Free Republic

by Trevor Griffey 6:01am Wed Dec 1 '99... First-hand report of Tuesday a.m. action & police aggression at Sheraton Hotel... op-ed about tuesday's events... by trevor griffey... By 11 am Tuesday morning, almost every major downtown street leading to the Convention Center was closed by protesters. Entrances to key hotels were sealed by lines of linked activists refusing anyone entrance or exit. Most WTO delegates were unable to attend WTO activities, or if they were, they couldnt return back to their hotel rooms. The WTOs first meeting of the day-- at the Paramount-- was cancelled. In short-- the WTO ...

STUDIO CITY - It took the shooting that wounded Loren Lieb's 5-year-old son to push gun control to the forefront of her mind. The gunshot wounds borne by Lieb's son, Joshua Stepakoff, in the wake of an Aug. 10 attack on the North Valley Jewish Community Centerhave become emblematic of the scar that hate crimes have left nationwide. Now Lieb is a member of a movement to band I million women together next Mother's Day to demand gun control. "It's one of those things that you think is always in someone else's back yard," Lieb said Tuesday. A Northridge resident ...

December 1, 1999 Because we do: A plea for Reaction THE BLAND LEADING THE BLIND Today in Europe, and across the world, we are seeing a radical re-shaping of the political landscape and the death of ancient institutions because they are, well, ancient. In a move akin to the demolition of four-fifths of Soviet churches or the French revolutionary ten day week, we are seeing the quirks and oddities of Europe torn out by the roots, only because they are quirky and odd. The cultural hand made tapestry of Europe is being inelegantly picked apart in preference for bland, factory ...

Dissident back in hospital over unhealthy obsession BEIJING Police have forced a veteran dissident to return to a police-run psychiatric hospital after he said he might publicly discuss his seven years confined to the institution, a human rights group reported Tuesday. Wang Wanxing is suffering ``an unhealthy obsession with politics,'' Ankang Hospital officials said. Wang's case underscores the extremes the government is resorting to in its effort to silence dissent. With unemployment in cities high, rural incomes stagnant and corruption pervasive, the Communist Party fears any political challenges could spiral beyond its control.

35% of firms have Y2K payroll backup ready By Stephanie Armour / USA TODAY     As the new year approaches, serious questions remain about employers' abilities to pay workers in the event of Y2K problems.     Many companies have taken steps to ensure all systems will work, but others are just now putting aside extra money or preparing payroll in advance. If computer glitches occur, experts warn some employees could find themselves facing 2000 without a check.     "Most small-business owners that process their own payrolls are aware of their need to take steps to prevent Y2K-related ...

Anti-WTO Protests Surprise Asia By THOMAS WAGNER Associated Press Writer TOKYO (AP) -- The violent protests that halted the opening of the World Trade Organization conference in Seattle produced headlines across Asia today, though only a passing reference on government-controlled television in China. Many Asians and Australians watched live TV footage of the rioting, in which 25 people were arrested Tuesday. In Japan's Asahi newspaper, an article that called the unrest ``extremely ominous'' appeared alongside a color photograph showing protesters diving for cover as police fired tear gas and pepper spray at them in the city's streets. ``Demonstrators overrun Seattle,'' ...

MIDI - YOUNG AT HEART Barbara Olson shot straight…Rodham’s heart’s filled with hate There will be HELL TO PAY Smacked upside of her head…Rodham’s angry, they’ve said There will be HELL TO PAY From a Goldwater girl…she’d now rule the world And she thinks she should be seen…as our benevolent queen The children she uses like they are toys The savior of all little girls and boys If you dare cross the witch…they’ll find you in a ditch There will be HELL TO PAY We are quick to concur…all roads lead straight to her There will be HELL TO ...

Police Arrest 40 in Violent London WTO Protest LONDON (Reuters) - British police arrested 40 people after anarchists overturned vehicles, started fires and rampaged though a central London train station in protest against capitalism and a WTO summit in the United States. Most of those held after the protest on Tuesday, which centered on London's Euston Station, were arrested for public order offenses including violent behavior, rioting and criminal damage, a police spokeswoman told Reuters on Wednesday. A 32-year-old police officer who was hit over the head with a litter bin was taken to hospital with suspected spinal injuries, she ...

State workers turn down contract offer Strike is possible; action could begin by the end of the month By a 3-1 margin, the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees has voted to reject the state's latest contract offer, setting the stage for a possible strike as early as Christmas Day, the union announced Tuesday. This was the first time in its 18-year history that MAPE, whose 7,000 members represent about one-fourth of the state government work force, has voted to reject a final contract offer, said Jim Monroe, the union's executive director. The state had offered a 2 1/2 percent ...

Study suggests second route out of Africa for ancient humans 1.34 a.m. ET (646 GMT) December 1, 1999 By Joseph B. Verrengia, Associated Press (AP) — Scientists examining hereditary material in cells suggest that modern humans followed a migration wave from Africa to Asia more than 50,000 years ago after an earlier exodus to the Mediterranean and Greece. Blood samples of people from east Africa and India showed close genetic similarities that indicate a common African ancestor, according to a research team from the University of Padua in Italy. The Italian study is reported in the December issue of the ...

It was, pardon the pun, a delicious irony: Chicken soup was actually making workers at Campbell Soup Co. sick. Just a few years ago, the company found that nearly half of its workers had developed carpal tunnel syndrome as a result of cutting and cleaning chicken for use in soups. Wrist troubles, shoulder pains, and other joint problems were affecting from 35% to 50% of the company’s food processing employees. So Campbell began an ambitious ergonomic program. The company bought new equipment, developed exercise programs for employees and set up a job rotation system that ensured workers wouldn’t do the ...

Several years ago, a team of investigative reporters from my newspaper wrote a wildly popular series called "America: Who Stole the Dream?" The series argued that free-trade rules had decimated America's middle class by driving good jobs abroad (where labor was cheaper). I was reminded of these articles as thousands of demonstrators converged on Seattle to protest the World Trade Organization meeting and forced organizers to cancel the opening ceremonies. In the years since the series ran, America has experienced a run of extraordinary prosperity. Obviously, free trade hasn't gutted our economy; unemployment hovers at record lows, and consumers rush ...

JERUSALEM (AP) — A top Chinese official secretly visited the Israeli company that is outfitting a Chinese plane with an advanced airborne early warning system, despite U.S. demands that the deal be scrapped, a newspaper said Wednesday. Israel announced in November that it is selling the AWACS system to China for $250 million. China denied the sale. The system allows aircraft to conduct long-range radar surveillance and coordinate forces during battle. The Israeli Defense Ministry on Wednesday refused comment on the report in the Haaretz daily that the Chinese official, Li Peng, visited Israel Aircraft Industries on Tuesday to observe ...

Here is your update on Election 2000: On the Democratic side, Vice President "Al" Gore and Bill Bradley have been debating the issue of health care before "town meetings" made up of ordinary citizens, who are later revived with fire hoses. Gore remains the front-runner, but has been hurt by polls showing that many voters view him as "not necessarily a human." In response, he has boldly decided, on the advice of his consultants, to switch to wearing earth-tone suits. If this does not work, the consultants say, "We will dress him as various members of the Village People, starting ...

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 30—President Clinton, who lost his fight for new gun control laws this year, began pressing the issue anew today during a West Coast fund-raising tour for Democrats and a gun control lobby. "We haven't done everything we should do to make this the safest big country in the world," Clinton told Democratic politicians and donors in San Francisco. The White House failed to get new restrictions on gun sales at private gun shows and a requirement that a firearm safety device be sold with each gun to reduce the number of accidental shootings, the president said. "It's ...

Was it a Freudian slip? Was it a gaffe? Or was it President Clinton finally being honest about something for the first time in his life? I refer to the statement he made yesterday with regard to the Panama Canal transfer to a group of reporters in the Oval Office before leaving for the West Coast. In case you missed it elsewhere, the quote I am about to give you from Clinton was recorded, albeit buried, in an Associated Press story. Here it is, folks. Hold on to your hats -- especially all of you people who scoffed when ...

Despite the prospect of having two former Republican congressmen vying forthe seat, the National Republican Campaign Committee (NRCC) confirmed yesterday it will hold a Washington fund-raiser early next year for Zimmer. Zimmer's campaign said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and the NRCC chairman, U.S. Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., willco-host the event, tentatively scheduled for Feb. 9. While asserting that the NRCC does not formally endorse candidates before New Jersey's April filing deadline for primaries, NRCC spokeswoman Jill Schroeder said, "Obviously he (Zimmer) is an old friend of Chairman Davis and we're excited about his candidacy." The National Republican Congressional Committee ...

We both read the same piece in the NY Times Sunday Magazine. But Jude Wanniski, with whom I  almost always agree, had a different slant than I had on the story: The Rehabilitation of Sen. Joe McCarthy. That piece, a reasonably even-handed treatment of the latest revelations about the extent of Soviet espionage and penetration of US institutions, makes clear that the remnants of the left wing anti-anti communist movement are very uncomfortable with the obvious conclusion that  must be drawn from the revelation that many of those who liberals believed were victims of alleged McCarthyite smears were Soviet ...

Thumbnail Not Even a Tiny Infringement Size does count, judge rules in copyright caseThe general counsel of a professional photographers' trade group has slammed a Southern California federal judge for a preliminary ruling handed down in an Internet-related copyright case. "I would say that's a judge who hasn't much familiarity with the Copyright Act or who has a bad law clerk," said Victor S. Perlman, general counsel and managing director of the 6,000-member American Association of Media Photographers. He is referring to U.S. District Judge Gary L. Taylor's preliminary determination that Ditto.com's use of "thumbnail" images in its search engine ...

Captain RibMan discovers in this comic that a sexy cop (Rena Mero, formerly known as "Sable") can do more to reduce crime than any government program: Meatroposis' Finest- "Third Way" To Reduce Crime In Sex-Crazed America