Free Republic

“The long job slump,” in George Bush’s America, “has left many Americans desperate enough to risk everything for a decent paycheck," CBS’s Dan Rather suggested Wednesday night. So, that is driving people to “risk death in Iraq” by accepting dangerous civilian jobs over there where some end up paying “the ultimate price.” That man who was killed opposed Bush’s war with Iraq, reporter Bob McNamara emphasized as he asked the widow: “Was he for this war?” McNamara insisted that the man’s “desperation for work” led him to take the job in Iraq, but he was from Delaware where the unemployment...

Ten scientists who worked on the research that triggered the MMR scare now say that there is no association between the triple jab and autism in children. Thirteen co-authors wrote the paper published in The Lancet in 1998, led by Andrew Wakefield, who has been at the heart of the controversy ever since. One of the scientists could not be traced and one other, Peter Harvey, together with Dr Wakefield, did not sign the researchers' retraction. The 10, working for or attached to the Royal Free Hospital, London, or its medical school at the time, said in a statement yesterday:...

JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA – As the new year begins, Africa - so often besieged by wars - is seeing a period of growing peace. For the first time in five years, no major wars are roiling the continent, even if low-level conflicts still smolder. A deal to end Sudan's civil war - Africa's longest - could be struck this month. And peace processes are pushing ahead in Liberia, Burundi, Ivory Coast, and Congo.Perhaps it's just a lull between storms. Yet observers see fundamental shifts that may create an era of relative calm for Africa's 800 million people. The biggest new...

US Ambassador in Egypt, David Welch, is a diplomat who does not mince his words. But then, neither do Al-Ahram Weekly journalists -- which made for a lively encounter at Al-Ahram's offices on Monday. Below are extracts from a two-hour round table discussion between Welch and a number of Weekly staff members Hani Shukrallah: We've wanted to conduct this round table for some time now and it happens to come at a very significant moment. We've got so many things going on at the same time, and of course the big thing is Saddam's capture yesterday. We've also got an...

Last month, the sixth since President Bush proclaimed ‘Mission Accomplished’ in Iraq, proved the worst so far in terms of American and ‘coalition’ body bags: 81 in all. November was also marked by the bombing of a residential quarter in Riyadh, and by the four Istanbul car-bombs. In ironic contrast, this was the month dignified with President Bush’s state visit to Britain, complete with his and Blair’s defiant rhetoric about defeating ‘global terror’. All in all, now is surely a good time coolly to re-assess the state of play in this so-called ‘war on terrorism’. First of all, we have...

Notre Dame, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame and NBC Sports announced today a new five-year agreement in which NBC will televise Irish home football games through 2010. The extension provides NBC rights to Notre Dame home games from 2006 through 2010. Notre Dame will provide a minimum of six home games per season to NBC as part of the agreement. The joint announcement was made by NBC Sports & Olympics chairman Dick Ebersol, NBC Sports president Ken Schanzer, Notre Dame president Rev. Edward A. Malloy, C.S.C., and Notre Dame director of athletics Kevin White. "We are delighted to...

Ok, he looks like Saddam Hussein. He sounds like Saddam Hussein. And, yes, he has the same DNA. But can we be sure that it is, in fact, the former Iraqi leader? And not just some poor turkey? Another of his hapless body doubles? Or even a clone? Turkey. Consider the word and its significance in the region, not simply because Turkey is a nation in the neighbourhood. In all its other forms, the word turkey refers to the giant North American chook and is a case of mistaken identity if not deceptive packaging. You see, the Pilgrim Fathers exporting...

Collateral Damage: the health and environmental costs of war on Iraq was issued in London on 12 November 2002 by the global health organisation Medact, the UK affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War - winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985. It was released on the same day in the US by IPPNW and its US affiliate Physicians for Social Responsibility, and by other IPPNW affiliates in over a dozen other countries, including: Australia; Denmark; France; Germany; Guatemala; Malaysia; Norway; Netherlands; Japan; India; Philippines; Canada; US; UK; and Australia. In Australia the Medical Association for...

GENEVA, Dec. 1 — To prove that Middle East peacemaking is possible, self-appointed Israeli and Palestinian negotiators came together here today to sign a sweeping shadow agreement that calls for creation of a Palestinian state and provides a mechanism for resolving the status of Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees and the city of Jerusalem. The unreality of the event was overshadowed by the painful pleas from the Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to their leaders to talk to each other once again about a permanent solution. "The document is virtual, but all of us are real, and our heartbeats are real," the...

Annika Sorenstam played against the men again -- and beat them with one of the most spectacular shots in the history of the Skins Game. Sorenstam, the first woman to compete in the 21 years since the event began, holed a 39-yard bunker shot for an eagle on the par-5, 524-yard ninth hole Saturday to earn $175,000. ''I'm pretty much in shock, I must say,'' she said. Another $700,000 will be at stake in the final nine holes on Sunday. On Saturday, she won more than her three male competitors did combined. Phil Mickelson earned $100,000 with a pair of...

<p>LOS ANGELES — Embedded journalists brought the Iraq war live into America's living rooms.</p> <p>But now, actor and anti-war activist Tim Robbins has written and directed a play depicting his version of what he thinks happened in Iraq.</p> <p>Robbins, an ardent critic of President Bush, as well as the war, isn't a journalist, nor is he a soldier who has been to Iraq. In fact, he's never been embedded with the troops.</p>

A week-old baby from Iraq succesfully underwent heart surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon and is now recouperating in the cardiac intensive care unit. The girl checked into an Israeli hospital Tuesday for an emergency heart operation after European hospitals refused to accept her for treatment. Wrapped in a red-and-yellow blanket and held by her mother, tiny Bayan Jassem was met by Israeli doctors at the entrance to the Wolfson Medical Center emergency room with the Arabic greeting "Salam alaikum," or "Welcome." Akiva Tamir, the hospital's director of pediatric cardiology, took the baby in his arms and carried...

Deported Senegalese Imam Mamour Fall has accused the Italian government of racism. The controversial cleric, who lived in Italy for 11 years, told the BBC he felt victimised for being an African. The Italian Interior Ministry deported Imam Fall for supporting Osama Bin Laden after he predicted more attacks on Italians in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nineteen Italian soldiers died in a southern Iraq bomb attack, sparking a crackdown on Muslim militants in Italy. The 39-year-old imam said Italy's troops would be targeted because they were aiding the US-led coalition, adding that further strikes would then follow on Italian soil. Six...

Here's a webcam view of Trafalgar Square. It updates every five seconds, so you might need a lot of bandwidth. Dude! Where's my protest?!

A lot of Americans in Baghdad now are desperately reviewing their personal security, especially after Sunday’s attacks on the al Rashid Hotel and Monday’s half-hour rampage of six suicide car bombings around the city. If even Paul Wolfowitz isn’t safe (his room was only one floor away from taking a direct hit from a rocket), then who is? Here’s a primer for those who really must go. GETTING THERE If you don’t have a military flight, or a seat on a military convoy, then there are four main ways in to Iraq, all of them bad. You can drive up...

EAGLE, Colo. -- Kobe Bryant's lawyers argued in court papers they have "compelling evidence" the NBA superstar is innocent of rape and accused prosecutors of ignoring it. The defense said tests on the accuser's underpants found "other substances" from a "source" other than the Los Angeles Lakers' guard. The lawyers argue that injuries to the woman may have been caused by previous sexual partners. The details were released in a court filing at the same time Judge Frederick Gannett rejected a prosecution request to close the remainder of a preliminary hearing to protect the 19-year-old accuser. The hearing is to...

A Utah soldier's instinctive reaction to help a child in Iraq has blossomed into a national toy donation drive for the children of that war-torn country. Operationgive.org began last month, after "Chief Wiggles" — a member of the Utah National Guard stationed in Iraq, who maintains a Web-based journal, chiefwiggles.blog-city.com/; posted a description of his touching encounter with an Iraqi girl. He said he saw a little girl crying outside the barbed wire fence by the front gate of the former palace where he works. Her mother, who had only one leg, had hobbled inside to talk to someone. "She...

The family of two-year-old conjoined twins have been celebrating a successful operation to separate them. Surgeons worked for over 30 hours to divide the heads of Mohamed and Ahmed Ibrahim from Egypt, teasing apart a complex network of blood vessels. "When somebody came up and said 'We have two boys', the father Ibrahim jumped to my neck and he hugged me and he fainted," said the twins' Egyptian doctor Nasser Abdelal. The boys' successful surgery comes as another set of conjoined twins were separated in Italy following a 12-hour operation. 'Only chance' The team of surgeons told a news conference...

For those of you who read Chief Wiggles' blog, he is an American serviceman in Iraq, doing interrogations and intelligence. The other day he posted a touching story about giving a few simple items to an Iraqi girl, and her reaction. Well so many people asked about sending toys to him to distribute, they set up an address where you can send them. Please see Chief Wiggles blog for details.

IT WAS WITH some astonishment that I read this week that a Dutch court ruled on September 4 that writer Karin Spaink could keep the Scientology materials on her Web site. The original case, in which this is the third ruling, began in the Pleistocene era in Internet terms – nine years ago. I had no idea it was still doing the Jarndyce vs. Jarndyce thing. I spent much of 1994 – when the Web was Usenet, the king was CompuServe, and the browsers were all Mosaic – reading the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, which I spotted while wandering around Usenet looking...