Free Republic

Despite the dot-com meltdown, people continue to use the Internet, and the Internet is likely to continue its gradual (and sometimes rather sudden) process of undermining hierarchical structures in society. A recent survey done for the Pew Internet and American Life Project showed that Internet usage has remained fairly steady in the wake of the well-publicized failure of a number of dot-com companies. Overall, according to an AP story, "more than half of those surveyed said they used the Internet the same amount as they did six months ago. 29 percent said they used it more and 17 percent ...

Ten Commandments statue on display in Alabama court The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Ten Commandments statue on display in Alabama court Published 8/3/01      ASSOCIATED PRESS      MONTGOMERY, Ala. -- A 5,280-pound monument dedicated to the Ten Commandments was introduced in the Alabama Supreme Court rotunda on Wednesday.      The 4-foot-tall monument holds two tablets with the Ten Commandments. Engraved on the granite are quotes from the nation's forefathers supporting the Commandments' basis as the foundation for law.      "To restore morality, we must first recognize the source from which all morality springs," Chief Justice Roy Moore said after presenting the monument. "From our ...

Twenty years ago, MTV was born with video broadcast of the Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star." Whether or not video killed radio, MTV's version certainly put American pop culture on life support. As a member of that first MTV generation, I loved watching videos of artists MTV rocketed to stardom: Van Halen, Duran Duran, Michael Jackson, and The GoGos. My friends and I were mesmerized by the vivid colors, cool clothes, and unique hairstyles – eye candy to go with the songs we heard on the radio. We knew what it meant to say, "I want my MTV." ...

Whore patrol on hiatus The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Whore patrol on hiatus Deborah Simmons THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      She was a good-looking young thing, and her taut, milk chocolaty skin glistened in the morning sun. Her high-cut, neon-pink bikini and stiletto heels gave her a to-die-for legginess. Still, most of the glances thrown her way were same-sex. The men, mostly construction workers pouring into the 7-Eleven for sunrise java and doughnuts, mocked her. They knew she was a whore. Not the red-light district kind of whore, though. This dangerous whore is a member of what I call the ...

Inside Politics The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Inside Politics Greg Pierce THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      Whisper the news      When George W. Bush's poll ratings go down, it's front-page news in the New York Times and The Washington Post, and the subject of conversation for TV pundits everywhere. But when Mr. Bush's poll ratings rise, the newspapers bury the story and barely a peep is heard on cable TV and the Sunday talk shows.      A case in point: Mr. Bush received a 59 percent job-approval rating in the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. His personal favorability rating: 63 percent. Story ...

China said yesterday that a Chinese-born American writer who was detained in April has been charged with spying for Taiwan. Wu Jianmin is accused of "taking money from Taiwan spy organs and entering the Chinese mainland to gather intelligence", the Foreign Ministry said. Wu, detained in Shenzhen on April 8, would probably go on trial before a visit by US President George W. Bush to China in October, the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for Human Rights and Democracy said. The Foreign Ministry confirmed that Wu was formally arrested on May 26 on spying charges. It gave no other details of ...

A good lesson for all, even a president The Washington Times www.washtimes.com A good lesson for all, even a president Wesley Pruden THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      George W. Bush is teaching the world a lesson in what strong leadership can do, and he should make sure he's learning from it himself.      The presidency, as 41 men before him learned, is a bully pulpit indeed, and in the space of six months the new president has changed the way America's "allies," such as they may be, regard his missile-defense shield.      He did it by defining the terms of the ...

ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (Reuters) - Hooded gunmen beheaded four Christian villagers on a southern Philippine island after kidnapping more than 30 people, the army said on Friday. Two villagers managed to escape after the attack on Thursday night by suspected Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels on the island of Basilan, 900 km (560 miles) south of Manila, officers said. Nine villagers were set free and one of them brought back a message from the gunmen that the others would be killed unless a military offensive on the Abu Sayyaf was halted, army chief Lieutenant General Jose Calimlim told reporters. "This is ...

WASHINGTON – In response to my tirade last week, "Unaccountable government," several readers e-mailed with some worthy suggestions. "Thank you for beginning the process of getting people to think about this issue, as I believe that one of the reasons our government got out of control is that earlier generations dropped the ball and let the politicians get away with fixing their numbers to suit themselves, instead of sticking to the constitutional standards," writes Robert Davidson. He's not talking about just fixing the financial numbers, either. "I have nearly given up trying to get through to my so-called 'representatives,'" ...

Bush thanks his GOP troops The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Bush thanks his GOP troops Dave Boyer and Stephen Dinan THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      President Bush, capping a week of victories on some of his toughest domestic priorities, paid a surprise visit at a rally of Republican lawmakers yesterday as Congress prepared for its summer recess.      "You have a lot to be proud of," Mr. Bush told lawmakers in the private meeting at the Capitol. "Go home and be proud of the tax relief."      The president added, "And when you come back, we'll work until Christmas." His audience, a ...

Sessions assails 'God' omission in Senate oaths The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Sessions assails 'God' omission in Senate oaths Steve Miller THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      Sen. Jeff Sessions yesterday berated the Senate Democratic leadership for removing the words "so help me God" when it administers oaths to nominees during confirmation hearings.      The Alabama Republican joined with the Traditional Values Coalition, a D.C.-based group, in questioning Sen. Patrick J. Leahy on the omission, which began when Mr. Leahy took over as head of the Judiciary Committee in May.      The Vermont Democrat was put on the spot by Mr. Sessions during ...

Probably the surest way to understand the depth of dissatisfaction among many conservatives with the Republican Party is to be a conservative columnist who often defends Republicans. You wouldn't believe the passion in the e-mail I get from fellow conservatives who have long since abandoned the Republican vehicle, believing it no longer serves the causes in which they believe. Maybe if Republican mainstreamers could understand the reasons for conservative angst, they could alter their approach and prevent further defection from the party. A recent story in the Washington Post nicely illustrates the absence of commitment of too many congressional ...

Ban on U.S. rigs extended The Washington Times www.washtimes.com Ban on U.S. rigs extended Carter Dougherty THE WASHINGTON TIMES Published 8/3/01      Mexican President Vicente Fox raised the stakes yesterday in a blossoming trade dispute with the United States over permission for Mexican trucks to operate on American highways.      Noting that the North American Free Trade Agreement requires open borders, Mr. Fox said American trucks would remain barred from access to Mexican markets as long as Mexican truckers faced the same hurdle in the United States.      "There won't be any U.S. trucks here until there is an agreement to let ...

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged the Chinese government to open a dialogue with the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, the State Department said on Friday (HK time). Mr Powell made the suggestion in talks with Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing which ended last Sunday. US officials did not mention it at the time. ''The secretary raised human rights, including in Tibet, during his meetings in Beijing. He pointed out that these issues are important to the American people and to US-China relations,'' spokesman Richard Boucher said. ''The secretary also urged the Chinese government ...

The group behind southern California's mobile anti-abortion billboard campaign is continuing to expand its truck routes in the face of accusations that the group inaccurately depicts the embryos' ages on the display. Jon Dunn, president of Planned Parenthood of Orange and San Bernardino Counties, told the Orange County Register the mobile billboards give inaccurate embryo and fetal ages to make them appear more developed. As reported by WorldNetDaily, the mobile campaign, sponsored by the Center for Bio-ethical Reform, consists of a fleet of trucks driven in southern California's rush-hour traffic where the giant photos are seen by motorists. CBR's ...

NEW YORK - The nation's largest black lawyers association has issued a stinging rebuke of the Adam's Mark hotel chain, saying its lawsuit against the NAACP to prevent it from launching boycott is insensitive and a "slap in the face" to African Americans.    The National Bar Association was furthered angered because it is meeting at the Adam's Mark Dallas hotel and was addressed by the hotel's CEO during their convention on the same day the chain's parent company, HBE Corp., filed suit against the NAACP in a Baltimore federal court.    "We believe the Adam's Mark demonstrated bad faith ...

Delegates to the national Reform Party convention in Nashville, Tenn., have approved a plank supporting a pro-life position on the abortion issue, as well as other planks on controversial social issues. According to attendees, the pro-life plank was approved by a two-thirds vote of all delegates July 29. The vote is noteworthy because in the past, the party founded by billionaire H. Ross Perot meticulously avoided taking any positions on most social issues. "This is a clear indication of what has been believed since the 2000 Convention in Long Beach – that the Party is now mainly conservative and ...

Under pressure from home-school parents and advocates, Baylor University announced it has resolved five cases of home-school graduates who were admitted by the school but then told they must be 18 years of age or possess a GED certificate in order to be enrolled this fall. As WorldNetDaily first reported last week, the perceived "bait and switch" on Baylor's part left students like 17-year-old Alec Woloszyn with a dilemma. He's too young to be eligible to take the General Education Development test in his home state of Wisconsin. This meant Alec, who had turned down offers and a scholarship ...

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White may be replaced before she completes her probes of President Clinton's last-minute pardons and Sen. Robert Torricelli's fund-raising, a Justice Department official said yesterday. The official could not say when President Bush would replace White, a Democrat holdover from the Clinton years. "I don't think they would fire her [White] outright, but they would come to some agreement with her," said a source familiar with the situation. The source also said White could wind up completing the Clinton pardon probes before she goes. Her office had no comment. A leading candidate to replace White ...

An estimated 800 Iraqi commandos, the bulk of the force that stole into Jordan two weeks ago, remain pinned down in Jordan’s eastern desert in two places – around Wadi Athner and near the town of Ruwayshid, report the intelligence sources of DEBKA-Net-Weekly. The incursion into Jordan by Iraqi military forces was first reported jointly by Debka and WorldNetDaily last week. Official sources in the U.S. and Israeli governments have denied any knowledge of the Iraqi incursion to WorldNetDaily. However, small groups of the first batch have since made their way further west. Around 15-25 of these intelligence-trained crack ...