Free Republic

June 21, 2002 12 to Be Awarded Medal of FreedomBy THE NEW YORK TIMES ASHINGTON, June 20 — President Bush announced today that he would award the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian award, to a dozen prominent people, including Nelson R. Mandela and Nancy Reagan. The medal is also going to A. M. Rosenthal, retired executive editor and columnist for The New York Times, who now writes a column for The Daily News in New York. Reached at his home in Manhattan this afternoon, Mr. Rosenthal said: "I've been surprised many times in my life, but never...

June 21, 2002 Panel Rejects Immunizing All Against a Smallpox OutbreakBy LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN TLANTA, June 20 — A panel of specialists advising the federal government on smallpox vaccinations unanimously rejected a proposal today to offer vaccines to every American. Instead, the panel recommended immunizing only the estimated 15,000 health care and law enforcement workers who would be most likely to respond to a biological attack and come in contact with victims. In rejecting the idea of starting mass vaccinations for the first time since routine immunization was halted in 1972, the panel said the risks of complications from the...

JERUSALEM, June 20 (Reuters) - Israel's own military actions are partly to blame for creating a Palestinian "incubator of terror", the country's defence minister was quoted as saying on Thursday after meeting jailed would-be suicide bombers. Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Ha'aretz newspaper in an interview that he took the unusual step of questioning two Palestinians face-to-face this week about their aborted bomb plots because he wanted to find out what motivated them. Among those he interviewed was a 20-year-old Palestinian woman, who told him she changed her mind at the last minute about carrying out a suicide attack because she could...

Uncle Sam bankrolls terrorism Posted: June 21, 20021:00 a.m. Eastern © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com With the war on terror expanding beyond the reaches of the Middle East, attention is now extending to South America. Michael Catanzaro, writing for the June 2002 American Enterprise, highlights the increasing terrorist activity in Colombia, including not only the domestic FARC forces, but also Hamas, Hezbollah and even the IRA. "Colombia is the most abundant source of cocaine and heroin in North America. FARC, along with other paramilitary groups fighting for control of Colombia, provides protection to farmers who grow coca and poppies, and finances its revolutionary operations...

June 21, 2002 Lawyer Challenges Isolation of American-Born PrisonerBy KATHARINE Q. SEELYE ASHINGTON, June 20 — A court-appointed lawyer for an American-born detainee today challenged the government's claim that it could hold him without giving him access to a lawyer or charging him with anything. In a broad assertion of presidential authority that could ultimately be tested in the Supreme Court, the government said in court papers on Wednesday that anyone it designated an "enemy combatant" did not have to be provided the legal protections accorded most American citizens. Further it said, the courts have no authority to interfere with...

High Court: Executing the Mentally Retarded Is Unconstitutional June 20 — Reversing previous rulings, the Supreme Court ruled today that executing the mentally retarded constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and is therefore unconstitutional.The court's 6-3 ruling applies to mentally retarded killers and does not address the constitutionality of capital punishment in general. The justices cited a shift in public attitude toward the practice of executing mentally retarded killers since the court ruled on the issue more than a decade ago. In a 1989 opinion, the high court ruled it was not unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded under the Eighth...

Israelis yesterday began to take punitive action against the US global television network CNN, whose founder, Ted Turner, accused the country of engaging in terrorism. One of Israel's biggest satellite companies, Yes, bowed to the furore Mr Turner's remarks created by allowing in CNN's biggest rival, Fox News, owned by Rupert Murdoch. Some Yes board members also threatened to pull the plug on CNN for 24 hours or even longer. But a spokewoman for CNN, Susanna Flood, said that at a meeting between CNN and Yes in London yesterday Yes "gave us an assurance that it has no intention of...

June 21, 2002 Supreme Court Finds Law on Educational Privacy Isn't Meant for IndividualsBy LINDA GREENHOUSE ASHINGTON, June 20 — The federal law that requires schools and colleges to protect the privacy of students' educational records does not establish a personal right to privacy that can be enforced in court, the Supreme Court ruled today. The 7-to-2 decision overturned a ruling by the Supreme Court of Washington and rejected the reasoning of every federal appeals court to have considered the question since Congress passed the law, usually known as the Buckley Amendment, in 1974. Writing for the majority today, Chief...

June 21, 2002 Prosecutors Clear Clintons in Clemency of 4 Hasidic MenBy RANDAL C. ARCHIBOLD ederal prosecutors said yesterday that no criminal wrongdoing was committed when President Bill Clinton commuted the sentences of four swindlers from a Hasidic enclave in New York State that voted overwhelmingly for Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. James B. Comey, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a two-sentence statement that he had closed his investigation of clemency granted to the four men from New Square, N.Y. Mr. Comey said he would continue the investigation into the more than 170...

June 21, 2002 Plane in Restricted Airspace Near White House Exposes a Security WeaknessBy ERIC SCHMITT ASHINGTON, June 20 — Air traffic controllers in Baltimore first spotted the unidentified light aircraft heading toward Washington just before 8 p.m. Wednesday. The Air Force scrambled two F-16 fighters after the plane entered restricted airspace over the capital a few minutes later. But before the streaking jets got close enough to intercept the single-engine plane, it was close enough to the White House to hit the building had the pilot wanted to, the authorities said today. "They would not have gotten there in...

June 21, 2002 Lawmakers' Reviews Mixed on Bush Plan for AmtrakBy MATTHEW L. WALD ASHINGTON, June 20 — Elected officials gave mixed reviews today to the Bush administration's proposal for overhauling Amtrak by shifting financing for its operating losses from the federal government to the states. Officials acknowledged a need for changes as they voiced strong support for more appropriations. As Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta outlined a long-range reorganization of the passenger rail system today, its short-term problems seemed to grow even more serious. Amtrak lost $160 million more in the last fiscal year than it had previously thought,...

June 20, 2002, 11:55PM Regulators make Reliant probe formal By LAURA GOLDBERG Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle Reliant Resources disclosed Thursday night federal regulators upped their inquiry of the company to a formal investigation, news that may cause a further decline in the company's stock price today. The Securities and Exchange Commission had already launched an informal inquiry into the company related to an accounting matter and certain energy trades. Houston-based Reliant Resources, among other operations, trades energy and owns deregulated power plants. In a formal investigation, the SEC has the ability to subpoena documents and individuals. In a statement, Reliant...

Presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, criticized the Bush administration's homeland security efforts Thursday night, saying, "there is a lot of inconsistency in the approach the administration is taking." Appearing on Fox News Channel's "Hannity and Colmes," Mrs. Clinton was asked whether President Bush was overreaching in trying to claim more federal power in a time of war. "I think the jury is out," she told "H & C" co-host Alan Colmes. "We've got to sort out what is necessary and what isn't necessary and that's what I and many of my colleagues are attempting to do. Clearly there...

(CNSNews.com) - The Libertarian Party is determined to unseat five politicians - three Republicans and two Democrats - described as "hopelessly addicted to the war on drugs." The five incumbents targeted for defeat include Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.); Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.); Sen. Tim Hutchinson (R-Ark.); Sen. Max Cleland (D-Ga.); and Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). In a statement released Thursday, the Libertarian Party said those five lawmakers will find a Libertarian candidate running against them. The idea is to siphon enough votes in a close election to guarantee the incumbents' defeat. According to the Libertarian Party, the five lawmakers named...

Stiff Right JabJust Taxation: An Early American Primer Steve Farrell June 20, 2002 Sad fact of life: The current administration, and the "conservative" party that backs it, has an out-of-control penchant for multiplying your tax burden. All propaganda aside: Compassionate conservatism is about socialism, not Americanism. From AIDS relief for Africans, to foreign loan "forgiveness" plans for deadbeat nations, to multimillion-dollar poppy reduction subsidy programs for Afghan farmers, to U.N. donations that end up in the hands of Palestinian terrorists, to welfare benefits for illegal immigrants, to school vouchers for poor kids - but not your kids, to prescriptions...

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. 2002 June 21 Zimbabwe Sunset Credit & Copyright: Murray Alexander Explanation: Today's scheduled geocentric astronomical event is the Solstice, with the Sun reaching its northernmost declination at 13 hours 24 minutes Universal Time. For denizens of planet Earth this Solstice marks the begining of Summer in the northern hemisphere and Winter in the south. Of course, the tilt of the Earth's axis of rotation (and not a change...

June 21, 2002 Investigators in Congress Want Inquiry of ThemselvesBy ALISON MITCHELL ASHINGTON, June 20 — The leaders of a joint Congressional inquiry into the Sept. 11 attacks asked the Justice Department today to investigate their panel, after Vice President Dick Cheney complained that sensitive information had been improperly disclosed. The four lawmakers also said that the panel would delay the start of its public hearings, which had been set to begin next week, until next month at the earliest. "We are very concerned about leaks at any time," said Representative Porter J. Goss, the Florida Republican who is chairman...

CAIR-PAC URGES SUPPORT FOR HILLIARD Assalamau Alaikum Take a real step now towards POLITICAL EMPOWERMENT of the American Muslim community. Congressman Earl Hilliard (D-7th, Alabama), a strong supporter of issues of concern to the American Muslim community, urgently needs our help to win reelection. He has consistently supported a balanced US foreign policy in the Middle East and opposed lopsided bills that harm the interests of America and the Muslim world. He is a strong defender of civil liberties and also the first African-American elected to Congress from Alabama. Take REAL ACTION now to help Congressman Earl Hilliard win re-election....

<p>London, June 21 (Bloomberg) -- In New York, Singapore, Tokyo, Paris and London, fund managers are trimming their U.S. assets and buying in Europe or Asia instead.</p> <p>Henderson Global Investors Ltd., Julius Baer Investment Management Inc. and Axa Investment Managers all have shrunk the U.S. portion of their global equity funds this year. Henderson has tripled Asia's share, Julius Baer has beefed up European holdings and Axa has done a combination of both.</p>

June 21, 2002 Panel Allows Solicitation of Soft Money at Fund-RaisersBy RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr. ASHINGTON, June 20 — Angering backers of the new campaign-finance law, federal election regulators approved a rule today that will allow federal candidates speaking at state or local fund-raisers to seek unrestricted soft money contributions, although sponsors of the law say it bans lawmakers from soliciting such money. The Federal Election Commission also approved a provision that will allow lawmakers to suggest that corporations, labor unions and other groups write big checks to state political parties to pay for party-building activities, as long as they...