Free Republic

Zhao Ziyang, former Secretary-General of mainland China’s Communist Party, died at a Beijing hospital last Monday. Good riddance to another communist? In this case, no. Not all tigers are incapable of changing their stripes. During his tenure in China’s one and only political party, Zhao took steps that truly can be called “reforms.” Zhao's greatest moment occurred during the pro-democracy rebellion of 1989, which was centered in and around Beijing’s Tiananmen Square. He opposed the use of China’s vast military might against the peaceful protestors gathered in the square. On May 19, 1989, Zhao personally pleaded with the protestors, mostly...

INTRODUCTION In the cliché-ridden propaganda of the Soviet era tsarist Russia was frequently dubbed the “prison of nations”. When the Soviets came into power this “prison”, by virtue of new national policies, transformed into a family of friendly and brotherly nations in whose bosom all the national cultures flourished. To boast of the achievements under the Communist Party leadership, grandiose cultural festivals were arranged in the Soviet republics, folkloristic dance, song and instrumental groups were established and the revival of old peasant culture was encouraged. The slogan “socialist in content, nationalist in form” came to be applied to the new...

The Arab world is all one big happy family again. OK, dysfunctional, but happy. No, well, unhappy and as twisted as usual. While visiting Kuwait today, Palestinian presidential front-runner, Mahmoud Abbas, apologized for his people’s support of Saddam’s invasion of the Gulf emirate in 1990. Isn’t that special? (remember Dana Carvey as the “Church Lady” on SNL?). This happened just after Kuwait’s sultans (or whatever they’re called) forgave the Palestinian people for supporting Saddam’s invasion. Kuwait’s leadership went so far as to say they didn’t even expect a public apology for Palestinian support of the 1990 war. Now, isn’t that...

Kerry, Springsteen energize downtown crowd of 80,000 By David Callender October 29, 2004 The clouds parted and the sun shone on Democratic presidential candidate Sen. John Kerry as he and rock legend Bruce Springsteen shared a stage just blocks from the State Capitol on Thursday. While the record crowd of more than 80,000 roared with delight, Kerry told them, "You have no idea how beautiful you look." It took Kerry two tries to get to this moment. A similar rally planned for last month had to be moved to the Alliant Energy Center because of foul weather. But for both...

Despite the Chinese government’s horrific oppression of its people, dissent persists. Today, six women held a protest on an apartment building rooftop in Beijing. They waved a banner reading, “We accuse the police, the prosecutors and the courts in Liaoning province of corruption and trickery.” The women threatened to commit suicide if their demands were not met, but were later taken away by police. The protest took place not far from communist government headquarters. A similar incident occurred several weeks ago. According to the BBC, A growing number of Chinese have been bringing petitions to Beijing to try to gain...

LOS ANGELES, April 2, 2004—Jody Eldred Productions today announced it has just completed filming and is in the final stages of production on an inspirational documentary called, “Changed Lives: Miracles of The Passion,” which will air nationwide Easter weekend. With rave reviews from Diane Sawyer on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and Joe Scarborough on MSNBC’s “Scarborough Country,” this one-hour T.V. special was shot in High Definition and documents the true stories of people whose lives have been forever changed by Mel Gibson’s incredible motion picture “The Passion of The Christ.” “I knew instantly that people’s lives were going to be...

A Credit to the Corporate Raider Stuart K. Hayashi The media's exploitation of the 2001 corporate scandals in its hysterical (and popular) campaign to defame businesspeople in general harkens back to another anti-capitalist witch hunt they conducted in the 1980s. That era is now pejoratively dubbed "the Decade of Greed," as it saw the proliferation of honest but controversial characters known as "corporate raiders." "Corporate raiders" are the mavericks who launch "hostile takeovers," trying to take over failing mega-corporations for themselves. (Successful companies have higher stock prices and are thus harder to buy out.) To do this in the...

Conservatives, cheer up. The NCAA basketball tournament gets fully underway on Thursday and there is good news for right-wingers: The University of North Carolina has not been invited to the dance. Usually the belle of the ball, the North Carolina Tar Heels will be missing the NCAA tournament for the first time in 28 years. In fact, they won#146;t be playing any postseason basketball at all, the first time in 35 years this has happened. North Carolina has weathered one of the worst seasons anyone can remember -- not even winning 10 games -- and the program is now...