Free Republic

If ever a case has proven that American society has gone mad, it is the case of Terry Schiavo. Ultimately a court will decide if Terry Schiavo's feeding tube will be removed and she will endure a lingering, painful and inhumane death. If Terry Schiavo were a young child being starved by her parents, an elderly woman neglected by her family, a prisoner at Guantanamo being denied food or even a horse that was being starved by its owner, there would be outrage from all corners. In this case, however, that of an otherwise healthy, but brain-damaged woman, many seem...

A drug created by the former KGB to keep its agents sober so that they could drink opponents under the table before stealing their secrets is being sold on the internet to Hollywood stars as a defence against hangovers. The drug, known as RU-21, is made in Russia and sold as a natural remedy on the internet. Hollywood actors are said to be fond of the fix, called after the American legal drinking age, which enables them to make the most of LA's party circuit without red eyes or pounding headaches detracting from their delivering the goods on the film...

ALBANY - Environmentalists are concerned that last Thursday's blackout will result in a rapid growth of new power plants that could push air quality issues to the back burner. Industry sources say the outage hasn't changed their message at all - that increased generation is needed and that new plants will be cleaner than existing ones. Early in his administration, President Bush called for an increased use of cleaner-burning coal as a way to offset dependence on foreign energy sources. "Coal is getting cleaner before it ever enters the power plants," according to The Coalition for Affordable and Reliable Energy...

<p>The Bush administration supports a three-year delay in a controversial proposal that its supporters claim would make it easier to run the nation's electrical system, the president's top energy adviser said Sunday.</p> <p>Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham said the proposal would "force down the throats" a federal policy of deregulation that states with cheap power oppose.</p>

A day after the still-mysterious record blackout that descended upon New York, Canada and the Midwest, about the only thing electricity experts could say for sure today was this: It could happen again. But what, exactly, happened? It will take days or even weeks before engineers determine the cause - or more likely, series of causes, said Michehl R. Gent, president of the North American Electric Reliability Council. An early sign of trouble Thursday was a wild swing in power in the loop surrounding Lake Erie, Gent said in a conference call from the Princeton headquarters of the nonprofit industry...

THOSE readers who have had the experience of hurtling through the streets of New York City in a taxi piloted by a driver who learnt the rules of the road in Karachi may have heard one of the city’s 24-hour all-news radio stations promising: “You give us 20 minutes, we’ll give you the world.” As we are in the midst of the long summer break, I plan an equally arrogant print version by using some limited space to review the health of the world’s economies. Start with the world’s most important patient, Japan. Ten years in the hands of doctors...