Free Republic

Program raises questions about the mix of preschoolers, computers By BENJAMIN WALLACE-WELLS Knight Ridder News PHILADELPHIA - The idea made the best sort of policy pitch: at once flashy and simple. Stick a free computer, wired to the Internet, in every day-care center in Pennsylvania, and let children, rich and poor, start handling technology as soon as they are introduced to blocks and pencils. But three years after the CyberStart program of former Gov. Tom Ridge administration hit preschools and in-home day care around the commonwealth, some educators and others still have questions about the program's training provisions and...

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — There is a story circulating among the sappers slowly clearing this former Soviet air base of land mines, which they say is revealing about the situation in Afghanistan. When the Soviets finally admitted defeat and were pulling out of Bagram in the late 1980s, they would drive across a thin metal span they nicknamed the Bridge of Freedom. As the convoys crossed, local Afghans lined the roads, taunting the soldiers and celebrating their victory. "We may have lost the war," the Soviet soldiers would retort, "but our mines will still be killing your grandchildren." Two decades...

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germans may make great cars, brew delicious beer and give the world stunning fashion models, but they still feel unloved and unwanted. Sixty years after World War II, Germans find themselves still disliked across Europe. They feel personally blamed for two world wars or rude behavior by German tourists, or sense they are envied because of their country's prosperity. The latest round of introspection emerged after a blind German singer, who had been viewed as a favorite to win last month's Eurovision Song Contest, ended up 21st in a field of 25. "Was it just the song...

WASHINGTON, Jul 02, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- The U.S. military's AC-130 gunship is designed to unleash a deluge of ordnance onto its targets. Pentagon officials say an AC-130 plane fired on six suspected sources of anti-aircraft fire in the area of Afghanistan where local residents say 40 people were killed Monday. The propeller-driven plane was overhead as hundreds of U.S. and Afghan forces moved into a zone of Uruzgan province known to be a stronghold of Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers. Deposed Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar was born in the area. The plane was there to protect...

A new constellation of military communications satellites equipped with laser links likely will start launching several years later than originally envisioned due to the complexities involved in designing the system, Pentagon sources said. John Stenbit, assistant secretary of defense for command, control, communications and intelligence, said in a January interview that he hoped to begin launching those satellites by 2007 or 2008. But Pentagon sources now say meeting that schedule appears increasingly unlikely. Pentagon officials believe that using lasers for satellite communications will greatly speed communication among far-flung forces compared to the current systems that rely on radio frequencies,...

The US Navy (USN) says it has moved a step closer to flying a hypersonic air vehicle after successfully completing the first-ever ground test of a full-scale hypersonic cruise missile engine that uses conventional jet fuel and is integrated into a missile configuration. "This is a major milestone for the hypersonic community," said Mike White, programme area manager for Advanced Vehicle Technologies at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), which supports the USN. Demonstration of this technology, the service says, lays the foundation for a viable high-speed strike weapon in the coming decade that can be launched at...

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 of the intelligence community paused, as they began doing under the Clinton administration, to celebrate June as gay and lesbian month. Meanwhile the White House political office muddled President George W. Bush's no-nonsense...

Foreign students find jobs in limbo By MIKE STARK Gazette Wyoming Bureau YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Wyo. - About 80 more young people arrived here Monday afternoon expecting a job with Xanterra Parks and Resorts. They were destined for disappointment - at least temporarily. The expectant workers are part of a wave of arrivals in the last week, mostly European college students, who have shown up to work at Xanterra's hotels, restaurants, stores or campgrounds. The problem is, the workers are weeks late and the jobs have already been filled. Company officials vowed Monday afternoon that each of the arrivals...

Pop superstar Michael Jackson and Sony Music have agreed to buy the legendary country music publisher Acuff-Rose, whose 55,000-song library includes works by Hank Williams, Roy Orbison and the Everly Brothers, the seller, Gaylord Entertainment Co., said on July 2, 2002. More than 100 Acuff-Rose songs have been broadcast over the airwaves at least 1 million times. Jackson is seen during a visit to Devon, England June 14. (Darren Staples/Reuters)  

In the Autumn of 2002, at its 16th National Congress, the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) will officially endorse a new leader to replace Pres. Jiang Zemin. Some 10 years earlier, then-leader Deng Xiaoping personally picked Hu Jingtao. Hu was also supported by many, if not most, party elders at that time. Since Jiang is still adhering to Deng’s line, it is expected that he would carry out the Deng’s policies at the macro-level at the 16th Congress. It does not matter whether the new leader is Hu or someone else: he...

Just how much fight does Saddam Hussein's army have left in it? Not much, according to Gen. Najib Salhi, a top prospect to lead Iraq after Saddam has been driven from the scene. Salhi tells news alert! that Iraq's armed forces would put up little or no resistance to a determined assault by U.S.-backed troops. "There is no loyalty between the Iraqi army and Saddam, and there hasn't been since the Persian Gulf War," Salhi told members of Washington's Federal City Club in late June. In fact, he says, "most units in the army are waiting for the right...

In the most blatant attempt to disenfranchise voters since the "Jim Crow" laws of the old South, the Republican Majority in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives rammed through a late-night measure sponsored by state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler, by a vote of 100-99 that could prevent thousands of registered Pennsylvanians from voting in the fall election. If this measure is enacted, Pennsylvania would join South Carolina as having the most restrictive voter identification requirement of any state in the nation. The amendment requires voters to present either their voter registration cards or "valid" photo identification prior to voting at...

WASHINGTON -- Attempting to woo computer-savvy young people, the Army will release on July 4 the first installment of an ambitious new computer game that will let players be all they can digitally be. The game, which will be free on many gaming Web sites and www.americasarmy.com, lets a player assume the role of a new recruit on an Army team pitted in an online battle against terrorists. While it is meant to be fun, the two-game set also was designed as a recruitment tool. "With this game we hope to educate young Americans and present them with a realistic,...

Study Finds Cuddle Time With Baby Beneficial for Mom and Child Email story to a friend Baby-soft skin not only feels good, it's good for you. A new study is one of the first on the long-term impact of what's known as "kangaroo care." that's when parents cuddle up to their preemies for periods of time each day. Kangaroo care is beneficial for both. Infants become more socially alert and develop faster and moms tend to have less post pardem depression.

The Pentagon's top leadership discounted an errant 2,000 pound bomb as the cause of scores of civilian casualties reported at a village wedding in central Afghanistan but did not rule out the possibility that an AC-130 gunship mistook celebratory gunfire for hostile fire."I will tell you that if you happen to be the person on the other end of whatever the weapon that is pointed at you, and it is firing, it is very difficult to know whether that's a friendly muzzle flash or an enemy muzzle flash," said Marine General Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs...

eading the New York Times coverage of the school-choice decision, I noticed something striking, and fortuitous. Recall, first, a couple of facts: that the teachers’ unions, leftists, and Democrats generally continually portray the school-choice movement as “far right”; and that increasingly important to that movement are black activists, particularly single moms. This embarrasses the Democrats — or should. So, on one page of Friday’s Times, there was this (fairly typical) quote from Bruce Reed, president of the Democratic Leadership Council: “This decision is going to make it impossible for President Bush to hold off the far right any longer.” And...

THE RYAN REPORT JULY, 2002 | BACK ISSUES Life Dynamics study shows PP conceals sex-abuse crimes Life Dynamics, Inc., a Denton, Tex., based pro-life research organization headed by Mark Crutcher, has released a shocking study that shows that Planned Parenthood is routinely violating state laws that require the reporting of child sexual abuse. These violations are grounds for demanding that Planned Parenthood be denied our tax money. Crutcher points out that in all states sexual activity with underage children is illegal. Furthermore, states mandate that if a healthcare worker has reason to suspect that an underage girl is being sexually...

Satellite communications firm Loral Space & Communications Ltd. on Tuesday slashed earnings and revenue expectations due to the drought in telecommunications spending, and its shares plunged by nearly 40 percent to a seven-year low. Loral's debt also took a hammering as its bonds fell 20 cents on the dollar across the board, traders said. The New York-based company, which sells satellites and satellite communications services, said it would not be able to achieve profitability in late 2003 as previously forecast, but dismissed analyst concerns it was headed for bankruptcy or delisting. "We're not concerned about bankruptcy ... We're not aware...

<p>DETROIT — General Motors Corp. (GM) revived its offer of interest-free financing on Tuesday, as it jockeyed for position with Ford Motor Co. (F) and other automakers in a brutal price war aimed at sustaining sales of new cars and trucks.</p>

DATE: July 2, 2002 FROM: Jennifer Bingham, Executive Director (Executive.Director@sba-list.org) SUBJECT: Your Tax Dollars are funding abortions!! I need your help to stop this! The Susan B. Anthony List attended a "closed door" meeting on Capitol Hill last week with the staff of the pro-life leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Susan B. Anthony List was asked to help fight a critical pro-life battle currently in Congress. That is why I am turning to you for help! HERE IS THE BACKGROUND ON THE ISSUE On Friday, June 21st, the Senate voted to allow military abortions at military hospitals...