Free Republic

Paris, Friday, June 18, 1999Chinese Espionage? Much Fuss About Not MuchBy Flora Lewis PARIS - A toxic cloud of speculation, exaggeration and some sheer falsehoods was released by the report of Chinese spying on American nuclear secrets. Sorting out information from feverish dramatization, nuclear strategy from political agitation, is complex and necessary. The official U.S. intelligence ''damage assessment'' warns that China ''probably accelerated its program to develop future nuclear weapons'' as a result of a vast collection of espionage. But it also says: ''We cannot determine the full extent of weapons information obtained. For example, we do not know ...

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Democratic fund-raiser Maria Hsia, accused of funneling money through Buddhist nuns, will not be retried in a separate tax fraud case that ended in a mistrial, a Justice Department spokesman said Thursday. Prosecutors claimed Ms. Hsia did not file an income tax return for 1994, underestimated her income for 1995 and 1996, and assisted in filing a false tax return for her immigration consulting business. She was charged with tax evasion, but a federal judge declared a mistrial last week after the jury said it was hopelessly deadlocked. "We assessed the results of the first ...

Defending the Commandments There was good news today when the House of Representatives passed the Ten Commandments Defense Act as part of the Juvenile Justice bill. The 248-180 vote was an important victory in the battle to help restore religious liberty in America. For many years, unelected federal judges have chipped away at our freedoms by misinterpreting the First Amendment to take prayer out of schools, nativity scenes out of the public square, and the Ten Commandments down from classroom walls. Last year, in an effort to rein in federal judges and stop the erosion of our religious freedom, ...

Pritish Nandy Demolish the myth The skirmish in Kargil has served one purpose. It has showed up the real difference between India and Pakistan. The difference in the way we see each other. While we both talk about peace, Pakistan is always ready for war even though it is clever enough to know that it can ever win one. Why? Why should a nation be ready for a war when it knows it cannot win it? The reason is simple. Pakistan has grown up on a self-sustained myth that it is a strong, absolutely unified, military nation with a ...

Now that the U.S. is more "diverse" then it was 50 years ago it's very important that we drill it in to the heads of the citizenry that it's so great and that they love it (like a mantra). Meanwhile people seem to be naturally segregating in the many ethnic communities that now dot our American landscape. So our myth that diversity is so great is in actuality an overcompensation for the predicament that the U.S. is getting itself into, (especially with our current immigration policies being what they are) and we insist on drilling into other nations that they ...

My local Tribune TV station showed Al Gore being disrupted once again today by those mean spirited wacko AIDS extremists who had no regards for the Vice President's right to free speech.Similar to YaYa's report yesterday, they blew whistles and unfurled cloth banners. They had been seated on stage behind the podium. They stood up and walked a few feet to be directly behind Gore.Being true to their track record, the mean spirited wacko AIDS extremists did not want a bipartisan discussion. When Gore said he would be happy to talk with them afterwards, they just continued their tantrum. A ...

Between Kargil and cricket, a small news item, which will have, in the long term, serious implications on India's security, did not receive the attention it deserved. And yet, very shortly this piece of information will have an overwhelming and lasting effect on the happy-go-lucky people of Bombay. The news item, datelined Moscow, stated that the Pakistan Navy was on the threshold of "going nuclear." Reading between the lines it means that the Pak Navy is likely introduce nuclear weapons at sea, most probably in its submarines. To those who have watched developments in the submarine arm of the Pakistan ...

NEW YORK, June 17—For the second day in a row, AIDS activists disrupted Vice President Gore's presidential campaign tour today, protesting his behind-the-scenes role in a trade dispute over the cost of drugs in South Africa. At two campaign stops today and one yesterday, Gore raised his voice and fired back at demonstrators as they chanted "Gore's greed kills." In one brief but tense exchange in New Hampshire, the protesters stood yelling just a few feet from Gore before being escorted out by police. Health and AIDS activists accuse Gore of favoring drugmakers' profits over the lives of millions ...

Bradley outlines gun position Updated 6:59 PM ET June 17, 1999 LOS ANGELES, June 17 (UPI) Democratic presidential candidate and former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley has proposed a series of "tough anti-gun measures," including making it illegal for anyone convicted of domestic violence to possess a handgun. At a news conference today in Los Angeles, Bradley also proposed the elimination of junk handguns "completely and permanently, and said handgun owners should be required to pass a basic safety course before they can get a license. Bradley would also limit the purchase of handguns to one a month per person; limit ...

In New Hampshire, he spotted a baby in one crowd and alerted news photographers. "I've always been a sucker for baby pictures!" he shouted. Taking the baby from his mother, Bush planted a big kiss on a chubby check. "One more kiss!" a photographer shouted. Bush obliged. "Turn around!" another photographer instructed. Bush obliged. "Hold him up!" Bush obliged. The next day, Gore was in his hometown of Carthage, Tenn., when a small group of supporters coaxed him to the edge of a security area to shake hands. He made his way down a line of greeters until he reached ...

At least 90 million Americans either depend directly on government handouts or jobs, and each private worker must support not only himself and his family, but also carry a government wsorker on his shoulders. "Over 50% of all tax payments now go directly to the benefit of government workers and dependents." Crucial support to Leviathan comes from our morally ambitious communicator class (Teds Kopple, Turner and Dansen class) who restlessly seek what they construe to be the well being of strangers. And to that end we rained bombs down on Serbia, burned up children who were thought tobe molested in ...

WOULD YOU BUY A USED CAR FROM THIS GEEK? (my comment) ========================================================== "With your help I will take my own values of faith and family to the presidency, to build an America that is not only better off, but better," the 51 year old Gore said in front of the courthouse in the small town he calls home. Gore enters the race the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination; since WWII, every vice president who has sought his party's nomination has received it. But Gore openly sought to avoid the fate of his predecessors, notably Hubert Humphrey and Walter ...

Transcript of Clinton Remarks in Statement to Pool U.S. Newswire 17 Jun 19:57 Transcript of Clinton Remarks in Statement to Pool on Gun Control To: National Desk Contact: White House Press Office, 202-456-2100 WASHINGTON, June 17 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Following is a transcript of remarks by President Clinton today to the pool in a statement on gun control: U.S. Ambassador's Residence Paris, France 6:03 P.M. (L) THE PRESIDENT: I would just like to make a brief statement. Sometime today the United States Congress will be called upon to vote on whether to close the gun show loophole. It seems ...

The following is reported as an actual question appearing on a University of Washington chemistry exam: "Is hell exothermic (releasing heat) or endothermic (absorbing heat)? Support your answer with a proof." Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's law, which holds that the pressure of a given mass of gas is inversely proportional to its volume at a constant temperature. One student, however, wrote the following: First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the ...

For fair use JULY 5, 1999 ISSUE VIRTUAL POLITICS Demolition Man The gremlin who bit Richard Holbrooke. by Ryan Lizza Last summer, when President Clinton picked Richard Holbrooke to be his new ambassador to the United Nations, Holbrooke's confirmation by the Senate seemed like a virtual formality. After all, even those who don't like Holbrooke's brash style concede that he's one of the Clinton administration's most effective foreign policy hands; and, as a political operator and self-promoter, Holbrooke's talents are legendary. But it won't be until June 17, exactly a year after Clinton announced Holbrooke's selection, that the Senate Foreign ...

For fair use JULY 5, 1999 ISSUE VIRTUAL POLITICS Kosovo Dispatch: In Control by Stacy Sullivan Notwithstanding the euphoria with which the estimated 50,000 Albanians who had remained in the old Turkish-built city of Prizren greeted the first convoy of German peacekeepers arriving on Saturday, June 12, all was not well in Kosovo. Like the Dayton agreement that brought peace to Bosnia, Kosovo's vague peace plan promises different things to different parties to the conflict. To the Belgrade government, the plan means Kosovo will remain an integral part of Yugoslavia. But, to the Albanians, the plan represents a step toward ...

The link to the Alley is gone it seems. I have made my "Patio" available to those freepers who might wish to chat with one another. ThePatio

For fair use JULY 5, 1999 ISSUE VIRTUAL POLITICS TRB from Washington: Leaky by Charles Lane Washington is abuzz over Bob Woodward's new book, Shadow, which has just been excerpted in The Washington Post. Shadow is classic Woodward, taking you inside White House meetings on the Clinton scandals, including intriguing conversations between President Clinton and his lawyer in the Paula Jones case. "Robert S. Bennett, leaning close to his client in the private study off the Oval Office, announced his suspicion in an aggressive baritone," one excerpt reads. "`Mr. President,' he said, `I find your explanation about one of the ...

U.S. Senate panel threatens Russia aid over Kosovo By Vicki Allen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel, ignoring White House warnings that it could hamper Balkan peacekeeping efforts, threatened Thursday to block some $750 million in aid to Russia unless it cooperated with NATO forces in Kosovo. The provision was wrapped into a $12.6 billion foreign aid bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee that the White House promptly threatened to veto. The White House called the spending measure ``grossly inadequate'' and warned it would hobble the president's ability to react to overseas threats and would impede negotiations to ...

In addition to the "normal suspects" of the DC Chapter, it is expected that a number of "special guest appearances" will be made this Saturday on Penn Avenue. I have taken reservations from two FReepers in my area for a car ride down. Dirtboy and ELS are planning on attending. Dirtboy has a comedy act to rival mine I've been told. And what we can't do with comedy, ELS will accomplish with charm. This Saturday could be considered a preview of the "VRWC All Star Game and Rally" planned for July 24th.Our ever resourceful Angelwood has secured a permit, so ...