Free Republic

My colleague Brent Baker has painstakingly documented how the big three broadcast networks have gone out of their way to avoid labeling scandal-scarred New York Governor Eliot Spitzer as a “Democrat.” An examination of the fifteen ABC, CBS and NBC morning and evening news shows through Wednesday night finds Spitzer was called a Democrat just 20% of the time — twice on CBS, once on ABC, and never on NBC. So how do the networks treat Republicans involved in sex scandals? Always, always as Republicans, and as problems for their party. Last July, Louisiana Senator David Vitter’s name surfaced in...

The consultancy conducted an online survey amongst 1,000 consumers aged 16 years and over. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they now look at recycling details. For 84 per cent this is just as important as fat content. For 80 per cent it is more important than salt info, for 79 per cent more important than sugar info, and for 70 per cent more important than calorie content. The findings are pertinent at the present time as the nutrient content of food is a hot topic across Europe, since the European Commission published its proposal for new labelling legislation at the...

AP Business Writer Tyson Foods Inc. plans to revise labels that say its fresh chicken is "raised without antibiotics" after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said it made a mistake in approving labels that use that term. The world's largest meat processor said it has been in discussions with the USDA since at least September about the label it introduced this summer in a major marketing campaign for its fresh chicken. According to a Nov. 6 letter from the USDA, the agency told Tyson it had mistakenly overlooked a feed additive, called ionophores, used for Tyson's chicken when it approved...

SANTA ROSA, Calif. - Vintners have been using byproducts from milk, eggs, wheat and even fish guts in the winemaking processes for centuries. But a new federal proposal could require American wineries to disclose such unsavory items _ used as "fining" agents to remove grit _ as ingredients. The proposal, which could be passed by the end of the year, would require companies to redesign the labels on every bottle to protect people who are allergic to certain foods. Executives at Sonoma and Napa county wineries and their trade groups say few, if any, wine drinkers suffer allergic reactions from...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Meat and milk from cloned animals may not appear in supermarkets for years despite being deemed by the government as safe to eat. But don't be surprised if "clone-free" labels appear sooner. Ben & Jerry's, for one, wants consumers to know that its ice cream comes from regular cows and not clones. The Ben & Jerry's label already says its farmers don't use bovine growth hormone. "We want to make sure people are confident with what's in our pints," company spokesman Rob Michalak said. "We haven't yet landed on exactly how we want to express that publicly."...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Yankees owner George Steinbrenner said he was "deeply disappointed" at his team's elimination in the first round of the AL playoffs, calling it a "sad failure." New York was heavily favored in its series against the Detroit Tigers and won Tuesday's opener 8-4. The Tigers then won 4-3 at Yankee Stadium on Thursday, and swept two games in Detroit, 6-0 Friday and 8-3 Saturday. "I am deeply disappointed at our being eliminated so early in the playoffs," Steinbrenner said in a statement issued Sunday by spokesman Howard Rubenstein. "This result is absolutely not acceptable to me...

WASHINGTON - Oh, the irony. A nation full of overweight people is also full of label readers. Nearly 80 percent of Americans insist they check the labels on food at the grocery store. They scan the little charts like careful dieters, looking for no-nos such as fat and calories and sugars. Yet even when the label practically screams, "Don't do it!" people drop the package into the cart anyway. At least that is what 44 percent of people admitted in a recent AP-Ipsos poll. So attentive, yet so overweight. Two-thirds of people in the United States weigh too much. Why,...

Given the sad state of affairs in today's affairs of state — record federal budget deficits, record trade deficits, illegal domestic eavesdropping, the sale of key U.S. ports — one would think the U.S. House of Representatives has more important problems to address than a proposal to virtually wipe out state food labeling laws. Well, no actually; the biggest fish fried by the House March 8 was just that: the National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005. The uniformity act is a fat, old carp multinational food firms have been selling Congress for years. The goal is to override nearly...

Beyond Bar Codes: Tuning up plastic radio labels Peter Weiss Electronic labels made from plastic semiconductors can now pick up and respond to radio signals at a frequency suitable for use on products. At an electronics conference in San Francisco this week, two European industrial-research teams described plastic radiofrequency-identification (RFID) prototypes with those advanced capabilities. Although silicon-based RFID tags are already in wide use—for instance, in so-called smart cards used to pay mass-transit fares—the new developments bring closer the prospect of RFID tags becoming as common as bar codes, or perhaps even more so, the researchers say. Besides labeling consumer...

DETROIT - A warning that consumers shouldn't use a heat gun that produces temperatures of 1,000 degrees as a hairdryer has won an anti-lawsuit group's award for the wackiest label of the year. The Wacky Warning Label Contest, in its ninth year, is conducted by Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch as part of an effort to show the effects of lawsuits on warning labels. "When judges see it as their job to dismiss cases that are rooted in frivolous theories, we'll see fewer wacky labels and more fairness in the courts," said Robert B. Dorigo Jones, the group's president. The $500...

Newhouse News Service Multiple-choice question: Why are more American kids allergic to foods, particularly peanuts? A) Their immune systems are confused by increasingly clean homes. B) Nervous parents wait too long to feed their children peanuts. C) We roast peanuts rather than boil them. D) Maybe one of the above, and/or something else. Unfortunately, the answer is "D." One study estimates American children's rate of allergy to peanuts and tree nuts (like walnuts and pecans) — about 1 percent of those under age 18 — has doubled in recent years. No one can say why. But whatever biological mysteries are...

On countless food packages, serving sizes have become a confusing joke. I bought a frozen "personal pizza." That's what it said on the package, in big letters. From the name (and its size-it's not very big), you would think a "personal pizza" is for one person -- say, you. But according to the small print, it can feed both you and some other person: The serving size listed on the label is half a pie. We took the "personal pizza" downtown to Little Italy in New York City for some expert opinions. "I don't think you could share this with...

According to Senate minority leader Harry Reid and his friends, Democrats must block the constitutional appointment process in order to protect you from right-wing radical judges. They say they use the filibuster only in the most extreme situations, to block confirmation of extremely dangerous radicals to the bench for sake of all mankind. Heroes they are really, at least in their own minds. In order to understand what Mr. Reid and his friends mean by this assertion, we must first understand what they mean by “right-wing radical.” Let’s begin with the simple stuff. If you believe Teddy Kennedy is a...

It seems that an awful lot of time is spent trying to define what a persons beliefs represent, and how they might impact others. Branding people Liberals or conservatives, or whatever the hot label is this week, does no good. I would challenge anyone to test a person's beliefs with a simple questionaire, asking the basic questions that are supposed to define a person politically. I won't make a large list here, but abortion, gay rights, civil rights, enviornment, ad nauseum, you get the idea. What I find is that there is so much crossover here, that is really becomes...

In my previous article I asked if anyone could explain to me what a political moderate is, and within days of its publication I was swamped with answers to my query. In fact, more people have contacted me about this subject than practically all the others I've written about combined, and the surprisingly strong reaction to it has prompted me to follow-up my initial article with this one. The topic, which I first perceived to be of only marginal interest to the general public, has proved to be a very divisive and controversial one indeed, and so I've decided to...

Can someone please explain to me what a moderate is, in political terms? Most Americans are able to agree on the general attributes of liberals and conservatives, but what constitutes a moderate? Is a moderate someone who espouses, in relatively equal proportions, both liberal and conservative views, or is the term more indicative of a general attitude than a set of ideological principles? It just so happens that I know several people who call themselves moderates, and I wouldn't consider any of them to be evenly split ideologically. They are either mostly liberal or mostly conservative, so I can only...

Losing the Language Of Politics Debate -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By MICHAEL SCHENKLER I resent it. And I guess the recent election merely rubs salt in the wound. No regular to this page will be surprised to hear that I am a “liberal.” I am one of those who witnessed the November 2nd election with dismay and disappointment. And I’m a “liberal” who doesn’t try to avoid that once-proud label. I’m still very proud of it. Now, I’m not here to proselytize – I’m looking for no converts – at least not in this column. What I’m trying to do is help us...

Liberals often decry labels, but labels can be helpful. It is the misuse of labels to which we ought to object. In secular-liberal Orwellian speak, words and concepts are cleverly twisted to demonize political and religious opponents. From "intolerance" to "racism" the liberal quiver is pregnant with verbal arrows tipped with the very poison they pretend to abhor. Liberals don't usually call conservatives merely "conservatives." That's because the term, standing alone, is not a pejorative. Instead, we are "extremists," "bigots," "homophobes," "racists" and "intolerant." And these labels, unlike the conservatives' general invocation of "liberal," are usually gross distortions. Let me...

Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving. As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 15 - The death of a California woman in January after she took an abortion pill prompted federal drug regulators on Monday to strengthen the warning label on the drug, RU-486, also known as mifepristone. The death was the third in the United States that the Food and Drug Administration has linked to the pill since its approval in 2000. The warnings, though largely present on the old labeling, will now be given added prominence, with physicians urged to redouble efforts at watching their patients carefully for signs of systemic bacterial infection, excessive vaginal bleeding and ectopic, or...

Recently, during the final weekend push of voter registration up and down the Golden State and helping an energized public become eligible for the Nov. 2 General Election, I had the privilege of volunteering for the High Desert Republican Headquarters off Highway 18, and was starkly reminded just how deep the rancor exists for those opposing the re-election campaign of George W. Bush. Realizing how important the outcome of the upcoming presidential election is to my family and our nation’s future, I joined my wife and six-year-old daughter to set aside our entire Saturday and Sunday to work with fellow...

The label tells of lush vines sprouting from rich soil, grapes heated by the sun and cooled by evening mists. You are transported to the rolling hills of the Napa Valley, the romance of rural France, the greenery of the Willamette.Then it hits you: a reality check. Split that bottle of wine, and you're looking at 245 calories each.Right now, the wine drinker's fantasy is untouched by calorie counts. Alcohol, unlike soda, lemonade and other bottled drinks, does not have to include calorie, serving size and ingredient information.But a proposal to add that information to wine, beer and liquor would...

<p>Shoppers who would like to know where everything from their green onions to hamburger came from have been left whistling in an icy wind.</p> <p>The mandatory country-of-origin labeling passed in 2002 as part of the Farm Bill is effectively dead. A week ago the U.S. Senate passed a budget package that contains a provision to delay the September implementation until 2006, effectively killing the program.</p>

Congress delays US meat-origin labels to 2006 WASHINGTON, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Two years after enacting a meat labeling law, Congress has decided a requirement to put country-of-origin labels on beef can wait until fall 2006, despite arguments the labels would reassure American consumers during a time of mad cow disease. The U.S. meat industry and food retailers lobbied to postpone the labeling law, which they say is too costly and would be a record-keeping headache. Consumer and farm groups generally support the labels as a way to distinguish U.S. products on the grocery shelf. The U.S. Senate approved the...

<p>New labels that tell consumers where their meat, fish, vegetables, fruit and peanuts come from could cost the farm and food industries as much as $4 billion in the first year alone, Agriculture Department officials said Monday.</p> <p>Two department officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the estimate shows the food industry and farmers likely will spend $3.3 billion to separate pigs, cattle and sheep before they're slaughtered. Record-keeping would cost another $600 million.</p>

<p>One of the more recent additions to the American political lexicon is "compassionate conservative," a phrase used by conservatives who want people to know that they're concerned about the suffering and oppressed people of the world.</p> <p>When I hear it, I can't help but wonder why some conservatives feel the need to emphasize their compassion, while liberals seem to enjoy a presumption of compassion.</p>

<p>GENEVA -U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Thursday on the U.S.-led coalition to respect international law as the "occupying power" in Iraq, drawing immediate ire from U.S. officials.</p> <p>"I hope the coalition will set an example by making clear that they intend to act strictly within the rules" governing occupations, Annan told the U.N. Human Rights Commission.</p>

This is outrageous! The truth is that 1. Islamics blew up the World Trade Center 2. Islamics blew up a wing of the Pentagon in which many members of the ARMY died. 3. Islamics blew up the USS Cole in which US military died. 4. Islam is the issue with Al Quaeda and Bin Laden. This man is JOHN MUHAMMED, an Islamic who was "sympathetic" to the 9/11 terrorists. He's been out of the Army for years. He never received specialized training in sniping in the Army. He DIDN'T MAKE IT in the Army. But the lead is: "Army Vet"...

Top Drawer-Le Maitre Taki Hold the Labels, Please To Ground Zero, or next to it, to meet Jorg Haider, the governor of Carinthia and head of the Freedom Party of Austria. There are not many politicians quite like Haider around, certainly not in Europe, where they tend to run to fat, bald, ugly and definitely hypocritical. Haider is trim, athletic, with a full head of hair, suntanned and good-looking, just like the Austrians one sees in ski movies. He also speaks his mind. I particularly liked his aides, young Austrian men with very good manners and none of that "Who...

<p>WASHINGTON — Cigarette manufacturers will no longer be able to get away with marketing gimmicks like labeling their butts "light" and "low tar" if the Justice Department gets their way.</p> <p>The DOJ is proposing strict new provisions for cigarette pack labeling including requiring graphic health warnings on 50 percent of the label, which would have to be black and white only.</p>