Free Republic

I'm sure you're all aware of this story - the Cuban boy who was rescued on Thanksgiving after his mother and stepfather perished trying to flee Cuba. Now his real father wants him back. I must confess I am totally at a loss to decide this one...where is Solomon when you need him? On the one hand, his dad IS his dad, and we should respect that relationship. On the other hand, his mother literally died to give her boy a better life than he could ever have in Cuba. And clearly, his extended family in Florida are willing and ...

Venezuela's Chavez fighting for new constitution, powers BY TIM JOHNSON timjohnson@herald.com CARACAS -- Offering a machine-gun spray of invective and flinging his elbows widely, President Hugo Chavez has launched a ferocious campaign to discredit those who oppose a new national charter that may let him remain in office for more than a decade. The virulent attacks have further polarized an already divided Venezuela, creating a backlash of protests that include candlelight vigils and the banging of empty pots at night. Even in Venezuela's high-temperature political arena, Chavez has shown remarkable contempt for his adversaries in the past week. He has ...

Look, the last thread just got too long already. Honestly, I had no idea how much interest this subject would bring. The smoking lamp is lit. By the way, what the heck does that mean? I have heard that term but have no clue what it means. Anyway, here is the lead in from the last article: Ok, I have been to the WH and DC for protesting with the Freepers over 20 times this year. At the March for Justice, 10/31/98, I noticed how many Freepers smoked. To make a long story short, every time I meet with Freepers, ...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- Federal agents have arrested two anti-government militia members in connection with an alleged plan to blow up a huge propane storage facility, federal officials said Saturday. The arrests on Friday came after a nearly yearlong investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force into a potential threat against the Suburban Propane facility in Elk Grove and other targets in the Sacramento area, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement. The other threatened sites were not identified. The facility stores about 24 million gallons of liquified propane fuel and is located about a mile from a ...

December 5, 1999 Taxes, not laws, will stop smokers By MINDELLE JACOBS Edmonton Sun Wetaskiwin-Camrose MLA LeRoy Johnson obviously doesn't remember what it was like to be a teenager. Otherwise, he wouldn't have dreamed up the silly idea of making it illegal for kids under 18 to smoke in public. Forbidding teens to do something just makes it all the more alluring, as several young smokers said earlier this week when a Sun reporter told them of Johnson's private member's bill. Kids would just ignore such a law, said 17-year-old smoker Sarah Magee, who has bought into the tobacco industry's ...

The World Trade Organization (WTO) is not about free trade. One doesn't need a truck full of  regulations to explain free trade. One simply knocks down the barriers and allows commerce to take  place. No protections for those who venture into unknown and dangerous trade waters. No subsidies  for those who make bad deals. No regulations to make the playing field "fair." Such risks come with  real free trade. Consequently it regulates itself. It's called a free market.  The WTO does the opposite. It creates the "rules of engagement" for commerce between nations. It  sets up elaborate environmental regulations ...

Driver's licenses for illegal aliens? Backers say change would reduce wrecks, lower insurance costs; opponents fear fraud. By Mark Bixler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution All across Georgia, from onion fields in the south to carpet mills in the north, undocumented immigrants fill jobs in an ever-expanding economy. They rake pine straw, build houses and pluck chicken feathers in processing plants. Few people dispute the claim that illegal immigrants fill thousands of jobs, but there is considerable disagreement about how they get to work. A 1994 state law says that only U.S. citizens and people who are in this country legally can ...

Israeli police interrogate former arms dealer involved in Iran-Contra JACK KATZENELL AP Worldstream: International news DISTRIBUTION: Europe;Britain;Scandinavia;England;Middle East December 5, 1999; Sunday 14:48 Eastern JERUSALEM A former arms dealer involved in the Iran-Contra affair was interrogated Sunday on suspicion that he obstructed an investigation into an alleged murder plot by his son, police said. A search last week in the office of Yaakov Nimrodi, 73, now head of a leading Israeli holding company and acting publisher of the Israeli daily Maariv, uncovered documents and tapes related to the Iran-Contra affair. Police seized documents again Sunday, this time from Nimrodi's ...

Please vote in this poll : Which GOP Candidate is the best Constitutionalist? The choices (I was limited to five) are : George Bush Jr. Steve Forbes John McCain Alan Keyes Orin Hatch

Bush's New Fraternity Brothers The front runner could have no better protectors than the Republican Governors BY MARGARET CARLSON I was at ground zero of the de facto stop McCain movement recently, as a guest speaker at the Republican Governors Association at La Costa, a luxurious California resort with clay tennis courts, milk baths and valets dressed like footmen. In exchange for being on the program, I got more face time than usual with the Governors, including late-night margaritas and brandy. While I was fascinated by their discussion about taxing sales on the Internet, what I was really looking for ...

NEWS ANALYSIS: Put to the test, Bush fights back in debate MARK SILVA msilva@herald.com In his self-promoting political memoir, A Charge to Keep, Texas Gov. George W. Bush recalls a vicious attack he suffered during his first, losing campaign for Congress as a young man in the Lone Star State. ``I don't engage in personal attacks or gossip or innuendo,'' Bush writes. ``But if someone attacks me, I will never again fail to fight back.'' Bush forcefully has proven his resolve to respond in his first nationally televised encounter with Republican rivals last week. When magazine publisher Steve Forbes questioned ...

LA Times Home | Discussions | Print Edition | Archives | Site Map | Home Delivery | Advertise | Help   News Politics Entertainment music, movies, art, TV, restaurants Business Travel Classifieds jobs, homes, cars, rentals SportsCommentary Shopping -->http://www.latimes.com/news/comment/19991205/t000110804.html Back to story   Why Not Create the $100,000 Teacher? A multitiered structure would improve teaching and conditions without raising costs. By LOWELL MILKEN      Good teachers are to education what education is to all other professions--the indispensable element, the sunlight and oxygen, the foundation on which everything else is built. However, is an outstanding teacher worth a $100,000 annual salary? ...

DEC 6 1999 Parents sign away dead kids' organs without knowing it Britain's top medical officer admits changes might be necessary as many parents do not grasp the implications fully when signing consent forms LONDON -- Laws on the removal of organs from dead children may be tightened, Britain's top medical officer said, as key hospitals admitted the practice may have taken place without parents being aware of it. The practice has come under greater scrutiny after it emerged that a children's hospital in Liverpool removed the organs from 850 dead infants without their parents' consent. Seven of Britain's ...

NSA and Echelon A Top-Secret Agency [NSA] Comes Under Scrutiny and May Have to Adjust The New York Times, December 5, 1999 By JAMES RISEN WASHINGTON -- No government organization has been better insulated from public scrutiny than the National Security Agency. Its very existence as America's premier eavesdropper and code-breaker was classified for decades, and the NSA -- also known as "No Such Agency" -- has been able to keep the press and Congress largely at bay even as the CIA has come under increased scrutiny in the wake of its Cold War excesses and failures. But the NSA's ...

Kennedy Praises Bush BOSTON, Dec. 3 (UPI) - Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Edward M. Kennedy said Friday that Republican presidential front-runner Texas Gov. George W. Bush "meets the bar" to be president. At the same time, Kennedy told the Boston Herald he has not decided yet whether to endorse Vice President Al Gore in the Democratic presidential primary race. While criticizing Bush's record on health care, Kennedy suggested the governor run on his strong record of education reform. Kennedy also said Bush's failure to answer foreign policy questions from a Boston television station was insignificant. "The fact is, he's been ...

December 4, 1999 Iran-Contra & the Safra Mystery By Robert Parry Press accounts continue to state erroneously that banker Edmond J. Safra, who died mysteriously when a fire swept his Monaco penthouse apartment, was cleared over involvement in the Iran-contra scandal and related money-laundering investigations. Contrary to reports in The New York Times and other leading news outlets, Safra’s Republic National Bank was implicated – not cleared – in connection with the Iran-contra affair. According to the final report by Iran-contra special prosecutor Lawrence Walsh, an officer of Republic National Bank in New York arranged clandestine cash transfers to Oliver ...

There are some on this forum who cannot recognize a rapist. When political agenda gets in the way of common sense and decency, it becomes an American tragedy. So to all the FReepers, whether you support Keyes, Forbes, Bush, McCain, Hatch, Browne, various Hollywood stars or starlets, Trump, Gore, Bradley or the Communist Party, what if your candidate was charged with rape? What if a successful businesswoman, one who was not writing a book or seeking any profit, was interviewed by a noted journalist who was respected and who was not a political hack. What if, after eight hours, the ...

Jack booted thug in action Photos from Associated Press and Reuters unless otherwise noted. ***

Honoring Strom On His 97th (CBS) They came from across South Carolina and the nation. They were former governors and ordinary citizens. Some wore suits or dresses, while others showed up in jeans. They were Republicans and Democrats, black and white. All 1,500 had something in common, however. They all came to see the man Judge Marion H. Kinon called "the greatest man the state of South Carolina has ever produced." U.S. Sen. Strom Thurmond, the day before his 97th birthday, visited Columbia Saturday for the unveiling of a monument in his honor on Statehouse grounds. "This monument is a ...

Rage Against The Machine: Despite, and because of, violence, anti-WTO protesters were heard BY RICHARD LACAYO 12/13/99 Issue At the Seattle meeting of the World Trade Organization, the bureaucrats may not have accomplished all that much last week. The chaos that surrounded them did. In this moment of triumphant capitalism, of planetary cash flows and a priapic Dow, all the second thoughts and outright furies about the global economy collected on the streets of downtown Seattle and crashed through the windows of NikeTown. After two days of uproar scented with tear gas and pepper spray, Americans may never again think ...