Free Republic

NEW ELLENTON, S.C. (AP)-- The wide-mouth bass are monsters. The deer are fatter and the alligators longer. And the ponds, wetlands and rich bottomland brim with snakes, turtles, and salamanders-- a bounty of biological diversity.But the Savannah River Site, a 310-square-mile expanse of longleaf pine forest and marshland along the river that divides South Carolina from Georgia, is an ecological paradox.For four decades one of the government's top-secret nuclear bomb factories where five reactors produced plutonium and tritum for nuclear warheads, it also is an ecological treasure chest full of wildlife and one of the hottest spots for biological research ...

An Open Letter to George W. Bush Filed June 17, 1999 Dear Gov. Bush: That was more than a good speech you gave in Iowa. It was an important speech -- for the coujtry and for your party. ``I am confident,'' you said, ``that Americans view compassion as a noble goal, the calling of a nation where the strong are just and the weak are valued. And so I'm proud to be a compassionate conservative. I welcome the label. And on this ground I will make my stand.'' If you really do make your stand on this ground, not only ...

From: CharlesSmith Wednesday, June 23, 1999 SECRET HILL REPORT ON PRC IN PANAMA (EXCERPTS) THE PANAMA CANAL IN TRANSITION: THREATS TO U.S. SECURITY and CHINA's GROWING ROLE IN LATIN AMERICA . Introduction: The Panama Canal, one of the world's key strategic waterways, is scheduled to be turned over to the Panamanian government on December 31, 1999. The Canal remains vital to American trade and defense capabilities. The Canal remains the vital sea link in the Western Hemisphere between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and an economic and logistical bridgehead between North America and South America. Currently, some 15 to ...

The Army's new military leader signaled the likelihood yesterday that he would seek to increase overall troop strength, following a decade of cuts that have reduced the Army by about one-third to 480,000 soldiers. Gen. Eric Shinseki said a decision on whether to push for more troops depends on findings later this summer of an Army study of future requirements. Army officials have complained for some time that proliferating peacekeeping missions have put undue strain on the service's reduced ranks, although some defense experts have suggested the problem has more to do with poor management and outdated force structure ...

June 16, 1999 Only Half of Americans Say They Would Vote for the U.S. Constitution Just 34% Say Government Now Operates Under Constitution A Portrait of America telephone survey found that the just under half (49.5 %) of American adults would vote for the United States Constitution if it were on the ballot today. The survey also found that 23% of those surveyed say that they would vote against the Constitution while 27% are not sure. "The lack of support for the Constitution probably stems from the high levels of public disgust with government and politics today," observed Scott Rasmussen, ...

The United States said on Thursday that China is refusing to allow U.S. military aircraft to land in Hong Kong, adding to a ban on U.S. warships after the bombing of China's embassy in Yugoslavia last month. ``U.S. military ships and aircraft have been banned,'' said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Consulate-General in Hong Kong. U.S. military aircraft on routine navigation training flights fly to Asia-Pacific destinations including Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia, the spokeswoman said. Such flights continued to receive landing permission at Hong Kong's airport Kong after Britain returned the former colony to Beijing ...

U.S. MARINES AMBUSHED BY SNIPERS IN KOSOVO By MARILYN RAUBER ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON - Snipers yesterday fired on U.S. Marines in Kosovo - and the second U.S. gun battle in as many days had the Pentagon fretting over their "extremely dangerous" mission. The 20 to 30 Marines were manning a checkpoint near Zegra - south of their headquarters at Gnijlane - when they came under fire from snipers inside a house. None of the Marines was injured in the attack. "We have become the target of violent acts," said the commander of the U.S. forces in Kosovo, Army Brig. Gen. John ...

HILLARY MAY AGAIN BE TANGLED IN WEBB By BRIAN BLOMQUIST ------------------------------------------------------------------------ WASHINGTON - Whitewater prosecutor Kenneth Starr has put First Lady Hillary Clinton on his witness list for the upcoming Webb Hubbell fraud trial, sources said yesterday - a move that could hurt her Senate campaign. If called to testify in the Hubbell trial, Mrs. Clinton probably will be asked about her legal work on a fraudulent land deal in the mid-1980s, when she worked at the Rose Law Firm with Hubbell. The trial - slated to start Aug. 9 - could provide a damaging reminder of her role in ...

FIGHT vs. ODDS LOCAL SOLDIERS' PROUDEST HOUR By MILES LATHEM PRISTINA, Kosovo THE pizza guy and the stockbroker are back from the front. So is the waiter from the Oyster Bar, the garment-center worker and the rest of the Atlantic Brigade of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The members of this all-volunteer force are relaxing in the local cafes after weeks of hard living and heavy fighting in the mountains. They're anxious to get on with their lives back in New York, having done their part to rid the land of their ancestors of Serbian oppression. There are 84 members ...

WHY NEW YORK NEEDS A BULLY By BOB McMANUS RUDY Giuliani's big mouth was back at the top of the news yesterday - in more ways than one. "No Brooklyn Navy Yard for you, Hillary" - or for the launch party for Tina Brown's new venue, Talk magazine, either - looks to be the mayoral message of the week. Taken another way, no glitzy new magazine featuring on its inaugural cover a potential Democratic candidate for the United States Senate will have a high-profile kick-off on city property. Or so says the mayor. Which begs a question: Why not, ...

NATIONAL REPUBLICANS RALLYING 'ROUND RUDY By DEBORAH ORIN MORE AND more top national Republicans keep sending signals that they want Mayor Giuliani as the GOP Senate candidate against Hillary Clinton -ex-national chairman Haley Barbour is the latest to roar for Rudy. The subliminal message is that Rep. Rick Lazio (R-L.I.) should drop plans to challenge Giuliani in a messy GOP primary. And that Gov. Pataki and ex-Sen. Al D'Amato should stop trying to derail Hizzoner. "I am confident that in the fall of 2000, Republicans in New York will be united behind Rudy Giuliani's candidacy for U.S. Senate," Barbour ...

Rebel Leader in Political Limelight By LAURA KING .c The Associated Press PRISTINA, Yugoslavia (AP) - If there was a defining moment in Hashim Thaci's transformation from a mystery-shrouded rebel chieftain - code named ``The Snake'' - to a politician with all the right moves, this might have been it. As the 30-year-old ethnic Albanian leader emerged Wednesday from a meeting in Pristina with visiting European foreign ministers, the crowd at first chanted, ``NA-TO! NA-TO!'' - a cry often heard over the past dozen days as Western peacekeeping troops fanned out across Kosovo. But that was swiftly drowned out by ...

PROSECUTORS UNVEIL THIRD-COP THEORY IN NEW LOUIMA SHOCKER By MURRAY WEISS For the first time, federal prosecutors in the sensational Abner Louima case say there may have been a third cop in the bathroom when the Haitian immigrant was sodomized with a stick, The Post has learned. The revelation comes on the heels of claims by Justin Volpe - who admitted he sodomized Louima - that Charles Schwarz, who was convicted of holding Louima down during the attack, was not in the 70th Precinct bathroom at the time. Volpe claims Thomas Wiese, who was acquitted, was in the bathroom ...

OKYO--With each passing year, Japan and China--Asia's two main powers--seem to drift a bit further apart. During the 1980s, it looked as if the two historic rivals had worked out a surprising rapprochement. China viewed Japan as a model for how an Asian country could modernize without giving up its soul. And Japan saw China both as a burgeoning economic market and as the source of many of Japan's cultural traditions. Times have changed. As China's Communist leadership defines nationalism as its sole remaining ideology, and as Japan moves toward a softer form of nationalism, the tendency becomes ever ...

Thursday, June 24, 1999 US military aircraft join warships on banned list Beijing is refusing permission for US military aircraft to land at Chek Lap Kok. US warships were banned last month from making visits, in retaliation for the Nato bombing of China's embassy in Belgrade. The move has thrown doubt over travel plans for congressional delegations due to arrive in US air force jets during their summer break. The ban on military aircraft was revealed yesterday by Consul-General Richard Boucher who said "one or two" applications had been knocked back and a series of requests for ship visits refused. ...

I just got done listening to an archived Sightings Radio Show on Y2K originally broadcast on 6/20/99. It was alarming in that it was chock full of first hand accounts by programmers inside and working on the problem reporting what they've seen and heard -- and the stories they have to tell are, well, down right scary. One insider tells of the man in charge of Y2K remediation for a large upper midwest city (name withheld to protect his own ongoing business relationship with this city) who, after months on the job, went insane. He just couldn't stop crying. They ...

On Wednesday June 23 the House debated a proposed Constitutional amendment that would prohibit the desecration of the American flag - again. While they postponed the vote on this amendment, it was clear that a majority of House Members were in favor of such an amendment, although it still remains uncertain whether or not they will succeed in getting the 2/3 majority vote nedded to amend the Constitution. It is unclear what the mood of the Senate is at this time. It was interesting to watch the debate, which united such unlikely allies as former Libertarian presidential candidate Ron ...

Quayle Not Nostalgic About the '60s By WILL LESTER .c The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - Former Vice President Dan Quayle grew up in the 1960s but says he doesn't have the nostalgia for that decade that many baby boomers have. ``Many people in very powerful positions have a great deal of nostalgia for that,'' he said in a phone interview Wednesday. ``When I was living it, I enjoyed it, but I'm not so sure that it was good for us.'' In his new book, ``Worth Fighting For,'' the Republican presidential candidate expands his attack on TV's Murphy Brown to ...

WASHINGTON, June 23 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer issued the following statement today following Gov. George W. Bush's comments at a Pennsylvania news conference refusing to rule out a pro-abortion running mate: ``What is emerging is a man who is operationally pro-choice. He refuses to pledge to only appoint pro-life justices to the Supreme Court and federal bench. He refuses to say whether he agrees that Roe vs. Wade should be overturned. And now he refuses to commit to selecting a pro-life running mate. ``If Gov. Bush were serious about the Republican platform -- which is ...

The Joint Statement of Current Law is a collaborative document undersigned by over 30 religious and civil rights groups that outlines the religious rights of students in the public schools. Most of these organizations are separationist in philosophy and practice, some of them (eg., ACLU, Americans United for Separation of Church and State) agressively so. The document lays to rest the myth that prayer and other types of religious expression are banned in the public schools. On the contrary, religious expression generally enjoys the same protection as other forms of speech. This document forms the basis of President Clinton's guidlines ...