Free Republic

A federal judge has upheld the practice of police using seized phones to impersonate their owners, reading messages and sending sending entrapping replies to contacts in the phone's memory, without a warrant. The judge reasoned that constitutional privacy rights don't apply to messages if they appear on a seized device -- even if the messages originated with someone who has not been arrested or is under suspicion of any crime:A federal appeals court held that the pager owner's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure were not violated because the pager is "nothing more than a contemporary receptacle for...

A federal judge has upheld the practice of police using seized phones to impersonate their owners, reading messages and sending sending entrapping replies to contacts in the phone's memory, without a warrant. The judge reasoned that constitutional privacy rights don't apply to messages if they appear on a seized device -- even if the messages originated with someone who has not been arrested or is under suspicion of any crime:A federal appeals court held that the pager owner's Fourth Amendment rights against unreasonable search and seizure were not violated because the pager is "nothing more than a contemporary receptacle for...

A powder nick-named "Pixie Dust" is being used to save the limbs of war heroes who have been wounded in Afghanistan. Surgeons have already used the dust to save several soldiers so badly mutilated that they were at risk of amputation. Made from pig bladders it has the ability to help the human body grow new tissue to replace large areas of a leg or arm destroyed by blast damage.

Following a testy exchange during Wednesday’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press. “Nixon didn’t try to do that,” Thomas said. “They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try. “What the hell do they think we are, puppets?” Thomas said. “They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”Thomas said she was especially concerned about the arrangement between the Obama Administration and a writer...

Top of Form 1 Bottom of Form 1 CULTURAL In loco parentis Artificial wombs might end abortion, but the price would be the end of the family By Gene Edward Veith SCIENTISTS ARE REPORTEDLY WELL ON THEIR WAY to developing an artificial womb. At Cornell, womb cells have been replicated and fashioned into an out-of-body receptacle that has kept human embryos alive for several days, before the experiment—and the babies—were terminated to comply with in-vitro fertilization laws. Japanese researchers have devised chambers of amniotic fluid with nutrient pumps to nourish developing baby goats. Though some scientists doubt whether a human...

There was a time when the only laundry you viewed in public was after it was cleaned. It was a matter of pride among housewives of all races, to have the brightest and whitest laundry. That was a time when achievement was something to be praised and communities worked closely together encouraging each other.The greatest loss to American Culture since the emancipation of women is the quality of our laundry. We don’t even recognize the first rule anymore, not airing our dirty laundry in public. We are constantly subjected to some of the worst traits of our society, under the...

What The Coming War Is Really About By J.J. Johnson Published 02. 6. 03 at 23:10 Sierra Time xxx This analysis may be troublesome to some, even considered treasonous by others. But before this nation commits thousands of troops and billions of dollars into this middle-eastern conflict, this author would like to go on record about the United States and it’s relationship with the rest of the world. Let me say first (for the record) that I am still against the upcoming war with Iraq in its current form. If we do go to war, I will support our troops,...

<p>Of course "hate" is too strong a word. You should not hate anyone. Especially not jittery world leaders who are striving to justify war and make it look all fierce and necessary.</p> <p>Look, there they are, trying so hard. Especially Bush. Look at that earnest, constipated, caught-in-the-headlights expression. Trying trying trying. Please do not hate him.</p>

February 5, 2002 Anti-Tax Leader Confesses He Used Campaign Money By SAM HOWE VERHOVEK EATTLE, Feb. 4 — As the driving force behind several tax-cutting initiatives, Tim Eyman has sometimes been called the "unelected governor" of Washington State. But in a confession that stunned his supporters and opponents alike, Mr. Eyman, a 36-year-old businessman, said today that he had lied when he told reporters in recent days that he had never profited personally from the fund-raising drives he conducted for his initiatives. At a news conference this morning, Mr. Eyman fought back tears as he announced that he had ...

All Jailed Mothers to Be Pardoned January 24, 2002 11:21 am EST MOSCOW (Reuters) - Jailed Russian mothers are to be freed regardless of their crimes under a proposed amnesty approved by President Vladimir Putin Thursday, the Kremlin press service said. The proposal put forward by the former head of the government's disbanded pardons commission, Anatoly Pristavkin, would free thousands of women by extending an amnesty approved in November by the State Duma lower house of parliament. That pardon freed roughly 23,000 women and children under 16, but included only women who were pregnant, disabled, over 50 or single mothers. ...

Oppose Attempts to Allow Unchecked Domestic Spying!Attorney General John Ashcroft is reportedly considering a plan to relax restrictions on the FBI's spying on domestic religious and political organizations. The proposal would loosen one of the most fundamental restrictions on the conduct of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and would be yet another civil rights casualty of the Bush Administration's war on terrorism. The guidelines were originally imposed on the FBI in the 1970s when it was discovered that the Bureau had engaged in widespread unchecked domestic surveillance to monitor antiwar protesters, the Ku Klux Klan, the Black Panthers and ...

Many Americans already have grave concerns about the loss of sovereignty inherent in our participation in global government organizations like the UN and the WTO. Few understand, however, the extent to which Congress already capitulates to the globalists when it writes the laws that affect all of us. Last week, the WTO appellate panel ruled that U.S. tax rules exempting some corporate income earned overseas from taxation constitute an "illegal subsidy." Incredible as it seems to liberty-minded Americans, the WTO and the Europeans are now telling us our laws are illegal and must be changed. It's hard to imagine a ...

Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2002 Court to Consider to Felon Gun Rights By GINA HOLLAND Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider stopping federal judges from restoring gun rights to convicted felons. The intervention comes at the request of the Bush administration, angry that a Texas man convicted of a felony in Mexico convinced a court that he should be able to own a gun. Felons are barred from carrying guns after their release from prison, but they can ask the government for an exception. Those requests have been stalled, however, for nearly a ...

By JOHN HEILPRIN WASHINGTON (AP) - For the 100th anniversary of its creation, the National Wildlife Refuge System has the Bush administration's backing for a hefty budget increase for next year. Interior Secretary Gale Norton will propose boosting spending for the chronically underfunded refuge system by $56.5 million in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, providing critical help for aging facilities and canceled popular wildlife programs, a senior aide told The Associated Press. She plans to make the announcement Monday in Fremont, Calif., while touring Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge, which would receive $1.1 million extra ...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush delivered on his top two campaign promises in his first year, tax cuts and education. Other items on his must-do list became can't-do-right-now. First came the loss of the Senate to the Democrats. Down went Bush's "charitable choice" plan to give religious groups more money to perform social services. Then came Sept. 11. War and terrorism have sucked up most of Bush's energy and focus ever since, even as the recession, the war and - Democrats contend, the tax cuts - emptied out the budget surplus. Some of his pledges, however, were getting bogged ...

U.S. freezes adoptions Friday, January 18, 2002 By Michael K. Nowlin With her big brown eyes and delicate fingers, it's easy to see why Gary and Beth Hahn fell in love with the Cambodian orphan they want to adopt. What's hard for the Essexville couple to understand is why they can't bring their baby home, even though Cambodian authorities have approved the adoption. The Hahns are among several Michigan families and dozens more nationwide whose adoptions are on hold indefinitely while the United States government investigates allegations that some Cambodian orphans were stolen or bought from their birth parents. ...

DALLAS, Jan. 15 — Nearly half of the cocaine and nearly a quarter of the methamphetamine that the Dallas police seized last year have turned out to be gypsum from wallboard, a discovery that has led to the suspension of two dozen criminal cases, local officials say. All the cases involve a single unidentified informer who has received at least $200,000 from the Dallas Police Department over the last two years, officials confirmed last week. The supposed drugs tested positive in field tests after the arrests, they said, but more sophisticated testing done later in preparation for trial found ...

Friday January 11 10:53 PM ET Home Seized After Son's Drug Arrest ATHENS, Ga. (AP) Police have seized the house of an 82-year-old widow because they say she knew her son dealt drugs there and did nothing to stop him. Fannie Gresham's small home was seized Thursday under a state law allowing authorities to confiscate property linked to the illegal drug trade. Authorities also arrested her 50-year-old son, Tommie ``Top Dollar'' Gresham, on a drug charge after he allegedly dropped several rocks of crack cocaine and fled. Police records show 29 incidents of drug activity at the address since 1992 ...

WTO Appeals Panel Rules Against U.S. By PAUL GEITNER AP Business Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - A World Trade Organization appeals panel ruled Monday against a U.S. law granting multibillion-dollar tax breaks to businesses operating overseas. The case, brought by the European Union, is by far the largest the United States has ever lost before the WTO. As the ruling was announced, the EU called on the United States to quickly bring itself into compliance with WTO rules. But the union signaled it would hold off on imposing penalties, which could reach $4 billion a year.The law at the center ...