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We often 'know' things that aren't true, and one of the things that many of us have believed is that a 'Machiavellian' politician is completely deceitful, without principles, and uncaring for anything except what furthers his personal ambitions. Yet, to actually read Machiavelli's writings is to discover an encompassing warmth, fierce patriotism, and keen perceptions of the requirements of leadership...(snip)On arming citizens, he says that by arming them, "You make their arms your own....from subjects they are transformed into your partisans...when you disarm your citizens, however, you offend them by showing that, either from cowardliness or from lack of faith,...

AMMAN, July 1 (AFP) - Jordanian security forces have arrested at least five Palestinians in possession of rocket-launchers and planning to carry out anti-Israeli attacks, an Islamist source told AFP on Monday. "At least five Palestinians, coming from Syria, were arrested on June 24 at the Jaber border post by Jordanian security forces who found rocket-launchers in their possession," the source said. The suspects, currently under interrogation, were believed to be members of the Palestinian Islamic radical movement Hamas. The rocket-launchers were to be used for attacks inside Israel or across the border from Jordan, or to be smuggled into...

PALESTINE PLANS "GIANT SUICIDE BOMB" The Palestinian leadership announced today that it would be stepping up its campaign of suicide attacks by configuring the entire state of Palestine as "one bloody great enormous bomb". The plan is seen as a last ditch attempt by the Palestinians to bring peace and stability to the region, as well a quelling its own dissenters, by "utterly destroying them all, as well our Israeli neighbours". Peace (artist's impression) he plan, which is expected to bring peace "very suddenly" to the area, comes on the heels of recent increased activity by suicide bombers within...

In his post 9/11 Address to a Joint Session of Congress and the American People, President Bush described the new threat of Islamic terror: "They are the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century. By sacrificing human life to serve their radical visions -- by abandoning every value except the will to power -- they follow in the path of fascism, and Nazism, and totalitarianism. And they will follow that path all the way, to where it ends: in history's unmarked grave of discarded lies." The editors of Frontpage have invited a distinguished panel of experts...

JEDDAH, 1 July— American Homes Furniture (AHF) on Madinah Road, for so long a landmark store in the city, has suddenly removed the word “American” from both the Arabic and English signs on the front of its shop. The dramatic move comes in the wake of the growing boycott against US goods here in the Kingdom in response to the US-backed Israeli aggression against the Palestinians. In recent weeks, the House of Donuts removed the “American” from its “American Pastry” logo, and the “Americana” brand advertised on Arab TVs across the Middle East has suddenly added a sentence to its...

Hello, I'm Spotty, the President's English Springer Spaniel. (I'm the spotted dog in the picture with Laura Bush and my pal, Barney, the Scottish Terrier.) I love this house and thought you would enjoy a tour…from a dog's point of view. I've heard there are many different names for this house. Some call it the "People's House" while others call it the "White House." The White House is larger than any dog house I've ever seen, that's for sure. There are six floors, 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, 147 windows, 412 doors, 12 chimneys, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators. As you...

<p>Also known as: Joe, Regular Joe, Holy Joe, Slippery Joe, Conscience of the Senate.</p> <p>Date of birth: 2/24/42.</p> <p>Weight: 160 lbs. (give or take).</p> <p>Hair: Graying blond (or blonding gray).</p> <p>Eyes: Hazel-ish.</p> <p>Scars and marks: No visible scars or tattoos. Also, no distinguishing characteristics (that we know of).</p>

<p>Hong Kong marks a milestone today, the fifth anniversary of its return to Chinese sovereignty. The five years since the handover have been both better and worse than anyone imagined then. A dramatic deterioration in the economy has been coupled with a less dramatic but still considerable deterioration in political autonomy.</p>

<p>In constitutional law, as in comedy, timing is everything.</p> <p>Last week, just before the Supreme Court ruled on the constitutionality of Cleveland's school choice program, an appellate court in California shocked even the Senate with its decision that the Pledge of Allegiance violates the First Amendment. In light of the Supreme Court's determination that the Ohio vouchers do not "establish" religion, one would be right to wonder about the law governing church-state relations. How could the same few words of the Constitution require both these results?</p>

  We Want You to Join Us!     The Houston Activist TeamA FreeRepublic Network Chapter We stood up to the socialists when they called former President Bush a murderer. We let Senator Jeffords know what we thought of him giving the Democrats the Senate majority. We defended the Second Amendment against false claims of the gun grabbers. We reminded LULAC that illegal immigration is a crime and our porous borders are a danger to our security. As delegates, alternates and interested guests, we joined FReepers from around Texas at the state GOP convention. We relax, too - We enjoyed...

North Carolina was supposed to have its primary election May 7, but a flurry of lawsuits over new legislative boundaries has delayed that vote indefinitely. Could something similar happen in Kansas? The answer is in the hands of three federal judges who will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday in Topeka to hear arguments in a lawsuit by Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall challenging the new boundaries for the state's four congressional districts. Everyone from Secretary of State Ron Thornburgh, whose office oversees elections, to the candidates is proceeding as if the election will be Aug. 6. But the lawsuit has...

John Edwards may gore Kerry as the alternative by Joe Sciacca Monday, July 1, 2002 The voice of the Sexiest Politician in America, so decreed by People Magazine, crackles across the cell phone in a digitalized drawl, falling somewhere between Jesse Helms and Colonel Sanders. ``Why ah don't thank John Kerry spends much tahm worryin' 'bout me,'' he says, knowing quite well that John Kerry spends a great deal of time worrying about him. He is John Edwards, who, despite a bumbled appearance on ``Meet the Press'' recently, is being touted by many as the most promising Democrat in the...

WASHINGTON - (AP) -- President Bush ran three miles and took a walk in the woods with the first lady Sunday at Camp David, resuming an active schedule after his colon screening. The president and Laura Bush also attended church services at the chapel at the presidential retreat in western Maryland. ''I feel great,'' Bush said shortly after his Marine One helicopter landed on the South Lawn of the White House. ``I got up this morning and went for a nice run, went to church.'' He said that because results of the checkup showed no danger signs, he does not...

Fox news reported that Tom Cruise insulted Pres. Bush in the U.K. Telegraph over the weekend. Something to the effect of "Nit Wit President" and "worried about his children living in America." Does anybody have any information? Where can we complain about this "Christian Scientist" limosene liberal who's true colors are showing?

Harare - A retired doctor from West Virginia has been killed in an apparent hijacking in Zimbabwe, local residents said on Monday. The body of Dr Roy "Tom" Raub, 79, was found late on Saturday beside the road about 130km north-west of Bulawayo, a member of the local farming community said on condition of anonymity. Raub's Toyota Land Cruiser was missing. After retiring about 10 years ago, Raub bought a home in Bulawayo and a 12 000 hectare game hunting ranch near Hwange National Park. He was apparently killed a few kilometres from his ranch and the crime did not...

<p>BRUSSELS, Belgium --A threat to the future of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia has been temporarily lifted to allow talks to try to resolve a dispute over the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court.</p> <p>The United States is demanding immunity from prosecution by the global war crimes court, which comes into force on Monday, for its personnel involved in peacekeeping missions in Bosnia and elsewhere.</p>

The rights of Jamie G. Henry, accused of torturing his 8-year-old stepson and 5-year-old daughter with an electrified cattle prod, are being meticulously protected. Last summer, Henry pleaded no contest -- which amounts to a guilty plea in Nebraska -- to two felony counts stemming from the alleged torture of the children. But later he decided he didn't really mean it; he asked a judge, Teresa Luther, to allow him to withdraw the plea, and she said he could. Hall County prosecutors did not like this -- they thought a plea entered in open court should stand -- and asked...

Airport security screeners are still missing too much. USA Today reports a Transportation Security Administration test last month found that the carry-on baggage checkers didn't detect fake weapons, such as guns, dynamite or bombs, in almost one-fourth of the cases. The TSA agents were instructed to do little to try to conceal the items. The tests were conducted at 32 of the country's largest airports. Cincinnati fared worst, missing 58 percent of the dangerous items, followed by Las Vegas and Jacksonville, both at 50 percent. Best in the undercover security tests were Miami, at 6 percent and Newark at 9...

The NYPD issued a citywide alert yesterday after two armed men stole a truck and computers from a city Department of Environmental Protection site in Brooklyn, sparking fears that the heist might be terrorist-related. The Joint Terrorism Task Force was brought in to investigate the 4:33 p.m. robbery at the Fountain Ave. landfill because of reports that the truck and computers — initially believed to contain codes for the city's water supply — could be used by terrorists, according to police.But investigators later said the motive for the theft appeared to be commercial."It does not appear terrorism related," said a...

Some people cannot take "yes" for an answer. No, I'm not talking about the Palestinian Arabs who, in Abba Eban's memorable phrase, "never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity." In the wake of President Bush's June 24 landmark speech on the Middle East, few serious people expected them to understand that the president actually offered them a way out of their nightmare existence. Indeed, they are so mired in a culture of hatred and despotism that it is easier to imagine Bush's former baseball team - the overpaid, cellar-dwelling Texas Rangers - winning the World Series this October than...