Free Republic

Expert: H5N1 Worst Flu Virus He's Ever Seen Thursday, May 04, 2006 SINGAPORE — A leading expert said Thursday the H5N1 virus is the worst flu virus he's ever encountered, and far too many gaps in planning and knowledge persist for the world to handle it in the event of a pandemic. The virus is a vicious killer in poultry, moving into the brain and destroying the respiratory tract, said Robert G. Webster, a virologist at the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn. "I've worked with flu all my life, and this is the worst influenza virus that...

When asked by the media for his thoughts on the Hamas triumph in the Palestinian parliamentary elections, former President Jimmy Carter replied that while they have a terrorist past, at least they're not corrupt. One of the complaints by many in the Middle East was the corruption within the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat's Fatah Party. Arafat himself squirreled away millions of dollars from aid packages that were intended to help the Palestinian people. However, Carter's comment appears to dismiss the years of death and destruction perpetrated by Hamas on the Jewish State. One of the first statements made by...

Largest Ever Ancient Temple Discovered in Shabwa By Observer Staff Jan 21, 2006 - Vol.IX Issue 02 SANA’A- Archeologists in Shabwa governorate have discovered what is said to be the biggest temple ever discovered in the Arabian Peninsula, dating back to the 5th Century BC. The Italian archeological expedition, who have been digging in the ancient Royal Palace in Tamna’a city, say it is one of the oldest and most extensive temples ever discovered in the region. They found the temple on their recent dig, which lasted for 25 days. Khyran Mohsen Al-Zubairi, the Director of Archeology in Shabwa, told...

What secrets did Japan's ancient emperors take to the grave? And will we ever know? 01/05/2006 By HIROSHI MATSUBARA, Staff Writer This is the fourth in a series on issues and topics facing Japan's imperial family. A new challenge is being mounted that may eventually put the Imperial Household Agency in something of a tight corner. Academics have long called on the agency to open imperial tombs to full inspection to resolve riddles of Japan's ancient past and put to rest lingering doubts about the authenticity of some of the final resting places of emperors. All this time, the agency,...

Rice: Israeli settlements contravene U.S. policy By Shmuel Rosner and Arnon Regular, Haaretz Correspondents, and the Associated Press Several hours ahead of her meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the United States delivered harsh messages to Israel over construction between Eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank town of Ma'aleh Adumim, which contravenes the Bush Administration policy in the Middle East. Speaking at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Rice said that the U.S. is concerned about Israeli construction in the West Bank, and cuts back on economic aid to Israel due...

KOFI ANNAN'S SILENCE. Blame Game by Claudia Rosett On February 3, the United Nations-authorized inquiry into the Oil-for-Food scandal, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, issued its first interim report. Volcker's most lurid finding so far is that Saddam Hussein, at the behest of Oil-for-Food Programme Executive Director Benon Sevan, allocated lucrative oil sales to a Panama-based company. This, concluded Volcker, constituted "a grave and continuing conflict of interest" on Sevan's part and a violation of the U.N. charter. Investigators are now pondering Volcker's disclosure that Sevan's aunt, while living on a government pension in Cyprus, sent Sevan...

Discovery Channel and America Online are joining in a national contest to name the "Greatest American" ever. Starting today, online voters can throw their support behind the person they believe "most influenced the way they think, work and live," a statement from Discovery Channel and AOL read. The top nominees will be listed in March, with Discovery planning a seven-hour, four-night series in the spring about the leading vote-getters and the winner. The first episode will air in May and will profile a selection from the top 100 nominees. The list will be pared down by further online voting, with...

Weaker Than Ever: MoveOns state of denial is bad for Democrats Fri Dec 3, 2:40 PM ET By Marc Cooper Never mind that George W. Bush won re-election by 4 million votes. Or that Democrats lost in 28 out of 50 states. Or that more than a third of Latino votes went to the Republicans. And that something like 40 percent of union votes went Republican. Dont worry — be happy. "We are truly stronger than ever." I know that because the liberal political action group MoveOn wrote me to tell me so. Indeed, it was so darn pleased with...

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!

This request was made earlier, but it bears posting again. The soldiers and their families need our support. While listening to Lucianne Goldberg on the Laura Ingraham show, a caller requested help for the soldiers again. She specifically mentioned this site. During the call, she said that soldiers that are injured during duty number over 10,000. Also, she said that a number of the families who travel to medical facilities to be with their loved ones are forced to sleep in their cars as they cannot afford lodging anywhere else. Sounded like this site and the post was worth a...

Cheney: Rumsfeld is the best ever May 09 2004 at 12:45PM By Randall Mikkelsen Washington - United States Vice-President Dick Cheney rushed to the aid of Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld - under fire over Iraqi prison abuses - by saying people should "get off his case" and let Rumsfeld do his job. "Don Rumsfeld is the best secretary of defence the United States has ever had," Cheney said in a statement from his office late on Saturday. The statement appeared to signal a White House push to rally Republicans behind the embattled Rumsfeld. "People ought to get off his case...

Israel now finds itself more isolated than ever (Filed: 23/03/2004) European foreign ministers were quick yesterday to condemn the "extra-judicial killing" of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of Hamas, by Israel. Jack Straw was particularly indignant about Israel's failure to abide by international law. A whiff of hypocrisy emanates from such moralising ministers, some of whom have cheerfully countenanced assassination attempts of their own - most recently against the leaders of Iraq, al-Qa'eda and the Taliban. Tony Blair, for one, is well aware that Hamas belongs on the same terrorist continuum as the bombers of Madrid and Manhattan, not...

<p>SACRAMENTO - During his speech at the California Chamber of Commerce inaugural luncheon last Monday, newly elected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger assured the crowd that he knew what he was up against. "If you thought that the campaign was tough and that we were in the trenches and we were fighting it out, there is something much more to come because those guys are not going to roll over," he said.</p>

Two oddly similar searches are underway in Iraq these days one for Saddam Hussein and the other for his weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Neither has yet been found. No one has yet argued that because Saddam has not been located, he never existed. But that is what some are saying about the coalition forces' not finding actual WMD. Probably those weapons were well hidden; maybe some were latterly destroyed. What if they are never found does that undercut the rationale for going to war against Saddam Hussein? Hardly. WMD were never the basic reason for the war. Nor was...

Lameduck President's Continuing Globetrotting Forays Latest Trip Pegged at $50 Million -- Most Expensive Presidential Trip Ever March 30, 2000 There he goes again. Our globe-trotting president was flying high this month, traveling to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Oman, and Switzerland. That brings the total out-of-country days for President Clinton, the Traveler-in-Chief, to 212. He's racked up visits to 66 countries -- some more than once -- and 2 territories not recognized as countries. He is, by any measure, the most traveled U.S. president ever. And just how much is this latest foray estimated to cost the American taxpayer? ABC News,...

A plague on our planet... for ever (Filed: 07/05/2003) The Sars epidemic is just the first of many health scares waiting for us in a highly mobile, densely populated 21st century, say scientists. It is vital that we learn all we can about managing such outbreaks as well as fighting them with technology. Roger Highfield reports Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome is only the beginning. We are set to see many more epidemics sweep across the planet in the coming decades, turning the 21st century into the era of the quarantine and face mask. At risk: one reason deadly pathogens will...

I just got a haricut. A good, decent, short haircut. A businessman's haircut. Conservative. Short back and sides with a number three buzzer. Ah. (Deep breath). Is there anything better than a fresh, honest haircut? The woman who cut my hair was named Ludmila, an emigre from Moscow. We were able to speak a few words of Russian together. "Does it luke alraght?" "Da. Xorosho. Cpaceba." Man, does anything make you feel as good as a nice, new haircut? I haven't got anything on my neck except a button-down collar and nothing on my ears except Rush Limbaugh.