Free Republic

President Bush, who last year lost a fight for school vouchers, was touting the idea again Monday following a new Supreme Court ruling upholding such a program here. Opening a week of travel to states critical to his re-election, Bush brought school choice and an array of domestic initiatives to Cleveland on Monday under his catchall "compassionate agenda" banner. Also on the table: initiatives on home ownership, welfare and a major role for religious charities in the delivery of social services. Bush's budget includes new school choice options, including a voucher program of sorts. It would offer a $2,500-per-child education...

Monday, July 1, 2002Samaritan Patrol will try to save entrantsBy Carmen Duarte ARIZONA DAILY STARIn an effort they hope will save the lives of illegal entrants crossing Southern Arizona's searing desert, members of nine religious groups are kicking off Samaritan Patrol today.Volunteers will be patrolling in four-wheel-drive vehicles the areas west of Tucson where at least 33 border crossers have died since June 6 and where the group Humane Borders has not been allowed to place water stations, said the Rev. John Fife, pastor of Southside Presbyterian Church.An attorney for the groups said it's the first organized effort by groups...

<p>LITTLE DID WE know just how irrational our exuberance was.</p> <p>WorldCom seemed cheap at $65 a share, uberhausfrau Martha Stewart made her millions selling tasteful towels and Arthur Andersen was accounting's gold standard.</p> <p>In Washington, everyone pledged their allegiance to Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.</p>

Tenn. Gov't in Partial Shutdown Tennessee Government in Partial Shutdown After Lawmakers Fail to Pass Balanced Budget The Associated Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. July 1 — Tennesseans awoke Monday to find their government in a partial shutdown after lawmakers failed to pass a balanced budget over the weekend in a stalemate over how to cover an $800 million deficit. New Jersey, meanwhile, avoided a shutdown when Gov. James E. McGreevey signed a $23.4 billion state budget early Monday morning. The governor ordered the Senate to return later this week to vote on his corporate tax plan, which he needs to balance...

NOT IN IT'S ENTIRITY! Click on their link to read entire article But as states confront their worst budget crises in a decade, tobacco often has been a savior. Eleven states this year have raised their cigarette taxes, and more than a dozen others are considering doing the same. And to the chagrin of those who fought for the multi-state settlement with tobacco companies -- which was intended to spread an estimated $246 billion to states over 25 years -- some states are regularly trading future payments from that settlement for cash now. This money was not intended to be...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - As the United States pushes for Yasser Arafat's ouster, Saudi Arabia rejected any meddling in Arab affairs, saying only the Palestinians can choose their leader. Saudi's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah, was quoted by officials as saying that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom "rejects any intervention by any side in Arab internal affairs, and on top of it the affairs of the Palestinian people, who alone have the right to choose their leadership." Abdullah's comments were passed on by officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, following his meeting with Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo in...

<p>Barely a day goes by that mud doesn't coat the halls of Congress — even if one side has to dig really deep to muddy the other.</p> <p>If you hadn't read in this newspaper, Rep. Diane E. Watson, California Democrat, proclaimed President Bush has a low IQ — "of 88."</p>

LOWER NAZARETH TOWNSHIP A man videotaping a teenager who was wearing an aluminum foil outfit in a supermarket parking lot and the teen were charged with disorderly conduct Friday night, police said. William Fatzinger Jr., 18, of Nazareth, and a 17-year-old boy from Lower Nazareth Township were found at the Giant Food Store on Nazareth Pike at 10:48 p.m., police said. Fatzinger had a video camera, and the boy, holding a large wrench, had aluminum foil around his head, a flexible hose coming out of his mouth and foil around his arms and thighs, police said. Copyright © 2002, The

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said on Wednesday, June 26 that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. The court ruled that the words "under God" is a particular endorsement of religion that violates the Constitution's Establishment Clause requiring a separation between church and state. An atheist, Michael A. Newdow of California, whose daughter attended a local elementary school, filed the lawsuit. The suit claims that the Pledge of Allegiance being recited by a teacher harms her rights. However, breaking revelations surrounding the case have led people to question the legitimacy of the suit. Based on information obtained by...

July 1, 2002Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time Psalm: Monday Week 30 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Gospel Reading IAm 2:6-10, 13-16 Thus says the Lord:For three crimes of Israel, and for four,I will not revoke my word;Because they sell the just man for silver,and the poor man for a pair of sandals.They trample the heads of the weakinto the dust of the earth,and force the lowly out of the way.Son and father go to the same prostitute,profaning my holy name.Upon garments taken in pledgethey recline beside any altar;And the wine of those who have been finedthey drink in...

SACRAMENTO -- California's top officials are leading what critics call an unprecedented expansion and reshaping of the role bonds play in government finance, urging taxpayers to plunge tens of billions of dollars deeper in long-term debt for an array of needs. In one of two major new strategies that are alarming critics, state and local officials are urging voters to pass bonds in historic proportions for infrastructure work, tapping the state's remaining capacity for borrowing as the last easy source of cash. Three statewide bonds totaling more than $18.5 billion will be on the November ballot, along with numerous locally...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - In Arizona and Los Angeles, police are replacing law enforcement mainstays such as mugshots and lineups of suspects with technology some call Mr. Potato Head. The photographic database and facial recognition systems, called Crime Capture and CrimeWeb, allow investigators to pick different types of facial features to search databases for criminals. It's not unlike the toy famous for allowing kids to change body parts on a potato, police said. "We've named it Mr. Potato Head in Arizona," said Cyndy Pellien, administrative services officer for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. "You can pick different types of...

<p>SLIP SLIDE: Demos up in the Legislature just commissioned a statewide poll on the state of the state -- and it doesn't look pretty.</p> <p>Results had 57 percent of the voters saying they felt California was on the wrong track.</p>

NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge declared the federal death penalty unconstitutional Monday, saying too many innocent people have been sentenced to death. U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff issued a 28-page ruling reaffirming his earlier opinion that the death penalty act violated the due process rights of defendants. The federal government was expected to appeal the ruling, which would not affect individual states' death penalty statutes. The court found that the best available evidence indicates that, ``on the one hand, innocent people are sentenced to death with materially greater frequency than was previously supposed and that, on the other...

ADL European Survey Findings: "A Potent and Dangerous Mix" 30% of Europeans Cling to Traditional Anti-Semitic Stereotypes, Coupled with a High Rate of Anti-Israel Sentiment Washington, DC, June 27, 2002…In the wake of a wave of anti-Semitic violence in Europe not seen since the end of World War II, an Anti-Defamation League (ADL) opinion survey found 30% of Europeans cling to traditional anti-Jewish stereotypes, while 62% believe the recent violence against Jews is the result of anti-Israel sentiment. European Attitudes Towards Jews, Israel and the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict, a survey of 2,500 -- 500 each in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and...

Bush and his advisers quietly set up their plan for the DHS, which would be designed to ensure that the United States is not again caught off-guard as it was on Sept. 11. June was a busy month for defending Americans against terrorism. CIA Director George Tenet jetted to the Middle East yet again to help Yasser Arafat rebuild his security forces. FBI Director Robert Mueller, describing a reorganization plan to make the bureau a prime instrument against terrorism, "groveled" before liberal senators who wanted him to promise not to profile Arabs and Muslims. The Justice Department and parts...

URGENT ALERT On Tuesday, July 2nd, the city of Temple City will be voting on a variance to allow"Lock, Stock and Barrel Gun Store", which is currently being forced out of its 36 year location in San Gabriel, to relocate to a shopping area not currently zoned for FFL dealers. Ms. Donna Herrick, the store's 70+ year old owner, is running out of options as she has just a few short weeks to relocate. If she doesn't land in Temple City, the only receptive area where rent is reasonably priced, she will be forced to close her doors. Those of...

Newspaper Predicts Attack on the US 30 June 2002 The Palestinian Media Watch Bulletin (PMW), June 30, 2002, per Itamar Marcus, reported on PA verbal attacks and threats directed at the US and Israel reminiscing those before the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. According to PMW, this Friday, in the official sermon on Palestinian Authority TV a religious leader, Ahmed Abdul Razek, predicted an impending divine blow to the US and to Israel. PMW quotes the preacher´s own words. "A divine blow will be dealt soon to the US and Israel, by Allah´s will. The believers will rejoice with...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- Equipped only with a fax machine and a phone, a four-member team opened for business Monday at the temporary office of the world's first permanent war crimes court, as international criticism mounted against U.S. opposition to the tribunal. The staffers went to work in a single room of the 16-story office complex set aside as the court's headquarters in The Hague until a permanent court is built. Their main task will be keeping track of complaints until permanent representatives are appointed early next year. On Sunday, the United States took the extreme step of vetoing the...

In the Bible, God gave the Israelites instructions on how to build the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting, the prototype for the Temple of Jerusalem. In His detailed instructions God ordained that the veils which separate the holy places would be of three specific colors, blue, purple and red. Blue, is the color of the sky, and so the colors of the heavens and the heavenly. The red, you have to be Hebrew to understand. In Israel, much of the soil is red. And the word 'Adam' comes from the Hebrew word for red 'Edom', as Adam was...