Free Republic

News Suffolk may ban guns from public housingBy SUSIE STOUGHTON, The Virginian-Pilot© September 10, 2001 In a crackdown on gun violence, housing officials are considering banning firearms from the city's five public housing complexes. Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority could review a draft policy by November, after input from residents of the 466 apartment units, said Clarissa E. McAdoo, executive director. Thelma Hinton, the housing residents' non-voting representative on the SRHA board, says such a ban would violate the residents' rights. Living in public housing shouldn't prevent them from being able to protect themselves, she said. ``I've got to ...

The United Nations has another problem now, smaller but more interesting than the disaster in Durban, South Africa. The UN is wondering whether it should tinker with some abortion language to keep President Bush from boycotting next week's conference here on children's rights. A roomful of diplomats stayed up half the night Thursday scratching their heads about whether to fudge or clarify the code phrase "reproductive health services" in the final declaration of the meeting. They did neither, though the Bush administration wants the phrase out. Critics say Bush is wrong to inject abortion politics into the meeting by complaining ...

America Loses Taste For 'Zero Tolerance' Laws - They Don't Work By Peter Beaumont The United States, notorious for its massive prison population, draconian sentencing and enthusiasm for capital punishment, is quietly abandoning its appetite for the toughest penal policies in the developed world. States across a nation that fired British politicians of both Left and Right with an enthusiasm for 'zero tolerance', boot camps for delinquent juveniles, electronic tagging and 'three strikes, you're out' laws are giving up on their most controversial penal policies. They now favour better community policing and treatment - rather than jail - for drug ...

Why R.I. seems to have so many teacher strikes • Though the work stoppages are illegal, school districts still must prove in court that they cause irreparable harm. The scene is so common in Rhode Island that we forget how rare it is across the United States. Just next door, in Connecticut, entire generations of children have never seen their teachers on the picket line. In New Hampshire, Department of Education lawyer Sarah Browning can't remember the last time teachers went on strike there. Massachusetts hasn't been quite so lucky, but despite being many times larger than Rhode Island, it ...

WASHINGTON Senate panel investigating deceptive sales practices plans to question Florida direct-mail order kingpin Glenn Braswell — one of the most controversial of Bill Clinton's last-minute pardons. The Senate Special Committee on Aging subpoenaed Braswell to testify today at a hearing here after months of investigating his line of products, ranging from "anti-aging" pills to products that allegedly increase sex drive, Newsweek magazine reported yesterday on its Web site. Investigators expect Braswell to take the Fifth and refuse to answer any questions. "We're going to have nothing to say," his lawyer told the magazine. The Braswell pardon sparked a furor ...

<p>September 10, 2001 -- WASHINGTON - Federal watchdogs today will testify that Andrew Cuomo's "lax oversight" let crooks loot a housing program for the poor that will now cost taxpayers $130 million to bail out.</p> <p>At issue is Cuomo's role as Bill Clinton's secretary of Housing and Urban Development and his pet home-ownership program for the poor, which collapsed in scandal.</p>

Sunday September 9 11:53 PM ET Author: Justice Near Sway Over Bush WASHINGTON (AP) - A month after the Supreme Court's 5-4 decision that gave George W. Bush the presidency, dissenting Justice David Souter (news - web sites) said he could have won over Justice Anthony Kennedy (news - web sites) with just another day, according to a new book by a Newsweek reporter. David A. Kaplan wrote that Souter made the comment while discussing the matter in private with a group of prep school students. Souter said if he had ``one more day - one more day,'' he could ...

Monkey seen, but won't do well in N.H.by Franci Richardson Monday, September 10, 2001 DANVILLE, N.H. - After a hectic day, Kerry Pedato thought she was ready for the funny farm when she saw a large brown monkey perched atop a pump house inside her trailer park. ``I really thought I was going crazy,'' the 32-year-old mother of three said yesterday outside her southern New Hampshire home. ``With the cat in surgery and the kids, I thought I'm really delirious. I must be seeing things.'' But local authorities say Pedato isn't crazy and probably saw a Humbolt's woolly monkey - ...

<p>There are certain unwritten rules in column writing. One is not supposed to say our distinguished politicians in both parties are, in the main, either liars or just plain ignorant.</p> <p>One is not supposed to insult fellow members of the media.</p> <p>One is not supposed to repeat oneself.</p>

<p>Increasing White House consideration of a capital-gains tax cut is the latest sign that the administration knows it must have a Plan B if the economy does not begin to turn around big time by the end of this year.</p>

WHISTLEBLOWER MAGAZINE GUNS IN AMERICA Myth-Busting Research Says Firearms in More Hands Result in Less Crime © 2001 WorldNetDaily.com Contrary to the popular belief that gun-control regulations somehow reduce crime, Whistleblower magazine's groundbreaking "Guns in America" issue reveals that just the opposite is the case. Subtitled, "Myth-busting research says firearms in more hands results in less crime," the issues asks this question: Which vision for America – that of Second Amendment supporters (unfettered access to firearms for law-abiding citizens) or that of gun-control proponents (severely limited access to firearms, or an outright ban) – actually results in a safer ...

<p>One of the critical issues Congress will take up this fall will be the so-called patients' bill of rights. There's a great deal to dislike in both the House and Senate versions, which were passed before Congress left town for its August recess. Both would expand bureaucratic control over health care and empower lawyers to file more lawsuits against U.S. businesses. The Senate measure, sponsored by Sens. Edward Kennedy, John Edwards and John McCain, is particularly bad. It would do virtually nothing to enable the 43 million Americans currently without health insurance to obtain it at an affordable price. In fact, by making it easier to sue employers over actions taken by health-maintenance organizations, the legislation could well exacerbate the problem, as small entrepreneurs – faced with the prospect of being bankrupted by lawsuits – decide that it is too much of a hassle to provide insurance for their workers.</p>

<p>Cows wear bells, it is said, because their horns don't work. Then there's the observation that the ratio of an igloo's circumference to its diameter is equal to Eskimo Pi. Perhaps some have heard of Sosumi, the new sushi bar for lawyers.</p>

<p>The Bureau of Engraving and Printing must destroy at least 40 million $5 bills as well as paper for 286 million more bills because of a contractor's mistake, The Washington Times has learned.</p> <p>Officials are investigating how the papermaker's error on unique high-tech security stock meant to produce $5 bills with a face value of $1.632 billion went undetected through an extensive series of inspections, The Times was told.</p>

<p>Republican National Committee Chairman Gov. James S. Gilmore III questions why the Democratic National Committee is dumping $1.6 million into New Jersey to help gubernatorial candidate Jim McGreevey "when they brag their candidate leads" his Republican rival, Bret Schundler, "by nearly 20 points."</p>

<p>JERUSALEM -- Israeli officials are proclaiming a resounding diplomatic victory out of the U.N. conference on racism in South Africa, which had been expected to produce rabid anti-Israeli resolutions at the behest of Muslim delegations.</p> <p>"It is one of our greatest achievements ever at an international conference," Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said after publication of the conference's final declaration on Friday. "It is a stinging defeat for the Arab League."</p>

Monday September 10, 2:18 am Eastern Time Nikkei marks new 17-yr closing low; banks tumble (UPDATE: Updates to close) TOKYO, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Tokyo stocks stumbled to a fresh 17-year closing low on Monday as earnings woes spread from the high-tech sector into traditional manufacturers due to the economy's prolonged slump. Also weighing on the market were Asahi Bank Ltd and Daiwa Bank Ltd , which lost heavily because investors were unconvinced about benefits of a potential merger between the two lenders. ``Non-tech issues are overtaking high techs to lead the Tokyo market lower, making Tokyo's slide broad-based,'' said ...

<p>The recent United Nations conference on racism in Durban, South Africa, raised again the issue of reparations for slavery.</p> <p>This is an idea that was first developed last year by Randall Robinson's book, "The Debt: What America Owes to Blacks." Now, it seems, the issue has moved past compensating the descendants of slaves to compensating those who sold them into slavery in the first place.</p>

<p>Responding to a question about Nickolay Soltys (the man accused of killing his pregnant wife, a 3-year-old son and other family members) on a CNN talk show, Karen Johnson, executive vice president of NOW, said her organization is interested in men who have mental illnesses, "But my concern is for Andrea Yates and for her defense, and for her safety, and for her health."</p>

Friday September 7 8:24 PM ET Judge Demands Documents on FBI Computer Spy System Judge Demands Documents on FBI Computer Spy System By Christine GardnerNEWARK, N.J. (Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday ordered prosecutors to show him documents next week describing how a classified FBI (news - web sites) computer spying system works, saying their argument the system should be kept secret from defense attorneys was ``gobbledygook.''The computer bugging question, which may have important implications for the public's right to computer privacy, has emerged as a key issue from the government's illegal gambling case against Nicodemo Scarfo, 36.Scarfo, the ...