Several members of Congress unexpectedly left: Susan Molinari, Bill Paxon, Joe Kennedy.

Dolly Browning's conversation with Clinton at a class reunion, according to Clinton's side, was overheard by a close aide who refutes Dolly's account. Jim McDougals' conversation with Clinton at his deposition, according to Clinton's side, was overheard by his attorney who refutes Jim's account. On "Meet the Press", Susan McDougal acknowledged that she had witnessed and overheard a conversation between Bill Clinton and Jim McDougal that occurred at the same time as described by Jim McDougal

When Whitewater was becoming an issue in 1994, a fire broke out in the office of Pete Marwick - just bad enough to destroy the 1986 audit of Madison Guaranty. Another fire broke out in Clinton's doctors office, and Clinton's medical records were destroyed. Iron Mountain Inc., large archiver of corporate, medical and legal records also had three suspicious fires in 1996, evidently arson, unsolved.

Hillary Clinton claimed that James Blair placed orders for most of her commodities trades. At the time, James Blair was working for Tyson, he said he was advising Clinton out of friendship, not to seek political gain for his state-regulated client. At the time of many of the trades, Bill Clinton was governor. [Blair’s wife is involved in the July 1999 PBS/DNC list scandal.]

October 96, for the first time in 22 years, the DNC announced it will not file an FEC pre- election finance report.

On 6/19/98, four former U.S. attorneys general filed legal papers opposing the creation of "protective function privilege" that the Secret Service is attempting to use to shield its agents from having to testify before Kenneth Starr's grand jury.

Newsweek reports: "Starr's relentless pursuit is taking its toll on the President. Though he remains publicly cheery, in private Clinton is said to be in a simmering rage -- not just at Starr, but at supporters whom (sic) he feels have failed to rally behind him. In the White House late at night, Clinton often calls old friends to rant about the unfairness of it all. 'It was a call out of the blue,' says one recipient of a hoarse, after-hours soliloquy that went on for 20 minutes."

The U.S. Department of Transportation has published the proposed "Driver's License/SSN/National Identification Document" guidelines which compels all states to comply within the next two years. No later than Oct. 1, 2000, all state driver's licenses must be linked to the social security number of the individual, State ID cards must be linked to social security numbers and there are plans to issue state identification cards to minors! Biometric identification (such as fingerprints) will be compiled in a national database. All Americans will be required to present this new ID whenever you apply for job or travel.

6/26/98 Wolf Blitzer/CNN from XIAN, China (AllPolitics) ". President Bill Clinton said . he welcomed a decision by a federal judge to release his former business partner, Susan McDougal, from prison. "

The Bank for International Settlements BIS. A secret meeting of 13 governors of central banks of the Group of 10 industrial nations plus Switzerland occurs 10 times a year. The U.S. representative is Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. The United States was included in the BIS from the beginning, but the two seats on the board weren't filled until four years ago.

Brian Atwood, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (foreign aid) criticized Congress saying that Americans don't need a tax cut as badly as the world's poor need more US dollars, and accusing them for trying to cut foreign assistance and argued that trade is not a substitute for aid.

6/29/98 NASA Public Affairs "Engineers are continuing efforts to reestablish contact with the NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft using NASA's Deep Space Network (DSN). Contact with SOHO was lost on June 24 during maintenance operations. "

From Joseph Farah: Yu Quanyu, director of the Chinese Academy of Social Studies, writes in the latest issue of "Ideological and Political Work Studies,"Communist Party cadres . should study the speeches of Hillary Clinton because she offers a very good example of the skills of propaganda .Her sentences are short and stimulating."

7/2/98 Washington Times regarding Khobar Towers investigation ".The essential problem for the Clinton administration is that politics is taking precedence over principle. Not only does it not serve U.S. interests to press the Saudis but it hurts the administration's new vision for Iran to pursue the possibility that Iranians may have had a hand in the attack.. ."

7/9/98 Washington Times Frank Murray regarding Jones v Clinton ".the court accepted a written brief attacking the lawsuit's dismissal. "This case is about abuse of power," NOW's Dulles (Va.) Area chapter (DANOW) argued in a friend-of-the-court brief, charging that the trial judge ignored evidence "that Governor Clinton, now our president, has long had a modus operandi of quid pro quo sexual harassment with other women."."

The 1996 Clinton campaign budgeted $1 million to pay fines for illegal campaign contributions

WorldNet Daily 7/10/98 Alan Keyes ".in the President's statement. "We have all benefited from the wisdom of our nation's Founders, who crafted a blueprint for democracy that has served us well for more than two hundred years and continues to inspire newly independent nations around the world. We are all heirs to the rights articulated in our Constitution and reaffirmed by courageous men and women of every generation who have struggled to secure justice and equality for all." .What we actually celebrate on the Fourth of July is the document that states the principles on the basis of which the Founders acted. It is the Declaration which states the principles of moral justice which were respected by the genius of the Founders in the way that the Constitution was crafted. And yet Beijing Billy didn't say anything about the Declaration of Independence in his statement, implying that it is the Constitution that we celebrate on the Fourth of July.. Either the president is totally ignorant of history and really thinks that we celebrate the adoption of the Constitution on the Fourth, or he is trying to redirect Americans to accept the view that our rights come originally from the Constitution. I think he wants us to forget that the great document we celebrate on the Fourth tells us that our rights come from a source higher than any constitution or any other work of human hands, that they come from God. And it is in light of that higher source and authority, our Creator, that all works of human hands, including the Constitution, are to be judged."

Reed Irvine of Accuracy in Media announced on C-SPAN that the SOG Vets are going to file a suit against CNN over the Tailwind story. The same law firm that handled the silicon breast implant case against Dow Corning has been retained to represent the veterans"

AP 7/10/98 Jane Allen "Hughes Electronics Corp. is investigating satellite computer malfunctions in June and July that struck the same type of processor that failed in May, silencing 85 percent of the nation's pagers. The spacecraft control processor is responsible for an essential function that keeps a satellite pointed toward Earth to receive signals. .."

Arkansas Business Publishing 3/98 Simon Lee ".A public company trying to legalize casino gambling, charitable bingo and a lottery in Arkansas was founded by a ragtag group of business partners with questionable pasts. The group's president, former Arkansas State Police Col. Tommy Goodwin, says his involvement with Arkansas Casino Corp. started as a result of friendships dating back to his days in northeast Arkansas. .But when questions turn to how Arkansas Casino Corp. functions as a business, or which people make up this company, or how this group got together, Goodwin appears to lack facts. Goodwin isn't paid in cash or stock for his services..Goodwin says no one else with the corporation is being paid, either."

In March of 1993 as the Justice Department "liaison" to the White House, Webster Hubbell brokered a meeting with the congressional Black Caucus that led to the reversal of the Justice Department position in the Memphis corruption trial of Rep. Harold Ford. The U.S. attorney and two assistants resigned.

Senate majority leader Trent Lott said that Clinton had become a political "bystander" like Richard Nixon and further said ".presidents do have to go overseas, but this president has already been out of the country over 70 days this year."

7/8/98 Quinn in the Morning Larry Klayman ".So you can see how our society is being subverted. If we keep doing stuff like this, if we keep using government premises to spy on people, to collect information and to smear them, all at taxpayer expense, to have them prosecuted, this isn't the first time the Clinton administration has had somebody prosecuted. If this thing keeps building, the danger is the American people will begin to see that their government no longer represents them, which you and I all ready know, but a majority."

7/13/98 AP Chicago Tribune " An Italian judge today dropped the case against the crew members of a Marine jet that severed a ski gondola cable in the Alps, leaving the decision to prosecute with U.S. courts.."

Video of President Clinton at Ron Brown burial, 4/10/96 in Arlington National Cemetery (though under investigation) captured what appeared to be an animated response - happy and then abruptly turned solemn when he noticed filming.

From RNC Jim Nicholson: Time 7/20/98 Bob Chase National Education Association President "The fact is that in some instances we have used power.to protect the narrow interests of our members and not to advance the interests of our schools."

7/14/98 Columbus Dispatch Alan Johnson "Gov. George V. Voinovich, in charge of the National Governors' Association annual meeting in Milwaukee, decided there just will not be time for a visit by President Clinton.."

7/15/98 NBC Freeper cww reports that NBC Nightly announced Federal District Court Judge Norma Hollaway Johnson has denied the Justice Department's request to stay the Grand Jury appearance of subpoenaed USSS agents on 7/16/98

7/15/98 Conservative News Service Scott Hogenson "Citing concerns over " almost limitless authority " by the White House to enact the United Nation ' s Kyoto Climate Treaty and other legislative matters , RepresentativeMichael " Mac " Collins ( R - GA ) today began a congressional effort to blunt [ Bill ] Clinton ' s executive order on federalism ."

7/16/98 R. Emmett R. Tyrrell Conservative Current "A Washington Post-ABC News poll has just published some intriguing data about the American people's present state of mind. For one thing, though polite opinion in our nation's capital has been in a fever over campaign finance reform and tobacco prohibition, most Americans consider these issues comparatively minor. For them the critical issue is education, then Social Security, then taxes. More interesting still, though most Americans believe their president to be even more of a moral basket case than they thought four years ago, they are increasingly impatient with the criminal or even merely critical pursuit of him. Their minds tell them he is a rogue, but they feel no revulsion. How do we explain this curious condition? . Unfortunately, I suspect that the press is about to become judgmental about the Clintons. This slippery couple has been playing the press for suckers too blatantly and for too long…."

The New York Post 7/16/98 Ray Kerrison ".Clinton's campaign to install a radical homosexual as United States Ambassador to the (Roman Catholic) Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is dead in the water in this Congress.The controversial nominee is James Hormel.a prodigious contributor to the Clinton campaign."

Logic problem: why would Rep Wexler be seeking to create a privilege which he says already exists?

From Freeper Trixie to RR and The Entire NY Freep Cell ".I was recovering from an FBI interview on Friday that left me so optimistic about the future that I had to lie down, stare at the ceiling and smile for the better part of the weekend."

The American Spectator Wladyslaw Pleszczynski 8/98 "Ever the contented cow, Steven Brill waded into the River of Opportunism--and the piranhas in the press picked him clean. Everyone has his favorite Brill moment. This champion of truth and full disclosure, reports Sam Sifton in the New York Press, never divulged that his "first choice for editor of Brill's Content was the president's then-director of communications, Don Baer" (who then "served as a paid consultant to Brill" for five months)."

On 5/22/97 FBI general counsel Howard M. Shapiro resigned, effectively ending an official investigation that had produced accusations of poor judgment in his handling of the White House files controversy. Shapiro is a longtime friend of FBI Director Louis J. Freeh. Shaprio announced that on June 6, 1997 he would resign and then become a partner at the law firm of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering. Shapiro was involved in certain pre-publication disclosures concerning the Gary Aldrich book, "Unlimited Access." He is also associated with the Terry Lenzer private investigation company, IGI."

Mother Jones 7/21-27/98 J Jennings Moss on DNC fundraiser Terry McAuliffe ".he was identified as the man who started the White House kaffeeklatsches for major party contributors and as the memo writer who sparked the president's decision to "rent out" the Lincoln Bedroom.According to a congressional source, the Department of Justice is considering whether McAuliffe exploited his political connections to profit from at least one government-related business deal.. None of this has dimmed McAuliffe's star, however. He's adored within Democratic Party circles -- Gore has called him "the greatest fundraiser in the history of the universe." And McAuliffe seems to concur. "Let me tell you," he says. "I can motivate. I can sell. I can get people pumped up." . but in auctioning off access to the White House, he does appear to have taken the practice to unprecedented lengths. On a personal level, the fuzziness of his ethics has blurred the boundaries between his political and business dealings. And in conversations with Mother Jones, McAuliffe has had a hard time sticking to the same story."

7/24/98 AP Linda Deutsch "When Susan McDougal goes on trial next month for embezzlement, the name of Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr will not be uttered in court, a judge ruled Friday. ``As to mentioning independent counsel Kenneth Starr, I'm not aware of any relationship of that individual and this case,'' said Superior Court Judge Leslie Light. ..."

7/25/98 AP "For the second time in three days, Greece's foreign minister accused President Clinton of reneging on pre-election promises to make Cyprus a top U.S. foreign policy priority. .."

Times West Virginia 8/1/98 Bill Byrd "How do you find 25 tons of ammonium nitrate in a rural farming and mining area? You post a $10,000 reward…..An FBI supervisory agent in the agency's Pittsburgh office, Killeen and more than 50 other FBI agents slipped into this Preston County village shortly after dawn Friday. Although police hope the theft from the BFS Ag Supply store here turns out to be a garden-variety burglary, "we have to rule out any possibility that this is linked to a threat of domestic violence," Killeen said."

8/8/98 Boston Globe John Ellis "The House Democratic Caucus welcomed President Clinton into its midst Wednesday with a five-minute standing ovation. The lawmakers would have been better advised to throw him out of the room and demand his resignation. Clinton is to the Democratic Party what the Titanic was to its passengers. He's taking everybody down with him. Consider these facts. When Clinton was elected president, Ron Brown, then chairman of the Democratic National Committee, handed him a party apparatus that was $5 million in the black and running like a top. Democrats controlled both houses of Congress and solid majorities of the governorships and state legislatures. All of these political advantages have been squandered in less than six years...."

AP 8/7/98 "A former White House intern has been charged with harassing former senior presidential adviser George Stephanopolous. Tangela Burkhart, of New York, was arraigned July 3 on charges of first-degree harassment and second-degree aggravated harassment, according to a criminal complaint made public this week..."

Insight Magazine 8/17/98 Deroy Murdock "Neither sex nor lies nor audio tape seem to hold the public's attention anymore. According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, 83 per cent of adults are tired of hearing about the Monica Lewinsky probe…."

AP 8/10/98 "The Justice Department is investigating TVA's 10-year lease extension on a downtown Chattanooga office building, a newspaper reported. The Knoxville News-Sentinel, in a story Sunday from its Washington bureau, quoted unidentified officials who are familiar with the investigation into the lease at the Chestnut Street Towers property. Chattanooga developer Franklin Haney, who the newspaper said contributed about $250,000 to state and national Democratic parties in 1996, has a financial interest in the property. ."

Conservative News Service 8/13/98 Judy Cooley "Five Wisconsin college students ,who did not want their student fees going to fund liberal campus groups, have won their appeal of a lawsuit filed against the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System ."

AP 8/13/98 Deborah Hastings "Some potential jurors in Susan McDougal's embezzlement trial said they admire the Whitewater figure for choosing jail over testifying against President Clinton. ``She strikes me as a determined person,'' one possible panelist said Wednesday, during the third day of jury selection in Mrs. McDougal's trial for allegedly stealing $150,000 from symphony conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife, Nancy. The case is unrelated to the Whitewater investigation."

AP 8/20/98 " Handwritten notes on a White House memo obtained by the Justice Department appear to contradict Vice President Al Gore's account of his campaign fund-raising phone calls, The New York Times reported Thursday. Government officials told the Times the notations on the memo indicate Gore and several campaign officials discussed how some of the large contributions he was raising - meant only for general Democratic campaign purposes - would be diverted to accounts to directly finance the Clinton-Gore re-election effort.."

MSNBC 8/22/98 Channel 5 Chicago "The bombings in Sudan and Afghanistan are hitting home in the form of tightened security measures at O'Hare International Airport. Foot patrols have been added, the number of canine units for bomb sniffing has been increased, and more tow trucks have been brought in to remove unattended vehicles. Over 185,000 passengers travel through O'Hare every day.."

AP 8/22/98 "Characteristics and history of the Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile used in last Thursday's strike against suspected terrorist sites in Sudan and Afghanistan:.Unit cost: About $750,000 over the past four years.. --Sudan and Afghanistan, Aug. 20, 1998. 6 missiles launched against plant in Khartoum, Sudan, suspected of making nerve gas ingredient, 73 against six targets in eastern Afghanistan believed to be terrorist training center.." - comments by Freeper "Let's see, that's 79 missiles at a current unit cost of ~$750,000 - That comes to $59.25 Million."

Hindustan Times 8/25/98 "The United States has appreciated the assistance by the CBI in their investigation against the editor and publisher of a weekly newspaper and a monthly magazine published from New York, CBI said today. The US Department of Justice had charged John Perry editor and publisher of News India Times and India Worldwide for conspiracy, false statements, obstruction of justice and mail fraud, the agency said. In response to a request CBl's Economic Offence Wing in Mumbai conducted part investigation in India and collected voluminous documents and information required by the department of justice, it said."

Fox News 8/25/98 "Professor Kevin Warwick claimed on Tuesday to be the first person in the world to have a computer chip surgically implanted into his body. Warwick told a news conference that a glass capsule about one inch long and one-tenth of an inch wide containing an electromagnetic coil and a silicon chip was inserted into his arm on Monday.."

Stratfor 8/25/98 "Despite detailed U.S. claims that its attacks on suspected terrorist - related facilities in Sudan and Afghanistan were carried out solely by means of Tomahawk cruise missiles, Sudan has insisted since the day of the attack that U . S . aircraft attacked the Shifa chemical plant in Khartoum ... On August 20th , 1998 ,Sudanese Interior Minister Abdul Rahim said that " two American warplanes " had dropped bombs on the chemical plant . Another Sudanese government report immediately after the bombing said that "five air raid strikes" had taken place."

Reuters 8/28/98 "Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Friday his government was proposing a constitutional amendment to make Islam the country's supreme law. But he told parliament that religious freedom of non-Moslem minorities would not be affected by the amendment.."

Progressive Review Sam Smith 9/2/98 "."Under the law, members of the designated groups are barred from entering the United States, and Americans are prohibited from providing 'material support' to the groups even for nonviolent, charitable or political activities . . . The Supreme Court has firmly established that the government cannot punish a person for supporting entirely lawful political activities. Unless the government can show that a person actually supports illegal activities, the court said that punishing them for supporting the group would be imposing a form of guilt by association. In 1996 terrorism law requires no such showing . . . Had this been the law a few years ago when our government called the African National Congress 'a terrorist organization,' it would have been a crime for an American to make a $10 contribution to a speaking tour for a representative of Nelson Mandela." ."

Financial Times 9/4/98 Martin Wolf "... Japan, the US and the European Union account for two-thirds of global output (at market prices). Provided they are reasonably stable, the crisis will remain limited to "only" one-third of the world economy. Unfortunately, that cannot be taken for granted. Things could become far worse. The weakest link in the chain is Japan. Some recent estimates suggest non-performing loans in the banking system have reached the stupefying total of $1,000bn.. The still more important conclusion is that Japan is set to remain what it has been: a big part of the problem, rather than a part of the solution…. The complacent conclusion is then that the agonies of emerging markets bring almost nothing but gain to the US and the EU. There is one big risk, however: stock markets..The biggest risk confronting the world economy is that this miraculous wealth machine will go into reverse. Since equities are at historically high valuations, while swathes of the world economy are in dire straits, this is no remote concern…."

AP Jeannine Aversa 9/4/98 "The nation's top TV regulator wants a federal court to ignore its own injunction and allow 1 million satellite customers nationwide to continue receiving CBS and Fox programs.."

AP Martin Crutsinger 9/4/98 "Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Friday the central bankers are growing more concerned about impact of the global financial crisis on the U.S. economy and are just as likely to vote to cut interest rates as to raise them….. ``We have relearned in recent weeks that just as a bull stock market feels unending ... so it can feel when markets contract that recovery is inconceivable,'' Greenspan said. ``Both, of course, are wrong.'' ."

9/9/98 AP Brian Bergstein "Retired dairy farmer Fred Tuttle never said he was qualified to be a senator. Even his wife didn't vote for him. Tuttle, who ran to give Vermont Republicans a protest vote and campaigned with a $16 budget, defeated a millionaire corporate consultant Tuesday and was nominated to challenge Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy...."

Washington Post 9/16/98 Howard Kurtz ".Patrick Manshardt, an attorney for Drudge, called the executive privilege argument ``absolutely frivolous'' and ``baseless'' and said he plans to challenge it. ``By claiming executive privilege, they prejudice Drudge's ability to defend himself in this civil proceeding,'' he said.."

National Journal 9/12/98 John Maggs "In Moscow, on Sept. 1, it was time for the president of the United States to perform one of the chores of office he does so well, the end-of-the-summit press conference. But Bill Clinton was nowhere to be found. Missing was the man with the quick smile and the easy charm. ... "

FoxNews 9/11/98 "... The juror handed Judge Leslie Light a note complaining Mrs. McDougal was not "taking these proceedings seriously'' and cited Mrs. McDougal's breezy attitude and chattiness with her boyfriend and brother. She also complained that Mrs. McDougal treated the trial as if it was "a social gathering.''….."

AP 9/16/98 "The embezzlement trial for Whitewater figure Susan McDougal was suspended for one week to accommodate witnesses' schedules. And Mrs. McDougal was warned by the judge that she faces a contempt citation if she refuses to sit still during testimony..."

Reuters 9/16/98 Adam Entous "International financier George Soros said Tuesday Russia's economic crisis would worsen, Brazil was on the brink, and the world's lender of last resort -- the International Monetary Fund -- was ill-equipped to fend off a global meltdown…. The multibillionaire philanthropist, who chairs Soros Fund Management, warned that the global capitalist system was coming undone. He also said the U.S. Federal Reserve may need to cut interest rates to spur growth, and called on the U.S. Congress to give $18 billion to the IMF to replenish the lending agency's reserves, drained by bailouts for Russia and ."

NY Times 9/26/98 AP "The Clinton administration's plan to use a statistical sampling method for counting people in the 2000 census has been rejected by a second federal court. Three judges from the U.S. District Court in eastern Virginia sided Friday with the Southeastern Legal Foundation, a conservative public interest law firm that claimed the sampling method is illegal.."

Sam Smith 9/30/98 ".In May 1992, several months before Clinton's nomination, The Progressive Review became the first publication to assemble the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that would come to be known as the Clinton scandals..."

Sam Smith 9/30/98 ".In 1994, Shadows of Hope, by Review editor Sam Smith, was published by Indiana University Press. It was the first book to challenge the media-driven Clinton myth. Shadows of Hope examined Clinton's post-modern contempt for candor, consistency and character, and discussed the problems this might cause the nation.."

Sam Smith 9/30/98 ".In October 1996, the Review reported that "there seems to be adequate grounds for impeachment," based on the suborning of witnesses, obstruction of justice, and abuse of FBI files.."

Sam Smith 9/30/98 ".In June 1997, the Review published a draft presidential impeachment resolution. The resolution was identical to one used in a prior instance except that the name Richard Nixon had been replaced with the name William Jefferson Clinton.."

Associated Press 10/5/98 Robert Burns "White House lawyers accused Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr on Monday of making a misleading argument last summer in battling the White House's claims that deputy counsel Bruce Lindsey should not have to answer all grand jury questions in the Monica Lewinsky matter…..In response, Starr issued a statement Monday night saying that Kendall's letter to Reno was "notable for its lengthy attacks on the conduct of persons outside the Office of the Independent Counsel and the absence of any connection between those actions and those of members of this office.'' …"

Reuters 10/5/98 Knut Engelmann "… Efforts to find a lasting solution to the world's financial problems have dominated more than two days of top-level talks among financial leaders gathered for the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting... President Clinton, who last week tried to seize the initiative by proposing a new mechanism that would give troubled nations easier and faster access to much-needed cash before their economies crash, told the conference it was crucial to boost a wheezing global financial system.."

The Washington Times 10/10/98 Walden Siew "…. Members of the Army Navy Country Club talked about stripping Mr. Clinton of his honorary golf membership on Monday after an angry member rose from the crowd to kick the president off the greens. Attendants called it a surprising development since military folk are prohibited from speaking ill of their commander-in-chief...."

AP 10/11/98 Veselin Zhelev "Declaring that the advance of democracy depends on the progress of women, first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton announced a $15 million grant Sunday to bolster civil society in southeastern Europe…. The conference is focusing on the role of women in social issues confronting southeastern Europe, much of which is still recovering from a half century of Communist rule.."

10/12/98 Arianna Huffington ".When the history books are written, the Clinton crisis will be the first political crisis to be so entirely driven and shaped by polls.. It turns out that polling companies will talk about anything except the response and refusal rates of their last poll. Here's a sampling of a nonscientific poll of pollsters that my office conducted between Oct. 1 and Oct. 9, and that illustrated the nonscientific nature of polling. Ours was a short poll: Can you please give us the response and refusal rates for your most recent national poll? ABC News pollster Jeff Alderman's first response was to say that he didn't understand the question. When it was repeated to him, with minor refinements, he growled: ``That's proprietary information. ... I've got another call. Goodbye.'' In polling lingo, that was a refusal -- but a very revealing one..CBS' Kathy Frankovic was reluctant to release CBS response and refusal data without knowing the information her competitors were giving out..Mike Kagay of the New York Times, Frankovic's partner in the CBS/New York Times polls, did release a response rate for an actual poll, though not the most recent one: 43 percent for the Sept. 12-15 poll. At Gallup, senior methodologist Rajesh Srinivasan promised to fax us response rate data right away. And indeed, we did receive reams of data right away -- on everything except response rates. .."

Investors Business Daily 10/12/98 Matthew Robinson ""We poll likely voters," said pollster John Zogby of Zogby International.. Zogby is renowned for his accurate election-day forecasts. "We all face a sampling problem - Democrats are more likely to respond to polls," said Zogby. "Republicans (also) are less likely to be at home on weekends. They're also less likely to put up with demeaning questions."."

Roll Call 10/14/98 Rachel Van Dongen Ed Henry ".The Democratic "Unity '98" fundraising events hosted by President Clinton have fallen far short of the $18 million to $20 million goal set by party leaders in May, according to officials familiar with the effort…."

New York Post 10/20/98 Dick Morris ".IT was a tough August and September for Clinton. He was battered in Congress and his ratings dropped. But through skillful manipulation of foreign-policy issues, he was able to climb back by October. He avoided military action in a foreign crisis and shepherded a Mideast agreement to fruition. Everything looked good for the November midterm elections now that Clinton's ratings had risen. The year was 1994.."

Scripps Howard News Service 10/20/98 Frank Aukofer ".A spy trial could test the constitutionality of a 20-year-old secret federal court. Critics and defense attorneys in the trial of Theresa M. Squillacote, 40, and her husband, Kurt A. Stand, 43, argue that the court violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects Americans against unreasonable searches and seizures. The Justice Department, where the court's judges meet behind locked doors and security alarms in a windowless chamber, defends the court as a real-world bulwark against espionage and terrorism. Yet few Americans even know the court exists…The court's seven judges are drawn from the ranks of federal district court judges around the country. They serve seven years, with terms staggered so one judge is replaced every year. There also is a three-member FISA appeals court, called the court of review. It has never convened because the lower FISA court has rejected only one application in its 20-year history, and there was no appeal...U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, a former FISA presiding judge, said in a 1997 speech that no applications had been denied in recent years because of the tough scrutiny exercised by the FISA judges. Moreover, he said the applications were ``well-scrubbed by the attorney general and her staff'' before they were even presented. `I don't know how a better system could be devised, and I have not heard one proposed by any of our critics,'' Lamberth said. ``The age of spying is not over ... and the age of terrorism is just dawning.'' Lmberth said that in every criminal case in which a federal court had reviewed a FISA order, it had been upheld. The U.S. Supreme Court has never granted an appeal in a FISA case, he said.."

New York Post 10/22/98 Deborah Orin ".THERE are just 12 days to Election Day, and just about every sign points to a boom year for Republicans around the nation. Analysts can blather on all they like, claiming this election isn't about Sexgate, just about local contests. This is a democracy, so the results will send a message on whether to punish Clinton - and how hard..."

Knight-Ridder 10/23 Jodi Enda "White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles is heading home to North Carolina next week, leaving a president who has unleashed in him emotions that cut against his buttoned-down businessman's veneer: anger and disappointment; awe and an almost boyish esteem. The genteel Southerner -- who agreed to stay on at the White House one week before the Monica Lewinsky scandal started -- said in an interview Thursday that despite his personal ire over President Clinton's behavior, he is certain Clinton will withstand impeachment and accomplish major goals in his final two years in office. ."

AP 10/22/98 Tom Stuckey ".Ellen Sauerbrey said Thursday that Gov. Parris Glendening is using race baiting tactics in their fight to become Maryland's next governor. .Glendening is ``afraid of her inroads into the black community,'' said Michael Steele, the black chairman of the Prince George's County Republican Central Committee…."

AP 10/23/98 "Thirteen percent of black men cannot vote in this year's elections because they are convicted felons, a report released Thursday said. Some of those 1.4 million black men are in prison, but others are on probation or parole or have served their sentences, the report by Human Rights Watch and The Sentencing Project concluded..."

AP 10/22/98 Jeannine A Versa ".Federal regulators proposed that cellular companies change their systems so that police and the FBI can trace, with court approval, a criminal suspect talking on a cell phone. Privacy groups oppose the proposal, which the Federal Communications Commission made.."

Chicago Tribune 10/27/98 Roger Simon ".Covering the president these days means never having to say you saw him. That's an old joke, but for reporters following Bill Clinton, it has never been so true. Not only can reporters go days without seeing the president in the flesh, but the American people -- unless they are the American people who give large sums of money to the Democratic Party -- have been virtually cut off from seeing him up close and personal..."

Baltimore Sun 10/28/98 Gregory Kane ".. For weeks now, black Americans have been walking around patting ourselves on the back, crowing about our capacity to forgive. It's more like our capacity for self-delusion. If we're so forgiving, why haven't we forgiven Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas yet? No black American in history has been the target of such vehemence and invective as Thomas. But forgiving him is clearly not on the African-American agenda...Thomas' sin, in the eyes of black America, is far greater. He's against affirmative action, an affront that puts him right down there on the morality scale with the Romans who crucified Jesus. Thomas' other affront is having the audacity not to go along with the herd mentality afflicting African-Americans. He actually has his own mind. He's a threat.."

Freeper report on The Olympian 11/2/98 Peter Eichstaedt ".In another example of the power of the left wing extremist teachers union,high school students from Timberline High School in Olympia Wa. were sent to Democratic Party headquarters to make political signs welcoming Algore to Olympia. I called the political editor of the paper to ask if he didn't find anything wrong with this and was hung up on. The Olympian (www.theolympian.com) is a typical liberal rag.."

Freeper report on San Antonio Express News 10/31/98 ".A letter to the editor concerning Houstonians' sentiments about Clinton may give a welcome indication about what's going to happen tomorrow. While not scientific and only hearsay, the incident was spontaneous. Sign of the times of presidential respect During a Houston visit, my brother-in-law related a recent incident on the freeway to Galveston. As he was approaching the Clear Lake exit he noticed that cars were slowing down and dozens of drivers had their arms out of their windows with a raised digit. He soon realized the reason as Air Force One crossed the freeway on an approach to Ellington Field. It's a sad day when the president of the United States earns such an ignoble salute. Gary Macphee No, I didn't write the letter and I have no idea who Gary Macphee is. However, the newspaper printed it, and they presumably verify all such letters by contacting the writer before printing them. I was just made aware of the letter, but it was printed on Saturday."

UPI 11/4/98 ".The respected Russian newspaper Kommersant Daily has (Wednesday) published allegations that Russian President Boris Yeltsin's condition was extremely grave before he underwent a complicated quintuple heart-bypass operation in 1996, and that U.S. surgeon Michael DeBakey took part in a Kremlin-conducted cover-up..."

CNN All Politics 10/30/98 "... "There are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of patients in the United States who could benefit from the medical use of marijuana," says Bill Zimmerman of Americans for Medical Rights. The group is funded in large part by three multimillionaire philanthropists, New York financier George Soros, Cleveland insurance magnate Peter Lewis and Phoenix educator-entrepreneur John Sperling, all of them opposed to federal government anti-drug policies from both Republican and Democratic administrations. …. "Those who would surrender the war on drugs surrender our children to addiction," says Gilbert Gallegos, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. The opposition also includes three former presidents who have joined the White House in urging voters to reject legalized marijuana for medical use.."

Washington Weekly 11/9/98 Wesley Phelan "..The muted White House response is a good indication that Gingrich has done the right thing for his party and for the nation. Although the House of Representatives has concluded its ethics investigation of Gingrich, his use of a tax-exempt organization for political purposes has been referred to the Tax Division of the Justice Department, where it might be resurrected at any time. If Gingrich had remained in the top leadership position in the House, Bill Clinton would have had a powerful weapon for forestalling a thorough investigation of the many allegations against him in the pending impeachment inquiry. Gingrich's resignation opens the way for a new leader to emerge who can ensure that the process is brought to an unfettered and satisfactory conclusion.."

Washington Post 11/10/98 Craig Timberg and Peter Pae "..Virginia auditors said Monday that more than 11,000 ineligible felons and nearly 1,500 dead people are registered to vote in the state, a problem officials said could undermine the integrity of elections if left unchecked..."

New York Times 11/22/98 David Johnston ".F.B.I. Director Louis Freeh's inner circle has always regarded him as a potential Republican candidate back home in New York, although Mr. Freeh has shrugged off talk of a political future, citing his 10 yesr term, which expires in 2003. Now things may be changing... And Mr. Freeh has kick-started gossip in the capital by inviting former President George Bush to be keynote speaker Friday at the F.B.I.'s 90th anniversary celebration at Constitution Hall..."

MSNBC 12/17/98 Freeper report ".HILLARY CLINTON, according to one well-placed Washington insider, wants to start standing in a receiving line separate from her husband. "Traditionally, they stand and greet people together," says the source. "But Hillary is so furious with Bill that her people have suggested forming separate receiving lines." The idea has been nixed so far..."

http://www.newsday.com/ap/rnmpnt1g.htm "..Ninety-one people were held for almost eight hours as a health precaution after an anonymous threat claimed anthrax had been released into the air ducts of a federal building. …Authorities held the people, most of them U.S. Bankruptcy Court staff members, as firefighters and FBI investigators tested the ventilation system for anthrax spores..."

CNN.com 12/22/98 ".Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, the nation's first black female senator, has been offered the ambassadorship to New Zealand, according to a top aide to the senator. .."

Associated Presss 1/8/98 Jonathan Salant "..Supporters and opponents of President Clinton are taking to the airwaves and the Internet.. The firm's new commercial warns: ``As long as Congress puts partisanship ahead of real work, Message & Media has two words for you -- we're watching.'' ." Note from Alamo-Girl: the phrase "We are watching" originated with Freeper Mrs. Palter and has been used extensively by Free Republic. Being copied is a most sincere form of flattery.

The New York Times 1/11/99 William Safire "… not one of the aides who call themselves betrayed has turned on him. Not one of his appointees has resigned in disgust. Not one close associate or lawyer still living has crumbled, though under intense pressure of the threat of jail, to testify against him. Through all the revelations of deceit, his wife steadfastly grasps his hand. His political party marches lockstep down the line to protect him. And the public, in opinion polls and at the polling booth, stands by him more staunchly with each step toward historic shame. That's loyalty across the board, the likes of which this nation has never seen before... What beyond a sense of duty induces William Cohen, who jumped party ship to impeach Nixon, to remain at the helm of the Pentagon and bear the scorn of critics who see his Iraqi missile- lobbing as Clinton impeachment-lobbying? ..."

Wall Street Journal 1/11/99 Frank Gaffney, Jr. ".The Clinton administration's arms-control policy is a prime example of the triumph of hope over experience. No matter how dismal the previous record of international arms-control agreements, the White House reflexively insists that new accords--including the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention and a new "verification" protocol for the Biological Weapons Convention--will somehow prove more effective. Now Washington is actively considering what may be the most lunatic arms-control proposal of all: a ban on "information warfare."."

Yahoo! News Top Stories Headlines - Washington (Reuters) 1/12/99 Steve Holland Freeper sunshine ".The money included $475,000 from an insurance settlement with the Chubb Insurance Co. and $375,000 from the Clintons' personal funds. Clinton had personal-liability insurance, and the amount Chubb paid was negotiated by the company and Bennett.."

AP 1/29/99 Pete Yost ".A federal judge today ordered some material kept secret in a case stemming from Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Clinton after a prosecutor expressed concern that disclosure would "tip off targets'' in the ongoing probe. U.S. District Judge Claude Hilton said lawyers for Julie Hiatt Steele, who is accused of obstruction and making a false statement in Starr's investigation, must not disseminate material they receive from Starr's office in preparing for trial.."

Reuters 2/1/99 ".Commercial television stations would have to pay a total of $200 million a year for use of the public airwaves under a proposal buried in the Clinton administration's fiscal 2000 spending plan. The provision, sure to draw strong opposition from broadcasters, directs the Federal Communications Commission to start collecting the fees by Sept. 30, 2000, ending decades of free use of the airwaves for television…"

WorldNetDaily 2/2/99 David Bresnahan ".It is vital that we remember that President Clinton is extremely predictable. Those who know him best have told us to examine his past to determine his future. Clinton's past is frightening, because he served as Governor of Arkansas longer than the Arkansas Constitution allowed. He did so through an amendment to the state constitution which enabled him to run for another term. Watch Clinton carefully..."

ABCNews.Com 2/3/99 David Phinney ".Even if the Senate throws its collective hands up and shuts down the impeachment trial in the next few weeks, Starr's myriad investigations of President Clinton show all the signs of plunging forward. On the list of unfinished business: the Arkansas real estate deal known as Whitewater, the possible illegal use of FBI files, the firing of White House travel office staffers and, of course, events surrounding Paula Jones…."

New York Post 2/5/99 Richard Johnson w/ Jeane MacInstosh Kate Coyne ". SUSAN McDougal had good reason to go to jail rather than testify against President Clinton - they were lovers, Star magazine claims. Next week's issue reports Clinton secretly admitted to the affair, and shocked former top White House aide Dick Morris by questioning whether he should commit perjury to hide it. . ."

The Washington Times 2/12/99 "…. "It was believed the independent counsel law would strengthen public trust and confidence in our system of justice. It was designed to take politics out of high-level investigations. I would say that we would have to ask ourselves if it has really done that. I believe the answer would have to be 'no.' " But those aren't the words of the GOP. They belong to none other than the president of the American Bar Association, Philip Anderson of Little Rock, Ark. This week the ABA's House of Delegates voted 384 to 49 against reauthorization of the law when it expires in June. So the self-styled "parent" of the independent council statute has decided to strangle it just as it enters its adult years..."

WH Press Briefing 2/12/99 Jon in GA ".This reporter asked two incredible questions: "The president often plays golf with different people, would he play with O.J. Simpson if he was invited?" He later asked: "Diane Feinstein called the president "Despicable, disgusting, reprehensible, etc. Doesn't her refusal to vote to remove him suggest that ultimately Al Gore is worse?" Does anyone know this guy?..."

Florida Times-Union 2/14/99 Editorial Freeper newsman ".Former Cabinet member William Bennett said of Clinton: ''He has radically lowered the standards of what we consider permissible behavior. He is a man of breathtaking self-indulgence and self-absorption, forever aggrieved, always the victim, more sinned against than sinning, never responsible for the trouble in which he finds himself. He routinely makes others pay a very high price for his misconduct.''."

Nando Media/Associated Press 2/14/99 Jay Reeves ".While many Americans are eager for healing now that President Clinton's impeachment trial is over, Walter Perry and his friends are not. Their feelings run too deep for anything but anger.... It's something deeper, something words cannot explain.. "

O'Reilly Factor 2/16/99 Freeper JustPiper ".The Good/Bad News is the new Zogby poll out tonight on O'Reilly is Clinton has the lowest personal rating EVER of ANY president! Its down to 41%!!!."

2/15/99 MSNBC Jay Severin ".Let's start with what we really do know for sure: the opinions of opinion-makers - the newspapers, the network news, the pundits - are all based on the same public opinion polls, and those polls are wrong, dead wrong. They are counterfeit, despite enjoying status as the coin of the media realm. In fact, those polls may be accurate measures of general American sentiment, but they continue to ignore the crucial dirty fact of political life: two-thirds of us do not vote...."

American Spectator 2/13/99 R Emmett Tyrell "…. He campaigned as a centrist. While in Washington he has done more to stamp out left-liberal values than J. Edgar Hoover. As civil libertarians note, he is a menace to civil liberties. He campaigned in favor of capital punishment and demonstrated his seriousness by allowing a mental defective to be executed while he pursued George Bush. Now every time the polls weaken or a new scandal threatens he launches an air assault on Islam.. Still the Liberal intellectual elite stand shoulder to shoulder for him. His lies they dismiss. His assaults on women they pass off as romance and ardent passion. His laws hounding immigrants and extending wiretaps are for them manifestations of Good Government. But why? To the trained political eye Bill Clinton is a rogue and an incompetent. His 1992 campaign promises were so ineptly implemented that his party lost both houses of Congress and many state governments, all to the abominable Republicans. He is a true Liberal's nightmare..…. Thanks to his Liberal supporters Bill Clinton has the distinction of being the beneficiary of more silly testimonials than any president in this century. He has been called America's first black president by Toni Morrison. Mary Gordon called him our first woman president. Al Gore called him "one of our greatest presidents," and a preacher in Buffalo, New York, called him "the greatest president for our people for all time."…."

Daily Oklahoman 2/16/99 Joseph Sobran ".But a good con man knows human nature. He knows how to turn the dark side of other people to his advantage, how to play on their gullibility, how to enlist their secret desires and guilts. It's typical of Clinton that he had a dumb intern believing she might be his future wife once he left office, and that shortly afterward he was willing to circulate a cruel smear about her. Everyone knows what Clinton is, but he wins anyway. He wins because he knows what we are.."

CNS 2/16/99 Freeper hope ".A witness who testified in the House Judiciary Committee impeachment inquiry has written a letter to President Bill Clinton seeking a pardon of her perjury conviction related to a sexual harassment case. Dr. Barbara Ann Battalino lost her medical license and bar association status when she was convicted of perjury and sentenced to six months house arrest and six months probation. Battalino sent a letter to Clinton on Friday because of the similarities in their two cases. Since Clinton was acquitted by the Senate, Battalino told CNS, "In fairness, I should be pardoned.". ."

US News (on Line) 2/16/99 Kenneth Walsh ".The core of the problem remains Clinton's flawed character. His legendary self-indulgence led him to conduct a reckless affair at the White House with former intern Monica Lewinsky over a period of 18 months. Perhaps the most remarkable finding of a new U.S. News poll is that Clinton is now considered to have the worst moral standards of any modern president. Fifty-six percent of voters rated him at the bottom. And in a note that must be particularly galling to Clinton, his rating was far worse than that of Richard Nixon, the president who resigned rather than face impeachment and a man whom Clinton has always reviled. Nixon came in a distant second on the immorality index with 14 percent.."

Jewish World Review 2/17/99 Mona Charen ". Last week, Jesse the Brain Ventura met with a hundred or so protesters from the state university. They were demanding the usual things -- more money from the taxpayers of Minnesota to help balance their checkbooks…. "I believe in self-sufficiency," he told the crowd to loud boos. "I am a single mother," cried one plaintive voice from the crowd. "Well, I don't want to sound hard-core," Ventura responded, "but why did you become a single parent? It takes two to raise ... " "And sometimes one of them walks away," the student interrupted. "What then?" she demanded. Ventura looked exasperated. "You're asking the government to make up for people's mistakes. Is that the government's job?".."

AP 2/19/99 Michael Sniffen ".Attorney General Janet Reno has been asked by a Democratic lawmaker to look into whether Independent Counsel Ken Starr lied under oath during testimony to a House committee last year. The request came in a letter from Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts and concerned Starr's answer to a question from Frank about alleged grand jury leaks from Starr's office...."

AP 2/19/99 Terence Hunt ".A week after surviving impeachment, President Clinton said Friday he expects "two good years here" but acknowledged that America probably paid a price for his ordeal... He added, "I think the Constitution has been in effect re- ratified.".."

Capitol Hill Blue 2/20/99 ".At the White House, Clinton spokesman Joe Lockhart tried to downplay the story..Clinton lawyer David Kendall also issued a denial..But White House sources said Friday night that the appearance of the story in a mainstream publication like the Journal clearly has senior Clinton aides concerned. "There were a lot of long faces when the press summary came out today," one White House aide said. "Everybody's worried about how this will play out."."

NY Times 2/21/99 Katharine Seelye "...The Democratic Party's hopes of retaking the Senate next year may have dimmed a bit with the unexpected retirements announced last week by two Democrats who almost certainly could have kept their seats. Sens. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey and Richard Bryan of Nevada surprised the political world by saying they would not seek re-election next year.... They joined Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the New York Democrat, as the only senators so far to announce their exits, creating three open seats in states that Democrats had counted on in their uphill fight to recapture the Senate...."

AP 2/23/99 Peter Yost "...The three appeals judges directed Attorney General Janet Reno and Starr to submit written arguments concerning whether the Justice Department has the authority to investigate the independent counsel. Government officials have said Justice plans to open an investigation of Starr. The panel of appeals court judges, headed by David Sentelle of Washington, was responding to a request for court action filed by a conservative group, the Landmark Legal Foundation. The group contends the department cannot investigate Starr...."

Wall Street Journal 3/8/99 Terry Eastland Freeper the Raven "…We now have a new turn in the continuing saga of the independent-counsel law and it is a veritable U-turn. It was made last week when Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder, reversing the position held by the Clinton administration for six years, told a congressional committee that the Justice Department now opposes the statute…"

Associated Press 3/8/99 Pete Yost "…Neither prosecutor Kenneth Starr nor the Justice Department encouraged a federal court Monday to decide whether Attorney General Janet Reno can investigate the way Starr conducted the Monica Lewinsky investigation. In court papers, the independent counsel said he was refraining from addressing the underlying issue — whether the attorney general "acted improperly'' in moving toward an investigation of his office. Instead, Starr argued that the conservative group that sought the involvement of a panel of three appeals court judges has no right to ask the judges to intercede. …"

AP 3/9/99 David Lieb Freeper TxTruth "…State lawmakers on Tuesday rejected a request for $500,000 to be put toward converting President Clinton's boyhood home into a museum. The bill's sponsor ran from the House chamber in tears …."

Pittsburgh Tribune Review 3/14/99 Richard Gazarik "… Last month, Steve Kangas of Las Vegas bought a 9mm pistol, a bottle of Jack Daniel's whiskey and a bus ticket to Pittsburgh. It would be a one-way trip. Almost immediately after arriving on Feb. 8, Kangas went to One Oxford Centre. He walked around inside the towering office complex for a time, then hid out in a public restroom on the 39th floor. Nine hours later, drunk to the point of incoherence, Kangas shot and killed himself in the restroom - on the same floor as the offices of Richard M. Scaife, the publisher of the Tribune-Review and a nationally known backer of conservative causes. The location was no accident. Kangas, 37, was obsessed with Scaife's politics; apparently he traveled to Pittsburgh to confront, and possibly to kill, the man he believed to be evil incarnate…. Kangas was himself a former intelligence agent, according to his Web site. A Russian linguist, he served in the U.S. Army in Berlin during the 1980s lectronically intercepting and translating communication traffic of East bloc military units. "Journalism is the perfect cover for CIA agents," he wrote in one of many lengthy diatribes against the right. He believed that the news media provided the perfect cover to "write anti-communist, pro-capitalist propaganda when needed." He included Scaife in that group, he wrote, because Scaife's father, Alan, served in the Office of Strategic Services during World War II. The OSS was the forerunner of the CIA…. . Huben recalls Kangas telling him how the intelligence community was behind all sorts of sinister political plots. "He had a number of conspiracy theories about the CIA being involved in neo-liberal and right-wing movements," …"

Defenselink.mil/news 3/15/99 Pentagon "…The Ballistic Missile Defense Organization and the U.S. Army conducted the PATRIOT Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile Seeker Characterization Flight (SCF) test at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., today at 6:55 a.m. Preliminary test data indicate the test was successful. Objectives included the collection of data and analyses of the system/missile capability to detect, track, and close with the target, the PAC-3 missile seeker data in a flight environment, and the missile closed-loop homing guidance performance in flight. While not a specific objective of the SCF, the PAC-3 missile intercepted the HERA reentry vehicle target. The PAC-3 missile is a high velocity, hit-to-kill missile and is the next-generation PATRIOT missile being developed to provide increased defense capability against advanced theater ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and hostile aircraft…."

Reuters 3/17/99 Freeper Brian Mosely "…The U.S. House of Representatives Wednesday passed a bill that would slap import quotas on cheap foreign steel despite White House warnings it would violate international trade rules…."

Reuters 3/18/99 John Whitesides "… The U.S. Senate Thursday overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to cut off funding for Kenneth Starr's investigation of President Clinton and for three other long-running independent counsels…."

CNS 3/18/99 David Bozell "…Senator John Ashcroft (R-MO) led other members of Congress and representatives from America's leading tax organizations in calling for an end to federal estate taxes yesterday at a morning news conference on Capital Hill…."

Wall Street Underground 3/21/99 Nicholas Guarino "…Nicholas Guarino writes: "My high level source on Clinton's crimes has been 100% right for two years straight - and he's just dropped the bombshell of the year: Three of Bill Clinton's paid thugs are now safely tucked away in the Witness Protection Program - and they're singing like canaries. Clinton's goons have now confessed under oath that they were paid to terrorize grand jury witnesses -- and even to threaten their children's lives -- to prevent them from testifying about Clinton's crimes. An outraged Kenneth Starr is now secretely preparing to indict and try the President of the United States and 9 of his most trusted allies on conspiracy and racketeering charges…."

New York Post 3/24/99 Dick Morris "…While the President's job approval remains high - 65 percent - his favorability, the personal opinion people have of him, is in free fall. Curiously, the aftermath of the impeachment, with the Juanita Broaderick and Monica Lewinsky interviews, has been harder on his ratings than the impeachment trial itself. Note the dramatic falloff in Clinton's favorability ratings since the height of the impeachment trial in the middle of January. From then until now, Bill Clinton's personal favorability rating has dropped by ten points, from 45 percent on January 15 to 35 percent on March 12. Before America heard of Monica Lewinsky, the President's personal popularity stood at 59 percent. Thus, this affair has cost him a 24 point drop in favorability. …."

AP Washington Post Amy Westfeldt "…Prosecutors say a former National Football League player who admitted to killing seven people also stabbed a homeless white man to death as a sacrifice to the leader of a black supremacist cult. Robert Rozier, 43, was charged with murder Tuesday in the 1984 slaying of Attilio Cicala, who was stabbed near the Yahweh Ben Yahweh temple in Newark. Prosecutors said they believed cult members offered Cicala up as a sacrifice a few days before the cult's leader was to visit Newark….. Ben Yahweh, also known as Hulon Mitchell Jr., and six others were convicted in 1992 of conspiracy for ordering 14 killings of white people and resistant black disciples. …"

Universal Press Syndicate 3/25/99 Maggie Gallagher "…This week, as part of his continuing plan to bravely forge his own distinct political identity, Vice President Al Gore announced plans to bring the awesome power of the federal government to bear on two pressing social ills: car traffic and cow poop. I kid you not. A new benefit of up to $240 a month in cash and tax incentives for workers who carpool, use mass transit, bike or walk to work….ew Strategy Will Control Runoff From Livestock Operations," announces Gore's March 8 press release, which promises "better management of 1.37 billion tons of manure a year" through voluntary grants to small operators and tough mandatory controls on larger agribusinesses. …"

Yahoo Business Wire 3/29/99 Press Release "…CyberStar, a Loral Space and Communications Ltd. (NYSE:LOR - news) created company and leading provider of broadband IP-multicast video and data solutions, today announced that it has acquired Satellite Network Systems (SNS), Inc., a full service system integrator of business television (BTV) services headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. SNS's system integration expertise, coupled with CyberStar's IP-multicast solutions, will enable CyberStar to deliver a full complement of broadband solutions to its clients and provide new value-added services through the convergence of data and BTV services…."

Drudge Report 3/31/99 Freeper L.N.Smithee "…Clinton says impeachment "no great badge of shame" …President Bill Clinton said Wednesday that his impeachment was "no badge of shame" and that he never considered resigning over the Monica Lewinsky affair. "Never, not a second. Never. Never," Clinton said on a CBS interview. "I would never have legitimized what I believe is horribly wrong." …"

The Manchester Union Leader 4/5/99 Richard Lessner "...Ah, the ironies of history! Here is Bill Clinton, who came of age politically marching against the war in Vietnam, acting like an eerie reincarnation of a bewildered Lyndon Johnson staggering into the swamps of Southeast Asia…. Thus smugly convinced that foreign policy mattered little - and national security and military preparedness even less - Bill Clinton either ignored foreign affairs or reluctantly engaged them in the haphazard, feckless fashion of the dilettante. He basked in the warmth of a prospering economy, flummoxed his political opponents, weathered impeachment and concentrated on popular domestic do-gooderism...."

AP 4/6/99 Kalpana Srinivasan Freeper TheOtherOne "…Aside from the predictable bags of unwashed clothes and as yet-to-be-read books, this year's college freshmen may have also brought home some surprises for spring break: conservative views on casual sex, abortion and other issues. A comprehensive survey of this year's college freshmen finds a host of areas where young adults are taking decidedly different turns on issues than previous generations of students …."

New York Times 4/15/99 William Safire "..."I believe we ought to be slow to engage our military, slow to commit our troops," says Gov. George W. Bush, "but when we do so we must do so to win." Does he think it was a mistake for President Clinton to say specifically we would not send in ground troops? "I do. I do. I think we ought to leave all options on the table, but I think those tactical decisions ought to be made by military planners and not by politicians." .... He thinks Clinton sent a "mixed signal" in crossing the Pacific to visit only China last year. "The President should visit our friends. China is not our friend in the Far East. Our friends are Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. He didn't visit our friends. I think it is important that we maintain our friendships and always remember who our friends are."..... "

WORLD Magazine 4/17/99 Cal Thomas Freeper Stand Watch Listen "...EXCERPTS "The situation in the Balkans isn't like Vietnam, we're told. Sure. And the situation when we first began sliding into Vietnam was different from the disastrous French experience in Indochina. The French warned us not to go there. We didn't listen, we're not listening still. History can teach, but only if students are willing to learn. "..."

WORLD Magazine 4/7/99 J. Budziszewski Freeper Stand Watch Listen "..."First come criteria for when going to war is permissible. It isn't enough to honor most of them; all seven must be satisfied. 1. Public authority. 2. Just cause. 3. Right intention 4. Comparative justice. 5. Proportionality 6. Probability of success. 7. Last resort...."

Freeper ohmlaw98 observes "...I can't explain the discrepancy between the two accounts. Here are direct exerpts from the House Committee Interim Report: "Shortly thereafter, on March 21, 1996, Charlie Trie visited the offices of Michael Cardozo, the head of the PLET. Shortly after his meeting with Cardozo started, Trie opened a manila envelope stuffed with hundreds of small checks totaling $380,000. Cardozo developed an immediate suspicion of the money delivered by Trie, based on the manner of their delivery, the fact that many of the cashier's checks and money orders were sequentially numbered, and that there were misspellings on a number of the checks." "On March 21, 1996, after Trie delivered the checks to the PLET offices, he met with Mark Middleton and gave him a letter for delivery to the White House. The letter indicates that it was faxed first from "P.E.C. Co.," on March 20. The following day, after Middleton received it, he faxed it to the White House." "On April 24, Trie returned to the PLET offices to contribute another $179,000 in checks from Suma Ching Hai devotees." By adding the two separate contributions, the total would equal $559,000, so I can't equate Timperlake's documented account of $460,000..."

Progressive Review 4/8/99 Sam Smith "…One thing you have to hand the First Fugitive: he certainly knows how to rack up superlatives: Most members of a presidential political machine convicted of a felony. Most members of a political machine to have taken the Fifth or fled the country. Most number of presidential ex-girlfriends harassed by thugs, private investigators or attorneys. Most number of gratuitous military attacks on foreign countries in the shortest amount of time. And now we can add to the list: Most corrupted by a foreign country…."

Executive Order 13117 4/5/99 Vol 64 Number 64 Clinton "...Executive Order 13117 of March 31, 1999 Further Amendment to Executive Order 12981, as Amended By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and in order to further the implementation of the reorganization of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency (ACDA) into the Department of State, in this instance by eliminating ACDA's vote on dual-use export license decisions in the administration of export controls, it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12981, as amended (``Executive Order 12981''), is further amended as follows..."

4/15/99 Freeper CHIEF negotiator "...U.S. Reps. James A. Traficant, Jr. (D-OH) and Billy Tauzin (R-LA) today introduced legislation to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and federal income tax, replacing them with a 15 percent national retail sales tax..."

AP via World News Now list via an informant 4/21/99 Freeper Plummz "…Gov. Jesse Ventura said Wednesday the Colorado school shooting demonstrates the need for loosening restrictions on concealed weapons. ``Had there been someone who was armed, in this particular situation, in my opinion, it may have stabilized,'' the former professional wrestler-turned politician said. …"

Reuters 4/22/99 "...Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura said Thursday he regretted saying the Colorado high school shooting might have been brought to a halt sooner if someone else in the building had been carrying a concealed weapon. ….``I believe that except for uniformed police officers, a school is no place for weapons,'' he said in a statement...."

The Washington Times-Weekly 4-19 to 4-25/99 Jerry Seper "...A federal judge dealth Webster L. Hubbell a setback on April 13 in his pending fraud, perjury and obstruction trial, denying defense claims that evidence gathering violated an immunity agreement. U.S. District Judge James Robertson ruled that an indictment sought in November by independent, Kenneth W. Starr was not based on documents produced by Mr. Hubbell under a plea agreement with Mr. Starr's office in the Whitewater investigation....."

ABC NEWS.com 4/22/99 Claudine Chamberlain "...A team of researchers at the University of Western Ontario in Canada has found no evidence of the so-called "gay gene," directly contradicting studies from 1993 and '95 that pinpointed a specific genetic marker on the X chromosome linked to homosexuality in men. Whether genes play a part in sexual orientation has long been a hot button topic for people who support or oppose gay rights....."

Progressive Review 4/22/99 Sam Smith Freeper incognito "...Or consider that there are more guns per-capita in Maine than in any other state save possibly Alaska. About 50,000 Mainers have permits to carry concealed weapons. ….Yet Maine has a crime rate one-third below the national average. Maine has one or two fatal gun accidents a year, lower than the death rate for snowmobiling or boating...."

Matt Drudge 4/24/99 "…The school that became the site of one of the nation's worst massacres this week, was in the headlines in the early 90's for offering death education classes to confused students! One student even planned to kill herself after attending one of the classes, ABC NEWS reported in a 20/20 profile back in 1991. …"

Reuters OL 4/29/99 Alan Elsner, Political Correspondent "...A Reuters poll conducted by Zogby International found 80 percent of Republicans and 77 percent of Democrats believed foreign policy and defense expertise was ``very important'' in their next presidential choice...."

Electronic Telegraph - UK 4/25/99 Mark Steyn Freeper Deep_6 "......If gun control bore any relation to homicide rates, Washington DC would be the safest place in the country. Instead, the safest places are Vermont and New Hampshire, which also happen to have the highest rates of gun ownership in the country...."

AFP 4/30/99 "...Chen Ing-hou, the 24-year-old Taiwanese computer wizard suspected of designing the deadly Chernobyl virus, had been a quiet student before his invention devastated computers around the world..... He told investigators that he felt cheated by some computer software companies after using their anti-virus programs which he said turned out be useless. So he decided to design Chernobyl as a way of teaching software companies a lesson, according to the investigators. But Chen showed regret and immediately offered solutions for downloading programs from the Internet....."

AFP 4/30/99 "...Chinese intelligence agents have reportedly been sent to Taiwan after a virus wrecked millions of computers worldwide including those owned by the People's Liberation Army, reports said Friday. Taiwan government units "like Taiwan's National Security Bureau, Intelligence Information Bureau and Bureau of Investigation had been tipped off that the mainland had sent people here to gather first-hand information about the virus," the China Times Express reported. China feared some kind of political motivation was behind the virus which was allegedly designed by a Taiwan college student Chen Ing-hou, the paper said...."

CAN 4/30/99 "...Overcome with regret over the recent global havoc caused by a computer virus he created, ROC national Chen Ing-hau on Friday gave an antidote program to the police, in an effort to help clean up the mess he made. In a confession to a Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) computer crime prevention and control squad, Chen admitted he made the virus, named CIH after his own initials. The virus is nicknamed "Chernobyl" after the Soviet nuclear disaster of 1986. "I only intended to teach a lesson to those anti-virus peddling companies for creating useless programs which cost me a great deal of money," Chen told investigators...."

PDD 63 Whitehouse.gov William Jefferson Blythe Clinton 5/22/98 "... WHITE PAPER The Clinton Administration's Policy on Critical Infrastructure Protection: Presidential Decision Directive 63 May 22, 1998 This White Paper explains key elements of the Clinton Administration's policy on critical infrastructure protection....The United States possesses both the world's strongest military and its largest national economy. Those two aspects of our power are mutually reinforcing and dependent. They are also increasingly reliant upon certain critical infrastructures and upon cyber-based information systems. Critical infrastructures are those physical and cyber-based systems essential to the minimum operations of the economy and government. They include, but are not limited to, telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, transportation, water systems and emergency services, both governmental and private.... Because of our military strength, future enemies, whether nations, groups or individuals, may seek to harm us in non-traditional ways including attacks within the United States. Our economy is increasingly reliant upon interdependent and cyber-supported infrastructures and non-traditional attacks on our infrastructure and information systems may be capable of significantly harming both our military power and our economy..... "

New York Times 5/2/99 Don Van Natta, Jr. "... Ms. Steele is charged with lying in an affidavit and statements to investigators about her knowledge of whether the president had made an unwanted sexual advance to Ms. Willey. She had described this knowledge to Isikoff and later denied it....."

Associated Press 5/2/99 "... As part of the Monica Lewinsky case, Starr investigated Mrs. Willey's account but did not assemble enough evidence to include any related information in his impeachment referral to Congress. One reason he did not was Ms. Steele's testimony that Mrs. Willey had asked her to lie to back up the allegation against the president. Ms. Steele's trial on three obstruction counts and one count of making false statements is the only criminal trial to arise out of the Lewinsky investigation....."

Freeper ClintonBeGone reports 5/2/99 "...Apparently Peter King did the single digit courtesy to the Freepers in DC. I got this from Dr Raoul ...."Rep. Peter King (NY) very enthusiastically gave the FReepers the finger as the car he was riding in passed the corner. He turned around in the back seat so he could do it too. Once on the other side, when he got out, he very enthusiastically, used both hands to repeat his performance. So the stories of Clinton and his cronies being vengeful, spiteful and petty people ARE true." Doctor Raoul ..."

hemorraghingEWTN 5/3/99 Freeper marshmallow "...Canadians were shocked today to learn that the publishers of the weekly magazine 'Alberta Report' have been served a subpoena and are scheduled to appear before a provincial judge for exposing and reporting on the practice of infanticide at a Calgary hospital. The origin of the dispute lies in the magazine's May 3 cover story that appeared on newsstands yesterday which describes the refusal of three nurses at the Foothills Medical Centre -- under the jurisdiction of the Calgary Regional Health Authority (CHRA) -- to be forced to cooperate in eugenic abortions and infanticides at the huge 700-bed facility...."

WorldNetDaily 5/13/99 Jerome Zeifman "....The irate interviewer challenged me with: "How do you dare compare President Clinton to Hitler?" ….Years ago I bought a now-lost second hand book -- translating the letters between Thomas Mann and Hermann Hesse in the Weimar years. As I recall, Mann (who had a Jewish wife) had been president of the Prussian Literary Society -- Germany's most prestigious writers. Hesse was also a member. The Brown Shirts infiltrated the society and mustered enough votes to oust Mann as president and expel Hesse -- who then fled to Switzerland, his original homeland. Mann and other anti-Nazi members regrouped and eventually mustered enough votes to restore Mann to the presidency -- and restore Hesse's membership. Mann wrote to Hesse and urged him to return to Germany and help fight the good fight. Hesse replied prophetically that in his view it was inevitable that more than 90 percent of the Germans would soon completely embrace the ends-justify-the-means doctrine of totalitarianism. He decided that to help keep alive the free spirit of German literature his own place was in his homeland in Switzerland. My final chilling recollection was a lecture I attended in Switzerland in 1953 -- when I was a student at the University of Zurich. At that time the Rosenbergs had been put to death in the United States…. Mann, who until then had been a refugee in California, returned to Germany for the first time. He then visited Zurich and gave what I believe was his last public lecture -- which I attended. A month or so later Mann died in the Zurich "Kantonspital." My translation of a portion of Mann's last lecture is: It was not without trepidations that I have revisited my German "heimatland." I have some doubts about the possibility of the revival of democracy in "entnazifiziert" [de-nazified] Deutschland." But sadly, to tell you the truth, I also see evil rising dangerously in North America. I fear that today, even in Germany -- of all places -- there are more outspoken anti-totalitarian writers than in my adopted country...."

Wall Street Journal 5/17/99 Jeff Cole Deborah Lohse "...A 16-month run of failed commercial-satellite launches has cost insurers more than $2.25 billion and made them eager to double premiums, say insurance and satellite executives..... In the most recent two failures, an Ikonos imaging satellite was destroyed after a launch attempt using a new Lockheed Martin rocket type. Earlier this month, Boeing Co.'s new Delta III rocket failed for the second consecutive time and left an Orion 3 communications satellite in a useless orbit. Insurers cite a much longer string of losses, including last year's failed launch of 12 satellites for the Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. mobile-phone system on a Ukrainian rocket, and the August loss of a major satellite for PanAmSat Corp., when Boeing's Delta III failed the first time. One satellite failure knocked out paging services, while other shortcomings brought big claims from the EchoStar Communications Corp. TV service and Iridium LLC, a mobile-phone service....."

Washington Post 5/17/99 David Segal "...Georgetown University Law School will offer a semester-long course called "Clinton" starting in August….Among the many questions to be asked: Can a sitting president be sued in a civil lawsuit? Can a lame-duck Congress impeach the commander-in-chief? What is a high crime? ….The class was conceived and will be taught by 30-year-old Neal Katyal, who works for Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder in the Justice Department..."

Associated Press 5/17/99 Michael J. Sniffen Freeper Brian Mosely "...A former Australian government intelligence official was charged today with attempted espionage for selling U.S. defense secrets to an undercover FBI agent posing as a foreign spy, law enforcement officials said. They said Jean-Philippe Wispelaere, 28, obtained $120,000 from undercover FBI agents in exchange for more than 713 classified U.S. documents in two batches last month and earlier this month, according to the officials, who requested anonymity. He worked for the Australian Defence Intelligence Organization from July 1998 to January 1999...."

Freeper wildbill observes 5/19/99 "... First, the CIA has satellite imagery capability (in the sattelites they admit to) that permits reading a newspaper in the hands of the Chinese ambassador outside the Belgrade embassy. And the Chinese know it. Don't you think the photo-analyst at the CIA might have noticed a Chinese flag flying or all those oriental faces going in or out? Finally, it is absurd that anyone should think that a single analyst is making these bombing decisions, and you have to believe in the tooth fairy to think that all CIA analysts are incompetent..... "

ABC News Website 5/25/99 Heather Maher ".... Now that the extensively redacted Cox Report has been released publicly (it was completed in January but has been rewritten several times), the Republican Cox is in the spotlight, but it has shed a curious, not harsh, light on him. By all accounts, Cox has pulled off the impossible: He produced a credible, secret report on a hypersensitive national security matter with the smooth cooperation of a bipartisan committee during the most rancorous congressional bickering in the last 20 years..... In 1996, the American Civil Liberties Union gave him a "0" rating. The Christian Coalition gave him a "100."..."

5/29/99 Bob Momenteller Etherzone "...I would to take this opportunity to thank all of the Freepers who took the time to E-mail me with words of encouragement over the last 24 hours. It was nice to know that there are dozens of you who really care about the Zone. For those of you who may not be aware of what happened, here is the story... On Wednesday evening I received an anomalous e-mail advising us of the following: "If we did not remove the three pictures of the treasonous bastards from our website (Berger,Clinton,Reno) within 24 hours, we will pay the consequences." The e-mail was signed, "Friends of the DOJ." On Friday May 28th at 9:20am CDT, our website was hacked into, bringing our server to its knees for over 14 hours. We are now up and running again after a fun filled day of hair pulling. New security measures are in place and we will prosecute the assh#@es when find them. We will NOT be itimidated by anyone including but not limited to the White House, Department of Justice, CIA, FBI, or any number of other assh#@es operating under this despicable, treasonous, and vile administration... Thank you and may God Bless you all... "

Associated Press Wire/San Antonio Express News Online 5/31/99 "...When talk in Congress turns to guns, most Texans come to the debate armed with plenty of hands-on experience. A Fort Worth Star-Telegram survey found that at least 21 of the 30 House members and both U.S. senators from Texas own firearms. ``I grew up around pistols and rifles,'' said Rep. Charles Gonzalez, D-San Antonio, whose father, former Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez, gave his sons .22-caliber rifles for their 12th birthday. ``It's part of the Texas culture.''..."

New York Daily News 6/1/99 Rush/Molloy ".... Special U.S. envoy Richard Holbrooke is said to have been privately dissing his boss, Secretary Madeleine Albright, and her official mouthpiece, James Rubin. Journalists Andrew and Alex Cockburn allege that Holbrooke is particularly venomous about Rubin. Andrew quotes a CNN staffer as telling him that Holbrooke couldn't have been nastier when he saw Rubin at a recent awards dinner where he supposedly questioned Rubin's masculinity. Mind you, Rubin is married to the beautiful and brainy CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour. ..... Holbrooke has "been making clear his loathing of Albright," the Cockburns write in Counterpunch. They report that Holbrooke opposed the NATO bombing of Belgrade. Many have smelled tension between Albright and Holbrooke, a supremely confident man widely viewed as Al Gore's choice as the next secretary of state....."

BBC Online Network 6/2/99 "...A computer made of neurons taken from leeches has been created by US scientists. At the moment, the device can perform simple sums - the team calls the novel calculator the "leech-ulator". But their aim is to devise a new generation of fast and flexible computers that can work out for themselves how to solve a problem, rather than having to be told exactly what to do. Professor Bill Ditto, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, is leading the project and says he is amazed that today's computers are still so dumb...."

AP 6/4/99 Freeper buffalo bob "...A bill intended to thwart New Orleans' landmark lawsuit against gun manufacturers awaits the approval of Gov. Mike Foster, who promised to sign it into law ``as soon as it hits my desk.'' ..."

FoxNEWS Brit Hume Freeper starlu 6/6/99 "...Inhofe promises to put his discretionary hold on all Clinton appointees due to Clinton's recess appointment...."

ABC News 6/3/99 Cox Report ".... Jens Lerch, a German amateur space historian, also posted criticisms on the Internet. "I've easily found a few more blatant mistakes," he wrote. Lerch listed half a dozen cases in which missile and spacecraft designations were erroneous. He concludes, "It's quite disturbing that such a report contains dozens of factual errors, which are easy to spot by amateurs." Some mistakes are unimportant to the report's conclusions, but reveal that the authors didn't have any deep understanding of the historical and technical issues they wrote about. Chen Lan pointed out that the report gave 1971 as the date of the first Chinese satellite launch (it was 1970), and 1963 as the date of the "Great Leap Forward" campaign (it was 1958). The report refers to the Challenger shuttle disaster in 1987 (it was 1986)...."

Salon 6/4/99 Jake Tapper "....Since when do liberal Democrats support the death penalty? Since when does Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy support mandatory minimum sentences for 14-year-old offenders? Since when does California Sen. Barbara Boxer turn a deaf ear to the disproportionate number of African-Americans in prison? Since Thursday, May 20, 1999. That's when the Violent and Repeat Juvenile Accountability and Rehabilitation Act passed the Senate, 73-25, with nearly unanimous Democratic support. …Thus, pro-gun conservatives should take solace in the fact that left-wing civil liberties and civil rights groups are now as miserable about the bill as they are -- and specifically about the way the bill was handled...."

White House Documents 6/8/99 Joe Lockhart announcement "...The President today announced his intent to nominate David W. Ogden as Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division at the Department of Justice.....The Civil Division at the Department of Justice represents the U.S. government, its departments and agencies, members of Congress, cabinet officers, and other federal employees. Its litigation reflects the diversity of government activities including the defense of challenges to Presidential actions, national security issues, benefit programs, energy policies, commercial issues, accident and liability claims, and violations of immigration and consumer protection laws....."

Reuters 6/10/99 "...Thursday approved a change to campaign finance rules allowing it to match campaign contributions made over the Internet or over the phone by credit card.... However, until now only contributions made by check were matched. Those made over the Internet or over the telephone using credit cards were excluded...."

6/10/99 Reuters Thanatos "...The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday declared unconstitutional a sweeping anti-loitering law that targets violent street gang members who gather on city streets. The court struck down a Chicago law that allows police officers to break up a gathering of people in public if they believe anyone present is a gang member and to arrest those who disobey an order to disperse.. ..."

AP 6/11/99 "...Attorney General Janet Reno said today the House has ``undermined'' a Senate gun control bill designed to stop criminals from making weapons purchases at gun shows. At a weekly meeting with reporters, Reno said the House bill narrows the definition of ``gun show'' and would cut down the time police have to complete background checks of prospective gun buyers who attend the events....."

Washington Times 6/11/99 Bill Gertz "...Wags in the Pentagon are wondering if the White House National Security Council (NSC) staff will adopt a more hard-line approach to arms control following the mugging of NSC arms control guru Robert Bell in Brussels. ….The altercation took place several weeks ago as Mr. Bell was in Brussels preparing to become an assistant secretary-general for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. While leaving a restaurant, he was jumped by three unarmed men who stole his wallet, watch and briefcase, and left him with a broken rib and cuts on his face..... "

AP 6/11/99 "...No offense, University of Chicago officials say, but President Clinton won't get an honorary degree for speaking to graduates Saturday. He doesn't even qualify to give the commencement address. Instead, he will be the ``distinguished guest speaker.'' University officials said it has nothing to do with the president and everything to do with strict tradition at this very serious institution, where more Nobel laureates - 70 in all - have taught, researched or studied than anywhere else in the world......"

6/13/99 BBC News "....Counting is under way across Europe of votes cast in the elections to the European Parliament. Early indications are that voter turnout may have hit a new low, and that the European People's Party - the centre-right bloc in the Parliament - will gain seats. Initial exit polls also suggested the EPP could end up the largest group in Brussels. Currently the Socialist group dominates with one third of the 626 seats....European Parliament President Jose Maria Gil-Robles forecast an EPP victory. He told a news conference he expected the EPP to end up with between 210 to 215 MEPs, compared to between 185 and 190 for the Socialists. With figures in from nine EU countries there was a clear swing to the right in terms of votes cast...."

The Scotsman (UK) 6/14/99 JOY COPLEY "...TONY Blair is braced for disastrous results in the European parliamentary elections with the loss of half of Labour's seats. Senior party sources predicted that the Conservatives would end up with more seats than Labour when the final result is announced on Monday morning. This would represent a humiliating defeat and major rout for the Prime Minister in the low-key election where only one in four people bothered to vote. Labour strategists at the party's Millbank headquarters in London are forecasting that the number of Labour MEPs will be slashed from 59 to about 29 throughout the UK...."

AP 6/15/99 "...Vice President Al Gore misspoke when he said 18- to 20-year-olds can legally buy handguns from licensed gun dealers, his office said. Gore told more than 300 city leaders during an address Monday in New Orleans that while adults younger than 21 cannot legally buy alcohol, ``they can walk into any gun shop, pawn shop or gun show in America and buy a handgun.'' The vice president's office released a statement later in the day saying that wasn't the case....."

6/16/99 AP "…Remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War will be returned Thursday by North Korea, the U.S. military command in Seoul said Wednesday. The command did not specify how many sets of skeletal remains would be repatriated in a brief ceremony at the border village of Panmunjom in the demilitarized zone separating South and North Korea….Altogether, about 230 sets of remains have been repatriated by North Korea, but fewer than a dozen have been positively identified. …"

AFP 6/24/99 "...The world is heading for a spate of "super" disasters sparked by a mix of climate change, environmental damage and population pressures, a Red Cross report said on Thursday....Asia suffered the heaviest toll in terms of fatalities and economic fall-out, with massive flooding ravaging parts of China, Blangadesh and Nepal, murderous cyclones in India and two major earthquakes in Afghanistan. Of the 60,000 people killed in man-made and natural disasters last year, half of the victims were in Asia, the federation said. Hurricane Mitch, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane in 200 years, was another mega disaster, spawning landslides and floods mainly in Honduras and Nicaragua that left around 10,000 people dead. The Pacific's deadly climatic duo, El Nino and La Nina, wreaked worldwide havoc, drenching Latin America but bringing drought to southern and eastern Africa and the worst dry spell in Indonesia in half a century. The El nino phenomenon shows "compelling" evidence of trends towards weather triggered super-disasters, the report said. .... In 1998, natural disasters created more "refugees" than wars and conflict as declining soil fertility, drought, flooding and deforestation drove 25 million people from their land into packed city slums. ..."

Washington Times 6/25/99 Ralph Hallow "...Republicans actually helped their image with voters -- and boosted their election prospects in the 2000 election -- by impeaching President Clinton, a leading Democratic pollster said Thursday. At the same time, Democrats are suffering from a delayed voter disgust with Mr. Clinton's scandals that has improved GOP chances for the presidency and Congress in next year's elections, according to Democratic pollster Celinda Lake..... Mrs. Lake said, "Right now, voters are voting values, and that is clearly diminishing Democrat support." She noted that as recently as 1994, Democrats were 6 percentage points behind on ethics and honesty -- "today, they are 19 points behind."

USA Today 6/25/99 Paul Hoversten "... Beginning in January, the sun will reach the peak of its 11-year seasonal cycle, resulting in solar flares and explosions that each can send waves of energy equal to a million 100-megaton bombs speeding toward Earth.... If the superheated, electrically charged gas reaches Earth's upper atmosphere, it will create an over-electrified field that could block electronic transmissions to and from satellites. Electrical charges could build up on the surfaces of satellites, triggering phantom signals or sending the spacecraft out of orbit. On Earth, excess electromagnetic energy from the sun could surge along power lines, shorting circuits and burning out equipment....."

Blind Man's Bluff [book] page 251 1998 Sherry Sontag Christopher Drew "... [Describing a meeting between Navy brass and the Senate Intelligence Committee after the Walker and Pelton spy cases became known] "...The Senators were furious. At a closed hearing, they lambasted Navy representatives for withholding the report for three years. William Cohen, a Republican from Maine, was one of the angriest lawmakers in the room. Cohen, who would become secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton, demanded to know who had written the report....Cohen wanted to know why the Navy failed to react to [the]conclusion that the Soviets probably had foreknowledge of the cable tap. He wanted to know why nobody searched for the spy. "They didn't believe it," Haver [Navy intelligence officer] responded. "Cohen pressed on. Was it prudent, he wanted to know, to continue to operate the...program...when there may have been a spy?" ..."

EWTN 6/28/99 "...New directives from the British Medical Association have come into force, giving doctors in Great Britain greater powers of decision in certain cases. Henceforth, doctors, surgeons, and specialists will be able to end the life of terminally ill patients. The new norms have sparked heated controversy and reopened the euthanasia debate, in spite of the fact that Michael Wilks, the president of the Association, has said, specifically, that "the intention is not to voluntarily put an end to patients' life but to verify if a particular therapy works."....."

Daily Telegraph, London 6/29/99 Hugo Gurdon "..." PRESIDENT CLINTON has become the lamest of lame ducks and Washington is turning its back on him to concentrate on the 2000 election. Old scandal and a new political campaign have left the Clinton White House smelling of decay. Newspapers are openly bored by the man who still has 18 months to go behind the desk in the Oval Office. The Washington Post wrote: "Zzzzzzzzz," mocking Mr Clinton's performance at a press conference last week. The President was "limp, reflective, meandering". ...."

CNSNews.com 6/29/99 Bruce Sullivan "...One year after the passage of Proposition 227, which dismantled bilingual education in California, early test scores of statewide exams in math, science, social studies and language arts are up - in some cases dramatically - among students who are not fluent in English. "Although a final verdict on Prop. 227 will not be available until all remaining district scores are released later this week, these initial results are quite astonishing," said English for the Children Chairman Ron Unz, who spearheaded the Prop. 227 referendum...."

FOX News 7/2/99 Reuters "...A group of California firefighters is seeking to register a "European-American'' support group to fight for white rights in the multicultural workplace. San Jose Fire Department Capt. James Roszell in California, president of the European American Firefighters Association, said the new group was open to anyone, but so far all 30 members are white...."

New York Post 7/1/99 Christopher Francescani and Alex Devine "...Parents who don't want their kids to see the raunchy new film "South Park" shouldn't assume theaters will keep their promise to bar underage moviegoers. Two baby-faced teens - one 14, one 16 - had no trouble buying tickets at four Manhattan theaters premiering the R-rated "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." "It was a joke," said Morgan Stone, 16, who participated in a Post survey of seven theaters - three of which refused to let the kids in. "It was so easy." ...."

Fox news 7/1/99 Jeffrey Blair [PA] "...The state Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a major portion of Megan's Law, a measure that forces sexual assault convicts to announce their presence in their chosen community. The court ruled that the law improperly presumes that certain convicts are guilty by classifying them as "sexual predators" for life......"

Wall Street Journal 7/1/99 "...In three noteworthy decisions recently, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court expanded state governments' protection against federal impositions. The decisions reaffirm the court's increased concern for federalism, which has been evident for roughly a decade. The nation's governors (and this newspaper) cheered the decisions, and rightly so. That enthusiasm, though, ought to be tempered by the Supreme Court's crabbed, statist conception of federalism. The court is concerned primarily with protecting "states' rights," and only incidentally and secondarily with limiting the national government to exercising only its "enumerated powers"--that is, the limited powers the Constitution grants the national government and particularly Congress. This deprives federalism of its principal virtues--a more limited government, and more open, competitive politics..... Federalism cases will be a staple of the Supreme Court's constitutional decisions for years to come. Of these, the cases that bear watching will implicate congressional powers. They will tell whether the court's federally minded justices are mere states'-rights sentimentalists or real, if pragmatic, federalists...."

AP Wire 7/1/99 "...Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is away on vacation, without announcement and with her interim spokesman saying he had no ``information on her whereabouts.''...."

Associated Press 7/1/99 "...As church bells pealed Thursday, a torrent of water was unleashed through a manmade gap in the 162-year-old Edwards Dam in the nation's first government-ordered demolition of a dam in the name of conservation. ….It is seen as a precedent for other projects, particularly in the West, where some dams have been targeted for similar fates...."

CNN News Online 7/99 "...A Maryland man was indicted Wednesday for stealing $8,662 in cash from the federal agency that prints it and stashing a portion of it behind tiles in two different men's bathrooms -- along with his I.D. badge. ..."

Reuters Via Washington Post 7/4/99 "...The Secret Service is preparing to require new agents to sign a pledge that they will not discuss what they see and hear while protecting a president, Director Brian Stafford said yesterday..... "It was just a code that we all thought and felt very strongly about and didn't feel that we had to reduce it to paper," he said. "But we are now." ....."

AP wire story (also read on FOX News) 7/3/99 "...A federal judge has cleared the way for a lawsuit that claims the federal government is responsible for the fiery and deadly end to the 1993 Branch Davidian standoff. U.S. District Judge Walter S. Smith Jr. pared the number of defendants and plaintiffs, but ruled Thursday that the case can go to trial, said Mike Caddell, lead attorney for the Davidians.....The Davidians contend that when federal agents punched through the walls and fired tear gas into the cult compound on April 19, 1993, the canisters ignited, burning the building and the people inside. Congressional hearings have pointed to mistakes by the law enforcement officers, but none has been charged with a crime...."

Reuters 1/23/99 Patricia Reaney "…Biological and genetic weapons designed to kill specific ethnic or racial groups are no longer the stuff of science fiction, British researchers say. A designer plague that would only kill Serbs or a toxin engineered to affect Israelis or Kurds does not exist yet, but advances in biotechnology and the mapping of all human genes could be used to develop lethal weapons within five to ten years. ….. "

Don Adams 7/12/99 "…"Philadelphia -- Don Adams, of Cheltenham, one of at least two Clinton protesters viciously assaulted by a mob of Teamsters during a presidential fundraising visit to Philadelphia's City Hall on October 2, 1998 AND THE ONLY ONE TO STAND TRIAL SO FAR IN THE ENTIRE INCIDENT, WAS FOUND NOT GUILTY of assaulting Teamster Heather Diocson by Municipal Court Judge Marsha Neifield this past Thursday. "Lynne Abraham added salt to the wound by approving, after initially disproving, Diocson's false private criminal complaint that I had somehow hit her…."

Washingotn Times/Inside Politics 7/23/99 Greg Pierce "... Americans increasingly think the House did the right thing when it voted to impeach President Clinton. A national Pew Research Center poll found that 44 percent believe the House "did the right thing in impeaching him," compared with 35 percent who thought so at the end of last year. The number of people who say he should have resigned is also up, 35 percent now vs. 30 percent in December. There is also bad news for Mr. Clinton, who vowed revenge against House members who voted to impeach him...."

UPI 7/20/99 "...The United States has announced 100 per cent tariffs on products from nearly every European Community in response to the EU refusal to lift a ban on hormone-treated beef. U.S. officials announced a plan Monday to effectively double the price of imported goods such as mustard, truffles and Roquefort cheese. The World Trade Organization ruled last week that the United States could collect tariffs worth $116.8 million because of economic damage done through the EU's 11-year ban on U.S. beef treated with growth hormones..."

AFP 7/21/99 "...A mysterious killer virus spreading across the south of Russia has left nine dead and more than 100 hospitalized, with Russian experts stumped as to the nature of the disease, news agencies reported. Authorities in the region have banned the sale of food on open markets, swimming holes have been declared off-limits, and hundreds of people have fled from their homes in fear of the highly infectious disease. Its victims suffer from a plague-like skin rash, internal bleeding and even fatal brain hemorrhaging, symptoms which researchers said resemble a virus called Congo-Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever, which last broke out in the region in the 1950s, RIA Novosti reported Monday...."

Fox News Wire 7/22/99 AP "...With no debate, the Senate approved legislation Thursday night that would expand federal authority to prosecute hate crimes and include people victimized because of their sexual orientation, gender or disability. .... Critics - largely conservatives - have said hate-crimes legislation creates special classes of citizens who are already protected by state laws against violence. Also approved was a second, narrower bill offered by Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, that would expand federal jurisdiction to hate crimes committed after the crossing of state lines. It would also allow federal aid to state and local law enforcement officials prosecuting hate crimes. It would not expand coverage beyond crimes based on race, color, religion or national origin, which are already covered by federal hate crime law...."

New York Post 7/24/99 Brian Blomquist "…Al Gore's campaign was up a creek yesterday after utility officials released 4 billion gallons of water into the drought-stricken Connecticut River to float the veep's boat for photographers. New Hampshire officials released the water from a dam at the request of the Secret Service, which was worried Gore's canoe might run aground. "They won't release the water for the fish when we ask them to, but somehow they find themselves able to release it for a politician," groused John Kassel, director of Vermont's Natural Resources Department ..."

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 7/24/99 Noel Oman "…A payday lender owned by a one-time broker who helped first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton make nearly $100,000 in the cattle futures market two decades ago has settled a lawsuit accusing the company of charging interest in excess of 520 percent. In the settlement, announced Friday by Attorney General Mark Pryor, Check Cashers agreed to pay $70,000 for investigative costs, attorney fees and restitution to consumers…."

Associated Press 7/24/99 Willie Green "…The United States is sending the Energy Department's top arms control official on a six-month mission to India in hopes of bringing India under nuclear nonproliferation accords. Starting Sept. 1, Joan Rohlfing, the department's senior adviser for national security, will join the staff of U.S. Ambassador Richard Celeste in New Delhi, the department said Saturday…."

UPI 7/19/99 "…Iowa researchers are studying the possible deployment of parasitic wasps to detect unexploded bombs on battlefields and thwart terrorist use of chemical and biological weapons. The Pentagon has hired an Iowa research team to train bomb-sniffing wasps, which normally use their acute sense of smell to find caterpillars to serve as hosts for their offspring…. The fast-flying insects use antennae to smell. They are easy to rear in large numbers for mass deployment. Part of the research focuses on tuning wasps to the odor of cyclohexanol, trinitrotuluene (TNT) and other explosives ingredients. In flight tunnel experiments, wasps flew toward tubes emitting those bomb materials as well as vanilla and methyl jasmonate…."

AP Breaking 7/99 Anne Gearan "…President Clinton tried to put a little bounce in a couple of political speeches over the weekend by telling Democratic supporters Republicans now regard him less as a ``bad guy'' and more as a Michael Jordan of politics. Clinton meant that, in his view, the GOP hopes it can write off Clinton as an extraordinary successful Democrat the likes of whom, like His Airness, probably won't be seen again soon. …."

NTSB Identification: FTW99FA132 Accident occurred MAY-08-99 at CLAREMORE, OK Aircraft: Grumman American AA-5B, registration: N4546J Injuries: 1 Uninjured….. On May 8, 1999, at 0830 central daylight time, a Grumman American AA-5B airplane, N4546J, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following the separation of the propeller assembly from the engine while in cruise flight near Claremore, Oklahoma. The commercial rated pilot, sole occupant and owner/operator of the airplane, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 personal flight. The flight originated from the pilot's private grass strip near Ketchum, Oklahoma, at 0815, and was destined for the Oklahoma City Downtown Airport. During an interview conducted by the investigator-in-charge, the pilot stated that he was in level cruise flight at 2,500 feet msl, when he noticed a vibration in the aircraft. According to the pilot, the vibration became more violent and subsequently, the propeller departed the aircraft's engine. The pilot initiated an emergency landing to a field; however, noticing that his glide ratio had improved without the propeller, he elected to land at the Claremore Municipal Airport. The pilot stated that during the approach, the airplane started to porpoise, so he elected to touch down in the grass section between runway 34 and the taxiway to absorb some of the landing energy. During the landing roll, the nose landing gear collapsed and separated from the aircraft. The airplane slid across the runway and came to rest between two runway lights. The propeller assembly (propeller with approximately 5 inches of one blade tip missing, spacer, and forward bulkhead assembly) were located three miles west of the airport. The blade tip was found in the engine cowling and the starter flywheel was located in the grass section between the runway and taxiway. The propeller flange was found intact with the engine crankshaft. The airplane's firewall was buckled, the landing gear-to-fuselage attachment points were structurally damaged, and the wing roots showed evidence of structural damage.

Washington Times 7/28/99 Ben Barber "...The Clinton administration begins work today on a new International Public Information group designed to "influence foreign audiences" in support of U.S. foreign policy and to counteract propaganda by enemies of the United States. U.S. military, diplomatic and intelligence officials will participate in today's meeting of a core group to set up the IPI system of coordinating all overseas information among the various branches of the U.S. government....Information aimed at domestic audiences should "be coordinated, integrated, deconflicted and synchronized with the [IPI Core Group] to achieve a synergistic effect for [government] strategic information activities," the charter says....."

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission 7/28/99 Jethro Tull "...This database includes incidents and reports from January 1, 1999 to the present. It shows that defects and problems occur on a weekly basis. There are 28 reports affecting 40% of all US commercial nuclear plants so far this year. ..."

Judicial Watch 7/29/99 "...Yesterday, the Honorable Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a courageous decision, which allows pharmaceutical manufacturers to promote their products to remedy medical conditions ancillary to the purposes for which they were approved. The Court found that it was unconstitutional for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to limit such advertising, as a matter of free speech...."

AP 7/29/99 Frazier Moore "...CNN waited to air reports of a gunman opening fire in its home city Thursday until well after its two rival all-news networks went with the story..... CNN spokesman David Bittler said the network had been monitoring what he termed "conflicting reports'' from local stations before it chose to go with the story...."

Washington Post 7/31/99 By Charles Babington "...With the news media and Congress taking their cue from a public weary of questions about presidential scandal, President Clinton is free to devote his final 18 months in office to issues he sees as crucial to his legacy, including shoring up Medicare and Social Security, paying down the federal debt and restricting gun sales. What pollsters call the "Clinton fatigue factor," rather than dragging down the president, is liberating him, his associates say. "Clinton is the most energetic that I've seen him, the best I've seen him, the most 'normal' I've seen him in a long time," said Al From, head of the Democratic Leadership Council and a frequent companion of the president in the past month. "In addition to the scandal, you had the war. I think the end of the war has lifted an incredible burden." Clinton described his mood last week in a 70-minute White House news conference that he seemed reluctant to end. "Apparently unlike some of my predecessors," he said, ". . . I don't feel myself winding down. I feel myself keying up. I want to do more. I want to try to make sure that I give the American people as much as I can, every day. So I've got plenty of energy, and I'll do whatever I'm asked to do." ..."

The New York Post 7/29/99 Andy Geller Ed Robinson "...Watergate sleuth Carl Bernstein and ex-wife Nora Ephron are getting heartburn over a report their son, Jacob, fingered a former FBI bigwig as the mysterious Deep Throat. Bernstein told The Post yesterday that neither Nora nor Jacob know the identity of the source who helped bring down Richard Nixon "any more than the man in the moon does." He said Jacob was "repeating his mother's guesswork" when he told a camp chum years ago that Deep Throat was W. Mark Felt, the former second-in-command of the FBI...."

Linda Tripp's attorney from Freeper jimbo123 7/30/99 "...STEPHEN M. KOHN, a partner in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Kohn, Kohn and Colapinto, P.C., and the Chairperson of the Board of Governors of the National Whistleblowers Center, has extensive experience in First Amendment Law..... Stephen M. Kohn is one of the nation's foremost experts on whistleblower law. Mr. Kohn wrote the first legal treatise on whistleblowing and has successfully litigated many of the nation's landmark whistleblower cases. Mr. Kohn played an integral role in obtaining whistleblower protection for FBI employees. As co-counsel to Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, Mr. Kohn initiated a lawsuit and other proceedings against the DOJ, the FBI and the President to request regulations be implemented to enforce existing whistleblower legislation protecting FBI employees and to force the FBI to obtain accredidation and other reforms for the FBI crime lab. As a result, President Clinton issued a historic directive ordering the Attorney General to implement regulations protecting FBI employee whistleblowers...."

UPI 8/2/99 "...The U.S. government will have paid back $87 billion of the $5.6 trillion national debt this year, the largest debt reduction in American history, the Clinton administration announced (Monday). President Clinton, who wants to eliminate the entire debt by 2015, says the debt has been reduced by $1.7 trillion in the past six years. " ...."

AP 8/3/99 "...A bill making it illegal to distribute information about weapons of mass destruction with the intent to commit a crime is awaiting signature into law by President Clinton. Under the legislation, given final passage Monday by voice vote in the House of Representatives, violators could face up to 20 years in prison...."

Drudge 8/5/99 "...Germany is on Ebola fever alert late tonight after a man returned from a trip to Africa bleeding through his eyes and ears. The patient, identified only as 40-year-old German citizen Olaf U, returned from a trip to the Ivory Coast over the weekend. He travelled via Zurich on Swissair to Berlin and German authorities are trying to track down passengers who may have had contact with him. The infected man was accompanied by his wife, who is now in quarantine, as is their child. Wire reports in Germany reported that the patient was in Africa doing research on frogs and rhesus monkeys for the University of Wuerzburg..... "

Associated Press 8/4/99 Darlene Superville "...A House subcommittee approved a bill Wednesday that would recognize an unborn child as a person who can be the victim of a crime. It is the first such measure proposed at the federal level, according to the National Right to Life Committee, which helped draft the legislation. Under the bill, anyone who intentionally or unintentionally injures or kills an unborn child while committing a federal crime, such as a kidnapping or bank robbery, would be charged with an additional federal offense...."

Reuters 8/5/99 Deborah Cole "...A second man was in quarantine in Germany Thursday after a friend who accompanied him to West Africa was hospitalized in an isolation ward with a mystery illness doctors fear could be caused by the deadly Ebola virus. Health officials stressed the second man had so far shown no signs of illness. He returned Sunday from a two-week working trip to Ivory Coast with a 40-year-old filmmaker who was airlifted Tuesday to Berlin's isolation hospital. There was still no word Thursday afternoon on the results of blood tests on the sick man, identified as Olaf Ullmann from the eastern border town of Frankfurt-an-der-Oder. Medical staff wore hermetically sealed suits and breathing apparatus as they treated him. They also were restricted to the medical complex. Ullmann was thought to be suffering from a viral hemorrhagic fever. Its symptoms are likely to have been caused one of by four potentially fatal tropical viruses -- Ebola, Marburg, lassa or dengue, medical experts said..... Authorities erected a 6-foot-high fence around the ward where Ullmann was being treated, and security guards were deployed to patrol the area. The tough measures sparked frenzied media speculation about the case and whether he may have infected other passengers on the flights he took home from Africa. "Will his fellow passengers spread the virus around Europe, could tens of thousands of people already be affected?" asked Germany's mass-readership Bild newspaper. Health authorities said any threat that the man might have infected others on his flights from the Ivory Coast via Zurich to Berlin was minimal..... "

international herald tribune 8/7/99 "...Shortly before President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, the Soviet Embassy in Washington received a letter from Lee Harvey Oswald - a letter the Soviets privately believed was forged to make it look as if Mr. Oswald was working for them, newly released documents show. ''This letter was clearly a provocation: It gives the impression we had close ties with Oswald and were using him for some purposes of our own,'' Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin, Moscow's man in Washington for 24 years, wrote in an internal memo stamped ''highest priority.'' ...."

AFP 8/6/99 "...A German cameraman who died Friday after contracting a disease initially feared to be the Ebola virus in fact had yellow fever, the Berlin health authorities said, assuring the public that there had been no risk of contagion. The cameraman, Olaf Ullmann, 40, had been working on a wildlife film in Cote d'Ivoire...."

The Hindustan Times 8/7/99 N C Menon "...The US has once again emerged as the world's leading arms dealer in the annual report released here yesterday by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). According to the report, 'Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 1991-1998', the US sold $7.1 billion in weapons around the globe a figure almost 30 per cent higher than its nearest competitor, Germany. US sales to the developing nations accounted for $4.6 billion of the total figure, or 65 per cent. ..."

AP 8/6/99 "...The neighbors could see something was up. There had been unmarked cars on both sides of the street ``clearly doing surveillance,'' one man said. Indeed, an investigation had been in the works for weeks, since a tip came in that big containers were being delivered to a house on a quiet street in the nation's capital. There were worries about the makings of a bomb. Friday morning at 7:30 the raid was on. The street was crowded with agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, with local police and explosives experts, with State Department officials. And. ... ``We did not find sufficient material to warrant a further investigation,'' said Brian Burns, a special agent with the ATF. They did find 30 empty 55-gallon plastic drums...."

Capitol Hill Blue 8/99 "...President Clinton made his first campaign appearances with Vice President Al Gore over the weekend in a very public attempt to end lingering whispers of a rift between the president and the man who wants to succeed him. But sources within the White House and the Gore campaign say the appearance was more show than reality as tensions continue between the President and the man who wants to follow him in the White House. "Privately, the President doesn't feel the Vice President can win and the Vice President feels his campaign is severely hampered by the tarnished legacy that the President is leaving him," said one Gore campaign staffer...."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE 8/9/99 "...Four big US retailers have agreed to pay an independent monitor to check on conditions at garment factories on the US Pacific island Saipan to settle a lawsuit alleging sweatshop conditions, the plaintiffs said Monday. The suits were settled with Nordstrom, J. Crew, Cutter and Buck and Gymboree, according to the lawyers in the class action. Suits remain pending against more than a dozen retail groups, including The Gap, Tommy Hilfiger, Wal-Mart, JC Penney and Sears...."

Associated Press 8/9/99 Laura King "...In a city where omens, portents and apocalyptic visions are practically a local industry, Wednesday's solar eclipse is capturing the imagination of mystics of all stripes. Even though Israel and the Palestinian lands do not lie directly in the eclipse path, the expected partial darkening of the heavens is viewed by many -- Christians, Jews and Muslims alike -- as an awesome display of divine power. And for a few, those moonshadow moments offer a foretaste of millennial doom....``The eclipse goes together with everything else in the sky. ... To me, it means that something is coming about,'' said a 27-year-old Seattle man who gave only his first name, Raymond. He came to Jerusalem two years ago because ``God woke me up and told me there was no more time to mess around, he was going to come back.'' ``The Bible says there will be signs in the heavens,'' said Sharon, a fiftyish woman from Sacramento, Calif., one of a group of several dozen Christian pilgrims who have settled on the Mount of Olives to await the second coming of Christ. ...."

Reuter - FOX 8/12/99 "...A federal judge Thursday ordered an electric utility to pay $100,000 in penalties after 17 golden eagles and other protected birds were electrocuted on power lines in Colorado, in a case authorities said was the first of its kind. U.S. District Judge Lewis Babcock assessed the penalties against Moon Lake Electric Association in a case in which the government contended that the birds' deaths could have been prevented if the utility had installed inexpensive protective devices. Twelve golden eagles, four ferruginous hawks and a great horned owl were electrocuted ..."

The Washington Times 8/13/99 Wesley Pruden "...A nice lady once urged Bess Truman to clean up Harry Truman's language. "When he says 'horse manure,' " she told the first lady, "it sounds so coarse, and not like a president." Mrs. Truman sighed. "Yes," she said, "I know. But my dear, you don't know how long it took me to get him to say 'manure.' " Well, Mr. Truman should have watched his language, and so should George W. Bush. So should we all. We've become a nation of toilet mouths, women often included, and that's sad....."

United Press Syndicate 7/29/99 Joseph Sobran "...My doctor has directed me to lose weight. I may soon be able to retaliate by suing him for violating my civil rights. Folks like me aren't just fat guys anymore; we're "people of size," and we're on the move. Carey Goldberg of The New York Times has furnished an interesting report of the recent convention of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA) in Framingham, Mass. It seems that people of size are "coming out of the closet"; though some of us, frankly, would have a hard time getting into a closet in the first place. .."

Hospital Infection Control 8/18/99 "…Hospital Infection Control: "When the history of AIDS and the global response is written, our most precious contribution may be at the time of plague we did not flee, we did not hide, we did not separate ourselves." - Jonathon Mann, MD, to whom the 1999 APIC conference was dedicated. Ongoing advances in antiretroviral drug therapy are dramatically changing the face of the HIV epidemic, yielding a dramatic "Lazarus effect" in some patients that only a few years ago may have been part of mortality statistics. Yet while the death toll has dropped in those with access to new combination-drug therapies, much of the globe has not been invited to the HIV "cocktail" party and the pandemic is still exacting a terrible toll in non-industrialized countries, ICPs were advised recently in Baltimore at the annual conference of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology….. Any of you who has seen or taken care of AIDS patients can attest to the dramatic Lazarus effect that we have seen. Patients who are very sick - near death - are all of a sudden back to normal. [They are] working, taking their medications, and doing fine. Some hospitals have literally stopped having HIV admissions because HIV has become - for people who can take the medications - essentially an outpatient disease." As a result, AIDS mortality has fallen from the leading cause of death in 25-to-44-year-olds in the late 1980s and early 1990s to the fifth-leading cause currently, he noted….."

Conservative News Source 8/18/99 "…Novel lawsuits, new legal scholarship, and new "animal law" courses at the prestigious Harvard and Georgetown law schools are boosting the fledgling field of animal law, the New York Times reports today. The newspaper says animal law contradicts a fundamental American principle, that animals are property and have no rights. The newspaper notes that animal law partly relies on new science that shows animals have far higher levels of cognition and social development than previously believed. Speaking to the New York Times, Joyce Tischler, executive director of the Animal Legal Defense Fund said, "We have created a field of law. We've learned our trade and now we are focusing on the next steps." (By establishing legal precedents, animal activist lawyers aim to elevate animals from mere "property" status, giving them legal rights to bodily integrity and psychological well-being.) The newspaper says critics ridicule animal law as the latest example of absurdity in the legal system. "Would even bacteria have rights?" asked University of Chicago Law School Professor Richard Epstein…."

CAS Mailing List 7/21/97 "…According to a White House document by FBI Agent Frank B. Ingram, Attorney Foster, Attorney Marvin Grobmeyer, and Secretary Donna Shalala are still holding a copy of Foster's letter of intent to meet Wanta, vis a vis a $250,000,000 Ameritrust Corporation withdrawal to be placed in the Children's Defense Fund…."

Associated Press 8/20/99 "…Raising boys to be strong and silent is promoting the outbreak of mass school shootings and a broader, smoldering climate of despair among male teen-agers, experts suggest. ``I think we have a national crisis of boys in America,'' said William Pollack, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School….. The psychologists pressed for big changes in how parents and educators treat boys. They said parents should give physical affection freely to boys, allow them to show their feelings and reject the widespread belief that boys are inherently more violent than girls. The psychologists urged educators to foster friendlier schools, provide more counseling and -- despite worries about false accusations of sex abuse -- not shirk from physically comforting a hurt child…."

New Scientist 9/4/99 Matt Walker "…PREHISTORIC VIRUSES are lying dormant in the polar ice caps--and a bout of warm weather could release them into the atmosphere, sparking new epidemics. This chilling warning follows the discovery, for the first time, of an ancient virus in Arctic ice. The virus, found deep within the Greenland icepack, is known as a tomato mosaic tobamovirus (ToMV), a common plant pathogen. The discovery suggests that other viruses, such as ancient strains of flu, polio and smallpox, may also be entombed and could make a comeback. "We don't know the survival rate, or how often they get back into the environment. But it certainly is possible," says Tom Starmer of Syracuse University in New York….."

Toledo Blade 8/29/99 Jack Kelly "….Hard to find in the clutter of emotion and solution-seeking has been some good news: While sudden acts of murder by children without prior criminal records seem to have risen slightly in frequency - from almost never to once in a while - juvenile violence overall is in decline. After soaring in the early 1990s, the rate of teen violence has dropped like a rock since 1993. It is now below the rate for 1989. It is still high. A teenager in the United States is twice as likely as a teenager in Canada to commit a violent crime. Homicide is the second leading cause of death among Americans aged 15-24, and young men in that age range - especially 17- to 19-year-olds - account for most criminal violence…."

Inside the Beltway (Washington Times) 8/30/99 John McCaslim "….The Interior Department recently held a weeklong Equal Employment Opportunity "Collateral Duty Counselors Training" conference in Shepherdstown, W.Va. A longtime EEO counselor at Interior, who doesn't want to be identified for obvious reasons, attended the conference and, as you'll soon read, wasn't impressed by the contractor hired by the department to provide training on "sexual orientation." In a letter to the Interior Department's inspector general, the contractor told 25 counselors "at the outset that she was a lesbian and that she had 'an attitude.' She grinned and announced that the training would be educational for the counselors because, 'Your knowledge level of gay issues really sucks, huh?' ….."

Reuters 8/30/99 Mike Cooper "…Figures released at a National HIV Prevention Conference found that 17,047 people in the United States died from AIDS in 1998, a 20 percent drop from 1997…. statistics showed that blacks accounted for 8,316 deaths, whites, 5,436, and Hispanics, 3,114. Based on the percentage of each race in the U.S. population, the black rate of death was 10 times higher than the death rate for whites and disproportionately high, in some cases, when compared with the number of Hispanics who died of AIDS. ``New CDC data suggest that African-Americans comprise approximately half of all new HIV infections, new AIDS cases and AIDS deaths despite the fact that we represent only 13 percent of the U.S. population,'' said Dr. Helene Gayle, who heads the CDC's National Center for HIV, STD (sexually transmitted diseases) and TB Prevention…. "

Judicial Watch 8/31/99 Joe Giganti "….Last Sunday, the Washington Establishment was in full display on Fox News Sunday. Despite the fact that the Senate Judiciary Committee has an oversight authority over the Department of Justice, Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch had the following exchange with Brit Hume: Hume: Senator, you've said this is the most politicized Justice Department in your time in Washington. You've described this as a failure; you've said there's a lack of cooperation on top. You said you're running for President to oust the leadership of the Department of Justice and yet consistently, time and again, asked if you would call on Janet Reno or call for her resignation, you've stopped short. Why? Hatch: Well, I don't think that's my place to do that. I have to say. Hume: Well, if it's not your place as the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, whose place is it?…."

Voice of America 8/31/99 Jessica Berma "…In the United States, more than half of those who are HIV-positive or living with AIDS are homosexual men. While the number of gay males infected with HIV or AIDS has declined since it peaked in the late 1980's, public health officials attending the prevention conference in Atlanta, Georgia note some disturbing trends. ….. "Our findings suggest that the more our respondents believed that protease inhibitors increased the quality and length of life for HIV-infected people, the less likely they were to engage in safer sex behaviors…..In another study, also reported at the conference, researchers found the venereal diseases - gonorrhea and syphilis - are on the rise in some gay and bisexual communities in the United States. This is occurring at a time when gonorrhea and syphilis are at an all-time low nationally. But recent sharp increases in the sexually transmitted diseases among homosexuals are another indication that many younger gay men have stopped taking necessary precautions to prevent the spread of HIV…."

International Herald Tribune 9/6/99 Philip Bowring "…Six months ago one could (and did) postulate that Asian recovery would lead to the end of America's ''Goldilocks economy.'' Now the facts are coming in thick and fast. A reviving Asia means higher prices for commodities and manufactured goods, and a lower U.S. dollar. Neither technological wizardry nor better than expected productivity gains can shield the United States from a reversal of at least two of the ingredients of the inflation-free growth that has generated record price-to-earnings and price-to-book valuations for the leading stock indices. The final leg up for the long U.S. expansion and its even more remarkable stock market boom was provided by the Asian crisis. Interest rates were slashed to stave off global financial meltdown and the Asian-led weakness resulted in continued price declines in almost all goods….."

Washington Weekly 9/6/99 J Peter Mulhern "…For most people, failure is just a mistake or two away. In most areas of human endeavor success is clearly defined and human weakness can easily put it out of reach. For the great and good who fancy that they run the world, however, failure is impossible. By the time anyone reaches a truly exalted position, many people have a powerful vested interest in the exalted one's success. The more a public figure slips up, the greater this vested interest becomes. The more his boosters defend him the more pride they have invested in the defense. When powerful people fail, their partisans disguise the failure as long as possible. When disguise is no longer possible denial takes over. One of the principal points of distinction between government and the private sector is that failure is possible in most private sector activities and unheard of in most government activities. Like the politicians that conceive of them, government activities tend to be too important to fail. Too many people have a vested interest in their success….."

Aviation Week and Space Technology 9/7/98 VannRox Ditributed "…A revolutionary design for a hypersonic aircraft that could fly between any two points on the globe in less than two hours has been developed by a researcher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Dubbed HyperSoar -- the design was featured in the Sept 7 issue of Aviation Week & Space Technology. HyperSoar could fly at approximately 6,700 mph (Mach 10), while carrying roughly twice the payload of subsonic aircraft of the same takeoff weight.

The HyperSoar concept promises less heat build-up on the airframe than previous hypersonic designs -- a challenge that has until now limited the development of hypersonic aircraft….

The key to HyperSoar is the skipping motion of its flight along the edge of Earth's atmosphere -- much like a rock skipped across water. A HyperSoar aircraft would ascend to approximately 130,000 feet -- lofting outside the Earth's atmosphere -- then turn off its engines and coast back to the surface of the atmosphere. There, it would again fire its air-breathing engines and skip back into space. The craft would repeat this process until it reached its destination.

A commercial flight from the midwestern United States to Japan would require approximately 25 such skips to complete the one-and-a-half-hour journey. The aircraft's angles of descent and ascent during the skips would only be 5 degrees. Passengers would feel 1.5 times the force of gravity at the bottom of each skip and weightlessness while in space. (1.5 Gs is comparable to the effect felt on a child's swing, though HyperSoar's motion would be 100 times slower.)

"We believe we have developed a design that not only addresses the primary issues in building hypersonic aircraft, but does so in a way that creates a number of different uses for HyperSoar, thereby helping offset its development costs," said Livermore aerospace engineer Preston Carter, developer of the HyperSoar concept. …"

AP 9/8/99 Darlene Superville "…The Senate confirmed a pair of judicial nominations Wednesday, filling federal court vacancies in Florida and Washington state. By identical votes of 93-1, lawmakers approved: --Adalberto Jose Jordan to be a U.S. District judge for the Southern District of Florida. A native of Cuba who fled to the United States at a young age, Jordan has been an assistant U.S. Attorney in Miami since 1994. --Marsha J. Pechman to be a U.S. District judge for the Western District of Washington state. She has been a judge for 11 years in King County, Wash. New Hampshire Sen. Bob Smith, an independent, voted against both candidates. …."

AP 9/15/99 ".... A federal judge has ordered a new trial in a lawsuit against the National Rifle Association, saying a $4.45-million award to two NRA members over a scuffle at a convention was excessive and due to bias against the organization. U.S. District Judge Clarence C. Newcomer on Tuesday rejected the NRA's request to dismiss the case. But he wrote that he could not endorse ``the disproportionate enormity of the outcome,'' and that he had ``no doubt that the excessive damages awarded were a result of passion, prejudice or bias against the NRA and not because of the evidence.'' Kenneth Brodbeck of Des Moines, Iowa, sued the NRA and its president, Charlton Heston, for defamation and battery, saying he was roughed up by an NRA security guard during the group's national convention in Philadelphia last year. Brodbeck also said Heston accused him of ``very bad acting'' in an attempt to disrupt the NRA meeting. Brodbeck's wife, Sally, was part of an NRA faction opposed to the current leadership, according to the NRA....."

Boston Globe 9/9/99 Anne Kornblut "....What was supposed to have been a triumphant Boston campaign stop for Al Gore has become a political embarrassment for the vice president, who angered a number of New England fishermen and surprised the Massachusetts congressional delegation with his announcement last Thursday of $5 million in emergency aid. Gore's announcement at the New England Aquarium has spurred resentment among many fishermen who mistakenly thought Gore was offering new funding. It also rankled the members of Congress who secured the money last year, but were never informed of Gore's plans to announce the aid package a second time ..."

Insight 10/4/99 Timothy Maier "....Insight has obtained a copy of the Internal Revenue Service's top-secret, authorized history that reveals the agency's mistakes, investigations and (sometimes) arrogance. . . . . From "Scarface" Al Capone to the "Dapper Don," John Gotti, IRS agents got their man. Despite the criticism the agency has suffered -- which prompted sensational hearings on Capitol Hill last year -- the IRS has a strong record of obtaining convictions, even against its own employees. .So says the agency's secret internal file, titled 75 Years of Criminal Investigation History 1919-1994. This 202-page report -- never before seen outside the agency and obtained by Insight under the Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA -- was not meant for publication..... It did a lot to police itself in its early days and continues to do so today. Some of the IRS allegations against its criminal investigators are strikingly similar to what the public heard last year during Senate Finance Committee hearings on IRS abuses. The secret files show "a large number of investigations of charges against [IRS] personnel involving attempted extortion, bribery, collusion and other irregularities." The report notes that "many revenue officers were in league with big bootleggers and others in tax-fraud conspiracies." In 1924, there was an all-time high of 535 investigations against IRS personnel, which dropped to an all-time low of 33 in 1932. The reason for such a drop, the secret IRS files say, is that part of its mission is to "clean house of dishonest employees." But in 1936, the number of charges involving IRS personnel shot up to 175.. Curiously, the revenue collectors had about a 50 percent conviction record against their own employees, compared to a 90 percent conviction rate against other taxpayers. Also curious is that no figures involving personnel corruption are available past 1936......"

Electronic Telegraph (UK) 9/11/99 Sebastien Berger "...ANN WIDDECOMBE, the Shadow Home Secretary, last night demanded an immediate statement from Jack Straw over claims that a woman spy who helped the Soviet atomic weapons programme was living in the Home Counties and would not be prosecuted. The woman, who was not named but whose last code name was Hola, was described as "the most important British female agent ever recruited by the KGB". A CND and Communist party member, she worked as a secretary for the British Non-Ferrous Metals Research Association, whose "tube alloys" project was a cover for nuclear weapons development. For 40 years, she photographed documents and passed them to her Soviet controllers. According to a new book, The Mitrokhin Archive, by Christopher Andrew, a Cambridge academic, her treachery placed her on a par with Burgess, MacLean, Philby, Blunt and Cairncross. Prof Andrew discovered Hola's role while examining trunkloads of documents brought out of Russia by Vasili Mitrokhin, a dissident KGB officer. Hola, now 87, was quoted in The Times as saying: "I did what I did not to make money. I thought that perhaps some of what I had access to might be useful in helping Russia to keep abreast of Britain, America and Germany. In general I don't agree with spying against one's country. In the same circumstances I know that I would do the same thing again." ...."

Reuters 9/14/99 "....The U.S. economy is heading for recession as consumers buy faster than they save, although it would be foolish to predict when it will come, Professor Lester Thurow from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said Tuesday. ``There's a recession built into the American economy,'' he told a conference organized by International Data Corp., citing the negative savings rate of consumers, and adding that a country cannot continue spending more than it saves....."

Knight Ridder Newspapers 9/16/99 Usha Lee McFarling "....Obesity experts offered a radical agenda Wednesday to reduce the growing ranks of overweight Americans, including proposals to tax high-fat foods and make insurers cover weight loss programs. Calling the fat problem a "ticking time bomb in the health care system," many experts who gathered here for the first annual conference on obesity and public policy proposed several activist solutions. Among them: lengthening the school day to give kids more exercise, spending a lot more money to research the causes of obesity as well as the "fat tax" and expanded insurance for weight loss treatments. More than half of adult Americans, about 97 million, are estimated to be overweight. Of those, 39 million are considered obese, or more than 30 pounds overweight. More than 20 percent of children are overweight, a number that has doubled in recent decades. Extra pounds are more than unsightly. They contribute to 300,000 deaths each year. The annual cost of treating health problems related to obesity has been estimated at $100 billion....."

Washington Post 9/22/99 "....Drug-resistant strains of the AIDS virus are on the rise, appearing in as many as 4.5 percent of newly infected patients tested in two new studies. The studies, published in today's Journal of the American Medical Association, involve mostly gay white men. ....The complicated drug regimen has proven difficult to follow, and many patients who missed doses or quit taking their medicines developed drug-resistant infections that are passed to others. HIV is still so new that scientists even disagree on how to define resistance. ..."

Investor's Business Daily 9/23/99 "....Last week a group met in Washington, D.C., and produced a plan to fight obesity. A noble effort? No. It's just another special-interest attempt to use the power of the state to force Americans to comply with its notion of a proper lifestyle. Obesity ''is a national emergency,'' Judith S. Stern, vice president of the American Obesity Association, declared at the meeting. Surgeon General David Satcher called it a ''major public health problem.'' Sadly, Stern and Satcher will get away with their exaggerations. Politicians who hope to appear caring (and to gather votes) and bureaucrats who believe they're divinely appointed to regulate lives will enlist in the cause. A thoroughly conditioned public will nod its collective head: The government must do something about this crisis. To achieve a fat-free society, obesity experts want the government to levy a special tax on high-fat foods as well as boost federal obesity research funding. What's next? Will the do-gooders ask lawmakers to limit each American to two fast-food purchases or one steak a month? The proposals' effect on obesity is suspect. Their effect on our freedoms, though, isn't. Everyone, whether fat, thin or average, should be free to decide what they eat without government influencing those decisions. Choice of diet is a basic human freedom. Who's to say otherwise? ...."

Orlando Sentinel 9/20/99 Charley Reese "...IF I EVER MAKE UP A LIST of the 10 Most Despised Public Officials in the History of the United States, I already know who will occupy the No. 1 slot: Robert Strange McNamara, hands down. McNamara was secretary of defense during the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and, more than any other one person is responsible for the disastrous Southeast Asia policy. He was and is an astounding mixture of arrogance and ignorance. He also bureaucraticized the Defense Department, probably beyond hope of redemption. He invented the arrogant little bean counters who didn't know one end of a gun from another yet presumed to micromanage military affairs, even down to the tactical level. It's true we lost the war in Vietnam. It's also true we could have won it---and fairly easily---but the armed forces were not allowed to do so. McNamara was one of the chief architects of that murderous stupid policy. There are plenty of stories, true stories, which show McNamara's failing, but one just published in the U.S.Naval Institute Proceedings sums up the man perfectly. Written by retired Commander Glenn Tierney, it is about an episode in which the commander in chief of the Pacific, Admiral Harry Felt, had to go straight to the president to---get this---authorize the rescue of a downed American pilot, McNamara had decided that the pilot was not to be rescued by any American forces, and there were no other forces available. Too bad for the pilot, as far as McNamara was concerned. But there's more. This pilot was shot down on a photo-reconnaissance mission over Laos authorized by McNamara and get this---orders were that the planes were to be over the target area exactly at 1 p.m. exactly every other day. Now that's murderous stupidity. Even a country boy with enemies knows the way to avoid an ambush is never to go to the same place by the same route at the same time even twice....."

Wpost 9/22/99 Jacqueline Trescott "...President Clinton ended a small but increasingly nasty controversy over plans to have him give the annual Jefferson Lecture, an honor traditionally reserved for well-known figures in the humanities, with a simple: No thanks. William R. Ferris, the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities, had invited the president to give the prestigious lecture, but a chorus of scholars said Clinton was unfit for the honor because he was a politician, not a scholar...."

ABC Raw News 9/24/99 "….Republicans, who gained the majority four years ago with a pledge to run the House of Representatives like a private business, today hailed their first-ever "clean audit" of the House's internal finances. "Considering the hill that we had to climb, it is a significant accomplishment," said Rep. Bill Thomas, R-Calif., chairman of the House Administration Committee. The accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, in a report made public today, said the House had made significant progress in improving its financial management and the audit found "no instances of noncompliance." …."Holding ourselves accountable as anyone in the private sector would do" was one of the party's "crowning achievements," said Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio….."

New York Times 9/23/99 Anne Eisenerg "….THE next time you watch dust motes drifting in the air, consider: Someday the dust motes may be watching you. Scientists at the University of California at Berkeley are designing tiny airborne devices they call "smart dust" that may one day not only observe the likes of lost cats, tornadoes or even enemy forces but also pass the news along to headquarters, wherever that may be. "The goal of smart dust is to combine sensors, computation and communication in a volume as small as a grain of sand," said its inventor, Kris Pister, a Berkeley professor who is leading the effort to put a comp lete airborne sensing and communication platform - including power supply - inside one cubic millimeter. Dr. Pister hopes that one day his smart dust will be ubiquitous. Grains of it could be used for tasks like monitoring a room's temperature to make sure that people in one side of the room do not freeze while those in the other side bake. Smart dust may even have a more stealthy purpose. Joseph Kahn, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Berkeley who has worked closely on the project with Dr. Pister, said he could imagine a future in which "microaircraft drop smart dust on the perimeter of a battlefield to measure data like movement of vehicles." Another microaircraft could interro gate the smart dust to find out what it had seen. …."

Boston Globe 9/26/99 Diane E Lewis "…. Lisa Watson seems no different from any other factory worker. But she is. After soldering circuit boards all day, she spends her nights behind bars at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Conn. Watson is one of 21,000 inmates nationwide earning 23 cents to $1.15 an hour as part of a federal prison work program that is reigniting debate around the country. At issue: the proposed expansion of Federal Prison Industries Inc., a unit of the US Justice Department. Its inmates make electronic components, furniture, clothing, and other items while serving sentences in 94 federal prisons. Last year, FPI reported nearly $540 million in sales. Its only customers: federal agencies. But that could change. Competing bills heading to Congress could have a lasting impact on FPI. Under a bill known as the Prison Industries Reform Act, which is garnering Republican and corporate support, FPI would compete directly for private contracts while phasing out its relationship with the government over seven years. A key goal, say sponsors, would be to bring manufacturing back to the United States (and away from sweatshops overseas) by offering the use of cheap prison labor. Supporters contend that expanding prison industries to include private-sector work would prevent idleness among the nation's burgeoning prison population while reducing recidivism. But critics charge that paying prisoners only a fraction of the minimum wage to produce goods previously made offshore, and then selling those goods on the open market, would create an unfair competitive advantage that could drive some US firms out of business and put thousands of American employees out of work….."

AFP 10/4/99 "..."The Supreme Court will begin a new term today, featuring a slate of cases more momentous than any in recent years and likely to have an immediate impact," The Washington Post daily commented. Those cases include: - whether US authorities have the right to regulate cigarettes as drugs; - whether women can file civil lawsuits against men who have raped them; - whether one state's decision to radically curtail financing of political campaigns unfairly constrains candidates' freedom of speech; - whether cable television channels that offer sexually explicit programs can be forced to show them only late at night, even when the signal is scrambled to prevent non-subscribers from viewing....."

Reuters 10/4/99 James Vicini ".....The U.S. Supreme Court Monday let stand the conviction of death row inmate Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose case has drawn widespread attention, for killing a Philadelphia police officer 18 years ago. The justices without comment or dissent rejected the former black political activist's appeal claiming his constitutional rights were violated when he was not allowed to represent himself at trial and when he was removed from the courtroom. Abu-Jamal, a former member of the Black Panthers, was convicted in 1982 of murdering Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner in an early morning confrontation on Dec. 9, 1981....... It marked the second time Abu-Jamal unsuccessfully sought to have the justices review his case. The Supreme Court last denied his appeal in 1990. ..."

www.sciencedaily.com 10/6/99 Bruce Rolston "....A University of Toronto professor believes that one of the most sacrosanct rules of 20th-century science -- that the speed of light has always been the same - is wrong. Ever since Einstein proposed his special theory of relativity in 1905, physicists have accepted as fundamental principle that the speed of light -- 300 million metres per second -- is a constant and that nothing has, or can, travel faster. John Moffat of the physics department disagrees - light once travelled much faster than it does today, he believes. Recent theory and observations about the origins of the universe would appear to back up his belief. For instance, theories of the origin of the universe -- the "Big Bang"- suggest that very early in the universe's development, its edges were farther apart than light, moving at a constant speed, could possibly have travelled in that time. To explain this, scientists have focused on strange, unknown and as-yet-undiscovered forms of matter that produce gravity that repulses objects. Moffat's theory - that the speed of light at the beginning of time was much faster than it is now - provides an answer to some of these cosmology problems. "It is easier for me to question Einstein's theory than it is to assume there is some kind of strange, exotic matter around me in my kitchen." His theory could also help explain astronomers' discovery last year that the universe's expansion is accelerating....."

NY Times Magazine 9/16/99 Andrew Sullivan "....To put it another way: violence can and should be stopped by the government. In a free society, hate can't and shouldn't be. The boundaries between hate and prejudice and between prejudice and opinion and between opinion and truth are so complicated and blurred that any attempt to construct legal and political fire walls is a doomed and illiberal venture. We know by now that hate will never disappear from human consciousness; in fact, it is probably, at some level, definitive of it. We know after decades of education measures that hate is not caused merely by ignorance; and after decades of legislation, that it isn't caused entirely by law. To be sure, we have made much progress. Anyone who argues that America is as inhospitable to minorities and to women today as it has been in the past has not read much history. And we should, of course, be vigilant that our most powerful institutions, most notably the government, do not actively or formally propagate hatred; and insure that the violent expression of hate is curtailed by the same rules that punish all violent expression. But after that, in an increasingly diverse culture, it is crazy to expect that hate, in all its variety, can be eradicated. A free country will always mean a hateful country. .....For hate is only foiled not when the haters are punished but when the hated are immune to the bigot's power. A hater cannot psychologically wound if a victim cannot psychologically be wounded. And that immunity to hurt can never be given; it can merely be achieved. The racial epithet only strikes at someone's core if he lets it, if he allows the bigot's definition of him to be the final description of his life and his person - if somewhere in his heart of hearts, he believes the hateful slur to be true. The only final answer to this form of racism, then, is not majority persecution of it, but minority indifference to it. The only permanent rebuke to homophobia is not the enforcement of tolerance, but gay equanimity in the face of prejudice. The only effective answer to sexism is not a morass of legal proscriptions, but the simple fact of female success. In this, as in so many other things, there is no solution to the problem. There is only a transcendence of it. For all our rhetoric, hate will never be destroyed. Hate, as our predecessors knew better, can merely be overcome...."

World Net Daily 10/5/99 "....President Clinton lectured Americans over the weekend again on the subject of tolerance. It's time, he said, for all of us to deal with "the fear of the other" that motivates irrational acts of hatred. Of course, Clinton was talking to his friends -- not his enemies. His message of tolerance was delivered to homosexual activists expected to raise $850,000 for more friends of his in the Democratic Party. It's pretty easy to be tolerant of those paying your freight. In fact, this group, ANGLE, or Access Now for Gay and Lesbian Equality, was the first homosexual activist organization to endorse Clinton's candidacy for president. They stuck with him even when he disappointed members with his "don't ask, don't tell" policy for homosexuals in the military and his 1996 decision to sign a law denying federal recognition of same-sex marriages. ....."

WorldNetDaily.com 10/99 J R Nyquist "..... Because we are confused about the identity of our enemies and friends, we are often bewildered when it comes to questions of treason and patriotism. Consequently, in mainstream discourse there is a tendency to move away from these terms. As it happens, the very definition of "treason" depends on how we understand the word "enemy." Treason, for example, is defined in the Constitution as levying war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States. In recent years America has become somewhat hedonistic in its orientation. In a land of shopping malls and video screens there is no immediate urge to ask who our friends and enemies are. This is unfortunate because we cannot afford to ignore a question that is essential to national survival. People need to realize that a great nation always has enemies....... "

Fox News 10/12/99 AP ".....Police searching for six anti-aircraft missiles reported missing from an arms factory in southern Poland found five of them nearby, a police spokeswoman said Tuesday. It was not known who took the weapons or what happened to the sixth one. ...."

Reuters 10/13/99 Thomas Ferraro "....The Teamsters said Tuesday they would break ranks with most fellow AFL-CIO unions and oppose the labor federation's pending endorsement of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. That opposition notwithstanding, a long list of other unions is poised to back the vice president, making it certain he will get the needed two-thirds majority vote of the AFL-CIO's 700 convention delegates Wednesday, labor leaders said. Teamster President James Hoffa, who earlier had left open the possibility that his union would abstain from voting, said it now would formally come out against the AFL-CIO's support of Gore...."

Accuracy in Media 10/8/99 Reed Irvine Cliff Kincaid ".....A new book titled The Sword and the Shield has attracted considerable media attention, because it is based on copies of KGB documents that were smuggled out of the Soviet Union six years ago. Vasily Mitrokhin a KGB archivist had painstakingly copied KGB files for many years. He had kept his copies hidden under the floor of his country house until 1992, when British intelligence managed to get both him and his six trunks of copied documents out of Russia. Christopher Andrew, a Cambridge don, has now published a book based on them......But they have all overlooked the biggest news in the Andrew book-new evidence that proves that Harry Hopkins, the closest and most influential adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt during World War II, was a Soviet agent. Andrew had reported this in a book he had written in 1990 based on information provided by Oleg Gordievsky, a high-level KGB officer who had also been smuggled out of the Soviet Union by British intelligence. Gordievsky reported that Iskhak Ahkmerov, the KGB officer who controlled the illegal Soviet agents in the U.S. during the war, had said that Hopkins was "the most important of all Soviet wartime agents in the United States." Hopkins secret meetings with Ahkmerov were not known to anyone until Gordievsky revealed them. They began before Hopkins made a trip to Moscow in July 1941, a month after the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. His insistence that aid be extended to Stalin with no strings attached justifies Ahkmerov's evaluation of his performance. There is evidence that Hopkins even went so far as to arrange for the shipment of uranium to the Soviet Union to help them develop the atomic bomb. Despite this, Andrew argued that Harry Hopkins was "an unconscious rather than a conscious agent."....."

Washington Post 10/15/99 John Harris "..... On the night he won reelection in 1996, President Clinton proclaimed his desire to transcend partisanship and govern from a "vital American center." Yesterday, he appeared at a news conference to decry months of "reckless partisanship" that he said "threatens America's economic well-being and now our national security." The Senate's brusque dismissal this week of a treaty that Clinton had identified as a critical foreign policy priority was a stark reminder of how bereft of vitality Washington's governing center has become. On issues from entitlements to free trade, this year represents a repudiation of the centrist governing model in which Clinton once hoped to assemble majorities by challenging the orthodoxies of both parties. The zeal with which Clinton made his case against Republicans yesterday, by contrast, reflected an entirely different strategy. Clinton has shown that he and his fellow Democrats can win the public relations battle by playing off the perceived intransigence of the GOP majority. Whatever the merits of this political calculation, however, the capital's atmosphere of confrontation is choking Clinton's hopes for ending his tenure with a string of large policy achievements...."

http://companies.newspage.com/item.cfm/c1014135.702?heads=yes 10/14/99 Reuters "....U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno proposed Thursday that special courts be set up to supervise a prisoner's return to the community, an effort aimed at preventing repeat crimes by the 500,000 inmates who get out of state prisons each year. Reno said at her weekly Justice Department news briefing that local officials would be asked to submit their ideas in creating ``reentry courts,'' and they would see if the idea helps keep high-risk offenders from committing new crimes. ``Too often, offenders leave prison and return to the community without supervision, without jobs, without housing. They quickly fall back into their old patterns of drug usage, gang activities and other crimes,'' she said. ``Our goal is to minimize public safety risks that occur when offenders come back to the community ill-prepared to cope,'' Reno said....."

Intellectual Capital 10/14/99 Wendy Grossman ".....Recently, the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York reversed a 1997 federal court decision in Tasini v. The New York Times. That decision had threatened to upend many years of established copyright law by allowing publishers to reuse freelance-written material in electronic databases and on the Web without further payment. The result is good news for freelance writers, most of whom spend their careers struggling to make ends meet...... The advent of the Web and, before it, online services, meant that top publications such as The New York Times and Time magazine began "repurposing" their old content. The trouble was that the standard freelance contract defaulted to "first North American serial rights" -- that is, the right to publish once, in print, in North America. Electronic publishing worldwide was not included; nonetheless, publishers argued in court that it was.....Jonathan Tasini, president of the National Writers Union, brought suit, and writers lost. The judge classified database reuse as an allowable "revision" under an obscure provision of copyright law covering compilations. The upshot was to allow publishers to make any electronic reuse they wanted of freelancers' work, with no additional payment. ....Overall, my own choice probably would be that electronic rights should be non-exclusive (allowing resale or republication on different sites), that publication should be restricted to the different versions of a single title (preventing a Times article from appearing in the Sun), and that income-producing venture, such as pay-per-download databases and marketable CD-ROMs, should pay additional fees to the originating writers. Alternatively, I would be happy to accept free access to the databases in return for the use and sale of my work -- like most writers, I consume far more information than I produce. Unfortunately, the most likely next step will be for publishers to demand all rights even more vigilantly -- and the average freelancer is not in a position to refuse because he or she needs the work...."

Freeper TMH 10/12/99 "....I would like to broaden your items to include brief synopses of so-called bestsellers which, in reality, are thinly disguised propaganda for the worst sort of liberalism. I happen to have dipped into one of these horrors . . . and I regret it. The book is a 1998 spy novel by Daniel Silva--a New York Times bestseller--called THE MARK OF THE ASSASSIN. I've only gotten to page 100, but it is clear who's the hero and who's the villain. The hero is a woman lawyer, Elizabeth Cannon-Osbourne. She is the daughter of a Democratic senator named Cannon, and the employer of an HIV-positive clerk. Her big problem at the moment is that she can't have a baby (so, you see, she's a victim, too). The villain is a rich, somewhat short Caucasian entrepreneur who makes missile guidance systems. He is also a Christian who prays to God when alone. But when he's not praying to God, he is manipulating a weak Republican president. What this Christian villain is trying to do is make gobs of money by building a Star Wars protective umbrella over the United States. He seems to be well on his way to that goal thanks to his association with international terrorists, cocaine dealers, and other greedy, criminal industrialists. The book is basically a liberal's nightmare of what the world would be like if it weren't for the ACLU, the Democratic Party, and other liberal organizations . . . and, good Lord, it seems to be highly praised by innumerable newspapers: The San Francisco Examiner, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Chicago Tribune, the New York Post, the Kirkus Reviews, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Chattanooga Times, the Naples Daily News, the Independent (Kansas City), and the Home News Tribune. Based on the first 100 pages, however, one has to wonder about all these so-called reviewers, because Silva is actually an agenda-driven liberal, knee deep in the cultural wars, hoping, no doubt, to spread his poison in some not too distant Hollywood movie. He appears to be, in fact, not unlike the Christian villain of his novel...."

Conservative News Service 10/19/99 Paul Weyrich "....You can tell whenever Bill Clinton really gets angry that someone has done something good for the nation. Such is the case with the nuclear test ban treaty in the US Senate. For months Clinton and his Senate operative, Tom Daschle, insisted that the treaty be voted on. Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina had said that he would not let the treaty out of his committee where it has been bottled up since it was signed by the United States several years ago. But Daschle and Senator Joe Biden of Delaware, and a number of other Democrats, insisted that this treaty had to be voted on and chided Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott because he had not scheduled a vote. So one fine day Lott strolled on to the Senate floor and gave Clinton and Daschle what they claimed they wanted: A vote. Whereupon, Clinton and Daschle began to scream that scheduling a vote with two days of debate was unfair. .....This defeat was absolutely in the best interests of the United States. Clinton negotiated a very bad treaty and then he pushed and pushed to get a vote. He got what he deserved. Of course all of the usual suspects in the international community are howling in the moonlight. Let them howl. What the Senate did, it did for our children and grandchildren. Let's give them credit. In fact, after their defeat of Clinton's judicial nominee the other day, and the repeal of the National ID card, I am almost tempted to conclude that it does make a difference who controls the Senate. A few more victories for right thinking like this one and they will have convinced me....."

Investors Business Daily 10/20/99 ".....a new study by Morgan Reynolds of the National Center for Policy Analysis. The key to crime's continuing fall, the study finds, is a rise in its cost to criminals..... The cost of committing a crime is simply the risk of getting caught multiplied by the penalty you pay if caught. Here's an example, drawn from Reynolds' study: For every 100 burglaries, about 50 are reported to the police. Of the 50 that are reported, 6.9 result in an arrest. Of the 6.9 burglars who are arrested, 6.2 are prosecuted. Of the 6.2 who are prosecuted, 4.2 are convicted of a felony. And of the 4.2 convicted of a felony, 1.9 end up in prison. For the 1.9 burglars who end up in prison, the median stay is a year and a half. The upshot, after all the multiplication and division? The typical burglar can expect to spend 9.4 days in prison. This may seem short. And it is. But it's still a lot longer than the 4.8 days a burglar could expect in 1990...."

Investors Business Daily 10/20/99 ".....Consider these striking figures. Since 1993: The murder rate has dropped 34%, while the odds of going to prison for murder have increased 54%. The rape rate has dropped 17%, while the odds of going to prison for rape have increased 20%. The robbery rate has dropped 35%, while the odds of going to prison for robbery have increased 24%. The aggravated assault rate has dropped 18%, while the odds of going to prison for aggravated assault have increased 26%. The burglary rate has dropped 22%, while the odds of going to prison have increased 21%. It's hard to see how anyone can look at these figures and conclude that building more prisons is a poor investment...."

AP 10/21/99 Douglas Kiker ".... Vice President Al Gore, going beyond Clinton administration policies, is pledging to ``do everything in my power'' to ban all new offshore oil drilling in federal waters off Florida and California. The Democratic presidential candidate also said he would fight to stop drilling in federal waters off all states ``where the public clearly opposes it'' - even if companies already have been given offshore leases from the government...."

Washington Post 10/22/99 Eric Pianin Juliet Eilperin "....The Clinton administration and congressional allies, worried that Republicans are gaining traction on the traditionally Democratic issue of Social Security, mounted a furious attack yesterday, accusing GOP leaders of distorting the record and breaking their vow to soften their rhetoric. ..."

REUTERS 10/25/99 "…..President Clinton will sign a $267 billion defense spending bill Monday, but will veto a bill to fund the Commerce, State and Justice departments, White House spokesman Joe Lockhart said. Lockhart said Clinton would sign the defense bill before leaving on a visit to New York. ``As we move forward, we'll work very hard to make the case against the indiscriminate, across-the-board spending cuts that the congressional Republicans have put forward,'' Lockhart said. While Lockhart said the defense spending bill was ``loaded up a little bit with some unnecessary projects,'' he said Clinton intended to sign it because ``it's very important that we meet our commitments to our national security, to our servicemen, both at home and around the world.'' …."

BBC 10/25/99 Professor Philip Stott University of London ".....During the next few days, our media will suffer a collective bout of hypochondria over global warming and the future of the Earth. Why? A cynic might say it is all the aircraft fuel burnt to carry the hundreds of delegates and journalists to Bonn, Germany, for the Fifth Session of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). But even this would be to accept the ecohype of the global warmers. Why are we so surprised that climate is changing? Climate always changes. It would be newsworthy if climate stopped changing....... During the last 18,000 years there have been both gradual and abrupt changes, some much larger than any we are currently experiencing. And what is the consensus about the present changes? A rise of between 0.3 and 0.6 degrees Centigrade during the last 150 years, although there has been cooling as well during this period. Some measures, such as those from corrected satellite readings, still indicate overall cooling. So why are we so desperate to criminalise human beings for this change? No single factor can account for climate variability.....The idea that climate change is brought about by just one or two factors, such as carbon dioxide emissions, is simply nonsense. We must grasp the fact that curbing human-induced greenhouse gases will not halt climate change. That is the biggest myth of them all. My advice is therefore to ignore the hype. It will only make you unnecessarily anxious. Let them play with their inadequate climate models and come up with scenarios, the worse the better....."

Washington Post 10/26/99 "....President Clinton vetoed a major spending bill yesterday and signed another, as the Republican-led Congress forced him to narrow his budget priorities for the year and acknowledge the delay or possible death of initiatives such as enhancing HMO patients' rights, tightening gun restrictions and adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare...."

Cato Institute 11/1/99 Richard Nadler "……The most significant demographic shift of this century is the rise of history's first mass class of worker capitalists-men and women whose wealth-seeking activities include both wage earning and capital ownership. Today, 76 million Americans, members of 43 percent of U.S. households, own stocks or stock mutual funds. This represents a 126 percent increase in shareholding over 15 years. ..."

UPI Wire 11/1/99 "….Scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and Washington State University say they have determined what triggered the end of the last ice age 15,000 or so years ago - an abrupt period of warming that began in the North Atlantic, not in the tropics. The new evidence goes against the grain of conventional scientific wisdom that has placed the tropics at the center of climate change - linking the region to everything from El Ninos to abrupt warming during the last ice age……"

Agence France-Presse 10/31/99 Lamia Radi "....Egyptian officials were quick to rule out the possibility of terrorism after an EgyptAir passenger plane bound for Cairo crashed into the waters off the US coast Sunday, with all 214 people aboard feared dead. .... EgyptAir managing director Mohamed Fahim Rayyan said "fate" had doomed Flight 990 and said the crew never sent an SOS signal before the plane vanished from radar screens 40 minutes after taking off from New York's John F. Kennedy airport. ....."It is strange that the site of this accident is the same as that of the TWA flight and the plane belonging to the son of the American president John F. Kennedy. It is bizarre", Rayyan said. "I think we have to know why the plane went down precisely in that spot," he added. "EgyptAir, and Boeing with us, wants to know exactly what happened." ..... . "

BOSTON (AP) 10/31/99 Laura Vozzella ".... An EgyptAir plane with 214 people on board disappeared early today on a flight from New York to Egypt, and debris and at least one body were found at sea off Nantucket, officials said. EgyptAir Flight 990, a Boeing 767, was headed to Cairo, Coast Guard Lt. Rob Halsey said. It originated in Los Angeles, according to EgyptAir officials at Cairo International Airport..... Rayan said there were 62 Egyptians, two Sudanese, three Syrians and one Chilean. There was no record of the nationality of 131 others, and Rayan said he believed some of those were Americans. .....Flight 990 took off from Kennedy at 1:19 a.m. and disappeared from radar at 2 a.m. while flying at 33,000 feet, said Eliot Brenner, chief spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington. Weather at Kennedy was good with 3 to 4 miles of visibility and light wind, the National Weather Service said. ...."

The Associated Press, via News Plus 10/31/99 "….Firecrackers packed in luggage blew up outside Cairo's airport Sunday, while dozens of family members of those aboard an EgyptAir jet that crashed earlier in the day waited inside. Airport officials said the blast caused alarm but no injuries. The officials said a large quantity of firecrackers was packed in one or more suitcases owned by two Sudanese men who were scheduled to travel on an EgyptAir flight to Khartoum, the Sudanese capital...."

AP 10/29/99 "….Two Internet stock promoters found shot to death in a New Jersey mansion had served as government informants, providing information on securities fraud cases, according to published reports today. Alain Chalem and Maier Lehmann were crippled by gunfire and then shot point-blank in their heads, investigators said….. Lehmann had cooperated with authorities following a plea agreement stemming from a 1992 insurance fraud case, The Star-Ledger of Newark reported today…..Monmouth County Prosecutor John Kaye has said earlier that the men had ties to "shady'' business dealings and the attack was possibly linked to their penny stock Web operation, www.stockinvestor.com….Between 1994 and 1996, Chalem worked at the brokerage A.S. Goldmen and Co., which was indicted in July in New York on charges connected with stock manipulation, forgery and illegal trading….."

Associated Press 7/15/99 Michelle Locke "….Public radio station KPFA, a longtime outlet for radical politics in liberal Berkeley, has been rocked by arrests, firings and demonstrations in what staff members see as a battle against corporate conformity. Staffers say the station's parent company, the nonprofit Pacifica Foundation, is trying to make KPFA more mainstream. "These people have come in and have stolen the station," said Lavarn Williams, one of about 30 people holding a daylong protest outside the station Wednesday. "Instead of free speech, they want government-controlled speech." …..The unrest has gotten so bad that on Wednesday, the doors were locked and managers were playing tapes of old shows. "Everyone at KPFA has been placed on administrative leave until we're able to cool things off," said Pacifica spokeswoman Elan Fabbri. ….."

The Houston Chronicle 7/30/99 Allan Turner "….A bitter, months-long dispute at the nation's oldest public radio station, KPFA-FM in Berkeley, Calif., was set to end today as management ordered padlocks removed from the station's doors and its suspended staff placed in charge of broadcasting. The conflict, which had clear Houston overtones, brought thousands of protesters to the streets of Berkeley, home of a University of California campus and site of much 1960s student revolutionary unrest. At the protest's height, gunshots were fired into the studio of KPFA, flagship of the listener-supported, left-leaning Pacifica Foundation. Dozens of tents occupied by protesters clogged a nearby street……"

The Houston Chronicle 10/29/99 Allan Turner "….Pacifica Foundation's brutal, ongoing family feud over the future of its left-leaning, listener-supported radio stations will come to Houston today as directors hold their first meeting since last summer's crippling clash with staff of the network's flagship station in California…… Although the months-long crisis ended in July when Pacifica Chairwoman Mary Frances Berry placed the station - the 50-year-old network's first property - in the hands of its staff, many of the underlying concerns remained. Critics of the nonprofit radio network, which also operates Houston's KPFT-FM and stations in Los Angeles, New York City and Washington, D.C., pledged Thursday that as many as 50 protesters will converge on the Doubletree Hotel at Post Oak here on Saturday….."

The Houston Chronicle 10/30/99 S K Bardwell "….A deliberately set fire gutted a storage building at KPFT-FM's Montrose-area offices Friday, on the eve of meetings here to determine the liberal station's future. Two points of origin were found for Friday's fire, which Houston Fire Department investigator Robert Kent said was obviously arson. One KPFT employee said, "It's a pretty poor way to make a statement." Pacifica Radio will hold its biannual national board meeting here this weekend, and some familiar with the nonprofit radio network said Friday's fire may seem cool in comparison. It will be the directors' first meeting since a contentious, sometimes violent battle with the network's flagship station in Berkeley, Calif., over the summer….."

Associated Press 10/29/99 Tom Raum "….President Clinton said today he wants to work out a deal with Sen. Jesse Helms on former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun's nomination to be ambassador to New Zealand. "If she gets a hearing, she would be confirmed,'' Clinton said. Clinton said he has instructed his staff to evaluate which documents to forward to Helms, R-N.C., chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. White House staffers met Thursday with members of Helms' staff to start compiling a list of documents……. If his committee receives the "relevant documents,'' a hearing can be held as early as Tuesday, with a vote Wednesday, Helms said in a statement. Helms has said the one-term Illinois Democrat's nomination is under an "ethical cloud.'' …."

Associated Press 10/28/99 Jonathan Salant "….Diving into the uncharted waters of Internet politics, the Federal Election Commission today began deciding what rules should be followed by Web sites set up independently of any political campaign. In addition, the FEC plans to seek the public's suggestions for future regulations governing use of the Internet for political campaigns. "We're getting into the new frontier here,'' FEC spokesman Ron Harris said. …."

AP Wire via Drudge 10/28/99 "….A NEW strain of flu - believed to have started in pigs - could kill millions, experts warned yesterday. An international team of scientists are focusing on the new type of Hong Kong flu. Alarm bells sounded after a 10-month-old girl was admitted to the city's Tuen Mun hospital in September. Although she recovered, the virus bore the molecular hallmarks of a known pig strain. Pigs were thought to have started the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak, which lead to the deaths of an estimated 20million people around the world….. "

A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL 10/28/99 "….Massachusetts has had nearly three years to see the folly of a 1996 law passed by initiative petition that prohibits the use of body-gripping animal traps. As unchecked beaver, muskrat, and coyote populations cause health and safety problems around the state, it is clear that legislators need to act quickly to amend a misguided statute. The Fisheries and Wildlife Division reports that the state's beaver population is over 50,000, up from 20,000 in 1996. The increase has caused flood damage to homes and roadways, erosion under railroad tracks, and water contamination. Muskrats, proliferating by the thousands in the cranberry farms of Southeastern Massachusetts, are destroying the support structures of bogs with their countless 8-inch holes. Farmers can easily break their ankles in these holes or tip machinery as one wheel sinks into a muskrat tunnel….."

Daily News Washington Bureau 10/28/99 T Burger "….Sen. Daniel Moynihan (D-N.Y.) yesterday blamed excessive government secrecy for breeding ugly myths, unveiling legislation to force the release of a vast array of top-secret documents…… The state's senior senator cited myths such as CIA backing for President John F. Kennedy's assassination and complicity in former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet's bloody regime to make his case that the government needs to open more classified documents - more than 1.5 billion of which are more than 25 years old. Moynihan recalled that even then-Sen. Hubert Humphrey (D-Minn.) suspected that the CIA was behind Kennedy's 1963 assassination….."

AP via northernlight.com 10/27/99 "….Six Harvard University scientists have received threatening letters booby-trapped with razor blades and allegedly sent by a group of animal rights extremists. Scientists working elsewhere across the country also have been targeted. A communique posted on a Web site belonging to an organization calling itself the ``Justice Department'' was forwarded during the weekend by a group that monitors such extremists, police said….."

AP via Fox News Online 10/27/99 Rebecca Sinderbrand "….Several congresswomen were removed from a Senate hearing today on orders of Sen. Jesse Helms after they tried to present him a letter supporting an international treaty against sexual discrimination. Helms, R-N.C., who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has blocked a Senate vote on the 1979 United Nations treaty. ….. After asking the women to "please act like ladies,'' Helms directed Capitol Police to escort them from the hearing room. "The women of the House will no longer tolerate his delay tactics,'' Woolsey said. She said Democratic representatives had attempted to meet with Helms for nearly five years on the treaty, but had been unsuccessful….."

Chicago Sun-Times 10/26/99 Frank Main Michael Sneed "....One of two men charged with killing the son of U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush told police in a confession the attack was over a drug debt, sources said Monday. Leo Foster, 32, was charged Monday with murder in the street shooting of 29-year-old Huey Rich a week ago. Foster was taken into custody for questioning on Friday. Police and the FBI also obtained warrants for the arrest of Darcell Prince, 23, on a state charge of murder and a federal charge of interstate flight to avoid prosecution. Foster told police that Prince may have fled to St. Paul, Minn., the FBI said..... But three law-enforcement sources confirmed independently Monday that Foster told detectives the robbery was related to cocaine. "[Rich] was supposed to deliver narcotics and never did," one source said. Rich may have owed as much as $100,000, according to another source...... "

Reuters 10/26/99 "….A federal judge issued a stay of execution Tuesday for Mumia Abu-Jamal, the former Black Panther and radio journalist who was scheduled to die next December for killing a Philadelphia policeman 18 years ago.U.S. District Judge William Yohn Jr. granted the stay, 13 days after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge signed Abu-Jamal's death warrant scheduling his execution for Dec. 2, according to a statement from Leonard Weinglass, the lead attorney for Abu-Jamal's defense team...."

CNSNews.com 10/26/99 Patrick Goodenough "….The United States and other industrialized countries are coming under pressure at a major United Nations conference on global warming underway in Germany, with both the host nation and the UN calling for a deadline on implementing a pact aimed at reducing pollution. More than 160 countries' representatives are meeting in Bonn for a two week session to work towards implementation of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol...."

Hartford Courant 10/26/99 Elizabeth Hamilton "…..As Middletown Press reporter Marty Bodwicz was skewering town officials from his cordless home telephone two years ago, the conversation was being piped into his neighbors' house through their baby monitor. No big deal, right? Wrong. Neighbor Walter Damuck was among the town officials Bodwicz was gabbing about with a friend. So Damuck and his wife, Patricia, taped the conversation with their video camera and took it to Bodwicz's boss as proof the reporter was biased. If you're thinking Bodwicz was pulled from his beat or fired, though, think again. The Damucks will face criminal charges in Superior Court in Middletown next month in what is being called one of the strangest eavesdropping cases in the state's history…..The Damucks, who were arrested this month on a charge of eavesdropping, are scheduled to appear in court Nov. 9….."

Knight Ridder wire (Seattle Times) 11/8/99 James V Grimaldi Seattle Times "……Following a legal setback in the Newt Gingrich tape case, U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott, D-Wash., has asked an appeals court to reconsider its decision that he was not protected by the First Amendment when a recording of House Republicans was leaked to newspapers. An appeals court panel in September ordered the reinstatement of an Ohio Republican congressman's lawsuit alleging that McDermott violated his privacy because of McDermott's alleged role in leaking a taped cell phone call with Gingrich, R-Ga., the former speaker of the House...."

Washington Post 11/4/99 "….Among the key lessons that Kenneth W. Starr says he learned during his five-year independent counsel investigation was that when it comes to the law, professionalism is vitally important--and not always evident. Speaking to about 600 people at his first hometown speech in Reston yesterday, Starr singled out, William H. Ginsburg, onetime lawyer for Monica Lewinsky, as the prime example of a lack of professionalism. Without ever mentioning Ginsburg's name, he cited this particular lawyer's five appearances on Sunday morning TV talk shows on a single day. A world record……"

MSNBC 11/3/99 Alan Boyle "…..Policy-makers should create a new system of "electronic depositories" to preserve digital information for posterity, America's top research council says in a new report. The National Research Council's recommendation is contained in a survey of the challenges surrounding intellectual property rights in an online age. THE CALL for an electronic depository system - essentially a digital analogue to the Library of Congress - was among the most specific recommendations contained in the report, titled "The Digital Dilemma: Intellectual Property in the Information Age." Although such a system has not been a legislative priority in the past, the report's recommendation will be taken seriously, a congressional chief of staff told MSNBC……"

Jewish World Review 11/10/99 Walter Williams "…..LAST WEEK, Republicans won outright control of Virginia's General Assembly. Retaining their Senate majority and winning the House of Delegates is a Republican first in the history of the Commonwealth. Republican Gov. James S. Gilmore III celebrated the election news saying: "Free at last. Free at last. Free at long last. Democracy has finally come to the Commonwealth." I'm hoping that Gilmore simply misspoke when he said democracy and really meant liberty has finally come to the Commonwealth. Democracy and liberty are not the same. Democracy is little more than mob rule, while liberty refers to the sovereignty of the individual….."

Reuters / Excite 11/10/99 Tim Doddyn "….A preliminary look at EgyptAir Flight 990's flight data recorder shows an uneventful flight before an apparently controlled descent, investigators said Wednesday, further deepening the mystery of the crash at sea that killed all 217 people on board. Jim Hall, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said analysis of the recorder, which was plucked from the sea Tuesday, showed the autopilot disengaging about eight seconds before the Cairo-bound plane began going down Oct. 31. …… "

Washington Weekly 11/8/99 J Peter Mulhern "….The Washington Post ran an expose this week on a particular security practice of the Secret Service and the D.C. Police. Whenever the President goes someplace in the District, police tow parked cars away from the area. Sometimes the cars end up in an impound lot. Sometimes they are randomly dumped away from the President's destination. If they end up in a no parking zone they will be ticketed and possibly towed again. The police sometimes clear streets in this manner without advance notice. Upstanding citizens can park legally and return to find their cars gone. Nobody will apologize or even explain. All this because the President takes it into his head to go out for a meal. Is this how an egalitarian democracy should work? ……The nation's willingness to accept the idea that the President's personal security is of paramount importance suggests our view of government is badly out of kilter. The President is not divine, or even particularly important. He is merely one of many government functionaries. His life is precious because all human life is precious, but protecting him is not one of government's more important functions….."

Reuters 11/7/99 Gustavo Oviedo "…..The largest organization of Amazonian indigenous peoples Saturday celebrated its victory over a U.S. businessman who patented a hallucinogenic vine that the Indians use in religious ceremonies. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Thursday rejected a 1986 plant patent granted Loren Miller, owner of the California-based International Plant Medicine Corp., for what Miller said was a novel strain of the local ayahuasca plant ..."

World Tribune 11/8/99 ".....A confidant of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak is angering the United States with repeated suggestions that the United States was behind the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, in which 217 people, including 33 Egyptian military officers, were killed. "The circumstances of this tragedy remain suspect," Samir Ragab wrote in his daily column Saturday in the government-owned daily Al Gomhuriya. Ragab is editor of the newspaper....."

New York Times 11/17/99 Winston Groom "….Most Americans have put the Vietnam War behind them, but when it comes to baby boomers running for national office, some people just can't seem to let go. President Clinton and former Vice President Dan Quayle were put under the microscope over their actions during the war. Now Gov. George W. Bush of Texas has come under fire because he won a spot as a fighter pilot in the Texas Air National Guard, avoiding service in Vietnam. Even Vice President Al Gore has been the subject of snide comments about his six-month tour of duty, which consisted not of combat but of putting out a newsletter for his unit near the relative safety of Saigon. With Governor Bush in particular, the question being raised is whether serving in the National Guard is a way of avoiding "real" service, and whether some people's military experience was more worthy or honorable than others'. The question is ludicrous, and the claim that serving in the National Guard, the Reserves or the Coast Guard was simply a way of evading the draft needs to be debunked once and for all…."

Boston Globe 11/17/99 David Armstrong "….One day two years ago, James Knott was in his office talking on the telephone when he noticed something unusual happening in the lobby of Riverdale Mills, his wire-mesh manufacturing plant here. As he walked out, Knott saw nearly two dozen people, including several men wearing dark jackets with bold "US AGENT" lettering on their backs. Over the next seven hours, the agents, armed with semiautomatic pistols, seized boxes of documents from file cabinets and desks. The 69-year-old Knott was incredulous as he watched the scene unfold. In 1979, he'd bought this forgotten mill on the Blackstone River, 13 miles southeast of Worcester, pumped his own money into it, and over the next 20 years turned the granite and red-brick complex into the town's largest employer. The plastic-coated wire mesh that Knott invented is used to make lobster traps all over the world. As he watched the agents question his employees, Knott wondered what he could have done to invite a raid of his company. Nearly a year later, on Aug. 12, 1998, he had his answer. Knott was indicted on two counts of violating the Clean Water Act for allegedly pumping highly acidic water into the town sewerage system……"

National Review 11/22/99 Ramesh Ponnuru "…. Does the conservative movement need to take some lithium? As the Washington Post's Thomas B. Edsall recently observed, over the last five years its mood has swung from giddy optimism to despair and back again. The arc can be traced in the pronouncements of individual conservatives. Less than a year ago, Bill Bennett was despairing of the American public's moral insipidity, as evidenced by its conspicuous lack of outrage at Bill Clinton's misconduct. Now he blesses George W. Bush's efforts to put a smiley face on the Republican party. Some of the same conservatives who were broaching the subject of justified revolution a few years ago have fallen behind the Texas governor as the unlikely leader of their insurrection. These changes of mood are neither surprising nor particularly unhealthy. They reflect changed circumstances, for one thing. After several years of watching congressional Republicans play Wile E. Coyote to the president's Road Runner - their every trap exploding in their faces - conservatives can now look forward to each morning's newspaper, with its fresh revelations of the Gore campaign's incompetence….."

Roll Call Online 11/15/99 John Mercurio "…. Don't worry too much about next year's House races, Republican strategists are privately advising GOP leaders, because the elections that will really decide which party dominates Congress in the next decade are for offices far beyond the Beltway. Even as they brace for a Democratic challenge to their slim House majority next year, Republicans are staking their long-term fate on the outcome of gubernatorial and legislative races in a narrowly targeted group of states. If they can prevail in those state races, Republican officials will have control of redrawing a majority of House districts in the post-2000 Census round of remapping that could decide who dominates the chamber in 2003 and beyond. ….."

Associated Press 11/13/99 Tarek El-Tablawy "….Experienced pilots are mystified by flight recorder data they says shows that EgyptAir Flight 909 was deliberately put into a dive, saying whatever was done in the cockpit was not a standard emergency measure. One veteran former 767 pilot said the actions indicated by the tape were consistent with what someone in the cockpit would do if they deliberately wanted to crash the plane. Another, Barry Schiff, a former TWA 767 pilot from Los Angeles and currently an aviation accident investigator, said the data shows that some human factor was responsible rather than some system failure. ``I racked my brain and I can't think of any emergency that would lead to these maneuvers,'' said Schiff….."

Fox News Wire 11/12/99 Reuters "….Federal criminal investigators are focusing on unusual preflight behavior by EgyptAir Flight 990's crew and actively pursuing leads that suggest the disaster in which 217 people died "was not an accident,'' the Boston Herald reported in its Friday editions……Citing unnamed sources close to the investigation, the newspaper said information unearthed in the wake of the Oct. 31 crash some 60 miles off the Massachusetts coast indicated that at least one flight crew member had reason to believe that something was going to happen to the plane. ….."

Chicago Tribune via Knight Ridder 11/15/99 Jon Hilkevitch Naftali Bendavid "....The FBI told Rep. Henry Hyde Monday that the bureau will assume a leading role in the investigation of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, congressional sources said. Hyde, R-Ill., was informed in his role as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, the sources said, following a meeting between National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jim Hall and FBI Director Louis Freeh. The shift from an accident investigation to the possibility of a criminal case came as new details of the final moments of the flight emerged from a cockpit voice recorder...."

Seattle Times 11/17/99 Peter Lewis "…In what some legal experts believe is an unprecedented ruling, a King County District Court judge presiding over a harassment case has barred a Seattle man from posting any comments to an online discussion group. The ruling, which came in a case before Judge Pro Tem Marcine Anderson, has prompted questions about the right to free speech in an electronic forum. After hearing from individuals involved in the civil case, Anderson issued a ruling Friday restraining Scott Abraham from "making or responding to postings on the Internet site rec.skiing.alpine either directly or indirectly, in person or through others." The dispute arose after vicious electronic exchanges, known as "flame wars" in the parlance of the Internet, occurred at the site, one of thousands of newsgroups on the Internet. Newsgroups are online forums where participants can exchange views on specific subjects, in this case alpine skiing. ….Margaret Chon, who teaches Internet law at Seattle University, said the ruling seems to be a restraint on speech. She noted that the First Amendment is not an absolute right and that it doesn't protect defaming or harassing speech. "But it seems the order might have been a little bit broad because it didn't say he can't post threatening speech," she said. "It said he can't post all speech. . . . I've never heard of anything like that." Cumbow, the Internet lawyer, observed: "It's very curious. It's amazing the kind of environment that will create emotional excess. . . . I have known of cases of religious talk (news) groups and cults and anti-cult talk where emotions have run very high. . . . But in the context of skiing, it's amazing that things get to this (emotional) extent." …."

AP 11/17/99 "….One of the Arkansas Senate's most powerful members announced Wednesday he would resign amid a public corruption scandal and colleagues' threats to oust him. Sen. Nick Wilson, 57, was convicted this month of conspiracy and tax evasion and faces additional public corruption charges in court Feb. 28. With 29 years in the Senate, he is the chamber's longest-serving member. Wilson said he sent a resignation letter to Gov. Mike Huckabee announcing that he would resign Dec. 31. …."

Washington Post 11/29/99 Philip P Pan "….Twenty years after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused an exodus out of that nation, including a large wave that eventually settled in Northern Virginia, a new group of Afghan refugees is arriving in the Washington area. This time, they are almost all women fleeing the country's new Taliban rulers, who imposed a radical brand of Islamic law that bars women from schools and work and requires them to wear the all-enveloping burqa veil when out of their homes….."

Freeper Clarity on Tech Law Journal 10/27/99 June Green US District Judge "….There has been another interesting copyright decision for those of you following the Los Angeles Times v. Free Republic case. David Carney, the editor of Tech Law Journal, brought it mmy attention. This case does not involve political speech. Nor does it involve news articles. Rather, it involves a bill passed by the last Congress which extends the maximum term of copyrights. The film, music, and publishing industries wanted the extension to keep many of their works from entering into the public domain. The plaintiffs in that case want to make some of these works available for free on the Internet. They are represented by a distinguished group of professors from Harvard Law School, including Lawrence Lessig. They challenged the constitutionality of the statute. One of their legal arguments is that the new copyright statute violates their First Amendment free speech rights. Judge Green ruled, in effect, that the First Amendment does not trump copyright laws….."

Reuters 11/20/99 "….A security alert was sounded 10 minutes into President Clinton's flight to Italy from Greece on Saturday, a White House spokesman said, but Air Force One later landed in the Tuscan city of Pisa safely….. ``You can assume from this exercise that there was a threat,'' White House Spokesman Joe Lockhart said. …."

Freeper Bob J 11/23/99 "….Based on records prior to the summer break:
29 Members of Congress have been accused of spousal abuse,
7 have been arrested for fraud,
19 have been accused of writing bad checks,
117 have bankrupted at least two businesses,
3 have been arrested for assault,
71 have credit reports so bad they can't qualify for a credit card,
14 have been arrested on drug-related charges,
8 have been arrested for shoplifting,
21 are current defendants in lawsuits, and in 1998 alone,
84 were stopped for drunk driving, but were released after claiming Congressional immunity.
Politicians and diapers have one thing in common; they should both be changed regularly and for the same reason…."

The Washington Times 11/23/99 Wes Pruden "…. Talk about a rush to judgment. The Egyptians, stung badly by the implications of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990, have come up with a conclusion without an investigation. Human mistakes, and certainly not a Muslim suicide, didn't cause the crash because it couldn't have, the Egyptian transport minister told his parliament last night in Cairo. He doesn't have any idea who or what did, and of course Egypt intends to get to the bottom of it. His government is determined to have "a thorough and scientific investigation" and will pursue all leads (except any that might lead to the solution of the mystery)……Ibrahim al-Dumeiri, the transport minister, said that President Clinton, after getting a telephone call from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, spiked the criminal investigation. "Mubarak's personal call to Clinton prevented the investigation from being turned over to the FBI," Mr. Dumeiri told the Egyptian parliament……"

Scripps Howard News Service 11/25/99 Michael Hedges "…. 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 that it is all over," he said. "Then I regrouped and felt there was nothing else to do, I might as well fight it." EgyptAir's Flight 990 was not the first commercial aircraft to plunge into a sudden, steep dive. Gibson's flight 20 years ago had some similarities to the Oct. 31 tragedy….."

AP – Yahoo 11/22/99 Tom Raum "….A federal judge on Monday ruled that the Clinton administration doesn't have to disclose what it spends on intelligence activities, dismissing a lawsuit by a group seeking publication of the total. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan sided with CIA Director George Tenet, who had refused to publicize the total on national security grounds….."

Los Angeles Times 11/19/99 Richard Marosi "…. After eight days of deliberations, jurors in the murder trial of a Yorba Linda teen police informant announced Friday they cannot decide on a punishment for his killers, prompting a judge to declare a mistrial in the case's penalty phase. Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty against the two men and one woman whom the jury last month convicted of torturing and killing Chad MacDonald because he worked as a drug informant for the Brea Police Department. ….."

Fox News 11/21/99 Deb Riechmann AP "…..Hours after President Kennedy was assassinated, FBI agents reportedly listened to a tape of a phone call that a man identifying himself as "Lee Oswald'' had placed to the Soviet Embassy in Mexico City. They made a startling discovery: The voice on the tape was not Oswald's, government records say. This controversial tape has been a question mark in the assassination investigation since Kennedy was killed Nov. 22, 1963. Only now - 36 years to the day after the murder - has the government released a flurry of new details about it. The CIA said years ago that the tapes on which it recorded the call were erased. Documents released in recent years said otherwise. The latest and newest of declassified documents offer more evidence that the tapes survived. The discovery that the voice on the tape was someone other than Oswald was a "disquieting discovery because the man who impersonated Oswald was still at large,'' said John Newman, an ex-military intelligence analyst, author and professor at the University of Maryland. ….."

NY Times 11/20/99 Alex Kuczynski Felicity Barringer "…. Kimberly Smith Jensen was known as a tough, occasionally stubborn, boss around the offices of Mortimer B. Zuckerman's publishing empire. In August, she had been promoted to chief operating officer, overseeing three magazines…… On Nov. 4, Zuckerman and his management asked Ms. Jensen, who oversaw management at Fast Company, The Atlantic Monthly and U.S. News & World Report to explain what they said were missing funds under her authority, says Ira Ellenthal, the chief executive and group publisher for the magazines. Nine days later, she was found by a housekeeper in a Comfort Inn in Ocean City, Md., a plastic bag tied over her head. In a statement the Ocean City police said her death was an apparent suicide. The police report said Ms. Jensen appeared to have been dead for at least 24 hours when her body was discovered at 12:45 p.m. on Nov. 13. …."

Reuters via ZDNET 11/21/99 "….. Computer maker SGI is in talks to sell Cray Research -- once one of the technological gems of the United States -- to a little-known technology acquisition group called Gores Technology Group, industry sources said. One industry source said that the companies have been talking for at least two months and that Gores, with operations in both Los Angles and Boulder, Colo., originally offered $100 million for the struggling supercomputer maker. But since doing due diligence on Cray, it has lowered its offer, the source said. Steve Conway, a spokesman for Cray, a business unit of SGI, in Eagan, Minn., declined to comment on who Cray is talking to, but he did say that the current merger talks are accelerating. ……"

PC Computer Magazine Online 12/99 Gordon Bass "….. There's more data suggesting problems with the radiation from cell phones than the FDA had when it banned silicone breast implants. Are we all at risk? It's the must-have accessory of the late 20th century. It confers status and power. It gives you access to the world wherever you are, whenever you want. But what if it's producing a tumor in your brain the size of a golf ball? ….."

Mark Stevenson Associated Press Writer 11/28/99 "….The U.N.'s highest human rights official says she wants the United States to explain why it polices the safest border crossings, forcing immigrants to risk their lives in the most dangerous areas. U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said Saturday she will ask for consultations with the United States on that policy. Two days earlier, Robinson visited the border city of Tijuana and saw hundreds of markers commemorating those who died trying to get into the United States. She made the comments on the final day of a five-day fact-finding tour of Mexico….."

Washington Weekly 11/28/99 Rep Traficant D Oh "….. An introduction to the bipartisan Tauzin-Traficant bill to Abolish IRS and Federal Income taxes was given by Rep. Traficant (D-OH) on April 15, 1999: …..Change in this town does not happen overnight. You need to have vision and you need to be persistent. Most important, you need to ignore what the so-called experts have to say. In 1985, my first year in Congress, I began an effort to stop IRS abuses and enhance taxpayer rights. I was told at the time that I was tilting at windmills. But I dug in my heels and never gave up. Last year the President signed a major IRS reform bill into law. That bill included two provisions I championed for 13 years. The first shifts the burden of proof in a civil tax case from the taxpayer to the IRS. The second requires a judge's order before the IRS can seize the family home. Prior to the enactment of this bill into law I won some other victories such as the establishment of taxpayer sensitivity training for IRS agents, the creation of a special taxpayer advocate's office within the IRS, a dramatic increase in civil penalties for IRS agent misconduct and giving taxpayers the right to sue the IRS….."

New York Times 12/6/99 Steve Lohr "…..Two years ago, when an IBM supercomputer known as Deep Blue beat the world chess champion, Gary Kasparov, it seemed a confirmation of the Computer Age, a triumph of machine over man. On Monday, IBM is announcing a five-year, $100-million program to build a supercomputer whose ambitions dwarf Deep Blue's. The goal of the new supercomputer, to be called Blue Gene, is to simulate one of the most common routines in natural biology -- the process by which amino acids intricately fold themselves into full-fledged proteins, the body's molecular work force whose chores range from metabolizing food to fighting disease……"

CNSNews.com 12/6/99 Patrick Goodenough "….A British charity Monday called for a government inquiry into claims that health officials are practicing "involuntary euthanasia" on elderly patients in an attempt to free up beds in overcrowded hospitals. Age Concern accused the National Health Service (NHS) of "ageism" and called on the Labor government to keep a pre-election promise to tackle the problem of neglect of older patients. ….. Police are investigating 60 deaths of pensioners in hospitals, 40 of them in one area alone, who were allegedly denied water and food by staff. In Derby, police launched an inquiry - still underway - after junior nurses at a local hospital complained that dozens of senile patients were being denied food and water….."

The Los Angeles Times/AP 12/6/99 "…..The Supreme Court set the stage today for determining the fate of the Miranda police warnings, familiar to generations of Americans who have witnessed countless arrests in movies and on television. The justices agreed to decide whether a federal law overturned-- or at least dramatically limited-- one of the court's most famous decisions, one that since 1966 has required police to warn criminal suspects of their rights before questioning them. To be decided by late June is whether the incriminating statements a Maryland man made to FBI agents should be used as evidence in his bank-robbery trial even though he may not have received a proper Miranda warning….."

The Wall Street Journal 12/15/99 "..... San Francisco voters went to the polls to elect a mayor yesterday. But the city had already cemented its status as the nation's leading political zoo last week when its Animal Control and Welfare Commission voted six to one to adopt the use of the term "pet guardian" in official documents. Supporters argued that the concept of "ownership" of pets is outdated and wrong. Commissioner Chin Chi maintained that animals "were not made for humans any more than blacks were created for whites or women created for men."..."

USA Today 12/14/99 "…..The outgoing director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms said Monday that he thinks Olympic bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph, a fugitive for almost two years, is dead. ''My gut instinct is that he is still there, in a cave, and he's dead,'' ATF Director John Magaw said. ''That's only my opinion. ''There hasn't been any missing food. There haven't been any missing shoes. No cabins have been broken into,'' Magaw said. ''Life isn't sustainable over this period of time if he stayed in there.''..."

Reuter Health 12/13/99 "….The American Medical Association (AMA) will launch a national campaign on Wednesday designed to focus the presidential candidates' campaigns on the healthcare issues that are most important to Americans. The AMA has scheduled a press conference for Wednesday morning, at which time it will unveil six questions for the candidates. According to a spokesperson for the AMA, the questions will focus on issues such as the patients' bill of rights, Medicare reform, managed care accountability, and health insurance for all Americans. ….."

Scripps Howard News Service 12/13/99 Lance Gay "….The congressional impeachment files are sealed for 50 years, the furniture used in the Senate trial is marked with special labels, and the Senate's historical office is setting aside other impeachment memorabilia to be shipped to the National Archives next year. Only a year after the nation was thrown into a constitutional crisis when the House voted to impeach President Clinton Dec. 19, the long impeachment saga that ended with the Senate acquittal Feb. 12 is being quickly buried in the history books. ….."

Reuters 12/13/99 "….A federal food safety program was dealt a stunning setback Friday when a Texas judge ruled that the U.S. Agriculture Department could not punish a beef processing plant that flunked tests for illness-causing salmonella. The decision means that Supreme Beef Processing Inc, a privately-owned company, can keep its doors open and continue to make and sell ground beef. The government said it would appeal the ruling by U.S. Judge Joe Fish in Dallas. The lawsuit has been closely watched by consumer groups and the meat industry as an important test of whether the USDA can require a company to comply with tests for foodborne illness. It also marks the one of the first major court challenges of the Clinton Administration's food safety reforms. …..The company maintains that its products are safe, and the USDA salmonella tests are arbitrary and unfair……"

New York Post 12/10/99 Steve Dunleavy "…..THE Constitution, thankfully, protects Rosie O'Donnell's right to freedom of speech. The Constitution, thankfully, protects Hillary Clinton's right to praise Rosie for being her shill. But, thank God, it doesn't protect them from our contempt. Many right-thinking people are getting the distinct impression Rosie is trying to become Barbra Streisand East……"

Associated Press 12/10/99 "…..Amnesty International on Friday called for an inquiry into police action during demonstrations in Seattle against the World Trade Organization. The international human rights group said in a statement that it was concerned about allegations of indiscriminate use of tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets and noisemakers. The group also called for an investigation into allegations of cruel treatment at Seattle's King County Jail of some of the hundreds of arrested protesters. It said some of the alleged incidents, such as the use of restraint chairs and beatings, appeared to have violated international human rights standards. "One person was slammed against a wall, beaten while lying on the floor and had his fingers forced back with a pencil," the group said, without citing sources. …."

Savannah Morning News 12/9/99 John Zebrowski ".....A captain is forced to his knees. A knife is held to his throat. Threats are made. It's a story that has been told in various forms since 132 illegal Chinese aliens were discovered in the hull of the freighter Prince Nicolas on Aug. 12 in Savannah. Initially, it was told by the captain to avoid being implicated in the smuggling operation. Then he told a different version in which he admitting staging the event to convince the crew to follow the plan. Finally, he told it to a jury, saying that three aliens charged in the smuggling conspired with him in the ruse. The defense said the event never happened -- and on this, the fate of Zheng Huan Jian, Zheng Xiao and Lu Guo Guan would rest. The jury believed the captain's story. After more than five hours of deliberations, the jury convicted the men on all charges, ruling that they conspired, aided and abetted, and smuggled 132 aliens into the United States. Technically, they could be sentenced more than a millennium. In reality, when they are sentenced in about six weeks, the number will be closer to 25 years......"

AP via Drudge 12/8/99 Woody Baird ".....A jury found Wednesday that the Rev. Martin Luther King was the victim of a murder conspiracy, not a lone assassin. The King family had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Loyd Jowers, a retired Memphis businessman who claimed six years ago that he paid someone other than James Earl Ray to kill King. A jury of six blacks and six whites needed only three hours to reach their verdict. The Kings were seeking unspecified damages, but what they wanted most was for the jury to find evidence of a conspiracy and lend support to the family's call for a new investigation into the killing....."

Associated Press 12/8/99 Michael Graczyk "....A condemned murderer hoarded his anti-depressants and tried to kill himself with an overdose this week but may be executed as scheduled tonight anyway - if he recovers in time. Court rulings have determined that an inmate must be aware of his surroundings and know why he is being punished before he can be executed. David Long, 46, was still scheduled today for lethal injection after 6 p.m. for killing three women with a hatchet in 1986. He confessed to at least two other slayings. ...."

Tampa Tribune, Tampa Fl. 12/8/99 Sarah Huntley "....A state trooper testifies he and other officers try to protect federal agents by misleading state judges. Florida Highway Patrol troopers have intentionally misled state judges by routinely telling them partial stories and filing incomplete reports in federal drug cases, according to a trooper's testimony Tuesday. Members of the highway patrol's elite drug interdiction teams do that to conceal the involvement of the FBI in traffic-related drug arrests, said Trooper Douglas Strickland. The goal, he said, is to protect undercover agents andal informants. ....."

Washington Post 12/9/99 Thomas Edsall "….. The outpouring of opposition to the World Trade Organization has severely shaken the free-trade wing of the Democratic Party, threatened grass-roots union support for Al Gore's presidential campaign and potentially undermined the party's hopes of retaking the House. The spectacular collapse of last week's WTO talks in Seattle could have a major impact on American politics next year, particularly within the Democratic Party, where trade has become a major fault line in a party struggling to unify before crucial national elections, according to politicians, labor leaders and analysts….."

Los Angeles Times 1/9/00 Terence Monmaney "…. Now that the future is here, how fitting that researchers are finally getting a grip on optimism, the curious human habit of expecting good things to happen, often in defiance of reality. Dozens of recent studies show that optimists do better than pessimists in work, school and sports, suffer less depression, achieve more goals, respond better to stress, wage more effective battles against disease and, yes, live longer. The popularity of optimism research has convinced some scholars that psychology should focus less on misery and more on why things go right. ….."

A.P. 1/8/00 "…A man has been arrested after police say he let his 2-year-old son take a puff of his cigarette at a restaurant. Andrew Mason, 36, of Wilton was arrested on a warrant Tuesday afternoon and charged with risk of injury to a minor. Norwalk police were contacted last October by the state Department of Children and Families after an agency employee witnessed the alleged smoking incident. ..."

WASHINGTON TIMES 12/28/99 Andrew Cain "….President Clinton and first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton would shatter the record reimbursement request if they ask taxpayers to pay their $5 million in remaining legal bills. Fifty government officials have sought repayments since the Independent Counsel Statute's fee-reimbursement provision took effect in 1983. The court that administers the statute has awarded a total of $4.4 million to 32 of the petitioners, according to a study by Kathleen Clark, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis. "If the Clintons sought the full $5 million" stemming from the Whitewater and Monica Lewinsky affairs, "it would be far greater than any amount ever sought under the statute," the study says……The special court that administers the law awarded a total of $1.5 million to 19 persons in the Iran-Contra investigation….."

CNSNews.com 1/7/00 Bob Melvin "….According to a new Zogby America poll of 879 likely voters nationwide, 41.7 percent said they were ashamed to have Bill Clinton as President while 38.7 percent said they were proud that Clinton had held the highest office in the land. A minority, 19.6 percent, felt Clinton either fell somewhere in the middle or had no opinion, good or bad, on Clinton's presidential status….. Clinton's largest drop came in ranking among the last eleven Presidents. He fell to seventh place, behind George Bush, dropping nearly ten percentage points since last year's survey in February, 1999…."

Yahoo law 1/7/00 Nathan Koppel "….For the first time, the Court of Criminal Appeals has recognized Texas police officers' right to stop and search cars without a search warrant if they feel the public's safety could be in jeopardy. Critics call the court's Dec. 16 ruling in Wright v. State a dangerous expansion of police powers. "If I weren't a white male living in a nice part of town, I'd be scared," says Keith Hampton, an Austin criminal-defense lawyer. In Wright, the court followed Cady v. Dombrowski, a 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that carved out a "community caretaking" exception to the Fourth Amendment prohibition against warrantless searches. In Cady, the Supreme Court ruled that police officers had the right to conduct a warrantless search of a car that had been impounded after an accident, because the officers feared a gun had been left in the trunk. ….."

US NEWSWIRE 1/5/99 "….Member of parliaments and legislative bodies from several countries, joined by union leaders and human rights activists, will assemble in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 12 as part of an international delegation to ask President Clinton to stop the threatened execution of Mumia Abu- Jamal. ..."

AP 1/5/00 "…..Many lawyers and lower-court jurists who thought they would be federal judges by now are cooling their heels. Richard Paez, a Mexican-American federal judge in Los Angeles, has been waiting for four years for a vote on his nomination to the federal appeals bench. Marsha Berzon, a San Francisco labor lawyer, has been waiting two years to become a federal appeals judge. Senate leaders have promised votes on Paez and Berzon by March 15. But there are no such agreements on any of the other administration nominees languishing in the Senate……. Career diplomat Peter Burleigh, promised the ambassadorship to the Philippines by President Clinton after his widely praised service last year as acting U.N. ambassador during the Kosovo crisis, is back in Washington, officially ``on leave,'' awaiting a confirmation vote that may never come. His nomination is hung up in an unrelated dispute over the State Department's treatment of a whistleblower. Nominees for other top State Department posts and other federal agencies remain in limbo. ….."

Christian Science Monitor 1/5/00 Warren Richey "….. Not a shot has been fired. Nor have voices risen in anger. Yet the national government in Washington is today facing the most substantial threat to the expansion of its power in more than 60 years. It has nothing to do with terrorist bombs, street demonstrations, or any hint of political chicanery. Rather, this quiet revolution involves carefully reasoned legal arguments in a constitutional dispute as old as the nation itself. The battleground is the gleaming, white-columned halls of the US Supreme Court, where a slim majority of conservative justices are embarked on an effort to restore what they see as the proper balance of power between the federal and state governments. The court's conservative wing, led by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, believes Congress has grossly overstepped the limits of the "enumerated powers" written into the US Constitution by the Founding Fathers…… In a series of rulings throughout the 1990s, the conservative justices have struck down what they concluded were impermissibly expansionist federal policies and initiatives. At the same time they have upheld the sovereignty of states and breathed new life into the 10th Amendment, which reserves to the states or to the American people all rights not specifically delegated to the federal government….. "It is too early to be sure, but it certainly is a tentative return to first principles," says Roger Pilon, director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at the libertarian Cato Institute in Washington. "James Madison wrote in 'The Federalist,' No. 45 that the powers of the federal government are 'few and defined.' That hardly describes the federal government today," he says. "And that is the dilemma that the court faces in these federalism cases, namely: how to square the Constitution we have with the government we have." …."

The New York Times On The Web 1/6/00 Alex Kuczynski "….Rush Limbaugh said he noticed it about two months ago. Listeners to his daily radio show were sending in e-mail messages by the thousands, asking why there were more commercials on his three-hour talk-radio program. "At first I didn't know what they were talking about," Mr. Limbaugh said. "I was talking for the same amount of time every day." He may have been speaking for the same amount of time, but his words were, without his knowledge, being sucked into a temporal never-never land. A new kind of digital technology was literally snipping out the silent pockets between words, shortening the pauses and generally speeding up the pace of Mr. Limbaugh's speech. ….With no fanfare, the digital program -- called Cash in the direct manner of software nomenclature, because that's what it makes -- has established a foothold in the radio industry in the last six months. General managers at about 50 radio stations across the country are using it, to quicken talk programs so that they can wedge in more commercials…."

Baltimore Sun/ SunSpot 1/10/00 Tim Craig "....A 30-year-old man who was severely beaten Thursday afternoon on a Baltimore street corner was arrested in his hospital room on an outstanding warrant stemming from a 16-month-old charge that he rode the light rail line without a ticket. Jonathon Dempsey, whose beating has sparked discussion on radio talk shows and prompted a city police investigation, was arrested by Mass Transit Administration police officers at Maryland Shock Trauma Center about 2 p.m. yesterday, officials said. He was arrested on a warrant issued in March for failing to appear in court in September 1998 on the light rail charge, which carried a $280 fine, according to MTA spokesman Frank Fulton and court documents....."

The New York Times 1/9/00 Richard Berke ".... Many prominent Democrats say they are deeply troubled that the Republican Party is collecting so much more money than the Democrats that it will enjoy an insurmountable financial advantage -- perhaps enough to cost them the White House. These Democrats have a recurring fear: that their nominee, either Al Gore or Bill Bradley, will emerge in late March from the peak presidential primary season battered, bruised and broke. And if at that time the Republican National Committee has a big surplus of unregulated "soft money" over the Democratic counterpart, they say, the Democratic candidate would face a relentless blizzard of television commercials condemning Democratic programs. ...."

Daily Mail and GuardianJohannesburg, South Africa. 10/26/1999 Julian Borger "….US biotechnology company is seeking to patent segments of the human genetic code in an attempt to cash in on its research before British-led moves are implemented to prevent the "human blueprint" becoming the private property of a few corporations. Celera Genomics has stunned the scientific world with its claim to have decoded about a third of the entire blueprint, the human genome, in little more than a month. It has also predicted that it could complete the job by next year, simultaneously or even ahead of a parallel, publicly funded, project under way in British and US laboratories. …."

Los Angeles Times 1/20/2000 Usha Lee McFarling "….New satellite data released Wednesday show the Pacific Ocean may be undergoing a dramatic climate shift--much longer-lived than any El Niño--that could alter global weather patterns, disrupt fish stocks and perhaps lead Southern California into decades of drier than normal weather. Scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, which released the data, predict a major impact, although others argue that prediction is premature. The changing cycle, known as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation, was formally identified just three years ago…Their interest was prompted by highly unusual temperatures throughout the Pacific Ocean. The most recent satellite images indicate that waters along the coast of the Americas are several degrees cooler than normal, while a massive horseshoe-shaped chunk of the western Pacific is abnormally warm…… Although fascinated by the recent ocean changes, many said the pattern could merely be an extended short-term event, like a La Niña, which also cools waters in the eastern Pacific…… More clear is the relationship between the Pacific Decadal Oscillation and fish stocks. After the last shift in the mid-1970s, "salmon runs in the lower 48 [states] went to hell in a handbasket and got really good in Alaska," said Michael M. Mullin, who directs Scripps' Marine Life Research Group. …… Long-term ocean cycles may be largely to blame for the demise of some fish stocks, like the Monterey sardines. Analysis of fish scales left in ocean sediment finds that sardine and anchovy populations underwent cycles of boom and bust long before any commercial fishing pressures….."

Discovery 1/21/000 AP "…. Suddenly, long ago, something changed the Earth's weight distribution, causing the planet to roll slightly before slowly returning to normal, say a pair of scientists studying underwater volcanoes. They're not sure just what happened 84 million years ago, but they've collected evidence they believe shows the planet shifted like an out-of-balance ball, relocating the poles and temporarily moving the location of Washington, D.C. to the tropics. "What it appears that happened, was a rapid shift," followed by a "slow recovery to where things are today," says William W. Sager of Texas A&M University……. Sager and Koppers calculated the shift in the pole by studying seamounts in the Pacific Ocean. Seamounts are ancient volcanoes that rise from the ocean floor but are not tall enough to break the surface and become an island. Researchers can determine when they were formed and analyze their magnetic orientation. When molten rock solidifies its magnetic orientation -- indicating the direction of the poles -- freezes in place. By studying this record of magnetic orientation, and how it varies from seamount to seamount, scientists can calculate shifts in the location of the pole over time….." Freepers VadeRetro and jlogagan note "…Yeah, it starts out sounding like the axis of rotation of the earth shifted, but they end up only measuring the axis of the magnetic poles, which aren't the same thing, and aren't even currently aligned…."

The Sunday Times 1/23/2000 Jonathan Leake and Roger Dobson "….SCIENTISTS have made the world's first synthetic DNA - the molecules that form the blueprint for life. The breakthrough means that the first artificial organisms could be "born" within two years and raises the prospect of humans redesigning whole species, including themselves. The DNA was created at the University of Texas where researchers have mapped out the exact way it will be configured to create synthetic organism one (SO1), the microbe destined to be the world's first man-made creature. "We are synthesising DNA to create the first synthetic organism," said Professor Glen Evans, director of the university's genome science and technology centre. "SO1 will have no specific function but once it is alive we can customise it. We can go back to the computer and change a gene and create other new life forms by simply pressing a button." The researchers are planning to create a series of designer bugs, with super-efficient mechanisms for infecting target tissues such as cancer tumours - and then killing them. Some would infect the human gut to produce vitamin C. Critics, however, have warned that the scientists risk unleashing a microbe master race with increased powers to infect humans and wildlife. …."

WorldNet Daily 1/20/2000 Reuters "…..A Scottish judge rebuked social workers for rescuing a monkey from a couple addicted to heroin but failing to notice a 5-year-old girl living with them in squalor, court officials said on Thursday. Social workers eventually discovered the girl, whose fingernails had not been cut for more than a year, covered in bed sores, lying in her own filth and wearing a plaster cast on her broken leg that should have been removed 10 months earlier. On an earlier visit, state welfare workers had contacted an animal welfare group about a pet monkey being kept in the flat…….."

Nando Times 1/20/2000 Denise Lavoie "….Michael Skakel is a paunchy, middle-aged man with thinning gray hair, but in the eyes of the law, he is still a 15-year-old boy. The distinction could prove critical. The 39-year-old nephew of Robert F. Kennedy was arrested Wednesday in the 1975 slaying of Martha Moxley, a 15-year-old neighbor and childhood friend in Greenwich who was bludgeoned to death with a golf club. Because Skakel was 15 at the time of the killing, he will be treated, at least initially, just like any other juvenile. The court proceedings will be closed to the press and public, and prosecutors will not even be allowed to speak his name publicly……. "

The Boston Herald 1/20/2000 Margery Eagan "…. Martha Moxley was 15. She was known as ``Mox,'' 5-foot 5-inches and coltish, a basketball player, a pianist, a violinist. She was voted ``best personality'' in her ninth grade class….. Martha Moxley was the sort of privileged victim who typically, if unfairly, attracts an unusually intense police investigation. Yet this was a problem for Moxley: The greater riches and privilege belonged to those aforementioned neighbors, the Rushton Skakels……. ``Look,'' said Dominick Dunne yesterday, author of the best-selling novel ``A Season in Purgatory,'' based on the Moxley case. ``The Skakels have pulled what the Ramseys pulled in Colorado,'' he said, referring to the continued refusal of the wealthy parents of Jon-Benet Ramsey to cooperate with police. ``Holding police at bay all these years. Telling them if they have questions to put them in writing and send them to the lawyers,'' he said. ``Grand juries at which the main suspects never appear. If that were a regular or a poor person, would that happen?'' …… But in Greenwich of 1975, old money and connections mattered more than now. That made the Skakels almost untouchable. ….. It was a while before Dorthy Moxley heard weird stories about Michael Skakel whacking heads off squirrels - with a golf club. Of Thomas Skakel attempting to strangle a fellow prep school student. Of a seemingly cursed family: the aunt who choked to death on kabob meat. The uncle killed when his Cessna crashed in Utah. The mother of seven dead after a 10-year battle with cancer…."

AP 1/20/2000 David Rising "….Weeks after the last pile of debris from EgyptAir 990 was pulled from the sea, investigators say they are more convinced than ever of their original theory: The jet was crashed deliberately. The examination of the shattered Boeing 767, some 70 percent of which was recovered from the ocean floor, has revealed no signs of a mechanical failure that would have caused the plane to plummet 40 minutes into its 11-hour flight, according to three officials close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity. ``Everything leads everyone to believe that the plane was mechanically sound and it was doing what it was supposed to,'' one government official told The Associated Press. ``There's just no smoking gun'' to indicate mechanical failure….."

Eureka Alert 1/20/2000 Jill Shepherd "…. The rise in antibacterial resistance is partly because there have been no new classes of antibiotics introduced since the 1960s reports Professor Sebastion Amyes in an editorial this week's BMJ. ….. In his editorial Amyes quotes the surgeon general of the United States at the end of the 1960s as saying that "we could now close the book on infectious diseases". "At the start of a new century, some 30 years later...we are facing a potential treatment crisis for some infections," says Amyes and this may be partly due to the fact that no new clinically useful structures of antibiotics were discovered after 1961. Almost all the drugs that have been launched since the 1960s have been modifications of antibiotics we already have, he says. He explains that this means that bacteria that had "learnt" how to resist one member of a chemical drug class, did not have to learn much more to overcome later modifications…..The author also considers the role that the introduction of organ transplantation has played in antibiotic resistance (aggressive antibacterial therapy was required to protect immunosuppressed patients against hospital acquired infections). He also speculates that multiresistant bacteria may have been facilitated by hospital designs that move patients closer together and rely on regular movement of patients around the hospital for their different points of treatment……"

Eureka Alert 1/20/2000 Peter Daszak "….Newly discovered infectious diseases of free-living wild animals may pose an increasing and significant threat to human health and to global biodiversity, according to a just-published report. While emerging human diseases such as Ebola have grabbed headlines in recent years, similar diseases in wildlife have been understudied, and few regulations concerning exotic disease threats to wild animals or systems for surveillance are in place to prevent their spread. "With a new wave of globalization on an unprecedented level, we don't even know what the greatest threats are in terms of emerging infectious diseases of wildlife," said Dr. Peter Daszak of the University of Georgia's Institute of Ecology and department of botany. "The problem has largely been ignored by policy makers and the threat that these wildlife pose to human, directly or indirectly, should be taken far more seriously." A new report on the scope of the problem was published today in the journal Science. Co-authors of the paper are Dr. Andrew Cunningham of the Zoological Society of London and Dr. Alex Hyatt of the Australian Animal Health Laboratory…… Human history is filled with the catastrophic consequences of emerging infectious diseases. The introduction of smallpox, typhus and measles by the conquistadores in the 15th and 16th centuries resulted in a staggering 50 million deaths among native South Americans. Despite suspicious that disease may have caused similar effects on wildlife, systematic studies of emerging infectious diseases of wild animals and their effect on human populations have been few and far between….."

New York Times 1/18/2000 Erica Goode "…. There are many incompetent people in the world. Dr. David A. Dunning is haunted by the fear he might be one of them. Dr. Dunning, a professor of psychology at Cornell, worries about this because, according to his research, most incompetent people do not know that they are incompetent. On the contrary. People who do things badly, Dr. Dunning has found in studies conducted with a graduate student, Justin Kruger, are usually supremely confident of their abilities -- more confident, in fact, than people who do things well. "I began to think that there were probably lots of things that I was bad at and I didn't know it," Dr. Dunning said….."

The Associated Press 1/10/00 "....A Maryland company announced Monday it has sequenced DNA that accounts for 90 percent of the human genetic pattern, another step as private laboratories and government scientists race to map all the human genes. ...... Celera sells its gene information mostly to pharmaceutical companies. Previously, government-supported scientists had announced sequencing one-third of the human genome, on track to complete a working draft of the entire genetic map by spring. Venter said Celera did use the government's public gene database to add to its own gene discoveries and come up with the 90 percent total. Celera's gene database, however, is not available for government scientists to reciprocate.....The human genome is a biological map laying out the exact sequence of the estimated 3.5 billion pairs of chemicals that make up the DNA in each human cell. Those chemicals are arranged in specific ways to create the estimated 80,000 to 100,000 human genes, which in turn carry the instructions for all the body's processes....."

ACLU Web Site 1997 Ann Beeson Chris Hansen "….In the landmark case Reno v. ACLU, the Supreme Court overturned the Communications Decency Act, declaring that the Internet deserves the same high level of free speech protection afforded to books and other printed matter. But today, all that we have achieved may now be lost, if not in the brightflames of censorship then in the dense smoke of the many ratings and blockingschemes promoted by some of the very people who fought for freedom. The ACLU and others in the cyber-liberties community were genuinely alarmed by the tenor of a recent White House summit meeting on Internet censorship at which industry leaders pledged to create a variety of schemes to regulate and block controversial online speech. But it was not any one proposal or announcement that caused our alarm; rather, it was the failure to examine the longer-term implications for the Internet of rating and blocking schemes….."

AP 1/25/2000 Karen Gullo "….Prompted by moving tales of neglect and abuse, the federal government seized new powers Tuesday to protect the nation's half-million foster children and push states to find them permanent homes more quickly. Under federal rules that will take effect in March, federal health officials will, for the first time, interview children and foster parents to check for signs of abuse or neglect, conduct inspections at state agencies and monitor programs for recruiting adoptive parents…… The new powers were granted to Shalala's department in recent laws passed by Congress that shifted the focus in foster care to protecting children from abuse rather than making their return to their biological families the first priority…."

Associated Press 1/24/2000 Philip Brasher "….The government says there is little future in growing industrial hemp even if federal drug agencies were to relent and legalize its production. Hemp, the non-halluciogenic cousin of marijuana, can be used for both clothing and food, but there would only be a ``small, thin market'' for the crop, according to a study by the Agriculture Department's Economic Research Service. All of the hemp fiber, yarn and fabric that the United States currently imports could be grown on less than 2,000 acres of land, the study says….."

Yahoo! Business - Industry Standard 1/25/2000 Elizabeth Wasserman "….the flow of political bigwigs from the Beltway to the Valley - call them the dot-pols - is becoming a familiar story. The latest Beltway-to-Valley migrations came last Wednesday, when Mike McCurry, former spokesman for President Clinton, and John Sununu, former chief of staff for President Bush, joined the advisory board of a San Bruno, Calif.-based Web site called Grassroots.com, which launches next month. Described as a nonpartisan "political action destination," it is one of a growing number of sites betting that voters would rather rattle off an e-mail to an elected official than make a phone call, sign a petition or write a letter….."

"…..A perplexing study of 1,900 prostitutes in Nairobi, Kenya, shows that four women who were frequently exposed to HIV became infected with the virus only after stopping to work as a prostitute or taking a break of over two months. At the Seventh Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, researchers said they could not explain the phenomenon, but the solution could aid in the development of a vaccine against AIDS. Two-thirds of the women had HIV when the study began, and they reported having sex with about five clients a day, using condoms on four clients a day. A small number of the women have not contracted HIV after some three years, and no correlation has been determined between the women who did contract the virus after stopping commercial sex and their use of condoms or sexual habits. ….Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, suggested two possible explanations for the prostitutes' immunity: that people need constant exposure to HIV to boost the immune system, or that perhaps sperm stimulate a short immunologic reaction in women that helps to protect them….."

Science 1/28/00 Gretchen Vogel "….A U.S. companny has received two British patents that appear to grant it commercial rights to human embryos created by cloning. The precedent-setting patents, issued last week on the cloning method that produced Dolly the sheep, have sparked protests from groups concerned about the ethics of biotechnology patents, especially those covering human genes or cells. The Brtiish government is "the first government in the world that has issued patent protection on a human being at any stage in development" claims author-activist Jeremy Rifkin of the Foundation on Economic Trends in Washington D.C. He said he will challenge the patent, arguing that British law forbids giving someone property rights to a human even at the blastocyst stage. The patent, he says is "breathtaking and profoundly unsettling". ….. The patent gives California-based Geron Corp. exclusive rights to a "reconstituted animal embryo prepared by transferring the nuclesus of a quiescent diploid donor cell to a suitable recipient cell" up to and including the blastocyst stage.. ."

Gold Eagle Forum 2/2/2000 "..... "Around 747 metric tonnes of gold could be transferred to the European Central Bank from member central banks if European union governments approve the ECB's plan to double its reserves, said John Reade, analyst at Warburg Dillon Read."... "The European Parliament recently approved the ECB's request to double its reserves to ERU100 billion but the plan has yet to receive the green light from E.U. governments." "If approved, the proposal would support gold prices as it would remove the threat of significant official sales over the long term, WDR's Reade said." ...."

USA Today 2/2/2000 Owen Ullmann ".... Internal Revenue Service audits and enforcement actions to collect back taxes have plummeted since passage of a law in 1998 intended to curb IRS abuses, the agency said Wednesday. From 1997 to 1999, property seizures fell 98%, garnishments on wages and bank accounts were down 86% and liens on assets declined 69%, officials testified at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee. This year, enforcement actions against delinquent taxpayers will rise from last year's levels only barely, the agency said. Other trends IRS Commissioner Charles Rossotti cited: * Annual face-to-face tax audits have fallen 40% to 464,000 since passage of the IRS reform act. * ''Innocent spouse'' requests, which are made to avoid liability for a marriage partner's tax bill on a joint return, have ballooned from 750 a month before the law's passage to 2,800 a month and created a backlog of 47,000 cases. * Revenue collected through enforcement actions has fallen 13%, or $5 billion, since 1996....."

Associated Press 1/27/2000 "…..Scientists have become increasingly frustrated in the hunt for novel ways to attack the AIDS virus, but now they're getting some encouraging news: Drug giant Merck & Co. has mapped the way toward a long-elusive target. It will take years of additional research to turn the finding into a usable medication, experts cautioned. But the research gives scientists another -- and long-awaited -- place to aim at in fighting the HIV virus, important as today's AIDS drugs slowly lose their edge with few options in sight. It's called integrase, an enzyme carried by the AIDS virus that causes a crucial step in HIV infection: It melds HIV's genetic material with the patient's own DNA inside their cells, essentially hijacking cells. Only then can HIV begin reproducing at its infamously furious rate. …."

Miami New Times 11/18/1999 Douglas Grant Mine "…..Chile's infamous undercover operative Armando Fernandez Larios has lived a quiet life in Miami. But his past is about to catch up with him. After more than a decade of suburban, middle-class existence in a Kendall condominium, Armando Fernandez Larios has lately felt obliged to resume his secret-agent ways. The former undercover operative for Chile's National Intelligence Directorate in the bloody postcoup years of the mid-Seventies does not live where he says he lives, and the corporation he set up to provide himself an occupation does nothing at all. His home telephone number does not ring at his house but relays calls to a cell phone. Answering that phone, a man with a Chilean accent responds to the salutation, "Senor Fernandez?" by asking who is calling, then invariably saying that Senor Fernandez is out of town. Armando Fernandez Larios helped blow up a car, a sky-blue Chevrolet Chevelle, as it drove through traffic a few blocks from the White House in Washington, D.C., in the only assassination of a foreign diplomat ever to take place on U.S. soil……. The explosion took the lives of two people and left the Chevy in smoking shambles. Years later, finding refuge in the very nation where he committed his crime, Fernandez made what he believed were amends in his life, a life he thought he had repaired. But if he seems wary today, it is likely he feels on the nape of his neck the warm panting of his past catching up with him.

Miami New Times 11/18/1999 Douglas Grant Mine "…..Armando Fernandez Larios is a former Chilean army officer who for several years was an agent of that country's notorious security apparatus, known by the fear-inspiring acronym DINA. By his own admission, he helped kill Orlando Letelier and Ronni Moffitt, though he claims he did so unwittingly. Two months ago Fernandez turned 50……. Fernandez moved to Miami in early 1988, after spending seven months in a federal detention center, punishment for his part in the assassination of Letelier and the "incidental" murder of Ronni Moffitt. Such brief incarceration might suggest his role was inconsequential, but in fact he has admitted to much more: He provided the crucial surveillance that allowed the killers to find their prey....,:

Miami New Times 11/18/1999 Douglas Grant Mine "…..In August 1976 he had come undercover to Washington using an official Chilean passport in the name of Armando Faundez Lyon. For several days he tailed Letelier, pinpointing his residence (where he lived with his wife, Isabel, and three of their four sons) and his place of work. He identified the car he drove and detailed the exile's routines. During a meeting at New York's JFK airport on September 9, the day he headed back to Chile, Fernandez passed along this information to his partner, Michael Townley, DINA's top assassin. Townley built the bomb, and on the night of September 19 secured it to the underside of Letelier's car. Then he gave Virgilio Paz the device to detonate it. In January 1987, after nearly eleven more years of intelligence and military service in Chile, Fernandez returned to the United States -- this time to face long-standing criminal charges in the Letelier case. In lengthy depositions he provided information implicating the head of DINA and his chief of operations in Letelier's assassination, and he worked out a deal with the Justice Department to plead guilty as an accessory to murder……The deal Fernandez struck with the Justice Department has allowed him to live and work in the United States despite his lack of an INS green card. According to his lawyer, the agreement also protects him from being sent back to Chile to face criminal charges there……"

Miami New Times 11/18/1999 Douglas Grant Mine "…..The light slap Fernandez received for this unprecedented act of terror in the heart of the nation's capital remains a subject of debate and speculation. Judge Barrington Parker, who accepted Fernandez's guilty plea in February 1987, rejected the part of the bargain that would have limited jail time to seven years, demanding a free hand to impose the full ten years allowed by law. But he ended up sentencing Fernandez to seven years, with the possibility of release in as little as 27 months. Just five months later, the judge responded favorably to a motion brought by Fernandez's attorneys and ordered him freed. Judge Parker even thanked him for his help in making a case against DINA commanders and praised him for coming forward. (Parker has since died.) ….."

Miami New Times 11/18/1999 Douglas Grant Mine "…..Just last month Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, in response to a British court clearing the way for Pinochet's extradition to Spain, stressed that the United States supports international efforts to achieve justice and "accountability." That admirable policy could be put to the test, however, should the federal government deny Chile's request to extradite Fernandez. "The presence in the United States of human-rights violators from the Pinochet regime should not be tolerated," declares Shawn Roberts of the Center for Justice and Accountability….."

Washington Post 6/29/1980 John Dinges and Saul Landau "….. COOPERATION with "friendly" intelligence agencies was the established practice of U.S. embassies and the CIA abroad, and that included granting visas to known agents to conduct intelligence missions in the United States. But something about the request Ambassador George W. Landau received in late July 1976 from a Paraguayan government official in Asuncion aroused his suspicions. According to one of those present in that meeting, Bush talked about the importance of Operation Condor to the Letelier case, but did not say a word about the "Romeral" and "Williams" pictures and the Paraguay incident. The official, a top aide to Paraguayan President Alfredo Stroessner, assured Landau that Chilean President Augusto Pinochet himself was asking for a favor. The official said he needed visas immediately for two Chilean Army officers using Paraguayan passports to travel from Asuncion to Washington on an intelligence mission. The mission, he said, had been cleared with the CIA station in Santiago and the two men would be in touch with CIA Deputy Director Vernon Walters in Washington. …..Landau's action was the first brush by a U.S. official with Chile's secret operations leading up to the assassination of Orlando Letelier six weeks later. In the weeks preceding the assassination of the leftist former ambassador and foreign minister, a flurry of cables and official communications went back and forth between the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion, the State Department, the CIA and the Immigration and Naturalization Service concerning the two Chilean agents, whose real identities -- not learned until almost two years later -- were Michael Townley and Armando Fernandez, the Chilean secret police agents who led the operation to kill Letelier. CIA Director George Bush and his deputy, Gen. Walters, were among those who personally received and acted on Landau's warning. The ambassador's cable, sent via a top secret State Department "back channel," went first to the office of Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. All that raises a series of disturbing questions. U.S. officials at the highest levels knew in advance about Chile's undercover mission in Washington and possessed photos and passport information…… The pictures and the advance information obtained by Landau and others ultimately provided the keys to solving the case. But, unlike fictional spy mysteries, all the pieces of the puzzle did not fall into place with the identification of the guilty. Instead, the U.S. agencies involved in the case imposed an extraordinary mantle of secrecy over the actions of U.S. officials before and after the assassination and over the records and files relating to those actions. Given the secrecy about the extent of U.S. government foreknowledge, the questions we raise can only be partially answered. ……"

Inter Press Service 10/22/98 Jim Lobe "….The clamor over the arrest in London of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet grew in Washington today as 36 U.S. Congressman called on President Bill Clinton to cooperate with the Spanish judge who has requested his extradition. "DINA" and "CNI" were names given the secret police which operated both inside Chile and abroad against Pinochet foes. "Operation Condor," which Garzon has been investigating for almost two years, was a secret network of the intelligence agencies of military-ruled Southern Cone countries which cooperated in the abduction and murder of dissidents. The families also were considering asking Garzon to include Letelier, a former Chilean ambassador to the United States who was organizing an international campaign against the military government when he was killed, and Moffitt, a research assistant, among the specific cases which he is investigating. ……. The congressmen -- all Democrats -- want Clinton to hand over classified U.S. material to Judge Baltasar Garzon relating to Pinochet's alleged role in "international terrorism" in Latin America and elsewhere -- including within the United States. ….."

World Net Daily 1/31/2000 "…. A perfect example is last week's decision by the Federal Communications Commission to reverse its earlier ruling that threatened the content of religious broadcasting. Is there anyone out there who truly believes that such a reversal by a government bureaucracy could have been achieved in such record time without the advent of the Internet? Just to recap, the FCC voted 4-1 Friday to rescind new guidelines provided to a religious broadcaster who had applied for, and received, an application to take over a public broadcasting station in Pittsburgh. In its Jan. 6 decision to grant a transfer of licenses between Pittsburgh TV stations Cornerstone Television WQED -- a PBS affiliate and member of the National Religious Broadcasters -- and Paxson Communications, the FCC singled out religious stations by establishing new, stringent standards for the "educational" programming that non-commercial educational TV stations must air to remain qualified to hold their licenses…… That was Jan. 6. The new guidelines were adopted on a 3-2 vote. Only 22 days later, the FCC reversed itself on a 4-1 vote. Do you know how unusual that is? How often have you seen government act that quickly? When was the last time you witnessed government acknowledging an error and correcting it in three weeks? …..This is democracy in action, folks. Be of good cheer about this.. …."

Nando Times 1/27/2000 AP ".... The nation's highest court will miss President Clinton's last State of the Union speech Thursday night. Supreme Court officials delivered a brief note to the House sergeant at arms Thursday that read, "No justices will be in attendance." "Justices of the court had planned to attend," the note said, "but travel changes and minor illnesses have intervened. No justices will be in attendance but they thank you for the invitation to be present for the address." .... At least some of the court's members, wearing their robes, have been present at every State of the Union address in recent memory except 1986, when the speech was rescheduled because of the explosion of the Challenger shuttle....."

Weekly Standard Weekly Standard 1/31/2000 Vol 5 No 19 Charles Krauthammer "…. If you were to say to a physicist in 1899 that in 1999, a hundred years later. . . .bombs of unimaginable power would threaten the species;. . . .that millions of people would take to the air every hour in aircraft capable of taking off and landing without human touch;. . . .that humankind would travel to the moon, and then lose interest. . . .sthe physicist would almost certainly pronounce you mad. -- -Michael Crichton ….. What manner of creature are we? It took 100,000 years for humans to get inches off the ground. Then, astonishingly, it took only 66 to get from Kitty Hawk to the moon. And then, still more astonishingly, we lost interest, spending the remaining 30 years of the 20th century going around in circles in low earth orbit, i.e., going nowhere…… What happened? Where is the national will to explore? We are stuck along some quiet historical sidetrack. The fascination today is with communication, calculation, miniaturization, all in the service of multiplying human interconnectedness. Outer space has ceded pride of place to the inner space of the Internet. In fact, space's greatest claim on our interest and resources currently rests on the fact that satellites allow us to page each other and confirm that 9:30 meeting about the new Tostitos ad campaign……"

Judicial Watch 1/26/2000 "….Tonight at 9 p.m. NBC will air the newest episode of "West Wing," Episode #13: "Take Out the Trash Day," featuring the return of "Harry Klaypool" of "Freedom Watch." Klaypool and Freedom Watch are very obviously based on Larry Klayman and Judicial Watch's mission to rid the Government of corruption. Klaypool's first appearance on NBC had him investigating the misuse of "Secret Service Files" (ala Filegate's FBI file abuse) and deposing a hostile White House employee who issues threats and insults to Klaypool and Freedom Watch (ala Harold Ickes and his threat to defecate on Judicial Watch's carpet and George Stephanopoulos' lack of respect for the Court). Promo's for tonight's episode tout that Klaypool will try to bring down President Bartlett's administration. While this makes for good TV and Hollywood style drama, Judicial Watch is only interested in bringing corrupt members of the current administration and other dishonest public officials to justice……"

Reuters 2/8/00 "…..President Clinton planned to sign an executive order on Tuesday prohibiting the federal government from using genetic information in any hiring or promotion decisions. The move brings to the forefront a 21st century problem -- whether employers should be allowed to use a person's genetic makeup in employment decisions. ``This historic action will prevent the critical health information from genetic tests used to help predict, prevent and treat diseases from being used against them by their employer,'' the White House said. Clinton was to sign the order at a midday event at the American Academy for the Advancement of Science in Washington. …."

LA Daily News 2/7/00 Greg Gittrich Beth Barrett "…..At least 15 people who were arrested, detained or allegedly abused by anti-gang officers from the Rampart Division already have filed civil lawsuits against the city seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. At least 99 defendants whose rights were violated by former Officer Rafael Perez, the key figure in the scandal, have been identified by police, and the number of victims is widely expected to reach at least 200, possibly 300 -- potentially escalating the cost of the scandal and threatening many city services for years to come. In coming weeks, dozens of lawsuits that are now being drafted will be filed, according to private attorneys representing the plaintiffs. And many others are likely as the investigation expands. ….."

L.A. Times 2/7/00 Lee Dye "….When researchers at Harvard University first looked at the strange silicon chip they had produced in their lab, they couldn't believe their eyes. The chip, which had been bombarded by powerful laser bursts lasting less than a trillionth of a second, had turned as black as tar. The chip appeared black because it absorbed virtually all the light that fell on its surface; but when the researchers looked at it with an electron microscope, the mystery only deepened. The researchers thought they might have fried the surface, leaving it covered with soot, but the microscope revealed something quite different. "We saw these incredible spikes," physics professor Eric Mazur said. Billions of needlelike silicon spikes, about two-thousandths of an inch high with tips one-hundredth the diameter of a human hair, blanketed the surface like a forest of tiny needles. The researchers had accidentally discovered black silicon, and if it lives up to its promise, it could revolutionize everything from solar cells to optical communications. …."

Reuters 2/10/00 Stephanie Nebehay "….Physicists claimed Thursday to have created a new form of matter and said their pioneering work could lead to innovations useful in everyday life……. Earlier in the day, CERN announced that scientists working since 1994 had created a new form of matter through experiments that smashed together heavy lead ions in a fireball to prove a theory that for years had existed only on paper. By generating collisions at temperatures 100,000 times as high as at the sun's center and at energy densities never before reached in laboratory experiments, some 500 scientists from 20 countries isolated tiny components called quarks from more complex particles such as protons and neutrons. This provided "compelling evidence" for the existence of a new state of nuclear matter, the quark-gluon plasma, CERN said. This scientific breakthrough is an important step in understanding the early state of the universe created some 12-15 billion years ago in a massive explosion, or Big Bang, it added. The next challenge in the high-energy science falls to the United States, where a new national facility has just been built on Long Island in New York. The so-called Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) is due to begin experiments this year. ….."

Tampa Register AP Wire 2/8/00 "….Italian border guards found an undeclared stash of $1.9 billion in old government bonds on a U.S. citizen stopped at the Swiss border, customs officials said Tuesday. Carrying that much wealth across the border isn't illegal, but failing to declare it is, authorities said. The 63-year-old was an Italian-born American living in Texas, Italy's customs police said. They did not release his name….."

Paragon Foundation, WorldNet Daily 2/11/00 Zane Walley, Jon E. Dougherty "….The children can't play in the forest as they once did in Glenwood, New Mexico. Recently a pack of introduced Mexican Wolves killed a 1500-pound bull two miles from the small mountain village, causing parents, and schoolteachers to worry about the children's safety. "These introduced wolves have no fear of humans!" says Darrel Allred, a former police officer, who owns a small real estate office in Glenwood. "They are accustomed to being fed by humans. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) trucks in loads of elk meat for them so when they see humans, they think its chow time. Our village and others are being adversely impacted by these predators the USFWS is forcing on us."…."

Insight Magazine 2/11/00 Sheila Cherry Diana Ray "…..Will the votes of crossover Democrats and independents in key states have enough impact to trip George W. Bush and seize the GOP nomination for Arizona Sen. John McCain? Are Democrats and independents nervous that Vice President Al Gore may be a tad cavalier with the truth? ……. In November, President Clinton gave McCain a boost with Democrats and independents with the unsolicited advice that Bush should not write off McCain's challenge for the GOP nod. Clinton predicted, "I don't think Senator McCain is out of this yet. I think he's a very credible alternative." …."

WorldNetDaily.com 2/4/00 "….. Social workers in Scotland recently rescued a pet monkey from the filthy, drug-infested apartment of a couple of heroin addicts. Contacting an animal welfare group, the social workers took great pains to make sure the animal was removed from the squalid cesspool of a home. But the social workers neglected to do anything about the little girl living with the couple. The 5-year-old's fingernails had not been cut for more than a year, she was covered in bed sores, lying in human waste and wearing a plaster cast on her broken leg that should have been removed 10 months earlier. When doctors eventually removed the cast from the girl, whose leg has been permanently scarred, they found spoons, a fork, and a pen she had used to try to scratch her ulcers. …."

N.W. Arkansas Times 5/27/98 "…… During the 1970s and '80s, the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory was revealed to be a hotbed in incredible ineptness and blunders that actually helped convict innocent people who never should have been charged. The mistakes were so gross and flagrant that criminals who should have been charged and convicted had gone free. There was the case of Millicent Lynn of Beebe, whose case had been ruled a suicide by drowning until they exhumed her body a year later and discovered a previously unreported bullet hole through the crown of her head. Ronald Carden of Bigelow had been wrongly convicted of murder and rape, a fact that came to light a year after the murder of Mildred Honeycutt of Pocahontas. The Crime Lab dentist had made a wrong initial determination and a hair analysis from the Crime Lab was proven worthless at the FBI Crime Lab. Carden was ultimately set free by the judge. David Michel of Little Rock, whose parents now reside in Harrison, had been bludgeoned to death. But the Crime Lab initially ruled the manner of his death as undetermined. In fact, a former assistant medical examiner named Nanduri had actually signed two death certificates, one said homicide, the other undetermined. She had officially filed the "undetermined" certificate and kept the homicide finding in a drawer. A rifle that was ordered examined never was for over a year. When it finally was checked forensically, charges were filed against a man who was convicted of Michel's murder. An inmate at Cummins named Richard Fuller supposedly had died of a heart infection known as myocarditis. But when questions were raised, his body was exhumed and pathologists discovered his neck had been broken while in the clutches of a "horse playing" prison guard at 2 a.m. Then there was the nationally ballyhooed rulings of "suicide" for two teenaged boys on the railroad tracks at Benton. That one case and other suspect rulings triggered the downslide of former Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Fahmy Malak, a forensic pathologist who started strong and became absorbed by the politics of this agency. This unbelievable but true list could go on and on. Suffice it to say, these revelations reeked havoc within the state's criminal justice system. A total of six questionable cases wound up being exhumed and problems with every original autopsy were discovered. Finally a halt of the exhumations had to be requested by the governor to keep from exhuming scores or hundred of bodies……."

The Electronic Telegraph 2/6/00 James Langton "…. A GROUP of Chicago university students has mounted the biggest challenge to capital punishment for almost a quarter of a century after proving that many "death row" inmates are innocent. As a result of efforts by the group - known unofficially as the "Last Chance Club" - the Illinois state governor has ordered the first halt to executions since the death penalty was re-introduced in the United States in 1977. Governor George Ryan, a supporter of capital punishment, admitted that the judicial system was "fraught with errors" and said the state needed time to investigate all 165 death-row cases. Working with their professor and a private detective, the students have cleared five prisoners - one only two days away from execution. This week, they expect to add a sixth name to a list that is causing embarrassment to the US system of justice. Growing doubts about tainted evidence and the fairness of trials have been brought to a head by the case of Anthony Porter, a small-time criminal sentenced to death for the drug-related murder of two teenagers in a Chicago park in 1982. ..."

Los Angeles Times 2/23/00 Usha Lee McFarlang "…… A new analysis by government scientists indicates that the Earth's climate is warming at an unprecedented rate, suggesting that the future impact of global warming may be more severe and sudden than predicted. Such a steep warming rate was not expected to occur until well into the 21st century, said Tom Karl, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration climatologist who led the study. Such a trend probably would mean continuation of the recent three-year string of steamy summers and mild winters seen by much of the nation, and eventually perhaps increased flooding of low-lying areas. "The next few years are going to be very interesting," Karl said. It could be the beginning of a new increase in temperatures." Historical and geological records show that the Earth warms and cools in fits and starts, not at a constant rate. During the 1900s, most warming occurred between 1910 and 1940 and then after 1970. On average, though, warming throughout the 1900's occurred at a rate of just over 1 degree per century. In contrast, warming since 1976 occurred at a rate of nearly four degrees per century. The increase in warming, Karl said, could be evidence of a "change point", a period when the Earth's climate begins warming at a faster rate. …..The analysis, which will be published in the March 1 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters, already is generating much interest, and some disagreement, among climatologists……."

Washington Post 2/21/00 Curt Suplee "…..Of all the troublesome questions in the study of global warming and potential climate change, none is more forbidding, or more profound, than these: Is the observed increase in the worldwide average temperature--around 1.1 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 100 years--genuinely abnormal, or is it well within the bounds of natural variability? And is the apparent super-warming of the past two decades--about 0.5 degree--actually a mistake, in view of the fact that upper-air temperature measurements over the same 20 years show no warming at all? Both questions got closer to definitive answers last week. In the Feb. 17 issue of the journal Nature, Henry N. Pollack of the University of Michigan and others took on the issue of multicentury climate change, which has an aggravating built-in difficulty…."

Los Angeles Daily News 2/22/00 Troy Anderson "……Davis, speaking at the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of tolerance, said the legislation, which he expects to receive bipartisan support, would give California the toughest hate-crime laws in the nation. The legislation would add three years to any prison sentence for a felony hate crime, and extend the statute of limitations for filing hate crime charges to three years from one year. Davis focused his legislation on so-called hate groups, proposing to expand their definition to include two or more people who associate for the purpose of committing hate crimes. "Hate groups strike at the very heart of what it means to be an American, and we are obligated to fight back," Davis said. "We are the most diverse people on the planet Earth. That was God's plan. We need to start living like that." ……"

The Sunday Times of London 2/20/00 "….. THE secrets of how MI5 spied on John Lennon are to be revealed after a ruling by a Los Angeles federal court cleared the way for the release of British intelligence reports held by the FBI, write John Harlow and Nicholas Rufford. The 10 packages of documents, which are held at Washington's FBI headquarters, are believed to expose how Lennon gave money to the Irish Republican Army before its split between the Official and Provisional wings. They also show that he paid £46,000 to left-wing groups including the Trotskyist Workers' Revolutionary party (WRP) and Red Mole, a Marxist magazine edited by Tariq Ali, the student protest leader. Some of the information came from an MI5 "deep throat" inside the WRP who passed on details of Lennon's donations to the Americans and, bizarrely, a handwritten transcript of the lyrics to Lennon's song Working Class Hero, which he is thought to have sent to the WRP as a gift……"

The Associated Press 2/19/00 "…..Md Some think there are far too many Confederate monuments around the country. Bill Chaney thinks there aren't enough. Last year, he outbid the National Park Service and purchased 101 acres of the Antietam battlefield in Maryland. Chaney is raising private funds to erect 30-foot bronze equestrian statues to Gens. Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and J.E.B. Stuart, about a mile from the spot known as "Bloody Lane." He has already commissioned a Texas artist to begin work on the Lee statue. ..."

sciencedaily.com 2/18/00 "……Three factors--the thinning of the ozone layer, emissions from the Mt. Pinatubo volcano, and the influx of sulfate aerosols and greenhouse gases into the atmosphere--may help explain why the lowest five miles of the earth's atmosphere has not warmed as quickly as the earth's surface, say a group of scientists in a paper appearing in the February 18 issue of the journal Science. The results follow extensive data analysis and modeling studies by the 13 scientists. The team includes second author Tom Wigley and Gerald Meehl, both scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Lead author Ben Santer is at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. NCAR's primary sponsor is the National Science Foundation. ......"

CNSNews.com 2/18/00 Jim Burns "…..A Little Rock lawyer, a member of the Arkansas Supreme Court Committee on Professional Conduct and a contributor to President Clinton's 1992 and 1996 presidential campaigns, has removed himself from a review of legal ethics complaints against Clinton. Attorney Dick Hatfield said in Little Rock that he changed his mind to make sure no one questions the committee's impartiality. He also said the committee's findings must reflect fairness in the eyes of Arkansans. "Serving on the Clinton matter could be perceived as partial and unfair. This decision is made with my firm conviction that I could properly uphold and discharge my duties as a committee member. Yet, I believe, as to my participation, that the committee process as it relates to William Jefferson Clinton could be perceived as tainted. …."

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 2/17/00 Micjael Rowett "…..An ethics complaint against President Clinton accuses him of violating a rule that forbids lawyers from engaging in deceit and another that forbids conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice. A copy of the complaint, obtained Wednesday by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, offers as evidence statements that he made in grand jury testimony, a deposition he gave in a civil lawsuit, and remarks he made elsewhere………. The committee modified the complaint and this month formally sent it to Clinton, who has 30 days to respond to the allegations. Under Section 5 of Arkansas court rules governing the professional conduct committee, failure to respond to a formal complaint constitutes an admission of the factual allegations of the complaint. If Clinton didn't respond, he'd lose his right to a public hearing before the committee to appeal its decision and could face additional sanctions for failing to respond. ......... "

CNN/transcripts 2/15/00 "…….THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, a crucial debate for the three remaining Republican presidential candidates. Joining me in South Carolina, site of Saturday's GOP primary, Senator John McCain of Arizona; former Reagan administration official, Ambassador Alan Keyes; and Texas Governor George W. Bush. They're next on a special edition of "LARRY KING LIVE: Election 2000." This is the South Carolina Republican debate. …..
MCCAIN: I don't mind being criticized by Alan Keyes. It's getting to be a regular kind of routine in these debates. But I really do question his comments about our military leaders. General Colin Powell is one the finest men I've ever known in my life. And to somehow infer that General Colin Powell was coerced, or forced to adopt a policy that he didn't believe in is a great disservice to one of the greatest men in the history of this country.
KEYES: Who -- excuse me...
KING: By the way, since we...
KEYES: ... a point of personal privilege, it is not factually on the record -- you go back and take a look. Those military leaders did not favor this policy in the beginning. They were brought to favor it after political leadership failed to stand up in their defense.
KING: Is he going to be -- either of you -- the secretary of state -- Colin Powell?
MCCAIN: Sure.
KING: Sure?
MCCAIN: That's one thing I'm sure we'll agree on.
KING: Your secretary of state, too?
BUSH: I'm not telling.
KING: It's definite that you're saying yes?
MCCAIN: Oh, he'd be marvelous.
BUSH: Oh, he's a great man, no question about it. But one of the things we shouldn't be doing, right here on the eve of the South Carolina primary, is speculating out loud on who we're going to pick.
KING: Why?
BUSH: Well, because it's -- listen, we're talking about philosophy. You know, we go to one state and so-and-so is going to be in the Cabinet, you know, and go to another state and name somebody else. That's kind of -- that cheapens the process. What we need to do is get elected on principles and issues.
MCCAIN: There's a few outstanding men I've had the chance to know in my life. He can serve anywhere he wants to in my administration.
BUSH: He's a great man, no question about that.
MCCAIN: Anywhere he wants. He's the 800-pound gorilla……"

Akhbar.com 2/26/00 "…..An Egyptian woman gave birth to a baby weighing a huge seven kg (15 pounds six ounces) this week and the father said on Saturday he was still in shock. "I'm not big and neither is his mother. The size was a surprise, we really didn't expect it," Adel Abdel Razek, a technician on the Cairo metro system, told Reuters. Baby Karim, the couple's first in three years of marriage, was born in a Cairo hospital on Thursday two weeks premature...."

AP 2/25/00 "…..A man suspected of planting three bombs that exploded beneath two pickup trucks and outside a business was shot and wounded by police after he was discovered hiding under a Dinwiddie County church. Luis Cristobal, a 47-year-old Cuban national, was in stable condition at a Richmond hospital Thursday night after his capture. He had had been sought since Feb. 7, when bombs that were planted on pickup trucks owned by Cristobal's brother-in-law and a man acquainted with Cristobal's estranged wife exploded in Chesterfield County. The third bomb was placed outside a Petersburg building where Cristobal used to work…….. "

AP 2/25/00 Cliff Edwards "…..Don't look for the Six Million Dollar Man just yet, but researchers say they have found a way to mate human cells with circuitry in a "bionic chip" that could play a key role in medicine and genetic engineering. The tiny device -- smaller and thinner than a strand of hair -- combines a healthy human cell with an electronic circuitry chip. By controlling the chip with a computer, scientists say they can control the activity of the cell. The computer sends electrical impulses to the cell-chip, triggering the cell's membrane pores to open and activating the cell. Scientists hope they can manufacture cell-chips in large numbers and insert them into the body to replace or correct diseased tissues. ….."

China People's Daily 2/25/00 "……Developed by a sci-tech company in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the chip has recently been put into commercial production upon approval of the State Pharmaceuticals Administration. It marks production of China's first gene chip that can be used in the country's clinic work. Gene chip, or DNA chip, is a product of high technology developed in the middle of the 90s. Made of treated glass of the ordinary type, it is no larger than an adult's nail. Every DNA chip comprises of several hundred or a few million subdivisions and a large number of gene probes with a special function in each division. When it has a drop of treated blood sample on, and scanned by laser, it can tell whether a sick person has contracted infectious disease or some heredity disease. Gene chip diagnosis, fast in speed, high in efficiency, is of great accuracy……."

Deseret News 2/23/00 "…..Your face is on its way to becoming your "fingerprint" - for accessing ATM machines, entering the workplace, checking in at airline ticketing counters and even getting you into your own computer. Instead of punching in an easily forgotten series of letters or numbers, or digging through a thicket of plastic cards in your wallet to fish out an ID, you may soon turn toward a closed-circuit TV camera to get you into your workplace or gain access to an ATM machine. In less than a second, a face-recognition program will scan your features while it electronically riffles through millions of stored "faceprints" to find the proper match and signal an OK - or a flashing warning sign that the face it's scanning isn't yours. …..What makes it all possible is artificial intelligence software that can extract from a video image the unique pattern of irregularities in the human face, and compare it with facial images stored in a data bank. …."

AP 2/24/00 Laurie Kellman "…..Sen. John McCain's campaign was delayed Wednesday night after his plane got stuck in the mud for about two hours as it prepared to fly to Sacramento, Calif. McCain and his wife, Cindy, napped part of the time while waiting on board. Nobody was hurt. The pilot of the 727 had been taxing for takeoff and apparently cut short a left turn, dragging the plane's left rear wheels through a muddy, grassy island in the runway. The wheels came to rest next to a landing light, a quarter of their height buried in mud. ….."

New England Journal of Medicine. 2/23/00 "…..When a doctor hastens the death of a terminally ill patient, the end is not always easy or peaceful, researchers report in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine. The scientists from the Netherlands, where euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have been legal for years, found that such efforts frequently go awry. When patients tried to kill themselves using drugs prescribed by a doctor, the medication did not work as expected in 16 percent of the cases. In addition, technical problems or unexpected side effects occurred 7 percent of the time. Problems surfaced so often, doctors witnessing the attempted suicide felt compelled to intervene and ensure death in 18 percent of the cases, according to the report. Even when the doctor was directly performing euthanasia, the researchers found, complications developed in 3 percent of the attempts. Patients either took longer to die than expected or awoke from a drug-induced coma that was supposed to be fatal in 6 percent of the cases. "This is information that will come as a shock to the many members of the public - including legislators and even some physicians - who have never considered that the procedures involved in physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia might sometimes add to the suffering they are meant to alleviate," Dr. Sherwin Nuland of Yale University School of Medicine said in an accompanying Journal editorial……."

EWTN 2/24/00 "….Thanks to a meticulous search through a 235-page patent application document, the Greenpeace environmentalist group has discovered that the European Patent Office approved human cloning last December. The Patent Office claimed yesterday that the approval was "by mistake." The British Telegraph newspaper reported that EP 695351 was granted last December to the University of Edinburgh and the Australian company Stem Cell Sciences. Christian Gugerell, head of the biotechnology section of the Munich-based patent office, said: "We've committed a very serious error. It's not our practice to grant patents on human beings." ..."

World Net Daily / Reason Magazine 3/6/00 Ronald Baily "…..Will you live forever? There's a better chance than you might think according to biologists on a panel at the Extended Life/Eternal Life conference at the University of Pennsylvania. The conference, co-hosted by the John Templeton Foundation and the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, brought together an all-star cast of biologists, clinicians, theologians and philosophers to consider whether extending human life is technologically imminent and theologically acceptable. The science is dazzling, the theology, wary and anxious. Is extending human life a good idea? Absolutely not, say bioethicists Leon Kass from the University of Chicago and Daniel Callahan from the Hastings Center. Should you be allowed to choose to extend your life? "The worst possible way to resolve this issue is to leave it up to individual choice," insisted Callahan. "There is no known social good coming from the conquest of death." Callahan actually argued that automobiles, telephones, and computers had all been imposed on society without its permission and he feared that longevity would similarly be imposed on us all soon……"

AP 3/3/00 Matt Crenson "….. Science is on the brink of handing us the key to our own creation, of giving us the power to redesign ourselves. There is enormous potential for good. Diseases could be eradicated, death forestalled, human potential extended. But behind that promise lurks a long, cold shadow of doubt. What becomes of parenthood, of individuality, of the notion of fate in a world in which human beings are not just born but engineered? What will life be like in a world in which we have the power, as developmental biologist Stuart Newman puts it, to turn "human beings into manufactured objects"? The new science that is raising these questions is called "germline engineering." What it means is designing our babies to our own specifications. We would choose the genes that determine human potential - height, hair color, intelligence, longevity, even many personality traits - instead of leaving it up to the messy, unpredictable process of natural procreation. …."

Reuters 3/6/00 "…..Shares of NeoRx Corp. (NERX.O) soared about 123 percent on Monday after the biotechnology company said a medical journal reported that one dose of its targeted radiation therapy cured human lung, colon and breast cancer implanted in mice. Shares of the Seattle-based company shot up 27 at 48-13/16 on Nasdaq. Treatment with the company's Pretarget technology eradicated tumors and prevented regrowth for at least one year in all 10 of the mice implanted with lung and colon cancers during experiments, and in eight out of 10 mice implanted with breast cancers, according to the report. …."

BBC 3/2/00 "….Ebola cure possible Ebola, one of the most terrifying diseases in the world, could be treatable according to a new study. The research, done on mice in the US, even suggests that an effective vaccine could be developed in the future. Ebola viruses cause catastrophic internal bleeding in infected humans. The disease is nearly always fatal and no vaccines or treatments currently exist. However, the scientific team, led by Mary Kate Hart at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases in Maryland, has discovered a promising approach. ..."

Washington Post 3/2/00 Michael Grunwald "…… Two nonprofit organizations from opposite sides of the political spectrum today plan to release a report blasting 25 Army Corps of Engineers water projects as financially profligate and environmentally destructive. The anti-spending Taxpayers for Common Sense and the pro-environment National Wildlife Federation joined forces on the report, which criticizes more than $6 billion worth of river navigation work, port-deepening initiatives, flood control structures, beach-building efforts and other projects nationwide. In recent weeks, the corps has been under investigation for allegedly rigging a study to justify a billion-dollar expansion of barge locks on the upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers, a plan ranked third in the report's list of unnecessary projects. A billion-dollar plan to divert the White River for irrigation in Arkansas ranks first, followed by a $311 million proposal to deepen the Delaware River for tanker traffic up to the Port of Philadelphia……"

Christian Science Monitor 2/29/00 "….. Walking down Marszalkowska Street in downtown Warsaw, the brightly painted "sex shops" are impossible to miss, hawking erotic magazines, videos, and other items. Forbidden under Communist rule, pornography has been one of the clearest signs of the free market's arrival in Poland, along with flashy cars and neon signs. But perhaps not for long. Parliament is due to vote March 1 on landmark legislation that would, in its strongest form, ban all pornography. Weaker versions would criminalize - and, in a first for Europe, define - hard-core pornography, with lengthy sentences for its production and distribution...."

Associated Press 2/29/00 Anne Gearan "…..President Clinton said today that he may tap the nation's supply of emergency oil if other options fail to reduce prices. "I have not taken the petroleum reserve issue off the table, and I certainly wouldn't do that in the event that we don't seem to have any other options," Clinton said before leaving the White House for a political trip to Florida. Several Northeast lawmakers have urged the administration to release oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, but Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and other administration officials have repeatedly said they do not intend to do that. The reserve is designed to ease supply disruptions and not to influence prices, administration officials have said. …."

The Straits Times 3/1/00 AFP "…..The United States State Department has moved to kill off speculation that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was considering a run for President of the Czech Republic. "The short answer to that question is No," State Department spokesman James Rubin told reporters. "The long answer is also No." On Monday, for the second day in a row, Mr Rubin denied a report in Time magazine that Mrs Albright was considering such a move...."

Business Wire/UPI 2/29/00"…… Gas prices in Northern California cities leapt 12 to 17 cents a gallon in two weeks, AAA reported today. ``Lower refinery output and higher crude oil costs have pushed gas prices up sharply throughout the west,'' said Paul Moreno, spokesman for AAA of Northern California. Nationwide, gas prices are at a historic high of $1.42, according to the U.S. Dept. of Energy. Higher crude costs are being blamed for the 5 to 6 cent per gallon hike in gas prices nationwide. But analysts say the West Coast is experiencing refinery trouble in addition to higher crude costs. ......"

The Sun 3/2/00 Martyne Sharpe "…..A COUPLE are moving to America to save their cancer-stricken son - because the treatment isn't good enough in Britain. But in America doctors have developed a vaccine for his condition. Parents Alan and Andrea are quitting work to take Dale to Houston, Texas, for a year of treatment. Andrea, 31, said: "We are going rather than see Dale die in Britain. America spends more on cancer care and survival rates are better. " ..."

AP 3/3/00 H Josef Hebert "…..After years of deliberations, the Clinton administration next week will impose tougher requirements on developers to stem the loss of ecologically sensitive wetlands, according to sources familiar with the new regulations. Homebuilders said Friday the new rules are unneeded and will stall economic development, but environmentalists welcomed the tighter restrictions, saying construction under old rules led to the loss of thousands of acres of wetlands. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers scheduled a news conference for Monday to announce the new rules, which have been debated internally for more than four years and were spurred by an environmental group's lawsuit. The new requirements will take effect in June, according to the Army Corps' final draft. ..."

Reuters 3/1/00 "…..A federal judge on Wednesday ordered the release of a Texas man who has spent the last 16 years on death row after prosecutors missed a deadline for giving him a new trial for the 1983 murder of his roommate. U.S. District Judge David Hittner ruled the detention of Calvin Jerold Burdine, 46, was unconstitutional and ordered his release within five days, an official in Hittner's court said. Last September, Hittner ruled that Burdine should be granted a new trial within 120 days because his attorney fell asleep during his capital murder trial. …."

The Oregonian 3/4/00 Jonathan Brinckman "……A small-town banker becomes an activist after witnessing the killing of hatchery fish and thinks the reason for it is a sham ……. In late 1998, while elk hunting with a friend, Yechout, 58, came across five employees of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife clubbing hundreds of coho salmon with baseball bats. The fish had returned to the hatchery of their birth on Fall Creek. Yechout was outraged. "It made me madder than hell," he said. "All we hear, over and over, is our fish are going extinct. The fish aren't going extinct: The state is out there, killing them by the thousands." Yechout made a video of what he saw, with close-up images of large fish being struck until they stopped moving. Then he took to the road, showing his video at Kiwanis Clubs, Rotary Clubs, schools, cafes and restaurants. He even spoke at a specially convened meeting of state lawmakers. As many in the Northwest experience fatigue over the subject of salmon, Yechout has caused a stir. ….."

Associated Press 3/11/00 "……An art installation connecting Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Nazis at an upcoming Whitney Museum exhibit has angered one of the museum's benefactors, who says she'll stop giving the institution money. The piece, "Sanitation," by Hans Haacke, upset 73-year-old heiress Marylou Whitney so much that she has told the museum director that in addition to halting donations, she'll quit its national fund-raising board as well. According to the museum, Ms. Whitney is one of about 60 members of the museum's national committee..."

Insight Magazine 3/10/00 Timothy Maier "……Don't drink the water or, for that matter, breathe the air in Area 51 because who knows what may be in it. President Clinton doesn't want you to know. He has declared the top-secret Air Force base near Groom Lake, Nev., off limits to national, state or local environmental laws. For several years, Clinton has sent a letter to Congress exempting Area 51 from all environmental restrictions. The secrecy of Area 51 has prompted scores of UFO enthusiasts to insist alien autopsies are being conducted there. But, say news alert! sources, the base is likely a center for black operations dealing with sophisticated jets. Clinton's decision to exempt the base comes in reaction to Washington attorney Jonathan Turley, who sued the Air Force and the Environmental Protection Agency about pollution concerns that he claims led to the poisoning of five workers. The lawsuit was filed in 1996 after five former workers at the facility complained of being exposed to lethal toxins at the site, which is located about 95 miles north of Las Vegas. ….."

USA Today 3/11/00 "…..NEW YORK - Real estate mogul Abe Hirschfeld was sentenced to 90 days in jail Thursday because he violated an order to keep quiet about his trial for allegedly trying to hire a hit man to kill his business partner. Hirschfeld, the 80-year-old millionaire who once offered Paula Jones $1 million to drop her sexual harassment lawsuit against President Clinton, was convicted of contempt of court in a non-jury trial. He brought several newspaper stories to court in an effort to convince Justice Harold Beeler he was too honest and important to go to jail...."

Lawyers Weekly 3/6/00 "…..Where police set up a roadblock to trap drug offenders, does this violate the Fourth Amendment? The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to decide this question. The Court will review a Seventh Circuit decision that said such a roadblock was unconstitutional. (99 LWUSA 845; Search words for LWUSA Archives: Edmond and Bona.) The circuits are split on this issue. The Seventh Circuit cited similar decisions from the Sixth, Tenth and D.C. Circuits, while noting that the Eleventh Circuit has ruled to the contrary...."

NewsMax.com 3/9/00 Carl Limbacher "…..Republican National Committee Chairman Jim Nicholson refused on Thursday to withdraw statements calling convicted vice presidential fund-raiser Maria Hsia "an agent for the Communist Chinese government" and dared Hsia's lawyer, Nancy Luque, to sue him for libel…..
Nicholson to Maria Hsia: SO SUE ME !!!
"I'll repeat it: Maria Hsia was an agent of the Communist Chinese government."
WASHINGTON (March 9) - Attorneys for convicted Al Gore fund-raiser Maria Hsia have called the Republican National Committee and threatened a libel suit based on RNC Chairman Jim Nicholson's often-repeated statement that Maria Hsia was an agent of the Communist Chinese government.
"For the convenience of her lawyers, I will repeat the truth here," Nicholson said. "Maria Hsia, the convicted felon who was a key confidante and fund-raiser for Al Gore and who helped arrange Gore's fund raiser at the Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple, was an agent of the Communist Chinese government, and has been identified as such by a Committee of the United States Senate."
"If Maria Hsia's attorneys wish to follow through on their threat of a libel suit, we are willing to accept service of process at our offices, at 310 First Street SE, Washington, D.C. 20003, at any time during normal business hours." ..."

New York Times 3/7/00 Amy Harmon Peter DaSilva "……When the local alternative rock station listed the 300 top songs of the millennium in December, Adam Campbell, a freshman at the University of Oregon, decided it would be nice to own the entire collection……… Two hours later, using the fast Internet connection in his dorm room and a new online service called Napster, Mr. Campbell had retrieved 275 of the tunes -- free. They sit nestled on his computer hard drive along with 800 or so other songs The music industry is already disturbed about how easy it is to copy music via the Internet without paying for it. But in recent months Napster has greatly magnified the threat. Acting like a music search engine, the software makes it easier to find and copy a far wider array of music. It also makes it easier for individuals to offer their own music collections to others. Napster, created last year by a 19-year-old college dropout, has spread so quickly among college students, traditionally the most avid consumers of recorded music, that the resulting glut of digital traffic has overloaded university networks. Dozens of campuses have banned students from using the service -- not because of copyright issues but to protect their networks. ….."

LewRockwell.com 3/7/00 Patricia Neill "…… I've been wondering what to wear to my sedition trial. You may think this rather premature, or immature, even, but I've been wondering all the same. I've been making some pretty mouthy political statements regarding Washington in general and Mr. Clinton in particular. We know for a fact that Mr. Clinton can be quite vindictive, that is when he is not schmoozing up to Indonesia in order to ensure his own fortune and glory. So let's just say this has been on my mind. I am a female and what to wear to important events is a matter of some concern. I mean, if I have to go, what do I wear?……….. I know, the State has this depressing habit of shoving its political prisoners into those horrid orange jumpsuits, but I'm a redhead and that just isn't going to work. And the chains. They are not very attractive. But they are almost certainly symbolic rather than functional. Remember the pictures of Ted the K? He was surrounded by guards with guns and yet he was covered with the chains. I rather doubt there was much chance that he could plant a letter bomb in the courtroom, so the chains probably weren't all that necessary. So, Ok, I'll take the chains. Lots of them please. They'll ruin the outfit, but at least they will create the impression for the conscious viewer that I'm dangerous to the health of the State. For my chains, I would like to request, in advance, that my leg irons be attached to one of those big heavy balls we used to see prisoners in movies wearing. Just for fun. Helluva fashion statement, and one I'm sure my mom would appreciate. (Hi mom.)..."

AP 3/11/00 "…..An art installation connecting Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Nazis at an upcoming Whitney Museum exhibit has angered one of the museum's benefactors, who says she'll stop giving the institution money. The piece, "Sanitation," by Hans Haacke, upset 73-year-old heiress Marylou Whitney so much that she has told the museum director that in addition to halting donations, she'll quit its national fund-raising board as well……..Whitney, whose mother-in-law, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney founded the Whitney Museum, told the New York Post in Saturday's editions she wished that "they could take the Whitney name off that museum." "I had intended to make a big contribution to the Whitney in my will, but not now. This is a horrible work. I can't even call it 'art,'" Whitney told the Post. ……"

NewsMax.com 3/17/00 Carl Limbacher "…..Secret Service agents protecting First Lady Hillary Clinton roughed up several reporters along the route of New York City's St. Patrick's Day parade, the city's WABC Radio affilliate reported Friday afternoon. To make matters worse, the US Senate candidate was booed at several points along the Fifth Avenue parade route, with several parade goers shouting "Go back to Arkansas." "Secret Service agents literally are pushing press to the ground," reported WABC's Glenn Shuck. "They get back up again. Mrs. Clinton stops to shake hands again along the route and she's mobbed again by Secret Service." According to Shuck, Mrs. Clinton's security got rough with reporters at several points along the parade route……"

AP 3/13/00 Sonja Barisic "…..Anti-drunken driving activists aren't amused by a new ad campaign urging college students to replace their milk mustaches with beer foam. Norfolk-based People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals this week plans to unveil its ``Got Beer?'' campaign on college campuses nationwide, in time for all those green-beer St. Patrick's Day celebrations. PETA argues that drinking beer is healthier than milk and that the dairy industry is cruel to cows and calves. Mothers Against Drunk Driving sent a letter Friday asking PETA to pull the campaign for fear it will encourage underage drinking. ….."

AP 3/13/00 Dave Carpenter "…..At E&M Foods in the Chicago suburb of Skokie, customers are drawn like magnets to the best and most expensive beef: porterhouse, T-bone, strip steaks, filet mignon. ``There was a low-fat craze that came and went. The veggie craze came and went. But beef - that's part of us,'' owner Ed Figlewicz said. ``Americans have always liked beef.'' Indeed, the line spills out into the street some Saturdays at the Paulina Market on the city's North Side, where steaks are the prized item in a butcher shop bursting with beef….."

Los Angeles Times 3/13/00 Jorge Castaneda "…… Immigration is not a new issue in U.S.-Mexico or hemispheric relations, and it is not often that it gives rise to fresh ideas. The only novelty is that more migrants than ever flow into the United States from more regions of Mexico and more countries of Latin America, despite countless U.S. efforts to stem the tide. So it is, all the more noteworthy that two major policy shifts announced in the United States by key American players in the immigration game have laid the groundwork for what could be a decisive shift in Latin American, and specifically in Mexican, stances on the matter. The first change involved Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, who in late January suggested that the overheating of the U.S. economy was "putting significant pressure on an ever-decreasing supply of unemployed labor" and that one way to counter this was by significantly increasing legal immigration from abroad, from high-tech Indians to low-wage Mexicans. ……The second shift came in February from the AFL-CIO. The reinvigorated federation made three statements that were more than surprising, given who was uttering them. ……"

AP 3/12/00 Tom Kirchofer "……The same technology that helps secure nuclear plants and root out welfare fraud is about to be used to help keep the riffraff out of bars. Keyware Technologies has signed a deal to provide its software to 15 Dutch nightclubs that want to ensure that once troublemakers are shown to the door, they never return. Nightclub patrons would be issued ID cards that must be swiped through a scanner before a person can enter the club. While the card is scanned, the patron will have his or her fingerprints verified by a computerized reader, and a computerized camera will match facial features to ensure the person trying to get into the club is the same person to whom the card was issued. ``People who are causing violence; that's who they're targeting to get out of the nightclubs,'' said Elizabeth Marshall, a spokeswoman for Keyware, which developed the security system. ``If you're arrested the weekend before, it will flag that so you won't be allowed to go in.'' The technology is called ``biometrics'' and it involves using computers to analyze physical features to determine identity. Though the technology has been around for years, it's only just beginning to make its way into the mainstream. ….."

Daily Southtown 3/13/00 Sara Baker "……Lawmakers trying to stamp out hate crimes in Illinois are struggling to balance freedom of speech with freedom from violence. The Illinois House has approved a bill that would criminalize incendiary speech that inspires a hate crime. Violators could face one to three years in jail and a fine of up to $10,000. The measure passed with a healthy 93-21 majority and now awaits action in the Senate. Supporters say it is a reasonable response to people such as Matt Hale, leader of the white supremacist World Church of the Creator. ….."

The Anchorage Daily News 3/25/00 Wesley Loy "…….Exxon Mobil Corp. on Friday sued to block the sale of Atlantic Richfield Co.'s Alaska assets to an Oklahoma oil company. The lawsuit throws cold water on plans for Phillips Petroleum Co. to become Arco's successor in Alaska and for BP Amoco to wrap up its purchase of Arco's Outside assets. Exxon's lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Arco's hometown of Los Angeles, asserts that Exxon has contracts dating back to 1964 giving Exxon the right of first refusal to buy Arco's North Slope properties. Alaska politicians and oil industry spokesmen were angry that Exxon's lawsuit - filed on the 11th anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill - likely will prolong uncertainty in the Alaska oil industry created by the $27 billion BP-Arco deal. The two companies are the biggest oil producers in Alaska, and the takeover was opposed by the Federal Trade Commission on grounds that a unified company could exert too much control over West Coast gasoline markets. ….."

The Associated Press 3/25/00 "……. To get its prison inmates to fill out their federal census questionnaires, Minnesota is offering a small incentive - $1 per form. That's good money for an inmate, and even with a price tag that could reach $5,600, Minnesota officials say its a worthwhile way to reach the Census Bureau's goal of 90 percent participation in the country's prisons. ``I think we can reach that level, but it would definitely be problematic without some incentive,'' said Erik Skon, the state's assistant commissioner for adult facilities. ….."

Associated Press 3/23/00 "…….An iceberg about twice the size of Delaware has broken off from the Ross Ice Shelf in Antarctica and could drift into shipping lanes around the South Polar region. The elongated iceberg, detected by satellites, measures 183 miles by 22 miles and is among the largest ever observed, according to the National Science Foundation, which coordinates American research at the South Pole. Scientists estimated that the iceberg surface area is about 4,247 square miles. Delaware is 1,932 square miles. ….."

Newsday/AP 3/24/00 "……The director of a day care center duct-taped an 8-month-old girl to a wall, thinking the sight of the struggling baby was funny, state officials said in a report. The director of A Place to Grow in suburban Boston later admitted to the incident, the Office for Child Care Services said in a 12-page report issued this week. The center's license was suspended last week. The report also said state investigators found that babies were force-fed and swaddled so tightly that they had red marks. Some infants allegedly got a blast of water in the face if they cried. ......"

Sacramento Bee 3/20/00 Patrick Hoge "…..Gov. Gray Davis' undersecretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, Juan J. Villareal, was terminated last Friday, a Davis spokeswoman confirmed Monday. Villareal, reached by a reporter at his home in Lodi, declined to discuss his departure from the $89,486-a-year position. "I don't have any comment on that," said Villareal, before abruptly ending the interview. A source who insisted on anonymity, however, said that a representative from the Governor's Office, accompanied by a plainclothes security officer, informed Villareal about 4:45 p.m. Friday that he had been terminated. ..."

AP 3/24/00 Ted Bridis "…….That familiar e-mail greeting may start showing up with a novel twist: ``You've got a subpoena!'' Dozens of electronic messages racing across the Internet this week carried what's believed to be an unprecedented payload - a subpoena and other documents approved by a judge warning that the recipient's Web site may be violating a federal court order. Supporters applaud the idea, saying it allows attorneys to respond in accelerated ``Internet time'' to new issues of law and technology. Critics say it's unworkable because e-mail can be falsified or forged so easily. And unlike with human delivery, it can be nearly impossible to verify that an e-mail subpoena was served successfully. In a highly unusual legal fight in Massachusetts, U.S. District Judge Edward Harrington granted a temporary restraining order last week against two computer experts who distributed a method to thwart the popular ``Cyber Patrol'' software, which blocks children from Internet pornography. ……"

The Oklahoman Online 3/19/00 Meri McManus David Hartman "……. People have been dividing themselves into "us" and "them" groups for millennia: teen-agers vs. grown-ups, anarchists vs. the establishment, Republicans vs. Democrats. Deep divisions have existed for generations and centuries between different races, religions and ethnic groups, and they haven't all gone away. Just ask Ed and Cathy Williams of Choctaw. The Jewish couple has been subjected to vandalism, threats and even a firebomb, all apparently motivated by someone's disapproval of their religion...... By 1990, Congress had passed the Hate Crime Statistics Act, which called on the FBI to start tracking hate crimes. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, one of the bill's sponsors and now chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has introduced legislation to expand the hate crimes law. ……."

News Junkie 3/21/00 Vickie Smith "……. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals riled the sober-minded with an ill-fated anti-milk campaign dubbed ``Got Beer?'' ``Got Steer'' would better suit Mike Gallagher, who is planning the on-air slaughter of a steer in response. Gallagher, a nationally syndicated New York talk-show host who describes himself as ``a bombastic, moderate conservative,'' plans to tape-record and narrate the execution of a steer named Old Blue at a secret location in West Virginia on Wednesday. ......"

AP 3/21/00 Randi Goldberg "……..A woman whose 6-year-old son is accused of fatally shooting a first-grade classmate has vivid memories of asking her son about that terrible day. "He was like, 'I shot a little girl' and I started crying, then he was like, 'well, Mama I didn't mean to,' then he started crying, so we were both crying standing in the hallway just crying," Tamarla Owens said. Later, she asked him again. "I didn't mean to shoot her, Mama. I didn't mean for her to die," her son answered, then started coloring and asked her to read him a book. Owens says she feels partly to blame because she wasn't home as often as she thought she should be. But that, she says, is because the state told her she had to work......."

The Associated Press 3/22/00 Deb Riechmann "…….States are failing to use federal transportation dollars to fund bike paths, light rail and bus service to ease congestion, concentrating instead on building new roads, a group that advocates more mass transit said today. In the past two years, federal spending on new and wider roads grew 21 percent while spending on alternate modes of transportation fell by 19 percent, according to a report by the Surface Transportation Policy Project, which wants a more diversified transportation system that includes buses and mass transit. "Too many state transportation officials are failing to use federal money to diversify our transportation portfolio," said Roy Kienitz, executive director of the project. "People across the country are asking for more choices in how to get around, but most of our money is still being spent in the same old way." ….."

ABCNEWS.com 3/22/00 "……It was all part of a movement called eugenics that took a scientific approach to creating a genetically superior race. The idea was that by sterilizing people considered "mental defectives," societal problems, such as poverty and crime, would be reduced. Eugenics became a popular concept, and at its height, it infused many areas of American culture. There were magazines such as Eugenics Quarterly, and many state fairs featured contests searching for "Fitter Families" and "Better Babies." The topic even became the central theme of some movies. With the support of many prominent Americans, the movement gained such momentum that 35 states had laws on forced sterilization. The idea was even endorsed by the Supreme Court in the 1927 Buck vs. Bell decision, in which Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes declared that "three generations of imbeciles are enough." As eugenics swept across the country, an estimated 60,000 to 100,000 people were sterilized. Many of these people did not have any mental illness. …."

United States v. MacElvain, KTC 1995-455 (11th Cir. 1995) 9/27/95 "……The United States filed a complaint in the district court seeking to have that court declare invalid various "common law liens" and a "common law criminal complaint" which Robert C. MacElvain, a tax protestor, had filed against an employee and contractors of the Internal Revenue Service. The district court granted relief to the United States, declaring the liens and criminal complaint filed by MacElvain invalid, enjoining him from filing, publishing, or causing to be filed or published, any documents for the purpose of impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue laws, and also enjoining him from having any contact with a particular IRS officer except at the IRS's offices. MacElvain appeals. All of the issues MacElvain raises on appeal are utterly frivolous, and the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED……"

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 3/19/00 "……"I am a victim, the campaign is a victim!" Thus spoke Sen. Robert Torricelli, the New Jersey Democrat, as he welcomed a reinvigorated Justice Department probe into alleged violations that have enmeshed his successful 1996 U.S. Senate campaign in three separate criminal investigations. Torricelli as victim is as strange as Torricelli, chairman of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee who already has collected more than $2.5 million for his 2002 re-election campaign, welcoming the serving of 21 subpoenas to members of his finance committee. However, he has to be delighted that his Washington attorney, Abbe Lowell, could join with an anonymous Justice Department official in saying that Torricelli was not a focus of the investigation. ….."

The New American 3/27/00 "……The December 1999 issue of the FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin offers police officers guidelines to use in conducting traffic stops with suspected "right-wing extremists." Members of extremist groups may reveal their affiliations in a number of ways," advised Bulletin author James Kobolt. "First, the vehicles they drive often provide clues that can help officers prepare for potential danger before making a stop. Specifically, extremists' vehicles may sport bumper stickers with antigovernment or pro-gun sentiments," or may otherwise "fit the profile of vehicles driven by known extremist group members in the area." The article also advises officers that the absence of a license plate or the use of a handmade license plate may indicate that the driver subscribes to various "sovereign citizen" fallacies. As examples of "extremist" sentiments, the article suggested the slogans "Know Your Enemies: They are Your Leaders", and "Joe McCarthy Was Right". The sole "scholarly" source cited by Kobolt was the "Militia Watchdog" website maintained by Mark Pitcavage, the radical left-wing academic who serves as research director for the Justice Department's State and Local Anti-Terrorist Training program (SLATT). ….."

U.S. News & World Report 3/27/00 Angie Cannon "……A few years ago, the Ellerman brothers renounced alcohol, drugs, tobacco, and sex, following the creed of the teen movement Straight Edge. They crusaded for animal rights, but they used powerful pipe bombs to get across their message. Last week, the brothers were sentenced in federal court in Salt Lake City: Douglas Joshua Ellerman, 21, got nearly six years in prison, and Clinton Colby Ellerman, 23, got five years for the 1997 bombing of the Fur Breeders Cooperative, a fur supplier in Sandy, Utah. ..."

Macon Telegraph 3/19/00 Ron Woodgeard "…..No human being is lower that one who would intentionally harm a pet. Indeed, there is anecdotal evidence that people can be more outraged over the fate of a pet than that of a child. For example, the recent death of a fluffy little dog in San Jose, California, has attracted international attention and an outpouring of donations to find its killer. The incident occurred the evening of Feb. 11 when 38-year-old Sara McBurnett was driving to the airport to pick up her husband, who is a pilot. Traffic was bumper to bumper that night, according to Ms. McBurnett. A guy in a big ugly sports utility vehicle suddenly passed her station wagon on the right and cut abruptly in front of her. When the driver did so, her car touched the black SUV's enormous rear end. …..Then she said a white male in his late 20s, in goatee and turned-around baseball hat, got out of his truck and approached her on the driver's side. He was cursing and hollering. She rolled down her window to apologize. When she did so, her little 10-year-old dog jumped in her lap like it always does when she pulls up to the drive-in teller's window….. the road-raged driver grabbed the dog out of her lap and threw it into heavy traffic. In near hysterics, she retrieved her pet's bloody body and tried to call her husband on her cell phone. Eventually, she got Leo to the emergency vet, but Leo died……Word of the incident leaked out when one of Ms. McBurnett's friends told a reporter with the local newspaper. Donations poured in. As of last week, $40,000 had been received and another $10,000 has been pledged to find the dog's killer. The SUV was carrying Virginia license plates. Meanwhile, the AP in California reported on Saturday that donations exceed that collected for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person who abducted a 7-year-old girl, Xiana Fairchild of nearby Vallejo, Calif. So far, only $25,000 of the $75,000 offered in that case has come from private donors and charitable organizations. The other $50,000 has been provided by the state. "Without the governor's money, what would we have? Less than what that dog has," said Kim Swartz, whose daughter Amber has been missing since 1988. Ms. Swartz directs an agency involved in the search for Xiana. ….."

WorldNetDaily 3/14/00 David Bresnahan "……Less than two weeks after notification that he faces disbarment as a lawyer, President Bill Clinton paid $100 to renew his license to practice law -- an indication that he may plan to fight charges against him. The deadline for a response to the formal ethics violation complaint has now passed, but Arkansas officials refuse to confirm or deny whether a response has been received. Arkansas attorney L. Lynn Hogue filed a formal complaint, on behalf of the Southeastern Legal Foundation, asking Arkansas to take away Clinton's right to practice law. It was first filed on September 15, 1998, as reported by WorldNetDaily. Hogue, who is licensed to practice law in Arkansas, now lives and works in Georgia where he is also licensed……"

Associated Press 3/19/00 "…..A 7-year-old boy fatally shot a 5-year-old neighbor by firing an air gun at point-blank, but no charges are expected against him, authorities said. Sacorya Johnson was shot just above the left eye just after she came home from school last Thursday, police Capt. C.H. Steen said. Police were not sure if the pump air rifle was loaded with pellets or BB shot, but a projectile entered the girl's skull. Sacorya was taken to Monroe County Hospital, then flown by helicopter to the University of South Alabama Women's and Children's Hospital in Mobile, where she died Saturday. Investigators said the gun had been hidden from the boy after he was seen playing with it. He found it Thursday, authorities said. …."

Chicago Sun Times 3/16/00 Neil Steinberg "…… First PETA, one of those groups that, in the ideal adult world, would be heard from about once a year, like the Shakers or those who believe circumcision is an atrocity. Not one person in a thousand agrees with their harsh and inhuman doctrine. PETA is not about stopping cruel medical experimentation on animals--that's just the fig leaf of normalacy the group hides behind. PETA is about giving up your cat. PETA is about wearing canvas shoes. PETA is about--as we saw this week in its stupid-but-once-again-successful media ploy, the "Got Beer?" campaign, encouraging children not to drink milk, in the farcical notion that doing so somehow aids cows. Its value system crumbles the moment thought is applied. They claim to support "ethical treatment" of animals. The obvious question is "Whose ethics?" Certainly not the ethics of nature, which is without a moral structure other than to eat whatever you can sink your claws into and not care. ......"

The Wall Street Journal 3/20/00 Greg Hitt "……Rushing through a fast-widening loophole in federal tax and election laws, a nonprofit group created at Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts's behest is planning to raise and spend as much as $1.5 million this year to help the GOP keep control of Congress. Donors aren't being disclosed; nor are the expenditures of the group. Mr. Watts isn't the only politician pushing the edge of campaign finance. "This is the hand that's been dealt everybody," the Republican says in defense of his use of an increasingly popular loophole, which allows political groups to raise and spend money anonymously as long as they don't do it on a specific candidate's behalf. The loophole is being widely exploited in this year's battles for Congress and the White House……"

Los Alamos Study Group 6/1/97 Greg Mello "…..The Cold War is over and the U.S. government says it is no longer in the business of building new nuclear weapons. So why is it deploying a versatile new kind of nuclear bomb intended to penetrate the earth and destroy underground facilities? This spring, the United States began fielding the first new nuclear capability added to the U.S. arsenal since 1989 -- a slim, 12-foot-long weapon known as the B61 "mod-11" gravity bomb. It was developed and deployed without public or congressional debate, and in contradiction to official assurances that no new nuclear weapons were being developed in the United States. The government contends the B61-11 is merely a "modification" to the B61-7 gravity bomb. And yet, these modifications provide a substantial new military capability. This is significant for three reasons: ……."

AP 3/17/00 "…..An Arkansas committee that will determine whether President Clinton should keep his law license has given him until April 21 to respond to a request that he be disbarred, a conservative legal group said Friday. Clinton had asked the state Supreme Court's Committee on Professional Conduct to give him until Feb. 19, 2001, to respond to allegations that he is unfit to be a lawyer in Arkansas….."

Reuters 3/29/00 Leslie Gevirtz "……Two-thirds of the three billion letters that make up the genetic instruction book of humans has been deciphered, the head of the Human Genome Project said Wednesday. The international consortium expects to finish the "working draft" that will include 90 percent of the human DNA sequence in late May or early June, Dr. Francis Collins, the project's director, told reporters covering Bio2000, a Boston gathering of more than 10,000 researchers and business executives in the biotech industry. He said he expected the final version would be ready on or before 2003. Collins predicted that in the next five-to-seven years it would be possible to know the genetic causes of a myriad of illnesses including diabetes, heart disease, multiple sclerosis, and cancers. "That's going to happen," he said. Collins made his remarks even as British and German scientists in Europe were telling reporters they had cracked the genetic code and mapped the sequence of a second strain of bacterium that causes most cases of meningitis in the developing world. The knowledge gleaned from the human genome will lead to a myriad of ethical questions, Collins said, noting that people could be tested and possibly take drugs or alter their lifestyles to avoid or delay the onset of the illnesses. But at the same time, people could fear to take the tests if it led to discrimination in employment or health insurance. ….."

UPI via Virtual New York 3/29/00 "……The man who would be the next Speaker of the House is facing a primary foe at home and the name is eerily familiar. As expected Richard A. Gephardt, the 12-term U.S. Representative from Missouri's 3rd District, has filed for re-election. But the final day of filing for Missouri's August primary brought Gephardt a surprise opponent -- Richard A. Gebhardt. And the Democratic Party believes the Republicans are behind the possible source of confusion. "It smells of a Republican dirty trick," Missouri Democratic Party executive director Roy Temple told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. State Republican executive director John Hancock, in the same newspaper, denied any involvement in the switch, adding, "But I find it hilarious." ......"

3/31/00 Freeper Grandmac from email "……. Press Release "We have no choice but to cancel the April 15th protest rally in Libby. The safety of our community and families must come first and foremost. We sincerely thank all of you who understood and supported the rally" The Organizers Statement by D.C. Orr ……… It all started out on such a positive note, a group of concerned Libby Montana residents willing to take a stand for Constitutional liberty. Our call was to unite people who would take action to restore awareness of the Divine principles this country was founded on. We did not anticipate such fierce opposition to something so fundamentally American. We were wrong. We under- estimated their ignorance, arrogance and fear of change. ……….. Let cooler heads prevail. We find ourselves in a situation where no positive outcome is possible. The fearmongers have twisted our words until there is no hope of advancing our message of empowerment. They have met our forceful rhetoric with threats of violence that we can not ignore. To pursue this objective is to endanger the people we hoped to serve. …….. It is a sad day for our country when an attempt to educate people regarding thier rights to resist unjust actions of government is perceived as a threat. We will regroup and reorganize, but we will not lose sight of our goal. A man is not finished when he is defeated, he is finished when he quits. …….We thank all the great people who encouraged and supported us in this endeavor. You are our hope for the future. It is better to dare great things, even though occasionally marred by failure, than to live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory or defeat. …….."

Sydney Morning Herald 3/31/00 Richard Eden "…… A group of middle-aged English women who posed naked for a calendar could soon become household names across the world after six of them signed contracts with the Disney Corporation. Executives in Hollywood have bought the story of how 11 women from the village of Rylstone in the Yorkshire Dales - all members of the local Women's Institute (WI) - shed their inhibitions and stripped for a charity calendar. The women's decision to shed their clothes in a good cause succeeded in stripping the WI of its matronly image of jam-making and knitting and proved an instant money-spinner, raising more than $825,000 so far for leukemia research. The calendar, which showed the women, aged between 45 and 60, demonstrating traditional WI pursuits such as jam-making and flower arranging whilst wearing nothing but pearl necklaces, sold its initial print run of 3,500 copies in a single day. However, the modesty of the WI ladies is protected by strategically placed objects. …..Now the Disney division Buena Vista International have teamed up with Harbour Pictures, an independent British production company, to transform it into a multi-million pound film which could rival the international success of The Full Monty. The producers hope the calendar girls' story will capture the same uplifting qualities that made The Full Monty - a film about a group of redundant steel workers from Sheffield who became male strippers - one of Britain's most successful exports. ……."

AP 3/31/00 Alex Veiga "….. Elian Gonzalez's Miami relatives are no longer willing to give the boy to his father should he come to the United States to await the outcome of the international custody fight, the family's attorney said today. While the family would let Juan Miguel Gonzalez visit Elian at their Little Havana house, they say they will not hand over the boy during the court process to determine who gets custody of the 6-year-old, attorney Manny Diaz said. Elian "expresses fear about being with his father," Diaz said. "He's afraid that he will be punished." The family also feels uprooting Elian from their home would be disruptive to his well-being, he said. "The family would welcome (the father) to their house and sit down as a family and talk about what Elian has gone through and what he is experiencing and make a determination as a family as to what is best for the child at this moment," he said. ….."

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review 4/1/00 Deroy Murdock "…… Ironically, Bill Clinton's latest female victim is his wife, Hillary. The presumed opponent in her Senate bid, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, unwittingly handed her a juicy campaign issue when he released the sealed juvenile criminal record of Patrick Dorismond, the unarmed 26-year-old who an undercover New York policeman allegedly shot March 16. Even Giuliani's supporters flinched at the unusual (though apparently legal) post-mortem use of Dorismond's files essentially to depict him as a hothead who perhaps contributed to his own demise by scuffling with cops he mistook for drug dealers. Hillary surely salivated at the prospect of bludgeoning Rudy with Dorismond's dossier. Well, it looks like that issue just evaporated. Should Mrs. Clinton use it, Giuliani simply can respond that Mr. Clinton's release of Willey's papers was both unconscionable and declared criminal by a federal judge. Worse yet, for the first lady, she was involved in their disclosure. According to sworn interrogatories released by Judicial Watch, a conservative legal group litigating against the administration, White House aide Sidney Blumenthal ``recalls that he and Mrs. Clinton discussed Ms. Willey's letters to the President, and that the letters were inconsistent with what Ms. Willey had said on `60 Minutes.' Both Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Blumenthal agreed that the letters should be released.'' ….."

AP 4/2/00 Marc Humbert "……Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday opposed congressional action that would allow Elian Gonzalez and his father to gain permanent residency in the United States so they could remain together while the Cuban boy's custody case is resolved in the courts. The position not only put her at odds with her Republican rival for the Senate, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, but with Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore. ``Hillary Clinton knows that we must take politics out of this decision,'' said Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson in a statement. ``Elian's future should be determined as quickly as possible through the appropriate, ongoing legal process ... It is time for Rudy Giuliani to stop turning this young boy into a political football.'' ……"

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette 4/2/00 Andrew Green "…… Neighbors of the man accused of smashing his 19-month-old son's head into an asphalt parking lot Friday had little to say about the man or his family a day later. But the sight of Eugene Hulum swinging his dead son's body at police officers the previous morning left witnesses badly shaken, neighbors said. Hulum, 25, of 6510 Mabelvale Cutoff, Apartment E-12, pled innocent to capital murder in an arraignment Saturday morning. He is being held without bail in the Pulaski County jail. ......"

AP 4/2/00 Tanalee Smith "……French archaeologists have discovered the remains of a 4,000-year-old queen's pyramid south of Cairo, complete with texts of special prayers previously found only with kings. The finding was one of several announced at the Eighth International Congress of Egyptologists, a weeklong conference that ends Monday and has drawn some 1,500 archaeologists to Cairo. ….."

April 19^th Freeper Mommadooo3 and Chuck Baldwin

1529... In Germany, Lutheran leaders in fourteen cities lodged a "protest" demanding freedom of conscience and the right of minorities. The German Lutheran Reformers became known as "Protestants."

1721... Birthday of Roger Sherman, signer of both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

1775.... The shot was fired that was heard round the world. It was the day those colonists drew their line in the sand at Lexington Green and Concord Bridge and America's War for Independence began

1861... Lincoln orders blockade of Confederate ports, beginning the Union side of the War Between the States.

1939... Connecticut finally approves the Bill of Rights.

1943... Warsaw Uprising: A handful of Jews attack the Nazi occupation force in the Warsaw ghetto: "a ragtag, half-starved group of Jews took 10 handguns and made asses out of the Nazis" (Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership)

1993... Waco: The "bad boys" of federal paramilitary troops serve a search warrant with 100 armed agents; the BATF had previously refused an invitation to search peacefully. The Branch Davidians turn out to have fewer arms per capita than the average Texan home. The BATF claimed "we were outgunned," despite having brought helicopter gunships, armored vehicles and fully automatic weapons to the siege. The siege ends in tragedy as the Davidians' rickety home, lit by kerosene lantern with bales of hay at the walls to stop incoming bullets burns to the ground after tanks start punching holes in the walls.

1995... Murrah Building in Oklahoma bombed, purportedly in retaliation for the Waco massacre. 136 people killed; no BATF were on site, however, as they'd taken an unannounced day off.

ABCNEWS.com 4/18/00 Geraldine Sealey "…….Instead of galvanizing anti-government sentiment, the Oklahoma tragedy created a crisis within the movement, scholars and observers say. Militias may train for an armed battle against what they see as a tyrannical government, but many members seem to have been scared off by the nation's worst act of domestic terrorism, which killed 168 people, including 19 children. Although there are no precise statistics, one estimate suggests that militia membership has been cut by half since the April 1995 bombing, when it was about 30,000-strong. And though some say its figures are inflated, the Montgomery, Ala.-based Southern Poverty Law Center estimates that after a 1996 high of 858, Patriot groups declined to 435 in 1998 - 171 of those were militias……… Arthur Jipson, a Miami University of Ohio professor who studies far-right groups, says the bombing set off a period of introspection in both the Patriot movement and the separate but related white supremacy movement………. "

ABCNEWS.com 4/18/00 Geraldine Sealey "…….But Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, a nonprofit center that researches right-wing groups, cautions that while the roots of militia's theories are racist, the two movements should not be confused. If there are more racists in militia groups these days, it is likely because the far right is recruiting more, he says. "This is a struggle between two sectors, the Patriot movement and the far right," he said. "You have to see a dynamic that isn't simple." ………. But some argue that it will take more than a few sit-downs to mend the rift between militia groups and the federal government. Jipson says the FBI should learn from local and state governments that are testing community-policing strategies, for example. "The FBI has to understand there has been real overstepping of boundaries," he said. "I don't think a single meeting where we share cookies is going to do it." ......"

Chicago Sun-Times 4/17/00 Robert Novak "……… Inside-the-Beltway Republican operatives were all atwitter last Wednesday. An announcement was expected that would place a prestigious old GOP hand at the party's national headquarters to save George W. Bush's supposedly fading campaign for president. Would it be Haley Barbour? Or maybe Charlie Black? It was neither. Instead, two Bush loyalists--Fred Meyer, a former Texas state party chairman, and Maria Cino, a veteran Washington-based campaign worker--were assigned to the Republican National Committee. The signal was that the Bush campaign would continue to be run from Austin by people who are rookies in national politics. These Austin-based Bushies have repelled the latest boarding party from Washington manned by the veterans from the disastrous Republican presidential campaigns of 1992 and 1996. Ever since Gov. Bush clinched his nomination two months ago, the old guard has been grumbling that his candidacy--and with him, the whole party--is headed for another shattering defeat unless it quickly receives adult supervision. In truth, however, all objective evidence indicates that it is not Bush but Al Gore who is in trouble. ……"

Chicago Sun-Times 4/17/00 Robert Novak "………Actually, the Austin triumvirate has managed the most effective Republican campaign since Dwight D. Eisenhower's in 1952. In beating off Sen. John McCain's challenge, Bush solidified support from the party's conservative base, which enabled him to reach out to the center. So long as he does not retreat on tax reduction, gun ownership and abortion, he can propose "compassionate" plans for education and health care. ......... "

Washington Post 4/17/00 AP "…….After an outcry from animal-welfare groups, a London tailor that makes clothes for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Charles has dropped plans to sell a coat made from hamster skins. Gieves and Hawkes - a 200-year-old firm best known for its staid pinstripe suits for bankers - announced over the weekend it was scrapping the $4,800 hamster-fur jackets after protests from two groups. The design was part of moves by the company to spice up its image and attract younger customers. ……"

UPI 4/17/00 Michael Kirkland "……..The Supreme Court sent a strong message to anyone traveling in the United States, ruling 7-2 on Monday that personal baggage is fully protected by the Constitution. In what will now be seen as a landmark case out of Texas, a majority the justices said a Border Patrol officer committed an "unreasonable" search when, without a warrant, he squeezed a bus passenger's luggage to find drugs. The vote did not split along ideological lines. ……."

SPECIAL TO MSNBC 4/17/00 David Maraniss "…….I think it is safe to say that no previous president of the United States wanted to be president more, and from an earlier age, than Bill Clinton. When he was in the second grade, his mother started going around the neighborhood in Hot Springs, Arkansas, saying, "My boy, Billy, is going to be president someday." When he was sixteen years old, he went to Washington for the first time as a delegate to Boys Nation and arranged to be in the best position in the Rose Garden to shake John Kennedy's hand….. "

Sunday Herald 4/16/00 "……..THE Pan Am baggage handler who was in charge of loading luggage onto Flight 103 has admitted for the first time that he knew US intelligence agencies used the airline to smuggle drugs and that their covert operation could have been penetrated by terrorists who planted the bomb on board Flight 103. The claims made on the eve of the Lockerbie trial by Roland O'Neill, from Frankfurt, could throw allegations that Libya was behind the bombing into complete disarray. It would also seriously undermine the position of the Scottish prosecution team which is preparing the criminal case against Abdel Basset Ali Mohamed al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. Their trial will begin at Camp Zeist on May 3. …… O'Neill's admissions back up long held suspicions that Palestinian terrorists operating in Germany were behind the bombing. The extremists, it is claimed, penetrated the US drugs operation and swapped a bag containing drugs on the flight bound for America for a bag carrying Semtex. ……."

Washington Post 4/17/00 Mike Allen "…….The founders of the DreamWorks studio - David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg - have raised at least $15 million for Democrats in the past seven years, including $2.8 million collected Saturday night at a Beverly Hills benefit for the Democratic National Committee. "You can only do this for so long," said DreamWorks SKG spokesman Andy Spahn. "The work of raising money is difficult, unpleasant work - you can only ask so many times. We're just going to take a break." ….."

The Dallas Morning News 4/14/00 George Kuempel "……Closing arguments are scheduled Friday in a court case that one lawyer characterized as "a head-on collision" between freedom of the press and individual privacy rights. At issue is a temporary restraining order issued April 5 prohibiting The Associated Press from publishing information it obtained under the Texas Public Information Act about a state-guaranteed loan to a West Texas shrimp farm. David Donaldson of Austin, a lawyer for the wire service, argued Thursday that the order amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint on the press and should be overturned. The lawsuit was brought by Permian Sea Shrimp and Seafood Ltd. of Imperial and the First National Bank of Monahans. They contended that the information received by The Associated Press contained trade secrets and personal financial information that are exempt from public disclosure. ......"

AP/Lansing Bureau 4/14/00 Judy Putnam "…….Couples saying "I do" may soon get to say "I don't" to AIDS counseling. A bill unanimously approved by a House committee Thursday eliminates the 1988 mandate that couples attend a counseling session on AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases before they are married. Couples complained that it was inconvenient, and - at $20 to $85 per couple - costly. The bill instead requires a free educational pamphlet be distributed by county clerks. ……."

CNN 4/15/00 "……..Police are mindful of what happened in Seattle last December during the WTO summit, when protests escalated into violent street riots. Washington officials do not want a repeat performance on Sunday, when as many as 10,000 protesters plan to block streets leading to the World Bank and IMF buildings. "We want people to be able to exercise their rights in a protest. That's not a problem," said Washington Police Chief Charles Ramsey. "We're gonna work with groups. What we're trying to do is avoid what happened in Seattle." The World Bank and IMF were given temporary diplomatic status, allowing the Secret Service to assist the 3,500-member Metropolitan Police Department, which has placed officers on 12-hour shifts. The U.S. Park Police also had a full complement of officers protecting federal park land, including the Ellipse behind the White House, where a major demonstration is planned on Sunday. ……"

Weekly Standard 4/17/00 Christopher Caldwell "…… One of the first news photos of Juan Miguel González arriving at Dulles International Airport to reclaim his son Elián showed him in mid-stride, so you could see the soles of his shoes. They were unmarred by any contact with pavement; they'd obviously been in a box when the plane took off from Havana. Had he bought himself a new pair of shoes for the trip? Unlikely, once you looked at his shirt-collar, which was two inches too big for his neck. Clearly it was the Cuban government that had decided how to present Juan Miguel to the American public, and that should not be surprising. With the collusion of the Clinton administration, they've called the tune of this custody battle since last Thanksgiving, when Elián was found tied to an inner tube three miles off the Florida coast. ……. Mr. González's statements since arriving from Cuba last Thursday to claim custody of his son have been so far removed from reality as to raise the possibility that he is out of his mind. But we pass no judgment on Mr. González's decency or his fitness as a father. We do not underestimate the pressures he is under, political and otherwise. NBC reported last week that Mr. González's mother, who remains in Havana, has been moved to a secure government building for the duration of his trip. We think it likely he is operating under coercion, or at least strong influence. ……"

Newsmax.com 4/14/00 John LeBoutillier "…….We are about to witness an historic standoff. Janet Reno may want to remove little Elian from Uncle Lazaro's house - but the Feds will never get to the house. The Cuban-American community in Miami is practicing something sacred and vital throughout our history: civil disobedience against a government action or law seen as unjust. From the Boston Tea Party to the Civil Rights Marches of the 1960s, it has been our right - and our duty - as American citizens to fight against government actions that are seen as unjust and unrepresentative of the common good. …..Civil disobedience is not violent. It is protest against a violent government action……"

Seattle Times 3/20/00 Alex Tizon "…….. Sometime in the next decade, a chimpanzee will have its day in court, and on that day it will be decided whether chimps are people too. At least this is the goal of an ambitious group of lawyers fighting to dismantle the legal principle that animals are mere property with no fundamental rights. The lawyers call it the Great Ape Legal Project. Its supporters hail from some of the most prestigious universities and law schools in the land. The goal - what many see as the next logical step in the animal-rights movement - is to raise the status of great apes from property to legal persons with rights to life and liberty and perhaps even the pursuit of happiness. Says Joyce Tischler, founder of a national network of animal-rights lawyers: "We're pushing the envelope until we can press a case in which the animal is the plaintiff." ……."

The Associated Press 4/5/00 "….DEMING, N.M. (AP) -- A woman who went looking for her family's missing pet pig says she found it -- as the main course at a neighborhood barbecue. Sadie Emerson said she and her 3-year-old son drove up and down their neighborhood streets March 14, looking for the Vietnamese potbellied pig, Tiny Boo. They spotted a group of people having a party near a mobile home, and on the table was a mound of meat that turned out to be Tiny Boo. Robert Bertola, the mobile home owner, told sheriff's deputies he shot the pig with a rifle after the animal tried to attack him. ..."

Drudge/ AP 4/15/00 "…….Oprah Winfrey may think free speech rocks, but the popular talk show host apparently isn't that fond of her employees speaking their minds when she's the subject. Two years ago, Winfrey proclaimed her support of the First Amendment after she defeated a $12 million lawsuit brought by a group of Texas cattlemen who said she had made false statements that hurt their business. ……. all employees of Chicago-based Harpo, Inc., must sign a contract barring them from talking or writing about Winfrey's personal or business affairs and those of her company -- for the rest of their lives. Elizabeth Coady, a former senior associate producer at Harpo, challenged the confidentiality agreement in Illinois court. She wanted to write a book about the four-and-a-half years she spent working on Winfrey's show before quitting in March 1998. But the Cook County Circuit Court sided with Harpo, as well as the Illinois Court of Appeals, which said the agreement was ``reasonable, enforceable'' and did not prevent Coady from seeking other employment. ......"

www.sciencedaily.com 4/19/00 "........The United States has just experienced the warmest January - March period ever, according to 106 years of record-keeping compiled by NOAA. The latest data also show that June 1999 - March 2000 was the warmest June - March on record. NOAA Administrator D. James Baker and FEMA Director James Lee Witt released the latest figures at an Earth Week news conference in New Orleans, La., which focused on global climate change and links between a warming atmosphere and more severe weather. ......."

Dallas Morning News 4/30/00 AP "……. A diary account claiming that Col. Davy Crockett was captured and executed at the Battle of the Alamo - contrary to Texas folklore - seems to be authentic, one of the state's leading archivists said Saturday. The diary was written by Lt. Col. Jose Enrique de la Peña, who served in Santa Anna's army and fought at the Alamo during Texas' war for independence. The diary's account of Crockett's death states that he and six other defenders were captured and executed shortly after the battle - an account that prompted an indignant response from patriotic Texans after it was first translated in 1975. ….."

People Magazine 3/13/00 "……. Judge Judy gets high ratings - but not from a couple of legal heavy weights. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz and national Judges Association director Harold D. Taylor both blame Judge Judy Sheindlin and her TV imitators for a palable slump in the legal systems stature. "Judge Judy is despicable because she presents the image of a judge as a tyrant." gripes Dershowitz. "Who made her God?" Opines Taylor: "Folks expect the television version when they come before the bench. "I think it harms the justice system". ……"

TheRegister.co.uk 5/1/00 Thomas C. Greene "……. The US Supreme Court has declined to hear objections to a lower-court's dismissal of a lawsuit filed against Prodigy after an impostor sent a threatening e-mail and posted two vulgar bulletin board messages in the name if a fifteen-year-old lad. The Justices denied an appeal filed on behalf of New Yorker and Boy Scout Alexander Lunney, who unsuccessfully sued Prodigy for defamation and negligence over the incidents which occurred in 1994. In addition to two vulgar bulletin board messages posted in Lunney's name, the impostor sent an obscene e-mail message to a local Scout troop leader, the subject of which was "HOW I'M GONNA KILL U." ……"

Enter Stage Right - A Journal of Modern Conservatism 5/1/00 Roger Banks "….. Steven M. Wise's Rattling the cage: Towards legal rights for animals has arrived in stores at a time when the idea of animal rights is slithering its way almost imperceptibly from various fringe groups into a respectable faction. Contributing to the momentum of support is wide-spread confusion about what it would mean for animals to have legal rights. In particular, many who support the movement do not distinguish between the notion of "animal rights," on the one hand, and laws enacted to prevent abuse and cruelty on the other. Some who recognize this distinction have interposed only impassive resistance: having grasped the deep flaws in the case for animal rights, they find it hard to take seriously……."

US Newswire 5/1/00 "……. Presidential Proclamation of Loyalty Day ……. On this first Loyalty Day of the 21st century, all Americans should give thanks that we live in a Nation that inspires such fidelity. And we should remember with pride the loyal patriots who have gone before us, whose character and efforts built America, preserved it in times of peril, and gave life to our founders' dreams. ……. Recognizing the importance of loyalty to the continued strength of our country and success of our democracy, the Congress, by Public Law 85-529, has designated May 1 of each year as "Loyalty Day." NOW, THEREFORE, I, WILLIAM J. CLINTON, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim May 1, 2000, as Loyalty Day. I urge all Americans to recall the valor and selflessness of all those who made this Nation worthy of our love and loyalty and to express our own loyalty through appropriate patriotic programs, ceremonies, and activities. I also call upon Government officials to display the flag of the United States in support of this national observance. ……"

Fox News 4/26/00 Catherine Tsai "…..JonBenet Ramsey's parents no longer are willing to take a lie detector test about her death because their lawyer and Boulder police cannot agree on who would administer the exam. The Ramseys wanted a company not associated with Boulder police to administer the test, but Police Chief Mark Beckner said he wanted the FBI to give it…… Last month, John and Patsy Ramsey told ABC's Barbara Walters on 20/20 they would submit to an exam if the results were publicized, if it were administered independent of the Boulder police and if it were conducted in their new hometown of Atlanta. Ramsey attorney Lin Wood said Beckner's proposal to have the FBI conduct the test was unfair because the FBI helped investigate JonBenet's death. "Anyone familiar with FBI polygraph exams recognizes it is not really a primary tool for determining truth or deception," Wood said Tuesday. "It is designed as an investigative tool that is used to intimidate and interrogate." …."

Yahoo 4/26/00 Reuters "…..A Manhattan judge said on Tuesday she would spare from jail an obstetrician who carved his initials on the belly of a woman whose child he had just delivered, noting the doctor had brain disease. Dr. Allan Zarkin, 61, had been charged with two counts of assault and faced up to 25 years in prison. But in a deal recommended by prosecutors, he was allowed to plead guilty to second degree assault on condition that he be placed on probation for five years and did ``not practice medicine anywhere.'' ……"

USA Today 4/26/00 AP "……A West Texas prison was under lockdown Wednesday in the aftermath of a melee between 300 black and Hispanic inmates, some wielding garden tools. One inmate was killed and 31 were injured……."

4/24/00 NANCY ZUCKERBROD, Associated Press "……A apparent feud between youths erupted into gunfire at the National Zoo Monday evening, leaving six children wounded when caught in the crossfire. A 12-year-old boy was in grave condition, according to witnesses and authorities. Capt. Brian Lee, a spokesman for the District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services, said one boy suffered grave wounds to the head and and the others did not appear to have life-threatening injuries. One girl was in serious condition with a gunshot wound to the chest. A seventh victim suffered a seizure, Lee said. ……Police helicopters hovered over the zoo after the shooting as authorities sought a gunman. The zoo, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution, was playing host to a African-American family celebration day at the time gunfire broke out. ……"

EWTN 5/5/00 "…… The president of the European Commission recently warned governments that by 2025 nearly one-third of the European population will be collecting pensions. Italian Romano Prodi also warned that nearly all pensions will be covered at government expense, paid by European tax payers. Prodi's warning is another in an increasing line of dire predictions relating to the results of population control. After decades of over-population scares and government supported programs for "zero population growth," most European countries are no longer replacing themselves……"

APBnews.com 4/24/00 "…..One shows an image of a slain gay man burning in hell. Another claims the FBI has declared war on white Christians. A third pretends to pay homage to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and then suggests the civil rights leader was a sex fiend, a communist and a "plastic god." …….They are radical, hate-driven Internet sites, and they are increasing rapidly. …..This fall, they also will be the basis for a communications class at Emerson College called Hate.com, which, despite the name, is not connected to any Web site. ……."

APBnews.com 4/24/00 "…..Hilliard says his class will examine how the groups target impressionable youth, how they multiply and how they foment rage. Several students already are enrolled. ……More than 300 extremist Web sites are on the Internet today, ranging from those of neo-Nazi alliances to gay and lesbian haters to Holocaust deniers, according to the watchdog group the Southern Poverty Law Center. In 1998, the group counted 254 such Web sites, up from 163 in 1997. …….. "I think the media is extremely biased against my point of view, and I want to provide an alternative to their news," said Don Black, creator of Stormfront, one of the Web's oldest white nationalist sites. ...... Hilliard and others emphasize that extremist sites are fully protected by the First Amendment and stress they are not calling for their removal. ……"

BBC 5/5/00 "….. Tony Blair's worst fears have been realised with a devastating defeat in the English local elections. Millions of voters delivered their verdict on New Labour just days after the third anniversary of its historic 1997 general election landslide. And the message was clear - Labour is deeply unpopular, suffering its worst performance for around 20 years. Meanwhile the Tories made significant gains, giving William Hague ample ammunition to claim they are on the way back. The local results, will have wide ranging consequences for the prime minister and Labour's future. ……"

Associated Press 5/5/00 "…….Trying to help Al Gore, President Clinton inadvertently promoted the wrong man Friday. Clinton was asked about a videotape that portrayed the National Rifle Association as hankering to operate out of a potential Bush White House. ''I don't know that they think that (NRA Executive Vice President Wayne) LaPierre will literally have an office here if President Bush -- I mean, if Governor Bush -- gets elected,'' Clinton said. ….."

Drudge 5/6/00 "……..Nearly a mile long and 40,000 on board - the first floating city Duncan Campbell in Los Angeles Saturday May 6, 2000 It may sound like something from a science fiction story - a floating city of 40,000 people that will slowly circumnavigate the globe - but the building of what will be the world's largest ship is about to begin. The Freedom Ship's creators say the vessel, whose constuction is due to start in Honduras this summer, will be one of the wonders of the world. The company behind the scheme said reservations for the 20,000 homes on board had begun to accelerate, and there were already plans to build two other floating cities. Freedom Ship will be nearly a mile long (4,320ft), 725ft wide and 340ft tall and will have room for 40,000 people, including a staff of 10,000. There will be a school and university on board, not to mention a landing strip, a hospital, a casino, a shopping mall and 200 acres of open space……. The ship is the brainchild of the project director, Norman Nixon of Engineering Solutions, an engineer from Arkansas who has overseen the construction of chemical plants and office buildings from Saudi Arabia to Texas….."

San Francisco Examiner 5/5/00 Rachel Gordon "…….Shooed away from prospective employers and landlords and unable to sit comfortably in chairs at restaurants and movie theaters, fat people say they face bias every day. Now, San Francisco may join a handful of jurisdictions across the nation to ban discrimination based on weight and height. The Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors on Wednesday approved an ordinance that would add height and weight to the same anti-discrimination codes that provide protections for people based on race, religion, color, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability and place of birth. ……"

USA Today 5/8/00 Martin Kasindorf "…… At least 20 Asian-American heroes of World War II will receive the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest military accolade, in a White House ceremony planned for June 21, USA TODAY has learned…….. Pentagon sources with direct knowledge of the plan say that among the honorees will be Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii. Inouye won a Distinguished Service Cross during the war for destroying two German machine gun nests in Italy. He lost his right arm in battle. The belated tribute caps an effort ordered by Congress and led by the Pentagon to identify Asian-Americans and Pacific Islanders who had won the second-highest medal, the Distinguished Service Cross, and to recommend Medal of Honor upgrades to President Clinton in deserving cases. ……"

Washington Post 5/8/00 John Mintz "…….. Serious crime fell nationwide by 7 percent last year, extending a decline that began eight years ago, the FBI said in preliminary figures released yesterday. Criminologists disagree on the reasons crime plummeted in the 1990s: They variously credit stiffer gun laws, a crackdown on drug sales, swelling prison populations, the aging of onetime youthful offenders and the fizzling of crack cocaine markets that had driven crime statistics skyward in the late 1980s……… "

Washington Post 5/8/00 John Mintz "…….. Combining all the categories of crime collected by the FBI, crime was down 6 percent last year in cities with populations of more than 500,000; 7 percent with 100,000 to 500,000 people; 8 percent with 25,000 to 100,000 people; and 7 percent with populations of fewer than 25,000 people…..."

Contra Costa Times 5/9/00 Carolyn McMillan "……Researchers at the Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek announced Monday they have unraveled the genetic sequence of an antibiotic-resistant "superbug" that is one of the leading causes of hospital-acquired infections. The accomplishment is notable for both its speed -- it took researchers the equivalent of a single day to sequence the microbe's entire strand of DNA -- and for offering scientists an important foundation for developing new vaccines against the potentially lethal infection. The bug, Enterococcus faecium, is the second leading cause of hospital-acquired infection in the United States. The bacterium is commonplace and usually harmless, but among those undergoing cancer treatment or with severely compromised immune systems, it can cause deadly infections in the bloodstream and heart. It became a prime target for genetic researchers because of its incredible propensity to quickly develop resistance to any antibiotic that medical science could throw at it; it has even developed resistance to vancomycin, usually considered the last line of defense against bacterial infections. ……"

The Sydney Morning Herald 5/2/00 David Reardon "…… Suspicious neighbours, prospective girlfriends and general sticky-beaks will be able to check the criminal records of friends and associates under a controversial world-first Internet service. For as little as $6, a Melbourne-based company, CrimeNet, will provide details over the Internet about individuals convicted of a serious crime, from fraud to pedophilia. ….."

Dallas Morning News 5/2/00 Diane Jennings "…… The collapse of the annual bonfire at Texas A&M University Nov. 18 was caused by both structural and organizational problems, according to a report issued Tuesday by a special commission that investigated the accident. Leo Linbeck, a Houston construction company executive who chaired the person commission, attributed the tragedy to "aggressive wedging'' of logs into the first level of the wedding-cake-shaped stack and insufficent cables to hold together the towering, 59-foot structure. Those weaknesses were possible because of an "organizational failure'' of students and university officials, which allowed "a complex and dangerous structure'' to be built, Mr. Linbeck said. The organizational failure, which "had its roots in decisions and actions by both students and university officials over many many years,'' failed to provide "adequate physical and engineering controls,'' Mr. Linbeck said. ….."

MSNBC 5/2/00 "……Scientists have discovered cracks in the ocean floor off the East Coast that they say could trigger a tsunami, sending 18-foot waves toward the mid-Atlantic states. The scientists plan an expedition this weekend to gather more information to better determine the risk to the coast. In this month's issue of the journal Geology, the three researchers say they discovered the cracks along a 25-mile section of the continental shelf off the Virginia and North Carolina coasts...."

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 5/2/00 Wesley Pruden "…….An old hand at devising Democratic strategy showed up at the White House Correspondents Association dinner the other night with sad eyes, a long face and his chin on the floor. "If Rudy doesn't die in a hurry," he said morosely, "Hillary will." Harsh sentiments, but that's the way the pols in New York talk when they're sure nobody is taking notes or running a tape recorder. Nevertheless, Rudy Giuliani isn't likely to die in a hurry, and that's bad news for Hillary Rodham Clinton and all her hangers-on in Gotham, who are hungry for one more crack at the White House feeding trough. The really bad news for Hillary is that the bad news for Rudy includes the good news that if you have to get cancer, prostate cancer is certainly the one to order. Caught early, it's almost always curable, and - continuing the bad news for Hillary - almost everybody knows that. Besides, now there's Viagra………"

National Review Online 5/19/00 Jonah Goldberg "……It's official: Rudy Giuliani is dropping out of the New York Senate race that he was never officially in. For political junkies, this was a race of almost science-fiction proportions, like finding out that Godzilla and King Kong are going to duke it out (which they did in a terrible Japanese film) or finally finding out who's stronger, Superman or the Hulk (which was settled as a tie in an equally terrible comic book). …… But it isn't necessarily a dark day for Republicans. Despite what the polls say, Hillary Clinton will not be the next Senator from the State of New York. Here are some reasons why. …….. Hillary's campaign has spent months - in cahoots with the sweatiest demagogue in politics, Al Sharpton - demonizing Rudy Giuliani. With him gone, Hillary is left without a plan or an enemy. ……. With Rudy out of the picture, the anti-Rudy forces lose their momentum, while the pro-Rudy voters would never switch to Hillary. In recent polls Hillary's numbers remained static against other possible GOP opponents. Don't be surprised if those numbers turn very fluid once a confirmed opponent emerges and people have a real choice. ……"

The Washington Post 5/15/00 Paul Recer "…..More than two decades after a study in rats prompted scientists to link saccharin to human cancer, the federal government is dropping the artificial sweetener from its list of cancer-causing chemicals. Officials at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences said Monday that new studies show "no clear association" between saccharin and human cancer. ….."

Agence France Presse 5/16/00 "……An air traffic control tape recorded just before the crash of EgyptAir Flight 990 was to be released at 11:00 a.m. (1500 GMT) Tuesday at US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) headquarters here. ……. US investigators eventually abandoned the suicide theory. …… Anger erupted in Egypt when leaks from the crash investigation revealed US authorities were giving considerable weight to speculation that an EgyptAir co-pilot had downed the plane in an act of suicide -- and mass homicide. ........."

Reuters 5/15/00 "…….The overall rates of incidence of cancer as well as death from the disease declined between 1990 and 1997 in the US, according to a joint report by scientists from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the American Cancer Society, the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries (NAACCR), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ……. The majority of the top 10 cancer sites showed declines from 1990 to 1997. However, increases were seen for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in women and for melanoma of the skin in both sexes. For women, the overall incidence rate did not change appreciably.. "

Newsday 5/10/00 AP "..TOOELE, Utah (AP) -- A tiny amount of deadly nerve gas leaked from an Army chemical weapons incinerator, but the quantity was not harmful to residents, plant operators said Wednesday. The incinerator at the Tooele Chemical Agent Facility was shut down so a team of experts could investigate the source of the leak, which plant operators said was detected Monday. ….."

Freeer metalbird1 5/10/00 "….For accuracy's sake, a poison, such as curare, is not dissolved in dimethyl sulfoxide [DMSO] for the purpose of stabilizing it [the poison]. DMSO is permeable to the skin and will carry with it directly into the body whatever is dissolved in it. Therefore, it {DMSO} has the ability to turn whatever poison is dissolved in it into a contact poison. ……"

Associated Press 5/12/00 "…….Researchers who are reclassifying millions of records at the National Archives facility here have discovered that some of the documents are radioactive……. Officials say the contamination is limited to a few boxes. The contaminated documents were found in January when a researcher who was reviewing 50-year-old notes about radiation noticed gray dust and an envelope containing what appeared to be metal fragments. …..Tests by the Archive's conservation laboratory identified the substance as uranium. ….."

AP via Michigan Live 5/14/00 "…..The 17-year-old son of U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak died early Sunday, apparently of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said. The body of Bartholomew Stupak Jr. was found shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday at the family's home. The initial investigation indicates the teen-ager shot himself, Menominee police said. "I would hope that the media would respect the need for Congressman Stupak, his wife, Laurie, and their son Ken to have some privacy in this hour of family crisis," said Bob Meissner, spokesman for the four-term Democratic representative. ……"

NY POST 5/14/00 "…….The "Million Mom March" will descend today upon Washington, D.C. and 60 other cities. The idea, say organizers, is to draw attention to the need for more gun-control legislation. The marchers urge Congress to pass bills now under debate, including ones requiring safety locks on weapons and background checks on buyers at gun shows………. Washington Times columnist Tony Blankley last week revealed the march's rather interesting - and overlooked - history. Donna Dees-Thomases of New Jersey, the effort's much-heralded "head mom," is the sister-in-law of Susan Thomases - who just happens to be Hillary Clinton's best friend and closest political adviser. …….And far from being an apolitical suburban mother, Dees-Thomases is a former staff aide to two Democratic U.S. senators and a spokeswoman for Dan Rather. Now, there is nothing wrong with the politically active sister-in-law of Hillary Clinton's best friend getting involved in a gun-control campaign. That's what the American system is about. ………. Yet the first lady has complained of a "vast right-wing conspiracy" out to destroy her husband. Other Clinton defenders screamed about ex-special prosecutor Kenneth Starr's "sinister" links with conservative millionaire Richard Mellon Scaife. ……….."

apbnews.com 5/11/00 Randy Wyles "…..A Gainseville police officer charged with killing a dog that mauled his 10-year-old daughter will face trial on animal cruelty charges. Kenneth Cannon, 31, has been ordered to stand trial in Hall County State Court for animal cruelty, as well as for discharging a weapon within 50 yards of a roadway, according to the Hall County Magistrate's Office. Both charges are misdemeanors, but if convicted, the retired Marine could face up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine. ……"

Chicago Sun-Times - LONDON DAILY TELEGRAPH 5/13/00 Catherine Elsworth "……A new device that makes electronic devices "aware" of their location prevents stolen items from working if they are plugged into a power supply they don't recognize. ……. With the Smart-Electrics system, which British Telecom scientists invented, appliances will be fitted with a memory chip containing a unique serial number and a disabling switch that cannot be bypassed. ……. Every time somebody buys a new appliance, its details and serial number would be sent through a home's power lines to a "home control center." The data then would be sent by telephone line to a remote operations center that could be run by insurance companies. There, the telephone number of the home and the serial number are added to a database. ……"

National Review online 5/31/00 Robert George "…..How not to predict the results of an election. It was the Friday of Memorial Day weekend, so the front page of that Fount of Beltway Wisdom - the Washington Post - might have escaped under the radar: "Is This Any Way to Pick A Winner?" was the title of Robert Kaiser's piece. The gist of it was that, as far as leading political scientists are concerned, this election is over. All those polls showing George W. Bush with various leads over the vice president? Fugeddaboutit!! From mathematical models of presidential elections going back to 1952 (caveat number one), the "experts" tell Kaiser that Gore will win between 53 and 60 percent of the two-party vote (another major caveat, but more on that in a bit). …….This story is interesting on several levels. The immediate conservative reaction is that this is another classic case of liberal media bias. If the Post had the need to run a "political analysis" piece, why not do a story on the fact that Bush has had a lead in almost every single poll since Super Tuesday? Why run a story talking about mathematical models anyway? And people wonder why right-of-center individuals question the "objectivity" of the press. Another question: Why put this non-news story on Page One? Why not stick it in the middle of the "A" section - or better yet, put it in the Style section? Yes, the role of political scientists gives the study a veneer of academic "objectivity" - thus making the case that it should be up front…….. "

yahoo.com 5/27/00 AP "……- Former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda says he never has voted for President Clinton, and he has a good reason. ``My father was a Republican, and his father was a Republican,'' Lasorda said during a break Thursday in the Sons of Italy Foundation dinner at the National Building Museum. ``So someone once asked me, `If your father was a thief, and his father was a thief, would that make you a thief?' I said, `That would make me a Democrat.''' ….."

Boston Globe 5/26/00 Colin Nickerson "…..Perfume is meant to provoke passion, but not the sort stirring this historic seaport. To the horror of perfume makers worldwide, Halifax has become the first major center in North America to prohibit the wearing of all cosmetic fragrances - from Giorgio to grandmother's lavender soap - in most indoor public places, including municipal offices, libraries, hospitals, classrooms, courts, and mass transit buses...."

Boston Globe 5/23/00 Walter Robinson "…..After George W. Bush became governor in 1995, the Houston Air National Guard unit he had served with during the Vietnam War years honored him for his work, noting that he flew an F-102 fighter-interceptor until his discharge in October 1973. And Bush himself, in his 1999 autobiography, ''A Charge to Keep,'' recounts the thrills of his pilot training, which he completed in June 1970. ''I continued flying with my unit for the next several years,'' the governor wrote. But both accounts are contradicted by copies of Bush's military records, obtained by the Globe. In his final 18 months of military service in 1972 and 1973, Bush did not fly at all. And for much of that time, Bush was all but unaccounted for: For a full year, there is no record that he showed up for the periodic drills required of part-time guardsmen. ……"

CNN 5/23/00 Reuters "….. The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would decide the constitutionality of tough new air pollution standards championed by environmentalists for saving lives, but attacked by industry groups as too costly. Acting on an appeal by the Clinton administration, the high court said it would decide whether the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) overstepped its constitutional authority when it adopted the national standards in 1997...."

The Associated Press 5/24/00 "….. Geologists said Wednesday they witnessed the explosive birth of a new island in the Pacific Ocean as an undersea volcano erupted before their eyes. The international team of 12 scientists and 14 crew had just returned from the Solomon Islands, 1,860 miles northeast of Sydney, where they had studied what they thought would be a dormant underwater volcano called Kavachi. Instead, they were treated to a rare show with Kavachi spewing molten ash 150 feet into the air every five minutes of their 20-hour visit. ….."We arrived at the seamount site to find waves breaking on the volcanic peak." ……"

The Associated Press 5/24/00 Lindsey Tanner "……Coffee, a product that makes people jittery, may prevent Parkinson's disease, a degenerative brain disorder that gives people tremors, a study published today suggests. Outside experts said the findings, if confirmed, could lead to ways to treat Parkinson's more effectively or even prevent the disease, which afflicts 1 million Americans. How coffee seems to block the disease is not examined in the federally funded study of 8,004 Japanese-American men in Hawaii. But the researchers said the benefits are probably due to caffeine - apparently the more, the better - and they suggest some theories about how it might work. ……"

ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 5/24/00Elisa Crouch "…… The coordinator for Bill Clinton's presidential library speculated Tuesday that more cities in other states would fight to snag the trophy away from Arkansas now that disbarment proceedings have begun against the president. Although Little Rock officials remain confident that Clinton won't renege on plans to build his library and policy center on the proposed site east of the River Market District, longtime Clinton friend Skip Rutherford sounded less sure. ….."

Newsweek 5/29/00 George Will "…..Last week the Supreme Court, for the second time in six years (each time by a 5-4 vote), rendered a decision that demonstrates the remarkable continuity of America's political arguments. To see the potential importance of what the court did, consider some history. In 1787 the Constitutional Convention produced a charter for a federal government of limited, delegated and enumerated powers-only those powers specifically stipulated. One power enumerated in 1787 is the power to "regulate Commerce... among the several States." ……. Exactly 150 years later, at the height of the New Deal struggle to expand the scope of federal power vastly by saying it is exercised to regulate interstate commerce, the Supreme Court, in what became known as "the constitutional revolution of 1937," got out of the federal government's way. The court essentially said it would no longer scrutinize congressional claims that almost any activity can substantially affect interstate commerce, and therefore Congress can regulate almost anything. The court thereby allowed the federal government to slip one of the leashes that could keep it a limited government. …….. In 1995, for the first time since 1935, the court struck down a law as congressional overreaching with the Commerce Clause. That law made it a crime to have a gun near a school. ……..Now, to last week, when the court partially undid what Congress did in 1994, when it passed the Violence Against Women Act……… The decision was even more portentous than the 1995 decision concerning the 1990 gun law. Congress had made only a perfunctory attempt to establish that guns near schools have a substantial effect on interstate commerce. In contrast, when passing the VAWA Congress held considerable hearings purporting to show how fear of violence would give women inhibitions about traveling, or working at night, and about how much violence against women costs the economy. However, Chief Justice Rehnquist, joined by Justices O'Connor, Scalia, Kennedy and Thomas, dismissed this as not germane: "Gender-motivated crimes of violence are not, in any sense of the phrase, economic activity." ….."

Newsweek 5/29/00 Stuart Taylor Jr. "……A pending bill to make it a federal "hate crime" to commit violent acts motivated by the victim's gender, sexual orientation or disability would (if passed) almost certainly be dead-on-arrival at the Supreme Court if the current 5-4 conservative majority holds. ……. And a cloud of constitutional doubt now hangs over other federal statutes that largely duplicate state criminal laws -including the little-used laws making it a federal crime to possess small quantities of illegal drugs for personal use -and over a few aspects of federal environmental law, such as protection of endangered species that exist only within one state and are of no use as economic assets or tourist attractions. ...,Those are the most likely consequences of the justices' 5-4 vote on May 15 to kill a much-publicized but seldom-used provision of the 1994 Violence Against Women Act, championed by President Clinton and liberal feminist groups.

CBSNEWS.com 5/21/00 AP "…... The American public believes that Mr. Clinton still has the desire to be president, and would run if he could. Given a hypothetical scenario in which there is no 22nd amendment to the Constitution, 66 percent of American adults say that Mr. Clinton would run for office again. They are less sure, however, about his chances for success in such a scenario. Only 32 percent of Americans think he would win another term in office, while 56 percent think he would not. Democrats are divided: 43 percent think he would win, 46 percent think he would not. ......"

New York Times 5/22/00 Adam Nagourney "…..It had become a race about celebrity and personality: Hillary Rodham Clinton attacking Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani as harsh and temperamentally unsuited for a place in the United States Senate, and Mr. Giuliani portraying Mrs. Clinton as opportunistic and untrustworthy, unsuited to represent New Yorkers in Washington. But as Mrs. Clinton and her new opponent, Representative Rick A. Lazio of Suffolk County, set out across New York yesterday, laying out their divergent ideologies and themes, it was clear that the new candidate lineup had prompted the first lady, and to a lesser extent the Republicans, to retool their campaigns. ...... This has become a contest that is slightly less about who the participants are, and slightly more about what they stand for. And it is a development that appears to be welcomed by both sides. ….."

PC MAGAZINE 4/13/00 Bob Sullivan MSNBC "….It could undermine the influence of every search engine and every Web portal. It's the biggest thorn yet in the side of record companies worried about the spread of pirated music on the Net. And it's the easiest way yet to trade pornography, even illegal child porn, over the Internet. For a piece of software that lived for less than 24 hours on its home page, Gnutella has created quite a stir. ...... It's the stuff of classic Internet lore. A team of programmers from inside America Online (NYSE: AOL) released Gnutella on a Web page March 14. The program is at its core a simple way of trading files, including pirated copyrighted material, without requiring participants to connect with any central computer. This means that, unlike its music-swap-meet cousin Napster, it's virtually impossible to stop. …… That was too much for America Online to bear, and barely 24 hours after the site was posted, it was removed. Gnutella, the company said, was an unauthorized project, created by programmers -- led by Winamp creator Justin Frankel -- who came to AOL when the company acquired Nullsoft in June of last year. It disavowed the project and stopped development. ……"

Associated Press 5/19/00 "…….Pioneering environmentalist David Brower has quit the Sierra Club's board of directors, accusing the group of fiddling while the world burns. Brower, 87, one of the century-old environmental group's most charismatic and respected leaders, said Thursday the organization's officials have lost their zeal. ``The world is burning and all I hear from them is the music of violins,'' Brower said. ``The planet is being trashed, but the board has no real sense of urgency. We need to try to save the Earth at least as fast as it's being destroyed.'' ….."

Local News Station 5/19/00 Laurie Patten KY3 News "…..GAINESVILLE, Mo., May 19 - Law officers are on their third day of waiting outside the home of notorious anti-Semitic minister Gordon Winrod. The officers are trying to get six children who were abducted from their fathers to come out of the house. ……. The children range in age from 9 to 16. They are the grandchildren of the Rev. Gordon Winrod. Ozark County sheriff's deputies and Highway Patrol officers arrested Winrod and two of Winrod's grown children, Stephen and Carol Winrod, on Wednesday on child abduction charges. Stephen and Carol Winrod are an aunt and an uncle of the children in the house, which is on a 400-acre farm east of Gainesville. ……."

AP 5/19/00 Shannon McCaffrey "…..Rep. Rick Lazio said Friday he will enter the U.S. Senate race in New York against Hillary Rodham Clinton, now that Rudolph Giuliani has decided against running. ''As a former prosecutor, local legislator and U.S. congressman I believe I am the strongest Republican candidate and the Republican who is best able to unite our party and defeat Hillary Clinton in November,'' Lazio said Friday. ….. Lazio, a moderate from Long Island, abandoned his own Senate bid last year after Gov. George Pataki asked him to step aside in favor of the better known Giuliani. But he had kept his name in circulation as a fallback candidate, sometimes to the dismay of GOP leaders. ……..

White House 5/19/00 Al Gore "…..-Vice President Al Gore today announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture will enroll approximately 2.5 million acres of environmentally sensitive farmland into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The program encourages farmers and ranchers to voluntarily adopt long-term conservation practices. "This is an investment in protecting our environment that will last for years," Vice President Gore said. "The land enrolled will result in cleaner water and create vitally needed habitats for wildlife. The payoff will be in a better, cleaner, environment for all Americans, while providing income stability for hardworking family farmers and ranchers who voluntarily practice good land stewardship."……"

AP 5/19/00 Scott Charton "……Richard A. Gebhardt, whose sound-alike primary challenge to House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt had Democrats in a frustrated frenzy, dropped his candidacy, a state spokesman announced Friday. Gebhardt, 65, filed paperwork Thursday withdrawing from the 3rd District primary and will not appear alongside the veteran congressman on the Aug. 8 primary ballot, said Jim Grebing, spokesman for Secretary of State Bekki Cook. ''I stirred up a lot of wind, didn't I?'' the erstwhile challenger said with a laugh. ..."

Reuters 5/17/00 Maggie Fox "…..The U.S. government is poised to declare firmly that dioxin, a toxin found throughout the food supply, and in the bodies of most people in the world, causes cancer in people, officials said on Wednesday……… Made notorious when it was fingered as the toxic component in Agent Orange -- used to clear forests in the Vietnam war -- dioxin caused the evacuation of the town of Times Beach, Missouri, in 1983 and of the Love Canal site in Niagara Falls, New York in 1978…….."

yahoo.com 5/12/00 Will Weissert AP "….. TODOS SANTOS, Guatemala (AP) - Satan worshippers - a cult from abroad that planned to sacrifice children in the local soccer field - were coming. Almost everyone in this little mountain town was sure of it. So when a sleek bus with tinted windows arrived filled with Japanese tourists - people with pale skin in dark clothing, their faces covered to protect against the sun - villagers thought their nightmare had come true. One Japanese tourist and a bus driver died in the mayhem that followed, victims of a hysteria fueled by rumors and fears of outsiders. ……."

Times Online 5/18/00 Damian Whitworth & Tim Hames "…… PRESIDENT CLINTON is taken with the idea of returning to his alma mater, Oxford University, in a teaching role. In a conversation with The Times he said that he would "like to go back" and was intrigued by the suggestion that an Oxford college might find a role for him. University officials confirmed last night that there was enormous interest in persuading him to spend a spell in Oxford or become a visiting lecturer. ……"

Wall Street Journal 5/15/00 "…….Last Thursday, we woke up to read that people described as "activists" were up in arms because the government was about to list a chemical as a dangerous carcinogen. Pinch us if we're dreaming. Since when did the advocacy community get upset about government waving any chemical into its restrictive embrace? The answer is, since the chemical involved is one that benefits them directly. Welcome to the real world. ….. The controversy is over tamoxifen, the drug that has become the first line of defense against the recurrence of breast cancer as well as a preventative measure for women at high risk. Tamoxifen is considered by many doctors to be among the greatest advances in cancer therapy in 50 years. Today, the government is expected to add it to its official list of carcinogenic chemicals, alongside the likes of mustard gas. ……"

CBSNEWS.com 5/16/00 "……For the sixth time in less that a year, Federal Reserve policymakers boosted interest rates Tuesday and hinted that the economic environment is ripe for rate increases. The announcement came after a closed-door meeting of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee, the officials who set interest rate policies. The Fed said it was increasing its target for the federal funds rate-the interest that banks charge each other on overnight loans-from 6 percent to 6.50 percent, the highest level in nine years. It's the biggest increase in five years……."

ap wire 4/27/00 Will Lester "……Voters would stay more involved in the presidential campaign if candidates hit the trail later and the primaries stayed competitive longer, a new survey suggests. ``It takes a while to bring the public into the process, then suddenly the campaign gets cut out from under them,'' said Thomas Patterson, co-director of the Vanishing Voter project, a yearlong examination of voter engagement in the campaign based on a series of weekly polls. ``Then there's no place for that appetite to go.'' he said. ``We've seen nothing but declining interest and loss of information since Super Tuesday.''….."

Fox news 6/8/00 "…… O.J. Simpson Explodes on Live Television ……. O.J. Simpson went on the attack in an interview on the Fox News Channel Thursday, accusing his dead ex-wife's sister of living off welfare - and his own money - and disputing reports he had ever taken a lie detector test…….. "I think she was afraid you were going to have sex with me," Simpson said after Brown accused him of keeping Nicole and her apart. "You murdered Nicole and you know you did," Brown responded. "You are a pig, you are pathetic." ... Gelb claimed on the air that attorney-client privilege prevented him from discussing the polygraph test, but Simpson claimed he had never met Gelb outside of informal social gatherings. "I never met Mr. Gelb, and I know I never said I was with him," Simpson shouted at Smith. "What you said is all fiction. You are a liar. You gave bogus information to the public." After some more harsh words, Smith apologized and Simpson accepted the apology. The reporter then asked him if he missed his wife. "Yes, I do," Simpson replied. Smith said he didn't sound like someone who was remorseful. "You sound angry," Smith challenged. "I am angry - at you," Simpson fumed. "That's why I don't do these network interviews. They mince what I said." ......"

Fox News 6/7/00 Adam Pasick "……The translucent gel is absorbed within minutes. Rub it into your shoulder or some other part of your body, and it may make you a new man. ...That's the promise of testosterone gel, recently approved by the Food and Drug Administration, to treat men who have abnormally low levels of the hormone - a condition known as hypogonadism. Low testosterone can cause fatigue, a stagnant libido and the loss of muscle mass, among other problems. …… Doctors would be wise to start off with low doses, especially since prescribing the drug to "somebody with aggressive behavior, you could tip them off," Demers said. "They could get themselves into trouble," he added. "Testosterone is an extremely potent hormone." ….."

Reuters 6/4/00 "…..Delancey Estates Plc , the British property group backed by financier George Soros, is considering taking itself private because of the poor stock market valuation of the sector, the Observer newspaper reported on Sunday. The company is currently trading at a discount to net asset value of nearly 30 percent, which has prompted Chief Executive Jamie Ritblat to consider leaving the stock market, the paper said. Two other British property groups announced last week they would be leaving the stock market because of the sector's lowly ratings. ……."

Fox News 6/2/00 "…… Drought-stricken peasant farmers tending their fields in southern Ethiopia got a nasty shock when the heavens opened and they were pelted by fish, a local newspaper reported Wednesday. "The unusual rain of fish which dropped in millions from the air - some dead and others still struggling - created panic among the mostly religious farmers," the weekly Amharic newspaper said. Saloto Sodoro, a fish expert in the region, attributed the phenomenon to heavy storms in the Indian Ocean which swept up the fish before shedding them on the unsuspecting farmers. ......"

Washington Post 6/3/00 Justin Gillis "….Here is the plan: IBM scientists intend to spend five years building the fastest computer in the world, 500 times faster than anything in existence today. It will suck down every spare watt of electricity and throw off so much heat that engineers have bought a gas turbine the size of a jet engine to cool it. The machine, dubbed Blue Gene, will be turned loose on a single problem. The computer will try to model the way a human protein folds into a particular shape that gives it unique biological properties. Obscure as it may sound, that kind of puzzle is at the heart of mankind's efforts to understand the nature of consciousness, the origins of sex, the causes of disease and many other mysteries......."

Fox News 6/2/00 "…….You might want to think twice about blaming shortness of breath this summer on allergies and pollen count, especially if you spend time in a hot tub or an indoor pool. According to new research, hot tub bubbles can be laden with bacteria if the tub is not properly cleaned and drained - and breathing in the soothing mist that steams up from the popping bubbles can cause serious respiratory disease. ……..In ground breaking studies at the Jewish Lung Center in Denver, Colo., Dr. Cecile Rose has determined that breathing in aerosols from indoor hot tubs and indoor swimming pools can cause lung inflammation. ......"

ABCNEWS.com 6/1/00 "…..Former prosecutor John Gallo says law enforcement stumbled over what became "the most successful political corruption case in Chicago's history." The key to the investigation, dubbed "Operation Silver Shovel," was an ex-con named John Christopher. Back in 1991, the FBI asked him how he was able to illegally dump debris from construction sites in locations around the city. Christopher's simple answer - he'd been bribing city officials. Christopher, who had just come out of prison, accepted the government's offer to become an informant and catch city officials taking bribes - on camera. Using the alias Johnny DeVito, Christopher got to 18 Chicago officials who were eventually charged with bribery, racketeering, extortion and fraud. After almost three and half years of the undercover sting, federal law enforcement officers launched what they called "Take-Down Day," confronting all the politicians they caught.... Among the politicians who were nabbed were Thomas Fuller, president of the Chicago Water District, who oversaw a yearly budget of $750 million and who agreed to do business with Christopher. City councilman Jesse Evans also pocketed over $7,000 in cash, after agreeing to get city sweepers to clean a private construction site. Political consultant James Blassingame - the man who ran Bill Clinton's 1992 Indiana campaign - had a different arrangement. He accepted payment to bring in other corrupt politicians. And the politician known as Chicago's "Mr Clean," Larry Bloom, took in $14,000 in bogus campaign contributions - using the name of dead people as donors. ……"

The Washington Post 6/5/00 Steve Schulin "…..The Pentagon cut the U.S. troop death toll in the 1950-53 Korean War from 54,246 to 36,940 after realizing that a bureaucrat mistakenly added all noncombat deaths worldwide to the toll of combat deaths in Korea, inflating the death toll by 17,306 for about a half century, Time reported. ….."

Reuters 6/4/00 "…… Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Sunday renewed a call for Republican presidential candidate George Bush to meet with top Pentagon officials for a briefing on nuclear weapons policy and also invited him to meet with her. But a senior Bush adviser rebuffed the invitation, calling it a political move and saying such meetings could wait until the traditional time for such briefings, after the party conventions in July and August. The offer to Bush for a briefing was first made a week ago on a television talk show by Defense Secretary William Cohen. ..."

AP Breaking via MyRightStart.com 6/14/00 Randolph Schmid "……New findings from the flight data recorder of EgyptAir Flight 990 cast doubt on the theory that the crash, which killed all 217 aboard, was caused deliberately by a suicidal pilot, according to Aviation Week magazine. An article on the magazine's Internet site, AviationNow.com, says the new data is included in the accident's docket, a set of detailed reports prepared on every aspect of a crash. It is part of the public record and the docket on the EgyptAir case is expected to be released by the end of July. The National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating the crash and preparing the docket, has not reached any official conclusion about the cause of the disaster. NTSB officials declined to comment on the magazine report. ….."

Fort Worth Star Telegram 6/15/00 Mark Babineck "……Texas Attorney General John Cornyn issued a sharply worded defense Wednesday of next week's scheduled execution of Gary Graham, saying the Houston man's 1981 crime spree "forever will haunt the memories of Texans." The execution, set for June 22, is receiving intense focus because Graham has maintained for 19 years that he did not shoot Bobby Lambert during a robbery outside of a north Houston supermarket. …… Graham, who now goes by the name Shaka Sankofa to reflect his African heritage, and his supporters maintain that key witnesses who could clear him never have been heard by the courts. ………However, appeals courts have ruled that those witnesses were not credible and the single eyewitness who put him at the scene has stood by her account. She scheduled a news conference for Thursday to discuss the case. ……… Cornyn noted that Graham confessed to robbing 13 people during nine attacks between from May 14 to May 20, 1981, using either a pistol or a sawed-off shotgun in each crime. Two victims were beaten, one shot in the neck, and another hit with the vehicle Graham was stealing from him. "The only crime for which he claims to be falsely convicted is the murder of Bobby Lambert," Cornyn said. ......"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/14/00 Bill Sammon "…Liberals are trying to make capital punishment a campaign issue against Texas Gov. George W. Bush, but Vice President Al Gore appears loath to join the attack for fear of appearing soft on crime. In recent days, a flurry of studies by journalists and academics has pointed out that many death sentences are overturned because of errors by police, prosecutors and defense lawyers. The authors invariably focus on Texas as the state that executes the most convicts, prompting criticism that Mr. Bush is not sufficiently sensitive to the plight of prisoners……. But with two-thirds of Americans supporting the death penalty, the issue could backfire by actually increasing support for Mr. Bush. Although the studies expose flaws in the legal system, they fail to cite any case in which the Texas governor has presided over the death of an innocent person……."

CNN 6/13/00 "……Although they are considered the greatest draw to the "Greatest Show on Earth," pending legislation on Capitol Hill could very well ban elephants from circuses and outlaw elephant rides across the United States. A collection of animal-rights activists, circus trainers, celebrities and elephant experts convened in Washington on Tuesday as members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime heard testimony on the "Captive Elephant Accident Prevention Act." The bill, sponsored by Rep. Sam Farr (D-California), would outlaw the use of elephants in traveling shows or circuses, and for the purpose of offering elephant rides. Offenders would face stiff federal fines and up to one year in jail. ….."

TBO.com 6/16/00 Garry Mitchell AP "……In a state with a rich history of rumormongers and political dirty tricksters, a lawyer aligned with the Democrats is on trial on charges he paid a call girl to accuse the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of rape. The case that began this week against lawyer Garve Ivey has reheated political animosities over the election of Lt. Gov. Steve Windom - Alabama's first GOP lieutenant governor this century - while bringing to light sordid allegations of sex and lies. Ivey and private investigator Wes Chappell are charged with criminal defamation, bribery and witness-tampering in a scheme to pay former prostitute Melissa Myers Bush to make false claims against Windom and destroy his 1998 campaign. The alleged scheme failed, and the call girl recanted. ……"

Associated Press 6/15/00 "……Defense and aerospace group Saab AB said Thursday it is selling its Bofors Weapon Systems division for an undisclosed amount to United Defense Industries, a U.S. weapons maker. The deal gives United Defense, which is based in Arlington, Va., a foothold in Europe and create ''more possibilities to establish a world-leading position within advanced weapons technology for land and marine applications,'' the companies said. The sale is subject to approval from Swedish and U.S. government officials. United Defense said it plans to keep Bofors as a Swedish corporation with headquarters in Karlskoga, 120 miles west of Stockholm. ….."

Amazon.com 6/15/00 Harry Stein "……Conservatives aren't born--they evolve. And for Wall Street Journal ethics columnist Harry Stein--once vilified in The Village Voice as "a well-known asshole"--that evolution began with the birth of his daughter. But Stein's memoir on transforming from bleeding-heart liberal to someone who gets junk mail from Patrick Buchanan isn't a sappy tale of fatherhood; it's a witty, intelligent account of how one man began to think for himself. "I remember when I was called a fascist for the first time," Stein writes about a dinner conversation in which he sided with Dan Quayle over the Murphy Brown/single-motherhood controversy. ……..Rush Limbaugh likes to say that a conservative is a liberal who got mugged by reality. Stein is a perfect example of the type. As a student during the Vietnam-Watergate era, he demonstrated and agitated, and as a young journalist, he dug dirt and suppressed good news on Republicans. And why not? His side--the Left, liberalism--was that of virtue and truth. Well, he grew older, married, became a father, bought a suburban home--all the while pursuing a career with plenty of access to celebrities.... From the Back Cover ……How to tell if you've joined the vast right-wing conspiracy:
You hear someone talking about "morality" and you no longer instantly assume he must be a sexually repressed religious nut.
You're actually relieved that your daughter plays with dolls and your son plays with guns.
You sit all the way through Dead Man Walking and at the end still want the guy to be executed.
Christmas season rolls around and it hits you there may be a religious connection
At your kids' back-to-school night, you are... read more….."

AP 6/15/00 "……All the phones at the State Department were knocked out Thursday night, including lines into key offices like the 24-hour operations center. ….. Shortly before midnight Thursday, the department's 24-hour emergency hot line for Americans traveling overseas was working sporadically. Severe thunderstorms were moving through the region Thursday night, causing power outages for thousands of people, but it was unknown whether they were responsible for the State Department phone failure. …… Wednesday, a fire, apparently caused by an electrical short, knocked out phone service in parts of the State Department and forced workers on two floors to evacuate the building after they locked up classified material. Much of the disrupted phone service was restored by Thursday afternoon. ….."

NY POST 6/14/00 Neal Travis "…..PERHAPS Hillary Rodham Clinton should have had her ear closer to the ground during her "listening tour" as she prepared to enter the New York Senate race. If she had, she might have known the identity of the distinguished gentleman who introduced her to the crowd at a function yesterday - and would have avoided him like the plague. That's because he's Carll Tucker, a close in-law of Monica Lewinsky, the White House intern who brought President Clinton to his knees, so to speak. Yesterday, Tucker was wearing his other hat, as chairman of the Northern Westchester Hospital Center in Mount Kisco, as he stood beside his new neighbor. …… I was tipped off about the situation Monday, but my sources said if I wrote about it in advance of the function, Hillary's out-of-state people would have realized the potential embarrassment to which she was exposing herself, and surely would have canceled the appearance and had her campaign elsewhere. ……."

ABCNEWS 6/12/00 Geraldine Sealey "…..In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that people cannot sue health maintenance organizations under federal law for giving doctors bonuses to reduce costs. The case from Illinois was the first Supreme Court challenge to the managed-care industry. ….."

Freeper Uncle Bill Sudden Death Syndrome - II thread "….

What is a rough estimate of the probability that Bill Clinton, since Jan 1984 (15 years), is a co-conspirator in the murders of the 60 persons on a list known to many as the "Clinton Body Count"?

Some have suggested that the suicides and accidents of witnesses, investigators and Clinton's circle of friends and associates were not actually suicides or accidents, but murder. Now if the deaths are average or close to it, then there is no statistical evidence to support this suggestion, nor even that the murders were anything other than coincidental either.

I attempted to figure this out.

WHAT IS THE TOTAL DEATHS PER 100,000 PER YEAR? ANS: 41
The total number of deaths from murder, suicide and accidents is about 41 per 100,000 population per year.

Sources:
Murder(9):http://www.getsafe.com/fbi/ucrpress.html#murder
Accidents, excluding car accidents (19): http://calyx.com/~schaffer/LIBRARY/miscstat.html
Suicides (13): http://www.afsp.org/suicide/facts.html

Even though the total is 41 per 100,000, I will use the number 50 as a more conservative number and to compensate for any error due to variance from year to year. I have excluded car accidents, since they are very difficult to use as a "murder weapon", since the driver of a "murderer's" car stands a good chance of dying too and a good chance of not even being successful at the attempt. Plus this is not a method of murder listed as measurable in any crime statistics. However, other kinds of accidents and most suicides are relatively easy to "stage", and are frequently reported as murder methods by the police.

HOW MANY PEOPLE FROM 1984 TO 1999 ARE IN BILL CLINTON'S "GROUP"?

This is a difficult question. It is desirable to include as large a number as is reasonable, to include all subpoenaed witnesses against Bill/Hillary Clinton, all government and news/press investigators, personal friends and associates and subordinates to the point they could possibly have damaging evidence against Bill Clinton or testify against him as a witness. In otherwords, if Clinton or a crony of his targeted someone for murder, who would be the people likely to be "targets" in his "group"?

Simple estimates yield, 200 investigators, 500 witnesses, 1000 White House Staff persons, 300 Arkansas Governor's staff, 300 personal friends, 100 close family members, 100 lawyer associates, 1200 Cabinet members and their close staff and assistants, 1000 lawmakers, 1000 FBI agents, 300 Arkansas State Troopers, 1000 close campaign workers, 100 Secret Service. This "generous" list equals 8100.

However, the group was not 8100 in 1984, but has ramped up between then and now. The average then is 4050.

WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT 60 DEATHS ARE NOT COINCIDENTAL, BUT COULD BE DELIBERATELY "CAUSED" BY CLINTON OR ONE OF HIS CRONIES?

The answer is solved, according to a friend of mine who knows statistics, by using the Poison Probability Distribution which assumes the events are independent and randomly distributed.

Here are probabilities for 10-50, increments of 5, based on the Poison Probability Distribution and assuming 4000 in his "group".

Number % chance approximate odds
------ -------- ----------------
10 99% 1:1
15 89% 1:1
20 53% 2:1
25 15% 6:1
30 2% 50:1
35 .15% 667:1
40 .0053% 19,000:1
45 .0001% 1,000,000:1
50 .000001% 100,000,000:1
55 .00000001% 10,000,000,000:1
60 .00000000005% 2,000,000,000,000:1

Freeper Abundy 6/7/00 "…..Since you probably don't know squat about police procedures, I'll elaborate lest you brand me a nut. It is standard police procedure to look for a common denominator between seemingly independant incidents. That is plain logic……The rest of the posters have already provided the links, and if you are intellectually capable of honest, logical thought you will see that the links among the deaths are to close to (or directly related to) Clinton to be ignored……….That statement in no way says "Bill Clinton had these people killed." It says that the relationships bear investigation - something which has not been fully completed due to other deaths (Danny Casalaro), government interference (Mena), etc..……….For all the information check out the DSL on the body count - and don't forget to include all the tainted blood deaths that will occur in Canada. ……"

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 6/13/00 Jennifer Harper "….Heavens, don't call her a lady. And forget about "gentleman," "history," "chairman," "manmade," "Mrs.," "normal couple" and "postman" - along with 32 other terms. They have all been deemed "unacceptable language" by the exquisitely sensitive folks at Stockport College in northwestern England and banned from the campus. College officials issued a set of guidelines called "Equal Opportunities: Policy into Practice" last week to some 15,000 students and employees…….Anyone caught using such offensive blasphemies could be denied admission or employment at the college, which offers vocational classes in business, tourism, child care and something called "complementary therapies, hairdressing and floristry."……"

Chicago Tribune 6/13/00 William Mullen "…….Neanderthals, the heavy-browed cavemen who once populated Europe and then disappeared with the rise and spread of modern humans, apparently lived on 100 percent meat diets, only rarely biting into fruits, vegetables or nuts. Chemical trace analysis performed by a group of anthropologists on the 28,000-year-old bones of two Neanderthals found in a Croatian cave, shows the two were strict carnivores. And that, according to an article published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, means Neanderthals likely were not the plodding, club-swinging dimwits of popular image but highly organized, skillful hunters. …….Trace elements studied in the bones of the Croatian Neanderthals showed they ate only animal flesh. Similar analysis of lions and wolves who lived in the same area at that time indicated Neanderthals were hunting and eating the same animals they did. "With a diet dominated by animal protein, the Neanderthals must have been effective predators. This implies a much higher degree of social organization and behavioral complexity than is frequently attributed to Neanderthals," said Erik Trinkaus, an anthropologist at Washington University in St. Louis. He and Smith were on the bone analysis team that also included scientists from Oxford University and Croatia. ……"

Associated Press 6/10/00 Jim Fitzgerald "…… The discovery of three crows found dead of the West Nile virus in New York and New Jersey has dashed any hopes that the mosquito-borne virus may have died out over the winter. "It is certainly a disappointment when a public health threat rears its head, but on the other hand we knew it was a very obvious possibility, perhaps even a probability,'' said Kristine Smith, a spokeswoman for the New York Health Department...."

AP Wires 6/9/00 "……A death row inmate attacked a 78-year-old volunteer chaplain Friday, nearly severing the minister's right arm, authorities said. William Paul Westbrook was doing volunteer ministry on death row when he was attacked by Juan Soria, 33, who is facing execution next month for a 1985 robbery-slaying in Fort Worth, Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Larry Fitzgerald said. "The inmate pulled the chaplain's arm into the cell, tied a sheet around the arm and pulled the arm into the cell up to the elbow," Fitzgerald said. "Then he took out two razor blades and started cutting." …….."

United Press International 6/9/00 Michael Kirkland "…….The latest Justice Department review of allegations surrounding the 1968 King assassination, released Friday, finds no evidence of a larger conspiracy and concludes James Earl Ray was not framed as the assassin. The preliminary findings of the review were exclusively reported by United Press International last year. The final draft of the report has been in the Justice Department for months, waiting for final approval before being released. Members of the King family, particularly King's widow, Corretta Scott King, requested the extensive review because of what they called "new evidence" surfacing decades years after the assassination. ……"

AP via Washington Post 6/8/00 Paul Recer "…..AIDS evolved from a benign simian infection into a human-killer in the early 1930s, long before it was recognized as a disease, but it stayed in remote Africa until jet travel, big cities and the sexual revolution spread it worldwide, a new study suggests. Researchers measuring the rate of genetic change in HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, found the current strains originated from a common ancestor that first evolved from a simian virus in southwest Africa between 1915 and 1941, with 1931 the most likely year. "It could have been in humans even before that," said Tanmoy Bhattachary, a researcher at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, N.M. The study appears Friday in the journal Science. Bhattachary said the most common form of HIV worldwide evolved from simian immunodeficiency virus, or SIV, that was in the chimpanzee. SIV genetically converted to HIV either while it was in the chimp or after a human contracted SIV. ……"

InSIGHT Magazine 7/3/00 J Michael Waller "…… Democratic political flacks James Carville and Stanley Greenberg are working as consultants for a Mexican presidential candidate with ties to narcotraffickers. The world's longest-reigning political party, which has ruled Mexico for seven corrupt decades and faces the specter of its first-ever defeat in the July 2 presidential elections, is depending on a bizarre coalition of forces to get its man in office. Those forces, Mexican political observers are saying, include some of the country's most powerful narco-oligarchs and political enforcers. And operating out of a war room in a glitzy Mexico City hotel, an imported team of U.S. campaign consultants - including longtime Clinton strategist James Carville, Democratic pollster Stanley Greenberg and the daughter of Gore campaign chief Tony Coelho - are working feverishly to persuade Mexicans to elect Francisco Labastida president. ……."

Natural Living Journal 7/00 "……. Living in filth, long considered in modern times to be detrimental to public health, actually helps humans live longer and healther according to a shocking new study to be published in the July 2000 issue of the journal Natural Living. Researchers from Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology produced extensive data supporting these sure to be controversial conclusions from a thorough and comprehensive survey of over 1,500 families throughout the Los Angeles County area. "We have conclusively proven that cleanliness and health do not necessarily go hand in hand," says Jenny Hobson, a senior scientis with the Stanford center and lead author of the Natural Living study. ……"In fact," continues Hobson, "There may actually be a link between unsanitary conditions and an improved immunity system in the human body. Our research has shown that the less sanitary the living environment, the less likely one is to come down with virtually any given disease." ……."

Drudge Report - Marketwatch/ News Alert 6/00 "….Veteran editor and columnist John O'Sullivan has been named editor in chief of United Press International, UPI Chief Executive Officer Arnaud de Borchgrave announced Sunday. For the past two years, O'Sullivan, 58, has been editorial consultant to Hollinger International Inc., which publishes the National Post in Canada, the Chicago Sun- Times, the Daily Telegraph in Britain and the Jerusalem Post in Israel. His previous posts have included associate editor and columnist for the London Times, editorial page editor of the New York Post, and assistant editor and political columnist for the London Daily Telegraph. O'Sullivan was editor of the magazine National Review from 1988-1997, and was special adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher from 1987-1988. ….."

Cox News Service 6/11/00 Stephen Kiehl "……Eighty-five feet down into the cold, dark water of this secluded gulf coast spring, scientists hope to find the oldest human remains ever unearthed in the Western Hemisphere. Like a prehistoric time capsule, the 220-foot deep Little Salt Spring has almost perfectly preserved evidence of Florida's first people -- and the other animals they shared this land with thousands of years ago. …….. This week, for the first time, the UM researchers plan to go into an underwater cave 85 feet below the surface. They hope the cave holds prehistoric human remains from when the first people, called Paleo-Indians by scientists, entered Florida……."

Associated Press 6/7/00 "…..A man who threatened to blow up President Clinton and placed phony pipe bombs near the Eugene Airport before a presidential visit has been sentenced to 13 years in prison. Jeffrey Loring Pickering, 51, pleaded guilty to making bomb threats by telephone, lying to investigators and placing two fake bombs in a roadside culvert. The president's June 13, 1998, trip was not disrupted. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken. ……"

Newsday.com 6/7/00 Joel Stashenko "……Criminals who select victims on the basis of their age, gender, sexual orientation would face heightened penalties in New York under a bill approved Wednesday by the state Senate. Abandoning their longstanding opposition to the so-called hate crimes bill, Senate Republicans allowed the chamber to vote on a measure proposed by Gov. George Pataki. It passed, 48-12. The bill would boost penalties for more than 50 kinds of crimes if it can be proven that an offender acted with bias against some personal characteristic of a victim when committing the crime. Those characteristics include a victim's age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, race, disability and country of origin. ….."

CNSNews.com 6/6/00 Perry Smith "……. Most conservatives get annoyed when celebrities seek influence in the political arena. This, of course, follows from the fact that most celebrities are liberals. But the truth of the matter is that celebrities have as much right as anyone else to engage in politicking. The real problem with political-celebrities is the public's willingness to allow what is said to escape critical analysis. Somehow, if Rosie O'Donnell says it, it is not subject to the same skepticism and analysis that we would apply to statements at the dinner table. ......Rosie told National Review that when she announced to the world that she was a Democrat, she was concerned that she would receive a negative response from Republican viewers, until this thought dawned on her: "What Republicans are watching daytime television? They're too busy trying to make more money than everybody else." So what do we learn about Rosie from this statement? That she is willing to stereotype those with whom she disagrees, and that she has a problem with people who work rather than watch daytime television....... Following the Columbine tragedy, Rosie exclaimed, "Outlaw all guns, and put all gun owners in jail!" This statement shows us that Rosie has no regard for the Constitution, is incapable of understanding the legal utility of guns, and wants her own body guard in jail (the one who recently applied for a concealed weapons permit)………"

CNN(AP) 6/6/00 "…….Four days into what she was told would be a six-hour trip, Yolanda Gonzalez lay dead of dehydration in the Arizona desert, a victim of a searing sun, 110-degree heat and her determination to save her daughter. The 19-year-old mother from Oaxaca, Mexico, had given nearly all the water she carried to her 18-month-old daughter. Only a few ounces remained in the toddler's bottle when Border Patrol searchers reached them on Memorial Day. The youngster was rescued...."

DVM Magazine 6/00 Lynne Brakeman "…… New Brunswick, N.J.---In a judicial about face, Dr. Howard Baker, who had been convicted and stripped of his veterinary license for animal cruelty charges brought against him by a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) operative working undercover in his office, has been exonerated of all charges. On April 14, a New Jersey state Superior Court overturned Baker's July 1999 animal cruelty conviction and later that same month, the New Jersey Board of Veterinary Examiners (NJBVME) reinstated his veterinary license. The board had taken his license in August 1999 without conducting its own investigation. ……"

CNN 6/7/00 Ian Christopher McCaleb "……Some Democratic lawmakers situated in Washington -- most specifically current Vice President and presidential aspirant Al Gore -- shouldn't expect too much in the way of campaign contributions from Microsoft, following Wednesday's federal court ruling that the company be split into two separate entities. Microsoft officials, including company co-founder and Chairman Bill Gates, are none too pleased with the administration of President Bill Clinton and Vice President Gore, which they hold at least partly responsible for the judge's final ruling. In April, Gates told a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Conference that the company believed a different administration would likely have treated Microsoft more favorably than did the Clinton-Gore Administration. ……."

NewsMax.com 6/8/00 "…… With the Microsoft monopoly case almost behind them, Justice Department trust busters are setting their sights on their next target: Visa/MasterCard. The Justice Department and the owners of the Visa and MasterCard companies will square off Monday in Manhattan's federal courthouse in the first rounds of a knock-down-and-drag-out battle between the government and the banks that run both credit card giants...."

Media Research center 6/8/00 Brent Baker "…… Hillary Clinton has a "huge" fan in actress Christine Lahti, star of Lifetime's TV adaption of feminist Wendy Wasserstein's play, An American Daughter, about a woman who is treated unfairly by the political process because of her gender. In an appearance on HBO's Dennis Miller Live last Friday to plug the movie, Lahti, probably best known for her role until recently as a doctor on CBS's Chicago Hope, proclaimed of Hillary: "I really think she is genuinely concerned and thoughtful and compassionate about all people, and I think she's a true, earnest public servant."…….
Dennis Miller: "Now, what about if we do [elect a woman President], I guess the person most people think will be, or could be the first woman president is Hillary."
Christine Lahti: "Yeah."
Miller: "Now, I gather from, I think I've heard you -- you're a big Hillary fan?"
Lahti: "Huge. Huge. Yeah.".........
Miller: "No see, I'm so, uh, I'm so amazed because you seem like such a bright, together woman. And, I-"
Lahti: "What's up, what's up with this sentence? Come on."
Miller: "Is there not any part of you, and I don't mean this to be, any part of you that looks at her and thinks, 'Craven careerist. Never really led a regular life. Does not know the pain of the regular people. Got into a bureaucratic system early on. Probably hasn't bought her own dinner since the Grenoble Olympics.' I mean, is there any part of you that sees that about her? Because I try to keep an open mind about Hillary Clinton, but I often see her talking to these women about, 'I know you story,' and I think, well, have you read Peggy Noonan's velvet vivisection of Hillary Clinton?"
Lahti: "No."……."

London Telegraph 6/24/00 Mary Fagan "….. SHEIKH YAMANI, the former Saudi oil minister, has told The Telegraph that he expects a cataclysmic crash in the price of oil in the next five years. In an unprecedented personal interview, Sheikh Yamani also predicts that, within a few decades, vast reserves of oil will lie unwanted and the "oil age" will come to an end. …….. Sheikh Yamani, who was Saudi Arabia's oil minister from 1962 to 1986 and is now in charge of an energy consultancy, became the public face of the revolutionary oil policy that altered the balance of world power in the early Seventies. ….. He predicts that a combination of recent oil discoveries, the advance of new technology, and heavy investment in exploration and production will all lead to a collapse in the price of crude. He says: "I have no illusion - I am positive there will be some time in the future a crash in the price of oil. I can tell you with a degree of confidence that after five years there will be a sharp drop in the price of oil." ……Fuel-cell motor technology - which can produce electricity by combining hydrogen from a variety of fuels with oxygen from the air - will have a dramatic impact on the oil market, he predicts. "This is coming before the end of the decade and will cut gasoline consumption by almost 100 per cent. Imagine a country like the United States, the largest consuming nation, where more than 50 per cent of their consumption is gasoline. If you eliminate that, what will happen?" Saudi Arabia, he says, "will have serious economic difficulties". ……"

Reuters 6/23/00 Maggie Fox "…..The announcement, expected Monday, that two separate teams have put together a rough map of the human genome is just the start of a long road that will eventually transform medicine, scientists say. Both the Human Genome Project, a publicly funded international effort, and Celera Genomics, are expected to announce that they have completed the first big step toward- unraveling the human genetic code by sequencing and assembling the DNA that makes up the genes. ……The announcement, which sources say will be made on Monday at the White House, sounds like a huge accomplishment. "This is it. This is the book of life," Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), told reporters recently. Banks of machines at Celera, based in Rockville, Maryland, at the nearby Institute of Genomic Research, at the Whitehead Institute at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and at the Sanger Center in Cambridge, England, have been working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to crank out the series of A, T, C and G that spell out the human genetic code. ……… But scientists stress that having this code is only a beginning. "This is a race to the starting line," Craig Venter, co-founder and president of Celera said. The real work will come in the next years and decades, as powerful computers labor to figure out where in the miles and miles of As, Cs, Ts and Gs the genes are. Only about three percent of these base pairs, which are repeated over and over again in different order, represent genes that code for the proteins that make up everything in the body. ……"

CNSNews.com 6/23/00 Charles Colson ".....When 17 year-old Gary Falkenham put on some Aqua Velva deodorant before school, to keep himself fresh, he had no idea he would run afoul of the law. But Gary lives in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There, deodorant is cause for suspension and a call to mom from the police station. You might think that NOT wearing deodorant would be cause for arresting teenagers, but Halifax recently passed a new law banning cosmetic fragrances.Well, to put it bluntly: that stinks.This case merely highlights the absurdity of using law to deal with all matters of social conduct...."

AP 6/22/00 "……Gary Graham, subject of the most contentious Texas death penalty case since Gov. George W. Bush began running for president, was executed Thursday night for a 1981 murder he said he did not commit. Graham, 36, received a lethal injection for the killing of a man in a holdup outside a Houston supermarket. …..Graham, who had vowed to ``fight like hell'' on the trip to the death chamber, appeared to have put up a struggle. He was strapped to the gurney around his wrists and across his head - more restraints than are normally used in Texas executions. ……He made a long, defiant final statement in which he reasserted his innocence and said he was being lynched. ``I die fighting for what I believed in,'' Graham said. ``The truth will come out.'' …… The execution was witnessed by supporters that included the Rev. Jesse Jackson, the Rev. Al Sharpton and Amnesty International representative Bianca Jagger. Bush said he supported the execution and pointed out that Graham's case had been reviewed by 33 state and federal judges. ….. ``After considering all of the facts I am convinced justice is being done,'' Bush said after final appeals were denied. ``May God bless the victim, the family of the victim, and may God bless Mr. Graham.'' ….."

AP 6/22/00 "……When the Texas parole board, made up of 18 Bush appointees, refused to block the execution, that left the Republican governor with no options. The single 30-day reprieve a Texas governor may unilaterally give a condemned inmate was issued to Graham by Bush's predecessor in 1993. …. The Supreme Court, a federal judge and state appeals court also turned down Graham's last-minute appeals, which delayed the execution for more than two hours. ...... No physical evidence tied Graham to the killing, and ballistics tests showed that the gun he had when he was arrested was not the murder weapon. But the witness who identified him, Bernadine Skillern, has never wavered. …… Skillern, who was waiting in her car outside the supermarket while her daughter ran inside, saw the holdup from about 30 feet away. She said the lighting in the parking lot was adequate for her to see Graham. ….."

AP 6/22/00 "……Graham also argued that his lawyer during the trial, Ron Mock, should have introduced other witnesses who would say he was not the killer. But those witnesses initially told police they couldn't identify the killer, and prosecutors said they were not actual eyewitnesses. ……. ``I recognize there are good people who oppose the death penalty,'' Bush said. ``I've heard their message and I respect their heartfelt point of view.'' ……. Outside the prison, six people were arrested for breaking through police lines; other activists burned American flags. Another 150 people protested outside the governor's mansion in Austin. As far away as Northampton, Mass., eight people protesting Graham's execution were arrested after they handcuffed themselves together and lay across a main intersection. Police said 10 other protesters were on the scene but cleared out quickly when authorities threatened arrest. ….."

The NY Times 6/22/00 GOP Rep Asa Hutchinson "…….Opponents of the death penalty are focusing on Texas as they try to shift the debate about capital punishment from whether it is moral and effective to whether the trial-by-jury foundation of the American judicial system itself is flawed. ……… Behind the pressure on Mr. Bush is a dangerous attack on the foundations of our judicial system: on the reliability of eyewitness testimony and the weight it should be given, and on juries' decisions on the credibility of witnesses. …….If the death penalty activists succeed in discrediting eyewitness testimony, will witnesses still find it worth reliving crimes and possibly angering defendants' allies by telling their stories? Will women come forward when they have been assaulted? America must not retreat from the age-old notion that 12 jurors can look a witness in the eye and, after hearing contradictory evidence, appropriately weigh his or her credibility. …….. In 1981, Bernadine Skillern witnessed the murder of Bobby Lambert, twice seeing the killer's face directly. She has never wavered from her testimony that it was Gary Graham. No alibi witnesses were offered until seven years after the crime, and the courts determined their testimony was not credible. If it had been offered at the time of the trial, the state could have introduced evidence of robberies and assaults that Mr. Graham committed during a six-day crime spree at the time of the murder. ……"

Excite News 6/22/00 Reuters "……A federal court denied a last-minute bid to stay the execution of Gary Graham, whose lawyers had filed a civil rights complaint just minutes before he was due to be executed in Texas Thursday in a case that has drawn public scrutiny of the nation's busiest death row. But Graham's defense lawyers immediately sent the case to the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans, a spokeswoman for the Texas Attorney General's Office said. …… Graham's lawyers had filed a civil lawsuit in federal court in Austin charging the execution was a violation of his civil rights. …… "

yahoo.com 6/22/00 Mike Peacock Reuters "….British Prime Minister Tony Blair will not receive an honorary degree from Oxford University after his ministers attacked it as elitist, the university's chancellor, Lord Jenkins, said in remarks published on Thursday. Last month, Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown seized on Oxford's rejection of one state-school pupil to launch a broadside against Britain's top colleges. Government sources said Blair sided with Brown...."

AP 4/4/00 "……The 21-year-old son of an infamous Texas death row inmate has been jailed on a capital murder charge stemming from a shooting death in Houston last week, authorities said Monday. If prosecutors choose to seek the death penalty in the Gary Hawkins case, conviction could result in Gary Graham and Hawkins becoming the only father-son duo among the more than 450 condemned murderers in Texas. ……."

AP 6/22/00 Laurie Kellman "…..Refusing to bow to death penalty protests, Gov. George W. Bush (news - web sites) said he would ``uphold the law of the land'' and retreated to the quiet of his Capitol office to await the scheduled execution of Gary Graham. ……. Under state law, Bush was left with no power to spare Graham, since an inmate is allowed only one temporary reprieve from the governor, and Bush's predecessor already granted it. ……… Demonstrators followed Bush throughout his three-day campaign tour of the West Coast, but he shrugged off any consequences the execution could pose to his bid for the White House. ``I'm going to uphold the law of the land. And if it costs me politically, it costs me politically,'' the Republican contender told reporters Wednesday in California. …….. Bush also repeated his belief that none of the 134 Texas prisoners put to death during his 51/2 years as governor were executed in error. ……. In contrast, a majority of Texans - 57 percent - believe their state has put an innocent man to death, a new poll found. Still, the death penalty is favored by 73 percent, said the Scripps Howard Texas Poll released Thursday. The survey of 1,000 people, May 22-June 16, has an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points. ……"

AP Breaking News 6/19/00 Michael Graczyk "……Four victims of crimes committed by a condemned killer on Monday described the terror of their encounters with the man, trying to counter publicity generated by his supporters who say he was unfairly sent to death row. "My story is a nightmare with a killer," David Spiers said of being shot by Gary Graham during a robbery. The injury left him hospitalized for three months and unable to walk for two years. …… "If our courts, our legal system, and all these protesters, if they let a guy like Gary Graham out of prison, they might as well just open up the floodgates and let everybody out," he said. ……Spiers and three others told of being terrorized by the then 17-year-old Graham during a weeklong crime spree in May 1981 that began with the fatal shooting of Bobby Lambert in the parking lot of a Houston supermarket. The news conference was organized by the victims rights group Justice For All. ……"

This Is London 6/20/00 Stewart Payne "…..President Clinton is planning to set up a second home in Britain when he leaves the White House, according to security sources. ……The Evening Standard has discovered the US leader is looking at houses in the Oxfordshire countryside and British Special Branch officers are preparing feasibility reports on a number of properties. Mr Clinton hopes to become a visiting professor attached to Oxford University, where he studied as a Rhodes scholar in the Sixties. ……This would involve him spending many months of the year in the UK although he would keep homes in New York and Arkansas…. "

South African Daily Mail & Guardian 6/28/00 "……A BRITISH man has jumped 6000 feet in a parachute made according to a design sketched by Italian inventor Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, proving that the pyramid-shaped contraption works. Beeld newspaper said Adrian Nicholas launched himself from a hot air balloon drifting close to the Kruger National Park in Mpumalanga province, at a height of some 9000 feet. He slowly fell more than half the distance and then, at about 3000 feet, cut himself loose from the Da Vinci-designed parachute, and used a modern-day version to complete his descent. …"

www.sciencedaily.com 6/28/00 "….. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, may be adapted for use in gene therapy to treat genetic diseases and immune system disorders including AIDS itself, according to a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientist...."

Reuters 6/28/00 "…..SAN ANTONIO, Texas (Reuters) - A man claiming to wield a hand grenade walked into the office of the Roman Catholic archbishop of San Antonio on Wednesday and may have taken the cleric hostage, police and local news reports said. Police squad cars surrounded the archdiocese offices after receiving a call that a man with a hand grenade was holding Archbishop Patrick Flores, aged 70, a police spokeswoman said. "The initial call was that he was holding the archbishop hostage and may be armed with a hand grenade," city police department spokeswoman Sandy Gutierrez said……"

Washington Post 6/25/00 "…..Coming soon to your computer: a Web site that will make available at the click of a mouse every online resource offered by the federal government. Its name will be firstgov.gov, and it will be created in 90 days or less, President Clinton said today. "When it's complete, firstgov will serve as a single point of entry to one of the largest, perhaps the most useful, collection of Web pages in the entire world," Clinton said in what was billed as his first Saturday Webcast to the nation......."Increasingly, we'll give our citizens not only the ability to send and receive information but also to conduct sophisticated transactions online," Clinton said…….."

New York Times 6/25/00 David Barstow "…… At a game room in Brownsville, Brooklyn, there is an ever-present tension between teenagers and the police. Each time a police cruiser passed, someone in the game room screamed a curse. Mother this, mother that, on and on. They cranked the rap music to seismic levels, as if the lyrics -- something about "cracker cops" -- might make the police leave them alone. But still, the cruisers came. And then an unmarked Taurus went by. And then a police van with four officers passed. ……. It was driving the teenagers nuts. They said they felt like ghetto lab rats. The night before, officers had raided the game room, a dim, grungy hole of a place on the edge of the Van Dyke projects in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Hunting for drugs, the officers had smashed open the pool table, and Qyntel Smith, 19, said she had been hit by pepper spray. …….. Now, with the sun setting, Ms. Smith and her friends stood at the game room entrance making highly impolite gestures at passing police cars. A few officers scowled and responded in kind, making clear their professional assessments of the game room's young patrons. But Ms. Smith had an assessment, too. "The cops," she said, "are not backing off. Not one bit. Never will. It's still Giuliani time." ……."

Time Daily Online 6/20/00 "…… The mayhem that followed the Lakers' NBA win is symptomatic of the current state of L.A.; English soccer fans' feuds, however, are still mired in World War I. Mass violence around sports events is a traditionally European pastime, which is why images of an L.A. crowd driven berserk by the Lakers' NBA win seem so, well, weird. ……"

Reuters 7/2/00 "…..An animal rights group asked a federal judge on Thursday for free rein in a beef with New York City over the group's plan to brand its fiberglass entry in the Big Apple's cow parade with anti-meat statements. At stake (sic) is whether People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), known for its dramatic and controversial protests, can exhibit a cow bearing phrases detailing the cruelty of butchery and the effects of eating meat, including impotence. ...... The cow controversy stems from a decision by a committee of city representatives and parade organizers to ban three phrases PETA wanted to display. ….They are: ``'Eating meat causes impotence because it blocks the arteries to all vital organs, including the penis' Dr. Dean Ornish, Medical advisor to President Clinton,'' ``Cattle are castrated and dehorned without anesthesia'' and ``'A lot of times the man skinning the cow finds out an animal is still conscious' USDA Inspector Timothy Walker.'' ……"

ABCNews 6/29/00 Reuters "……Top police officials told the City Council on Wednesday that they expected "mass arrests" and rioting in the streets when the Democratic National Convention met in August, prompting one council member to predict that Los Angeles would regret having the event. After listening to a report from the Los Angeles Police Department warning of chaos and lawlessness beyond that at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle last year, a second city leader urged putting National Guard troops on notice. …….. "We fully expect to be involved in mass arrests and civil disobedience, with a very small yet very effective element of demonstrators even before the convention begins," Lorenzen said. ….."

Sunday Herald 6/29/00 Neil Mackay and Ian Ferguson "……. A Glasgow University law professor employed to brief the world's press on the Lockerbie trial was one of Britain's most powerful MI6 officers. Professor Andrew Fulton, who is deputy director of the university's Lockerbie trial briefing unit, now faces being removed from his prestigious job following an investigation by the Sunday Herald into his spying past. Fulton joined Glasgow University last year after officially retiring from the Foreign Office. His last known position with MI6 was as its head of station in Washington DC. When he moved to the university, after stepping down from a 30-year career, he offered his services to the briefing unit. ……"

Reuters 6/29/00 "……The English city of Liverpool on Thursday demanded an apology from Hollywood over the new summer blockbuster ``The Patriot.'' The film, which stars Mel Gibson, misrepresents a former leading civic figure from Liverpool, Banastre Tarleton, as a ruthless British butcher who revels in bloodshed and infanticide, Liverpool City Council said. A statement from the city council said that in fact, when Tarleton returned to Liverpool in 1782 after ``legendary exploits'' in the American war of independence, the church bells rang out and he was feted by admirers. ……He went on to become a member of parliament for Liverpool for more than 20 years. ……Liverpool's mayor, Edwin Clein, said he wanted a public apology over the Hollywood depiction of Tarleton. ……."

Washington Times Weekly Edition 6/26/00 Paid by Friends of Larry Nichols & Larry Patterson "…… A "mole" in the Clinton White House told Larry Nichols and Larry Patterson what the Clintons were planning. It is a bizarre story -- as is most of the Clinton saga. It was a plan to derail the Gore nomination after the primaries in order to create an "open convention" if Gore was forced out of the race. The Clintons planned to hijack the convention in an attempt to secure the presidential nomination for Hillary. …… Body Copy: When Hillary Rodham Clinton filed with the Federal Elections Commission for the open Senate seat being vacated by New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan in March of 1999, she also filed as a candidate for President of the United States. But, she made no effort to announce, or to run, for that office. Clinton watchers were puzzled. When she began actively campaigning for the Senate, Hillary's presidential aspirations were forgotten. Until now. ….."

Sierra Times 6/27/00 "……. Sierra Times has learned that the Indianapolis Baptist Temple must vacate the premises by July 7th, as reported on the Stan Solomon show Monday night. The call came from Pastor Greg Dixon off the air. ……. The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago heard arguments back on May 11th. To date there has been no decision made by the appeals court. But the government has chosen not to wait for a ruling and has ordered Dixon and his congregation to leave the property by July 7th. ….."

New York Press 6/27/00 Christopher Caldwell "……. Four years ago, just before the Republican convention, this column suggested the Republicans dump Bob Dole. It wasn't that he was a bad person or a lunatic ideologue, or that his military and political career weren't something any American would be proud of. It was that, even among his most ardent supporters, he couldn't generate an enthusiasm that rose much above the level of "Oh, he's fine, I suppose." This year is beginning to look ominously Dolish for the Dems….."

New York Times 6/28/00 John Broder "……First, the drug makers rolled out advertisements featuring "Flo," an arthritic bowler who warned against a Clinton administration proposal for a new Medicare prescription drug benefit.Now the industry is enticing twenty-somethings to call their grandparents and urge them to lobby against the Clinton drug plan. The global drug industry, operating through a group that can legally conceal the source of its money and the targets of its spending, has accelerated its lobbying against the administration's drug proposal, which it contends will lead to price controls and throttle pharmaceutical research. The stepped-up campaign coincides with a vote in the House as early as Wednesday on competing Republican and Democratic Medicare drug proposals. ….."

Washington Post/Associated Press 7/2/00 David Ho "……About a third of Americans say they once felt on the verge of a nervous breakdown or had a mental health problem, according to a study released Sunday that examines perceptions of psychological health over four decades. "There's been a real change in both Americans' attitudes toward acknowledging mental health problems and in their willingness to talk to people about it," said Ralph Swindle Jr., lead author of the study, which appears in the July issue of American Psychologist. In 1996, more than 26 percent of adults surveyed said they had felt an impending nervous breakdown, up from 19 percent in 1957, he said. ……."

From Freeper shortimer 7/3/00 to Senator Pardek "……. The Judiciary is much more deeply involved in this 'Toon mess than people realize. Judges can - and do, order their own secret investigations. In this case, Judge Lamberth has already gone ahead and ordered the 'unknown federal law enforcement agencies' to analyse (read the tapes, collate the email messages, and deliver a summary that includes the dates, times, sender and receipient) and deliver a summary to him. This has been done and the good Judge is using that master summary as a benchmark, to make the White House lie a little more cautiously. ……. The White House doesn't know just exactly what the Judge knows because they haven't been able to keep up with the summary production. Hardware issues. The WH doesn't have enough trusted operators and equipment to mass recover the emails. The NSA does. ………. There are a lot of very nervous people in the administration, because this has the potential to end up in a mass roundup of various high, mid, and even low-level perpetrators, between November and January. Most arrests will be quiet, with the roundup starting quietly, then accellerating as the administration nears it's end. …….The evidence is there, it exists. And the Judiciary is in possession of enough of it to know they are dealing with a criminal operation in the WH. This must be treated very carefully as the concept of a Constitutional Crisis is nothing compared to what could happen (at least, according to the 'gamers'), should the whole truth (as is now known to the resource team leaders) become public. ........., The 'Toon is destined to leave as his legacy a mystery, murderous and criminal in nature, deeper than the Kennedy assassination. Will we eventually know the whole truth? No. No one alive today (with the exception of a handful of people working on the actual documents and other evidence) will ever see the whole thing. Most will be sealed for 50+ years for national security reasons. But enough will be known to put some very surprising people in jail. Both Al Gore and George W. Bush need to be extremely security concious over the next 17 weeks. The 'Toon, just like any very dangerous, cornered animal, is capable of anything from now until November. Remember, there is a working group in the WH that has as it's goal keeping the 'Toon in power beyond his second term - by any means possible, and viable. Look for surprises at both conventions (inside and out in the real world), and on the international scene. ……."

From Freeper shortimer 7/3/00 to Senator Pardek "……. The UN will suddenly grow some teeth. Who (internationally) has been very quiet lately? Why did Judge Freeh stay on when he made noises about leaving to spend more time with his young family? Which "unknown federal law enforcement agencies" have the computing power (and the forensic technical ability) to break the encryption used by the WH on their internal electronic communications? Why does Larry Klayman seem to be the only one fighting this criminal enterprise? The next seven months have the potential to rock this Republic to it's very core. Paul Rodriguez has some good sources, but he needs to be patient and dig into some new, forthcoming sources to flesh out the behind-the-scenes manuvering going on. Alligencies are changing, and there is about to be a good-sized switching of them as more about Judge Lamberth's investigation becomes known. There will be "October Surprises" on all sides, starting between the conventions and escalating into areas previously unknown. Good luck all, I'll be back when things calm down some (brace yourselves). ….."

From Freeper shortimer 7/3/00 to oregonfreep 7/3/00 "…….What most members of Congress and the rest of the people concerned with national security continue to forget is that the rest of the world continues to not play by our rules. PTNR (or the withholding of its passage), etc. will not do one single meaningful thing to change the nuclear arming of Pakistan, and consequently the growing threat to the world's largest democracy - India. ……. For all their bluster, Congress is powerless. The 'Toon continues to aid the nuclear arming of Communist China's allies. They intend to take advantage of the religious agravation between India and Palistan, the goal of which is to reduce or eliminate the threat India poses to Communist China's PacRim plans. Spratly Islands, hidden oil reserves, shipping lane control, pressure on Taiwain, etc. …..North Korea continues to make generational leaps in nuclear technology, using information (and hardware) supplied by Communist China. Information that was given to them by the current administration in return for 100 - 200 million in hidden cash to be used to acquire and maintain control of the United States government. ………. Many here in Free Republic equate the 'Toon to the antichrist. MacArthur is much more like it. Remember when he became supreme comander of Japan after WWII? That's historically what the 'Toon is within his relationship to the US and Communist China. …….. Communist China has been planning this for over a generation, and have been enjoying the fruits of their efforts for the last almost eight years. But they are not content with an eight year control of our administration. They want it to continue. Do some research and see how far back the Communist Chinese aid and money has been flowing to Al Gore. You will be horrified. …….Don't be surprised if Pakistan plays a part in one of the "October Surprises". ….."

London Times 7/3/00 Jasper Gerard "…… "The science of improving the population by controlled breeding for desirable inherited characteristics." This definition could almost have been crafted for the advances that will follow the deciphering of DNA. It is actually the dictionary definition of eugenics. …….. Because in our collective memories the words "eugenics" and "Nazis" are entwined in unholy union, scientists have been playing Basil Fawlty. "Don't mention eugenics" has been their mantra. But eugenics was not an evil interlude of the previous century; it is the defining advance of the new century. Fearing outrage (and grant cuts), the experts refuse to acknowledge this, let alone debate ethics and endgames……."

Tom Spears The Ottawa Citizen 7/3/00 "…….Human cancer cells are "completely blown away" by a rare virus that normally causes only minor flu-like infections in people, a team from the University of Ottawa and the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre has found. In the laboratory, the virus has destroyed a wide variety of cancer cells, including melanoma, lung, colon, breast and prostate cancers and leukemia. ……. The university has applied for a patent on therapy using Dr. John Bell's "very exciting" virus discovery, which leaves non-cancerous cells intact. Dr. Bell is a researcher at the cancer centre and a professor of medicine at the University of Ottawa. Together with an American biotechnology firm, the team hopes to begin clinical trials in Canadian cancer patients in about 18 months. The Ottawa team's research on vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is published in the July 1 edition of Nature Medicine, a British medical journal. …….. Yesterday, Dr. Bell said VSV isn't the only virus that has targeted cancer cells in lab tests. Some day, he said, patients may receive a multi-pronged cancer treatment that combines different viruses, just as chemotherapy today uses a combination of drugs. ……. VSV is a minor irritant that exists mainly in tropical countries, where it causes mild, flu-like symptoms. In Canada it sometimes infects cattle, causing temporary blisters on the lip like cold sores but doing no lasting damage. ……. Suddenly, the mild virus is showing its wild side. "We found that every tumour cell that we infected was completely blown away by this virus very quickly, whereas normal cells were quite resistant to the virus," Dr. Bell said in an interview. ……… A genetic breakdown that lets a cell become cancerous appears to be the same defect that allows the VSV to infect that cell and kill it. So far the only tests in living organisms have been done in lab mice, but they were still done on human tumours. ……. The researchers implanted human melanoma (skin cancer) cells into the mice. Each tumour that grew was nourished by the mouse's blood supply, while the tumour itself remained genetically human. ……..That means the virus treatment was knocking out human cancer cells, not mouse cancer -- an important distinction because past discoveries on mouse tumours have sometimes fizzled out when they were tried in humans. ……..Test-tube experiments showed the virus also destroyed breast, prostate, lung and colon cancers and leukemia, although the Bell team didn't have enough money to do these tests in mice. ……."

Houston Chronicle 7/8/00 R G Ratcliffe "…… Using the familiar tone of an emergency broadcast, the Democratic National Committee posted an Internet warning Friday against traveling to Texas, claiming Houston's low childhood immunization rate makes the state unhealthy for potential visitors. …….Ray Sullivan, a spokesman for Texas Gov. George W. Bush's Republican presidential campaign in Austin, called the DNC warning an insult. "This sort of childish, partisan prank is insulting to Texans of all political parties," Sullivan said. "The truth is Texas is a better educated, healthier and more economically vibrant place than it was when Governor Bush took office." ……. The report released Thursday by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that only about 67 percent of Houston children between 19 and 35 months of age received childhood vaccinations for disease in 1999. City health officials did not dispute the report, but said the city is making progress in improving the record. ……."

Los Angeles Times 7/8/00 Thomas Maugh II "……The numbers of AIDS deaths and new HIV infections in the United States have remained stable for the second year in a row, public health authorities will announce today. But increases in risky behaviors and growing infection rates among the young are setting the stage for a resurgence of the disease, officials cautioned. An estimated 16,000 Americans died of AIDS last year and 40,000 became HIV-positive, according to the newest figures compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But as many as 5 million Americans engage in sexual and drug behaviors that place them at high risk of contracting the virus, according to new studies released in Durban, South Africa, in advance of Sunday's start of the 13th International AIDS Conference. ……A separate study of more than 3,400 young gay men found that 7.2% of them were HIV positive, with the rate among young black gay men soaring to 19%. In Los Angeles, the rate for young gay men was 8.3%, while in New York City, the incidence was 12.2%. More than 80% of those who were infected did not know it, according to CDC researchers. ….."

Los Angeles Daily News 7/7/00 Alexa Haussler "….. LOS ANGELES -- Under attack by police and downtown business owners, Los Angeles City Council members voted Friday to rescind their pledge to designate downtown's Pershing Square as a protest zone during the Democratic National Convention. ``I think it's time for the council to admit it made a mistake and to try to undo all of the harm that was done,'' Councilman Joel Wachs said before the 12-1 vote. The vote culminated bitter debate over whether the council had jeopardized public safety by inviting protesters to the congested business district. Council members voted earlier to do so in exchange for Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg's support for a $4 million contribution to the Democratic National Convention committee. ……"

Washington Post 7/8/00 Charles Babington and Bill Miller "….. The White House confirmed yesterday that it will postpone next month's scheduled execution of a Hispanic man convicted in Texas, a decision that could remove a troublesome issue for Vice President Gore as some of his allies continue to criticize Gov. George W. Bush's record in applying the death penalty in Texas. Administration officials said President Clinton will postpone the scheduled Aug. 5 federal execution of convicted drug kingpin Juan Raul Garza until the Justice Department finishes drafting guidelines for seeking presidential clemency in such cases……."

UPI 7/9/00 Derrick Hill "….. Suddenly it's no longer a glad confident morning for British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his New Labor government. Having defied the law of political gravity for three years, the popularity of Mr. Blair and his administration has been heading south. Last week was the most uncomfortable he has had since sweeping to power in May 1997…….. It began with a stinging attack on the Prime Minister's style of leadership -- 'unmanly' and convictionless -- by successful thriller writer Ken Follett, once a glittering symbol of Blair's appeal to smart, or at least rich, left-liberal opinion……."

newsday.com 7/9/00 Ron Fournier "……Retired Gen. Colin Powell urged the nation's governors Sunday to ''redouble your efforts'' to enlist armies of volunteers helping children. He hinted that a Cabinet post may be in his future. ''We have no greater task before us now,'' said the former chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff and head of America's Promise, a national alliance of governments, businesses and charities mobilizing volunteers from all walks of life to counsel and mentor children. Powell, a featured speaker at the National Governors' Association summer meeting here, is one of the nation's most popular political figures, according to polls. He has ruled out running for office or serving as vice president, but reiterated Sunday that he would consider a Cabinet post. ……"

USA Today 7/6/00 Steve Sternberg "…….. Does Pig Pen have a way to better health? Excessive cleanliness, city living might be leaving us susceptible to allergies …….. Until 200 years ago, hay fever was unheard of. When London doctor John Bostock described the first cases in 1828, he made a curious observation: ''I have not heard of a single unequivocal case among the poor.'' ……. By 1871, Londoner Charles Blackley had proved hay fever is triggered by pollen. Why then, he wondered, do farmers and their families have ''the fewest cases of the disorder''? ……. The two men had instinctively stumbled upon what is one of the hottest questions in allergy research: Can too much clean living make people sick? Or put another way, is a little bit of dirt a healthy thing? ......Known as the hygiene hypothesis, this notion holds that growing up in cities, insulated from nature, makes people more susceptible to allergies, asthma, certain autoimmune diseases and perhaps even diabetes. Why? Because good hygiene leaves the body's immune system underemployed and looking for something to do. Soon, the immune system begins overreacting to pollen, animal dander and other ordinarily harmless substances. ''The immune system learns from experience,'' says Irun Cohen, an immunologist at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel. ''If it doesn't get the right kind of practice, it develops imperfectly.'' ……."

ABC 6/29/00 Andrew Chang "…… Life in Britain is more violent than in the United States? That's absurd, British officials say, reacting to an American television report that said Britain was one of the most violent urban societies in the Western world. The CBS report said people in Britain were more likely to be burgled, twice as likely to be robbed and 2 1/2 times more likely to be assaulted than in the United States. …… "

AP 6/30/00 Lauran Neergaard "…..Scientists were testing a possible cancer treatment when they spotted a side effect that might prove rather valuable: The experimental drug made mice lose a dramatic amount of weight, without apparent side effects. Just 20 minutes after taking the chemical, the rodents' appetites were wiped out. ......The discovery indicates scientists may be able to regulate a major pathway in the brain responsible for appetite and fat-building. The chemical apparently fooled the brain into thinking the mice had eaten, so their metabolisms never slowed and they burned fat, researchers report in Friday's edition of the journal Science. ''This is a real trick. The mice drop their weight like a stone, losing 25 percent of their body mass in a couple of days,'' said Dr. Frank Kuhajda, who led the research team at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University that produced the chemical, code-named C75. ……No one yet knows if C75 would work in humans, experts caution. More animal research is needed before dieters could even test it. ….."

boston.com via Jim Romenesko's MediaNews 7/6/00 AP "…In a story July 5 about the book ''Rudy: an Investigative Biography of Rudolph Giuliani,'' The Associated Press erroneously reported that Ralph Stanchi Jr., a cousin of the New York mayor, was a mob associate shot to death by the FBI in 1977. The book identifies the underworld figure killed by the FBI as another Giuliani cousin, Lewis D'Avanzo. It says Stanchi was a New York City policeman killed in 1973 while attempting to make an arrest. ….."

The NY Times 7/7/00 Raymond Bonner Marc Lacey "…..The Clinton administration is planning to postpone the first federal execution in nearly 40 years because of a lack of clemency procedures and concerns about racial and geographic disparities in death penalty cases, administration officials said today. The White House is awaiting Justice Department regulations for death row inmates to follow in seeking clemency from the president. ……Juan Raul Garza, who was convicted seven years ago of three drug-related murders, is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 5, and his lawyers said today that they would use the new procedures as soon as they have them to ask President Clinton to spare Mr. Garza's life. ……"

South China Morning Post 7/7/00 Agencies "…. The 16-year-old son of British Prime Minister Tony Blair was arrested after being found drunk in central London late on Wednesday. Downing Street said Euan Blair, who had been celebrating the end of school examinations with friends, was found by police alone, face down and vomiting in Leicester Square in the West End. He gave his name as Euan John and provided an old address and a false birth date that indicated he was 18 and of legal drinking age, said Alastair Campbell, Mr Blair's spokesman. Police searched him and established his correct identity. ……"

Roll Call 7/7/00 Mort Kondrake "…… The end of one-party rule in Mexico this week is a cause for cheer in the United States -- and a measure of self-congratulation. As a democratic advance, Mexico's shift doesn't equal the fall of communism, but it is on par with the end of military rule in South Korea in 1987 or the ouster of Ferdinand Marcos in the Philippines in 1985. Besides being gratified, as the world headquarters of democracy, the United States should greet the victory of Mexico's opposition presidential candidate, Vicente Fox Quesada, with pride and anticipation -- and a resolve to help him succeed in solving onerous problems ahead. ….."

AP 7/6/00 "……The 40-year-old son of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar was arrested on marijuana possession charges after being pulled over for expired license plates. Robert Lugar, manager of the town of McCordsville, pleaded innocent Thursday and posted $200 bail. A sheriff's deputy was giving Lugar a ticket Wednesday when he noticed the smell of marijuana, Sheriff Nick Gulling said. The deputy found a plastic bag filled with pot under a floor mat of the Jeep, Gulling said. "He denied the marijuana was his," the sheriff said. ……"

Ithaca (NY) Journal 7/11/00 Yoni Levine "……Governor George Pataki on Monday signed New York's first statewide hate crimes bill. Ithaca was ahead of the state after it passed its own hate crimes legislation earlier this summer. The state bill had been passed by both houses of the Legislature on June 23. The law, which enhances penalties for 50 types of hate or motivated offenses, goes into effect in 90 days. "We're thrilled that something has passed, even though it has taken far too long, said Francis Billker, co-chairwoman of the Ithaca Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Task Force. "One thing I hope they (state legislators) eventually will consider is adding 'gender identity or presentation' to 'sexual orientation.'" ……Ithaca's Common Council, in June, already passed legislation that stiffened penalties on crimes motivated by hate. ……"

The Guardian 7/10/00 Paul Webster "……A medical clinic controlled by the French national health service is being investigated for murder following allegations by nurses that doctors routinely dispensed the "cocktail of death" to the old and dying, killing between 20 and 40 patients. La Martiniere, a 120-bed clinic in the Paris suburbs, has been almost emptied of patients after rumors exploded over the weekend of necrophilia, body-snatching and other practices which a prosecutor described as "surpassing all understanding." ……As police and judicial investigators inspected the clinic Monday, officials warned against adding "ghoulish fantasy" to allegations of what might turn out to be killing for convenience by overworked staff. ……"

SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE 7/2/00 Tracy McVeigh "….. One of the world's most revered scientists has developed a theory that fat people are happier than thin ones. James Watson, the Nobel prize-winning geneticist who was jointly responsible for discovering the structure of DNA, believes that plumper women are also likely to enjoy a better sex life than their thin counterparts. Watson, who directed the successful human genome project, has moved into the controversial science of body image. He recently told an audience at University College London that his research suggested extra pounds had the biological effect of making a woman well-rounded in character and better in bed. …… "Thinness is never associated with sexuality," said Watson, 72. Posh Spice and Calista Flockhart might smile for the photographers, he claimed, but beneath their sleek exteriors lurk miserable thin souls. …..His study of chemicals in the body has led him to conclude that extra fat has the effect of boosting endorphins - the natural mood-enhancing chemical - and a hormone linked to sexual desire. …….In thin people, he said, the opposite effect was observed: less fat led to the brain receiving fewer endorphins. ……"

Washington Times 7/6/00 Steve miller "…..Texas holds the dubious distinction of being the nation's leader in executions, but the road from conviction to the death chamber is as long as a West Texas mile. That road takes all convicts through an appellate system that includes 23 judges, a taxpayer-funded investigation and an appeals process that Attorney General John Cornyn describes as "exhaustive." "Super due process," he called it, adding, "No one has identified anyone here who was wrongfully convicted and executed."……Not that death-penalty opponents haven't searched for the innocent convict. The Texas criminal justice system is besieged by opponents as studies find instances of sleeping and intoxicated defense attorneys and flimsy evidence in capital punishment cases……..Following the release of one media expose, Illinois Gov. George Ryan halted the process in his state, where 13 inmates have been executed since 1987. That's not likely here, at least as long as the current administration holds sway……."

Deutsche Presse 7/5/00 "……Cupid's arrows do not pierce the heart - they target four specific regions of the brain, researchers at University College London reported in the magazine New Scientist on Wednesday. The scientists have for the first time observed what happens in the brain of someone who is love-struck, what they found may explain many of the well known symptoms of love sickness - butterflies in the stomach, waves of euphoria, and an addiction-like craving. Semir Zeki and Andreas Bartels sought out 17 volunteers who described themselves as ``truly and madly'' in love. After sifting through the responses, three-quarters of which came from women, they picked 11 females and six males in their mid 20s……."

Philadelphia Inquirer 7/6/00 Thomas Ginsberg "…… Men with cameras have been seen keeping tabs on protest meetings. No one is claiming responsibility. One man held a cigarette. The other held a camera. Together they kept constant watch on the Race Street rowhouse where activists were planning their peaceful protest for the Republican convention. Why they were there, nobody is saying. ……Four weeks before the huge GOP event, the prospect of raucous protests and civil disobedience has created mini spy dramas on the streets of Philadelphia. ……."

ABC News / AP 7/10/00 Jeff Donn "….Is Fifi tired of bland dog biscuits? Does Buster crave more than mushy mystery meat from a can and the occasional greasy table scrap?Then Taxi's Dog Bakery suggests something Italian: Perhaps an appetizer of a garlic-and-parsley biscuit, a personal pizza with real dough and a cream-cheese cannoli. And for that embarrassing doggie-and-garlic breath afterward, a biscuit made with fresh mint.Hundreds of bakeries catering to pet palates have opened over the past few years in a boom tied to the surging economy and a deepening cultural fondness for dogs. ……"

The Register 7/10/00 Andrew Thomas "………When an RAF Chinook helicopter carrying almost all the senior intelligence officers working in Northern Ireland crashed into the Mull of Kintyre six years ago, pilot error was given as the official explanation of the disaster. Since then, a number of people and especially UK IT mag Computer Weakly have continued to maintain that it was software in the on-board systems which led to the crash rather than human error. ......But a third explanation for the crash has now come to light: that a top secret hypersonic US plane, codenamed Aurora and which is reportedly capable of flying at up to 20 times the speed of sound, created a massive jet wake into which the helicopter flew, causing the crew to lose control. ………Aurora was rumoured to be operating at speeds higher than Mach 8 from Machrihanish at the time of the Chinook crash and is alleged to have inadvertently 'brought down' the chopper, which lost control after flying through its jet wake. …….. Shortly after the crash, the Americans left Machrihanish. The British government would certainly have been none too pleased if the US had indeed wiped out most of the UK's senior intelligence officials in one fell swoop. ……"

UPI 7/10/00 "……About 75 demonstrators stormed an office of Vice President Al Gore's presidential campaign in Tennessee on Monday to protest what they called his "anti-environmental policies." Members of Earth First! chanted outside Gore's Eastern Tennessee campaign headquarters, claiming that Gore's environmental record is no better than that of his Republican opponent, Texas Gov. George W. Bush. Four of the protesters chained themselves together inside the Gore office and refused to leave. Three hours later, they agreed to leave peacefully. There were no arrests..."

Reuters 6/20/00"…… President Clinton is seeking a home near Britain's Oxford University, where he studied in the 1960s as a Rhodes scholar, London's Evening Standard newspaper reported Tuesday. Citing British security sources in a front-page report, the Standard said that Clinton was eager to settle in the Oxfordshire countryside after he leaves the White House early next year. His wife, Hillary, will not accompany him, the newspaper said. Hillary Clinton is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate from the state of New York. President Clinton told Britain's Times newspaper in May that he would like to teach at the elite university and was intrigued by a suggestion that an Oxford college might find a role for him. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford in the late 1960s and was presented with an honorary degree by the university in 1994. ….."

Common Conservative 7/16/00 Christian DeFeo "……I recently returned to England for a weekend visit: to see family and to catch up on the news. What I discovered was encouraging: for the first time since 1992, the Tories have a spring in their step and a song in their hearts. Blair has become a national joke and nothing is apparently going right for him: his poll ratings, once so unbelievably high, are dropping like a stone. What is most compelling, however, is how this appears to be part of a larger pattern: the Left, which was powerful, vicious and nasty in the 1990s, is turning into something far more laughable…….. In Britain, people are watching Blair for the entertainment value. His most recent embarrassment involved his own son; less than a week after proposing that drunk teenagers should be forced to pay on the spot fines and taken into police custody, Euan Blair was found by the police to be drunk and insensible in the middle of London. Apparently, he had been out celebrating the end of his exams. Of course this incident, taken in comparison with Blair's harsh statements about drunk teenagers yielded some serious laughter - however, there was a serious message along with the humour: Euan Blair did not face any of the severe penalties that his father proposed. All at once Blair looked like a fool and a hypocrite……."

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 4/85 pp 16-24 "……"Paperclip" was a U.S. project to employ German scientists in sensitive military and space programs after World War II. This investigation reveals that evidence of Nazi activism and war crimes was suppressed in order to allow many of them to immigrate. …..The U.S. Justice Department announced last October that Arthur Rudolph, who designed the Saturn 5 rocket that took astronauts to the moon in 1969, had relinquished his citizenship and left the United States rather than contest charges that he had committed war crimes in Nazi Germany. The Department's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) had found "irrefutable" evidence of Rudolph's "complicity in the abuse and persecution of concentration camp inmates who were employed by the thousands as slave laborers under his direct supervision," according to Eli Rosenbaum, the former OSI prosecutor who supervised the Rudolph case. ......During World War II, Rudolph was operations director for V-2 missile production at the underground Mittelwerk factory which was part of the Dora-Nordhausen concentration camp complex in Germany. Evidence presented at a U.S. Army trial at Dachau, West Germany in 1947 disclosed that 20,000 Camp Dora prisoners had died after being starved, beaten, hanged, or overworked.1 ......"

Vote.com 8/2/00 Dick Morris "……..A curious reversal of history is underway as the GOP convention opens in Philadelphia. In 1996, it was Bill Clinton moving to the center while Bob Dole attacked his supposed moderation warning that he was a secret, closet liberal all along. Now, the part of candidate moving to the center is played by George W. Bush and the role of critic on the outside is played by Clinton. Clinton is about to find out that his claims that GOP moderation is false will be as soundly rejected as was Dole's criticism of him four years ago. George W. Bush has no voting record. He has never been in Congress, so he can start fresh in defining himself in this election season. If he chooses to be a moderate, he can be a moderate. If he presents himself as a right winger, he will be that too. Clinton needs to realize that, like a duck, if it looks like a moderate, talks like a moderate, and acts like a moderate, it's a moderate. ….."

WorldNetDaily.com/Wall Street Journal 8/1/00 Julia Angwin "…..The mailman wants to know your e-mail address. Actually, it is the U.S. Postal Service. Officials there are planning to offer people living at all 120 million of the nation's residential street addresses free e-mail addresses. It would link the e-mail and real-world addresses in a giant Postal Service database in Memphis, Tenn. That is just one of a long line of things postal officials would like to do online, as the Internet threatens to make paper mail in envelopes as quaint as milk delivered in bottles. In September, for example, the Postal Service plans to launch a nationwide service for people who don't have e-mail. Local post offices will make paper printouts of e-mail messages and deliver them with the snail mail, charging the sender about 41 cents for a two-page document -- an eight-cent premium to first-class mail. ….."

Editor & Publisher magazine 8/1/00 Lucia Moses "….. Free alternative weeklies are gaining popularity with national advertisers. Traditional newspapers are discounting subscriptions while giving away their content on the Internet. And a small - but growing - number of free-distribution daily papers are thriving. Are we moving toward a universe where all news will be gratis? Mark Guerringue, who, with his partners, has launched free dailies in New Hampshire, believes the idea isn't as crazy as it once was. "I think the concept of free distribution doesn't seem so fore