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Economy Expands in 3Q Despite Hurricanes Wednesday November 30, 12:08 pm ET By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer Economy Grows at Lively 4.3 Percent Pace in Third Quarter Despite Gulf Coast Hurricanes WASHINGTON (AP) -- The economy grew at a lively 4.3 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in more than a year. The performance offered fresh testimony that the country's overall economic health managed to improve despite the destructive force of Gulf Coast hurricanes. ADVERTISEMENT The new snapshot of economic activity, released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday, showed the growth at an even faster pace...

Once again, convicted Palestinian terrorist Marwan Barghouti is trying to "lead" his people from inside an Israeli prison. If his win in primaries in the West Bank on Friday provides any insight into the Palestinian popular mood, it is that they are still addicted to terrorist "leaders" like Barghouti. According to the BBC: He [Barghouti] is serving five life terms in an Israeli jail for the killing of four Israelis and a Greek monk. Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said there was no chance of Barghouti getting an early release. Barghouti, 46, won 34,000 out of 40,000 votes - affirming...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Los Padres National Forest will allow companies to drill for an estimated 17 million barrels of crude oil or natural gas within its borders but roadless wilderness areas and critical habitat of the California condor will be preserved, forest officials announced Thursday. Forest Supervisor Gloria Brown will allow oil and gas leasing on only 52,000 out of 767,000 acres of land that were included in a decade-long study of Los Padres, a nearly 2 million-acre forest that spans 220 miles from Big Sur in Monterey County south to near western Los Angeles County. On all but...

Those who want to see judges who will apply the law instead of imposing their own policies face not only political obstruction to the appointment of such judges but also calculated confusion about the very words used in discussing what is at issue. Judges who impose their own preferences, instead of following the law as it is written, have long been known as "judicial activists" while those who carry out the law, instead of rewriting it to suit themselves, have been said to be following the "original intent" of the law. But now a massive effort to muddy the waters...

The Liberal LexiconA Conservative's Dictionary of Libberish In the amazing world of American politics, it often seems like the two major parties simply can't communicate, separated by the very words invented to describe the problems in the first place.  For decades, the Democrats have been refining their Anti-American, Pro Victimology rhetoric until, in today's setting, they speak a powerful specialized language, like scientists or mathematicians. Even the smallest expression contains volumes of earlier thinking under its simple surface.  Leftists have spent years distilling their endless self-pity and hollow complaints into a deliberately aggressive secret lingo which they understand among themselves, but...

Consider a young man or woman who has just graduated from medical school and wishes to become a brain surgeon. Our young doctor will have to spend one year in a general surgical residency program, followed by six more years as a resident in neurosurgery. To recap: brain surgeon, seven years. And yet, the Florida Legislature this past week announced that its members cannot master the demands of their job within the measly eight years allowed by Florida's term limits. Nope. A Florida legislator really needs at least 12 years to learn the ropes in Tallahassee, the Legislature declared. And...

<p>America Online, Inc. has quietly updated the terms of service for its AIM instant messaging application, making several changes that is sure to raise the hackles of Internet privacy advocates.</p> <p>The revamped terms of service, which apply only to users who downloaded the free AIM software on or after Feb. 5, 2004, gives AOL the right to "reproduce, display, perform, distribute, adapt and promote" all content distributed across the chat network by users.</p>

Remember the concept “Owning a piece of the American Dream?” That goal you had when you graduated from college to eventually own your own home? Well, some recently released statistics suggest that, although the percentage of homeowners in our nation is at an all-time high, the preponderance of interest-only and home equity loans is creating a society of baby boomers that might never actually achieve this dream. Maybe even more concerning is that these home “lessees” don’t seem to mind. As reported by The Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/content/homes/re_news/story/12425263p-13281615c.html "‘Folks paying off their loans and owning their homes free and clear is...

Maryland 75 duke 66 GO MARYLAND!!! We shut up the cameron crazies tonight! duke is all talk!

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!

The Avalon Project at Yale Law School September 11, 2001 : Attack on AmericaS.J. Resolution 23 - Authorization for Use of Military Force (Enrolled Bill); September 18, 2001 Latest Major Action: 9/18/2001 Became Public Law No: 107-40. Authorization for Use of Military Force (Enrolled Bill) --S.J.Res.23-- S.J.Res.23 One Hundred Seventh Congress of the United States of America AT THE FIRST SESSIONBegun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday, the third day of January, two thousand and one Joint Resolution To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said Saturday that prison terms are too long and that he favors scrapping the practice of setting mandatory minimum sentences for some federal crimes. "Our resources are misspent, our punishments too severe, our sentences too long," Kennedy told the annual meeting of the American Bar Association, his remark met by long applause. "I can accept neither the necessity nor the wisdom of federal mandatory minimum sentences," Kennedy said. "In all too many cases, mandatory minimum sentences are unjust." Kennedy is a moderate conservative placed on the court by former President...

<p>Message to would-be buyers of postage meters, CB amplifiers, mountain lion parts and speleothems taken from federal land: When you buy your goodies online, you'll have to pay for them with something other than PayPal.</p> <p>Thanks to a sweeping set of changes to its acceptable-use policy, PayPal's exhaustive new rules now dictate exactly where users' funds can and cannot be spent.</p>

United States in Secret Surrender Talks With Saddam's CroniesThe most serious dialogue yet has been established between Iraq and the United States.United States officials said that a channel has been opened during the past four days and for the first time Washington is relaying messages on its terms for an Iraqi surrender. _Full Text, Subscribers

Stenholm wants to double terms By Tara Copp / Reporter-News Washington Bureau January 8, 2003 WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Charles Stenholm said he will file legislation to extend House members’ terms from two years to four. Two months ago, Stenholm survived a nail-biting re-election challenge from Republican Rob Beckham. Stenholm garnered 51 percent of the vote to claim a 13th term, and the close call already has the national Republican Party eyeballing the seat in 2004. Stenholm said he has been considering filing a bill to expand members’ terms for the last six years, during which he has thrice faced...

President George W Bush told the 2002 United Nations General Assembly that the regime of Iraqi president Saddam Hussein today poses one of the gravest threats to international peace and security. Speaking before dignitaries from more than 180 nations, President Bush warned that the days of Iraq flaunting UN Security Council resolutions must end: "My nation will work with the UN Security Council to meet our common challenge. If Iraq's regime defies us again, the world must move deliberately, decisively to hold Iraq to account. We will work with the UN Security Council for the necessary resolutions, but the purposes...

CALVINISM -- TEN LITTLE CAVEATS CHAPTER EIGHT Calvinism's View Of Some Biblical Terms In the last chapter I began to show how Augustine tried to be more precise than the early Church Fathers in their discussions about "the basis" of God's choice of those He saves. Part of the reason why he wound up with his wrong conclusions had to do with a misunderstanding of how Bible authors had used certain words like" elect", "call", "foreknow", and "predestine". Even some of the Fathers who were closer in time to the Bible writers seem to have misinterpreted them in some ways....