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By DAVID PACE, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Social Security (news - web sites) paid $31 million through the end of last year to dead people who were listed as dead in the agency's own electronic files, auditors estimate. One woman who died in November 1993 was still receiving benefit checks in May 2000, and auditors said more than $100,000 in benefits had been paid after her death. Authorities stopped the payments last November and now are trying to determine who cashed her checks. The audit, completed earlier this summer by the Social Security Administration (news - web sites)'s ...

Support for legalizing marijuana is at its highest level in at least 30 years, according to a USA TODAY/CNN/Gallup poll. The poll found that 34 percent favored legalizing marijuana use while 62 percent were opposed, the most support for legalization since pollsters began asking the question in 1969. Thread I and full article

Having been here a while on FR now and having heard opinions from about every possible ideology, I have decided that the simple left-right model for modern politics is not very accurate anymore. The political landscape presented by self-gov.org is better than the media accepted left-right but IMO still does not give an accurate portrait.Here is what I came up with.

Libertarian Party Press Releases May 3, 2001 U.N. bureaucrats are drafting treaty to declare war on smoking WASHINGTON, DC -- United Nations bureaucrats are drafting an international treaty to try to get everyone on Earth to stop smoking -- a troubling development that could mark the beginning of a “World War” against cigarettes, the Libertarian Party warned today. “It’s bad enough that American politicians are trying to tax your cigarettes, and regulate or prohibit your right to smoke,” said Steve Dasbach, the party’s national director. “But now, instead of having to fight local and state battles over smoking, Americans ...

  A Cop's View on "Drug Courier Profiling" (Whoops – I meant "Drug Courier Indicators") by S. Leon Felkins, Major, US Army (Retired) Since the start of the infamous "Drug War" there has been a constant attack and chipping away at the security and privacy rights guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment. One of the most audacious and controversial schemes is the concept of making seizures of a persons and properties based on the "drug courier profiles." This has long been used at the nation's airports (see box at right for extracts from a comprehensive analysis of this activity) and ...

Ok all you 2nd amendment loving people out there. I need your help.Please post quotes from our founding fathers on guns (and sources if available.) I'm doing a report on guns and would appreciate anything you all can come up with.

County commissioner in Oregon becomes Libertarian Party member by Jonathan Trager LP News Reporter Another Republican politician has officially joined the Libertarian Party -- marking the second time this year an Oregon office-holder has done so. On March 8, Yamhill County Commissioner Rob Johnstone publicly announced that he was changing his party affiliation and joining the LP. According to Johnstone, the change was long overdue. "I actually had been thinking about changing for a long time," he said. "The first libertarian book I ever read was Frederic Bastiat's The Law. Since then, I've always felt my thinking resonated well ...

Ed Thompson considers bid for brother's job LP mayor may run for governor in Wisconsin The Libertarian brother of outgoing Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson has said that he may seek that seat in 2002 -- an announcement that generated statewide publicity and could result in a "Jesse Ventura type of upset" victory, according to the LP state chair. In mid January, Ed Thompson, currently the mayor of Tomah, said he was considering following in his older brother's footsteps, and launching a bid for the governor's seat. His brother, Tommy Thompson, had previously announced he would step down after four terms ...

Asset Forfeiture: Looting America by Jarret B. Wollstein International Society for Individual Liberty Police stopped 49-year-old Ethel Hylton at Houston's Hobby Airport and told her she was under arrest because a drug dog had scratched at her luggage. Agents searched her bags and strip-searched her, but they found no drugs. They did find $39,110 in cash, money she had received from an insurance settlement and her life savings; accumulated through over 20 years of work as a hotel housekeeper and hospital janitor. Ethel Hylton completely documented where she got the money and was never charged with a crime. But the ...

Lowballing the Surplus Americans should know just how much they are overpaying the government. Monday, February 26, 2001 12:01 a.m. EST By now most Americans know that federal budget surpluses are rising like the waters around Noah. But here's the bad news: The flood is going to be even worse than you've been told, which is why we deserve a much bigger tax cut. Keep in mind that politicians in both parties have had to be dragged into admitting that surpluses exist at all. Senator Fritz Hollings, the South Carolina spender, still goes on TV to claim they don't. ...

Steely Dan Gets Album of Year, Eminem, U2, Hill Win Three Grammys Wednesday, February 21, 2001 LOS ANGELES — Eminem had all the hype — but Steely Dan stole his thunder by winning the biggest Grammy of the night. The foul-mouthed rapper, picked up three awards Wednesday but the veteran rockers Steely Dan won the prestigious album of the year for Two Against Nature. Steely Dan, who had never won a Grammy until Wednesday, also won best pop album for their first disc in 19 years and best pop vocal performance by a group for "Cousin Dupree." "We've been ...

© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Conservatives looking more like liberals every day Once upon a time, liberals in the Democratic Party were the principal defenders of individual freedom against big government. The champions of liberty -- people like Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, and Grover Cleveland -- came mostly from the Democratic Party. The conservatives -- who were the Federalists, the Whigs, and then the Republicans -- upheld the traditional, long-standing view that our rulers know what’s best. People like John Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and Teddy Roosevelt imposed their views of the national interest by violating the limits on government, without caring how that ...

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After nearly four weeks in office, the popularity of President George W. Bush has soared to new heights, a new Zogby America survey reveals. The survey, conducted February 11-14 of 977 likely voters nationwide, shows the overall opinion of the new president now at 64% favorable, 30% unfavorable. The new survey has a margin of sampling error of +/- 3.2%. In a January Zogby America survey, Bush received a 54% favorable, 42% unfavorable rating, by likely voters. Bush's job performance rating also has increased to a 57% positive, 29% negative rating, compared to a 42% positive, 36% negative rating in ...

Fed cuts rates by 1/2 % point as expected. Nothing follows.

During the recount of the absentee ballots, bush is picking up a good portion of the 118 gained by gore through yesterday. It is now down to 56 in broward county. Miami-dade is now not going through with its recount, and palm beach county is down to only +2 for gore. 930-58 votes= Bush wins! If florida court rules in favor of PBC and against the democrats at 4:30, its over for gore. http://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/11/22/president.election/index.html

If the remaining votes to be counted are extrapolated to the exact % garnered by gorton vs millionare via each county, we can guess the winner 200 left (62.34% {R} vs 35.25% {D} )- Asotin county: 125 (R) - 71 (D) = +54 gorton 2500 left (68.05% {R} vs 30.00% {D} ) -Benton county 1701(R) - 750 (D) = +951 gorton 75 left (68.51% {R} vs 29.57% {D} ) -Chelan county 51(R) - 22(D) = +29 gorton 700 left (55.01% {R} vs 41.31% {D} ) -Clallam county 385(R) - 289(D) = +96 gorton 50 left (52.32% {R} vs 44.52% {D} ...

Bush by 760, 2 counties left. anyone know which two? i think duval and 1 small one.

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