last-ditch effort to find a resolution. It is the first time in the memory of diplomats here that the United States has found itself in so bitter a showdown with two close allies, Britain and France, which have led the other governments...

The 28th Group of Eight meeting has just concluded. To many, it means nothing, but to those who understand the international level and the global governmental infrastructure that has been set in place above the nation-state, this meeting is one of the most important meetings in the world, for it symbolizes the ongoing and growing structure of global management over the world. Its directors are Group of Eight heads of state. It began in 1975 as an intimate group of five countries that came together to fill a vacuum created by President Nixon when he took the dollar off of...

It's too late to ask why the West is burning. Everyone already knows it is the result of absurd environmental policies that have prevented logging to thin the fuel, the "roadless" policy that prevents firefighters from having access to the forests, and the Endangered Species Act, which won't allow heavy equipment in critical habitats to cut firebreaks. When volunteers brought their own equipment to help fight the Colorado fire, Kim Martin, the incident commander for the Forest Service, told the volunteers, "The equipment is too heavy. It will tear up the land." The volunteers could do nothing but watch the...

On Wednesday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals found in a 2-1 decision that the Pledge of Allegiance is an endorsement of religion and may not be recited in government schools. Apparently, "under God" is the wording that made its unconstitutional way into the Pledge. Unfortunately, the 9th Circuit judge has a great precedent to make his decision. The Supreme Court has created a basis for such decisions. Starting in 1947, the Court ruled that the Constitution required a separation of church and state. Later, the court ruled all forms of God and religion in public schools unconstitutional. Along with...

In what must be considered one of the darkest days in American legal history, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has decided to omit the words "under God" from the Pledge of Allegiance. In a nation that was born out of reverence for and dependence on "the Creator" and "Divine Providence," we are now reduced to eliminating any words referring to a deity solely because they may offend a few people. As we prepare to celebrate America's 226th birthday, the nation we know and love is at a historic crossroads as civil libertarians and radical...

The media elite continues to discover new ''weapons of mass destruction" that Islamic terrorists are "believed" to have got their hands on. Don't let them fool you. The only true WMD is a nuke. Nothing else comes close. For example, they report that Ralph Nader believes a "McDonald's double cheeseburger is a weapon of mass destruction." Well, if you ingest massive doses of Nader's WMD, you might eventually become fat, dumb and happy. But terrorists don't want you happy. So forget about Big Mac attacks by terrorists. How about wheat smut? Saddam Hussein produced tons of that WMD. What if...

he Securities and Exchange Commission's investigation into Martha Stewart's sale of ImClone shares last December is centering on what her stockbroker may have told her just before the stock was sold, a lawyer involved in the investigation said yesterday.Ms. Stewart's lawyers have told Congressional investigators that she spoke to her broker by telephone on Dec. 27 from an airport in San Antonio where her jet had stopped to refuel en route to Mexico. After the conversation, Merrill Lynch sold 3,928 shares of ImClone stock for Ms. Stewart, for a total of $227,000.Douglas Faneuil handled the trades in the absence...