Free Republic

Narrow election has a 1960s flavor HISTORY: The tight Nixon-Kennedy race was marked by allegations of voter fraud. By CASEY NEWTON The Orange County Register Missing ballots, miscounted votes, outright fraud - heck, even the dead people voted, many believe. In many ways as close a Presidential electionas the 2000 nail-biter, 1960's contest between Vice President Richard M. Nixon and Sen. John F. Kennedy bears similarities to the current electoral drama. "There's an enormous amount of parallels," said Irwin Gellman, a Nixon expert and professor at the University of California, Irvine. The most salient similarity: Shortly after polls closed, ...

Free-lancers' rights over online stories go before high court INTERNET: Writers say they never gave permission for work to be included in databases and CD-ROMs. By LAURIE ASSEO The Associated Press WASHINGTON - Taking on an Internet-age dispute, the Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether The New York Times and other publications violate free-lance contributors' copyrights by putting their articles in electronic databases. The court said it will hear arguments by the Times, Newsday, Time Inc. and two database companies that they can put freelance articles - already published in their print editions - in online and CD-ROM ...

Loretta "Bunny" Sanchez announced today that she will NOT be speaking at the 2000 Democratic National Convention. The flap arose due to a spat over her choosing the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles as the venue for a fundraiser. KCAL News, reporting from Sanchez' district headquarters in Santa Ana, CA, attempted to verify the announcement but was unable to do so because the front doors were LOCKED and no one inside was responding.

Feed me Could the future of robotics be a toy train with a taste for flesh? BEWARE: a hungry, flesh-eating robot called Chew Chew could have designs on you. Not that you won't hear the beast coming: Chew Chew is a 12-wheeled monster that looks more like a train. But he's also the first robot to be completely powered by food. He's called a gastrobot--and he is set to make his public debut in August, at a robotics conference in Hawaii. Chew Chew's "stomach" is a microbial fuel cell (MFC), a device that enslaves a population of bacteria, in ...

Protesters Opposing U.S. Control Claim Road ENVIRONMENT: The debate over federal vs. local oversight focuses on a remote Nevada dirt path closed to protect fish habitat. By SANDRA CHEREB The Associated Press   DUG IN: Shovels from various states are lined up Tuesday in Jarbidge, Nev., where ralliers protested federal land regulations. JARBIDGE, Nev. - Hundreds of people joined together on Independence Day to hoist a huge boulder they dubbed the "Liberty Rock" and lay claim to a remote dirt road in defiance of the U.S. Forest Service. Chanting "Freedom, Freedom" the "Shovel Brigade" protesters moved the boulder inch ...

Work Crews Protest Federal Land Policy Shovel-wielding protesters from across the country streamed into the remote mountain hamlet of Jarbidge, Nev., for an Independence Day Weekend rally to chip away at a pile of debris and the federal government's authority over a washed-out dirt road. The even is the latest fight in a battle between Washington officials and locals upset with federal land policy. The atmosphere has been so charged that the Forest Service supervisor in charge of national forests in Nevada abruptly announced her resignation in November, citing "hostility and distrust" toward federal employees in the state. On ...

LONDON - A report on CBS News that crime in Britain has grown worse than it is in the United Saates, has come under attack from government and tourism officials here worried that fearful Americans may take their vacation dollars elsewhere. The report, which aired Tuesday evening, depicted Britain as one of the most violent urban societies in the Western world, a place where a person's chances of being assaulted, burgled and robbed are substantially greater than in the United States." Dan Rather, the veteran news anchor, introduced the story by noting that it represents a substantial departure from conventional ...

U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez will hold a reception for the non-partisan Hispanic Unity political action committee during the Democratic Convention in Los Angeles in August. Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, has come under attack by the California Republican Party for holding the event in the Playboy Mansion. The GOP complains that she should hold the event in her distric. It also issued a news release pointing out that while Sanchez has been heavily backed by unions, the Playboy Mansion is non-union. Not that the state GOP has a soft spot in its heart for unions; Most GOP leaders campaigned in 1998 ...

WASHINGTON - Several skeptical Supreme Court justices grilled a federal prosecutor Monday on whether a Waco judge improperly extended the sentences of four men convicted of killing four lawmen during a 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound in Texas. The justices appeared more sympathetic toward a defense lawyer who argued that U.S. District Judge Walter Smith of Waco was wrong to apply a Firearms law to beef up the killers' prison terms. Smith tacked 30 years onto the Davidians' 10-year sentences after concluding that the four men had used automatic weapons to slay four Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and ...

AUSTIN - George W. Bush's presidential campaign, which made a federal case over a Web site that poked fun at his White House bid, has been rebuffed by regulators. The Federal Election Commission has dismissed a request by the Bush campaign that it regulate the site, saying it has more pressing issues on its agenda. "There is no evidence of serious intent to violate" federal law, the FEC said in a brief written statement. "And this matter is less significant relative to other matters pending before the commission." The site's creator, Zack Exley of Somerville, Mass., expressed relief Tuesday that ...

"The two hottest issues in America right now are Elian Gonzalez and Microsoft and, on both, Bill Clinton is acting as if the president's name was Janet Reno," the New York Post's Deborah Orin writes. "Profile in courage? Bully pulpit? Clinton is acting like a bystander while the buck stops at Reno's desk," Miss Orin said in a column Thursday. "If anything goes wrong, he'll let her catch the flak for him —just like she did with the Waco disaster that killed more than 30 people." Miss Orin added: "Can anyone imagine Ronald Reagan — or, for that matter, Jimmy ...

The Los Angeles County Claims Board approved a $4 million settlement for survivors of a millionaire who was shot to death during a drug raid at his ranch near Malibu. Monday's agreement which will require approval from the Board of Supervisors, confirms a tentative settlement announced in January. Under its terms, the county will pay $4 million and the federal government will pay $1 million to Donald P. Scott's wife, four children and estate. Scott, 61, was shot to death by a (Los Angeles County) sheriff's deputy during an October 1992 raid. Sleepy and slightly drunk, he was shot as ...

Houston attorney Mike Caddell asked U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. of Waco Monday to dismiss two prominent Branch Davidians from the group's wrongful-death lawsuit against the government. Caddell, lead plaintiffs' attorney, filed a motion stating that Kathryn Schroeder and Rita Riddle do not wish to pursue the lawsuit. Also asking out were three of Schroeder's children: Scott and Christyn Mabb and Bryan Michael Schroeder, her son by Michael Schroeder, who died in the raid on Mount Carmel. He was shot by ATF agents while trying to get back to his family inside the residence. "He (Smith) has ruled ...

Peeling politicians Just over four years ago, a federal government employee spotted Sen. John McCain in one of our local airports, the latter's face bright red and bandaged. "You must be planning to run for president," the gentleman remarked to Mr. McCain, insinuating the Arizona Republican had a cosmetic skin peel that other politicians and celebrities have been known to endure to cheat the natural aging process. Mr. McCain didn't reply one way or the other, just pointed his finger at the gentleman the way a politician does when they have their sights set on higher office. Curious ourselves, we ...

Stores sell to survivalists TECHNOLOGY: As Y2K approaches, businesses specializing in preparedness goods. are making millions. By CHRIS GOSIER The Associated Press From Dexter, Maine READY FOR DISASTER: Mark Miclette shows off a gas mask at his shop in Dexter, Maine. Miclette's Web site, yZkmart, offers such items as portable generators, 100-hour emergency candles, water tanks and gas masks. Attention, y2kmart shoppers: There's no reason to let a millennial computer disaster spoil your New Year's Eve. One of a host of businesses catering to last-minute survivalist shoppers, y2kmart offers a range of festive Y2K kits. There's "the optimist" (champagne, ...

NTSB AUDIO LABORATORY POOL PHOTOGRAPHY AVAILABLE November 30, 1999 The National Transportation Safety Board was able to allow an unscheduled press pool into its cockpit voice recorder laboratory late this afternoon to take video and still photography of sound spectrum analysis work being done on the cockpit voice recorder from EgyptAir flight 990. CNN provided the pool video coverage and the New York Times provided the pool still photography. Please contact these organizations directly for access to pool photography. - 30 - NTSB Press Office: (202) 314-6100 ************************************************** This message is delivered to you as a free service from the ...

The Boeing jetliner had leveled off at 39,000 feet when, mysteriously, it began a steep and terrifying descent, falling at speeds that briefly topped 800 mph. The plane fell for seven miles, strewing parts, warping the aircraft's skin and popping rivets as it shattered the sound barrier. Pilot Harvey "Hoot" Gibson remembered this week how the cockpit shook so hard that instruments were unreadable, the noise became a painful pressure-on his ears, and the clusters of lights from cities on the ground seemed to explode toward him. "For a fraction of a second, there was the stark shock of knowing ...

Film for Thought Military Action at Waco? Mike McNulty's new, expanded version of his original documentary (Waco: The Rules of Engagement), entitled Waco: A New Revelation and previewed last week in Washington, offers a fresh, intriguing look at Waco, making a convincing case that military personnel actually participated in the final assault. In a riveting two hours of documentary footage, taken largely from the government's own archives, the filmmakers make a strong case that the government—far from practicing defensive measures to protect unarmed women and children—mounted an attack using military operators to squash the Davidians. Footage of helicopter machine guns ...

New thread time. The old thread is here. It all seems too weird doesn't it... hi-tech gadgetry called into service to spy on harmless Bible thumpers in a church. Way too weird. Thanks for the info re: audio/video links. I can understand the need for secure links on the battlefield, but this wasn't a combat situation. The obvious question is why? Here's the next interesting tidbit: "We have asked for every possible form of recording known to man that could have been utilized at Mount Carmel," said the lead lawyer for the group, Michael Caddell of Houston. "We have been ...

It's that time of year again, folks. I thought I'd take this opportunity to remind everyone who's a member, that it's time to renew your membership. Get your free membership card here.