Free Republic

Sacramento -- A bevy of Nobel laureates and celebrities have written a letter urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to commute the death sentence of Stanley Tookie Williams, himself a Nobel Peace Prize nominee. Williams, 51, the co-founder of the Crips gang convicted of four 1979 murders, is scheduled to be executed at San Quentin State Prison on Dec. 13. The letter praises Williams' work as an anti-gang crusader, including writing children's books. "Each year at the holiday season voices the world over cry out for peace," states the letter to the governor. "This year, one of them, a voice of great...

When Elia Kazan, one of the twentieth century’s great American theater and movie directors, died two years ago, the obituaries almost all struck the same sour note. As the New York Times put it, in addition to his artistic accomplishments, Kazan committed “what many still consider one of the great ideological betrayals in American performing arts history.” The Los Angeles Times, the movie business’s hometown paper, announced his death with a straightforward page one headline, elia kazan, 1909–2003, but then got down to cases in the subhead: stage and screen triumphs were eclipsed by his testimony against colleagues in the...

TORONTO - Actress Shirley MacLaine denounced US leaders while promoting her latest film, calling it an antidote for the angst and confusion felt by some of her compatriots. "In a country where we're all having trouble and struggling with what is the truth and who we are and why everybody is lying to us, I liked the idea of making a really honest picture," the Academy Award-winning actress said at the Toronto International Film Festival. In Her Shoes" by director Curtis Hanson ("8 Mile" and "L.A. Confidential") stars Cameron Diaz ("There's Something About Mary" and "Charlie's Angels") and Toni Collette...

WASHINGTON, Aug 14 (AFP) - The families of more than 600 US troops in Iraq have launched a campaign for their return, bitterly criticizing President George W. Bush's reasons for going to war and what they see as his belittlement of the risks. "George Bush said, 'Bring them on,'" said Nancy Lessin, co-founder of Military Families Speak Out, referring to the president's response to post-war attacks on US troops occupying post-war Iraq. "Those three words galvanized Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and other veterans' organizations to initiate the campaign we are launching today," she said. "We say, 'Bring...

GATES LAMBASTED FOR $50M GIFT! Being one of the world's richest people must be great fun most of the time. But it does have its drawbacks, as we discovered while watching BBC World News on May 9. Microsoft main man Bill Gates was interviewed by a BBC correspondent about his personal foundation's $50 million gift to improve the health of poor children in the developing world. But from the tone of the interview, you might have mistaken it for a deposition in Microsoft's antitrust case. Or perhaps a murder trial. 1st question from BBC Correspondent: “Is this a way of...