Free Republic

For an event that would turn a page in American history, former president Jimmy Carter has agreed in principle to host former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami for talks during his visit to the United States starting this week. Carter's term as president was dominated by the rupture in relations after the 1979 Iranian revolution and the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days until the day he left office. Iranians made the overture for the meeting, and the Carter Center in Atlanta is working on the possible timing, said Phil Wise,...

Former US president Jimmy Carter lashed out at British Prime Minister Tony Blair for being "so compliant and subservient" to the Bush administration in Washington. "I have been surprised and extremely disappointed with Tony Blair's behaviour," Carter told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper as he promoted his new book "Faith and Freedom." "I think that, more than any other person in the world, the prime minister could have had a moderating influence on Washington, and he has not," said the 81-year-old former head of state. He faulted Blair for not having been a constraint on US President George W. Bush's decision...

"Thousands Remember Coretta Scott King" ---------- I was watching Fox News and they showed Jimmy Carter speaking at Coretta Scott King's funeral, and sure enough, he started talking about illegal wire-tapping and other examples of government run amok. I am appalled that he would use this opportunity to bash the President, but not really surprised. :-(

President Bush today again avoided taking a question from White House doyenne Helen Thomas during his 45-minute press conference, even though he took questions from every reporter around her front-row, center seat. "He's a coward," Thomas said afterward. "He's supposed to be this macho guy. He'll take on Osama bin Laden, but he won't take me on." Thomas, who worked as the UPI White House reporter for 57 years and is now a columnist, raised her hand every time the president was concluding an answer to a reporter's question, but he never called on her. Thomas, who worked as the...

Is She Alive? -Amos the Prophet She lays unthinking-unfeeling-unknowing that she is alive. Now dying of thirst and hunger but peaceful, beautiful and serene. She does not, cannot, know of the uproar that surrounds her. She is oblivious, unreachable, beyond all we cherish as human. Or she is not. Or she is aware and knows the terror that dominates her. Or she knows the names and faces of her enemies and fears their horrible power. Or she longs for a few more minutes with those who cherish her. Or she yearns for a drop of water. Does she know that...

I've got news for President George W. Bush. Since its birth, the United States has always been a beacon light of freedom and has spread the good word about democracy and self government through ideas and aid -- but not at gunpoint. Has Bush ever heard of the Marshall Plan, the Peace Corps, the Voice of America and exchange student programs? The United States was the model of freedom for the rest of the world until the president kicked off his new, macho doctrine of preemptive war, with the unprovoked attack on Iraq being the first test of that theory....

Ramallah - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is suffering from a potentially fatal blood disorder which will require more tests outside the West Bank to determine the cause, one of the doctors treating him said Thursday. "His blood cells which should normally destroy microbes are currently destroying blood platelets," the doctor said on condition of anonymity. The disorder could have been triggered "by an inflammation caused by a virus, a cancer or blood poisoning," he told reporters. The supplemtary tests could not be conducted in Arafat's West Bank headquarters where he is currently being treated, he added. "The doctors think that...

CNN breaking news red banner Arafat refusing to go to Paris.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Actor Tony Randall has a fantasy: when he dies President Bush and Vice President Cheney show up to pay their respects but they're turned away - because his family knows he didn't like them. Feeling his own mortality while suffering a cold, Randall, 83, made his remarks as the National Funeral Directors Association announced a new code of ethics for its members, beginning in 2004. Funerals should be planned as a celebration of life and "a touch of humor doesn't hurt a bit," Randall said. A comedian, Randall is best known for his role as Felix Unger...

Former Ugandan leader Idi Amin - whose 1971 to 1979 regime was one of the bloodiest in African history - reportedly remains in a coma after three days on a life support machine. A hospital official told the Associated Press news agency that his condition had deteriorated on Monday after stabilising on Sunday. "He is still alive. But he remains in critical condition in the intensive care unit" at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, one of Saudi Arabia's top medical centres, another medical source at the hospital was quoted as saying by...

PRESIDENT Fidel Castro was at the forefront of very special and emotive events in Ecuador related to the inauguration of the Chapel of Humankind and other activities during an official three-day visit to that country at the invitation of President Noboa Bejarano.After two previous visits (1971 and 1988), on this occasion Fidel, as guest of honor, was proclaimed an Illustrious Guest of the City of Quito, an honor likewise conferred on Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, another participant at the festivities.In a solemn ceremony, and to his evident emotion, the Cuban leader was presented with a replica of the key of...