Conservative forum

Eagle Forum Conference Urges More Fire From Bush

At a meeting of the Eagle Forum's national leadership September 8-10 in Alexandria, Va., forum President Phyllis Schlafly urged GOP presidential candidate George W. Bush to put "a little more fire" into his campaign for the presidency.

The Washington Times reported that "about 300 or so grassroots leaders" met at the Marriott Gateway Hotel to "map strategy to galvanize the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign" so that it would offer the American people "a choice, not an echo," calling to mind the book of the same tide that Schlafly wrote in 1964, the year Barry Goldwater became the GOP nominee for President.

Eunie Smith, vice president of Eagle Forum, said the Bush campaign "must define the difference between themselves and the opposition, and the Clinton-Gore Administration-and not let them set the agenda" Conservatives need to get involved, she says, because "it's perfectly legitimate to expect we will have more bureaucracy, more big government, less freedom and opportunity under Gore than under Clinton."

Cathie Adams, the state director of Eagle Forum, stressed the importance of talking "about issues that are important and differentiate ourselves from Al Gore. If we are quiet now," she said, "we're not going to have the ear of George Bush as President."

For more information on the conference or Eagle Forum, call 1-618-462-5415.

Journalism Internships In Washington, D.C.

The National Journalism Center (NJC), which offers training in the skills of media work within a context of traditional values, is accepting applications for its winter prgram. The NJC provides practical training in researching, writing and editing, plus experience working under professional journalists in Washington, D.C.

The 8-week program begins December 5. Deadline for applications is November 17. For more information, contact M. Stanton Evans, Mal Kline or Mark LaRochelle at 800 Maryland Ave. N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002 (202-544-1333; fax: 202-546-3489; e-mail: mal@eri-njc.org; website: http:// eri-njc.org.

Ravaging and Plundering Of American Citizens

The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) has just published the 2000 National Directory of Environmental & Regulatory Victims (see related story on page 19). In its pages, readers will discover that while "protecting the environment" or a species of animal life has a lofty ethical ring to it in the abstract, the real costs in human terms and the abuse of government is chilling-and the actual positive impact for animals and habitat is questionable.

"As a congress-man, whose highest duty is to safeguard the constitutional rights of her constituents," writes Rep. Helen Chenoweth-Hage (R.-Idaho) in the introduction, "I have always empathized the most with those decent people who thought if they just worked hard and played by the rules they would prosper. Instead, they often have to endure unnecessary suffering due to excessive, unreasonable regulations that frequently not only don't make sense for people, but don't make sense for the environment either."

Chenoweth-Hage hopes to inform the American people so that they can act to correct these abuses. "Most people don't know about these abuses. Unfortunately, before the abuses can be stopped, the American people need to know there's a problem. They need to know there's a very human cost to these regulations," she explains. "That's why I'm so very pleased that the National Center for Public Policy Research has published this National Directory of Environmental and Regulatory Victims."

"The directory documents 100 of the most egregious examples of government regulatory abuse," she says. And as these documented stories show, the path from citizen to victim of government is varied: Some people are "victims of poorly written laws; others are victimized by a web of confusing and often contradictory regulations; others are simply the targets of abusive government officials."

But there is a unity to this diversity of victimology: The "one thing they all have in common," concludes Chenoweth-Hage, "is that they did not deserve what government inflicted on them."

For more information about the directory, or to order a copy ($15), call 202-3711400, or visit the NCPPR website at www.nationalcenter.org.

Intelligent Design Conference at Yale University

Yale University at New Haven, Conn., will be the site of "Science and Evidence for Design in the Universe," a conference hosted by the Rivendell Institute for Christian Thought and co-hosted by the Discovery Institute (stay tuned for coverage by HLA.N EVENTS).

This conference-which runs from Thursday November 2 through Saturday November 4 and features an impressive lineup of scientists and thinkers-is free to members of the Yale community and costs $35 for non-Yale registrants.

Among the speakers: Phillip Johnson, professor emeritus of law at UC Berkeley, addresses "The Wedge of Truth: How Sharp the Edge?'' (see Nancy Pearcey's review of Johnson's latest book, page 20); William Dembski, of the Polanyi Center at Baylor University, explains "Why Specified Complexity Requires Intelligence"; and Paul Nelson (Ph.D., University of Chicago) analyzes "The Logic of Common Descent."