Free Republic

illion-dollar decisions face California voters this Tuesday. Just how many billions? Unknown. In a case of the right hand unaware of the left hand’s actions, residents of one county are clueless to bond and tax initiatives found on the ballot of another. The situation has sent fiscal watchdogs howling for a master list, disclosing all tax propositions (local, state, and federal) to California voters. The California Taxpayers’ Association is leading the charge to develop a list of statewide “tax hikes.” Using its staff to develop statistics, the taxpayers’ organization has found at least 171 proposed tax increases among California’s 58...

UN nuclear watchdogs 'losing patience' with Iran By Anton La Guardia, Diplomatic Editor (Filed: 15/06/2004) The United Nations' nuclear watchdog yesterday chastised Iran for failing to co-operate fully and constantly changing its story about key aspects of its nuclear programme. Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, used unusually direct language when he complained that Iran's behaviour had been "less than satisfactory". Mohammed ElBaradei: wants closure Speaking at the start of a meeting of the IAEA's governors in Vienna, he made clear he was losing patience. "I think everybody would like to see this issue brought to...

<p>In the run up to a conflict in Iraq, foreign news websites are seeing large volumes of traffic from America, as U.S. citizens increasingly seek news coverage about the coming war.</p> <p>"Given how timid most U.S. news organizations have been in challenging the White House position on Iraq, I'm not surprised if Americans are turning to foreign news services for a perspective on the conflict that goes beyond freedom fries," said Deborah Branscom, a Newsweek contributing editor, who keeps a weblog devoted to media issues. In January, for example, half the visitors to the Guardian Unlimited news site, an umbrella site for Britain's left-leaning Guardian and Observer newspapers, were from the Americas.</p>