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Forbes intensifies criticism of Bush By Dave Boyer THE WASHINGTON TIMES Steve Forbes, a distant third heading into tonight's debate with Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush and the rest of the field, yesterday defended his first negative campaign ad about Mr. Bush, criticized the Texas governor's tax-cut plan and questioned his intellect. "That's what the American people want -- an open, honest debate," Mr. Forbes said at a candidates' forum in Washington. "You're calling that negative? People want a real debate." But Mr. Bush didn't take the bait, telling an audience in Washington last night that Republicans must conduct ...

SEATTLE - They danced through the downtown Seattle shopping district before daylight Tuesday, bearing a papier-mache head on a platform - until they reached Niketown. That's where the 50-member contingent of Eugene protesters stopped in the center of the intersection, lowered the welded metal platform to the ground and locked themselves to it with chains and U-shaped bicycle locks. And that's where they remained from sunup to sundown - even after the Seattle mayor declared a state of civil emergency and police gave them a five-minute warning. The Eugene group had a front-row seat to the huge, chaotic demonstration that ...

Fearing arrest, Castro stays home By Tom Carter THE WASHINGTON TIMES Growing pressure for an indictment seeking the arrest of Fidel Castro when he next sets foot on U.S. soil helped persuade the Cuban president not to attend this week's World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. The State Department pointed out the risk last week to a senior Cuban diplomat, Mr. Castro said in a letter Monday explaining his reasons for not attending the trade summit. There are four serious efforts to bring Mr. Castro before an American court: 1. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican, has sent 3,000 letters to ...

Downtown Seattle in Lockdown By Natalia A. Feduschak THE WASHINGTON TIMES SEATTLE Police arrested more than 200 demonstrators in less than an hour yesterday and fired tear gas at violent protesters as delegates from 135 countries gathered to try to resurrect talks at the World Trade Organization conference. Seattle police, with 200 unarmed National Guard troops and 300 state police, tried to to help keep the peace yesterday by enforcing a "no-protest zone" in the downtown area. A state of emergency -- declared after violent clashes Tuesday between protesters and police -- will be in effect until the end of ...

MIDI - CAMELOT I’ve worked so hard that I need a vacation I think the Northwest is where I will go The people there are really very friendly They told me so There’s never any trouble…I’ve been reading The pace of life’s not hectic, not at all No canisters of tear gas are existant They never fall Seattle rocks…really rocks It is such a pleasant place Yes, Seattle rocks…really rocks The police won’t smash your face There’s never confrontations with the unions The Philly thugs are told that they must go It’s really not surprising…there’s never an uprising The ...

WTO in Seattle: World watches Seattle events By Seattle Times news services LONDON - The Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization grabbed world headlines today, underlining the controversy stirred around the world by economic globalization. And a clash between protesters and police in London mirrored events in Seattle. The violence was on the front pages of newspapers across Asia but earned only a passing reference on television in China. Here's a glimpse of reactions: Japan: The Asahi newspaper called the unrest "extremely ominous" and ran a color photograph showing protesters diving for cover as police fired gas and pepper ...

Bush won't push tax re­form: His disappointing plan is weaker than rivals' ideas Republicans haven't been panting after the White House for eight years so that a tax plan as weak as the one George W. Bush proposed yesterday could be passed into law. We are biting our fists until President Clinton leaves office in part so that this country can take a serious lunge at reforming and simplifying the tax code, making it fairer and friendlier to all taxpayers. A Bush administration, it seems, would not be much help. Americans are overtaxed and intimidated by the IRS and all ...

SUVs: Another Case of Missing EPA Data EPA claims that by tightening tailpipe emissions for sport-utility vehicles (SUVs) and requiring lower sulfur content in gasoline, 2,400 lives will be saved annually as a result of lower levels of particulate matter. However, the agency's calculations of lives saved are based on an EPA-funded study whose data have not been subjected to public scrutiny. Basing regulations on "secret science" is poor public policy. The Incredible Shrinking Supercomputer Current government efforts to keep America's cutting-edge computer technology out of the hands of unfriendly nations cannot keep pace with rapid advances in the high-tech ...

WTO in Seattle: Police switch to new strategy By David Postman and Mike Carter, Seattle Times staff reporters 12/01/99 After losing control of downtown Seattle to renegade protesters Tuesday, police admitted they were caught off-guard despite months of warning. Today, they switched strategies and banned demonstrations in the heart of downtown - an aggressive tactic that carries its own risks. Both approaches are politically touchy for a Police Department that failed to do what it promised: Allow the World Trade Organization to meet in safety, and allow protesters a peaceful platform for dissent. As Seattle police tried to restore peace ...

Wasting away in RushLimbaughVille. With all the posts on Rush and his show, I though I would spend a couple of moments on a broadcast primer. I spent 12 years as a radio performer. Another 23 years as a radio station owner. Much of the Freeper comments on radio shows leave me scratching my head. The first rule of every, and I mean every broadcaster is to get ratings. I don’t care what your political agenda, one hard rule comes first. Get the ratings! If a radio personality does not pull ratings he or she is gone. It does not ...

Republicans show off convention site; Democrats behind schedule Copyright &copy 1999 Nando Media Copyright &copy 1999 Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (December 1, 1999 7:56 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Workers demonstrating the technological capabilities of the site for the Republican National Convention next summer needed just five seconds Wednesday to brighten the arena with television-quality lighting. The more than 600 media officials on hand to tour the First Union Center asked numerous questions about camera angles, Internet access, security and other logistics. Meanwhile, local planning for the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles next August is at least six months behind ...

WTO in Seattle: Gas, broken glass and a city in dismay Linda Keene, Seattle Times staff reporter 12/01/99 In the 24 hours between Monday's big pot party downtown and yesterday's real-deal riot, Seattle's sense of itself seemed to mature and change. Whatever intrigue or tolerance people might have felt about hosting thousands of demonstrators during the World Trade Organization's meeting quickly wore off under a haze of tear gas and vandalism. As more and more windows were smashed downtown, more and more questions arose about our place at this moment. The world had arrived on our doorstep, but had we ...

WTO in Seattle: Police haul hundreds to jail David Postman, Jack Broom and Florangela Davila Seattle Times staff reporters Police and about 1,000 protesters continued their battle for the streets of Seattle today, even after a zone of more than 50 blocks was declared off-limits to demonstrators and was surrounded by police, state troopers, King County sheriff's deputies and National Guardsmen, many wearing riot gear. Despite those measures, hundreds of protesters managed to get inside the restricted zone, and at least 225 were arrested, most of them after protesting near Westlake Center. They were placed on buses and taken to ...

Gore clarifies comment implying he uncovered Love Canal pollution Copyright &copy 1999 Nando Media Copyright &copy 1999 Associated Press BUFFALO, N.Y. (December 2, 1999 1:21 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - Vice President Al Gore moved quickly Wednesday to keep Love Canal from becoming "Love Story." The vice president telephoned an upstate New York reporter to explain his latest hyperbole - a suggestion the previous day that it was his 1978 investigation of toxic waste sites that uncovered the chemical contamination of Love Canal. "If anybody got the misimpression that I claimed to do what citizens in Love Canal did, I ...

(CNSNews.com) - An Israeli decision to sell a sophisticated military radar system to China despite Washington's concerns may strain relations between the two allies, American commentators sympathetic to Israel have warned. They say Israel may be jeopardizing its own security by helping the Chinese, who have military connections to some of the Jewish state's most dangerous enemies. The radar sale, which could affect the delicate military balance between China and U.S. allies in the Far East, is expected to upset Israel's friends in Congress at a time when Israel is going to need maximum U.S. support as it tackles difficult ...

PROVINCIAL PROVERBS HUSHED VOICES FROM OCCUPIED REGIONS Original Sin Merely One More Opinion ACE © 1998 Provincial Proverbs Few things are more embarrassing than getting caught in a lie. At least for most of us. And yet we are all guilty. We lie not only to others but to ourselves as well. It's at once both an obsession and a joke. How do you know a politician is lying? Watch his lips. If they're moving, he's lying. I did not inhale. I am your friend. No big deal, no problem. Except, of course, when we wake up to a lie ...

PAPER: HILLARY DEMANDS DIVORCE! **Exclusive** White House officials are furious that the NATIONAL ENQUIRER is planning to report that Bill and Hillary Clinton are talking divorce! Tensions escalated after a brutal fight last month in Turkey, where Bill and Hillary were touring earthquake-ravaged areas, says the report. Next week [12/14] the tabloid will unleash the report with a front page scream exclusive that quotes "family and legal sources". One senior White House official called the paper earlier this week to express his outrage at the devastating story. But compounding the matter is the fact that Bill Clinton's private attorney, ...

Forbes ad takes on Bush over Social Security By LAURA MECKLER Associated Press Writer December 1, 1999 Web posted at: 5:35 p.m. EST (2235 GMT) WASHINGTON (AP) -- Taking aim at George W. Bush, Republican presidential hopeful Steve Forbes is releasing the most negative political ad of the season, accusing Bush of betraying the American people over Social Security. Forbes is responding to Bush's suggestion that policy makers consider raising the Social Security retirement age to bolster the financially troubled system. "I think it's a betrayal because that money's been promised to you at age 65," Forbes says in ...

NO DIRECT FEDERAL TAXATION ON CITIZENS OF THE SEVERAL STATES Regarding other taxes, we agree with the Framers that tariffs for revenue are a far superior means for sustaining the legitimate objects of the Federal government than direct Federal taxes on income, estates, capital gains, gifts, and business activity. Unfair, unfair Federal taxation oppresses the American people and limits the growth of our family economies. After all, we are the citizens of the several states in which we reside. The Framers knew that state citizenship precluded direct Federal taxation. ABOLISH THE IRS In his second inaugural address on March 4, ...

Trump says foreign trade negotiators view U.S. as 'saps' Copyright &copy 1999 Nando Media Copyright &copy 1999 Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (December 1, 1999 8:29 p.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com) - New York developer Donald Trump said Wednesday that United States trade officials are viewed as "saps" around the world and have allowed the country to be ripped off in trade agreements. Speaking to reporters before discussing his potential presidential candidacy with national Reform Party officials, Trump said he isn't surprised by the violence Tuesday at the World Trade Organization meeting in Seattle. Protesters there accused the global organization of considering ...