Free Republic

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. In "1984," George Orwell wrote: "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past." Many thought Orwell was referring to totalitarian political systems and their crude censorship and brainwashing machinery. In reality, he was addressing the highly decentralized and effective systems of media manipulation in the "free" Western nations. While totalitarian governments are well-known for their suppression of truth, Western democracies have perfected the art of hiding facts and reports that may lead to truth, creating an atmosphere in which their mistakes and misdirected policies ...

A California gunmaker targeted in lawsuits by cities  seeking to recoup the costs of gun-related violence has filed for bankruptcy  protection, raising concerns that other weapons manufacturers named in the  lawsuits will follow the same path to escape big payouts.  Davis Industries, a Chino, Calif.-based company that produces small, cheap  handguns known as Saturday night specials, filed for Chapter 11 protection in  May.  The move has alarmed attorneys representing cities that have sued Davis and  more than a dozen other gunmakers.  "It's a no-win situation for everybody. The industry would basically be run by a  bankruptcy judge and our ...

Subject: Justice is Closer Date: Fri, 25 Jun 1999 06:33:33 -0500 From: mark@idmedia.com To: [email] The "train deaths" http://www.idmedia.com/ttd.htm Update: June 25, 1999 Justice is Closer http://www.idmedia.com/update-6-25-99.htm Any hope of justice for Kevin and Don died in Linda Ives on November 29, 1995, when the FBI claimed that their investigation turned up "no evidence that a crime had even been committed." Her optimism, however, was restored when the "train deaths" case found new life on the internet. As the story of a bipartisan cover-up unfolded on our website, (1) supporters throughout the internet took action on Linda’s behalf via phone ...

Wall Street Journal columnist Al Hunt admires Hillary Rodham Clinton, but he thinks it is "a mistake, a bad idea" for the first lady to run for the Senate. "In the last couple of weeks, I've had a Democratic woman who has raised considerable campaign funds for the Clintons, a Democratic senator who forcefully opposed impeachment and votes with the president most of the time and a prominent Washington attorney with Democratic political connections who passionately defended Clinton during the scandal inquisitions all say virtually the same thing about Ms. Clinton's potential candidacy: 'Go away for a while, give ...

Some time ago James Carville, the meanest of Bill Clinton's junkyard dogs, said of Sen. Bob Smith, R-New Hampshire, who's running for president, that, though Carville disagreed with Smith's positions, the senator deserved credit for the sincerity of his beliefs. Because that was the only time I've heard Carville speak positively of any Republican except his wife, I took the time to watch Smith give a speech and answer questions at the National Press Club on C-Span. It was the first time I had seen him except on news clips, and I was impressed enough to re-register to vote. Smith ...

Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed legislation Monday making the state the first in the nation to offer a statewide program of vouchers to help parents of students in failing schools offset the cost of private education. Opponents of the measure include the usual list of suspects, such as the ACLU and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People -- the NAACP. They have vigorously opposed the measure, and now say they will file lawsuits to prevent its implementation. If the ACLU is involved, of course, you can bet that the principal argument they will make is that ...

Reinventing Charity Filed June 24, 1999 Remember back when America used to be a simpler place? You know, back in the '80s, when you could go to the movies for $4 and get on the Forbes 400 List with a mere $150 million. Now, the poorest of the very rich -- the 400th-place man -- is worth $1.2 billion. And last year CEO salaries rose 36 percent, while white-collar incomes rose 3.9 percent and blue-collar incomes 2.7 percent. Another way to look at it is that CEOs now make 442 percent more than they did in 1990 at the end ...

The politics of cultural decline This season's campaign rhetoric is stacking up as a case study in public manipulation. Based on surveys showing widespread anxiety about morals and the supposed anomie of youth culture, politicians are turning to cultural themes and proposing political solutions that limit fundamental freedoms. This appears to be equally true of Republicans and Democrats, who are wrapping such proposals as curbs on free speech and restrictions on gun ownership in the mantle of cultural conservatism. Never mind that government is the greatest enemy civilization ever faced. Never mind that no piece of legislation ever shaped ...

PEARLS OF WISDOM FROM OUR VICE-PRESIDENT "If we don't succeed, we run the risk of failure." Vice President Al Gore "Democrats understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child."-- Vice President Al Gore "Welcome to President Clinton, Mrs. Clinton, and my fellow astronauts."-- Vice President Al Gore "Mars is essentially in the same orbit... Mars is somewhat the same distance from the Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals, we believe, & water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If oxygen, that means we can breathe." -- Vice President ...

At last, something for Hillary Clinton to be grateful to Ken Starr for. By listing her as a prospective witness in the income-tax evasion trial of Webb Hubbell, scheduled to begin Aug. 9 in Washington for a five-week run, the infamous Clinton nemesis has given the first lady the good and sufficient reason she needs to return to her duties at home. Miss Hillary, who is not necessarily the brightest bulb in the socket illuminating how politics works (it was she who designed the deny-everything strategy for Whitewater, Travelgate and Thong-pantygate), has to fish or cut bait soon and ...

NEW YORK -- Larry Johnson was back in the center of the storm again Thursday afternoon. Only this time, the controversial New York Knicks forward didn't want to leave. That's right, the same man who has been fined a total of $35,000 for failing to talk to the media on three occasions during the 1999 playoffs was actually begging for a little more time to meet the press. Even before practice on Thursday, Larry Johnson had plenty to say. The horn had sounded at Madison Square Garden, signifying the end of New York's half-hour mandatory media session before Game 5 ...

William Tiller was hired by the city of Encinitas, just north of San Diego, in 1996, fresh out of the Marine Corps, to coordinate preparations for Y2K at a salary of $97,000 a year. Tiller certainly looked well qualified for the position; he boasted not only a bachelor's and master's degree, but also two doctorate degrees. There was just one problem, city officials later learned. Tiller's resume turned out to be a complete fabrication. Though Tiller has used different resumes, each has proven to be false. He claimed to have a bachelor's degree in computer science and a master's ...

When House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R- Texas, talks about advancements in computer technology, he does so with the amazement of a doting grandfather. The No. 2 House Republican calls Internet entrepreneurs ''these kids,'' and ''youngsters.'' Armey also uses the Net to be a doting grandfather. His office computer's desktop screen features pictures of his baby grandson. He uses his House e-mail account in part to keep up with the little one's developments and to plan fishing trips with his sons. His wife signs her e-mails to the family ''High-tech Mama.'' Armey may not exactly be a computer geek. ...

War CRIMINAL-IN-CHIEF, Bill Clinton, Must Be Clicking His Heels With Euphoric Glee, Watching As Kosovo's New Ethnic Sanitation Workers - The MURDEROUS, MID-EAST TERRORIST ALLIED, DRUG-PEDDLING, COMMUNIST K.L.A. - Roll Up Their Sleeves And Purge The Province Of Any And All Serbs, All In The Name Peace And Brotherly Love..............JohnHuang2 KLA is Increasingly Active At Least 140 Serbs and Montenegrins Abducted in Kosovo and Metohija by KLA Below is a report from Jela Jovanovic, Secretary General of the Committee for National Solidarity in Belgrade, Yugoslavia UNHCR said on June 22 that a total of 69,300 Serbs fled Kosovo. The Pristina-based ...

Juggernaut, tidal wave, tsunami, runaway train, avalanche — political writers are running out of metaphors to describe the George W. Bush phenomenon (yes, the Bush candidacy is now officially a "phenomenon"). In a Hart-Teeter poll for the Wall Street Journal taken this week, Gov. Bush has stretched his already sizable lead over his rivals to an astounding 61 percent. Elizabeth Dole's flagging candidacy slipped to 11 percent and all the others were mired in single digits. At one Washington fund-raiser this week, Gov. Bush pocketed $2 million. Other candidates have slaved for months to raise a like amount. Some ...

If Democrats Win Control of Congress - a tax increase in "on the table" (Mr. REYNOLDS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.) Mr. REYNOLDS. Mr. Speaker, not counting social security, the Congressional Budget Office or CBO projects an $824 billion in budget surpluses over the next 10 years. Again, that is not counting the temporary surplus in the social security trust fund. Guess what the Democrats are planning to do with the surplus. Well, if the statements by the President, the House Minority Leader, and the ...

Guest Column: Have the Gun Laws INCREASED School Shootings? Knowing Teachers are Now Disarmed May Be Encouraging Killers Editor's Note: This timely, well thought-out and informative article comes from a reader June 25, 1999 By: Dr. Jim Karl Dear Mary, I've seen some excellent arguments on the pro-gun side lately. The only "ammunition" that the liberals have against guns is the occasional high school shooting, which many Americans attribute more to enforced liberal atheism on every classroom in America than to the existence of guns. Unfortunately, only Jesse Ventura had enough guts to mention that an armed teacher or principal ...

Infighting among the Republican majority in the House Thursday all but doomed hopes for across-the-board election year tax cuts. A coalition of influential conservative Republicans backed away from a plan by Republican presidential hopeful John Kasich and other House leaders to cut income tax rates by 10 percent across-the-board. In its place, conservatives proposed a 10-year, $778 billion package that would eliminate the so-called marriage penalty tax, abolish the estate tax, slash the capital gains tax rate and help Americans save for their retirement. ``We did the best we could given the budget, and that meant we couldn't get to ...

I don't know the validity of this, but regardless, it should be shared. . This is an extract of a National Public Radio (NPR) interview between a female broadcaster and US Army Lieutenant General Reinwald, about sponsoring a Boy Scout Troop on his military installation. Interviewer: "So, Lt. Gen. Reinwald, what are you going to do with these young boys on their adventure holiday?" . Lt. Gen. Reinwald: "We're going to teach them climbing, canoeing, archery, and shooting." . Interviewer: "Shooting! That's a bit irresponsible, isn't it?" . Lt. Gen. Reinwald: "I don't see why, they'll be properly supervised on ...

Friday, Jun 25 at Prague 01:30 pm, N.Y. 07:30 am http://www.centraleurope.com/news.php3?id=75387 Editor's Pick: Kosovo Crisis: NATO Chiefs Make First Visit To Kosovo.   "Shocked" Kosovo War Crimes Team Expects More Indictments PRISTINA, Jun 25, 1999 -- (Agence France Presse) U.N. war crimes investigators and officials are shocked by the concentrated evidence of violence they have found in Kosovo and are expecting to bring more indictments against those in the Serb army and police chain of command, a spokesman said here Thursday. "It's shocking, even to the most experienced of our investigators," said Paul Risley, one of the prosecutors with the ...