Free Republic

Project for a New Democratic Party. It's clear to most of us that the Democratic party power structure is not friendly towards the goal of most of us: a "success oriented" Democratic Party committed to moderate/progressive values. Over the last few years we all have tried to push the Democratic Party in our direction through a variety of means: supporting particular candidates, online donation, threats to desert to a third party. All of these approaches have failed. And they have failed because the people running the party, the apparatchiks, are not threatened by electoral failure. They've worked their way into...

After days of expressing confidence about the documents used in a "60 Minutes'' report that raised new questions about President Bush's National Guard service, CBS News officials have grave doubts about the authenticity of the material, network officials said last night. Those officials, who asked not to be identified, said CBS News would most likely make an announcement as early as today that it had been deceived about the documents' origins, and that it was mounting an intensive news investigation of where they came from. But these people cautioned that CBS News could still pull back from an announcement. Officials...

ATLANTIC CITY - Two Philadelphia men were arrested on gun charges after an Atlantic City drugstore employee, alarmed by the pictures he was processing, called police. The film, taken to an Eckerd Drugs for one-hour developing Saturday, showed two men posing while holding a pistol, cash, and a bottle of cognac. The men were standing next to a [excerpted] sedan in front of several casinos and a bank, Atlantic City Police Lt. Michael Tullio said. Police found the car in the Sands Hotel Casino's parking garage, confronted the two suspects, and found a loaded .38-caliber revolver, Tullio said. Timothy Garland,...

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) came under fire from a fellow Republican Tuesday who faulted him for his handling of a gun liability bill. The bill was soundly defeated after a series of procedural moves by Democrats on the day their presidential standard-bearer returned from the campaign trail. “It was not our finest hour,” freshman Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) said of the controversial bill. It was defeated 90-8 after Democrats successfully added amendments to extend the assault-weapons ban and close the so-called gun show “loophole” and its chief sponsor turned against his own bill. “To me, [it] looks like...

5 Cranbrook Teachers Allegedly Smoke Pot On CampusNo Students Involved, According To ReportsPOSTED: 8:30 a.m. EDT September 17, 2003Five faculty members of Cranbrook schools are accused of smoking marijuana during a campus event. Three teachers from the Cranbrook Upper School and two teachers from the Brookside Lower School were fired for the allegations, Local 4 reported. Sources told Local 4 that the alleged incident happened Labor Day week, before school started. No students were involved.

For the Netherlands' famous network of cannabis-peddling coffee shops the high times could be about to be stubbed out - for good. A tough new anti-smoking law due to take effect from January of next year is about to turn the Dutch work place into a smoke-free zone and coffee shops are not exempted. Under the new law every company in the country must ensure that their employees are not exposed to tobacco smoke. Lighting up a joint in one of 800 coffee shops therefore faces extinction from 2005. Coffee shops will still be allowed to sell joints but their...

Meet New York's 'Naked Cowboy' By Jeff Pearlman Newsday staff writer Originally published May 15, 2003 The sky is gray and the afternoon is long, and if ever a Monday in New York City has felt interminable, it is today. On the neon financial news crawlers that help light up an otherwise damp Times Square, bleakness rules. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE RISES FROM 5.9% TO 6% ... PLANNED U.S. LAYOFFS INCREASE FROM 85,396 IN MARCH TO ',399 IN APRIL ... 95,000 AMERICAN MANUFACTURING JOBS LOST IN APRIL; BIGGEST DECLINE SINCE JAN. 2002. How then, to explain ... this?

Fugitive hides in creek, dies from the cold Chase ends in Snohomish County woods Tuesday, March 26, 2002 By GORDY HOLT SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER LAKE STEVENS -- It began when Snohomish County sheriff's deputies spotted a man driving a stolen pickup truck. It ended hours later, when the man was plucked from an icy creek, where he had been hiding from police. He died of hypothermia early Saturday. The King County Medical Examiner's Office last night identified the man as Matthew L. Burke, 29, of Snohomish. Jan Jorgensen, spokeswoman for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Department, said he was known to...