Jul 1, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
From MRC [June 26, 2003]:Martina Navratilova, the tennis star who made millions in the U.S. after she left Czechoslovakia, has denounced the values of her adopted country. In an article in a German magazine reported by Reuters and picked up Wednesday night by FNC's Brit Hume, she complained: "Decisions in America are based solely on the question of 'how much money will come out of it' and not on the questions of how much health, morals or the environment suffer as a result." She also equated the U.S. under President Bush with Czechoslovakia under Soviet domination: "The most absurd part of my escape from the unjust system is that I have exchanged one system that suppresses free opinion for another." The unbylined Reuters dispatch from Berlin noted that she "singled out President Bush's Republican party for unusually harsh criticism. 'The Republicans in the United States manipulate public opinion and sweep any controversial issues under the table,' said Navratilova."
I take it Martina expects Bush to jailed her for her comments? Or perhaps torture her like Saddam tortured thousands in Iraq? How she forgets that it was the Left that supported that Soviet domination by "supressing the free opinion" of anti-communists by with smears of "McCarthyism." Fact is Martina is free to express her opinions; and we are free to express our opinion that to equate the Bush presidency with that of the former Communist Czechoslovakia is dishonest. If that is "suppression" in her dictionary than so be it. Stick to tennis Martina.
Jun 30, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
From Cox and Forkum:
Comments Allen Forkum: "This cartoon was inspired by an advertisement at NewsMax for a DVD titled, Harry Potter: Witchcraft Repackaged (Making Evil Look Innocent)."
Related commentary: The Virtues of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter by Diane Durante, Why Children -- and Adults -- Love Harry Potter by Jason Lockwood, and Parents Rejoice! Harry Potter Is Back by Chris Wolski.
Jun 30, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
In case you missed it don't forget to read Scott Holleran's Patriotic Books for Children.Jun 30, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
From Mark Steyn's Chicago Sun-Times column Sunday:As a general rule, the more noisily an institution proclaims its commitment to diversity, the more slumped in homogeneity it gets--at least when it comes to the only diversity that matters, not diversity of race or gender or orientation, but diversity of ideas.
Jun 29, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
Friday's New York Sun relates the story of a Chinese farmer discovered in a prison where he had been detained since 1974, without accusation, and forgotten about--as well as a student beaten to death while in detention for not having a residence permit. (The student turned out to have had the necessary alternative papers.) The only upside, according to the article, is that these incidents are being reported by an "increasingly hostile" Chinese press:A Chinese farmer spent 28 years in prison without being accused of doing anything wrong and a three-year-old died abandoned with her mother in jail, the latest police failures to be attacked by increasingly hostile Chinese press.
...The incident follows the case of Sun Zhigang, 27, a student arrested in the Guangzhou for not having a residence permit. After he was beaten to death while in detention,it was discovered he should not have been picked up in the first place, as he had the necessary alternative papers. With the Chinese leadership attempting to be more responsive to popular complaint without allowing the floodgates to open, the government announced the vagrancy laws under which he was picked up were being abolished -- and then banned papers from reporting on the case further. [June 27, 2003]
Jun 29, 2003 | Dollars & Crosses
The House of Representatives has passed a resolution supporting freedom in Hong Kong against the "Article 23" laws forbidding subversion against the Chinese Communist Party or attending meetings of organizations not approved by China.
Who was the lone dissenter?
Rep. Ron Paul, the libertarian Republican from Texas:The lone dissenting vote was cast by Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican of Texas. Seven members were absent for the vote, including Rep. Richard Gephardt, the former minority leader of the House and a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination. [NY Sun, June 26, 2003]
