Free Republic

For education & discussion only It's beginning to seem like Philadelphians are the only people who consider Mumia Abu-Jamal a convicted cop-killer. A few weeks ago, Evergreen State College in Washington State considered the death-row inmate a commencement speaker at its graduation ceremony, over the objections of local law-enforcement officials and the wife of the man he murdered - Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner. His videotaped speech made nary a mention of his infamous 1982 crime. Now George magazine, the New York-based slick political monthly published by John F. Kennedy Jr., refers to Abu-Jamal as an "author/journalist" at the end ...

LANPHER LIKELY TO MAKE FACE-SAVING PROPOSALS FOR PAKISTAN Hectic diplomatic efforts to force Pakistan to withdraw its troops and mercenaries from Kargil moved a step further on Saturday as United States Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Gibson Lanpher arrived in Delhi to discuss and de-escalate the crisis. Officials in the external affairs ministry were tight-lipped about reports that the apex Cabinet Committee on Security had discussed a set of peace proposals from the US to bail Pakistan out of the current conflict. The crucial part of these proposals is said to be giving safe passage or an exit corridor ...

I would like to hear from others interested in getting together a FR chapter for Southern Oregon. Is there anyone out there from the Calif. border to Salem or Portland interested?

Dyke: 'I don't regret gift to Labour' By Jane Robins Media Correspondent GREG DYKE, the BBC's new director-general, said yesterday that he had no regrets about giving £55,000 to the Labour Party and supporting Tony Blair's leadership campaign. "Obviously it made things very difficult for me, but I have no regrets at all - you have to do what you believe in," he said. Mr Dyke confirmed that he is anxious to meet William Hague as soon as possible to say that he recognises his concerns about the issue, and to give the Tory leader his assurance that, despite his ...

Opposition leader: Milosevic offered asylum in China if ousted A top opposition leader says Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic has been offered asylum in China if he is ousted, so he can avoid prosecution on war crimes, a German newspaper reported Saturday. ``I have indications that Milosevic has an offer to flee to China, be granted asylum and therefore not be extradited to The Hague court,'' Bild am Sonntag quoted former Belgrade Mayor Zoran Djindjic as saying. On Friday, the United States offered a bounty of $5 million for information leading to the arrest and delivery of Milosevic and others who ...

Reporter-turned-author Bill Gertz worked The Washington Times Arbor Ballroom with his usual brand of humility Tuesday, where he was feted by scribes and spies, or at least spy types, at a reception honoring the publication of his first book, "Betrayal." A runaway hit in the bookstores, "Betrayal: How the Clinton Administration Undermined American Security" has climbed to No. 4 on the New York Times' nonfiction best-seller list. (Everybody was speculating about why The Washington Post just doesn't get it, since it's not on their list.) A real-world espionage book that reads like a movie-ready novel, "Betrayal" tells the story ...

Among the broad range of difficult issues to be resolved in the post-conflict period in Yugoslavia, one that has been largely overlooked is the environmental damage caused as a result of NATO bombing. Besides hitting military targets, NATO consistently bombed strategic sites such as fuel-storage depots, oil refineries, petrochemical and fertilizer plants, and numerous other industrial complexes. The destruction of these facilities is raising concerns about the impact of the war on the natural environment of Yugoslavia as well as neighboring Balkan countries. Among the targets blasted during the thousands of sorties flown by NATO warplanes were the petrochemical ...

Marcus Welby, meet Norma Rae. Tired of fighting with managed-care companies, America's doctors embraced organized labor this week to safeguard their incomes and their relationships with patients. Consider the latest dispatches from Austin, Chicago and Washington: * Gov. George W. Bush signed a bill Sunday that will allow independent doctors to sidestep federal antitrust laws and negotiate collectively with health insurers. * The American Medical Association voted Wednesday to form its own labor union. * A congressional panel heard testimony Tuesday on proposed federal legislation that would exempt health-care providers nationally from antitrust laws. The trilogy of events suggests ...

Why isn't my "Back" button enabled after viewing the first post of each session? This only started with the most recent overhaul of the site....

June 25, 1999 PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Press Secretary ______________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 25, 1999 PRESS CONFERENCE BY THE PRESIDENT Presidential Hall 3:47 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Earlier today, in a speech at Georgetown University, I discussed the opportunities now before our nation. Before I take your questions, let me just take a moment to recap what I believe is America's agenda in the coming months. Our trip to Europe advanced America's ideals and interests. Working with our partners, we won an agreement to ban abusive child labor everywhere in the ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON (AP) - In the wake of allegations of Chinese espionage, the FBI, with the approval of Attorney General Janet Reno, is planning to create a new division for hunting spies, government officials said Saturday. The move is part of a government-wide review of U.S. counterintelligence operations following indications China gathered classified military secrets from U.S. nuclear labs. Extensive breaches of security at the labs go back two decades, say critics of the labs on Capitol Hill and elsewhere in government. Reno signed off on an FBI plan in recent ...

World's Most Dangerous Game Taken With .45 Auto Col. Owen Baggett owes his life to a GI .45 and issue hardball. On March 31, 1943, Col. Baggett was the co-pilot of a B-24 enroute to bomb a railway bridge between Rangoon and Mandalay, Burma. His aircraft was attacked by Zeroes. (Japanese- for those who aren't aware of the history of World War II.) Mortally stricken, the B-24 was ablaze, the raging fire fueled by shattered oxygen bottles. About half the crew got out. Baggett observed four open chutes before the B-24 blew up. The Zeros immediately began strafing the crew ...

PAKISTAN REFUSES KASHMIR WITHDRAWAL KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) -- After weeks of denying it had control over Islamic militants in the disputed province of Kashmir, Pakistan's army chief said today there would be no withdrawal from the area. Pakistan has denied involvement with the militants it calls ``freedom fighters.'' Today's apparent turnaround, however, came at a news briefing in the southern port city of Karachi when army chief Pervez Musharraf was asked whether Pakistan would withdraw its forces from the embattled Kargil area of Kashmir. ``It is too early to say (but) it's a government decision. It is the prime ...

SHANGHAI, China -- Wanted: Healthy men under 60 willing to make donations to a sperm bank. Only college professors need apply. At the new "Notables' Sperm Bank" in southwestern China donors must have academic qualifications at least equal to an associate professor. The bank is run by the state family planning agency in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. It has received lots of phone calls and applications from prospective donors, mainly intellectuals, said Huang Ping, the sperm bank's manager.

Deep Throat’s stenographer, Bob Woodward, has written another book about scandals, laced with the usual purported statements from scores of unnamed sources. And The Washington Post ran excerpts on its front page for three days, which has generated considerable interest among political and media elites. I recall, however, that when Gary Aldrich’s book, “Unlimited Access,” hit the bookstores, the mainstream media all but ignored his shocking accounts of high-level misconduct. Instead, they questioned the unnamed sources of some of his information. Tremendous latitude was granted Mr. Woodward when he wrote a book in which he recounted wide-ranging discussions with former ...

‘We depend on what Jehovah says. We do what Jehovah says, no matter what.’ — CASSANDRA SINGLETARY        In surgery, she might lose so much blood that only a transfusion could save her. Without the surgery, the tumor could kill her.        “Her chance of significant problems — namely dying — was high,” says Dr. Stephen Bailey, a neurosurgeon and one of Stacey’s first physicians.        “I was angry at their religion and their church, and I won’t hesitate to tell you or anyone else that because I believe it’s wrong,” Bailey says. ...

BE PREPARED FOR THE WORST, SAYS ADVANIThe Times of India News Service, and AgenciesThe Times of IndiaSunday, June 27, 1999 New Delhi - Prudence demands that India should be prepared to face Pakistan's threat of using the nuclear option in the event of a war, Union home minister L.K. Advani has said.``Pakistan is capable of taking irrational decisions and India is vigilant and alert to Islamabad's threat of using the nuclear option,'' Mr Advani said in an interview to Doordarshan on the 25th anniversary of opposition to Emergency in the country.There were different centres of power in Pakistan with the ...

(AP) — KNOKKE, Belgium — Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme remarried his third wife Saturday in a church service attended by Hollywood's glitterati. Van Damme and Gladys Portugues also held a civil ceremony Friday in this small northern Belgian village, the hometown of both the bride and Van Damm's parents. It was the 38-year-old actor's sixth marriage. His first marriage to Portugues ended in 1993. Several hundred people attended the church service, including Sylvester Stallone. He and Eddie Murphy were among the 150 Hollywood actors and producers invited to attend the reception following the wedding. Van Damme's movie career spans ...

Top Cadet Dismissed for Allegedly Demanding Sex Updated 12.48 p.m. ET (1648 GMT) June 26, 1999 LEXINGTON, Va. — The dismissal of Virginia Military Institute's top cadet for allegedly demanding sex from female cadets does not represent a widespread problem, the head of the formerly all-male school said Saturday. Jerry Webb II was expelled last month for conduct unbecoming a cadet after he was accused of seeking sexual favors from three freshmen. Webb, of Casper, Wyo., had previously been chosen as the regimental commander of the Corps of Cadets for the coming year. "As soon as these allegations came ...

Saturday, 26 June 1999 17:43 (GMT) Russians arrive at Slatina airport By United Press International A group of 21 Russian paratroopers and 18 technicians has arrived at Slatina airfield in Kosovo's capital, Pristina, to reopen the facility to military and international traffic. The Russian party, the first of 3,616 peacekeepers authorized by Russian President Boris Yeltsin to spend the next year in Kosovo, were greeted this afternoon by Lt. Gen. Sir Mike Jackson, head of NATO's peacekeeping force in Kosovo. Under an agreement worked out with NATO in Helsinki last week, Russian peacekeepers will control the airfield and the airspace ...