Congress using e-mail as political tool
- "When Erin Latta heard a rumor there might be new charges tied to people's use of
e-mails, she whipped off an e-mail to her congressman and said she was dead set against
it. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., e-mailed her back within a day, saying there was nothing to
the rumor, and he would oppose such fees..."
Investigators Doubt Mercy Killing
- "David Coughlin went camping in the New Mexico desert with his best friend and
never made it out alive. Raffi Kodikian stabbed the Massachusetts man twice in the
chest, claiming later that the two got lost and ran out of water and that a dehydrated,
panicky Coughlin begged to be put out of his misery. Investigators won't say exactly what
they think happened in Carlsbad Caverns National Park on Aug. 7, but one thing is clear:
They don't buy Kodikian's story..."
Internet study finds 6
percent of users are addicts - Almost 6 percent of Internet users suffer from
some form of addiction to it, according to the largest study of Web surfers ever
conducted. ``Marriages are being disrupted, kids are getting into trouble, people are
committing illegal acts, people are spending too much money. As someone who treats
patients, I see it,'' said David Greenfield, the therapist and researcher who did the
study...
DOJ wants to bug PCs - "The Justice
Department is seeking new powers to break into private premises and disable security
precautions on personal computers as a prelude to a wiretap or further search, the
Washington Post reported on Friday..."
Furor rising over PC wiretap plan
- "Civil libertarians, trade groups outraged by DOJ proposal that would 'booby-trap'
PCs. But will Congress go 'ballistic'? A U.S. Department of Justice proposal to make
it easier for police to break into homes and access computers is drawing a furious
reaction from civil libertarians and high-tech industry trade groups..."
The Gates giveaway - An interesting drama is
unfolding as the Department of Justice wraps up its case against Microsoft and as
Microsoft revs up the propaganda machine to make itself look better in the eyes of the
public. The primary effort: Make Bill Gates, the world's richest man, appear to be
generous. Gates has set up a foundation to give away money and has made public statements
that he plans to give away the vast majority of his fortune (currently topping $100
billion) to charity before he dies. Can you imagine what things will be like if he
actually does this?...
Green with Envy - "Many people in Silicon
Valley seem to have it all: SUVs, cell phones, $3 lattes. Good jobs, with rising pay and
bonuses, and great weather, too. But listen to the chat over those lattes and it's quickly
apparent people are anxious about money. If these are the best of times, they ask, why am
I not happier?"
'Average Joe' Robber Stymies Feds
- At least a dozen banks in Kentucky and Ohio have been robbed by a bespectacled man with
a leather portfolio and such an unassuming demeanor that the FBI calls him ``Average
Joe.'' The nickname belies his skill at evading police since knocking over his first
bank nearly 1.5 years ago...
Net campaign spending limits attacked
- Battle lines are being drawn over a House measure that, if passed, would eliminate
almost all spending limits on Internet politicking. The effect of an amendment introduced
by Republican House Whip Tom Delay last week would be to significantly broaden First
Amendment protections for political speech while lifting paperwork requirements for
campaigns and independent supporters alike, supporters say...
Broker Vanishes With Clients' $3B
- A money manager has vanished with as much as $3 billion in clients' money, leaving
behind a things-to-do list (item No. 1: ``Launder money'') and astrological charts
designed to answer such pressing questions as ``Will I go to prison?''
Niche Web sites draw advertisers
- Advertisers who want to reach Internet users are finally learning an important lesson
about the new medium: It's about class, not mass. And the classes of people marketers can
reach on line are much more precisely defined than the classes of people they can reach
through traditional forms of media, such as TV, radio and magazines...
Route 66 To Be Refurbished - "New
kicks are in store for Route 66. President Clinton late Tuesday signed a law that supports
state, local and private efforts to preserve Route 66 with $10 million over 10
years. The ``mother road,'' commissioned in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985,
traversed eight states and 2,448 miles between Chicago and Santa Monica, Calif..."
Avoid Online Bank Robberies -
"The pop song by Darryl Hall and John Oates that intones "private eyes are
watching" may now be applied to your bank. So who's watching? Try the Federal Deposit
Insurance Commission. The FDIC launched the Suspicious Internet Banking Web in June 1998
to counteract Internet bank fraud..."
Attacking the 'digital divide'?
You BET! - Bob Johnson believes African-Americans have yet to take to the Web
in huge numbers because no one's providing the information they want. "It's not so
much a 'digital divide' as a mindset divide," Johnson, the CEO of BET Holdings Inc.,
producer of the Black Entertainment Television cable network, told ZDNN...
Inmate Growth Rate Slows Somewhat
- Declining crime rates are beginning to help stabilize the nation's prison population,
but nearly 60,000 more inmates were added to federal and state prisons last year, the
Justice Department reports. As of Dec. 30, 1998, there were 1,178,978 state
prisoners and 123,041 federal inmates for a total of 1,302,019, the department's Bureau of
Justice Statistics said Sunday...
Net election stumping runs afoul of
laws - "Campaign regulations written before the Internet came of age
threaten to silence Web politicking in the crucial 2000 elections..."
New 5 percent Web sales tax proposed
- "A South Carolina senator has proposed a bill that would levy a 5 percent federal
sales tax on all goods sold over the Internet or through catalogs. Sen. Hollings'
controversial proposal would tax every sale over the Internet, to benefit local
communities..."
Taxpayers: Make Your Voices Heard -
You've just driven over that same pothole for the tenth time. And you've had it. This
time, you vow to write a letter to the city complaining about road conditions. As a
taxpayer, you've seen your money go to public art installations, homeless shelters, and
arcane funding causes, but repairs to that one pothole ruining your $60 alignment are in
short supply...
(Real
Audio Enabled)
Senate Protects Arts Funding -
"The Senate decisively rejected a conservative effort to kill the National Endowment
for the Arts today as Congress tries to wrap up some of its spending work before embarking
on its August recess. Sen. Bob Smith, I-N.H., proposed eliminating the entire $99
million provided for the endowment in a Senate bill, but was defeated 80-16..."
Steep price paid for 'drugs.com' -
"A twenty-something entrepreneur is sitting on a large sum of cash as a result of
'drug' lust -- the result of his auction of his "drugs.com" domain, which sold
for $823,456 according to the broker, GreatDomains.com..."
Tornado Damages Downtown Salt Lake
- "A tornado touched down without warning Wednesday in the downtown area, damaging
buildings and causing dozens of injuries. The black funnel uprooted trees and tents
set up for a retailers convention..."
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION - We
the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice,
insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare,
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and
establish this Constitution for the United States of America... Still a
great read after all these years...
Computer Hacker Fined $4,125 - Computer
hacker Kevin Mitnick, a computer vandal once on the FBI's most wanted list, was ordered
Monday to pay ``token'' restitution of $4,125 to companies that suffered millions of
dollars in damage from his exploits. U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer said she
doubts the 37-year-old Mitnick can earn more than minimum wage...
Walks Help Boost Memory, Judgment
- A new study suggests that taking an invigorating walk gives older people's brains a good
workout, boosting memory and sharpening judgment. Anaerobic exercise - stretching and
weightlifting - did not produce similar cognitive improvements. The experiment was
conducted at the University of Illinois and reported in Thursday's issue of the journal
Nature...
Nursing
Homes and Long-Term Care In America - "America is aging and it’s
projected that nearly half of all Americans who pass their 65th birthday will enter a
nursing home or other long-term care facility..."
Political eCommerce - FEC proposal
to OK e-contributions for federal matching funding has presidential candidates scrambling.
Political fundraising is set to move into the age of e-commerce. The Federal
Election Commission Thursday took a major step toward allowing credit card contributions
to qualify for matching federal funding -- a move that political professionals say will
revolutionize campaigns in general and fundraising in particular...
Woodstock
'99 Photos - New York State police have posted their own commemoration of
Woodstock on the Web. The police site, Woodstock '99 Photos, includes pictures of people
breaking into ATM machines, demolishing the Peace Wall and looting a truck and calls on
surfers to e-mail police if they can identify any of the convert goers. "Some of the
concert goers photographed were committing crimes others might have some information to
help us identify those who were," the site says...
Kid Crime Crusader Charged in Murder
- "A teenager who once spoke out against crime in his Boston neighborhood, asking the
governor in a letter to ``put the bad people in jail,'' is behind bars after pleading
innocent to murder..."
Abused Girl Never Left Home - The saga
of a teen-age girl who says she spent 14 years trapped and abused as a family slave in her
own home may finally be over. Melissa has toiled since she was 5 years old, cooking
and cleaning while never setting foot out of the house or going to school...
Goal of 100,000 New Cops Questioned
- The Clinton administration is likely to fall 40,000 short of its promise to put 100,000
more state and local cops on the nation's streets by the end of the year 2000, the Justice
Department inspector general estimated Monday...
Clinton 'Comfortable' With Wife's
Remarks - President Clinton is ``comfortable'' with the views expressed by
his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, who spoke about the strains caused by his past
infidelity, a White House spokesman said Monday. The first lady, in an interview for this
week's premier issue of Talk magazine, discussed her husband's ``weaknesses'' and blamed
some of his problem on the strains of an abusive childhood environment...
Officials Want New Forfeiture
Bill - "A House bill that would restrict the government's power to
confiscate private property would undermine law enforcement's ability to fight crime, top
law enforcement officials say..."
Lawyer Bludgeoned by Man She Helped - A
lawyer who friends say liked to help the downtrodden lay in a coma Tuesday, a week after
she was bludgeoned and her home burned, allegedly by a homeless man she had befriended...
Ghana Woman Released
after Fleeing Genital Mutilation - A woman detained by U.S. immigration
officials after fleeing Ghana two years ago to avoid forced genital mutilation has been
released on parole...
Clinton Tours Poverty-Stricken Areas
- With a helping hand from corporate America, President Clinton is offering a mix of
public and private investment to spur economic activity in some of the nation's forgotten
communities...
Web Site Lands Agnew FBI Papers -
Both Spiro Agnew and government lawyers investigating him were preoccupied with leaks to
the press during the months before the vice president resigned in 1973 to escape prison
for tax evasion and bribery...
Digital Big
Brother Poses Threat to Consumer Privacy - It's 2001 and you're surfing the
Net, looking for information on breast cancer to help your mom, who's recently found a
lump. You buy a book, check out some Web sites, even go to a chat room on the subject. A
few days later, your new employer has some bad news: Your health coverage has been denied
because of a ``pre-existing condition'' -- breast cancer...
12 Dead in Atlanta Shootings - A day
trader opened fire in a brokerage firm Thursday, killing at least nine people, Mayor Bill
Campbell said. Police said the man also shot three relatives at a house in Atlanta's
southern suburbs. Police hunted floor-to-floor in neighboring buildings in search of
the gunman...
2 Girls Charged In Road Rage Attack
- Two teen-age girls are accused of killing a 25-year-old mother by pounding her head on
the pavement in front of her children because she complained that their car was blocking
the road...
Working Poor Want Skills -
Most of the nation's working poor are eager to learn new job skills, but are hampered by a
lack of access to education and the Internet, according to a new study. The poll of
500 people across the nation with family incomes no more than twice the poverty level also
found that the working poor are more willing to work long hours and sleep less to get
ahead than the rest of the population...
Clinton Knocks GOP Tax-Cut Plan
- President Clinton, mingling with big-money Democratic donors, described the Republicans'
tax-cutting plan in doomsday terms Saturday, saying it would ``imperil the future
stability of the country...''
Florida Eyes
Marijuana-Killing Fungus - "Florida may start testing a fungus that
could kill marijuana plants, a move that environmentalists say could ultimately
backfire if the fungus mutates and attacks crops like tomatoes and corn..."
Live from Death Row -
"In 1995 actor Giancarlo Esposito and saxophonist Bobby Washington presented a
dramatic reading of Mumia Abu Jamal's essays Live from Death Row. While a group of white
cops demonstrated noisily outside, hundreds of people of all nationalities filled New
York's Atlantic Theater for the event..." (In Real Audio/Video)
(Click Here for
the News archives)
WASHINGTON
(Reuters) - President Clinton is ``comfortable'' with the views expressed by his wife,
Hillary Rodham Clinton, who spoke about the strains caused by his past infidelity, a White
House spokesman said Monday. 
A cool front is bringing much needed relief to the mid-section of the United
States, easing a heat wave that raised temperatures into the 90s and 100s. The intense
heat is responsible for at least 150 deaths during the last several weeks, including at
least 50 people who have died in Chicago, Illinois, since Thursday. The electrical power,
causing shortages and brown-outs. Authorities are urging residents to check on their
neighbors-particularly the elderly -- and take advantage of so-called "cooling
centers." Listen as Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman discusses the heat on
