Free Republic

The forgotten Founder The new John Adams biography outsells John Grisham By Gene Edward Veith Summertime reading has traditionally consisted of romance novels, thrillers, and other time-killers suitable for the beach. This summer, for the first time in memory, the top nonfiction books are often outselling the top fiction titles. Leading the trend—knocking off The Prayer of Jabez on several bestseller lists—is a scholarly tome by David McCullough, with the unsnappy title of John Adams. Why a biography of our least known Founding Father is beating out John Grisham's latest novel is something of a mystery to many observers. It ...

Gay activists' crusade against Boy Scouts is backfiring By Stefan Kanfer BRIDGENEWS In their culture war against the Boy Scouts of America, gay activists make two charges: First, that in refusing to allow homosexual scoutmasters, the scouts are as discriminatory as if they'd barred blacks. Second, that it is outrageous to worry that adult male homosexuals might regard under-aged boys as objects for seduction. As in any war, the first victim is truth. Consider the first charge. Last June, the Supreme Court decided that the Boy Scouts of America could dismiss an adult troop leader who had challenged scout tradition ...

If we want to know why liberalism — the enemy of the people of this nation — has such a power base we need to do a lineup, take mug shots and give them a rap sheet. We hear about them one by one but they're part of a family that would make The Sopranos envious. Without further ado, here are the categories: Hyper-Environmentalists This is the front for the great land grab that is evicting, by hook or by crook from the very soil to which they hold the deed, the farmers, landowners, ranchers, and other Americans who have ...

BOOK AND AURTHORS RECOMENDED AND BACKED BY THE UNITED NATIONSStudents recommend their favorite books Author Title Sherwood Smith Crown and Court Duet series. And others. Walter Dean Myers Monster. And others. Mick Foley Have a Nice Day. Frances Hodgson Burnett The Secret Garden. Mark Twain The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Ellen Raskin The Westing Game. Timothy Zahn The Last Command (Star Wars, Vol 3). Dyan Sheldon Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen. Douglas Adams The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. (series) Katherine Kirkpatrick Trouble's Daughter. Brian Jacques Redwall series. Betsy Byars Summer of the Swans. Sandra Belton Mysteries on Monroe ...

BALTIMORE, Aug. 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Increased condom sales are the first sign of success for the ``Stop AIDS Love Life'' prevention campaign, which began last year in Ghana using radio, television, music videos and testimonials from people living with HIV/AIDS, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Communication Programs (JHU/CCP). Initial data show that since the campaign began in February 2000, condom sales from the country's largest manufacturer jumped from an average of 2.7 million every six months to a record 6.6 million in the six months ending June 1, 2001. The campaign materials include the ...

Health official leaving in middle of tobacco treaty negotiations, cites new administration By Gina Holland, Associated Press, 8/2/2001 01:04 WASHINGTON (AP) A top U.S. health official who has been negotiating an international tobacco treaty has decided to resign just as talks get serious, citing in part his changed role in the Bush administration. Thomas E. Novotny, deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Health and Human Services, said there were also other factors in his decision to retire in February, including plans to work for a university. ''It's not the same job I took two years ago,'' Novotny said Wednesday ...

Above the law Graham Stewart attended a session of the International Criminal Tribunal to watch the new world order in action The Hague There is not much room in Court Room One, so I make a point of bagging a ringside seat in the visitors’ gallery with plenty of time to spare. The area soon fills up, mainly with journalists who proceed to exchange small talk about what they got up to the previous night. Dotted around the throng are some decidedly good-looking Yugoslav girls typically wearing a little too much make-up. A couple of them remind me of the ...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Suppose average congressman from Anytown, USA took to the House floor this morning to offer a modest proposal: due to a shortage of hedge-trimmers, toilet-scrubbers, and baby-minders, it's time to create a new subclass. Not slaves per se, but not citizens either. We'll mete out enough benefits to keep them docile, but stop short of the rights that would make them equal to the rest. Slight privilege but no participation. Oh the horror! Politicians would pile over each other to register their revulsion while pundits scanned their thesauruses for oppressive adjectives. ...

It is no longer just a rumor. Our own great Florida FReeper, gonzo, is going to be producing the first FREEPER SONG PARODY CD. Depending on freeing up his time, he is giving us a window of between September to January. Although not yet on the requested list, I have a suspicion that the signature song will be KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCKIN ON GONZO'S DOOR which chronicled his visit from the Secret Service. Okay, folks, gonzo is looking for requests. Go through the archives. If some of them do not appear, we will see what we can do to recreate them. ...

“Anti-Racist” Racists By Jamie Glazov The upcoming UN Conference Against Racism will focus on Zionism and the extraction of slave reparations from white people. It will ignore slavery and racial genocide practiced by Africans. continue...

Nearly everybody's seen the television commercial where a husband and wife talk about how they don't want to be a burden on their children when they're old. Every time I watch it, I hear a voice deep inside raging against the message. "My children are exactly the ones I want to be a burden on," I say to the TV screen (and to anyone else watching with me). "Not a burden to oppress, but a burden like little children are burdens." I don't like day care for babies, and I don't want to be in a nursing home when I'm ...

Profiling, Racial and Otherwise By John Perazzo We hear plenty about “racial profiling.” But why no complaints about age and gender profiling, which are also important facets of police work? continue...

Judge Voids Manslaughter Conviction by JIM FITZGERALDAssociated Press Writer WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (AP) -- A federal judge overturned a manslaughter conviction, saying conversations among Alcoholics Anonymous participants should not have been used as evidence because such exchanges are a form of confidential religious communication. U.S. District Judge Charles Brieant said treating AA meetings with less protection than any other form of religious communication, which carries assurances of confidentiality, is unconstitutional. The entire AA relationship, he wrote, ''is anonymous and confidential.'' Paul Cox, 33, had been convicted of two counts of manslaughter for stabbing to death Laksman Rao Chervu and ...

Above the law Graham Stewart attended a session of the International Criminal Tribunal to watch the new world order in action The Hague There is not much room in Court Room One, so I make a point of bagging a ringside seat in the visitors’ gallery with plenty of time to spare. The area soon fills up, mainly with journalists who proceed to exchange small talk about what they got up to the previous night. Dotted around the throng are some decidedly good-looking Yugoslav girls typically wearing a little too much make-up. A couple of them remind me of the ...

The " Third Way" Plan for Gun Abolition By Richard Poe Reeling from the Democrats’ stunning rebuff at the polls by angry gun-owners, former Clinton flack Joe Lockhart has proposed a kinder, gentler plan for stripping Americans of their gun rights. continue...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon is proposing to Congress that an independent commission meet in 2003 to conduct a round of military base closings and consolidations, officials said. Since the last round of closures in 1995, Congress has refused repeated requests by the Pentagon for authority to close more bases, even though the services say they are wasting money on surplus installations. The Pentagon announced that Pete Aldridge, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, would outline the proposal Thursday. No details were provided in advance, but one official familiar with the ...

One Patient, 34 Days in the Hospital, $7,000 Syringes and a $5.2 Million Bill By RON WINSLOW Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL DURHAM, N.C.—Stephen Dedrick, chief of pharmacy at Duke University Medical Center, returned an urgent beeper message from his office one Friday morning to hear a startling report: His department had just ordered $250,000 worth of one drug, for delivery overnight from California. It was for a single patient. And it would last only through the weekend. Who should decide when to discontinue medical treatment because of costs? Even by the standards of the country’s high-tech, ...

Restaurant Patron Leaves with Lobster BRIDGEPORT -- A woman stole a large lobster from a North End restaurant Monday evening. The woman took a 3-pound lobster from a tank inside the Red Lobster on Main Street while leaving the restaurant at 9 p.m., police reported. An employee saw the woman grab the lobster and place it in the trunk of her car before she drove away, police said. The crustacean's retail value is $44.95.

After Zogby's recent and much-hyped poll showing 51% "disapproval" of the President, I fired off an e-mail complaining about the methodology of lumping a "fair" response with the negatives. For purposes of the historical record, reprinted below are my original complaint, Zogby's response, and my reply.