Free Republic

By Gary Fields USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- Gun manufacturers and wholesalers are giving the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms direct access to gun records, so agents can more easily trace guns used in crimes. At a time when manufacturers are at the center of the legal battle over firearm violence, five of the nation's larger manufacturers and wholesalers have created various computer links that allow the ATF to track weapons directly from manufacturer to retailer. A sixth company, Beretta USA, is creating a link. ''It's about the technology,'' says Bryan Tucker, president and owner of Davidson's Supplier ...

By Jim Drinkard USA TODAY WASHINGTON -- A federal judge in Florida has frozen the release of personal financial records for all 1,600 federal judges to an Internet news service that wants to publish them, even though by law the records are public. Posting the documents on the Web raises security issues, including whether the information could make it easier for criminal defendants to threaten or retaliate against judges, said Karen Redmond of the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts. ''There are some judges who sit down at dinner every night with federal marshals at the table'' because of death ...

The WTO battles blew the election for Gore; McCain needs more than bad luck to qualify for the presidency; Hillary's one of the most destructive personalities in American politics; and why Madonna talks like the queen mother.The biggest political news of last week was not the shaky maiden debate of presidential candidate Gov. George W. Bush in New Hampshire but the chaos in the streets of Seattle, where over 30,000 protesters mobilized against the meeting of the World Trade Organization and were met by an astonishingly ill-prepared and inept police force.My first thought, as I watched the news footage ...

Housing authorities may sue gun industry By Martin Kasindorf and Susan Page USA TODAY The federal government is organizing public housing authorities to file a nationwide lawsuit against the gun industry, accusing it of sales practices that lead to thousands of gun crimes in low-income housing. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) lawyers are advising public housing officials on the lawsuit, which is patterned on suits already filed against handgun makers by 29 cities and counties, Dennis Henigan of the Washington-based Center to Prevent Handgun Violence said Tuesday. HUD and housing authorities want ''to change the way the ...

With each passing day in Chechnya, the moral bankruptcy of NATO's war against Yugolsavia stands further revealed. Russia's ongoing war against Chechnya - like Kosovo, a would-be Muslim republic - has already created some 200,000 refugees. The Russian military is now ordering Chechen civilians - many of them elderly and infirm - to leave the capital of Grozny before its final, all-out assault, threatened within days. Despite denials, human rights groups fear hundreds, possibly thousands of Chechen civilians are being "blatantly and systematically" killed by the Russian military. Sound familiar? It should. Remember Kosovo? The only thing different is our ...

For IMMEDIATE RELEASEDecember 7, 1999NATIONWIDE "PEACEKEEPING" RESPONSE PLANNED FOR Y2KTabletop exercise, simulation exercises, partnership exercises using white vans and suburbans to deal with AMERICANS who are begging for food and money.In a statement made to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Problem, Major General, U.S. Army Raymond F. Rees - Vice Chief, National Guard Bureau stated:"The National Guard is prepared to continue its support to the nation during the Y2K transition period and beyond.""If there is a federal declaration request from the Governor to the President, FEMA assists in the coordination. FEMA becomes the national contact upon ...

The Defense Intelligence Agency has discovered a second Chinese short-range missile base under construction near Taiwan that will significantly increase the threat against the island, The Washington Times has learned. Disclosure of the first missile base by The Times on Nov. 23 prompted an angry exchange between Taiwan and China. Taiwanese Defense Minister Tang Fei said the missiles at Yongan, 220 miles from the island, ``are apparently aimed at us.'' In Beijing, a government spokesman defended the missile buildup as defensive and said reports about it had ``ulterior motives.'' The newest base, Xianyou, is nearly complete. It will contain ...

In Panama, Ports in a Storm GOP Critics Decry Hong Kong Firm's Role at Each End of Canal By Steven Mufson Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, December 8, 1999; Page A03 Panama will host world leaders next week--including former president Jimmy Carter and Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright--to mark the year-end handover of the Panama Canal from the United States, but some Republican lawmakers say it's no time to celebrate. Pointing to a contract letting a Hong Kong company operate port facilities on both ends of the canal, a handful of Republicans in Congress and former defense officials argue ...

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. December 8, 1999 Moon Struck Credit: courtesy David Palmer (LHEA/ GSFC) Explanation: Craters produced by ancient impacts on the airless Moon have long been a familiar sight. But now observers have seen illusive optical flashes on the lunar surface - likely the fleeting result of impacting meteoroids. Orchestrated by David Dunham, president of the International Occultation Timing Association (IOTA), video recordings made with modest equipment and visual telescopic ...

Al Gore, self-described father of the Internet and inspiration for the movie ''Love Story,'' is again doing what he excels at: revising history. A 60-second biographical TV spot, being aired by the Gore presidential campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire, says: ''He saw his father defeated for the Senate because of his support for civil rights and gun control.'' Similarly, The Washington Post said last month that his ''disillusionment only grew when after Vietnam came Watergate and then his father's defeat - a loss the vice president attributes to his father's brave stands on civil rights.'' There are two ...

A few months ago, California passed a law requiring the owners of certain semi-automatic rifles to register those guns with the state. They were assured this was not a first step toward outlawing the guns. Guess what? The state lied. Shortly after thousands of honest gun owners complied with the new law they were notified that their rifles were now illegal. The state ordered the gun owners to turn in their guns and even offered to pay for the rifles. A few turned them in. Most refuse to comply. Of the more than 15,000 illegal rifles that are estimated to ...

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Voodoo worshippers chase away the devil for millennium OUIDAH, Benin, Dec 8 (AFP) - Wearing cowrie shell belts around their waist and necklaces, thousands of voodoo worshippers have invoked the spirits of their ancestors in this ancient town in the west African republic of Benin, to chase away the devil and usher peace into the third millennium. In the streets of Ouidah, about 45 kilometres (25 miles) north-west of the economic capital Cotonou, voodoo followers carrying jars of purifying water are chanting, dancing and holding sacrifices to welcome the year 2000. In this historic capital of voodoo, the Benin women ...

Ammo ban forced on Texas distributor Overreaction to mass murder at Ft. Worth church? The Ft. Worth Fire Department has issued a citation to a national military surplus distributor after prohibiting the company from stocking bulk amounts of small arms ammunition -- even though city fire codes actually allow it. In a Nov. 18 letter, Asst. Fire Marshall Chief Paul Rider told Michael Tenny, CEO of Cheaper Than Dirt, Inc., a Ft. Worth-based company that sells ammunition and military surplus gear nationwide, that the distributor had to limit the amount of ammunition carried in his store because he was in ...

I generally disapprove of vanity posts; but times are slow at this hour so please allow me to toss this thought into the electronic ether...I heard a TV pundit aptly characterize the republican debates as "Thurston Howell scolding Gilligan"!

Notice the sharp tone Gov. George W. Bush took with Steve Forbes at Monday night's debate in Arizona? It speaks well of Forbes that he can get under Bush's skin, but it raises eyebrows that Bush could barely contain his pique at the refreshingly frank and conservative candidate climbing into double digits (who might be no more than a pesky fly if Bush were staking out more solid, innovative positions in this race). Bush snapped, "That's good," as Forbes laid out the premise (that Texas is 11th world's largest economy) of his probing question to the Texas governor regarding ...

ABC TV News, available through Real Audio, had a short piece on the Debate in Phoenix. Although the report was very short, "image" is very important in creating a feeling with the voters as to whom the "legitimate choices" actually are. Here is the result of my checking and timing the TV report, in terms of either front view or side view visuals of the six candidates, measured in terms of seconds. In this coverage, some were provided exposure of their "zinger" answer or crowd-pleasing joke. BUSH (19) MCCAIN (14) FORBES (10) HATCH (8) BAUER (1) KEYES (0)

There's a Serious Disconnect Between the Public and the Media over Presidential Debates Back in October I wrote, following the first presidential debate, that the best kept secret in the Republican Party was Alan Keyes. Last night on CNN the presidential candidates had another go at it and CNN had a public poll that was an in depth, eight question evaluation of the six candidates following the debate. And, again, while the pundits were pontificating about the race now being between George W. Bush and John McCain the people were selecting Alan Keyes as the most inspiring, the most likable, ...

THE inexperience of George W Bush, leader in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, emerged as a campaign issue yesterday. George W Bush: needs more practice Mr Bush is in his second term as governor of Texas. But in a televised debate in Phoenix, Arizona, Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah questioned his leadership experience and used humour to highlight what many Republicans feel could be Mr Bush's Achilles heel. He said: "You have only had four, going into your fifth year of governorship in a constitutionally weak governorship." He was referring to the fact that most decisions in ...

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Issues of race and racism are swirling at the University of California at Berkeley, stirred up by the imminent departures of two Hispanic professors and protests over the future of the ethnic studies department. At issue: Is prestigious Berkeley's ivory tower a bastion for white professors? Some on campus think things are headed that way - nearly nine out of 10 tenured faculty are white, and black and Hispanic student admissions have dropped with the implementation of new anti-affirmative action policies. "Berkeley has changed, and it's a dismal place for faculty and students of color," ...