Free Republic

What do you call a guy who leaves the priesthood, rejects fundamental doctrine of the Catholic Church, and propagates egregious falsehoods about Catholics? If you're the Los Angeles Times, you call him a "Devout Catholic" - in your headline. Un·be·liev·a·ble.The subject in a fawning article in the Times is James Carroll. A new documentary film is based on his 2001 book, Constantine's Sword, an awful work that advances the premise that anti-Semitism is central to Catholicism and Christianity.Who is James Carroll? Here's your first hint: He writes for the Boston Globe. But quite simply, "James Carroll is a professional anti-Catholic,"...

Alarm over Iran helps Bush The U.S. has plenty of reasons to strike, but the administration pushes diplomacy. March 7, 2007 IS THAT trigger-happy gunslinger in the White House about to take aim at Iran? You would think so if you read the Guardian newspaper in Britain, which has written, "Pentagon plans for possible attack on nuclear sites are well advanced." Not to be outdone, the competing Sunday Times has reported, based on a "source with close ties to British intelligence," that "up to five [U.S.] generals and admirals are willing to resign rather than approve what they consider would...

Liberals in Hollywood aren’t jumping for joy after learning more about the new publisher of their local newspaper, the Los Angeles Times. David Hiller, who was named publisher by the Times’ parent Tribune Co. on Oct. 5, was a friend of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and an advocate of "concentration camps” for illegal immigrants.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles Times Publisher Jeffrey M. Johnson was forced out Thursday, a month after he defied parent company Tribune Co.'s demand for what he considered potentially damaging staff cuts. He is being succeeded by David D. Hiller, who has been publisher of the Chicago Tribune, the Tribune Co. said in a statement. "Jeff and I agreed that this change is best at this time because Tribune and Times executives need to be aligned on how to shape our future," said Scott Smith, Tribune Publishing president. "We thank Jeff for his leadership of important advances at the...

Here in the Information Age, it is customary for a major newspaper to regularly post its contents/articles on its web site. However, it appears an exception has been made in the case of the Los Angeles Times and some op-eds written by television host Bill Maher. The paper has not made two of his recent articles available for viewing outside the actual hard copy of the paper.In the print edition of yesterday's Times (Friday, September 1, 2006, page B13) was a piece written by Maher entitled, "Praise Allah and pass the hair gel." (More on this below.) However, the article...

In the weeks leading up to the release of The Passion of the Christ film over two years ago, Tim Rutten, media columnist for the Los Angeles Times, wrote no less than six hyperventilating columns that dealt almost exclusively with breathless concerns over anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's film. At one point, Rutten attacked Mel Gibson as "a little brat" and "an unwholesomely willful child playing with matches."  Yet when the blatantly anti-Christian and anti-Catholic The Da Vinci Code was released a few months ago, Rutten's reaction was a ho-hum and a yawn; far from a concern, Da Vinci is "only...

A Los Angeles Times editor, hoping to give his journalists a break from reporting the often grim news in America's second-largest city, offered an unusual morale booster Monday: pony rides. Managing Editor Doug Frantz ..."I hope it boosted morale..." Like many major U.S. newspapers, the Times, forced to compete with news Web sites on the Internet, has seen circulation decline.

The 43-foot San Diego landmark represents clear government favoritism toward one religion.THE GRACEFUL SIMPLICITY of the towering cross atop a San Diego hill belies its convoluted history. It starts with a small wooden cross erected on the city-owned hill nearly 100 years ago, apparently for Easter sunrise services. Atop 822-foot Mt. Soledad, there is little to block the first rays of the sun. Over the years, crosses were vandalized or blown down and replaced; the current version was erected in 1954. It is a striking sight, visible from Interstate 5 and surrounded by an imposing spiked-top fence. In 1989, a...

The Bush administration, having overlooked warnings to pay closer attention to the worsening situation in the Middle East, is suddenly confronting a dramatic flare-up of fighting that threatens not only to swamp Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts but also to inflame the entire region. The administration has stood mostly on the sidelines and stuck with its policy of watching from a distance as Israel battled Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip in recent weeks. But with the eruption of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, that approach no longer appears to be workable for the White House — if it ever...

Why are American newspapers in decline, the circulation plummeting, their reputations in tatters, and their editorial decisions the subject of denunciation? The decision by the New York Times and Los Angeles Times to publish on June 23 the details of the Swift program --details which in the opinion of most serious counterterrorism experts, will help terrorists elude capture—is only the most recent of a long series of press catastrophes that dog the print industry. Disgust at that decision was at least in part cumulative, a widely shared shudder at the self-proclaimed importance of the media generally and the big newspapers...

MANY READERS have been sharply critical of our decision to publish an article Friday on the U.S. Treasury Department's program to secretly monitor worldwide money transfers in an effort to track terrorist financing. They have sent me sincere and powerful expressions of their disappointment in our newspaper, and they deserve an equally thoughtful and honest response. The decision to publish this article was not one we took lightly. We considered very seriously the government's assertion that these disclosures could cause difficulties for counterterrorism programs. And we weighed that assertion against the fact that there is an intense and ongoing public...

LA Times Discontinues Reporter's Column 40 minutes ago The Los Angeles Times said Sunday it is discontinuing the column and Internet blog of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter because he posted items online using assumed names. The decision, reported in an editor's note on the Times' Web site, came a week after the paper suspended Michael Hiltzik's Golden State blog. It said Hiltzik would be reassigned after serving a suspension. "Hiltzik did not commit any ethical violations in his newspaper column, and an internal inquiry found no inaccurate reporting in his postings in his blog or on the Web," the editor's...

Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, a Democrat from West Virginia, resigned on Friday from the House ethics committee (that's ethics, folks) "amid accusations that he used his congressional position to funnel money to his own home-state foundations, possibly enriching himself in the process," according to the Washington Post and other news outlets. One place you won't read about this resignation, however, is today's Los Angeles Times (Saturday, April 22, 2006). (A puny 291-word story about the charges appeared back on April 9.)This continues a repeated practice at the Times of either delaying or simply ignoring news stories that are unflattering...

Gale Holland, LA TIMES newsdesk: "If something newsworthy happens, we'll cover it" phone conversation, 4-14-06 If the mainstream media cannot figure out why they are going the way of the dinosaurs and the Whigs, perhaps a little encounter with Gale Holland can serve as but a small example of the problem. On Monday, I called the LA TIMES, and they connected me to Gale Holland at the newsdesk. I let her know that a trial date was set on the previous Friday for defendant Bill Clinton, et al in the historic civil lawsuit of Peter Paul. Holland, not surprisingly, knew...

MSM FAKE STORY #1: Libby to Squeal on Cheney Reality Not Reported: Libby Attorneys say story is false MSM FAKE STORY #2: L.A. Mayor angry he was not notified of L.A. terror plot Reality Not Reported: L.A. Mayor's office was notified by White House through California Homeland Security. MSM FAKE STORY #3: NY Slimes reports that the White House knew the New Orleans was flooding the first day. Reality Not Reported: This is a recycled FAKE News story. There were conflicting reports. At any rate, the state is responsible for the first 72 hours. The Governor and Mayor were...

THE NEWSPAPER you are reading has been lovingly compiled by hundreds of humans who urinated into plastic measuring cups for the privilege of bringing it to you. I gather this is not widely known among readers, judging by the reaction from those I've told. "Why would the L.A. Times care whether you've smoked pot?" goes the typical response. It doesn't help with the comprehension that it's not immediately evident that anyone here actually does.

Nearly three days after Sen. Hillary Clinton spoke her debated "plantation" remark, the Los Angeles Times has finally printed its first word about the controversy today (Thursday January 20, 2006).Tucked on page A8 of today's edition is "Clinton's Remark Criticized," a 495-word piece by Times staff writer Edwin Chen. The article begins with the eye-opening observation that Hillary's comment "continued making political waves Wednesday."Congratulations to the Times on such swift, cutting-edge news coverage ... (roll eyes) ...[Past related stories here and here.]

By now, we've all heard about Hillary Clinton's bombastic "plantation" remark at an MLK Day event at a Harlem church yesterday (Monday, January 16, 2006).One place you won't hear about it is in today's print edition of the Los Angeles Times, who failed to find room for even one word about the statement.Remarkably, earlier this month, the Times was able to find room for three items on Pat Robertson's bizarre Ariel Sharon remark (Jan6: here, Jan12: here, and Jan13 here).Why is the Los Angeles Times turning its back on Hillary malfeasance? As we reported here and here a while back,...

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. - A quote in a fake news release that was intended as an April Fool's joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times. The story in Tuesday's editions of the Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial. "In Wyoming, for example, Gov. Dave Freudenthal last April decreed that the Endangered Species Act is no longer in force and that the state 'now considers the wolf as a federal dog,' unworthy of protection," the story read. The Times printed a correction Wednesday,...

GREEN RIVER, Wyo. - A quote in a fake news release that was intended as an April Fool's joke ended up in a front-page story in the Los Angeles Times. The story in Tuesday's editions of the Times noted how successful the reintroduction of wolves had been 10 years ago, but said the predators remained controversial.