Free Republic

Gene glitches link pot with schizophrenia UPI Science News From the Science & Technology Desk Published 7/1/2002 5:06 PM OKAYAMA, Japan, July 1 (UPI) -- Genetic anomalies tied with marijuana-activated brain chemicals appear linked to schizophrenia, Japanese researchers report. "This result provides genetic evidence that marijuana use can result in schizophrenia or a significantly increased risk of schizophrenia," lead researcher Hiroshi Ujike, a clinical psychiatrist at Okayama University, told United Press International. Schizophrenia is one of the greatest mental health challenges in the world, affecting roughly one of every 100 people and filling about a quarter of all hospital...

Rats blamed for mysterious cattle mutilations Reuters July 1, 2002, 5:04 PM EDT BUENOS AIRES, Argentina - Recent mutilations of cattle and horses in the Argentine countryside were the work of rodents, scientists said on Monday, not ritualistic slayings by extraterrestrials or vampires as some farmers feared. Argentina's national food and animal health inspection service Senasa sent its own ``X-Files'' scientists to the remote plains to look into the deaths of farm animals found mutilated and drained of blood. Frightened farmers claimed to have seen bright lights and UFOs in the area where the deaths occurred. But Senasa officials said...

As long as the Israelis are against Arafat, I'm with him - whatever my reservations Far from setting out a vision of peace, President Bush's plan for the Middle East points instead to an American decision to give up on the peace process. What has effectively been done is to transform a series of demands of the international community and international law into a series of demands to be made of Yasser Arafat. It also gives a new meaning to the word democracy, where our leaders are to be chosen by others. The US administration is simply not prepared to...

John Campbell (R) just announced on the Hugh Hewitt show that the democrats in Sacramento have pulled a fast one. Bill 1058 which has been written about on several posts originally failed. The democrats took a bill on Friday night which dealt with an unrelated subject and gutted out the language. They then inserted the exact language of 1058 and the senate passed it Friday. This (Monday) afternoon the house got the bill. The democrats had to hold a hearing and every office in the capital was available but they chose to hold the "hearings" in the smallest office in...

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Arizona public safety officer Juan Cruz was killed in a fiery explosion four years ago when his Ford Crown Victoria police cruiser was hit from behind by a drunk driver. Just two weeks ago in Chandler, Arizona, officer Robert Nelson died the same way when his Crown Victoria exploded in flames after being hit by a motorist. "It was a humongous ball of fire. The car was filled with smoke and flames and it was a big fire," said one eyewitness. In the past four years, in Arizona alone, three law enforcement officers have died after...

By Irwin Arieff UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Washington said on Monday it was pulling all three U.S. soldiers out of a U.N. force in East Timor to back up its hard-line threat to kill off U.N. missions one by one until its concerns about a new global war crimes court were met. "It has started in East Timor. We are pulling out our three peacekeepers there," a U.S. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. But U.S. officials had no quick answer when asked what it would do about another 75 Americans in East Timor who were helping train the...

A Tale of Two Schisms part one of two by Christopher A. Ferrara One schism is illusory, and harms no one, while the other is quite real and deadly. Guess which one the neo-Catholics condemn? "There are people who in the face of the difficulties or because they consider that the first ecumenical endeavors have brought negative results would have liked to turn back. Some even express the opinion that these efforts are harmful to the cause of the Gospel, are leading to a further rupture in the Church, are causing confusion of ideas in questions of faith and morals...

Beginning today, state and local lawmakers are prohibited from using the term "Oriental" in statutes, codes, rules and regulations. Instead, officials must use "Asian" to describe people of Asian descent. The change is mandated by a bill sponsored by state Sen. Paull Shin, D-Edmonds, and is the first such law in the country. Shin said he got the idea from the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who sought to outlaw the word "Negro" because of its connection to slavery. The word "Oriental" was first used to denote everything east of London, said Shin, a Korean War orphan. It was...

Islamabad, July 1. (PTI): Close on the heels of the recent joint military exercises with India, United States would hold joint exercises with all the three wings of Pakistan's armed forces. The week-long US-Pakistan joint military exercises, being held after five years, would begin towards the end of this month and continue till the first week of August, Pakistan daily Dawn reported today quoted high ranking defence officials. The joint exercises between the armed forces of the two countries would be the first since they were held last in 1997 and would be held on a "much larger-scale" than the...

In the name of Jesus, I take authority and I bind all powers and forces in the air, in the ground, in the water, in the underground, in the netherworld, in nature and in fire. You are the Lord over the entire universe and I give you the Glory for your creation. In your Name I bind all demonic forces that have come against us and our families and I seal all of us in the protection of your Precious Blood that was shed for us on the Cross. Mary, our Mother, we seek your protection and intercession with the...

HUSSEIN AL HALLADJ (D. 309 H-922 C.E.)At the festival on the slope of Mount Arfat he said, "O thou signpost for the dull witted!" And when he saw all the people praying, he climbed a hill and watched them, and as they were all coming back he struck himself and cried out, "Thou exalted Lord, I know thou art pure; and I saw thou art pure of all the praise of the praisers and all the worship of the worshippers and all the thoughts of the thinkers. My God! Thou knowest that I cannot fulfill the obligation of praise. Praise...

The Russian Orthodox Church has published a "white paper" explaining in detail the cases of "proselytism" it says the Catholic Church has engaged in in Russia MOSCOW, July 1, 2002 -- In a move that could signal the possibility of renewed dialogue in the extremely chilly relationship between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, the Russian Orthodox Church has posted on its website a "white paper" listing in detail the cases when, according to the Orthodox, the Catholic Church has attempted to "proselytize" those who the Orthodox consider members of their own flock. As we await further details of...

<p>HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- When Mary Painter came to Hong Kong in 1976 with her husband, a civil engineer, she was one of hordes of British who flocked to the colonial outpost.</p> <p>Drawn in part by the mystique of the Far East, and the dream of making it rich in a colony, British opium traders, backpackers and bankers have made the Pearl of the Orient with its tiger economy their home for more than 150 years.</p>

<p>UNITED NATIONS — The United States will boost aid to the world's poor countries — as long as those funds bring concrete results, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told a United Nations gathering Monday.</p> <p>Instead of funding vague "sympathetic themes," the United States will demand measured improvements in specific areas, especially clean drinking water, primary education and AIDS prevention.</p>

President Bush headed to Cleveland, Ohio today, and spoke at what the White House labeled, "The Inner-City Compassion Rally" at Playhouse Square Center. The President spoke regarding his domestic agenda, highlighting the spirit of volunteerism, as well as praising the recent Supreme Court decision in favor of school vouchers. The President returned to the White House later in the afternoon. Enjoy your daily dose of Dubya!

Alexander Clary's job, apart from being a police officer, was to help re-establish civilian law enforcement. By HATTIE BROWN THE ROANOKE TIMES For Alexander Clary, Kosovo is a place of contrasts: Colorful flowers and friendly people mixed with wrecked cars, frequent bombings and mountains of garbage. For two years, Clary worked in Kosovo trying to change this competing image of the province, which was once part of communist Yugoslavia. As a police officer for United Nations Mission in Kosovo, Clary received many of the same calls he answered for 18 years as a police officer for the Roanoke Police Department:...

Israel is once again fighting for its very survival. However, the battle is not only between the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinian Arab terrorists, there is a secondary arena of combat being waged in the media to sway public opinion - to win the hearts and minds of the viewers, listeners and readers. A little over two months ago, a small group of us began a campaign in an attempt to bring fairness and balance to the Mideast news coverage as presented by The New York Times. After years of attempts by many people to write and meet with...

Muskogee - An alleged imposter in the Webbers Falls I-40 bridge collapse is back in Muskogee. William Clark made his first appearance in federal court Monday. It looks like Clark will undergo intense psychiatric tests. In part, because the government wants to know if he was sane when he allegedly showed up in Webbers Falls, telling everyone he was in charge. Under tight security, the 29-year-old was brought into federal court. Clark is charged with impersonating a U.S. Army office on May 26th and 27th after the Interstate 40 bridge collapse. According to court documents, Clark told authorities he was...

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.     We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life,...

This article is intended to stimulate a vigorous debate: I say that the Supreme Court is said to have the responsibly of deciding whether a case adheres to the Constitution or not. I say that the Supremes Court is responsible to decide whether a case adheres to the Founding Documents or not. What do I mean? I’ve listened to a lot of political debate over the last 4 decades during which I have been politically aware (in 1960 I stayed up until 1AM Central time until Walter Kronkite said Kennedy won – I’m Catholic and at the time I rejoiced),...