Free Republic

Court Backs Gore Dissenter's Suit The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal appeals court ruled Friday that a woman who dissented from the findings of a White House panel chaired by Vice President Al Gore has the right to the same information as other commissioners. M. Victoria Cummock, appointed by the president to a special commission on aviation safety in the wake of the TWA Flight 800 air disaster, sued Gore and others on the panel, saying she had been denied access to a ``classified annex,'' but never got the document despite her security clearance. Cummock also said she ...

HELSINKI (AP) -- U.S. and Russian negotiators signed an agreement Friday on Kosovo peacekeeping arrangements, ending an impasse that began a week ago when 200 Russian troops surprised NATO by rolling into the Pristina airport ahead of the alliance. U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen said Russia and Washington had reached an agreement "on terms that meet the requirements of both NATO and Russia." "It preserves the unity of (NATO) command ... and it gives Russia a unique role by providing for operations of Russian forces" within sectors controlled by NATO members. Russian troops will serve under Russian command and ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Arsonists struck three of the area's five synagogues within minutes early Friday, and a leaflet blaming the "International Jew World Order" for the war in Kosovo was left behind.The fires caused moderate damage to two synagogues and gutted a third temple's library, destroying a collection of videos on Jewish history."Hate is hate. You can't predict when it will happen," Lou Anapolsky, president of the Congregation B'nai Israel, said Friday morning, standing in front of the congregation's burned library.The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is handling the investigation and assumes it is a hate crime, ...

North Korea accuses U.S. of trying to unleash new Korean War UNITED NATIONS (AP) - North Korea accused the United States on Friday of trying to unleash a new war on the Korean peninsula by deploying advanced weapons and provoking South Korea to fire on North Korean naval ships this week. ``The touch-and-go situation is now created in the Korean peninsula where a war may break out any time,'' North Korea's U.N. Ambassador Li Hyong Chol warned in a letter to the Security Council. The latest tensions involve rich crab fishing territory claimed by both Koreas off the peninsula's western ...

PARIS -- President Clinton said Thursday that NATO will not launch a raid to arrest Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic on war crimes charges. Clinton spoke as the British-led international military force in Kosovo continued to find suspected mass graves and charred bodies apparently linked to the murderous campaign by Yugoslavia's Serbians to rid Kosovo of ethnic Albanian Muslims. Allied troops would arrest Milosevic and other indicted Yugoslav war criminals only if they come across the suspects in Kosovo or elsewhere in the world, Clinton told a joint news conference with French President Jacques Chirac before flying to Cologne, Germany, for ...

Forbes Opens N.H. Headquarters By GENE JOHNSON The Associated Press MANCHESTER, N.H. (AP) - Steve Forbes opened his New Hampshire campaign headquarters Friday, pledging to build a strong network of volunteers to help spread his ``positive, substantive message of political change.'' Forbes' grass-roots efforts represent a change from his 1996 run for the White House, when he relied almost exclusively on advertising. ``With the compressed caucus and primary calendar, an intense, experienced and enthusiastic ground operation is crucial,'' he said. The Republican presidential hopeful released a list of 321 volunteers he said are ready to rally support in 144 New ...

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) -- After welcoming the latest breakthrough in Kosovo diplomacy Friday night, President Clinton allowed himself a little splurge: a $52 porcelain figurine of a clown playing a saxophone. Outside Sweetheart, a shop that sells traditional Christmas and Carnival knickknacks and local souvenirs near the city's cathedral, hundreds of eager residents strained for a glimpse of the president. ``Look for the light gray hair! That's him!'' a group of friends shouted to a woman perched on her boyfriend's shoulders. Clinton emerged with a big smile, strolled to the edge of the crowd and clasped a few of the ...

Bush Gets Endorsements The Associated Press LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - George W. Bush gained two more Republican endorsements Friday in his quest for the White House. Nebraska Gov. Mike Johanns and Sen. Gordon Smith of Oregon are the latest GOP officials to back the Republican front-runner. ``He's tested as a chief executive and in my judgment, he has passed this test,'' Johanns said. ``He is truly a leader.'' Smith, who will also serve as Bush's Oregon state chairman, said Bush's record as Texas governor sets him apart from the GOP field. ``He has been able to bring disparate opinions together ...

An amendment that slipped by District of Columbia lawmakers in the House would repeal D.C.'s ban on handgun ownership, the Washington Post reported June 17. The one-sentence amendment was part of a stack of additions approved Tuesday by the U.S. House of Representatives Rules Committee for consideration as part of the national debate on gun control. The amendment was introduced by Rep. Virgil H. Goode Jr. (D-Va.) because he said the District's ban on handgun ownership violates the Constitution's right to bear arms. "I believe in the Second Amendment. The Constitution stands above home government," said Goode. "If you can't ...

Gore Aims at Bush on Gun Control By SCOTT LINDLAW The Associated Press LOS ANGELES (AP) - Vice President Al Gore took direct aim at George W. Bush on Friday, accusing the Texas governor of being soft on gun control for signing a bill limiting cities' ability to sue firearms manufacturers and dealers. ``The stakes are too high for any presidential candidate to stand on the sidelines'' of the gun-control debate, Gore said. Gore never mentioned Bush by name, but his reference to the Texas bill was an unmistakable shot at the leading Republican presidential contender. Gore's political aides dispatched ...

June 18, 1999 /4 Tamuz, 5759 Thomas Sowell A famous victory http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- NOW THAT SLOBODAN MILOSEVIC has made yet another agreement with NATO, the Clinton administration has declared victory and its media allies have joined the chorus of congratulation. Yet the question must be asked: What is there to celebrate? Who is better off now -- and for how long? It is not nearly as difficult to get Milosevic to sign agreements as it is to get him to live up to them. Now the Russians have become a wild card in the game, creating new problems from day ...

U.S. analysts believe China WTO talks could resume By David Storey WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Beijing's brusque rejection of Washington's explanation of the bombing of China's Belgrade embassy does not preclude resuming talks on China joining the World Trade Organisation soon, analysts said on Friday. But they said broader relations were still badly damaged and that both sides must be careful to avoid diplomatic mistakes that could sink chances of reviving the suspended WTO talks and securing agreement by a November deadline. ``They're doing a little dance here on both sides,'' said Patrick Cronin, Director of Research at the ...

U.S., North Korea to meet in Beijing next week WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy to Korean peace talks, Ambassador Charles Kartman, will meet a North Korean official in the Chinese capital Beijing on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said on Friday. The meeting with Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan was planned before this week's naval confrontation between North and South Korea in the Yellow Sea, a U.S. official said. Kartman and Kim will talk about the results of last month's U.S. visit to an underground building site, four-party talks on Korea in Geneva in August ...

The following nugget is found at page 4293 of Linda Tripp's grand jury testimony: "Q: Did Monica Lewinsky and the President discuss the possibility of other jobs, particularly in the media? A: Yes. The President suggested when he wanted a list of-- a wish list of where she wanted to go-- and she had vague ideas, but nothing specific enough to allow him to have a specific clear idea, they talked about networks. And he instantly said that someone who would do anything he asked was someone named-- I think his first name is Richard, but Kaplan at CNN, ...

Doctor arrested in child sex case BY FEDERAL COURT REPORTER An Oak Park gynecologist was arrested Thursday in an undercover sting for allegedly using the Internet in an effort to lure a person he believed to be a 13-year-old girl into sex. Mark Levine, 39, of the 900 block of North East Avenue in Oak Park, was carrying condoms, other contraceptives, two X-rated videos and a stethoscope inside a black bag when he was arrested Thursday morning at a Chicago apartment complex, authorities said. After more than two months of chatting and exchanging e-mail, Levine was expecting Thursday to finally ...

The following are some letters to the editors of People magazine about the Famous Chef, Julia Child. Julia uses the incisors that God gave her and eats meat. For your entertainment:::::::: I read Julia Child's view on vegetarians and found them unsophisticated, uninformative and trite. The sensual pleasure she derives from eating dead flesh - a practice called necrophagy- gives rise to a flesh addiction that is no different from other substance addictions. One who, like Child, love feeding on flesh would obviously be bothered by ethical vegetarians who oppose blood violence and the taking of other lives merely for ...

Another "executed" Kosovar leader back from the dead By Barry Grey 18 June 1999 How reliable are the press accounts of Serb atrocities in Kosovo? Consider the following item published June 17 by the Boston Globe: ÒKosovo Albanian who was believed dead is alive and well, British official says.Ó The article by Kevin Cullen, dateline Pristina, reports that Veton Surroi, an ethnic Albanian leader with close ties to NATO leaders, met with senior British officials earlier in the week. The meeting is newsworthy because last March 29 NATO announced that Surroi had been murdered by Serb forces, a claim that ...

NRA Gets Its 'Traction' Back And Wins Gun Votes By Joanne Kenen WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It was a good week for the National Rifle Association. After losing hard-fought battles in the Senate last month, the NRA, America's powerful gun lobby, recovered lost ground when the House of Representatives Friday first weakened, then killed altogether, its own attempt at gun legislation. The vote underscored the formidable clout of the lobby, which many lawmakers consider the best in the business, and frustrated gun control advocates who failed to push through a modest agenda, even after the Columbine school massacre. ``The NRA got ...

PAKISTAN'S GAMBLE Second Opinion For the Pakistani Army and its ally ISI, conducting proxy war against India for the last one decade, it was too much of a temptation to resist occupying the desolate barren hills ranging in heights from 15,000 ft to 17,000 ft. The area is across the LoC in Batalik-Kargil-Dras region and adjacent to Siachen sector, which the Indian Army vacates in winters to again return back when the snow melts in summer. In this sector, the LOC is nearest to the Indian National Highway 1A, connecting Srinagar to Leh and the lifeline for troops deployed ...

Conservative, Rural Democrats Go Their Own Way on Gun Control By Jonathan D. Salant WASHINGTON — Most of the 45 House Democrats who bucked their party by voting to loosen background checks at gun shows hail from districts with lots of hunters or other conservative voters. They're much more likely than other Democrats to have received donations from the National Rifle Association. And some had to stave off strong Republican challenges last fall. "Democrats are reflecting, in many of these cases, their constituents and their districts," said Democratic political consultant Peter Fenn. The bill that carried the divisive amendment ultimately ...