Free Republic

THE BELTWAY BEAT ======================================================= Decision on Committee Chairs Threatens to Slow Appropriations Process Speaker Dennis Hastert's, R-Ill., troubles organizing his conference have been, to say the least, readily apparent during recent debates on gun control and the appropriations process. Hastert can now add another topic to the list of issues that has angered conservatives in his caucus: committee chairmanships that will be up for grabs after the 2000 election and how they will be assigned. Very quietly last week, House leaders announced that current committee chairs will be able to obtain chairmanships on other committees or subcommittees after their six-year ...

"Millions of Americans saw the movie 'Titanic' and were thrilled by the many examples of heroism and self-sacrifice portrayed in the film," said Kennedy. "The Republican leadership however seems intent on reversing an age old tradition of the sea. When it comes to patient protection, their motto seems to be women and children last." Democrats hold up Senate over HMO reform - June 23, 1999

TESTIMONY OF DARRELL SCOTT, FATHER OF TWO VICTIMS OF COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL SHOOTINGS LITTLETION, COLORADO ********* BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES THURSDAY, MAY 27, 1999 2:00 P.M. 2141 RAYBURN HOUSE OFFICE BUILDING Since the dawn of creation there has been both good and evil in the heart of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher and the other 11 children who died must not be in vain. Their ...

Eric Eldred is a computer programmer. He is also a publisher. In 1995, he opened his own online shop, posting free html-versions of famous books. By 1998, he had dozens of texts posted -- from a large collection of Nathaniel Hawthorne to works by Robert Louis Stevenson.Eldred could publish these works because their copyrights had expired, and they had entered the public domain. The Constitution gives Congress the power to grant authors an exclusive right to their work "for Limited Times." After that "limited time" is up, the exclusive right ends. The work then enters the commons, from which anyone ...

All Hat No Cattle Futures: Hillary Go Home! By Lucianne Goldberg Just when Rudy Giuliani has the city straightened out, we New Yorkers have to contemplate Hillary-lock. Until one has found themselves stuck to a rump sprung back seat of a New York taxi in the 90 degree heat, twenty minutes late for a luncheon appointment that has been canceled twice, can they appreciate the true meaning of hatred for a single human being. Hillary Clinton has visited New York for the tenth time since she started the rumor that she just might run for the US Senate. She came ...

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush has stumbled into a theological hornets' nest by proposing that a "standard version'' of the Ten Commandments be posted in schools and public places. "I have no problem with the Ten Commandments posted on the wall of every public place,'' Bush told reporters this week while visiting a public library in Richmond, Virginia. Asked if he favored the Protestant, Catholic or Jewish version of the Commandments, which differ slightly from one another, Bush replied: "The standard version. Surely we can agree as a society on a version that everybody can agree ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- While Americans rallied behind President Clinton during the impeachment process, a bipartisan poll released today suggests the public has a growing concern about moral leadership that may help Republicans. The GOP has almost a 20 percentage-point edge over Democrats when asked which party best represents the values of faith in God, personal responsibility, ethics and honesty and knowing right from wrong, according to the latest Battleground Poll. Democrats and Republicans are tied at 39 percent apiece when voters were asked which party they would vote for if the election for Congress were held today. Texas Gov. ...

FLORENCE -- The full consequences of NATO's intervention in Yugoslavia have yet to be felt. It has changed NATO, and also the European Union, and has made the two rivals for influence over Europe's future. For Europeans, the war was a painful demonstration of military inadequacies and strategic dependence on America. Existing plans for closer European cooperation in arms manufacture and development, and for new military cooperation between Britain and France (probably to incorporate Germany), have found new support. But Europe's record on non-NATO military cooperation inspires little confidence. NATO has made an unprecedented political investment by acquiring a Balkan ...

Here they are folks those who have been "honored" after appearing on last Sunday's news shows PROFESSIONALS' MONTHLY Be sure to check out the "THINKING MAN" cartoon at the bottom of the page and the "OUTSIDER'S VIEW" on that hypocrite Bob Woodward!

HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA -- So how does the United States military plan to deal with the threats of cyber-warfare and cyber-terrorism? By completely reengineering itself. That's the opinion of Richard Harknett, associate professor of political science at the University of Cincinnati. To understand what the military wants to do, says Professor Harknett who heads a team of academics studying information warfare, it's important to understand what its opponents are doing. In the past, most terrorist groups were state-sponsored and an extension of the state's military aims. The Information Age makes this model obsolete. The result is a retreat from the ...

For the past three generations of Americans, going to war meant images of Robert E. Lee on horseback, front page stories of a sharpshooting Sergeant York, newsreel footage of Marines storming Guadalcanal, Walter Cronkite interviewing American GIs in Vietnam, or CNN's live coverage of military operations during the Gulf War. But the wars of the future may not be so hands-on. Or so visible. Instead, they may be fought by "cyber-knights," young men and women who sit at rows of computers at secret locations in the United States and can launch a barrage of cruise missiles from an unmanned naval ...

For the past three generations of Americans, going to war meant images of Robert E. Lee on horseback, front page stories of a sharpshooting Sergeant York, newsreel footage of Marines storming Guadalcanal, Walter Cronkite interviewing American GIs in Vietnam, or CNN's live coverage of military operations during the Gulf War. But the wars of the future may not be so hands-on. Or so visible. Instead, they may be fought by "cyber-knights," young men and women who sit at rows of computers at secret locations in the United States and can launch a barrage of cruise missiles from an unmanned naval ...

GENEVA, June 24 (AFP) - The world is heading for a spate of "super" disasters sparked by a mix of climate change, environmental damage and population pressures, a Red Cross report said on Thursday.The forecast was contained in the World Disasters Report 1999 published by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.According to the survey, last year's season of natural disasters was the worst on record, causing more damage than ever before.Most of the destruction to lives and livelihoods occurred in poor countries, just as international aid flows continue to plunge, the report said.Asia suffered the heaviest ...

HONGKONG -China's air-combat strength and military ties with Russia have been boosted with Moscow's decision to sell 72 of its front-line Sukhoi-30 fighter bombers to Beijing. Following years of negotiations, Russian President Boris Yeltsin has given the green light to sell three squadrons of the state-of-the-art combat aircraft to China. Moscow and Beijing had agreed in principle to negotiations on the sale during Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji's visit to Russia early this year, the Hongkong Standard said yesterday. Until recently, both countries had agreed only on 72 twin-finned and twin-engined jets, following the US-led Nato air strikes against Yugoslavia, which ...

JFK Assassin's Perch To Go Live On Internet Reuters Photo DALLAS (Reuters) - The view from the ``sniper's perch'' of presidential assassin Lee Harvey Oswald will go worldwide Thursday when an Internet live camera company launches its latest venture. The Dealey Plaza Cam will broadcast on the Internet from a sixth floor window of the former Texas Book Depository in Dallas, where Oswald fired the shots that killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The 24-hour live picture is a joint project of webcasting company earthcam.com and the Sixth Floor Museum in the former book depository, both organizations ...

In 1968 the average American voter was a white Midwestern male who worked in manufacturing. He was married to a woman who worked part time or stayed home with her two, three, or four children. He went to church on Sunday and believed in the American dream. He was liberal on economic issues, conservative on social issues, and supportive of Cold War national security policies. He was unwaveringly anticommunist. And he believed that in the main, American elites acted in the best interests of the nation. Today the average American voter is a white Sun Belt woman who works ...

In March, the most powerful military force in history attacked tiny Yugoslavia and after 79 days of flagrantly illegal bombing, forced an occupation of Kosovo. Admitting its intention was to break Yugoslavia's spirit, NATO targeted civilian structures, dropping over 23,000 bombs and cruise missiles in a campaign of terror, described recently by Aleksander Solzhenitsyn: "I don't see any difference in the behaviour of NATO and of Hitler. NATO wants to erect its own order in the world and it needs Yugoslavia simply as an example: We'll punish Yugoslavia and the whole rest of the planet will tremble." The idea that ...

Judge Reprimanded in Stalker Case SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A judge who sentenced a stalker to take his victim to dinner has been reprimanded. The Utah Judicial Conduct Commission issued a public reprimand Tuesday of Midvale City Justice Judge Dee W. Alldredge, who claimed the victim herself suggested stalker Michael Penrose take her out to dinner at a steak house. Anita Ferroni disputed that in a telephone interview. She said she did not speak at the 1997 sentencing except to offer a stunned suggestion of a restaurant when the judge asked where she wanted Penrose to take her to ...

Into the canyons of the Limousine Liberals, Hillary has just imported some Cruse Missile Liberals to do the heavy lifting, but they bring some heavy baggage of their own. Harold Ickies, Laura Hartigan and Terry McAuliffe, all still under grand jury scrutiny in the Teamsters/DNC embezzlement scandal, have just been hired by Hilliary to help with her New York campaign. Dispite the haplessness of S.D.N.Y. US Attorney Mary Jo White, in all matters involving disgraced Teamster Boss Ron Carey, hiring this troika - now - would be a pretty bold move under ordinary circumstance. It becomes extra-ordinary when you see ...

A mid-level intelligence officer assigned to the CIA persistently questioned the targeting of a building that turned out to be the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia, but his concerns went unheeded inside the spy agency and at the U.S. military's European Command, a senior U.S. intelligence official said yesterday. "I'm not sure that's the right building," the senior official quoted the analyst as saying. Although NATO war planners say they meant to strike the Yugoslav Federal Directorate of Supply and Procurement, American B-2 bombers instead destroyed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade on May 7, killing three Chinese civilians, wounding more than ...