Free Republic

NEW YORK (AP) - Here's a brooch you probably won't see pinned to the lapel of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright - an 18-carat yellow gold piece showing a face being punched by a fist. Still, it was made with her in mind. ``To me diplomacy sometimes becomes a form of verbal punching,'' said Daniel Jocz, creator of the ``Punch'' pin. ``It is how I see Madeleine Albright, as a person able to deliver the ultimate punch in negotiations.'' OK, so maybe it's not the right message for talks on Kosovo. But Albright has made a habit of wearing brooches ...

"Fellow Texans, Governor Bullock, Speaker Laney, my beloved family, and many friends. Thank you all for coming. In this wonderful crowd, there are many special guests. I would like to especially recognize five: they are the Governors of the Mexican states closest to Texas. Will you please help me welcome them? Their presence is a clear sign of the importance of the relationship between Texas and Mexico. Friends bring out the best in each other. May our friendship bring much good to both our countries. I stand where others have stood before, in front of this magnificent Capitol. Moments ago, ...

Bush criticizes measure on gun show purchases By Jay Root Star-Telegram Austin bureau AUSTIN -- Wading into the gun-control debate in Washington, Gov. George W. Bush criticized Vice President Al Gore yesterday for his role in passing new restrictions on gun shows. "I thought there was a better way on the gun shows," said Bush, pointing to an amendment pushed by Republican Sens. Larry Craig of Idaho and Orrin Hatch of Utah. The GOP amendment calling for background checks on gun show purchases passed easily, but a stronger Democratic version trumped it. The Democratic proposal passed on a partisan tally ...

New Times Los Angeles July 1-7, 1999 PEELING A LEMON by Jill Stewart In the normal world, a principal would alert the LAPD and school superintendent about a death threat against a teacher. Not Lupe Simpson. I don't know which genius coined the term "The Dance of the Lemons," but surely that person was trapped inside the sprawling asylum known as the Los Angeles Unified School District. In the normal world, we describe outrageous behavior that leads to human failure as "the final straw" or "the height of absurdity." But these phrases cannot be applied to L.A. Unified, a world ...

Bush's record in business stands firm Apparently Gov. George W. Bush's presidential campaign is going to have to contend with the odd combination of local opponents of The Ballpark in Arlington and the national media. The naysayers are frustrated in their ongoing efforts to find even a hint of scandal in connection with the project. They have resorted to attempts to sully the reputation of the governor by denying his claim that The Ballpark represents a major business success. Last Saturday, `The New York Times' published a front-page story reviewing the governor's financial affairs and business dealings. It was a ...

The Cato lnstitute has an unusual political cause-which is no political cause whatsoever. We are here tonight to dedicate ourselves to that cause. To dedicate ourselves, in other words, to . . . nothing. We have no ideology, no agenda. no catechism, no dialectic. no plan for humanity. We have no "vision thing," as our ex-president would say, or, as our current president would say, we have no Hillary. All we have is the belief that people should do what people want to do, unless it causes harm to other people. And that had better be clear and provable harm. ...

I love America. I revel in the God-given rights guaranteed by our Constitution. I will not surrender them to the likes of Bill Clinton. Nor will I stand idly by as Bill Clinton systematically undermines the security of this Great Nation. I will employ every lawful means available to see that he is impeached, convicted and removed from office for treason, bribery, and other high crimes and misdemeanors.Like many on this site, I've grown tired. Tired of the lies; tired of the cover-ups; tired of the network news and mainstream press; tired of the coziness on Capitol Hill; tired of ...

Hospital executives found guilty in $3 million insurance fraud 10.41 p.m. ET (241 GMT) July 2, 1999 By Karen L. Shaw, Associated Press TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Two executives of Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corp., the nation's biggest hospital chain, were convicted Friday of defrauding Medicare and other government insurance programs of nearly $3 million. The federal jury acquitted another executive and could not reach a verdict on a fourth defendant. The executives were accused of bilking Medicare and Medicaid, which serve the elderly, poor and disabled, and CHAMPUS, which is medical insurance for the military. The trial resulted from a six-state ...

Excerpt taken from section three - Thursday, July 2, 1863: The Second Day "Colonel, column of fours. Follow me." Chamberlain gave the order, mounted, feeling weak. No strength in his arms. Vincent gave orders to aides: they galloped away. Vincent said, "They're attacking the left flank. Sickles has got us in one hell of a jam" They began moving up the slope. The Twentieth Maine came after them, four abreast. Vincent was shaking his handsome head. "Damn fool. Unbelievable. But I must say, remarkably beautiful thing to see." They moved up between rocks. The artillery fire was growing, becoming massive. ...

HMOs closing doors to 200,000 elderly, disabled 1.01 a.m. ET (502 GMT) July 3, 1999 By Alice Ann Love, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — The 200,000 elderly and disabled Americans losing their health care coverage when some HMOs cut off Medicare beneficiaries next year need to choose an alternative. But Medicare officials stress that those affected can stay in their health plans until the end of this year and shouldn't rush to make a change. "I would caution them not to act too quickly, to really consider their options,'' said Carol Cronin, Medicare's director of beneficiary services. HMO pullouts from ...

July 3, 1999 JOURNAL / By FRANK RICH Summer of Matthew Shepard T he love that dare not speak its name now won't shut up," says Tom Ammiano, the gay San Francisco politician who may be his city's next mayor. Even a continent away, that's no joke. The homophobic epidemic of '98, which spiked with the October murder of Matthew Shepard, has turned into the homophilic explosion of '99. Just look at the past week: On Monday, the day after New York's Republican Mayor (alas, not in drag) enlisted in the placid gay pride parade, a couple in Rockefeller ...

Bill Thompson Updated: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 1999 at 20:35 CDT Early reviews of Bush's show look pretty good The naysayers were ready to pounce, poised to derail the campaign before it ever got rolling. The pundits were figuring that they might shut down the presidential ambitions of George W. Bush the same way that theater critics sometimes force an overhyped Broadway show to close after one performance. As usual, the Texas governor foiled the critics' plans. Bush's detractors in politics and the media have been underestimating him since the day he decided to take on the allegedly unbeatable Ann ...

Bill Thompson Updated: Tuesday, Jun. 15, 1999 at 20:35 CDT Early reviews of Bush's show look pretty good The naysayers were ready to pounce, poised to derail the campaign before it ever got rolling. The pundits were figuring that they might shut down the presidential ambitions of George W. Bush the same way that theater critics sometimes force an overhyped Broadway show to close after one performance. As usual, the Texas governor foiled the critics' plans. Bush's detractors in politics and the media have been underestimating him since the day he decided to take on the allegedly unbeatable Ann ...

You see them all over the place around here: in Washington's poshest restaurants enjoying hefty expense account lunches, popping into the plastic surgeon's office for a quick peel or a facelift, huddling together at upmarket functions discussing in animated whispers the latest phone call to Austin's Governor's Mansion. They are Washington's permanent Republican faces, and they've been pacing the floor for seven long years, waiting diligently for the return of the White House. Some are working as lobbyists, others are writing books, and all are biding their time, as they wait hopefully for a phone call from 'Dubbya'. They show ...

CONSERVATIVES ALSO IGNORE THE NEED TO DECENTRALIZE . . . Samuel Johnson, the British wit who lived from 1709 to 1784, would have been wonderfully effective on The McLaughlin Group or any of the other Beltway journalist mud-wrestling TV shows. Johnson created soundbites that have been quoted for over two centuries, such as "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." Johnson uttered that last line in regard to the philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, who abandoned his children and then proclaimed his love for the whole nation. But it also indicated his feeling toward those who favored a Declaration of Independence ...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 30, 1999 VICE PRESIDENT GORE, TREASURY SECRETARY RUBIN ANNOUNCE LOW-COST ELECTRONIC ACCOUNT Also Announce the First Financial Institutions Committed to Offering New Account New York, NY -- Vice President Al Gore and Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin announced today the final details of the Treasury Department's Electronic Transfer Account (ETA), a new low-cost account that will allow more Americans to benefit from today's growing economy and take advantage of the latest in financial technology. Treasury designed the ETA to allow federal payment recipients -- such as ...

Y2K Liability Limits The Clinton Administration's ill-advised turnabout on legislation designed to limit the liability of computer and software manufacturers for Year 2000 computer problems will hurt consumers and small businesses. The Y2K defect is in some computers and software that record years by the last two digits. Unless corrected, the glitch could cause serious malfunctions when the date rolls over to 2000 and a computer confuses that with 1900. For months the White House voiced opposition to both House and Senate bills that would restrict the legal rights of those injured by a Y2K computer failure. But with the ...

AS EAST Coast society heads to the Hamptons for the Fourth of July weekend they will find more to occupy their minds than whether Steven Spielberg or Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin are planning the biggest clam bake. Battle has been joined between one of America's wealthiest men and a band of run-of-the-mill multimillionaires. At issue is the construction of what is reputed to be the biggest private residence on the coast, perhaps in the whole of America. Residents of Sagaponack, who include the author Kurt Vonnegut, Carolyn Kennedy Schlossberg and a host of literary, legal and business figures, first ...

Saflink, the biometrics specialist, has opened what it says is the information technology (IT) industry's first biometrically enabled Web site. The company says that the site, located at http://www.safbank.com, is free to access and offers a demonstration of the firm's Safsite Internet security service. According to the firm, the site simulates a typical Internet banking/brokerage site and requires users to present a biometric credential, or "Saftypin," created from the user's unique biological or behavioral characteristics. The characteristics in the demo on the Web site center around voice recognition. The basic version of Safsite is priced at $199.95 and includes ...

THE WHITE HOUSE Office of the Vice President ________________________________________________________________________ For Immediate Release June 29, 1999 VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES $9.5 MILLION TO HELP TEN STATES TRAIN WORKERS IN HIGH TECH SKILLS Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced today that ten states across the country will receive $9.5 million to help workers who have been laid off get training in advanced manufacturing skills. Specifically, the Vice President announced the following Department of Labor grants: FL - $895,872; IL - $1,000,000; MA - $1,000,000; MD - $989,900; MI - $1,000,000; MO - $982,112; NY - $938,302; OH - $989,370; PA ...