Free Republic

Have you had enough of: U.S. Government now approaching 23 Trillion dollars in debt, and still borrowing about One Trillion more dollars every year. That’s about 3 Billion new dollars borrowed every day. Congress funding abortions with your tax dollars Government taking one-fourth of the average paycheck, while sending money to other people who refuse to work…and occasionally bailing out companies like General Motors and CIT Group, who have failed to repay billions of dollars to the taxpayers Courts forcing private business owners to fill orders that violate their ethical standards...

SIMFEROPOL, April 11. /ITAR-TASS/. The Crimean State Council has endorsed a Constitution of the Russian Republic of Crimea at its extraordinary session in the Crimean capital city on Friday. Eighty-seven lawmakers voted for endorsement of the republican Constitution. The Constitution of the Russian Republic of Crimea comprises ten chapters and 95 articles, the main provisions of the document are similar to articles of the Russian Constitution. The document holds that the Republic of Crimea is a democratic, rule-of-law state within the Russian Federation and an equal constituent entity of Russia. Crimean people making part of multiethnic Russian nation is a...

Egypt’s draft constitution is made up of a four-page preamble and 247 articles. On Saturday, the country’s 50-member constituent assembly voted on 138 articles… The draft also says in the preamble that “we are writing a constitution which ensures that the principles of Islamic Shariah are the main source of legislation.” It referred to rulings of the Supreme Constitutional Court to define these principles. … The draft prohibits political activity or the establishment of political parties based on religion, dealing a blow to movements like the Muslim Brotherhood, its Freedom and Justice party, and Al-Nour, an ultraconservative Salafi party. …

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday signed into law a new constitution and vowed to hold peaceful and clean elections later this year. Mugabe said the new constitution, including democratic reforms and was unanimously accepted in a March referendum, has shown that Zimbabweans are united regardless of political affiliation and was achieved without outside interference. … The new constitution limits the presidency to two five-year terms but is not retroactive, allowing Mugabe, 89, to run against Tsvangirai, 60, for two more five-year terms, enabling him to rule to age 99 if he wins. …

So here's a radical thought: How about letting Iraqis debate and vote on their new national charter before we Americans summarily denounce it as a failure?... By any existing Middle East standard, the new constitution is a great achievement. It promises to protect human rights, including free speech and the right to worship. It applies the very American principle of federalism, or decentralized power, to reassure multiethnic regions and various Muslim denominations and thus keep the country together. For all of Iraq's security problems, the present moment is one of remarkable promise. A constitution, written in a spirit of compromise...

This result would certainly be better if Sunni leaders, including some on the drafting committee, were not urging other Sunnis to defeat it. But consider this: For the Sunnis to defeat the constitution they will have to participate in the vote. That's more than they did in January's elections, and by itself represents a commitment to a democratic process that many Americans insist isn't possible in an Arab culture. It is also by no means clear that the constitution will be rejected by Iraq's voters. The pact must be repudiated by a two-thirds vote in at least three of Iraq's...

AP , TOKYO Saturday, Apr 16, 2005,Page 5 Advertising A Japanese parliamentary committee yesterday endorsed a landmark report that urges revisions to the country's post-World War II Constitution, including changes to its pacifist provisions. The war-renouncing Constitution -- drafted by US occupation forces and unchanged since 1947 -- bars the use of military force in settling international disputes and prohibits maintaining armed forces for warfare. The Japanese government has interpreted that to mean the nation can maintain troops for self-defense, which have developed into one of the most modern, best-equipped militaries in the world. The 50-member panel at parliament's more...

The $80,000 misunderstanding Yesterday Yale Law School grad ('00) Leah Mesfin wrote to alert us to this weekend's doings at the law school. Leah noted that she'd started reading us in connection with our coverage of the Republican convention this past September. She wrote: Recently I got an invitation from the YLS to register for an upcoming conference at YLS called "The Constitution in 2020." Their plan is simple - they plan to congregate to produce a vision of what the Constitution should be for 2020 and then to colloborate on how to use their influence and judicial power to...

The bien pensants at Yale Law School, are engaged in a Soros-funded conference to write us a new Constitution.(I guess they think we are too stupid to know we need one or what it should contain): Yesterday Yale Law School grad ('00) Leah Mesfin wrote to alert us to this weekend's doings at the law school. Leah noted that she'd started reading us in connection with our coverage of the Republican convention this past September. She wrote: Recently I got an invitation from the YLS to register for an upcoming conference at YLS called "The Constitution in 2020." Their plan...

/begin my translation A New Japanese Constitution To Be Drafted by Keitairen(The Association of Business Organization) Keitairen, which represents the Japanese business community, decided on its own to propose a draft of the new Japanese Constitution. This is in addition to reviving the practice of political donation(by business) after 11-year (voluntary) ban. With such moves, it is raising its political profile. Okuda Hiroshi, the Chairman of Keitairen These 'political moves' by Keitairen heavily reflect the view of Okuda Hiroshi, its chairman and the chairman of Toyota Motor Corporation. It is contrary to the current position of that Japanese business community,...

Taiwan's President Maintains Hard Line Mon Mar 29,10:05 PM ET By Philip P. Pan and David E. Hoffman, Washington Post Foreign Service TAIPEI, Taiwan, March 29 -- President Chen Shui-bian declared Monday that his narrow reelection victory was a mandate from voters to press ahead with an aggressive agenda to develop Taiwan as an "independent, sovereign country" despite the risk of war with China. In his first interview since an attempt on his life and an election his opponents are contesting, Chen vowed to go forward with plans to write a new constitution for Taiwan within two years, a move...