Free Republic

Jan. 27, 2004 ? In a prehistoric battle for survival, Neanderthals had to compete against modern humans and were wiped off the face of the Earth, according to a new study on life in Europe from 60,000 to 25,000 years ago. The findings, compiled by 30 scientists, were based on extensive data from sediment cores, archaeological artifacts such as fossils and tools, radiometric dating, and climate models. The collected information was part of a project known as Stage 3, which refers to the time period analyzed. he number three also seems significant in terms of why the Neanderthals became extinct....

Born into the last great era of boys' tales, I was able to battle across Barsoom (Mars, in Martian-speak) with the Edgar Rice Burroughs character John Carter and decipher Wauxums, Delameters and other space weapons. I knew who spoke for Boskone, the mysterious force for evil in the Burroughs books. I roamed the jungle with Tarzan of the Apes and explored "hot and humid" Venus "hidden behind its clouds." That was before mamas started pushing their little darlings, teenage girls tarted up and pubescent males could concentrate on the important matters in life, like finding lost kingdoms, fighting savage tribes...

The next time you reach for your cell phone, thank NASA. If your doctor recommends an MRI, thank NASA. The space agency deserves another moment of gratitude when you pop in your favorite DVD and settle back for a good movie. How about when the smoke detector blares to save your life, or you simply do something as mundane as reaching for a composite golf club, hoping to out-drive your buddies? Although it often gets relegated to elitist bureaucracy status, driven by starry-eyed scientists looking to grab funds away from better use on Earth, NASA has contributed to the technological...

Large tanker truck accident and fire on I-95 at the intersection of I-195 near BWI airport. Highway is on fire, lots of wreckage from other trucks and cars.

The First Men on the Moon by Steven H Silver On July 20, AD 1969, two men came in peace for all mankind. Astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin, became the first humans to set foot on another world. Sixty miles above them, Mike Collins orbited the moon in the Columbia, becoming, in his words, the loneliest man in the universe. It is a day that sticks out in the memory of everybody who was alive at the time. At 9:51 PM Eastern Time, more than six hours after landing on the Moon, a grainy black and...

Rebranding Bush as man of peace Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington, Simon Tisdall and Nicholas Watt Saturday January 3, 2004 The Guardian (UK) The White House has retreated from its doctrine of regime change and pre-emptive military action and is returning to traditional diplomacy in an effort to repackage George Bush as a president for peace. Signs of the new strategy that have emerged in the past few weeks include: · North Korea, where authorities yesterday agreed to allow US inspectors to visit its nuclear complex next week. · Iran, where the US proposed, through UN channels, sending a high-level humanitarian...

  High-speed access in ER Smaller, faster machines are making a difference in hospitals. ADVERTISEMENT By Foster Klug ASSOCIATED PRESS Monday, December 29, 2003 BALTIMORE -- It's nine o'clock on a Saturday night when a 15-year-old boy with a bullet in his leg is rolled on a gurney into the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center. More than 20 minutes have passed since he was shot in a drive-by. Here at Cowley, and at other trauma centers across the nation, leaping improvements in emergency medical technology are helping doctors to save lives that a few years ago would almost certainly...

Rita Cosby showed Wes Clark at a fundraiser. An elderly man walked up to Clark and began to question him about John McCain and George W. Bush. The man asked Clark..."What are you gonna do if the Republicans try to ruin you like they did with McCain in the 2000 election. You remember that Wes. They attempted to ruin him." Clark Responded. "I'll beat the shit out of him." The elderly man responded. "Hell yeah!" "Hell yeah!" "Thats the way to do it!"

No reward for the man who gave up Saddam December 20 2003 at 09:57AM Baghdad - One of Saddam Hussein's top aides turned him over to American forces, according to fresh details on the former Iraqi leader's capture, as the United States administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said he had escaped an assassination bid earlier this month. "He was someone I would call his right arm," said Major Stan Murphy, the head of intelligence for the 4th Infantry Division's First Brigade in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit said on Friday of the man who led to Saddam's capture at a hideout...

Corpse of homeless man lay rotting on Japanese city street for two months Justin McCurry in Tokyo Friday December 19, 2003 The Guardian (UK) For two months, the body of an elderly man was ignored by passersby as it lay rotting on a street corner in Osaka, a short walk from a department store and a big railway station. The police in Japan's second city said yesterday that the corpse, thought to be that of a homeless man in his late 60s or early 70s, had begun to decompose by the time the authorities were called in to take it...

Man Indicted in Missile-Smuggling Sting Friday December 19, 2003 2:16 AM By JEFFREY GOLD Associated Press Writer NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A suspected arms dealer accused of supporting terrorists in a missile-smuggling plot also offered to deliver tanks, anti-aircraft guns and a radioactive ``dirty bomb,'' prosecutors said after the man was indicted Thursday. Hemant S. Lakhani also offered to broker a deal for several tons of C-4 explosive, according to the federal indictment. Lakhani, 68, an Indian-born British citizen, has been held without bail since his arrest in August following a sting operation. His lawyer, Henry E. Klingeman, said his...

What kind of man would do this? At Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, DC, a Sergeant Major of the Army, Jack Tilley, was with a group of people who recently were visiting the wounded soldiers. He saw a Special Forces soldier who had lost his right hand and suffered severe wounds of his face and side of his body. The S.M.A. wanted to honor him and show him respect without offend- ing, but what can you say or do in such a situa- tion that will encourage and uplift? How do you shake the right hand of a soldier...

This is a subject near to my heart and my own spiritual journey, and I'd like to discuss it with as many intelligent minds as possible as I ponder it. It seems to me as though the most basic, intrinsic aspect of a religious philosophy is faith. I have been talking to a lot of Christians lateley, so I'm not sure if that is the prevailing veiw among people of other persuasions. Anyways, it seems to me as though a religion can really be boiled down to beliving that it is THE answer, and it seems to me as though...

An Indian man who claims divine inspiration says he has survived 68 years without eating, drinking or relieving himself, baffling doctors who are unable to prove him an imposter. Prahlad Jani, a 76-year-old whose extraordinary tale has won him a small band of devotees, took a dare and underwent round-the-clock surveillance at a hospital in Ahmedabad (news - web sites), the commercial capital of the western state of Gujarat. "He has evidence of the formation of urine, which was reabsorbed on his bladder wall. The medical committee does not have any scientific explanation," Shah said.

Bush Country just received a rather disturbing email from one of our regular site visitors, Reverend Austin Miles.  In it, Rev Miles discloses that Michael Newdow (the atheist behind the Pledge of Allegiance lawsuit) is now a member of the State Bar of California and is apparently using that authority as an officer of the court to not only further his atheistic agenda but to harass Christians as well. Bush Country ask that you forward this information to major media outlets and those on your email list, so they can report on what is going on. Here are the...

FBI Questions Man on Box Cutters in Planes By CURT ANDERSON, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - The government on Friday ordered intensified security checks of the entire U.S. commercial air fleet after small plastic bags containing box cutters and other suspicious items were found on two Southwest Airlines planes. A 20-year-old North Carolina man was being questioned by the FBI in connection with the incidents, according to a congressional official and a senior law enforcement official, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity. The congressional official said the man, described as a college student, had informed the Transportation Security...

HIV man guilty of infecting women (Filed: 14/10/2003) Mohammed Dica, an HIV carrier, is facing a long jail sentence following a landmark conviction for "coldly and callously" infecting two women. Mohammed Dica: biological GBH Dica, 38, conned the first victim into having unprotected sex by claiming he had had a vasectomy. As she tried to cope with a cocktail of drugs designed to delay the onset of Aids, he targeted his second victim with declarations of love and talk of a family. Doctors say both women could be dead in 10 years. Dica, who claimed they knew of his condition...

A Word About Sparrows: Evangelizing the Animal Rights Movement    HELEN M. VALOIS Like all errors, the animal rights movement contains elements of truth. Like the feminists who represent themselves as opposed to rape, unequal wages, and (until recently) sexual harassment in the workplace, the animal rights activists lead with issues we can all agree on. Indeed, the Catechism affirms, “Animals are God’s creatures . . . It is contrary to human dignity to cause animals to suffer or die needlessly” (nos. 2416, 2418). We’re mistaken, however, if we imagine that it begins and ends here. The root of the...

A short poem about a woman who had a great career, great education, great life but lacked something in her life.

VAN -- Jimmie Lovett, a homeless handyman from Boone County, took a chance, bought a $5 yellow rubber duck and won $10,000. The winner of last month's Charleston Sternwheel Regatta's Rubber Ducky Derby, the only title he's ever had, has since been sentenced to a year of home confinement for a June drunken driving arrest. In what seems like either a mocking twist of fate or a terrible case of bad judgment, Jimmie spent all his derby winnings buying his first home, a tiny ramshackle trailer in the middle of Boone County. He now says he can't afford to pay...