Free Republic

July 1, 2002 4:05 p.m. Let's cut to the chase. The most persistent prejudice in our society is the one which holds back the stupid and lazy. Oh, sure — more than a few make it over the so-called "merit barrier" because their parents have money or because they happened to room with the right guy in college. A few morally entrepreneurial women have provided, ahem, "non-traditional services" in exchange for low expectations in the workplace. And, yes, some jocks can coast on their college glory days thanks to a sports-junkie boss who wants a conversation-piece employee. But, let's face...

MIAMI, July 1 (Reuters) - Police arrested two commercial airline pilots on Monday at Miami International Airport, and a local television station said the pair had shown up drunk in the cockpit. Television station WSVN said the America West pilots were preparing to take off on a flight to Phoenix, Arizona, when police took them off the plane. Tests showed they were legally drunk, the station said. Miami-Dade County Police could not immediately confirm the details but said they had arrested the two pilots at the airport. An America West spokeswoman at the company's headquarters, in Phoenix, was not immediately...

WENATCHEE - Today's the day. Boxes of Red Delicious apples were to be loaded in Wenatchee Monday and packed off for shipment to Cuba. It's the first Washington apples in 40 years to be shipped to the island nation led by Fidel Castro. The shipment is the result of Senator Maria Cantwell's visit to Cuba in January. The 43-member delegation went to discuss trade and other issues, and happened to have apples, onions and wine to share with their hosts. Agricultural leaders who met in Seattle Sunday hope those apples will be followed by cherries, pears and other crops. That...

STURGEON BAY, Wis. -- A boy who got an autograph and had a photo taken with Darryl Kile the day before the St. Louis Cardinals pitcher was found dead plans to send the items to Kile's family. Sean Zak, 10, had his baseball glove signed by Kile and then posed for a photo with him while attending the Cardinals' game in Chicago on June 21. Zak and his family said that, after their encounter with Kile, security personnel separated the players and fans for the start of the game. "He was thoughtful enough to take the time to give something...

Betsylew Ross Miale-Gix, 43, of Brier, Wash., in this undated photo, was arrested Sunday, June 30, 2002, in Windsor Locks, Conn., after arguing with a security screener at Bradley International Airport, state police said. Miale-Gix, a world-class competitive boomerang thrower faces a criminal charge after trying to bring boomerangs through a security checkpoint. (AP Photo/US Boomerang Association)

Contact: Marsha Richards, Communications Director (360) 956-3482 NEA doesn’t show up in court; union fined $800,000 for “intentional” violations of state law OLYMPIA, WA - A Thurston County Superior Court judge today fined the National Education Association (NEA) $800,000 plus legal fees for “intentional” violations of a Washington state law that prohibits the unauthorized use of agency fees* for political activity. The court also issued a permanent injunction barring the union from collecting agency fees from thousands of Washington state teachers. The default judgment comes after the NEA missed a court deadline last week to respond to a lawsuit brought...

Judge Finds Federal Executions Unconstitutional Mon Jul 1, 6:29 PM ET By Gail Appleson, Law Correspondent NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. trial judge on Monday declared the federal death penalty unconstitutional, calling it tantamount to "state-sponsored murder of innocent human beings." The ruling by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff was the first by a federal trial judge to find the current federal death penalty law unconstitutional. It comes at a time of growing national debate about capital punishment, sparked partly by recent exonerations of death-row inmates because of DNA evidence. Although it was unclear whether the decision would be...

There were some new faces and many of the die hard regulars there this week. Freepers CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC, RMRattlesnake and his family along with fivetoes were in attendance. My TRT attitude crept in as I did get vocal with the antis across the street. I asked them, rather loudly how osama and the al-qaida gang was doing. The mexican protest bus was absent this week. I think they were off to another part of the country. Perhaps your home town. Check their schedule here mexicopeace.org CardCarryingMember.VastRightWC once again wins the award for the best signs. He has a an ever increasing...

Filed at 6:15 p.m. ET SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) -- Chile's highest court ruled Monday that Augusto Pinochet can't be put on trial because of his mental problems, a decision that will likely end the 85-year-old former dictator's legal troubles. Voting 4 to 1, the Supreme Court reaffirmed a stay of proceedings ordered a year ago by an appeals court. The court cited the mental health problems of Pinochet, who suffers from dementia, an irreversible mental illness, as the reason for its decision. The four judges supporting the stay ordered lower court judge Juan Guzman to halt a criminal case brought...

North-South Korea Clash Poses Biggest Problems for China 1 July 2002 Summary With the possible exception of South Korean President Kim Dae Jung's already flagging Sunshine Policy, the biggest loser from a weekend naval clash between North and South Korea could be China. With the government already facing significant pressures as it prepares for a massive leadership transition later this year, the last thing Beijing wants is heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula that could draw in the United States. Analysis A naval clash between North and South Korean vessels June 29 left at least four South Koreans dead, one...

New Colombian President May Seek Force To Target FARC Leaders 1 July 2002 Summary The lame-duck status of Colombia's President Andres Pastrana gives little credibility to his recent assertion that a special force has been created to locate and neutralize the country's top rebel commanders. It is possible President-elect Alvaro Uribe Velez might develop a similar initiative with the Bush administration's support, but even if it were successful, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) would still survive. Analysis With fewer than 40 days left in power, Colombian President Andres Pastrana June 29 announced a new offensive to capture or...

<p>ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) During the time American-born Taliban John Walker Lindh says he was being held in ''torturous conditions'' and denied access to a lawyer, he was telling his story ''to anyone and everyone who would listen,'' prosecutors said Monday.</p>

<p>NEW YORK — He's an all-American movie star, but Tom Cruise said his children will be making All the Right Moves — by moving out of America.</p> <p>"I think the U.S. is terrifying and it saddens me," he told the British paper the Daily Express. "You only have to look at the state of affairs in America."</p>

As an illustration of how low the Democratic Party has gone to field a candidate, I supply the following text, written by the candidate himself: To Fair Minded Citizens: I read with outrage upon learning about the gustopol tactics employed by Bush fanatics to ensure the resemblance of unanimity in the wake of the biggest political hiest in the history of civilized democrocy. Certainly if one is in a perceived hostile audience, one would have the common decency to attemp finesse in garnering support and not resort to cynical dogmatism. Of coarse, Mr. Bush would have nothing to gain from...

--Maryland Dem Gov candidate KKT. It's old, but priceless. With beliefs like that, it's a wonder she's running with the Dems and not the LP. But seriously, this gaffe is a gem for Ehrlich's campaign, should he choose to use it. Just show a picture of KKT, play the audio, and it speaks for itself.

This week on www.StopDemocrats.com **The News** Main Story: *George W. Bush Defends Conservatism: On his seventh trip to Ohio since taking office, President Bush touted his domestic policy agenda, and reaffirmed his vision of what it means to be a compassionate conservative. "It is compassionate to encourage work and family and values of personal responsibility. It is conservative to understand government can hand out money, but it cannot put hope in people's hearts. And therefore, we should promote the good works of faith-based and community-based programs," Bush told an audience at Cleveland's 80-year-old Playhouse Square Center, the country's second...

<p>This Independence Day, Richard Mak envisions American flags displayed proudly alongside the Peking ducks, Asian pears and jade rings in this city's bustling Chinatown.</p> <p>Mak and about 200 volunteers are planning to visit each Chinatown merchant in Oakland, and offer to hang free flags from storefronts. It's all part of a nationwide effort - given new urgency by last year's terrorist attacks - to blanket Asian-American neighborhoods with the Stars and Stripes for July Fourth.</p>

Thanks to the Knights, nation is 'under God'by James D. Davidson When Francis Bellamy drafted the Pledge of Allegiance in 1892, he wrote: "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands: one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Bellamy soon inserted the word "to" in front of "the Republic." In 1923 and 1924, the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution succeeded in changing "my flag" to "the flag of the United States of America." The wording of the pledge remained unchanged from 1924 to 1954, when it was changed to...

What does "God" mean? When you take the SATs there is a section on analogies. You know those great questions like, "Wolf is to Pack as Lion is to _____." Now think of this in the since of the worlds religions. Here are a few examples: Buddha is to Buddhism as Jesus is to Christianity. (Buddha and Jesus were men who walked the Earth, prophets if you will) Vishnu is to Hinduism as Zeus is to Greek Mysticism. (Vishnu and Zeus are specific names for God placed by a particular culture) Allah is to Islam as Yahweh is to Judaism....

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) _ Aimar Hadad and Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi can't figure out what all the fuss is about. Hadad, a Jew from Israel, and Qureshi, a Muslim from Pakistan, decided to team up in the Wimbledon qualifying tournament in doubles. They won two rounds and reached the main draw. That's when tennis clashed with their dual cultures. "I never thought it was going to become such a big thing," Qureshi said Monday after he and Hadad lost their third-round match 6-1, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to Cyril Suk and Martin Damm. "We're not here to change anything: politicians and governments do...