Free Republic

For Our Democratic Friends: "Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, and the birth of the holiday baby, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year...

<p>The campaign to delegitimize Catholic doctrine in the political marketplace received a bloody nose last week when a federal court in Michigan ruled that a high school’s effort to limit debate on homosexuality during "Diversity Week" amounted to a violation of the First Amendment’s religious establishment clause.</p>

<p>By David Shepardson / The Detroit NewFERNDALE -- The Michigan Court of Appeals struck down Ferndale's ban on carrying concealed weapons in city buildings, a ruling closely watched by communities across the state.</p> <p>A unanimous three-judge panel said only the state Legislature has the authority to allow cities to bar holders of concealed weapons from their buildings.</p>

<p>WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Tuesday signed legislation creating a national "do-not-call" list intended to help consumers block unwanted telemarketing calls.</p> <p>The bill allows the Federal Trade Commission to collect fees from telemarketers to pay for the registry. The program should begin operation by summer.</p>

<p>If the United Nations doesn't back the latest resolution imposing a strict deadline on Saddam Hussein, says President Bush, it will render itself "irrelevant." But was there ever a reason to think a bureaucratic blob of 178 nations, most of whom wouldn't know democracy if they fell over it, could ever be terribly relevant?</p>

A hotel party of 17 men and women engaging in sexual acts organized on the Internet was raided over the weekend, with one of the participants ticketed for selling Viagra and beer. Officers from the County of Macomb Enforcement Team and Macomb County Sheriff's Department broke up the orgy at about midnight last Saturday in room 300 at the Best Western Concorde Inn on Gratiot Avenue in Clinton Township, according to Sheriff Mark Hackel. Hackel said there were no other signs of lawlessness. "There was no prostitution," he said. "These were consenting adults. No one was forced to do anything." ...

Parents fight state bid to test home-schoolers Lawmaker wants accountability; foes say it's an intrusion &#160;&#160;&#160;Opponents of the MEAP proposal say it is a state intrusion into the lives of people who fiercely oppose public schools because of religious reasons or because they wish to educate their children the way they see fit. Parents also note that home-schooled children fare better on college entrance exams than their peers in public school districts. &#160;&#160;&#160;"The whole idea of educating your child at home is customizing what we teach, not doing what the state tells us to," said Val Suzio of Livonia, who ...

I have never published a vanity post before. I hope it is okay to publish this email exchange with amazon.com. I found their position to be repugnant. The text below contains my original email message regarding my concern about a guidbook on pedophilia Amazon sells, their response and my reply. I have changed my real name to my FR Handle and the name of the respondent for Amazon to his/her initials. The rest of the text is exactly as sent. Subject: Pedophilia Book To: info@amazon.com Date: Fri, 09 Jun 2000 17:09:58 -0400 Hello: I was informed that you carry a ...

Elian case exposes Cold War myth &nbsp; &nbsp; By Charles Krauthammer &nbsp; &nbsp; For years now, we have been hearing Bill Clinton and other Democratic luminaries (most recently, Bill Bradley) tell us how difficult the world is today compared with Cold War days when things were easy. Easy because communism was evil, and we knew it, and thus our decisions about how to act in the world were informed by the moral imperative to oppose it. &nbsp; &nbsp; It is a nice little fable. In reality, anti-communism was not the lodestar that guided us all &#151; liberal and conservative &#151; ...

Memo prompts the rise of new Jim Crow &nbsp; &nbsp; By Tony Snow &nbsp; &nbsp; Love, it turns out, truly is blind &#151; unless you work for the Clinton White House. &nbsp; &nbsp; Let me explain: In recent years, Americans have become increasingly multicultural in matters of the heart. Nearly one-tenth of new marriages with a black partner involve a white mate; as many as a fifth include a nonblack mate. The mixed-marriage figure rises to more than 25 percent among Filipino-Americans and 50 percent among native Americans. &nbsp; &nbsp; Furthermore, the rate of such unions is skyrocketing. Douglas Besharov ...

Rivals abused politics to throttle Microsoft Richard B. McKenzie The Microsoft antitrust case has been baffling from the start, even after federal Judge Thomas Jackson&#146;s Monday ruling that the company violated antitrust laws. &nbsp; &nbsp; In 1998, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and Assistant Atty. Gen. Joel Klein declared Microsoft to be a monopoly, even though it had never acted like one, that is, sought to restrict output to raise its prices. As the case progressed, it became evident that Microsoft stood accused of seeking to maintain and even expand its market position with an improved computer operating system. &nbsp; &nbsp; ...

Baby for Sale Sad but true, state needs new child protection law March 30, 2000 Just when you think we have more than enough laws on the books to cover every conceivable misdeed, a father tries to peddle his daughter for cash and a judge says that's unconscionable but not illegal. So before the door opens further for parental profiteering, the Legislature had better act. Otherwise we're liable to have disaffected moms and dads from around the country flocking to Michigan to put their kids on the auction block. Will the state sales tax apply? The Macomb County Prosecutor's office ...

Drugging America&#146;s Kids It is commendable that someone has finally been roused to take action against the wholesale drugging of American school children . &nbsp; &nbsp; What is harder to understand is why it took so long for the medical profession to sound alarms about this trend, and why the federal government feels it must intrude in decisions that should be made by families and their physicians. &nbsp; &nbsp; The White House this week announced that it was backing a still indefinite plan to slow down the prescribing of drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac to children, even those who ...

State schools may offer kids gun safety By B.G. Gregg / Detroit News Lansing Bureau &#160;&#160;&#160; LANSING -- Students across Michigan may soon get a chance to learn the basics of gun safety from the Michigan State Police. &#160;&#160;&#160;The state House passed a bill Wednesday that would add $500,000 to the state police budget to start a gun safety program for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The program would be available to schools that ask for it and would be voluntary. &#160;&#160;&#160;One lawmaker who helped craft the legislation said it might have prevented the death of 6-year-old Kayla ...

Smoke and Regulatory Mirrors The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has no authority to regulate tobacco products, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday . No matter one&#146;s opinion about smoking, the ruling merits high praise as a bulwark against rampant regulatory abuse. &nbsp; &nbsp; The core of the case was the constitutionality of rules issued in 1996 by the Clinton administration to limit minors&#146; exposure to tobacco products by curtailing the sale, distribution and marketing of cigarettes. &nbsp; &nbsp; Reversing decades of FDA policy, then-Commissioner David Kessler, with White House backing, declared cigarettes to be drug-delivery devices &#151; a ...

Light rock, hard time After 2 hours of Wayne Newton, teen will think twice before blasting music March 22, 2000 A judge sentenced Justin Rushford, 18, of Clawson to listen to the Las Vegas casino crooner's hits, including "Danke Schoen" -- once, twice, three times -- before going free. BY BILL LAITNERFREE PRESS STAFF WRITER He could've smirked or feigned agony. DANKE SCHOEN, YOUR HONOR Photos by KIRTHMON F. DOZIER/Detroit Free PressA judge sentenced Justin Rushford, 18, of Clawson to listen to the Las Vegas casino crooner's hits, including "Danke Schoen" -- once, twice, three times -- before going free. ...

Brian Dickerson: To save babies, letting parents off hook might be best March 22, 2000 GIVEN A choice between a) Holding parents responsible for the babies they make, and b) Saving the lives of newborn infants, most of us would doubtless choose c) All of the above. Most of the time, we can. Most of the time, parents are the best guarantors of their children's well-being. Where maternal instincts have been dulled by fear, substance abuse or financial desperation, the threat of criminal prosecution can be a powerful deterrent to abandonment. But there are times when our determination to hold ...

Only social moderate will win presidency &nbsp; &nbsp; In American presidential politics, being perceived as right wing on social issues is now deadly. &nbsp; &nbsp; With Super Tuesday&#146;s victors looking ahead to Election Day, George W. Bush is staring at certain defeat unless he convincingly repositions himself much closer to social centrist Al Gore. &#147;Being to the right socially has become the third rail of American politics,&#148; warns pollster Mark Penn, referring to the high-voltage subway track rail that gives an often-lethal jolt to anyone clumsy enough or foolish enough to grab it. With his right-wing primary campaign, &#147;Bush has ...

Bush has more baggage than Gore &nbsp; &nbsp; By E.J. Dionne &nbsp; &nbsp; Meet McCain&#146;s Moderate Menders, the fresh-start voters who are tired of ideologues eviscerating each other over the Clinton scandal, the Vietnam War and America&#146;s moral state. They are members of the tolerant, anti-ideological, out-with-the-old middle class that isn&#146;t quite sure what it wants. But knows the country could do with some healing. The Moderate Menders are bad news for George W. Bush. &nbsp; &nbsp; To Bush&#146;s great benefit on Super Tuesday, McCain never gained a serious foothold in the Republican Party. McCain&#146;s New England victories were built ...