Free Republic

The Duke Of Medina Sidonia By William S. Lind 31 March 2003 In planning a war, the most important task is to understand what can be planned and what cannot. In general, the initial disposition of forces can be planned, and it must be planned with great care. As Field Marshal von Moltke said, "A mistake in initial dispositions can seldom be put right." But Moltke also said, "No plan survives its first contact with the enemy." Once you cross the enemy's border, you have to adjust and improvise constantly. The conduct of war, as distinct from preparation for war,...

BATON ROUGE, La. -- An experimental toxin sprayed on mosquitoes in several U.S. counties has turned the pests into insect Einsteins! The insecticide, which was rushed through development in an effort to curtail this summer's West Nile virus outbreak, not only failed in eliminating the bugs, but also increased their brainpower to a level that some believe is superior to that of human beings. Dr. Thomas Jarrad, head of the Institute for Entomological Sciences, was one of the first to study the brilliant bugs. "Apparently, the insecticide stimulated a growth hormone in the mosquitoes that is creating new and more...

Redskins Try End Run to Save Millions Workers' Compensation Wouldn't Apply to Team By Michael D. Shear Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, January 18, 2003; Page A01 RICHMOND, Jan. 17 -- Legislation filed in Virginia today on behalf of the Washington Redskins ownership would virtually exempt the team from paying millions of dollars to its players for injuries suffered on the field. Senior Democrats and Republicans in the General Assembly have lined up behind the measure, introduced just before today's deadline for new legislation. The bill was introduced in the House and Senate a week after the Virginia Supreme Court...

Internet dating has prompted a return to Seventies-style free love. But this time it’s got no soul, writes Naomi Wolf Casual sex is back. One more relic of the early 1970s is apparently returning to the scene: hipster trousers and peace movements have been joined by a resurgence of the “zipless f---”, as Erica Jong christened it. If you hadn’t noticed this, don’t feel too bad. It could have to do with where you live. According to New York magazine, arbiter of all things cutting edge in Manhattan, the new fleshpots are teeming in certain urban centres in America. At...

Politics earns Chinese tycoon jail cell Venture with N. Korea annoyed wrong people, observers believe 11/29/2002 Associated Press BEIJING - Maybe he was arrogant. Maybe he thought, like many of China's new elite, that the company he built and the riches he amassed would protect him. Maybe he underestimated the hazards that come from mixing economics and politics in a nation struggling to balance both. Whatever the case, 39-year-old Yang Bin, an obsequious, cherub-cheeked tycoon who became point man for North Korea's foray into capitalism, is in big trouble with China, the country where he was born but whose...

The front-runner in Brazil's presidential election has said he wants to "widen [his] alliances" ahead of the final round of the poll. Despite winning nearly twice as many votes as his nearest opponent in the first round on Sunday, left-wing candidate Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva still remained short of an absolute majority to win outright. He said he would seek the support of those opposed to the country's current, free-market economic model to win the second round. All power to the Soviets! Workers control the means of production! Someone needs to tell Lula this went out of style over...

AYODHYA, India (AP)-- Nearly 10,000 paramilitary troops moved into town Saturday after police said an Islamic separatist group threatened to blow up a Hindu temple at the site of a demolished 16th century mosque. Security was tightened as thousands of Hindus began arriving in Ayodhya to hold a Sunday prayer ceremony close to the ruins of the Babri mosque razed by Hindu nationalists eight years ago. That demolition triggered riots killing 2,000 people. Intelligence reports say a Pakistan-based militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammed, planed to attack the temple, where Hindus keep idols of their gods and goddesses, a police officer said on...

Teacher In Space Highlights O’Keefe NASA Vision Speech Space News, April 15, 2002, page 3 A highly touted policy speech by NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe disclosed plans to send teachers to space, but con-veyed no dramatic change in the direction of the U.S. space agency. NASAs plans to send astronaut-in-train-ing Barbara Morgan, a former elementary school teacher, to the international space station no sooner than 2004 was the highlight of O'Keefe's April 12 speech at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University in New York. NASAs public affairs operation billed O'Keefe's speech as a major address,...

MANILA -- Philippine authorities are searching for more than four tons of explosives -- twice the amount used in the Oklahoma City bombing -- that might have been bought by an Indonesian man identified as the key supplier of explosives for a multinational terrorist plot.The search has raised concerns among investigators that the Philippines has become a major source of bomb material for use throughout Southeast Asia and that large quantities might have been moved to other countries."We are worried about it. We don't know where the missing explosives are," said a Philippine prosecutor who helped interrogate Fathur Rohman al-Ghozi,...