Free Republic

Two-Parent Families Rise After Changes in Welfare Five years after Congress overhauled welfare laws, with the intention of creating more two-parent families, the proportion of poor American children living in households with two adults is on the rise, two studies say. Nagging questions remain, however, about the stability of these new households and the well-being of the children growing up in them. The most significant change in family structure, the studies suggest, has occurred among low-income blacks. After a decade-long slide, the proportion of black children living with two married parents increased significantly from 1995 to 2000. An analysis of ...

Federal Judge Bans OPEC Controls The Associated Press, Tue 3 Apr 2001 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — A federal judge ruling in a price-fixing lawsuit filed against OPEC by an Alabama service station barred the oil cartel from controlling Mideast crude-oil production. A lawyer for the gas station said Tuesday he expects the petroleum cartel to abide by the outcome of the lawsuit, which OPEC has ignored so far. But an expert in international law called the judge's order virtually unenforceable. OPEC, based in Vienna, Austria, did not respond to questions about the case. Carl and Debbie Prewitt, who own the ...

STRONG>16:57 2001-08-02 AN ATTEMPT ON KIM JONG-IL’S LIFE COMMITTED IN RUSSIA. THERE ARE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCES Nothing has been reported officially about this incident, probably to avoid a big international scandal. Though in the light of new facts the North Korean leader’s odd behaviour becomes clear, who practically does not get out from the train, but if he does, nobody is permitted to come up to him. The strange incident with Kim Jong-il’s travel warrant train while its moving along Trans-Siberian railway has become known by chance. During its stop in the city of Omsk the journalists from local agency “KP-Master” ...

Missing Lt. Shows Up in Philippines by SEAN YOONGAssociated Press Writer MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- A missing U.S. Navy lieutenant showed up unharmed at Clark Air Base late Wednesday, a day after escaping suspected communist guerrillas while hiking on the slopes of a volcano. Lt. Scott Alan Washburn, hungry but uninjured, said he hid after a brush with guerrillas who fired on his guards Tuesday. He walked about three hours to reach the base, said Maj. Allan Ballesteros, spokesman for the Philippine air force. Ballesteros said Washburn, of Celina, Ohio, tried to flag down a helicopter involved in the search ...

14-Year-Old Wins U.S. Geography Bee by RANDOLPH E. SCHMIDAssociated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 14-year-old who loves to travel and would like to protect the sites of classical antiquity turned a third try into success Wednesday, winning the 2001 National Geographic Bee. Kyle Haddad-Fonda of Shoreline, Wash., triumphed by knowing that a region of melting and evaporation in the lower portion of a glacier is called the zone of ablation. Haddad-Fonda, a student at The Evergreen School, a private school, won a $25,000 college scholarship. He also represented Washington in the bee in 1999 and last year. Placing second ...

LARGO, Fla. (AP) -- Rush Limbaugh has plenty of dittoheads. But look-alikes? Figuring that few people resemble the conservative radio personality, police collared a man wanted for battery on a 73-year-old woman and carjacking. It all started in July when the woman called police and said an acquaintance named Ray Doyle Williams pushed her out of her car and took off with it. St. Petersburg policeman David Beeler, who took the victim's complaint, recognized Williams' name and remembered seeing him at the Hillsborough County courthouse. He noticed Williams because Williams bore a striking resemblance to Limbaugh. Prosecutor Pat Siracusa said ...