Free Republic

How to make sushi BY DAVE BARRY (This classic Dave Barry column was originally published on Nov. 29, 1998.) Today's culinary topic is: How to make sushi. I happen to be an expert on this topic because I recently put in a stint as a chef at an actual sushi restaurant. (One of the first things you learn, as a sushi chef, is how to put in a stint.) Before I give you the details, I should explain, for the benefit of those of you who live in remote wilderness regions such as Iowa, what sushi is. Basically, it is...

Just felt something? low wavy motion....

One month after the April 19, 1995, Oklahoma City bombing (search) that killed 168 people, authorities demolished what was left of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building (search). Officials said the implosion was a necessary part of the psychological recovery for the citizens of Oklahoma City. But critics question the FBI’s tactics and argue the building came down too soon and the implosion is one piece of a government cover-up. Survivor VZ Lawton remembers the events after the attack. “I was in my office at my desk signing papers and all of a sudden the building began to shake,” said...

A "no" vote to the European Constitution would weaken the EU and benefit the United States, warned French President Jacques Chirac, Thursday.

Thursday, 14 April, 2005, 12:08 GMT 13:08 UK Do Britons lack je ne sais quoi? Learning German and French in the UK is in terminal decline, while businesses are being hampered by Britons' poor language skills, research indicates. So just why are we so bad at learning the lingo? And do Britons really deserve their bad image abroad? Well, yes, according to figures compiled by the European Union. When it comes to speaking a second language, the UK population is resolutely at the bottom. For example, in Italy 18% speak French - the top language taught in UK schools -...

The groundbreaking legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly this month requiring Wal-Mart to pay more of its workers' health care costs is the first victory in a nationwide effort by the Service Employees International Union to change the retail giant's labor practices. The union doesn't represent retail or grocery workers in Maryland but has turned the state into a testing ground for its campaign to oppose Wal-Mart strategies that union President Andrew L. Stern says are driving down wages and benefits for other workers. The legislation requires a company with more than 10,000 employees to spend at least 8...

Roundup Nabs More Than 10,000 Fugitives By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON - More than 10,000 fugitives, many wanted for violent crimes, were rounded up over the past week in a coordinated nationwide effort led by U.S. marshals. Officers from 960 federal, state and local law enforcement agencies took part in the concentrated search, which coincided with Crime Victims Rights Week, officials said. The dragnet caught 10,340 people, some of whom had two or more outstanding arrest warrants, Justice Department officials said. More than 150 who were arrested were wanted for murder, another 550 were sought on rape or...

Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN). Does anyone have any knowledge or experience with this? From the TNA support website: TN (Trigeminal Neuralgia / tic douloureux) is a disorder of the fifth cranial (trigeminal) nerve that causes episodes of intense, stabbing, electric shock-like pain in the areas of the face where the branches of the nerve are distributed - lips, eyes, nose, scalp, forehead, upper jaw, and lower jaw. By many, it's called the "suicide disease". A less common form of the disorder called "Atypical Trigeminal Neuralgia" may cause less intense, constant, dull burning or aching pain, sometimes with occasional electric shock-like stabs....

Rep. Christopher Shays (Conn.), the only Republican in Congress to call for Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) to resign as House majority leader, walked in late to a committee meeting yesterday and got the cold shoulder from a longtime colleague, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.). When Burton barely acknowledged Shays, Shays put a hand on Burton's and inquired, "Dan, is everything okay?" "Well," Burton replied, shaking his head, "I'm really not happy with what you did." Rep. Christopher Shays broke party ranks on DeLay. Shays leaned over. "Dan," he said, "I've been speaking out for a long time and nobody seems to be...

Deutsche Bank warned yesterday that a likely French 'No' to the European constitution could begin a wave of currency speculation across Eastern Europe, setting off a chain of economic disruption. Norbert Walter, the bank's chief economist, said rejection of the treaty in France's referendum on May 29 could halt the eastward expansion of the euro-zone. The Turkish lira is also vulnerable. "There could be a wave of currency attacks in the new member states. These countries would then have to raise interest rates. We could see enormous exchange rate swings," he told FT Deutschland. "The problem is that the EU...

Cuban leader Fidel Castro and the vice president of Venezuela are demanding that an anti-Castro militant accused of blowing up a Cuban airliner in 1976 not be granted asylum in Miami. Miami attorney Eduardo Soto, representing Luis Posada Carriles, has said the 77-year-old man is now in the United States and plans to petition for political asylum this week, saying he deserves the protection because he worked ''directly and indirectly'' for the CIA. Soto plans to hold a news conference today to address questions about Posada's case. In Havana, Castro called Posada a terrorist, said the U.S. government was harboring...

He keeps going on about how people are trying to get in 'his back pockets' and how he can't trust anyone. Does anyone know what happended?

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 SOME THOUGHTS ON THE ANGOLAN MARBURG OUTBREAK New information suggests the Marburg outbreak in Angola may have begun as early as October or November,2004 : simmering almost undetected until late March of 2005. Knowledgeable experts in the field of virology have suggested-because the initial cases all involved very young children-the infection itself might have been caused by childhood immunization shots,administered with improperly sterilized needles. The big problem with this hypothesis is the lack of patients infected with Marburg before the outbreak began.How did the needles (assuming they were re-used) become contaminated in the first place ?...

ALBANY, March 29 - Commuters from out of state who take cars, trains and buses to jobs in New York have long grumbled about having to pay New York State income tax. A ruling handed down on Tuesday by the state's highest court found that the growing ranks of telecommuters from out of state must also pay. The Court of Appeals ruled 4 to 3 that a computer programmer for a group of trade unions in Queens who works mostly out of his home in Nashville must pay New York State tax on all his income, not just on part....

We are not alone. That's the finding of new research out last month on the European diet. In terms of expanding waistlines, Europeans are catching up to and even surpassing the U.S. Most European Union countries show a rise in obesity across all segments of society, according to the London-based International Obesity Task Force, a coalition of scientists advising the EU. Germany, Finland, Greece, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Malta have a higher share of overweight men than the U.S. Among women, only Greece's obesity rate (38%) tops America's (34%). Though the U.S. still takes the cake overall, the...

"The hospital has been the main source of infection," said MSF emergency co-ordinator Monica De Castellarnau. She said people infected by the virus went to the hospital where they infected doctors and nurses, who in turn infected other patients. "We have to break that circle," she said, adding that MSF was recommending that the hospital be closed "because it was still contaminated." Although the main hospital in Uige may have been the main source of Marburg infections at one time, the situation in Angola has clearly changed. The news coming out of Angola clearly lags the true spread of Marburg...

Since the federal government proposes phasing in its new passport policy by 2008 -- and since it is designed to further secure our borders after 9/11 -- why wasn't it proposed on 9/12? Or in 1999?

Sicuani, a market town of about 30,000 people 150km south-east of the tourist resort of Cusco, is rarely mentioned during the day-to-day circus of Peruvian politics. In a sense, that makes it a perfect setting for a revolution. Tomorrow the town is to host the launch of the Peruvian version of Bolivia's Movement to Socialism (MAS), the radical anti-globalisation party headed by Evo Morales, the indigenous coca-growers' leader whose militant rhetoric sends shivers down the spines of many in Washington. Mr Morales will be guest of honour. Poor, and sited about 3,600m above sea level, Sicuani may be a backwater...

Clinton aide lays out U.N. role. Ex-president projected to spend two years as special envoy UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Former President Clinton will spend at least two years in his new role as the U.N. envoy promoting recovery in tsunami-hit countries, his deputy said. His job also will be to demand accountability for the unprecedented billions of dollars donated by countries and individuals, (emphasis added by poster) said Erskine Bowles..... ...With the United Nations under attack over alleged corruption in the oil-for-food program in Iraq, sex abuse by U.N. peacekeepers and mismanagement by top officials, Bowles said it is essential...

April 9, 2005China's Foray Into Latin AmericaBy Frederick W. Stakelbeck, Jr.Over forty years after the Cuban Missile Crisis, America once again finds itself in the crosshairs of a determined, Cuban-based adversary possessing the capability to inflict incalculable damage to U.S. democracy efforts and regional stability. That adversary is China. For two decades, Soviet defense, economic and intelligence assistance allowed Fidel Castro’s Cuba to project its own brand of Stalinist totalitarianism throughout Latin America infesting countries such as Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Chile. Castro’s dream of leading a new Latin American empire ended abruptly in the early 1990’s with the...