Free Republic

WASHINGTON – China and Russia "are unquestionably the two largest sources of” weapons of mass destruction that end up in the hands of rogue nations dedicated to the destruction of the U.S. That comment from Under Secretary of State John R. Bolton came in a Q&A session after a speech Monday in which he added Cuba, Libya and Syria to the list of rogue terrorist nations, second only to the "axis of evil” first described by President Bush in January when he bestowed that dubious honor on Iraq, Iran and North Korea. "I only had a half an hour to...

MEDIUM RARE By Jim Rarey April 23, 2002 HOMELAND HEALTH – AN UNHEALTHY ALLIANCE? First it was Homeland Defense with a director appointed by the President to pull all of the government agencies together to protect the country against terrorism. Other than issuing occasional warnings of impending terrorist acts based on unknown sources, little has been done in the public view. For that matter, even the Congress is in the dark as the President refuses to let Homeland Defense Director Ridge talk to them Now comes a new “cooperative” effort to provide protection against “bio-terrorism.” But this one is quite...

Nation: Oklahoma stages bioterrorism drill McALESTER, Okla. (April 13, 2002 8:58 p.m. EDT) - Feverishly shivering and coughing as if afflicted with pneumonic plague, more than 10,000 people received fake doses of medication from masked hospital workers Saturday in the second day of a three-day bioterrorism drill. People in this eastern Oklahoma town of 18,000 lined up at a Wal-Mart, health department office and convention center to get plastic packets of jelly beans labeled Cipro and doxycycline. Boy Scouts and other volunteers were taken by ambulance to the health center and whisked to a triage area or operating tables by...

There are some slick moves being made against our second amendment rights to own and bear firearms. It is a shame that dignified, law abiding citizens using guns appropriately for several generations have to be harassed by some socialist scatterbrain who is turning every crisis into another reason to take away their right to own firearms. I'll just give you the quick study. Governor Roy Barns, Georgia, tried to push through SB 385. This is a bill about bio-terror that in effect would allow the Governor to declare statewide emergency gun control measures if there is a public health emergency....

Smallpox Vaccine Is Here: Now What? Americans May Be Asked to Roll Up Their Sleeves By Daniel DeNoon WebMD Medical News March 28, 2002 -- Most Americans appear willing to roll up their sleeves to fight terrorism. But what if it means getting the smallpox vaccine? Smallpox is the most feared of all possible biological weapons. The chances of a smallpox attack are small. The impact of such an attack would be terrible almost beyond imagination. There's only one sure defense -- smallpox vaccination. If nearly all Americans got the vaccine, a smallpox attack would be pointless. There's just one...

Ninety miles from our southern border, one of the world's wealthiest men (worth $1.4 billion, according to Forbes magazine) lives like a king, while his subjects, the Cuban people, live in abject poverty, facing chronic shortages of even the most basic commodities such as food, medicine, clothing and housing, writes Miguel A. Faria Jr., M.D., in his newly released book, "Cuba in Revolution – Escape From a Lost Paradise." (1)Fidel Castro, the longest-ruling Marxist dictator in history, runs an island prison without an exit, a brutal repressive police state where individual rights are non-existent. Cuba now has over 300 prisons...

Teaching Perseverance Through Adversity-A History Lesson by Lawrence F. Roberge M.S. Editors note: Mr. Roberge resides and teaches in Middletown, NY-60 miles from the World Trade Center Ground Zero. I recently had a discussion with a colleague that reminded me of a lesson in perspective. Under the present shadow of the September 11th terrorism as well as the discord aroused from the news of bioterrorism, I was wondering out loud whether our nation would have the resolve to handle this crisis. And then, a more senior colleague, reminded me (and chided me a little) of our nation's history at handling...

Victims Identified in fatal plane crash CASTLE ROCK - Denver car dealer Kent Rickenbaugh, his wife, Caroline, and their son Bart were killed Sunday in a plane crash near Centennial Airport. Pilot Dr. Steven Mostow also died. Kent Rickenbaugh, 64, owned two car dealerships in the Denver area. Caroline Rickenbaugh, 62, was known for her involvement in the community. Bart Rickenbaugh, 35, lived in Bozeman, Mont. Mostow, 63, was one of the country's leading infectious disease experts and was associate dean at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. Mostow was a crusader for better health, an early advocate for...