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THE DOW INDUSTRIALS ENDED FRIDAY 235 POINTS LOWER AFTER AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT UNEMPLOYMENT WAS WAY UP IN AUGUST -- to its highest level since September 1997. The Labor Department reported Friday that jobless claims jumped four-tenths of a percent last month, to 4.9-percent from July's 4.5-percent. Manufacturing was hardest hit. 
When measured against the previous five decades, an unemployment rate of even five-percent is still a sign that the economy is strong. -- MS
RECENT REPORTS ON THE ILL  EFFECTS OF MOLD MAY BE OVERSTATED. Columnist Jacob Sullum in Reason magazine says there is scant evidence that household mold can lead to the "rare health conditions" such as bleeding or memory loss that some news reports attribute to it.
 
IS THE WHITE HOUSE HIDING INFORMATION ON OLD CLINTON SCANDALS? The House Government Reform Committee will subpoena Justice Department files on Clinton fundraising scandals.The White House says Congress has no authority over the files and President Bush says he'll invoke executive privilege.
Is this the same George W. Bush who ran on a platform of honesty? --  JR, TX 
       Give us a break, JR. President Bush is defending the authority of his office, not Clinton. -- Viejo, TX
CHRISTIANITY IS FADING in Britain, a cardinal says. Christ is being replaced by New Age beliefs, music, the occult, free-market economies and devotion to the environment, says the Catholic leader.
This is one of the saddest things I've seen in a long time. What's happening to the world. -- Linda, TX
COMEDIAN BOB HOPE, 98, has been released from a Los Angeles area medical center after going in nearly two weeks ago with a "mild" case of pneumonia.
LONG LIVE HOPE! --  xxx, FL
MOTOROLA is cutting 2,000 jobs. Insurance company American International group: 1,500 layoffs.
 
FORD IS RECALLING three-quarters of a million Ford Windstar minivans because of faulty wiper motors that could catch fire and for bad wiring on air conditioners 
 
Just in:

 

 

CONDIT CALLS IT QUITS
After hinting Thursday that he may retire from Congress, Rep. Gary Condit has told officials from the Democratic Party he will retire from Congress at the end of his current term. Condit is the California Democrat who's also a famous non-suspect in the disappearance of intern Chandra Levy. Meanwhile, a grand jury in Modesto, California has decided whether to investigate charges of obstruction of justice against Condit, but the results are secret -- for now.
When reporting the story Friday, a Fox News correspondent almost said Condit "will not run for re-erection."  Later on Fox News, former Congressman Bob Dornan stated flatly, "I believe Gary Condit, serial adulterer, had something to do with the disappearance of Chandra Levy." -- MS

AMERICANS IN JAPAN ARE ON TERRORISM ALERT "We have received unconfirmed information that terrorist actions may be taken against US military establishments or against establishments frequented by US military personnel," said a statement released Friday by the US embassy in Japan. A similar warning has been issued to Americans in South Korea.

 

THE FBI SAYS IT HAS A CLUE IN THE 1975 DISAPPEARANCE OF UNION LEADER JIMMY HOFFA. A hair has been identified through DNA testing to have belonged to Hoffa; the hair was found in a car driven by a longtime "friend" of Hoffa's who, at the time of Hoffa's disappearance, said the legendary Teamsters boss was never in that car, the Detroit News reports. That same "friend" also said he had nothing to do with Hoffa's disappearance.
The new FBI motto: "Better 26 years late than never."  -- DaCraw, AZ

WAS PRESIDENT CLINTON "BLEARY-EYED" AND INCOHERENT during his final days in the White House? That's what author Barbara Olson claims in her new book, The Final Days. She also claims the Clintons began transferring government property from the White House to Arkansas months before leaving office. -- NewsMax.com

 

CHEVRON'S ACQUISITION OF TEXACO HAS BEEN APPROVED by the Federal Trade Commission, creating the world's fifth-largest oil company.

THE NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN NOW SAYS IT'S NOT RAISING MONEY FOR A TEXAS WOMAN WHO ALLEGEDLY  KILLED HER CHILDREN. NOW posted a news release on its website Thursday stating it is not raising funds for the defense of Andrea Pia Yates, accused of drowning her five children. .
Meanwhile, NOW continues its magnanimous crusade to keep Rush LImbaugh off CNN. -- MS

INTERNET RUMORS: Aimster, the file sharing company once considered heir to Napster, is rumored to be running out of money...Is the magazine Brills Content, which kicked off to much ballyhoo three years ago with an "expose" of Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr, about to go out of business?...Did federal officials make a clandestine deal with Microsoft to supply the government with equipment to protect "national security" in exchange for dropping plans to break up the computer giant?

ISRAEL'S FOREIGN MINISTER WILL MEET WITH PALESTINIAN leader Yassir Arafat sometime next week with hope of finding a peaceful end for the continuing clashes. Thursday: Israeli helicopters gunned down two Palestinians on the West Bank; Palestinians retaliated by killing an Israeli.

What's the point? These guys will never get together. -- Gambit, TX

SENATOR GRAMM TO QUIT? In an effort to woo Latino voters, top Republicans are said to favor a plan by a Texas A&M University regent in which Senator Phil Gramm -- who wants to be head of A&M and has already announced he won't seek another term as US senator -- will retire early and go to A&M, while Texas' Republican governor will appoint US Representative Henry Bonilla, a Latino, to take Gramm's senate seat. 

MEXICO'S PRESIDENT MET WITH THE US CONGRESS Thursday to plead for more open borders between the two nations. Vicente Fox, the new Mexican leader and a former executive with Coca-Cola, then joined President Bush for a visit to the Midwest.
Bush cannot allow illegal aliens to become legal aliens. That will open the borders up and we might as well declare Mexico the 51st state. -- Linda, TX 
          Why all this attention to Mexico? Because the nation can't get its economic house in order. What about our neighbors to the north? They do a great job but get no attention. -- xxx, FL
CAJUN COMEDIAN JUSTIN WILSON died Wednesday at his home in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Host of several TV cooking shows, including Cookin' Cajun, Wilson was famous during the 1960s for his comedy records that always included his catch phrase, "I gaw-ron-TEE," as in "I guarantee." No cause of death has been announced. Justin Wilson was 87.

THE LATEST.NET CHANGES FORMAT
After two years as strictly a news source, TheLatest.Net is now emphasizing opinion in response to the top news stories. 

Your opinions are  solicited. Just click on the link below our logo. 

The staff remains the same, with  longtime broadcast journalist Mike Shiloh continuing as editor, now taking duties as publisher as well.

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Post your opinions, say anything you want. Please keep it brief, and we reserve the right to clean up typos and syntax.  Otherwise, it's all yours.

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