Free Republic

<p>More blacks continue to die earlier than whites in America, a disparity that has remained static in the past century despite medical advances that have stretched the life spans of all races, according to a new study co-authored by a Meharry Medical College professor.</p>

Monday, July 01, 2002 The problem is structure... ESA Reform By Mark Edward Vande Pol Introduction The history of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) abounds with horror stories recounting clear abuses of power under the color of law. Many who initially supported the ESA have come to question whether it still reflects its original intent. Others argue that the requirements to consider economic and cultural impacts of regulatory measures pursuant to NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) are being ignored. Few will dispute that outright fraud has no place in the protection of the environment. Less understood is that undue caution...

I've started to make a list of the correct definitions to some commonly used phrases. I thought everyone here would like to join in. Then we could publish this list someplace. ________________ In the Army: 1. “Friendly Fire”. When soldiers mistakenly shoot at others on their own side. Friendly fire isn’t friendly at all. At the Office: 2. Requisition (Purchase Order) Approval Process. Any approval process is actually a disapproval process. The person who make out the requisition approved it, the rest are trying to find a reason to disapprove it. Government and Polity: 3. Tax Loophole (US). An exception...

Long before California Congressman Gary Condit's affair with intern Chandra Levy became public, agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation knew about the dalliance along with other couplings. FBI agents monitored Condit's activities in and out of the bedroom because the California Democrat's name appeared on a top secret list of elected officials considered to be "potential security risks."Capitol Hill Blue has learned the list, maintained by the FBI since the J.Edgar Hoover days, is still being used to monitor the activities of members of Congress and other elected officials who are suspected of marital infidelity, financial difficulty, homosexuality or...

In a perfect world, we could take a horsewhip to Michael Newdow. Who? Michael Newdow, a Sacramento physician and atheist who wants to remove any and all mention of God from society. Newdow is the horse’s ass who filed a federal suit against having students recite the Pledge of Allegiance in school. His case went before the Federal Appeals Court for the 9th District, a collection of left-wing California-based loonies who routinely make a mockery of the law. The court holds the current record for having decisions overturned They upheld Newdow’s lawsuit and ruled the Pledge unconstitutional because it...

Failing schools try new tacticsBy Lori Horvitz Sentinel Staff Writer July 1, 2002 When Endeavour Elementary School in Brevard County earned an F last month, Superintendent Richard DiPatri suspended every staff member -- from the principal to the janitor -- and told them to reapply for their jobs. "It was a plan that really says, 'If we get to this point, it clearly means we're failing the kids,' " said DiPatri, superintendent for 21 months. "We're not suggesting that everyone was directly responsible for what happened to Endeavour. But you've got to do something dramatically different there." When 10...

» More From The Huntsville Times News GOP's Engel to challenge Rep. Cramer in November 6/05/02 From Staff Reports Bud Cramer's Republican opponent for Congress in November will be aerospace engineer Stephen Engel of Athens. In a quiet race between two political unknowns, Engel got about 56 percent of the vote Tuesday to defeat Michael Williams, a graduate student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Cramer, a Huntsville Democrat, has held the 5th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1990. After strong early challenges, he has lately drawn only token opposition; this will be the first...

U.S. Senator Brownback and Commentator Dick Morris Join Catholic Church WASHINGTON, Jun 28, 02 (CWNews.com) — Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas was received into the Catholic Church on Thursday. Senator Brownback, who was raised on a family farm in Kansas, entered the legal profession, then was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1994. Two years later, he was elected to fill the Senate seat that became vacant when Bob Dole became Vice President. Senator Brownback was received into the Catholic Church in a ceremony at the Catholic Information Center in Washington. His sponsor was another Republican lawmaker, Senator...

Big noises at odds over the sound of silence By David Lister Media and Culture Editor 21 June 2002 'The Sound of Silence' may have prompted engaging harmonies from Simon and Garfunkel – but a more literal appreciation of the absence of noise has prompted one of the more curious copyright disputes of modern times. Mike Batt, the man behind the Wombles and Vanessa Mae, has put a silent 60-second track on the album of his latest classical chart-topping protégés, the Planets. This has enraged representatives of the avant-garde, experimentalist composer John Cage, who died in 1992. The silence on...

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - NATO has called an extraordinary meeting to discuss Washington's threat to shut down U.N.-authorised peacekeeping missions in a row over the powers of a new global war crimes court. NATO's 18,000-strong force in war-scarred Bosnia will almost certainly remain but European diplomats said the row was another sign of U.S. readiness to thumb its nose at the world. "I deeply regret this dramatic step that threatens U.N. peace operations in general," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said in a statement on Monday as his country assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the European Union. Denmark took...

Charges of “egregious misconduct” leveled against Rep. James Traficant and a televised public hearing set to decide his Congressional future next month create some big questions for him and his colleagues.Will the flamboyant maverick will be allowed to transform the forum into a riotous outlet for his populist grievances? Will his fellow lawmakers contain the often wild and always eccentric Traficant?Even though a jury of 12 Ohio citizens issued its 10 guilty verdicts nearly three months ago and prison looms, the disciplinary power for a wayward lawmaker rests separately in the hands of Traficant’s fellow colleagues by virtue of...

EPA Says Cleanups May Be Cut Back WASHINGTON (AP) - Cleanup work at toxic waste sites in 18 states will be severely curtailed or in some cases halted under a Bush administration plan to reduce spending for the nation's Superfund program, according to an Environmental Protection Agency ( news - web sites) analysis. EPA Administrator Christie Whitman previously announced planned cutbacks, but an EPA inspector general's report, made public Monday, for the first time indicated which sites would be affected. The IG report, released by two Democratic congressmen, said 33 Superfund sites in 18 states would no longer get money,...

Israel's political and cultural elites often mock the Ghetto Jew. Hence it may be instructive to recall Max Nordau's assessment of Ghetto Jews versus the "emancipated" Jews of the 19th century. The contrast is all the more pertinent since Dr. Nordau, a commanding figure of Zionism, had a negative (and perverse) view of "religion." In his address to the First Zionist Congress on August 29, 1897, Nordau offers a profound analysis of the Ghetto Jew. Allow me to quote at length: "The word 'Ghetto' is today associated with feelings of shame and humiliation. But the Ghetto ... was for the...

Background / World's silence over Sharon's military policies By Bradley Burston, Ha'aretz Correspondent The world's sudden, uncustomary silence over Israeli military policies could give Ariel Sharon unprecedented latitude - license to take far-reaching military actions, or to refrain from acting diplomatically - in what could mean license to kill the peace process. A number of factors - some as curious and fleeting as the month-long World Cup soccer championships - have acted in concert to effectively free Ariel Sharon from the glare of international scrutiny. Foremost among the driving factors was George W. Bush's recent address, in which the American...

Former Clinton Advisor Dick Morris Another Recent Convert According to the Pro-Life Infonet, former Clinton advisor Dick Morris has also converted to Catholicism. Monsignor James Lisante, director of The Christophers, spoke at the National Right to Life convention in Pittsburgh of recent discussions he had with Morris. Morris, who engineered President Bill Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign and found himself the butt of jokes after he was caught with a prostitute, "made a significant change in his life recently," Monsignor Lisante said, "and has re-evaluated his faith and deeds following a conversion to Catholicism." As a Clinton advisor, Morris told Lisante...

[ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 7/1/02 ] Some of Iran's suffering wives look to a new solution -- husband killing The Associated Press TEHRAN, Iran -- Married at age 13 to a man 18 years her senior, Ferdows was the wife that Iranian society expected her to be: obedient, and silent, despite the beatings and humiliation. But after 30 years of marriage, she had had enough. She arranged to have her husband, Hedayat, killed, authorities say. Ferdows, who has been convicted of murder and sentenced to death, is one of at least 20 Tehran women accused of murdering their husbands since...

President Bush's Middle East Speech: A Breath of Fresh Air by James Phillips 6/25/02 President George W. Bush's long-anticipated speech outlining his Administration's policy on Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations was a breath of fresh air. The speech injected a degree of common sense and realism into U.S. policy that was sorely lacking in the Clinton Administration. Bush set forth a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "My vision is two states, living side by side in peace and security". But the President firmly stressed that: "Peace requires a new and different Palestinian leadership, so that a Palestinian state can be born."...

BOSTON (AP) _ To doctors' amazement, experimental new medicines are rescuing people from the brink of blindness so they can read and drive and sometimes even regain perfect vision. These lucky few are the first beneficiaries of an entirely new category of drugs that many hope will revolutionize the care of common eye diseases. Several competing medicines are in development, all based on similar principles. They are designed to stop the two top causes of adult blindness _ the ``wet'' form of macular degeneration, which affects the elderly, and diabetic retinopathy, the biggest source of blindness in working-age people. Vision...

The saying "It's as American as the flag, motherhood and apple pie" may soon be destined for the dustbin of history - at least if a handful of liberal congressmen and congresswomen get their way. While apple pie apparently remains sacrosanct, 11 congressmen made it clear last week that they're not too thrilled about pledging allegiance to Old Glory, at least not as long as they have to utter the words "One nation, under God." That's how many House Democrats voted either "nay" or "present" on a resolution backing the traditional pledge after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of...

Hamas Vows to Avenge Leader's Death By CELEAN JACOBSONAssociated PressJERUSALEM (AP) - Hamas extremists threatened Monday to avenge Israel's killing of a senior West Bank bombmaker who Israel said was responsible for the deaths of nearly 120 people. Israeli special forces struck a blow to Hamas when Mohaned Tahir, 26, was killed Sunday. Soldiers raked a house in the West Bank city of Nablus where Tahir was staying with machine-gun fire, fired in a tank shell, then razed the house with a bulldozer. The Israeli army said Tahir was responsible for a June 18 bus attack in Jerusalem that killed...