Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) - They spent the day tethered together by chains shackled around their left ankles, painting an iron fence under the watchful eyes of armed guards. But the 10 inmates didn't mind the work. They volunteered for it. ``I haven't been out for 15 months,'' said a 37-year-old man who asked to be identified as Scott. ``We just wanted the opportunity to be in the fresh air.'' Chain gangs, once a symbol of pitiless Southern justice, have come to Massachusetts. In what is believed to be the ...

SAO PAULO, Brazil--Sex education for preschoolers is an important step in stopping the spread of AIDS, Brazil's top AIDS prevention official said. Classes about sex for children as young as 4 would reduce AIDS among teenagers and help avoid unwanted pregnancies, said Pedro Chequer, coordinator of the Health Ministry's AIDS prevention program. Chequer's comments Tuesday were widely endorsed at a meeting of educators debating ways to curb AIDS, but the view is likely to stir controversy in the world's largest Roman Catholic country.

FAIR Media Advisory: WHAT REPORTERS KNEW ABOUT KOSOVO TALKS -- BUT DIDN'T TELL Was Rambouillet Another Tonkin Gulf? June 2, 1999 New evidence has emerged confirming that the U.S. deliberately set out to thwart the Rambouillet peace talks in France in order to provide a "trigger" for NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia. Furthermore, correspondents from major American news organizations reportedly knew about this plan to stymie the Kosovo peace talks, but did not inform their readers or viewers. FAIR's May 14 media advisory, "Forgotten Coverage of Rambouillet Negotiations," asked whether the media had given the full story on Rambouillet. News ...

If you have been a dutiful reader of the newspapers then you will know that (1) no one won the war in Yugoslavia, (2) actually, the Serbs did, (3) no, NATO did by sticking together, and (4) Bill Clinton did because he said bombing would do the trick and it did. In fact, all of these propositions are more or less true, but if you want to know who the real winner is, it's the Kosovo Liberation Army. It won the war and, in the bargain, Kosovo itself. Say what you will about the KLA, it has been the ...

ATLANTA (AP) -- Homosexuality dominated the final day of the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting, as members criticized the appointment of the nation's first openly gay ambassador and cheered football great Reggie White for again condemning the gay lifestyle. ``God said it not -- Reggie White,'' the player-turned-preacher told the audience Wednesday. ``Leviticus 18.22 says, `Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman.''' The applause at the Georgia Dome was thunderous. Last year, White declared homosexuality a sin when he addressed the Wisconsin Legislature. Earlier Wednesday, members of the nation's largest Protestant denomination voted overwhelmingly ...

NEW YORK (AP) - Multimillionaire businessman Steve Forbes, who spent an estimated $30 million on his failed 1996 presidential campaign, held the first big fund-raiser of his 2000 bid for the White House Wednesday. Forbes expected to raise about $1 million from 1,200 supporters at the event at Manhattan's posh Waldorf-Astoria hotel. An aide said so far Forbes has been raising money for his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination largely through direct mail and over the Internet. But his campaign costs have escalated because of national ads he began airing in May. Forbes was the first candidate to ...

In a Bitter Cultural War, an Ardent Call to Arms By FRANCIS X. CLINES WASHINGTON -- By the end of Representative Tom DeLay's pulpit-thumping, brimstone-seething exhortation against gun controls and the moral decay of "liberal relativism," the evangelical clergymen assembled in the morning sunshine bathing the Capitol were moved to rounds of "Hallelujah!" and "Amen, Jesus!" "Reverend DeLay!" boomed one minister, waving the Bible before a clot of television cameras on the Capitol lawn. But "the Reverend Whip" was more like it for the sulfurous tinge DeLay lent to the long, miasmic debating day that essentially broke the complex issue ...

WASHINGTON -- Kenneth Starr is reportedly preparing to issue what one of his associates called a "blistering" final report about the Clintons' conduct -- perhaps in the middle of Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign. If this is true, Mr. Starr would be making a terrible mistake. Issuing a highly critical report would be an abuse of prosecutorial power. Years ago, as a young assistant district attorney in Manhattan prosecuting violent and organized crimes, I learned firsthand the power that prosecutors possess. They can rout your home and your possessions searching for evidence of wrongdoing. They can force your friends and family ...

Last month, the Senate came together in a spirit of bipartisanship and passed serious gun legislation that will help keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of fugitives, felons and our children. At that time, I expressed my hope that the House would follow suit. The House now has an opportunity to do just that. Will it join the Senate in passing sensible measures that require background checks for all gun sales at gun shows? Or will it pass a bill that not only leaves a loophole for gun shows but weakens one of the most effective and important gun ...

My mother, who died last year in her 90s, suffered from melancholia throughout her life. Perhaps her melancholy was brought on by my father’s constant womanizing—he had too strong a sense of duty to ever leave her or to stop loving her, and too much sense of entitlement to ever give up having mistresses—but somehow I doubt it. She grieved terribly after his death 10 years ago; she had been known before her marriage as the prettiest but saddest society belle in Athens. Rest of article

I have recently complained to a publisher about an article concerning security at nuclear labs. My complaint was that although the article mentioned the Clinton administration prominantly, it didn't mention the campaign money from China. The editor has replied to my letter that there is no evidence that the administration knew that some of the funds were from a foreign military official or knew that the lab security issues and campaign financing are connected. Are there facts that refute this? Opinions not needed; I obviously have mine, but details would help. Thanks.

House Mulls Religion Amendment By LAURIE KELLMAN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - Churning through a debate on the causes of youth violence, the House is considering a measure that would permit the Ten Commandments to be posted in schools and other government buildings. The debate follows the sharp defeat of a proposal that would have curbed access by children to explicit sexual or violent material in video games and movies. Propelled by aggressive lobbying by the entertainment industry, the House rejected the measure Wednesday on a 282-146 vote. ``Of course we worked it hard,'' Motion Picture Association of America ...

On C-SPAN's Washington Journal at about 8:15 a.m. (ET) this morning, Rep. Juanita Millander McDonald (D) of Los Angeles referred to "our efforts to remove guns from our society." Regards, Allan J. Favish

Inhofe Ends Threat to Clinton Nominees By Helen Dewar Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, June 17, 1999; Page A10 Sen. James M. Inhofe (R-Okla.) yesterday dropped his threat to block action on presidential nominations after President Clinton assured Senate leaders he will give them ample advance notice before he installs an unconfirmed nominee during a congressional recess. Inhofe served notice early last week that he would put "holds" on all civilian nominations to protest the president's appointment of gay San Francisco philanthropist James C. Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg during the Memorial Day recess. Among the nominees threatened by Inhofe's ...

With just 18 jets in a fleet of almost 800 warplanes, Canadian pilots flew 10 per cent of all the NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. They were also picked to lead half of all the multi-national missions in which they flew, the Defence Department said Wednesday. Air force statistics released Wednesday show that Canada's CF-18 fighter-bombers flew 678 sorties (a sortie is one flight by one plane) of which 558 were bombing strikes. The pilots put in 2,546.9 flying hours during the 79-day campaign. Bad weather and stringent rules about target identification forced pilots to scrub more than half ...

Abortion injected into medical privacy debate WASHINGTON (AP) - Abortion rights have been injected into the debate about a popular medical records privacy bill, which is being held up as senators weigh whether to allow children to keep their records private - even from parents. ``It always comes up. Whenever there's a way, it shows up,'' Sen. James Jeffords, R-Vt., said of the emotionally charged abortion issue. Jeffords is chairman of the Senate health committee that had hoped to finish work on the bill this week. The crux of the legislation, which would establish the first federal right to privacy ...

Federal troops travelling on official orders are confronted by organized and armed civilians. Words are exchanged, a shot is fired, a battle ensues, soldiers and civilians die. It was the shot heard ‘round the world, and obviously on the minds of citizens and legislators as the Constitution was being ratified. If we Americans were not sheeple, every year on April 19 we would arm ourselves to the teeth and take to the streets in commemoration of the Battle of Concord. That we do not is just further evidence that we have been brainwashed by the schools. We learned about all ...

Six months ago, Vice President Al Gore fired up a Rose Garden pep rally by calling that day's House impeachment vote "a great disservice to a man I believe will be regarded in the history books as one of our greatest presidents." Contrast that lofty praise with Mr. Gore's blunt assessment, this week on ABC, of the misconduct that nearly cost President Clinton his job: "I thought it was awful. I thought it was inexcusable." And Mr. Gore clearly thinks that he now must distance himself from the man whose "inexcusable" actions "wasted time" on America's agenda if he ...

espite recent school shootings that rattled the nation, nearly seven of 10 California parents of children under the age of 18 believe their children are safe from violence at their own campuses, a new Los Angeles Times poll shows. SCHOOLS AND GUNS espite a sense that California schools in general are not safe, parents feel their children are safe from violence in their own schoolyards. Californians think parents - not gun manufacturers - should be held responsible for gun-related crimes. Respondents were read the following statement: Some cities are suing gun makers in an attempt to hold them liable for ...

The avenger sets out to define his fame By George, George W. gets it. The avenger from the high plains, the Texan who would be president, understands what Bill Clinton understood before him, and what a lot of Republicans before him never quite figured out. We're the Celebrity Nation now, where not everyone gets his 15 minutes of fame, but -- and this is what Andy Warhol actually said -- fame is often fame for fame's sake and lasts for only 15 minutes. A smart pol understands that sometimes even presidents are famous mostly for being famous and makes sure ...