Free Republic

Madison police have made numerous arrests of possible suspects in the continuing homicide investigation of 21-year old University of Wisconsin junior Brittany Zimmermann, police announced today. Among those arrested on probation holds or previous offenses unrelated to Zimmerman’s murder is the man who was seen going door to door in the Bassett neighborhood — including entering a home on West Washington Avenue — asking for $40 to fix a flat tire. According to City Council President Mike Verveer, District 4, police have a photo and the name of the man who intruded the house on West Washington Avenue but are...

In seeking voters for her husband in Tuesday's presidential primary, Michelle Obama spoke with heartfelt empathy to the millions for whom the American Dream has been elusive. "There's a bar that's shifting and moving," Obama told a crowd of about 800 at the Overture Center's Capitol Theater this afternoon. "Most Americans can't catch the bar." And when people can't catch the bar, Obama said, they get tired, cynical and fearful and they pass those frustrations on to the next generation. "I'm here because I don't want that for my girls," said Obama, who has two young daughters with Democratic presidential...

Late this spring The Capital Times will dramatically enhance its Internet site as well as alter its print frequency from six days to two days per week to address changing habits of afternoon newspaper readers, company executives announced Thursday. Publisher Clayton Frink said the newspaper's online site, captimes.com, will feature increased volume, depth and timeliness of news, opinion and other information. He said the printed edition of the newspaper will expand its distribution by about five times and switch from six-day publication to two weekly tabloid-size editions."The Capital Times has been a progressive media voice in Madison for 90 years,...

We live in a world that at times seems to be crumbling beneath us, slowly suffocating from the pollution, wars and grinding poverty that blanket much of the planet. The crisis in Darfur screams soundlessly into the abyss that is television news. Attempts to censor the Internet are blossoming everywhere, and a federal investigation recently found that six of eight reconstruction “successes” in Iraq are actually failures. Meanwhile, the world waves a languid hand at the problems and settles back to sleep. Then again, Paris Hilton just got sentenced to 45 days in jail, so maybe there is some justice...

Recently, we read an opinion piece by Steve Lawrence, a UW freshman. This article, published on April 24, was entitled “War protest errs from focus.” In this article Mr. Lawrence takes what has been called a “myopic view” of the situation but is, in reality, a scathing attack on a movement he supposedly wants to be a part of. First, the anti-war movement on this campus must include anyone and everyone who is dedicated to stopping this horrific and disastrous war on the Iraqi people, but it can not exclude all other ideas. Many people in Campus Anti-war Network see...

We frequently hear from academics, including more than a few UW political science professors, that Marxism is dead. However, the British government may be having second thoughts. In a report forecasting political trends over the next 30 years, the British Ministry of Defense predicts, “The middle classes could become a revolutionary class, taking the role envisaged for the proletariat by Marx.” The report argues that mounting personal debt and a failing retirement system may fuel disillusionment in capitalism, and “the world’s middle classes might unite, using access to knowledge, resources and skills to shape transnational processes in their own class...

Some predict violent protest may be sign of things to come One day after 21 people were arrested during a demonstration that vandalized a U.S. Army recruiting office on Milwaukee's east side, Wisconsin peace activist groups on Tuesday said some protesters might increasingly turn to destruction as their frustrations mount. Violent Protest Photo/Rick WoodIt's the third time in about two years that Doug Mack, a glass installer for T&L Glass, has had to replace broken glass at the Army recruiting office on Oakland Ave. Mack replaced the glass Tuesday. Related Coverage Editorial: Protest just plain juvenile Monday night's violence was...

On Monday, March 5, Tina Richards, the mother of an Iraq veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, entered the halls of Congress looking for answers. What she found was U.S. Rep. Dave Obey, D-Wis. According to a YouTube video, Ms. Richards, in a chance encounter with Mr. Obey, asked why the Democrats refuse to cut funding for the war. The problem, Mr. Obey explained, is not with Congress but with “idiot liberals.” For five minutes, Mr. Obey angrily berated the Marine mom on her lack of understanding of congressional procedure before storming off. Ms. Richardson, who sold her house to...

More than a dozen University of Wisconsin students gathered on Bascom Hill Wednesday to protest the CIA recruitment and education event being held at North Hall. UW senior Nick Limback said the protest, which was organized by students of the Campus Antiwar Network and the Student Labor Action Coalition, was meant to inform and educate students about the CIA’s role in government policy as well as the organization’s “wrongs.” “We wanted to raise awareness about the human rights abuses that the CIA has committed and is currently committing,” Limback said. Limback said the CIA has acted violently to protect business...

With a banner waving high over University Avenue, a group of University of Wisconsin students showed their support Monday morning for a U.S. military officer facing court martial after refusing to fight in Iraq. The Associated Press reported Monday that Lt. Ehren Watada from Honolulu faces “charges of conduct unbecoming of an officer” after calling the U.S. occupation of Iraq an “illegal war.” Watada faces up to four years in prison and a dishonorable discharge. “It was encouraging to see so many people beeping [their car horns] in support of the war resisters,” said Chris Dols, a Campus Antiwar Network...

Conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza, who has drawn outrage for his new book that blames "the cultural left" for 9/11, spent half of his talk at the University of Wisconsin Tuesday night defending the war in Iraq. Iraq has become, perhaps unwittingly, the centerpiece for the war on terror, D'Souza told a group of about 800 in the Union Theater who had come to hear the speaker as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series. Recently, while visiting a different college campus, D'Souza said he was asked if, in retrospect, invading Iraq was a mistake. In retrospect, it would have been better...

Earlier this month, the folklore department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison sponsored an event billed as "9/11: Folklore and Fact." Held in the university's social sciences building, two leaders in what is known as the "9/11 Truth"—Kevin Barrett and James Fetzer—came to discuss their notion that 9/11 resulted not from the actions of al Qaeda, but from a Bush Administration conspiracy. As Barrett has claimed on many occasions, he doesn't "believe, but knows that 9/11 was an inside job." Considering this event was sponsored and hosted by an institution that is funded by taxpayer dollars, the residents of Wisconsin have...

Wis. prof compares Bush to Hitler October 11, 2006 MILWAUKEE -- A University of Wisconsin instructor who has come under scrutiny for saying that the U.S. government orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks compares President Bush to Adolf Hitler in an essay that his students are being required to buy. The essay, ''Interpreting the Unspeakable: The Myth of 9/11,'' is part of a $20 book of essays, according to an unedited copy. The book is on the syllabus for the twice-a-week course, Islam: Religion and Culture, being taught by part-time instructor Kevin Barrett. Barrett is active in a group called Scholars...

The University of Wisconsin is backing the appearence of Howard Zinn at the Orpheum Theatre at 216 State Street in Madison, WI. This is also the Madison chapter of World Can't Wait's Oct 5th rally, so expect commies to be there. As we all know, Howard Zinn has written some very anti-American books that are forced onto university students nationwide. Let's show him that there is another opinion out there.

University of Wisconsin students gathered Wednesday night to discuss the United States’ longstanding relations with Israel and its implications on modern foreign policy. The discussion, titled “Axis of Empire: Why the U.S. Supports Israel’s Terror,” was hosted by the International Socialist Organization’s Madison branch. Generating debate about the U.S. motives for maintaining relations with Israel, the discussion peered into exactly what sparked the conflict between Israel and Lebanon this summer. UW graduate student and ISO member Elizabeth Wrigley-Field said Progressives in America should try to get the government to stop funding Israel and to “stop pursuing its own military adventurism”...

The left is holding a conference at the UW law school, and they are bringing in Juan Barrento, the mayor of Caracas, Venezuela. They are also bringing the who's who on the left here in Madison and from Chicago, including CPUSA, WWP, and RCP members This is from the website http://www.localdemocracy.org/ ------------------------------------ This Autumn, September 28 through October 1, gather with community organizers and pro-democracy activists in beautiful Madison, Wisconsin, to share and learn from these and other important democratic successes. Network with others working on common issues. Strategize together about how to build the democracymovement in this country, from...

A new group, called "Middle East Solidarity" (AKA support the terrorists and worship Saint Pancake, Rachel Corrie), was created by the ultra left on my campus. The reason for formation of this group is that Stop the War had it's Student Org status revoked due to it's vandalism to the ROTC building (cutting the rope to the US flag) and constant harassment of recuiters at events. Also, I suspect a link to the International Solidarity movement, thus the Saint Pancake reference earlier. There is one catch however. The problem with the new group is that it is a contiuation of...

Following a thorough review, University of Wisconsin-Madison Provost Patrick Farrell today announced that lecturer Kevin Barrett will teach, as scheduled, a class titled "Islam: Religion and Culture." Barrett's remarks regarding his theories on the events of Sept. 11 recently drew widespread attention and criticism. As a result, Farrell, along with Gary Sandefur, dean of the College of Letters and Science, and Ellen Rafferty, chair of the department of languages and cultures of Asia, met with Barrett. They reviewed his course syllabus and reading materials and examined his past teaching evaluations. "There is no question that Mr. Barrett holds personal opinions...

<p>A University of Wisconsin-Madison lecturer who has sparked controversy by teaching that the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were an inside job lashed out Sunday at public officials who have questioned his right to teach.</p> <p>Speaking at a gathering at UW-Milwaukee, Kevin Barrett took aim at state Rep. Stephen Nass (R-Whitewater), U.S. Rep. Mark Green (R-Wis.) and Gov. Jim Doyle.</p>

Wisconsin's Ward Churchill? UW-Madison lecturer on Islam is leading 9/11 conspiracy theorist who thinks the U.S. government blew up the Trade Center and wrote letter discussing Bush execution ++++++++++audio coming soon How is UW-Madison lecturer Kevin Barrett like Ward Churchill? Actually, he's not. He's whackier. Churchill believes the terrorists caused the World Trade Center attacks. He just thinks they were justified in some manner. And now the university where he has tenure in Colorado is trying to fire him. Remember how upset we all got about Churchill, who was just a prof from another state who was in town for...