Parental supervision?

The alleged mastermind behind the Satanic-inspired shootings at a rural Mississippi high school went free on Tuesday after a judge allowed him to post a $75,000 bond. Grant Boyette, 18, leader of a group known as the Kroth, is accused of convincing 16-year-old Luke Woodham to open fire on his classmates at Pearl High School. Two died and seven others were wounded in the October shooting spree. The court stipulated that Mr. Boyette must be under constant parental supervision during his release-small comfort to many, since his parents apparently never supervised the animal sacrifices and other Satanic rituals that Mr. Boyette allegedly led over the years.

What the Pentagon panel didn't address

Those who believed the military could be used as a social laboratory to achieve ends prescribed by politicians who never served have been rebuked. A Pentagon-appointed study panel, headed by former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, remains committed to "gender integration," but not until after a few weeks of segregation. "By separating men and women in their own barracks, you would have fewer disciplinary problems and a better sense of unit cohesion and team building," the panel concluded. What the panel didn't address is how training will be toughened if women again fail to meet higher standards. The objective of the gender feminists has been total equality between male and female service personnel. So what will happen when the irresistible force of politics comes up against the immovable object of military strength? Something's gotta give. The Clinton administration has been the primary impetus behind sex-integrated basic training. The results have been obvious for some time to those not blinded by politics. After touring U.S. military facilities last summer, Rep. Stephen Buyer (R-Ind.), chairman of the subcommittee on military personnel, told the Navy Times: "Wherever we were ... there was a general complaint about the product coming out of basic training.... They've weakened the standards, and we're concerned about it." How weak are they? At the Great Lakes Naval Training Center recruits are shown a video telling them that "physically, anybody can make it through boot camp," a statement that devalues the prestige associated with conquering boot camp and the toughness recruits need to develop. According to Time magazine, recruits at Great Lakes no longer drill with rifles, because the Navy (which used rifles in training until 1996) now regards them as anachronistic. And, my personal favorite, recruits are issued a "blue card" that they are encouraged to hand to their trainer whenever they feel discouraged or stressed. The Army could call its training "sneaker camp," because recruits no longer run with combat boots. The Army has substituted jogging apparel. Drill instructors have been warned not to berate their recruits verbally. And basic combat skills are receiving less emphasis. According to a 1997 report by the Army Inspector General, "There is no clearly articulated or enforced standard for soldierization skills to graduate from Initial Entry Training." Are we willing to pay the price of a weakened military so that politicians and the gender feminists can have their way in the emasculation of our armed services? Tragically, they will have failed to equip a fighting force to prevail in the next war when they are needed to defend their country and themselves. Cal Thomas, © 1997, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Speaking Freehly

FBI Director Louis Freeh failed to get a ringing endorsement from his boss during a wide-ranging 90-minute news conference, but he says that won't intimidate him into taking an early retirement. Mr. Freeh angered the White House by urging an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising violations, an idea Janet Reno has adamantly opposed. At a Tuesday news conference, given the opportunity to support publicly his FBI director, President Clinton conspicuously declined to do so, saying simply, "I don't want to get into it." But Mr. Freeh, whose appointment lasts until 2003, apparently is unconcerned. He says political pressures don't bother him, and he has no plans to quit before his term is up.

Parental supervision?

The alleged mastermind behind the Satanic-inspired shootings at a rural Mississippi high school went free on Tuesday after a judge allowed him to post a $75,000 bond. Grant Boyette, 18, leader of a group known as the Kroth, is accused of convincing 16-year-old Luke Woodham to open fire on his classmates at Pearl High School. Two died and seven others were wounded in the October shooting spree. The court stipulated that Mr. Boyette must be under constant parental supervision during his release-small comfort to many, since his parents apparently never supervised the animal sacrifices and other Satanic rituals that Mr. Boyette allegedly led over the years.

Babies still defenseless

When an emergency hearing began in a New Jersey courtroom last Tuesday to decide whether to block enforcement of the state's newly minted partial-birth abortion ban, the lawyers' table next to the one for the ACLU was unattended. That's because the state attorney general, appointed by pro-abortion Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, refuses to defend the law enacted last week after the legislature overrode the boss's veto. Legislative leaders will appropriate new state money to hire a private attorney to represent the state in court. But they couldn't get it done in time for the temporary injunction hearing; with no one there to argue the state's case, it was a foregone conclusion that the judge would rule as she did: Partial-birth abortions would continue in New Jersey until Dec. 24, when a new hearing will be held to consider further arguments. Further arguments are what gave pro-life forces the margin of victory in the first veto override suffered by Gov. Whitman. A pro-abortion Republican state senator, Andrew Ciesla, switched sides because "my constituents demanded this particular vote." He said the mail was 200 to 1 in favor of banning partial-birth abortions. Also in New Jersey, state officials succumbed to ACLU attacks. They settled a class-action lawsuit by homosexual couples suing for joint adoption rights to kids who are wards of the state. "It's a sad commentary," said Marion Crecco, a member of the state assembly who sponsored legislation banning homosexual marriage. The settlement places homosexual or other unmarried partners on equal footing with married men and women seeking to adopt children in the custody of the state.

Hard cases, bad law

A California court began hearings last week to decide whether Marlene Corrigan is guilty of felony child abuse for allowing her young daughter to balloon to 680 pounds. Thirteen-year-old Christina Corrigan died a year ago, covered in open bedsores and lying in front of a TV surrounded by empty food containers. Defense lawyers claim her mother couldn't resist the child's constant demands for food and that Christina never told her about the bedsores. They have asked County Superior Court Judge Richard Arnason to decide the case himself rather than turn it over to a jury, which presumably would be swayed by the emotional nature of the evidence, including photos that show the pathetic state of the girl in her final days. Parental-rights advocates are watching the case closely, as are advocates for yet another class jealous of their rights-the obese.

Term-limits limited

A federal judge has thrown out Oregon's tough term-limits law, a measure overwhelmingly approved by the state's voters in 1992. Claiming the 12-year cap was unconstitutional, Bill Markham, a Republican member of the state House, sued to win back the seat he'd held for 45 years. Mr. Markham has announced he'll run again, but he may need to find some gainful employment in the short term: The state attorney general's office announced it will appeal the judge's ruling and asked that former members be barred from running until the case is settled by a higher court.

The big muddy

The 8,000 U.S. troops stationed in Bosnia missed Thanksgiving and Christmas at home; now it looks like they'll also miss the Fourth of July. President Clinton announced last Thursday he'll keep troops in Bosnia beyond the agreed-upon withdrawal date of June 1998 as part of a UN effort to ensure peace in the region torn by years of ethnic hostility. Many Republicans complained that American troops have been in Bosnia long enough. Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) warned in a letter that Congress would not approve the extended deployment unless NATO allies agreed to shoulder greater peace-keeping responsibilities. Mr. Thurmond also warned the president to stop diverting money from other parts of the Pentagon budget to pay for unauthorized expenses in Bosnia.

American roulette

From the journal Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior comes eye-opening news suggesting a link between legalized gambling and suicide. According to the latest research, the suicide rates in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, N.J., and Reno, Nev., are appreciably greater than comparably sized cities where gambling is against the law. Not only is the suicide rate greater in those three cities; in Vegas, one in 25 visitors who die in the city dies by his own hand-four times the national average. The researcher who analyzed death certificates in the cities was able to perform before-and-after analyses only for Atlantic City, where he found the rate climbed after gambling was legalized in 1978. In Reno and Las Vegas, where gambling has been legal since 1931, mortality statistics do not go back that far. Not surprisingly, gambling lobbyist Frank Fahrenkopf, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, denies any link. Sounds suspiciously like tobacco executives denying their products' role in lung cancer.

Against the odds

With Congress home for the holidays and no new laws being passed, attention in Washington has turned almost exclusively to existing laws that may have been broken by the very branch of government that is supposed to enforce them. On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt was put on notice that he will be expected to testify before the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee when it resumes its investigation of Clinton Administration fundraising in January. Committee Chairman Dan Burton (R-Ind.) wants to know why the Interior Department turned down a casino license for the Chippewa Indians in 1995, even though a detailed, 22-page report by the department's own staff recommended that the license be granted. Opposition came from three rival tribes who feared that a Chippewa casino would take away from their own lucrative gambling operations. The rival tribes donated $300,000 to the Democratic National Committee, prompting Mr. Burton to call on Janet Reno to investigate whether a favorable decision had been bought-and whether the president himself knew about it. On Monday, however, Ms. Reno refused to investigate the president's role, saying the Burton Committee had not produced any "specific and credible" evidence of wrongdoing. The Burton Committee also produced evidence last week that illegal fundraising was nothing new to the 1996 Clinton campaign. Democratic fundraisers Gene and Nora Lum hosted an officially sanctioned Clinton-Gore event one week before election day 1992, raising $160,000 for the DNC. But the money was never reported to the Federal Election Commission, as required by law, and bank records show that the Lums later transferred $159,000 to various companies they owned. Notations indicate the questionable transfers were for "reimbursement" and "inaugural," leaving congressional investigators wondering just how the money was used and who knew about it. The Lums have volunteered to testify if Congress will grant them immunity.

Disinterred party?

In another scandal-in-the-making, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) asked the attorney general to investigate claims that former Commerce Secretary Ron Brown may have been shot in the head before his plane went down in Croatia last year, killing all 35 on board. Two army pathologists who viewed the body said they saw a circular hole at the top of Mr. Brown's head that looked like a bullet wound. A full autopsy was never performed, leading some to call for disinterment of the body and a full investigation. Talk-show host and former GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes had earlier called for an investigation of Mr. Brown's death, but the defection of Ms. Waters, a liberal Democrat and Clinton ally, was seen as a blow to the administration.

License to kill?

Provincial officials in Saskatchewan said Wednesday they will appeal a judge's controversial decision granting leniency to a father accused of killing his disabled daughter. Although convicted of murder Dec. 1, Robert Latimer received a one-year jail sentence, not the 10 years mandated by Canadian law. The judge ruled that 10 years in prison would be unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment because he believed Mr. Latimer killed his 12-year-old daughter to end her suffering brought on by cerebral palsy. Activists for the rights of the disabled fear the ruling could lead to more killings if it is allowed to stand.

Chicken or the egg?

"From the data," said Southern Illinois University researcher Jeffrey Cashin, "we cannot say if ... heavy drinkers are attracted to Greek life, or if Greek life promotes heavy drinking practices." Ah, the eternal question--one many Americans undoubtedly will ponder as they ring in the New Year with bubbly beverage. But seriously folks... Mr. Cashin and other researchers from Cornell and Southern Illinois released findings in the January issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol showing that nearly three of every four fraternity leaders are big-time booze-bingers who average 14 drinks per week. Even the little sisters can throw down the hootch: More than half of the nation's sorority leaders binge drink-and although they average "just" six drinks a week, that's significantly higher than the student average. For the uninitiated, binging is taking five or more drinks in a row in one sitting. If it's not news that many frat boys drink, it is news that the survey-which polled more than 25,000 students at 61 colleges and universities nationwide-found a link between the level of involvement in Greek activities and the level of alcohol consumption. Researcher Philip W. Meilman of Cornell: "We found that the more involved a person is with Greek life, the higher the drinking level and the greater the adverse consequences." Fraternities and sororities can play a useful role at large, impersonal universities. But the key question in such groups, as in all others, is whether people attach themselves to the person of Christ, or merely trade one form of depersonalization for another.

236 mph

A powerful typhoon-perhaps the most powerful ever-devastated the U.S. territory of Guam, located midway between Hawaii and Japan. High winds lashed the island for 12 hours, causing an estimated $200 million in damage. One-third of the island was left without water, and some 3,000 homes were destroyed, even though houses are built of concrete and specifically designed to withstand the fierce storms that periodically shred the island. Wind gusts were clocked at 236 mph, the highest speeds ever recorded on the earth's surface. The previous record of 231 mph was set 63 years ago atop New Hampshire's Mount Washington.

El Presidente Grinch

In a goodwill gesture to the Vatican, Cuban President Fidel Castro permitted Christmas as an official holiday-effective this year only. With the pope scheduled to visit the island in January, ensuring worldwide media attention, Mr. Castro has been going out of his way to appear accommodating. The communist leader declared Cuba an atheist state in 1962, and he banned Christmas observations seven years later, claiming that the holiday would interfere with the sugar harvest. Official restrictions on religious expression were lifted in 1991, but Christmas trees and nativity scenes have been slow to reappear after 30 years of repression and fear. Catholic leaders hailed the holiday declaration as a victory for the Cuban people. But a tightly enforced central economy means many, if not most, Cubans will still have to work on Christmas, so the victory will be mainly psychological. Another psychological victory was won several hundred miles to the north when a federal judge ruled that Cuba owes nearly $200 million to the families of three American pilots shot down by the Cuban air force over international waters. The Americans were searching for refugees adrift on rafts when Cuban MiG fighters shot them down. Although the families said the ruling brought them a sense of closure, it's unlikely to bring much cash because Cuba does not accept U.S. jurisdiction in the case and refused to participate in the trial. A lawyer for the family plans to appeal to President Clinton to release some of the $148 million in Cuban assets seized by the U.S. government at the time of the Castro revolution.