Free Republic

JONESBORO, Georgia (AP) -- On his first day on the job, the new sheriff called 27 employees into his office, stripped them of their badges, fired them, and had rooftop snipers stand guard as they were escorted out the door. The move Monday by Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill provoked an angry reaction and prompted a judge to order him to rehire the employees. "It appears ... that employees of the Sheriff were terminated without cause" and in violation of the county's civil service rules, Judge Stephen Boswell wrote in granting a 30-day restraining order. Hill, 39, defended the firings...

Wednesday August 25, 2004 War between Russia and Georgia 'very close' 25.08.2004 War between Russia and Georgia is close, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned in a newspaper interview published in Paris. "We are very close to a war [with Russia], the population must be prepared," he told the Liberation daily. Georgia pulled troops back from the separatist pro-Moscow region of South Ossetia last week after an unprecedented show of force that infuriated Russia and worried Washington. South Ossetia falls within Georgian borders but is inhabited mainly by ethnic Ossetians. The province has demanded independence or rule from Moscow.