Free Republic

VPC Launches New Web Site, www.banhandgunsnow.org, in Conjunction With Release of Paperback Edition of Latest Book, Every Handgun Is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns WASHINGTON, DC—In conjunction with release of the paperback edition of its most recent book, Every Handgun is Aimed at You: The Case for Banning Handguns (The New Press, 2001), the Violence Policy Center (VPC) today launched a new citizen-action web site, www.banhandgunsnow.org. Each year handguns claim more than 20,000 American lives in suicides, homicides, and unintentional shootings. The unique qualities that make handguns ideally suited for violent death and injury—concealability coupled with lethality—are...

Government out of control Alert In an attempt to raise money for an area already running in the red, the all powerful neo police state which is epitomised by Cary, NC, serious consideration is being given to increasing fines on non seat belt wearers.

JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia, Jun 30, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- A bomb was found attached to the bottom of a car belonging to an American hospital worker, and what was termed a "suspicious object' was located stuck to the underside of a Briton's vehicle, according to a U.S. Embassy security circular obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday. The devices were removed without incident, the circular said, adding that both incidents occurred over the weekend. The discoveries followed close upon the June 20 car bombing that killed a 35-year-old British banker in a Riyadh, the Saudi capital. The...

Although dramatically brilliant, the May 9 episode of TV's ER, in which star Anthony Edwards bade farewell to the series he had anchored for eight years, had Edwards utter a four-letter word, the use of which was yet another blow to civilized standards in broadcasting.

NABLUS, West Bank, June 30 (Reuters) - Israeli special forces killed a top bombmaker of the military wing of the Islamic group Hamas in a raid on Sunday on a house in the West Bank city of Nablus, Israel Radio said. Palestinians described the man, Muhanad al-Taher, known as "the Engineer-4", as topping Israel's most wanted list. The radio said Taher, head of Hamas's Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades in the Nablus area, and his men were responsible for the deaths of more than 100 Israelis. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the radio report, which also said that...

WASHINGTON, Jun 30, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The Bush administration warned the Palestinians on Sunday they would cloud their prospects for nationhood by re-electing Yasser Arafat as their leader. The Palestinian's U.N. envoy responded that Arafat probably will run in January's scheduled election and, as leader of a continuing liberation movement, will win if he does. "For him, and I think for many Palestinians as well, it is matter of a mission rather than a post," said Nasser al-Kidwa, the Palestinians' U.N. observer. "His mission is to lead the Palestinian people until the establishment of independent Palestine."...

Wisconsin's Beguiling Back Roads By R. W. APPLE Jr. RAILING the candidates through the key primary states as a political correspondent many years ago, I decided that, California aside, I liked Wisconsin best. I respected its political creativity, especially under the La Follettes, who prefigured the New Deal. I grew fond of its rich, bucolic landscapes — the red barns, the black-and-white cows and the fields of lime-green grass interrupted by bands of chocolate-brown earth. I also learned to admire Wisconsin's people. They are a well-educated lot, modest, public spirited, committed to preserving the environment and intensely proud of their...

Cal City prison program praised [by Mexicans] This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press June 30, 2002. By LISA WAHLA Valley Press Staff Writer LOS ANGELES - An innovative educational program developed by California City prison warden Percy Pitzer won praise recently from high-level Mexican officials. The Serving Offenders to Affect Repatriation program, operating at the private prison run by Corrections Corp. of America, is unique in its offer of basic education, job training, drug and alcohol rehabilitation and faith-based life skills classes to its inmates, officials said. About 95% of the Cal City Correctional Center's 2,500 inmates are...

<p>ROCKHILL FURNACE, Pa. -- An agency chronicling this region's industrial lineage is hunting for money to turn the story of the persevering little East Broad Top Railroad into a history course.</p> <p>Dave Boya, an apprentice fireman, stands on the coal tender of locomotive14.</p> <p>It's a good idea, maybe.</p>

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council neared a double-edged deadline on Sunday over a U.S. fight to keep its peacekeepers out of the reach of a new global war crimes court. Washington has threatened to kill off the U.N. Mission in Bosnia if the council fails to grant immunity for its soldiers and officials working in Bosnia ahead of a Sunday midnight (0400 GMT Monday) deadline for the mission's mandate to be extended. Midnight also marks the hour the new International Criminal Court comes into force, empowered to prosecute heinous wrongdoing such as gross human rights abuses, genocide...

.Former President Bill Clinton, left, plays a saxophone during a dinner in his honor, at the Castle San Felipe, in Cartagena, Colombia, 405 miles north of Bogota, Friday, June 28, 2002.

<p>SACRAMENTO - The state Senate narrowly passed a $99 billion budget Saturday night that would raise taxes on California drivers and smokers to deal with the state's gaping $23.6 billion deficit.</p> <p>Senate approval sends the budget blueprint to the Assembly, where lawmakers are expected to be in session this afternoon -- one day before the start of the new fiscal year.</p>

<p>George Washington probably had nightmares about July in Western Pennsylvania.</p> <p>An oak stockade and portable field artillery were not enough to protect George Washington and his 400-man force from the French at Fort Necessity on a rainy July 4, 1754.</p>

If you travel to another country, because you are a US citizen, the government does not check your passport to document when you leave. We believe in liberty in America, and free people can travel freely. But, since 9/11, there has been a shift in that thinking. Some in government are now calling for total tracking of all US citizens who leave the country. In many other countries, citizens are already tracked as they move about within their country, and certainly if they exit the country, their governments know all. For instance, in New Zealand, the government diligently monitors the...

PASCAGOULA, MISS.-A Beaufort, S.C., woman smashed a bottle of champagne Saturday on the gray bow of the USS Pinckney, a guided missile destroyer named in honor of her husband, a black sailor from South Carolina whose heroism during World War II saved a shipmate's life.

Psalm 122:6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee.

<p>FLAGSTAFF - A U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs worker admitted starting the "Rodeo'' fire during a preliminary hearing in U.S. District Court Sunday morning.</p> <p>At one point, Leonard Grigg, 29, said, "Can I say I'm sorry for what I did?'' when being questioned by federal Magistrate Stephen Verkamp about details of his personal life.</p>

I've started getting these threatening letters from Los Angeles County saying I owe child support to some lady there I've never heard of. They're threatening to garnish my wages, put a lien on my house, etc. I have no idea who this lady is. I haven't lived in California since 1984. I've live in Virgina now and have been faithfully married since 1991. The children in question were born in 1993 and 1997. I've never had to hire a lawyer before. What kind of lawyer do you get for a case like this? Do I get a Virginia lawyer or...

w w w . h a a r e t z d a i l y . c o m Yesha Council evacutes 11 illegal settler outposts in West Bank The Yesha Council of Jewish settlements evacuated Sunday 11 illegal settler outposts in the West Bank, sources close to Yesha and the defense establishment said. Apparently only two of the outposts were inhabited. All of them were evacuated by Yesha members, without the involvement of the IDF or the civil administration. Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Sunday that another nine illegal outposts, some of which are populated, would be...

Angered by information leaks, Bishop Joseph Adamec abruptly canceled planned transfers of priests this week, The Tribune-Democrat has learned. The cancellation affects a Centre County priest who has publicly disagreed with the bishop’s stance on homosexuality in the priesthood, and whose brother is a conservative Catholic activist and harsh critic of the bishop. Both brothers declined to comment, and Adamec was tight-lipped about his orders, issuing only terse written responses to a reporter’s questions.The cancellations appear to be the latest tear in the widening fissure between Adamac’s administration of the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese and his conservative critics. Events...