Free Republic

December 1, 1999 Getting Over Communism at the Times By Jonah Goldberg The New York Times, for want of a better analogy, is the Vatican of secular liberalism. Its moral authority dominates the terrain and, not unrelatedly, it is slow to change. But when it does, the cultural repercussions are profound, as when the Vatican rehabilitated Galileo or when it recognized the compatibility of Catholic faith and evolutionary theory. Of course, for its critics, such reversals are always too late, and simply serve to highlight how long the Church was wrong in the first place. Still, for detractors of ...

Cubans March for Boy's Return By ANITA SNOW The Associated Press HAVANA (AP) - Thrusting fists in the air and chanting political slogans, hundreds of thousands of Cubans flooded Havana's coastal highway Thursday to press for the return of a 6-year-old boy who was rescued off the Florida coast two weeks ago. Schoolchildren, workers and housewives marched by the U.S. Interest Section shouting ``We want Elian! We want Elian!'' as Fidel Castro's government revved up its propaganda campaign in the fight to bring Elian Gonzalez home. Throughout Havana, employees were instructed at work places to participate in the march and ...

CLINTON POLLS HOLD STEADY IN WAKE OF CHINESE NUCLEAR ATTACK Topic: Iowa Hawk's Twisted News CLINTON POLLS HOLD STEADY IN WAKE OF CHINESE NUCLEAR ATTACK The Vanity Post-Gazette8/25/98 IowaHawk CLINTON POLLS HOLD STEADY IN WAKE OF CHINESE NUCLEAR ATTACK By IowaHawk, special to FR Washington, DC (APUPI) In the first comprehensive measure of public opinion since the nuclear obliteration of Los Angeles by the People’s Liberation Army, a newly released New York Times/CNN poll revealed relatively steady job approval ratings for President Bill Clinton. The President’s overall job approval rating was 62%, a slight drop from last month’s level of ...

  2330 GMT, 991209 – Iranian Deal May Entice Caspian Oil Away From Turkish Pipeline Iran’s Oil Ministry will provide its Central Asian oil swap partners, Turkmenistan and Kazakstan, with a 30 percent cut in oil swap rates, the Iran Daily reported on Dec. 9. The swap plan is an effective economic and political policy tool for Iran, which allows Iran to effectively undermine U.S. sanctions. The plan makes Iran a more attractive outlet for Central Asian oil than the proposed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which will lead U.S. corporations to clamor to be allowed to invest in Iranian infrastructure. Iran’s ...

Arab Groups Urge Reno to Repeal Secret Evidence December 9, 1999 9:29 PM EST     By Andrea Shalal-Esa  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Arab American and Muslim groups met with Attorney General Janet Reno on Thursday and urged her to ban immigration authorities' use of secret evidence against people of Arab descent, saying such evidence is unreliable and unjust.  The Justice Department had no immediate comment on the meeting, but the groups said Reno had pledged to develop guidelines for use of secret evidence.  It was Reno's second meeting with the groups in six months.  Federal courts over the past ...

My wife told me today that she heard Keyes in an interview on Fox with a black reporter(Juan Williams?) say that he would not accept a VP spot from ANY of the current Republican candidates. He said that if any of the candidates were 100% in line with himself, then he would consider VP, but since none of them are he will not accept. He also said that he wouldn't be running if any of the candidates held his beliefs and goals. Regarding McCain, I heard him repeat 4 or 5 times in a row when questioned in an interview ...

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) -- A judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors can proceed with criminal charges against four teens accused of participating in a football game brawl. The case sparked a national debate over zero-tolerance policies on violence in schools and brought the Rev. Jesse Jackson to this central Illinois town to protest. The four teens -- Roosevelt Fuller, Gregory Howell, Coryell Spates and Courtney Carson -- are charged with mob action. Fuller also faces aggravated battery and misdemeanor resisting arrest charges. Judge Jerry Patton did not set a trial date. Two detectives testified the Sept. 17 melee in stadium ...

Julia "Butterfly" Hill may come down from her tree on Sunday, ending a two-year self-imposed ordeal. "I'll be down if I have their (Pacific Lumber Co.) signature on an agreement," Hill said Tuesday. "Otherwise I won't." Hill, now 25, began her epic tree sit on Dec. 10, 1997, as part of an Earth First demonstration against a PL timber harvest on a hillside above Stafford, near the site of the mudslide that hit that town the previous New Year's Day. She continued it after the tract had been logged and other demonstrators departed, leaving her in occupation of a single ...

Are We Becoming A Society Of Snoops? December 8, 1999 by: Phyllis Schlafly As concerns fade about a Y2K breakdown of government computers, Americans should be increasingly worried about how computer efficiency gives the federal government extraordinary powers to monitor the daily activities of law-abiding Americans. Unknown to most people, government databases are storing all kinds of personal information about every American. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that all wireless providers by 2001 be able to pinpoint the location of wireless phone calls. Cell phones are going to be homing devices for the government to track our ...

Russian Spy 'Bug' Infests State Department NewsMax.com December 9, 1999 A decade after the Cold War's demise, Russia and the United States are still swapping spies. An electronic "bug" is found eavesdropping on Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. An employee of the American embassy in Moscow is caught carrying a pocket-size snooping device and - yes, they still use it - invisible ink, so pedestrian that James Bond's "Q" would have been disdainfully unimpressed. As required under one of international espionage's enduring, unwritten game rules - "catch one, lose one" - it's home-you-go for one Russian, one American. Unspoken ...

Gore Swears in Moseley-Braun By JENNIFER LOVEN Associated Press Writer -- Vice President Al Gore's swearing-in of Carol Moseley-Braun Thursday as U.S. ambassador to New Zealand joined a presidential candidate in need of black votes and a former senator in need of clearing her name of controversy. Gore called the Chicago Democrat, the first black woman elected to the U.S. Senate, ``an embodiment of America in our most diverse and democratic spirit.´´ Moseley-Braun took the oath of office with her hand on a Bible held by her son, Matt. In remarks afterward, she made it clear she sees her diplomatic ...

MIDI - CHARIOTS OF FIRE Now Rosie O’Donnell has joined the debate Regarding the homeless…she steps to the plate She’s saying each day that she’ll go on the street She’ll find one that’s tasty…one homeless she’ll eat We know she can do it ‘cause she packs it away Perhaps if we’d cheer her on real loud she’d eat two today Just give her some Grey Poupon, of course, mayonaise We think she could pull this off about eighty days She suffers depression…she’s stuck in a rut She eats because K-Mart had cancelled her butt Because she says guns have…no ...

Friday, December 10, 1999   New ambassador greets 'old friends' REUTERS Retired Admiral Joseph Prueher arrived in Beijing yesterday as the new American Ambassador to China, calling his hosts "old friends" and saying frank talk is the best way to keep the delicate relationship on track. "I bring greetings to the people of China from President Clinton," Admiral Prueher said. "It is important to recognise that the relationship between our two nations is vital to the two nations. Our common interests transcend the things that keep us apart." Asked what his main challenge was, Admiral Prueher said: "What we ...

THE MANGIERI REPORT The Imminent Threat of Chemical & Biological Attack Does Not Mirror Our Current Chemical & Biological Training Posture by William F. Mangieri The Secretary of Defenses claim that its not a matter if our Armed Forces will be subject to a biological attack, its when does not concur with current readiness training posture. Whether the Secretary is talking about a terrorist threat or a possible contingency on the battlefield our Armed Forces have not increased the intensity of training in chemical and biological defense. In May of 1996, the Government Accounting Office provided testimony before Congress ...

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - Florida troopers concealed that they were tipped off to suspected drug smugglers by undercover FBI agents who had supplied the very drugs the suspects were charged with possessing, an officer testified. The FBI also rigged suspects' cars so agents could immobilize the vehicles by remote - giving the troopers an excuse to question the drivers, Trooper Douglas Strickland testified Tuesday. In light of the testimony, defense lawyers in at least three counties say they might ask a court to reopen cases involving drug convictions. "It didn't smell right from the beginning," said Jack Edmund, who ...

McCain, Bradley Agree on Joint Event - Sources December 9, 1999 7:40 PM EST     By Thomas Ferraro  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic rival Bill Bradley, both riding a wave of popularity in New Hampshire, agreed on Thursday to hold an unprecedented joint event in the state, aides said.  The two political mavericks will co-host an event next Thursday to underscore their mutual goal of reducing the influence of money in politics, aides said.  McCain and Bradley will highlight unkept promises by both parties to revamp the campaign finance system, which they charge ...

Nebojsa Antonijevic dies of injuries inflicted by ethnic Albanian terrorists - December 08, 1999 Gnjilane, December 8th (Tanjug) - Nebojsa Antonijevic (39), a Serb, died at the hospital in Nis on Tuesday of injuries inflicted on him by members of the ethnic Albanian terrorist organization, the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), five months ago, the church-national board in Gnjilane reported. Antonijevic was beaten on June 25th. KFOR had arrested Nebojsa, his father Borivoje and five neighbors "by mistake", and took them from their house in Gnjilane, so they are to accept equal blame for his death along with the ethnic-Albanian ...

Well into his twenties Bill Bradley was a member of the Religious Right. By Paul Sperry "Show me the way not to fortune and fame," starts one of Bill Bradley's favorite poems. "Not how to win laurels and praise for my name, but the way to know the great story that Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory." At least that was a favorite of his in 1968, when the Bible-thumping (that's right) pro hoopster was bringing other jocks to Jesus. It's not clear if Bradley the politician--pro-choice, pro-gay rights, and running left of Al Gore in their ...

Was there ever anything more disgusting than the sight of Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy lauding the heroism of those dead firemen? Bill Clinton, the chicken shit who lied and cheated to avoid the draft, lied and lied and lied to avoid responsibility for his own disgraceful behavior and was set to destroy Monica Lewinsky to save his own worthless ass. And Ted Kennedy, a great hero himself, right? I pity any person in that audience today who had the brains to realize what a farce this was. (Given that this was the heavily Democratic Worcester, Mass, it is possible ...

Hundreds of thousands of fliers will be distributed at Chicago area stores starting this week to encourage consumers to purchase supplies early and not worry needlessly about Y2K. "We don't think this is an issue to panic over," said Barrett Murphy, Chicago's Y2K project co-manager, as he announced the initiative Wednesday with representatives of seven area grocery store chains. "But what we can't control is people's reaction to Y2K. The system is not meant for everyone to do the same thing at the same time." About 570,000 fliers will be stuffed in shopping bags or handed out at stores during ...