Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. "In the judicial branch of government, more than any other, public perception matters and public confidence is vital.” In so saying, the Detroit Free Press in a May 16 editorial launched into a reckless and unwarranted diatribe designed precisely to poison the public’s perception of the Michigan Supreme Court and undermine public confidence in its decisions. That the editorial was part of a concert of advocacy journalism was apparent. It followed, by two days, an article by Free Press columnist Brian Dickerson in which he advanced his personal opinion that ...

The (London) Times, June 17, 1999 John Laughland 'The anomalies of the International Criminal Tribunal are legion. This is not victors' justice in the former Yugoslavia - in fact, it is no justice at all' Emotion may be a spur to justice, but it is rarely its guarantor. The allegations of war crimes eagerly funnelled out of Kosovo by the thousands of journalists in the province have provoked a demand for retribution. That cry for justice is natural. But the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the body charged with pursuing those accused of war crimes in Kosovo, is ...

ISSUE 1483 Thursday 17 June 1999 US envoy faces fury in Beijing at talks on embassy bombing By David Rennie in Beijing AMERICA sent a senior envoy, Thomas Pickering, to Beijing yesterday to deliver Washington's formal explanation of the bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade. The stone-throwing and angry questioning of tourists may be long past, but for many British and American expatriates in Beijing they have been replaced by lingering sourness, the withering of painstakingly nurtured friendships and a sense of gloom. "You like to be America's dog. Be careful of your dog life when you walk on ...

Not for commercial use. Posted for the purpose of discussion only California librarians weed out outdated and offensive books June 16, 1999 Web posted at: 7:59 p.m. EDT (2359 GMT) LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- The state of California has allocated nearly $159 million to the public school system in an effort to replace books filled with ethnic and gender stereotypes or outdated information. One such book on the shelves of a Los Angeles school library, entitled "Asbestos," describes the cancer-causing building material as "our friend." "At the time in 1941 when this book was published, we didn't know the harmful ...

Fed up with what they call a year of ''teacher bashing,'' about 20,000 teachers marched up Beacon Street to the State House during rush hour yesterday, ringing thousands of silver handbells in one of the largest showings ever of unity by state educators. Teachers from Gardner to Gloucester, Medway to Manchester-by-the Sea all marched to the chant: Ask us. Listen to us. The event - drawing almost double the expected number of teachers and causing downtown traffic gridlock for three hours - followed a tough year for Massachusetts teachers. The year began with the spotlight on prospective teachers who ...

SO NOW WE ARE FOUR, as along comes Jack, eight pounds, four ounces, to join Tom, who for the record welcomes this development; and now I know what my job will be for the remainder of my days. I will be the man sitting behind the driver's wheel saying: Boys, listen to your mother. This is a good job, and one of the better things about it is the nice clarity it lends to life. Fathers (and mothers) relearn that the world is a simple enough place. They discover that their essential ambitions, which once seemed so many, have been ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. FEW RECENT STORIES have riveted the nation more than the fatal shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado and the near-tragedy at Heritage High School in suburban Atlanta, where six students were shot by a fellow student. We've been struggling not only to understand these types of actions, but also to protect ourselves from a recurrence. We know the facts but find little comfort in our knowledge. The two teenage gunmen in Colorado and the 15-year-old gunman in Georgia had backgrounds that gave little hint of their capacity for terror. ...

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A LECTURE ON ECONOMIC GROWTH AND ECONOMIC POLICY: WHY DO COUNTRIES DIFFER SO SHARPLY IN THEIR ECONOMIC GROWTH? FEATURING ROBERT BARRO Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics, Harvard University Robert J. Barro is one of the most distinguished economic theorists of his generation. Professor Barro is a leading expert on the factors determining why countries differ so sharply in their economic growth rates. In his work, Barro cites the importance of private property rights, political freedom and the importance of low inflation. Barro is the Robert C. Waggoner Professor of Economics at Harvard University, a ...

Thursday, June 17, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hepatitis A outbreak among gay men in Tampa Health officials in the Tampa, Fla., area are urging gay men to be vaccinated against hepatitis A after an outbreak of the disease in the gay community. The Tampa Tribune reports that more than half of the cases of the disease logged this year were among men who had sex with other men. The paper reports that hepatitis A infections are also increasing among gay men in other cities, including New York, Denver, Seattle, and Atlanta. "It's not exactly known why there's an increased risk," the paper quotes Suzanne ...

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,'' Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America, told reporters in a conference ...

June 28, 1999 Left-Right Bedfellows "We are the evil empire. Our war in Kosovo is the latest chapter in a century of American imperialism that includes Vietnam, the Gulf War and our shameful, secret wars in Central America." No, these aren't Tom Hayden's words, nor do they come from any of the other progressives who've opposed the US war in the Balkans. They belong to Thomas Fleming, editor of the conservative--no, paleoconservative--magazine Chronicles. Noting that the anti-interventionists in the Kosovo debate span the left and right, the New York Times recently opined that the war against Yugoslavia has made strange ...

The aftermath of the war on Yugoslavia is not following the typical pattern. Usually, the commander in chief basks in the glow of victory. Medals are handed out, parades organized, speeches given to the masses. Veterans are heralded as preservers of freedom. The national soul swells in patriotic fervor. The merchants of death gain a new lease on life. Not this time. This is no victory glow, no parades, no flag waving. Outside the mainstream media, there is a curious lack of any bragging at all. There are no yellow ribbons adorning trees. Indeed, veterans of this war are ...

While Vice President Al Gore gets ready to tell the world Wednesday from his family farm in Tennessee that he's running for president, his chief Democratic rival was in California just hoping to get noticed. Bill Bradley, the former New Jersey senator and New York Knicks basketball star, was in San Francisco on Tuesday talking to two groups that traditionally have been Democratic stalwarts - environmentalists and abortion-rights advocates. Bradley, who campaigns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, is using his 10-day trip through California to draw attention to his uphill bid for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination. Gore holds ...

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 ...