UNLIMITED NINNYS: As many call for restoring the United Nations' role in world affairs, reduced when the United States and her "coalition of the willing" waged war against Iraq without UN approval, the scandal of the United Nations' oil-for-food program is heating up. It now seems clear that Saddam Hussein exploited the gross negligence and corruption of UN officials and used the Oil-for-Food program to circumvent the sanctions placed on Iraq when it was still ruled by the brutal anti-American dictator. Get ready for a wave of media attention to the Oil-for-Food scandal, which is currently underreported. "That will change once investigations by the UN, the Iraqi National Congress and the House International Relations Committee commence," wrote Tom Kilgannon of Freedom Alliance. "After years of UN sanctions adversely affected the people of Iraq instead of the intended target - Saddam Hussein's regime - the Oil-for-Food program was implemented in 1995. Through it, the UN was entrusted to sell Iraqi oil and use the proceeds to buy food and medicine for Iraqis who were being starved and neglected under Saddam's rule. Instead, humanitarian needs were ignored and the program - either through ineptness, corruption or both - became a magnet for terrorists, criminals, and people of ill repute of all stripes," he wrote. An astounding 270 individuals and companies, including the head of the program (named Benon Sevan), are alleged to have benefited from corruption.
BAKE SALE BANDITS: On April 17 in Washington, D.C., in a humorous attempt to combat nationwide MoveOn.org bake sales in support of John Kerry, Kristin Taylor of the D.C. chapter of Free Republic organized a different kind of bake sale. While MoveOn.org portrayed Kerry as a "man of the people," Taylor's "Viet Cong Vets for Kerry" sale informed the public about Kerry's betrayal of Americans during the Vietnam War. The group gave away items including Jane Fonda nut cakes and Kerry waffles. But Taylor's sale was short-lived since the small card table was situated outside of Kerry's national campaign headquarters. Kerry's campaign staff emerged, complained that the group was "blocking the sidewalk," and called the police, who later arrived and asked the group to leave. Kerry's staff, Taylor said, "seemed happy to see us shut down and move along."
CHRISTIAN WINS LAWSUIT: A Christian who refused to sign a totalitarian diversity statement imposed on employees by AT&T Broadband won a federal lawsuit filed against the company for firing him. AT&T fired Albert Buonanno for refusing to sign a "Certificate of Understanding" that required him to "fully recognize, respect and value" a series of attributes, including varying sexual orientations. "For Buonanno, to acknowledge that he agrees with a lifestyle which he believes to be sinful would be to compromise his faith and contradict what he considers the Bible's views on homosexuality to be," said the Rutherford Institute, which handled the lawsuit, in a statement about the case. U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger of Colorado ruled in favor of Buonanno and said that AT&T did not use the "reasonable accommodation" standard in order to accommodate Buonanno's religious beliefs. Buonanno offered to promise not to discriminate against or harass people of differing orientations, but that was not good enough for his superiors. Buonanno won back pay and lost 401(k) contributions of $146,000. "This issue is about more than an objection to homosexuality. It concerns the freedom of conscience - the right of individuals to object to something they believe is wrong, especially when it contradicts their religious beliefs, whether it is war, abortion, homosexuality or a number of other issues," said John Whitehead, president of Rutherford.
CHENEY AT NRTL: Vice President Dick Cheney spoke before a National Right to Life Committee dinner on April 20 and discussed the development of the pro-life movement in the wake of Roe v. Wade (1973). "This organization came about in response to a court decision - an action described by the late Justice White as 'an act of raw judicial power,'" said Cheney. "In the years since, you've been doing the far more difficult work of democracy - persuading, organizing, and actually taking the time to change minds and laws by majority vote."
MUNICH FILM: Steven Spielberg will make a film about the 1972 Olympics in Munich, when Palestinian terrorists ended up killing 11 Israeli athletes. Production will begin in June, said Spielberg's DreamWorks studio on April 21.
