Free Republic

U.S. Congressional Panel OKs China Trade Status 7.28 p.m. ET (2329 GMT) July 1, 1999 WASHINGTON — A powerful U.S. congressional committee Thursday backed President Clinton's decision to renew trade ties with China despite spying allegations and human rights concerns. The vote by the House Ways and Means Committee was a victory for Clinton, who is eager to renew Beijing's normal-trade-relations status for another year. NTR, which used to called most-favored-nation trade status, gives China the same low-tariff access to U.S. markets enjoyed by nearly every other country. But Clinton's fight is far from over. The full House of Representatives ...

FOR DISCUSSION AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. The Independent Counsel law lapsed last night at midnight. And Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr said the law should not be re-authorized. Obviously, Starr believes that, because his own investigation was a waste of tens of millions of dollars, the Independent Counsel law should be trashed. The truth is that the Independent Counsel law is a good law. When corruption has been rooted out in places like France and Italy, it has usually been the result of an independent magistrate—their version of our Independent Counsel. We also know that when Independent Counsels like Donald Schmalz ...

“The U.S. government has never identified credible evidence of these drug-running charges.” -- State Department spokesman James Rubin The KLA is no “choirboy circle.” -- Secretary of Defense William Cohen One does not know whether to laugh at or to be afraid of Rubin’s comments about the Kosovo Liberation Army. Rubin told reporters on June 23 news reports of drug money buying KLA weapons are not corroborated by American intelligence agencies. These are the same intelligence agencies, remember, that didn’t know there was a building full of Chinese diplomats sitting in downtown Belgrade. Cohen knows the KLA. In early April, ...

In California, you will soon be required to turn in your registered assault firearm. If you don't, the FBI will notify local authorities. The police will be allowed to enter the homes of these criminals and seize their weapons. At last, we'll be able to do what's necessary to clean up the gun problem. And...we have plenty of jail space available for those of you who fail to comply. You don't like it, tell it to the judge! Fraternal Order of Police http://www.grandlodgefop.org/ If you dis' the law, the lawmen will 'dis you!

Study: More Young Women Pessimistic About Marriage (CNS) - Young women may dream of finding the perfect mate, but more of them doubt it will happen, and that may explain why a growing number of young women are willing to live with a boyfriend and have babies out-of-wedlock, a new study says. The study's author is David Popenoe, a Rutgers University sociologist and co-founder of the National Marriage Project. USA Today reports Popenoe is presenting his findings - culled from the Census Bureau and other research - at a "Smart Marriages, Happy Families" conference today. The report notes the marriage ...

One shouldn't read too much into deviations from prepared texts, and in fact the prepared text of Texas Gov. George W. Bush's remarks distributed to newsies during his California fundraising swing this week carried a warning right at the top "[Note: Governor Bush frequently deviates from prepared text]." He did so fairly often in minor ways without moving notably off-message or missing applause lines. But one deviation during the $500,000 fundraising luncheon in Irvine struck me as at least potentially significant. The prepared text, after a promise to rebuild our military power "because a dangerous world still requires a ...

Judicial Activism--Without Original Intent ! By Verne E. Fuerst, Farmington Judicial activism does not please everyone. According to Aaron Steelman of the Investor's Business Daily, legal scholars on the right and on the left, such as Roger Pilon, director of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies, and Lino Graglia, law professor at the University of Texas, expressed opposite sentiments, yet found common grounds to agree that judges should not interfere with lawmakers. Federal Judges are selected and appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the Senate. Their tenure is for life. Article I, Section 1 ...

Don't Blink! All Promises Broken - Volume II Hearings Held Without Notice - Behind Closed Doors You Might Miss What's Next by Michael C. Ruppert Posted June 29, 1999 - © Copyright 1999 From The Wilderness, Michael C. Ruppert. All Rights Reserved On May 25, just four days after we published our last issue, under the totally misleading heading of "CIA and Drugs in Los Angeles" the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) held a closed door hearing. It took us until June 22 to determine that the Committee heard testimony that day from Department of Justice Inspector General ...

Two teen-age cousins who said they were inspired to kill by the teen slasher movie ``Scream'' have been convicted of murder.Mario Padilla, 17, was found guilty Thursday in the killing of his mother, 37-year-old Gina Padilla.A separate jury convicted Samuel Ramirez, 15, earlier this week. That verdict was sealed until Padilla's panel returned its verdict.Judge John Cheroske had banned any reference to the movie during the trial, but testimony at a preliminary hearing showed that the boys were obsessed with the film ``Scream'' and its sequel, ``Scream 2.''In the movies, teen-agers are knifed by killers in Grim Reaper costumes ...

Thursday July 1 3:32 PM ET Albright Takes Unannounced Vacation WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is away on vacation, without announcement and with her interim spokesman saying he had no ``information on her whereabouts.'' James Foley, who is substituting for James P. Rubin, who also is on vacation, did tell reporters Thursday that Albright was expected to be back on the job in 10 days. The daily schedule issued by the State Department press office listed Albright as having ``no public appointments.'' Questioned by reporters, Foley said he was ``confirming to you now that she's on personal ...

Murdoch Breaks Off Honeymoon For His First Love LONDON (Reuters) - Newly-wed media mogul Rupert Murdoch Thursday took time off from his honeymoon to get back to what some might call his first love -- deal-making. The News Corp boss, fresh from marrying former employee Wendi Deng last Friday, interrupted his romantic itinerary to host a news conference in London for a new Internet venture with Japan's Softbank Corp . Asked afterwards why he wasn't on his honeymoon, Murdoch said that's where he was heading. ``If I don't return to it, I'll be in real trouble!'' he joked on his ...

Health enthusiasts may be tempted to put away their running shoes and granola and search for the family Bible.      A new study in Demography magazine suggests that if you go to church, you may live up to 14 years longer. The research follows a growing consensus that religious belief and church attendance are key indicators of health, social behavior, political leanings, lifestyles and morality.      "There is still a sense in much of the scientific community that religious effects are minor at best or are even irrelevant," says a group of researchers on health and population issues. "Our findings help to ...

UAW chief discounts Iowa union's Gore endorsement 6.19 p.m. ET (2220 GMT) July 1, 1999 By Kevin Galvin, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The president of the United Auto Workers distanced the union Thursday from a decision by its Iowa affiliate to bestow an early endorsement on Al Gore's campaign for president. "While they are entitled to their opinions, a group of less than twenty members in Iowa does not speak for the International Executive Board of the union and no one should think that they do,'' union president Stephen P. Yokich said in a statement. The unusual rebuke of ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal judge who will preside over former Housing Secretary Henry Cisneros' trial showed little patience Thursday for the defense argument that none of the 88 tapes secretly recorded by Cisneros' ex-mistress should be allowed into evidence. Just because all the tapes are copies, in some cases edited to delete certain passages, doesn't mean prosecutors shouldn't have the right to play snippets of conversations between Cisneros and one-time paramour Linda Jones, U.S. District Judge Stanley Sporkin said. ``I can't accept your position here that because some tampering has gone on, there cannot be the introduction of ...

In addition to Larry Klayman of Judicial Watch fame, Maher's guests will be Jackie Collins, Patton Oswalt and Mary M. Louis (whoever she is). Late night on ABC. Check your local listings...

Russia flexing its military muscle By Robert Burns, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) Russia is flexing its post-Cold War muscles sending strategic bombers to probe allied air defenses and pushing for a bigger and more independent role in NATO-led peacekeeping in Kosovo. Two TU-95 Bear bombers flew so close to the coastline of Iceland last Friday that a pair of U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters were scrambled from a NATO air base to escort the Russian planes around the island. And NATO member Norway sent up fighter jets when two other Russian bombers flew down its coastline. The Clinton administration on ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- George W. Bush is threatening to put the GOP presidential nomination in the bank with a record-shattering fund-raising haul, and Al Gore faces tough a primary battle that could leave him financially and politically drained. It was supposed to be the other way around. The 2000 presidential campaign began with expectations that a dozen little-known GOP candidates would wage a bloody battle to face the Democratic vice president. Gore, backed by a popular president and the White House political machine, chased all but one of his Democratic rivals from the race before it began. Six months later, ...

Two of the country's top experts on political spin said Tuesday that political communication in America is in a bad way -- in part due to their own attempts to shape public opinion about their bosses, President Clinton and Newt Gingrich. Because of intense pressure to deliver news in a simplistic fashion and to endlessly repeat narrow political messages, big issues don't get discussed thoroughly and the public gets cheated, the press secretaries said at a symposium in St. Paul. Mike McCurry, best known for his press briefings during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and Tony Blankley, who helped develop ...

Study: Online Anonymity Critical A major association of scientists said that consumers must be allowed the right to remain anonymous online if the Internet is to thrive as a commercial and communications medium. Their warning to would-be regulators of Internet communications: Don't mess with anonymity. "The nature of the Internet makes possible some uniquely useful types of communication that involve anonymity," said Al Teich, director of Science and Policy Programs at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). "This is not a fruitful area of regulation for now or in the future." The AAAS, publisher of the respected ...

A discussion thread regarding Free Republic among liberal posters (and some FR defenders) over at the Brill's Content website. Consider the source... CLICK HERE My apologies if this thread has already been posted. I tried a search and found nothing.