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MONTPELIER, Vt. -- The first weekend of deer season began with hunters adjusting to a new rule: spikehorn deer -- male deer that have just a single antler -- are off limits to this year. The regulation is designed to try and strengthen herd numbers. The regulations also reduce the number of deer a hunter can take during the state's archery, rifle and black powder seasons from three to two. "I was a little bit worried about it this year, but I think in the end it will be well-worth it," said hunter Jeff Kershner. I would like to see...

UK 'cannot rule out nuclear attack by terrorists' By Joshua Rozenberg, Legal Editor (Filed: 03/11/2005) The suicide bombings in London on July 7 were not the worst attacks that we could expect in Britain, according to the former head of MI6. Sir Richard Dearlove, who retired last year as head of the Secret Intelligence Service, said chemical, biological and genetic terrorism was in prospect and a nuclear attack could not be ruled out. Acknowledging that the July bombings had been "very lethal", he said they did not amount to a "strategic terrorist event". Sir Richard, who was taking part in...

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal judge expressed reluctance about beginning judicial oversight of pollution issues that affect global warming as she heard arguments Friday in a complaint brought by eight states against some of the nation's largest power companies. "Why should I do something that Congress and the president have decided they don't want to do as a matter of policy?" Judge Loretta Preska asked lawyers for the states. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the states would prove that the five power companies are responsible for 10 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide emissions. The states are asking...

give them a call and state we want a division 1 football playoff too.

Kurds in Iran's western city of Mahabad are rioting against the Iranian government after the torture and brutal death of activist, Shovaneh Ghaderi, at the hands of the police. Shovaneh was a member of the Revolutionary Union of Kurdistan. His crime evidently was to call for autonomy in Kurdistan. Reports are that Shovaneh was shot by police and tied to a car. He was dragged by the car to the police station, suffering severe lacerations. At the police station, he was allegedly tortured until he died. Shovaneh was 25-years old at the time of his murder. The police brutality came...

Alexander Bandurka, the acting head of Parliamentary Committee on legislative securing of law-enforcement activity, considers that the President of Ukraine Victor Yushchenko exceeded his authority having liquidated traffic police. Bandurka pointed out that the structure and number of Ministry of Internal Affairs, which includes traffic police, are regulated by the Act about police. The reorganization of traffic police should be conducted in accordance with the law. “The very form of the reorganization is not legal… It should be done by means of law, which is to be passed by Verkhovna Rada", said Bandurka. He also pointed out that the President...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - A state official on leave amid an investigation into a half-million-dollar contract awarded to his brother-in-law also recently changed an agency overtime rule in a way that benefits his new wife. Robert Millette, director of finance and administration for the Illinois Department of Transportation, decreed in January that any employee who serves as a "technical manager V" would be eligible for time off in exchange for working overtime, a perk not previously offered, a department spokesman said. Millette's wife, Angela Korbar, is in the "technical manager V" category as a personnel manager in the Transportation Department's...

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) - A judge said he would rule Monday on whether the 2004 gubernatorial election should be nullified. Chelan County Superior Court Judge John Bridges' announcement came Thursday, as Democrats were nearing the end of their defense of the disputed election, which Democrat Christine Gregoire won by just 129 votes. Republicans challenging Gregoire's victory have focused on errors in the Democratic stronghold of King County, the state's most populous and home to about a third of the total votes statewide. They contend the errors indicate fraud and want the election overturned to allow a new contest between Gregoire...

The Book of Joshua as a Political Classic Daniel J. Elazar The argument of this paper is that the Book of Joshua is a classic of political thought, that can be and should be read as a coherent whole, in fact, as a major statement of the classic political world view of the Bible. For political science, it is the first classic exposition of federal republicanism.1 While the themes it emphasizes are derived from the Torah itself, the Torah combines them with other elements. In Joshua, the federal republican character of the Israelite edah (lit: congregation or assembly -- the...

Though even some conservatives disagree, no matter how you spin it, this compromise agreement among the 14 self-anointed Senators is a big loser for Republicans and for the country. The best way to measure this is to compare what is likely to happen with the agreement in place with what likely would have happened had the agreement not been reached. Republicans received only one "concession" in the deal: Democrats agreed not to filibuster three judges, Janice Rogers Brown, William Pryor, and Priscilla Owen. But many believe Republicans had sufficient votes in the Senate, especially with Vice President Cheney's tie-breaking vote,...

Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Government 8. Majority Rule The only way a republican government can function, and the only way a people's voice can be expressed to effect a practicable control of government, is through a process in which decisions are made by the majority. This is not a perfect way of controlling government, but the alternatives--decisions made by a minority, or by one person--are even worse and are the source of great evil. To be just, majority decisions must be in the best interest of all the people, not just one faction. "The first principle of republicanism is...

I receive an English comic book several times a week via e-mail called: “The Party for Islamic Renewal.” In one of their latest issues, British Muslims are wailing about how badly Muslims are treated around the world. The Muslims of England must unite to protest the horrible, evil, cruel, and completely unjust persecution and oppression of Muslims. Muslims complain that in France, the locals don’t like the Muslim girls to wear their hijabs. This is an outrage. I understand that in Egypt a woman is encouraged to wear the hijab. In fact, I believe it’s mandatory, especially if she is...

There are now more cats than dogs in the United States (78 million cats vs. 65 million cats in 2003, according to American Animal Hospital Association and the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association). So, here are feline facts to amaze, delight and inspire anyone from the ailurophile to the casual cat fancier: • Kittens are born blue-eyed. If their eyes change colors, it generally occurs at 4 to 5 weeks of age. Kittens open their eyes at 7 to 10 days but can't hear until they're about 14 days old. • The cat is the only animal that purrs. Domestic...

WASHINGTON – As California officials assert their authority in court over liquefied natural gas terminals, Congress is moving to make it clear that federal regulators have the final word on where the sometimes-controversial facilities are located. An energy bill being crafted by a House committee would solidify the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's role in approving the growing number of proposed LNG facilities nationwide, proponents say. Some of the terminals, including several proposed for California, have encountered strong opposition from residents worried about accidents or terrorist attacks involving the highly explosive fuel. Senate energy subcommittee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., introduced similar...

Boxer Amendment to End Global Gag Rule Passes in the Senate Feminist Daily News Wire April 6, 2005 Led by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), a champion for women's rights, the Senate passed an amendment to a foreign aid bill on Tuesday to overturn the Global Gag Rule. The amendment, sponsored by Sen. Boxer and Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), was passed 52-46, with eight Republican Senators joining the Democrats. Reuters reports that the US Senate has repeatedly rejected the dangerous and restrictive policy since it was first imposed by the Reagan Administration in 1984. Though President Clinton rescinded the policy for...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - A proposal that would let the California Republican Party make an early endorsement of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and allow early party contributions to his re-election campaign led a longtime activist to resign from a key party committee Friday. Dora Kingsley said the rule proposed by party Chairman Duf Sundheim for consideration at the party convention this weekend in Sacramento could bring criticism of Schwarzenegger. The state Democratic Party allows such preprimary endorsements, but Kingsley said the GOP rules prohibit them "in order to protect the integrity of the nomination process." Changing the rule could "lead to loss...

Public intellectuals now claim intelligence is higher in the blue states than in the red states. To some extent they have empirical evidence since Democrats overwhelmingly win two educational groups—those with postgraduate degrees and high school drop outs. Seemingly the public intellectuals focus on the first rather than the latter, but it does raise the question what does distinguish the red “stater” from the blue “stater?” Attorney David Lebedoff answers this question in The Uncivil War: How a New Elite Is Destroying Our Democracy. Lebedoff believes the divide is between those who believe in rule by the “New Elite” (liberals)...

This week, the Bill of Rights becomes 213 years old. These 461 words were intended to be the backbone for defense of what the Founding Fathers called our "unalienable" rights. And so they were, with only few exceptions, for over 140 years. Starting with the blatant and unconstitutional socialism of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration, Washington has steadily eroded our rights. So, today, many of these so called "unalienable" rights are but privileges allowed or refused at the whim of a capricious central government, and some have been all but completely usurped by Washington. Yet, these Amendments are still part...

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

Note:  The following column was the lead article in the November issue of Zogby’s Real America newsletter.  For more hard-hitting commentary like this from John Zogby and his team at Zogby International, check out the latest issue of Zogby’s Real America newsletter.   Visit http://www.zogby.com/realamerica/index.cfm for details.)The Incumbent Rule is one of those useful analytical tools that people in my business, along with political scientists and pundits of every stripe, put a lot of stock in.  It’s a proven device for making predictions based on history, and it’s held up surprisingly well over time.  But it’s also taken a lot of...