Free Republic

Paris, Tuesday, June 29, 1999A Climate of Suspicion Threatens Asia-Pacific StabilityBy Masashi Nishihara International Herald TribuneTOKYO - The Kosovo conflict has sharpened tensions between major powers in Asia and the Pacific. There is now a risk of another Cold War emerging in the region. Such a development would be destabilizing and must be averted. When NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, China and Russia once again became close political allies. High-level contacts between the two countries have increased significantly. Russia's chief naval commander, Vladimir Kuroyedov, visited Beijing in late May, followed by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in early June. China's top ...

White House sticks with targeted cuts By Joyce Howard Price THE WASHINGTON TIMES President Clinton opposes tax cuts except for those specifically targeted, White House economic adviser Gene Sperling said yesterday. But the administration is "seriously underestimating" the bipartisan support for tax cuts in Congress, Sen. Robert G. Torricelli, New Jersey Democrat, warned on CNN's "Late Edition." House and Senate leaders hope to fashion a major tax-relief bill after the July 4 recess. "We need to get tax relief done," and Republican leaders are "going to do it together," House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert said yesterday on ABC's "This Week." ...

David Limbaugh 'Sacred wall' or religious barrier? http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- DURING THE LAST THREE-PLUS DECADES, extremists in this country hostile to America's Judeo-Christian tradition have succeeded in erecting an almost absolute barrier between church and state. These anti-Biblical zealots claim to have been acting in deference to constitutional principles. In fact, they have acted in willful disregard of those principles -- revealing their contempt, not their allegiance, to our constitutional heritage. The framers of the Constitution never intended to erect a wall of separation between church and state, merely to prevent the government from establishing a state religion. Even liberal Supreme ...

(U.S. Navy photo courtesy JCCC) A U.S Marine from the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines runs for cover during the urban combat phase of Operation Urban Warrior March 16 in Oakland, Calif. The three-phased operation tested Marines' ability to provide humanitarian assistance in an urban environment, respond to threats of chemical and biological weapons, and restore order after a state of civil unrest. More about Operation Urban Warrior."

Kathleen Parker Men aren't the only abusers http://www.jewishworldreview.com -- LET'S BE CLEAR. It gives me immense pleasure to say, "I told you so." For years, I've written that women initiate domestic violence as often as men -- countering the myth that women are beaten every fifth nanosecond or so by knuckle-dragging spouses -- and, as a result, have been used for target practice by DV activists. My purpose wasn't to blame victims or excuse batterers but merely to invite truth to the discussion: Domestic violence isn't about gender; it's about violence. You can't solve a problem until you correctly ...

LIBERATION OF KOSOVO: SERB CHILDREN TAUGHT TO LAY MINES SERBS TRAINED THEIR CHILDREN TO KILL AN INSIGHT into the influence and mentality of the Yugoslav Army in Kosovo emerged last night when it was revealed that Serbian school children in the province were being taught how to lay land mines and set booby-traps. Pupils as young as 12 were being taught for several hours a week on a range of defence and protection issues, including handling explosives and grenades and shooting guns. The lessons were part of the school curriculum and were compulsory. Details of the military training for ...

As a conservative Republican I have found myself (like many other conservatives) to be floundering about in the arena of foreign policy since the collapse of the Soviet Union. It is 10 years since the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union lost its Central European empire and 8 years since the Soviet Union was officially dissolved by Boris Yeltsin. In the days of the Cold War the conservative mission was clear: We supported anyone who would at least maintain the policy of Containment but prayed for someone who would take the fight to the Soviets. Our domestic enemies were ...

Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is threatening to shorten -- or cancel -- the August recess if the House fails to complete all 13 spending bills in the next five weeks. "We can't have this process drag out and drag out," Hastert told Roll Call on Friday. "That's the point of this." Hastert, who two weeks ago privately expressed concern that the 13 Appropriations Committee cardinals are moving far too slowly on their respective bills, threatened to cut short the August break at a leadership meeting last week. He reiterated his warning at a subsequent gathering of the entire House GOP ...

Over the course of the last year, a slow swelling of anxiety has troubled various facets of the population. Surprisingly, this is not a new phenomenon. Celestial occurrences, the transition from one millenium to the next, or even the transition from one century to the next, have always evoked a heightened awareness of society’s ills and underlying concerns. During the 1190s, while King Richard I was engaged in the Third Crusade, Britains dwelled on a particularly nasty rumor (presumably started by Vice Chancellor Nougensous Soucy). It was reported that King Richard had given the fabled sword, “Excalibur,” to King Tancred ...

NEW YORK (AP) — Although ethnic cleansing won't be tolerated, NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia shouldn't be considered a precedent for future intervention by the alliance elsewhere, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Monday. "Every circumstance is unique,'' Albright told the Council on Foreign Relations. "NATO is a European and Atlantic — not a global — institution.'' Her comments reflected a subtle shift in the White House's thinking about the role of NATO in the aftermath of its 11-week bombing of Yugoslavia. Before the Kosovo crisis, the administration had been pressing NATO members to consider expanding the defensive alliance's reach beyond ...

Together with its international stablemates, the Australian newspaper has been relentless in churning out NATO propaganda. A recent gem was an article about a Serbian 'torture chamber' by a London Times' reporter, reprinted in the Weekend Australian (19-20/6/99). The alleged torture chamber had been an accommodation centre for students until the Serbian Police took it over after NATO bombed their previous headquarters. That was one of very few facts in the article. I am not disputing that torture may have been employed in this Balkans war. Or even that it was employed in one particular building. But if it has, ...

WASHINGTON (AP) — Computer hackers defaced the Army's main Web site in the latest digital attack on a federal system. Pentagon workers noticed it early Monday and repaired it. Army spokesman Jim Stueve said administrators believe hackers altered the www.army.mil site between 8 p.m. Sunday and 5 a.m. Monday, but no internal systems were affected. "There were no security breaches,'' he said. The altered site announced the attack "has a purpose ... to settle rumors'' about the demise of the loosely organized hacker group that claimed responsibility for the May attack on the White House Web site. Another message hidden ...

TEXT FROM USIA: New York -- President Clinton says he wants the politicians in Northern Ireland "to remember how strongly the people voted for peace and for the Good Friday Accords, and to find an honorable resolution of the admittedly thorny problems" they face in implementing them, because "whatever the difficulties of going forward, they are very small compared to the difficulties of letting the peace process fall apart." Clinton made the plea in a June 28 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) at New York's Kennedy Airport, two days ahead of the deadline set for all parties to ...

PRESIDENT CLINTON has become the lamest of lame ducks and Washington is turning its back on him to concentrate on the 2000 election. Old scandal and a new political campaign have left the Clinton White House smelling of decay. Newspapers are openly bored by the man who still has 18 months to go behind the desk in the Oval Office. The Washington Post wrote: "Zzzzzzzzz," mocking Mr Clinton's performance at a press conference last week. The President was "limp, reflective, meandering". The conference was intended to show that Mr Clinton was still vigorous and that the home straight before ...

NEW YORK (AP) — President Clinton challenged Republican lawmakers Monday to use projected budget surpluses to shore up the retirement system before they enacted tax cuts. At a Democratic fund-raising luncheon in suburban Westport, Conn., Clinton noted that his affluent audience would benefit from an across-the-board tax cut, but urged his listeners to think about the future of such government program as Medicare and Social Security. "Most of you would be better off, in the short run, being at a Republican fund-raiser,'' Clinton said, but added: "There's something to be said about looking to the long run, as well as ...

NEW YORK (AP) — President Clinton challenged Republican lawmakers Monday to use projected budget surpluses to shore up the retirement system before they enacted tax cuts. At a Democratic fund-raising luncheon in suburban Westport, Conn., Clinton noted that his affluent audience would benefit from an across-the-board tax cut, but urged his listeners to think about the future of such government program as Medicare and Social Security. "Most of you would be better off, in the short run, being at a Republican fund-raiser,'' Clinton said, but added: "There's something to be said about looking to the long run, as well as ...

Prodigal son How will George W. Bush -- and the GOP -- confront the whispers about his past? - - - - - - - - - - - - By Jake Tapper April 9, 1999 | Philadelphia -- Here in the host city of the 2000 Republican National Convention, it's official: Texas Gov. George W. Bush is the Republican to beat. Not only has Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge endorsed him, but on March 31, 10 Pennsylvania party activists and major donors flew to Austin to sup with the man who would be president. Alongside 20 other power brokers and ...

Murdoch in wedlock ... Rupert and Wendi tie the knot By JENNIFER HEWETT, BRIAN HALE and agencies Rupert Murdoch, one of America's most successful immigrants, married his third bride on a boat under the gaze of the Statue of Liberty. The subsequent fireworks display erupted to the sounds of Frank Sinatra's song New York, New York. The Welsh prodgidy Charlotte Church sang. The media magnate's wedding to Wendi Deng aboard his 50-metre Morning Glory may have been strictly private but it was hardly quiet. Attempts to keep the ceremony secret failed when the entertainment trade paper Variety and a late ...

Texas Governor is a True SOB (Son Of Bush) His Response to Free Speech and a Free Press From USA Journal Online: www.usajournal.com A Criminal Act or Protected Speech? The Videotape Doesn't Lie by Rick S. Habecker SEPTEMBER 15 -- There's something very ugly about restrictions on the public's right to know, especially when it occurs in what is supposedly a free society. No less, the chain of events that occurred at a Round Rock, Texas Republican political rally, attended by Governor Re-elect George Bush, Jr., and the states' senior and junior U.S. senators, I can describe only as "banana ...

Chris Cannon is a realist. He has no harsh words for Starr over his decision not to take Hubbell to trial. He said Starr was a very smart man and would make the right decisions on the contents of the final report. He says most Americans want this over with and Hubbell has already been in jail for 18 months, since he will not talk no matter what not much more can be done. Fox just showed interviews of people on the street. None of them even knew who Ken Starr was least of all Web Hubbell. Cannon is defending ...