Free Republic

TUCSON — After a short, spirited exchange between a Jesuit priest and a federal judge, the score was Judge 1, Priest 0. On Wednesday, the Rev. Stephen Kelly wanted federal magistrate Judge Héctor Estrada to allow him to represent himself in an upcoming trial where the Jesuit is accused of trespassing on Fort Huachuca in November, along with Franciscan the Rev. Louis Vitale. The pair also were charged with disobeying an order of an Arizona law enforcement officer. Estrada was willing to listen to Kelly outline his qualifications to represent himself, but when the judge asked the priest to stand...

Army prosecutors have sent subpoenas to journalists in Oakland and Honolulu demanding testimony about quotes they attributed to an officer who faces a court-martial after denouncing the war in Iraq and refusing to deploy with his unit. The Army's subpoenas, which the journalists said they received last week, put them in the uncomfortable position of being ordered to help the Army build its case against 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, who faces up to six years in prison if convicted. "It's not a reporter's job to participate in the prosecution of her own sources,'' said Sarah Olson, an Oakland freelance journalist...

A State Department reorganization of analysts involved in preventing the spread of deadly weapons has spawned internal turmoil, with more than half a dozen career employees alleging in interviews that political appointees sought to punish long-term employees whose views they considered suspect. Senior State Department officials deny that and say an investigation has found that the proper personnel practices were followed. But three officials involved in the reorganization, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly, acknowledge that a merger of two bureaus reduced the influence of employees who were viewed by some...

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Court-martial proceedings opened Wednesday for a Navy sailor turned anti-war activist who refused to board his ship when it deployed to the Persian Gulf in December. Petty Officer 3rd Class Pablo Paredes pleaded not guilty at the outset of his trial on charges of unauthorized absence and missing his ship's movement. Paredes, a 23-year-old from the New York City borough of the Bronx, waved his right to have his trial heard by a military jury. The case instead will be decided by the judge, Lt. Cmdr. Bob Klant. In his opening statement, prosecutor Lt. Brandon Hale...

A 13-year-old student in Orange County, Fla., was suspended for 10 days and could be banned from school over an alleged assault with a rubber band, according to a Local 6 News report. Robert Gomez, a seventh-grader at Liberty Middle School, said he picked up a rubber band at school and slipped it on his wrist. Gomez said when his science teacher demanded the rubber band, the student said he tossed it on her desk. After the incident, Gomez received a 10-day suspension for threatening his teacher with what administrators say was a weapon, Local 6 News reported.

Democrats called Saturday for an investigation of charges that the Bush administration threatened to fire a top Medicare official if he gave data to Congress showing the high costs of hotly contested Medicare legislation. The official, Richard S. Foster, chief actuary of the Medicare program, said he had been formally told not to provide the information to Congress. Moreover, he said, he was told that "the consequences of insubordination would be very severe." Senior officials at the Medicare agency made it clear that "they would try and fire me" for responding directly to inquiries from Congress, Mr. Foster said in...

Saddam killed his top commander as Marines stormed Baghdad SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COMSunday, May 4, 2003 LONDON — Iraqi President Saddam Hussein killed his leading military commander on charges of treason as U.S. forces captured Baghdad. The London-based A-Sharq Al Awsat daily said Saddam and his younger son, Qusay, executed Gen. Seif Eddin Al Rawi on April 8. The newspaper said Al Rawi, commander of the elite Republican Guards, was accused of treason and shot in the head and back. Al Rawi was summoned by Saddam and executed on the day U.S. marines captured the Iraqi capital. The newspaper...

THE other day I watched a British television journalist interview a British military commander, fresh from combat. Generally, the whole, incessant, rolling TV War Thing has made my life resemble Groundhog Day, but I can recall this particular discourse quite clearly. The journalist did all the usual "What’s going on?" stuff and the officer replied with all the equally usual tactical stuff that, as usual, made the journalist’s eyes glaze over in a look of such total uncomprehending blankness, he resembled a dead cod being asked to recite the Periodic Table. So far, so usual. But then, when the soldier...

Two British soldiers have been sent home from the Gulf for refusing to fight in a war involving the deaths of civilians, according to a solicitor who advises troops. Justin Hugheston-Roberts says the soldiers from 16 Air Assault Brigade, based in Colchester, Essex, told their commanding officers they would not take part in the military action. Mr Hugheston-Roberts, chairman of Forces Law, said they could be thrown out of the Army or have to face a court martial. It is understood they are a private and an air technician. Mr Hugheston-Roberts said his organisation, which links service personnel with specialist...

Right now, in the real world, so-called, Mike DeJean would have - at minimum - a few days' unpaid R and R whenever it pleased him to be, so long as it was not the Milwaukee Brewers' clubhouse, dugout, or bullpen. That is what you or I would get if we had resisted or refused the boss's orders absent a verifiable breach of ethics or conflict of interest. Especially if we had chosen anyplace except behind closed doors to tell the boss off while we were at it.Some dare call DeJean's Wednesday night whoop insubordination.DeJean came in to pitch the...