Free Republic

``When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another'' -- and so a nation was born with the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. It was and is the greatest nation the Earth has seen, offering more liberty and more opportunity than any other in recorded history. Nearly a century later, Abraham Lincoln asked whether any nation so conceived and so dedicated could long endure. Never, it seems, would a moment of doubt occur about the endurance of this country. However, some now ...

Less Support for News Media Survey Shows Most Americans Not Comfortable With Some First Amendment Freedoms By Marta W. Aldrich The Associated Press N A S H V I L L E, Tenn., July 2 —A survey of attitudes about First Amendment freedoms shows America has become markedly disenchanted with the news media in the past two years. The survey shows 53 percent of Americans believe the press has too much freedom—a 15 percent increase since 1997—and indicates a dramatic drop in public support for its role as the watchdog of government. “It’s a humbling reminder that fundamental rights ...

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence? Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army, another had two sons captured. Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War. They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor. What kind of men were they? Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; ...

Mr. President, it is natural to men to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth____and listen to the song of that siren, till she transorms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty?Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; ...

On a related note, last summer’s Phi Theta Kappa’s Campus Honor’s Program held on the SPJC Tarpon Springs Campus did a marvelous job of raising the participants’ consciousness for this year’s honors topic: Our Complex World: Balancing Unity with Diversity. The guest speaker was Mary Jo Melone, a columnist for the St. Petersburg Times. She gave us all valuable insights into the necessity of contrarian journalism and its duty to shock a complacent public into seeing that the world really is not as nice a place as people would like to believe. Her talk was followed by a lively question ...

WASHINGTON -- The State Department has launched a dialogue with American Muslim activists in an attempt to understand modern Islam and the religious element in national conflicts. State Department officials said the meetings began after Islamic leaders in the United States complained that Islamic states in the Middle East and Africa were unfairly portrayed by the media and misunderstood in U.S. foreign policy. "We began the Islamic Roundtable in order to understand the issues coming from moderate America Islam as it relates to Muslim thinking and Islam around the world," said Robert Seiple, recently confirmed as U.S.ambassador-at-large for international religious ...

In the first half of the month of June in the year 399 B.C. Socrates chose death, refusing unlawful salvation offered to him even though he was unjustly convicted. He preferred to die respecting the laws, as he said, then live violating them. About 6% of the vote was needed to dismiss the unjust accusation! Athens killed the truth, but not for long. Soon it regretted its decision. As a gesture of remorse for the crime done, Athenians closed all schools, condemned to death the main prosecutor (Meleta), exiled two others, and erected a bronze monument to Socrates! The entire ...

The 4th celebrates a most unique event in history. A group of people banded together and created a nation out of a notion that was considered absolutely preposterous at the time by the rest of the world and by modern day liberals. This notion was that the common man did not need any king, royalty, intelligentsia, parliament or guiding rulers to live his life. Instead, these men defied the common wisdom of the day, and declared that the only legitemate government was one that protected the individuality, liberty, and autonomy of the individual. In less than 200 years, that notion, ...

July 02, 1999, 03:56 p.m. Independence had its price then . . . By PAUL H. LIBEN .. WITH a firm reliance on divine Providence, we ... pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor." These, the closing words of our Declaration of Independence, are brave words indeed. Fifty-six men signed the Declaration whose drafting we celebrate today. All of them knew they would be deemed traitors by Britain, then the supreme military power of history; all of them understood what that meant. John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress, deliberately signed his name in ...

It's hardly a surprise that China was able to steal our nuclear secrets, given the kind of people the Democrats have put in charge. - - - - - - - - - - - - June 7, 1999 | Just as the government prepared to release the Cox Report, which would reveal that the communist regime in Beijing had stolen design information for every advanced nuclear weapon in the U.S. arsenal, the Democratic National Committee announced the appointment of a longtime communist sympathizer, Carlottia Scott, as its new "political issues director." Scott is a former mistress of the Marxist ...

LITTLE ROCK -- Hillary Rodham Clinton, late of Arkansas by way of Illinois, supposedly has taken it upon herself to continue her sacrifice of serving our great nation, this time in New York. The long suffering first victim made the same claim of being a legitimate policy maker whenever Bill Clinton would allow himself to be badgered into appointing her to a pseudo-governmental post while they ruled here in Arkansas. The New York Senate campaign the American people are currently paying for is nothing new. You see, it's always been about Bill's political station in life being her de ...

HACKING IN THE NAME OF DEMOCRACY IN CHINA Sarah Elton The Toronto Star July 4, 1999, Sunday, Edition 1 OPERATING from a secret Toronto location, the computer-hacker wing of the Chinese democracy movement has plans for destabilizing the Chinese government. He says Canada is an ideal place for hackers because laws here are not as severe as in the United States. The hackers have infiltrated the Chinese government computer networks and gathered classified information from behind the safety of the Canadian border. The Hong Kong Blondes, an underground, computer-based activist organization that hacks in the name of human rights ...

Back in the "good ol' days" when I was still a wet behind the ears puppy, the 4th of July meant several things to me...none of which had anything to do with the Declaration of Independence, or the signing of that document by common, ordinary, hard-working folks who we now call the Founding Fathers. We studied about them in school. The "Founding Fathers." There was something about them that brought awe. Powerful men. Idealistic men. Men who forged a nation from a wilderness. Men whose principles spawned two of the most important documents of freedom that the world has ever ...

Dr. D. James Kennedy is not only a Presbyterian Minister. He is a Christian statesman of the highest caliber. He understands the dangers we are in as a nation and the disaster the (Clinton)Liberal/Marxist worldview has brought us. Today's topic: Separation of church and state - the myth. Text: Hebrews 11:37-12:2. "Of whom the world was not worthy......Encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses......let us run with patience the race that is set before us....Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith....." Sermon Verbatim in most, paraphrased in some: FREEDOM, how precious and how rare it ...

The Expiration of the Independent Counsel Statute Rep. Dan Buron (R-IN), House of Representatives, June 30, 1999 "If we have an administration that has broken the law, if we have an administration or people in an administration who have become corrupt, and we have an Attorney General who is appointed by the President who is blocking for the administration, how do we administer justice?" Mr. Speaker, today the Independent Counsel statute expires. There has been a real heralding by many people in the legal community for the demise of this law. I would like to tonight talk just a ...

Leave It To Cleaver Woman Hacks Hubby's Computer No Password Needed - She Uses Meat Cleaver She Didn't Like How Much Time He Spent Online GRAFTON, Ohio Wednesday, June 30,1999 (AP) The term "computer hacker" used to refer to geeks who wreck havoc in cyberspace. But, in a fit of fury against her husband, who she felt was spending too much time on-line, Kelli Michetti redefined the term. Wielding a meat cleaver, she hacked his computer, say Ohio authorities. Investigators say the 29-year-old Michetti was fed up with her husband, because he was constantly online, often talking to other ...

Today and tomorrow, at patriotic ceremonies around the country, speakers will admonish their audiences to protect the nation's freedoms. We hope Americans take that message to heart. However, it is worth noting that this single-minded focus on the preservation of freedom may contribute to a certain kind of civic short-sightedness. This nation may concentrate so intently on preserving freedom that it fails do anything with it. Like a miser guarding his gold, some Americans work to protect their freedom and yet employ it in no worthy cause. In the end, freedom must exist for something more than its own ...

GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-282727 June 28, 1999 The Honorable Duncan Hunter Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Procurement Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: As requested, this report examines the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. Specifically, it discusses the management of the program, including (1) whether the program is meeting its key milestones and whether hardware and software developments are adequate to date, (2) whether the program is within its projected budget, and (3) what key technical risks the program faces. As arranged ...

GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-282727 June 28, 1999 The Honorable Duncan Hunter Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Procurement Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: As requested, this report examines the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. Specifically, it discusses the management of the program, including (1) whether the program is meeting its key milestones and whether hardware and software developments are adequate to date, (2) whether the program is within its projected budget, and (3) what key technical risks the program faces. As arranged ...

GAO United States General Accounting Office Washington, D.C. 20548 Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division B-282727 June 28, 1999 The Honorable Duncan Hunter Chairman, Subcommittee on Military Procurement Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives Dear Mr. Chairman: As requested, this report examines the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. Specifically, it discusses the management of the program, including (1) whether the program is meeting its key milestones and whether hardware and software developments are adequate to date, (2) whether the program is within its projected budget, and (3) what key technical risks the program faces. As arranged ...