Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- One group crusading to cut some of the money out of politics summed up its frustrations in a full-page ad in the Washington Post the other day. The ad featured an enlarged photo of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, with miniature images of House Republican Whip Tom Delay, R-Texas, and Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., perched on his shoulders. "Dennis Hastert will only DeLay and Doolittle," declared the nonprofit group Public Campaign, suggesting that the speaker has been influenced by his two GOP colleagues to stall action on even modest campaign finance reforms. Although House Republicans hold a slimmer, ...

A TEXAS teenager who went fishing came back with an unexpected catch, an 11-inch (27-cm) piranha, a local newspaper reported Friday.Qunton Croker reeled in the sharp-toothed carnivore, which is native to South America, in Stillhouse Hollow lake, a large central Texas reservoir near the town of Killeen."I've lived here all my life and never seen one of these," the 25-year-old told the Killeen Daily Herald. "It was different catching one , I didn't relly know what to expect."Officials said the fish was most likely released into the wild after getting too big for some owner's aquarium."Are these dangerous for bathers ...

Publisher Steve Forbes has challenged candidate Gov. George W. Bush of Texas to a series of presidential debates. Forbes has the right idea. Real campaign reform would begin with real debate about real issues. ''(T)he American people would be well-served if we hold a series of debates between July and the end of this year,'' Forbes wrote. Forbes wants to hold five debates and include all the Republican candidates. But don't expect George W. Bush to accept any time soon. Among campaign handlers, issues are the enemy. They force candidates to take stands that can anger voters. Debates can't ...

Chicago Tribune, June 22, 1999 Plan to wire all schools to Internet falls behind Critics say program proposed by Gore ignored difficulties Vice President Al Gore and President Clinton watch Luke Rockwell and Julie Allen operate a computer at a California high school. The administration has fallen considerably short on its 1996 pledge to have every classroom wired to the Internet by 2000. (Associated Press) By Frank James Washington Bureau June 22, 1999 WASHINGTON -- With just over six months to go, the Clinton administration is not even close to meeting its highly touted goal of connecting every classroom in ...

Perhaps when the Russians or Chinese were stealing secrets, they accidentally left one of their play books in full view of a DNC member. Their politics have all the markings of the communist takeover my mother used to warn me about. 1) First and foremost, control the blue collar union vote. Strength in numbers. 2) Control education. Win over the school teachers and college professors with new ideas and dire predictions of what happens when the human "animal" is free to roam without their help. 3) Control the media. Make absolutely sure every form of communication is under your control. ...

STAMFORD - Connecticut has been chosen as one of 30 sites nationwide where Persian Gulf War veterans may participate in experimental treatment for unexplained illnesses. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is beginning a $20 million pair of studies focusing on veterans who suffer from fatigue, muscle and joint pain or difficulties with memory and thinking. The illnesses have become known as gulf war syndrome. The first study will test 1,300 veterans to see if exercise and behavioral therapy improve physical function. One site for those clinical trials will be VA Connecticut Healthcare System's facility in West Haven. The second ...

June 21, 1999 Campaign Update "I ask for your help to strengthen family life in America. And I make you this pledge: if you entrust me with the Presidency, I will marshal its authority, its resources, and its moral leadership to fight for America's families. 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. And that is why today, I announce that I am a candidate for President of the United States." Al Gore Carthage, TN, June 16, 1999 Announcement ...

India's heavy artillery guns stare across the barbed wire fence at Pakistan, its enemy in three wars. From their towers, the Pakistani heavy weapons stare back. For the first time in nearly 30 years the border between the uneasy neighbors is taking on signs of another possible war. The Pakistani military warned today that hopes for peace in the region are ``fading.'' There are reports that India has deployed 35,000 fresh troops on their side of the border. Residents on both sides have been fleeing border villages. The tensions have centered on India's campaign to drive hundreds of Islamic fighters ...

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX MONDAY, JUNE 21, 1999 21:28:58 ET XXXXX WHITE HOUSE LAWYER CHARGES: BOB WOODWARD DOUBLE CROSSED ME! **Exclusive** A former Clinton lawyer on Monday lashed out at WASHINGTON POST legend Bob Woodward -- accusing Woodward of violating an agreement that conversations would remain off the record! Ms. Jane Sherburne, the former White House attorney in charge of scandal management, is furious with Woodward for including information in his new book SHADOW that she gave the author during a series of what she believed were off-the-record meetings. During a deposition taken by JUDICIAL WATCH's Larry Klayman on Monday ...

"EPA: Out to Save Noble the Noble Cockroach American Investigator: A Television Newsmagazine Show Reporter: Marc Morano Producer: Kent Washburn Phone: 202-543-4787 Fax: 202-543-5978 E-mail: Ai@fcref.org Original Air Date: June 25, 1999 VO: Almost no living creatures on the face of the earth are more universally reviled than cockroaches. For most people, cockroaches are creepy, crawly, disgusting vermin. Exterminators make their living killing them. When director Paul Verhoeven needed an enemy that would receive absolutely no audience sympathy in his movie "Starship Troopers," he created giant cockroach-like bugs. SS Troopers clip It was then quite surprising when the film "Joe’s ...

Internet Predators Hardly a week passes these days without some regulator, federal or state, making a grab at controlling the Internet. So it's good to be able to report that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's latest attempt to carve out some turf from the cyberworld for itself came to naught yesterday in the Washington courtroom of U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina. Judge Urbina ruled that the Commission's attempt to regulate commodities newsletters and related material circulating on the Web was an unconstitutional infringement of free speech. The CFTC is a 24-year-old agency with a specific and narrowly defined job: to ...

June 21-- America Online Inc. took the latest step in its broadband strategy Monday, and once again, it's not a cable deal. The online giant poured $1.5 billion into Hughes Electronics Corp. in a deal that would put an AOL TV set top box on 7 million televisions using DirecTV digital satellite dishes. And AOL Interactive Services President Barry Schuler said the deal will give AOL "ubiquitous access with a large national footprint" in the high speed Internet market.Please read the rest of the article here

Albert Get Your Gun After the House killed a gun regulation bill last Friday, Democratic leader Dick Gephardt shook the hand of fellow Democrat John Dingell and said, "Thank you." That's all you need to know about the sincerity of the gun-control debate now "raging" in Washington. A Madonna video has more authenticity. Mr. Dingell, you see, had earlier sponsored a regulation-weakening amendment to the gun bill that gave political cover to 44 fellow Democrats in rural and pro-gun parts of the country. But then he turned around and joined 197 Democrats (and 82 Republicans) to kill the overall bill! ...

CRIME: One less threat It was not unexpected that Catholic bishops would criticize capital punishment after Gov. Jeb Bush signed two death warrants recently. But the words of Bishop John J. Snyder of the Catholic Diocese of St. Augustine, were to the point. ''It is almost impossible to justify the death penalty in our time,'' he said. ''Almost'' was an excellent choice of words. One of the death warrants was for Allen Lee Davis, who cornered a pregnant Jacksonville woman and beat her to death with a pistol in 1982. He hit the woman so hard, and so many times, ...

THE WASHINGTON TIMEShe Clinton administration is heading for a confrontation with Congress over legislation that would make it U.S. policy to deploy a nationwide defense against missile attack.     President Clinton is expected to sign the legislation as early as next week. Congressional backers say the measure will require missile defense deployment, but administration officials contend they are not required to do so.     Mr. Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin agreed in Cologne, Germany, on Sunday to continue talks this fall on possible changes to the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty. The pact prohibits deploying missile defenses that protect either side's entire national territory.     White ...

COMMISSION OF INQUIRY FOR INT'L WAR CRIMES TRIBUNAL iacenter@iacenter.org (iacenter) Tuesday, June 22, 1999 MEMORANDUM #1: RESEARCH CATEGORIES and General Summary The International Action Center is pleased to announce that the preparation for the International War Crimes Tribunal is officially under way. We both welcome and encourage all who would like to participate in the research effort. The initial hearing on the indictment will be held in New York City at Dubinsky Hall at the Fashion Institute of Technology on July 31st. Currently, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is writing up a multi-charge complaint, naming William J. Clinton, Madeleine ...

Stung by recent allegations of rampant Chinese espionage, officials at the FBI and CIA are moving toward a wholesale restructuring of their counterintelligence operations to plug potential holes in national security. The need for such a move has been under discussion for months, but the recent embarrassment of Chinese spying allegations -- including damning reports from high-level White House and congressional panels and the investigation of former Los Alamos scientist Wen Ho Lee -- has spurred a more aggressive tack, intelligence sources said. Details of a proposed restructuring may be offered in the next week or two at a ...

Clinton, Yeltsin Going Steady Again By BARRY SCHWEID .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Somehow Boris Yeltsin always finds his way back to Bill Clinton, and there are good reasons. Russia needs help for its economy. And that means President Yeltsin needs help from President Clinton. Russia improved its chances by reaching an agreement on how its peacekeeping troops would operate in Kosovo. The Russians even got something out of submitting to a unified NATO command. A Russian will be commander at the Pristina airport, which Russian troops had occupied to the surprise of NATO. But Yeltsin gave as ...

Yahoo! NewsAP Headlines Monday June 21 2:13 PM ET Flamboyant Fashion Exec Killed By CAROLYN THOMPSON Associated Press Writer BATAVIA, N.Y. (AP) - Fashion executive John Badum lived in New York's East Village, filling his fast-paced world with stylish friends and exuberant, over-the-top gestures. He loved costume parties, a good loud laugh, anything flamboyant. If Badum's life was musical theater, his death was pure opera: He was killed with a meat cleaver by his former boyfriend, who then threw himself to his death in front of a minivan. Police said it was a green card dispute that led Badum, 46, ...

Clinton says U.S. shouldn't help rebuild Yugoslavia's roads and bridges.6/21/99 President Clinton on Monday defined what type of U.S. financial aid should go to rebuild NATO-bombed Yugoslavia while President Slobodan Milosevic is still in power. World leaders have agreed that only humanitarian help should be allowed in order to provide comfort to the Serbian people, but not the government. In Clinton's view, it's okay to rebuild hospitals and power plants, but not roads and bridges, he said in Bonn, Germany, where he attended a U.S.-European Union conference. ``In terms of rebuilding the bridges so people can go to work, I ...