Free Republic

By Walter Pincus pincusw@washpost.com Courage in journalism today takes all the obvious, traditional forms -- reporting from a war zone or from a totalitarian country where a reporter's life or safety are issues. In Washington, D.C., where I work, it's a far less dramatic form of courage if a journalist stands up to a government official or a politician who he or she has reason to believe is not telling the truth or living up to his or her responsibilities. But I believe a new kind of courage is needed in journalism in this age of instant news, instant analysis,...

NEW YORK Managing Editor Paul Steiger of The Wall Street Journal and Executive Editor Leonard Downie Jr. of The Washington Post were both asked to be part of last weekend's unique joint Op-Ed piece by the editors of The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, which defended the publication of stories about the secret SWIFT bank monitoring program, E&P has learned. But each declined. "We had talked about doing something together," Steiger said. "But when I looked at it and thought about it, our position was so different from theirs -- that nobody asked us not to publish [our...

Post-war stress too much for Marlboro Man's marriage By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles (Filed: 28/06/2006) A US marine whose photograph touched the hearts of countless Americans has filed for divorce just weeks after his lavish wedding was funded by donations from the public. An iconic picture of James Blake Miller, 21, was taken in 2004 during a break from combat in Fallujah and was published in hundreds of newspapers. Showing him grubby-faced and exhausted with a cigarette dangling from his lips, it earned him the nickname Marlboro Man. After his return to the United States, the lance corporal revealed...

NEW YORK Seattle's Committee for a Two Newspaper Town, which was formed to preserve the city's two newspapers in the face of an effort by The Seattle Times to dissolve their joint operating agreement, plans to keep up its court fight, despite the loss of some financial support and union backing. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported Thursday that the committee's board met Wednesday night and "emerged with a plan to broaden its support base, expand its board and hold fundraising events, the committee chairwoman, Anne Bremner, said. 'We are full speed ahead,' said Bremner, a lawyer. 'This is such a huge...

Some CBC Members Secretly Trying to Oust Jefferson from Committee Postby Hazel Trice Edney NNPA Washington Correspondent Originally posted 6/13/2006 WASHINGTON (NNPA) – Although the Congressional Black Caucus has publicly presented a united front in its support of embattled U. S. Rep. Bill Jefferson’s right to maintain his committee memberships, some CBC members – including civil rights icon John Lewis (D-Ga.) – have assumed behind-the-scene roles in getting Jefferson ousted from his coveted position on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. “Mr. [Mel] Watt certainly ably and with great distinction, speaks for the Congressional Black Caucus,” says House Democratic...

SIERRA VISTA — The “S.O.S. Borders” organization expects more than 100 people at its rally at the Palominas Trading Post today The rally is scheduled to go from 9 a.m. to noon. At noon, demonstrators will form a human fence, intending to send a message to the U.S. Congress about the need for proper border security. “We want Congress to understand that we want border security and enforcement of our laws, first and foremost. The purpose of this rally is strictly to focus on border security,” S.O.S. Borders Co-executive Director Kimberly Fletcher said during a phone interview Friday as she...

NEWVILLE, Pa. (Army News Service, May 25, 2006) – The Newville, Pa., Post Office will be named in honor of Newville native Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart May 29 at 3 p.m. Shughart was killed in October, 1993, defending downed helicopter pilot Michael Durant in Mogadishu, Somalia. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the military’s highest decoration. Durant will speak at the dedication ceremony, and Black Hawk helicopters will fly over the town and land in the community ball field. “Shughart's heroic actions are an example of the exemplary men and women we have serving abroad today to...

Robert C. Dynes, the president of the University of California, holds one of the most influential and visible positions in American higher education – and he faces the possibility of losing it. For months, Dynes, a physicist and former chancellor at UC San Diego, has struggled to emerge from a controversy over undisclosed pay and perks for UC executives and faculty. To some, Dynes is a victim, someone who inherited a culture that defied university rules and has simply followed the practices of his predecessor. To others, Dynes is an ineffective administrator who, despite assurances, cannot be trusted to make...

SHAME ON Hillary Rodham Clinton. Rupert Murdoch, the right-wing publishing mogul, is hosting a fund-raiser in July for her Senate reelection campaign. Her explanation is that Murdoch, based in New York, is an important constituent: ''I'm very gratified that he thinks I'm doing a good job." Murdoch runs Fox television, home of Bill O'Reilly and company. No far-right media enterprise has been more relentlessly dishonest in its efforts to destroy American liberalism in general and the Clintons in particular. Fox was prime cheerleader for the bogus Whitewater investigation and the impeachment campaign against Bill Clinton. Fox exists to oppose every...

FORT HUACHUCA — “Bobby died doing what he knew best, being a soldier,” Chaplain (Maj.) Frank O’Grady said. As the soldier’s family listened, the Catholic priest said the combat death of 1st Sgt. Bobby Mendez, Rob to his loved ones, is sorrowful when seen through human eyes. To all of Mendez’s family, his wife, children, mother, father, sisters, brothers, nieces, nephews and cousins, as well as the extended relationship called soldiers, “It is a sad day,” the chaplain said. But, God’s compassion is a wonderful, joyous thing and now, the soldier is serving along side of Christ, he said during...

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and the Internet. The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation figures for the period ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group. The NAA reported that average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the last time circulation figures were reported....

A former top aide to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new chief of staff was appointed the governor's deputy cabinet secretary Wednesday. Brian Prusnek, 28, of San Francisco, was Susan Kennedy's chief of staff last year and her energy adviser for two years when she was a member of the California Public Utilities Commission. The Republican governor sparked anger from conservatives in November when he appointed Kennedy to lead his staff. Kennedy previously was executive director of the state Democratic Party and a top aide to Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, who Schwarzenegger replaced in the 2003 recall election. Prusnek is registered as...

FORT HUACHUCA — In January, Sgt. 1st Class Tim Kurczewski saw Tristian J. Slade off, as the 19-year-old headed for basic training. Monday, the former Army recruiter was at Chaffee Parade Field as he and other soldiers and civilians bade farewell to Slade, a private first class. Slade, of Charlotte, N.C., died Friday morning of unknown causes. Not feeling well, he went to a post medical clinic, where he collapsed, was treated by medical personnel and rushed to the Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. The cause of his death is under investigation. Kurczewski...

A New York Post Page Six staffer solicited $220,000 from a high-profile billionaire in return for a year's "protection" against inaccurate and unflattering items about him in the gossip page, the Daily News has learned.

TV ads are touting heroismALSO: Imaginative buzz; What friend?; Too many for TV Saturday, March 25, 2006 By Gordon Russell and Frank Donze - Staff writers TV commercials that attempt to spotlight politicians' acts of heroism in the anarchy of post-Katrina New Orleans have become a staple -- some might say an unfortunate one -- of the current campaign. Mayor Ray Nagin, Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Audubon Nature Institute chief executive Ron Forman, among others, all have sought to score points by reminding voters that they were here, doing the Lord's work, in the darkest of days. But none...

Body Found Hanging Outside VFW Post in Ky.2 hours, 17 minutes ago WINCHESTER, Ky. - A man apparently hanged himself outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars post early Wednesday morning, just hours after someone burned an American flag in the same place, Winchester police said. Detective James Hall said foul play was not suspected. Hall said the dead man was found by a passer-by about 1 a.m., about two hours after the flag was burned. He was dressed in civilian clothes and found hanging by the flagpole rope, Hall said. The man had not been identified Wednesday afternoon. Clark County...

KABUL, Afghanistan, March 14, 2006 – Afghan vendors won 84 percent of contracts awarded by the U.S. military's regional contracting centers in February, up from 55 percent in October, military officials here reported. Their gains in contract values were even more impressive, to 81 percent in January from 31 percent in October, they added. Coalition officials attributed the gains to efforts emphasizing Afghan businesses, changes in contract solicitation language and efforts to educate Afghan vendors on how to compete for U.S. military contracts. Such contracts involve office furniture and supplies, construction materials and work, hauling, interpreting and other products and...

I'm hoping to send my cousin some warm wishes from home. He's defending our freedoms with the 172nd Stryker Brigade currenty in Mosul. Apparently, they don't have as much time to surf the net over there (go figure), so I'd like to print out this thread, and send it over in the next care package. So, anybody want to say anything to troops?????

2/14/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA -- The 380th Air Expeditionary Wing’s command post Airmen have one of the most important areas in the area of responsibility to track. With four controllers and a superintendent covering around-the-clock operations this group is ready for anything. “We are the nerve center for the base in this war environment,” said Senior Master Sgt. Joseph Howell, command post superintendent. “And we all understand our work can have a big effect on the mission here.” That mission impact was evident to first-time deployer Staff Sgt. Lynn Brown the moment he arrived. “There is a definite adjustment we...

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Feb. 14, 2006) -- The streets here are a far cry from the corner of 8th and I streets in Washington, D.C., and yet for an infantryman who joined the Marine Corps to travel the world and do his part in the War on Terrorism, it is the only place he wants to be. Corporal Jared St. Clair, an infantryman with 4th Platoon, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, has finally made it to Iraq and is making the most of his opportunity. He’s serving in the city that many experts and officials are calling the...

WASHINGTON/ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - "Bush, do you know where I am?" With these words, Ayman al-Zawahri, al Qaeda's No. 2 after Osama bin Laden, taunted U.S. President George W. Bush last month after a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan failed to kill him. CIA Director Porter Goss said last year he had an excellent idea of where bin Laden was, but more than four years after the September 11 attacks and despite military operations and high-level arrests, bin Laden and Zawahri are still eluding capture. U.S. officials say only that they are thought to be somewhere in the rugged tribal areas that...

I want to post a picture from my pictures in a reply. I would also like to post pics to my profile. As it just so happens, though, I don't know how. Can someone please talk me through it? Thanks.

The United States dropped more than 20 spots, to 44th place, mainly because of the imprisonment of New York Times reporter Judith Miller and judicial action that was "undermining the privacy of journalistic sources," the statement said. Miller spent 85 days in jail for initially refusing to reveal the source who disclosed the identity of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame. Miller was released this month after agreeing to testify before a grand jury. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/20/AR2005102001987.html

Newsvine.com, a new type of news site created by four former Disney/ABCNEWs.com employees, is now up and running in beta. CyberJournalist.net has been invited to join the beta and is impressed with what it's seen so far. The site is a slick combination of some of the trendiest news-related tools online now, incorporating news aggregation, social networking, citizen journalism, blogging, user ratings and online discussions. Think of it as one-part Slashdot, one-part del.icio.us and one-part Google News, with a few other neat features thrown in. The site is built around four general actions: reading, discussing, writing and seeding the news....

Newsvine.com, a new type of news site created by four former Disney/ABCNEWs.com employees, is now up and running in beta. CyberJournalist.net has been invited to join the beta and is impressed with what it's seen so far. The site is a slick combination of some of the trendiest news-related tools online now, incorporating news aggregation, social networking, citizen journalism, blogging, user ratings and online discussions. Think of it as one-part Slashdot, one-part del.icio.us and one-part Google News, with a few other neat features thrown in. The site is built around four general actions: reading, discussing, writing and seeding the news....

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, Washington D.C. (Jan.19) -- Morning colors started the day on a historical note here at Marine Barracks Washington, Jan. 19. Sgt. Clint Owens of Arlington, Tx. rang the bell and sounded the familiar tune using a valveless bugle - the first time the United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps has used this traditional type of horn since after the Korean War. "We've reinstated these straight bugles for the same reason we still fly the 1801 flag at Evening Parades here at the 'Oldest Post of the Corps,'" said Chief Warrant Officer Brian Dix, D&B director. "The...

Jan. 4, 2006 13:27 | Updated Jan. 4, 2006 13:44Post-Roman ancient Jewish village discovered Discovery of an ancient village just outside Jerusalem has brought into question one of the strongest images of biblical times - the wholesale flight of Jews running for their lives after the Roman destruction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE. Just beneath the main road leading north from Jerusalem, archaeologists have found the walls of houses in a well-planned community that existed after the temple's destruction. It might lead to rewriting the history books if it was really Jewish. But at least...

AL ASAD, Iraq -- When Iraqis took to the polls Oct. 15 to vote on their new constitution, Sgt. Katherine Weller and Lance Cpl. Carlos Chilla were in the mix, providing security for the poll workers as part of Operation Liberty Express. Two months later, as Iraqis voted for their national parliament, Chilla and Weller returned to Camp Liberty, serving the same duty as they had before, with a distinctive twist: they were battle buddies, standing post together. “I was grateful to be with her because we both knew what to expect,” said Chilla, a Wai Ko Loa, Hawaii, native,...

 To all who serve and have served  in our armed forces, at home and abroad:  There are never enough words to express how valuable and appreciated the services of our armed forces  are.  We, as a group of folks dedicated to the support and love of  our troops, cannot begin to thank you enough for what you do and have done to protect the rights and freedoms of our country.  Many people forget that "our country"  is not just the land on which we live, but that it includes the very lives of the folks who live upon this land.  ...

CUERO — Registered sex offenders in Cuero would be forced to post a sign at their residences declaring their status if some members of the Cuero City Council get their way. The City Council voted unanimously Wednesday to instruct a city attorney to draft an ordinance that would require the signs. The signs would be 2-foot square and read "a registered sex offender lives here," the Victoria Advocate reported for Thursday editions.

BAGHDAD, Nov. 18, 2005 – The Iraq/Syria border is a seemingly arbitrary line scratched into the sand, punctuated occasionally by cone-shaped stone marker piles, which are often the highest points around. It's only 250 miles from Baghdad, but with circuitous routing that goes from bad roads to no roads at all. By the time an advance party of the Air Force Center for Environmental Excellence and contractor ECC International completed their 12-hour trip, no one was in the mood for surprises. "When we arrived, there were only three tents," recalled Ali Mommad Hadi, the first Iraqi civil engineer hired by...

The revelation that The Washington Post's Bob Woodward may have been the first reporter to learn about CIA operative Valerie Plame could provide a boost to the only person indicted in the leak case: I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Legal experts said Woodward provided two pieces of new information that cast at least a shadow of doubt on the public case against Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, who has been indicted on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

MARINE BARRACKS WASHINGTON, Washington DC (Nov. 10, 2005) -- Gen. Michael W. Hagee, Commandant of the Marine Corps, and John E. Potter, Postmaster General of the United States Postal Service,unveiled the Distinguished Marines commemorative 37-cent U.S. Postage stamps at Marine Barracks Washington on the 230th Birthday of the Marine Corps, Nov. 10. The stamps depict legendary Marines, Daniel Daly, John Basilone, John A. Lejeune and Lewis "Chesty" Puller. Other participants included the U.S. Marine Drum and Bugle Corps performing elements of the Barracks' Friday Evening Parade, and Aaron Tippin, country music recording artist. Another first-day dedication ceremony took place at...

Post-Katrina trip brings 8 jobs after 'bad seeds' act up Thursday, October 27, 2005 By SUSAN DAKER Staff Reporter The bus trip that took more than 50 people from Mobile to New Orleans to seek jobs resulted in about eight deciding to work there, according to state Sen. Vivian Davis Figures. Figures, D-Mobile, said this week that she would not be helping send anyone else to New Orleans since most jobs are being reserved for people from Louisiana. Also, some of the people on the Oct. 11 Mobile bus trip were responsible for a disturbance that caused the Mobile contingent...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30, 2005 – Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers started his last day on the job today reflecting on the war on terror that's dominated his term as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and affirming his belief that the United States "will be successful in Iraq." Myers, who retires today as the top military officer and with four decades of service, said during CBS's "The Early Show" that he's always been "very realistic" about the situation in Iraq and has never viewed it through rose-colored glasses. "It's a huge undertaking," he said, noting that the coalition...

Sep 23, 2005 — BAKU (Reuters) - The United States is to help its Caspian Sea ally Azerbaijan build a radar station on its border with Iran and another near Russia, a U.S. embassy official said on Friday. The Pentagon has said its aid is to help Azerbaijan's navy protect offshore oil deposits and to combat terrorism. Iran has been angered by U.S. military assistance to Azerbaijan in the past. "The United States has provided funds for the construction of radar stations in Astara, on the border with Iran, and in the southern Greater Caucasus mountains, on the border with...

"JUST LIKE HEAVE" isn't far short of a classic among romantic comedies with a teary chaser, sure to please fans of "Ghost" and "Heaven Can Wait." Like "Groundhog Day," a film so beloved by people of faith that National Review did a cover story on it this year, it starts out glib and gimmicky but later digs surprisingly deep. This is the first Hollywood movie that could tempt Pope Benedict into the multiplex. Without mentioning religion, it strikes an overtly conservative political stance that's going to influence people's views long after they've forgotten the last stump speech they heard. See...

JOHN G. ROBERTS JR. should be confirmed as chief justice of the United States. He is overwhelmingly well-qualified, possesses an unusually keen legal mind and practices a collegiality of the type an effective chief justice must have. He shows every sign of commitment to restraint and impartiality. Nominees of comparable quality have, after rigorous hearings, been confirmed nearly unanimously. We hope Judge Roberts will similarly be approved by a large bipartisan vote.

By Abigail R. Esman World Defense Review columnist "WE WILL NEVER FORGET!" declared the posters taped across the city, the banner strung above the massive hole that once had been the World Trade Center, in the months after 9/11. And for a year, anyway, tourists came to pay respects at Ground Zero while New Yorkers brought flowers to their local fire departments, contributed to funds benefiting the families of those killed, pasted American flags to the windshields of their cars, and somberly marked the eleventh day of every month that passed. But four years later, to walk the streets of...

DELAWARE, Ohio (August 30) — The star of the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite said making the film gave him the chance to "celebrate the nerd within me." Jon Heder, who plays the film's curly haired, awkward namesake, appeared with Aaron Ruell, who plays Napoleon's older brother Kip, at Ohio Wesleyan University north of Columbus Sunday. They said they could relate to the movie, which follows Idaho outcasts trying to find their place in the world. "We created Kip and Napoleon from ourselves and from people we knew and experiences we had," said Heder, 27. "It was fun to celebrate the...

<p>We've had many new folks join up recently. Welcome aboard, this thread is a gentle reminder of some basic posting guidelines. (And for some of you old timers as well) Please read the follow, and ask any questions. We will all try to help you out. Anyone who has a link that might be useful, feel free to post it.</p>

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed Harvard Professor John Ruggie on Thursday as his special representative to deal with human rights issues involving multinational corporations and other business enterprises. The U.N. Commission for Human Rights called for the new post in a resolution earlier this year and it was approved on Monday by the U.N. Economic and Social Council. U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Ruggie will identify and clarify standards of corporate responsibility and accountability related to human rights. He is scheduled to present an interim report to the commission in 2006 and a final report in 2007....

Washington, DC – Traditional Values Coalition Executive Director Andrea Lafferty complained today that an article in the Washington Post about the clothes worn by Supreme Court nominee John Roberts’ children was “unfair and disappointing.” Mrs. Lafferty said in a letter sent to Post Editor Leonard Downie, Jr. that the Post has now set a new pecking order for “unfair journalism which ignores substance and slides right into chortling about form.” “If you can’t come up with something disgusting about the actual nominee or his wife then rough-up the kids some and see what happens,” Mrs. Lafferty said today. Post fashion...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A Canadian businessman lost his job as the top U.N. envoy to North Korea amid questions about his connection to a suspect in the U.N. oil-for-food scandal, the world body said Monday. The decision not to renew Maurice Strong's contract follows criticism that he gave his stepdaughter a job at the United Nations and concerns over his ties to a South Korean businessman accused of accepting kickbacks from Saddam Hussein's government. Deputy U.N. spokeswoman Marie Okabe said in response to a question that Strong's contract expired last week "and it has not been renewed." She gave...

Dreams as big as Texashttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1367601/posts How to Build a Lunar Base:Part 1: The Launch Issuehttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1364382/posts Democrat Voter Intimidationhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1373668/posts Griffin leaves door open for shuttle flight to Hubblehttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1382376/posts Close encounters on rise as UFOs seize imagination of Chinesehttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1396576/posts Scientists say they have located the parts of the brain that comprehend sarcasm - honestly.http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1408647/posts Scientists to make 'Stuart Little' mouse with the brain of a humanhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1356862/posts Sex Offender caught at Denny's with little girl, was a bloggerhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1435841/posts War Inside CBS News (Drudge Siren Alert)http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1344068/posts "THE RULE OF LAW" VS MORALITYhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1373310/posts $1 billion price tag of saving rare toadhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1364065/posts 'Extreme' judicial activismhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1340496/posts...

WASHINGTON - When it comes to counterterror strategy, maverick Rep. Curt Weldon (news, bio, voting record) tells it as he sees it — often to the extreme discomfort of fellow Republican lawmakers and the Bush administration. But his candor in a new book accusing the CIA of ignoring terror information has called Weldon's credibility into question as he is being considered to chair the House Homeland Security Committee. As the committee's vice chairman, Weldon, R-Pa., is among a small number of Republicans competing to ascend to the panel's top job as early as next month. The new chairman would replace...

In a letter to the Washington Post on Wednesday, Christine Todd Whitman went after Dr. James Dobson and yours truly. Why? Because we're upset about the Senate deal on judges. First, the deal that these "moderates" struck on judges does not give President Bush's nominees the "votes they deserve." At least two were reportedly sacrificed for the deal, and the filibuster was preserved for a future Supreme Court nominee. Second, Whitman evidently feels the Senate has more "important" things to do than considering executive appointments and restoring balance to our federal courts.

And so it turns out that the two most famous investigative reporters of all time were a pair of stenographers for an FBI hack who was ratting out President Nixon for passing him over as director. That corrupt cop, Mark Felt, should be named co-winner of the 1973 Pulitzer Prize given to The Washington Post. For it appears Felt swiped the research for the Post's Watergate stories from FBI files, while Woodward did rewrite and Bernstein was on the coffee-and-Danish run.

On North Grande Avenue is the Cocio-Estrada American Legion Post 59. In front of the building are the images of two men, frozen in time in mural tiles. The images are of Marine Cpl. William Cocio and Army Pvt. Bernardino Estrada, two local men who died as heroes in World War II. This is the story of Estrada, who was killed on a Pacific island in 1942. His story begins in 1916 about 30 miles southeast of Downtown Tucson, near Corona de Tucson. Estrada was born on his father's ranch at the fingertips of the Santa Rita Mountains. The ranch...

Dear, oh dear! Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times columnist, laments, “the climate for freedom of the press in the United States feels more ominous than it has for decades.” He urges vociferous protest and a federal shield law for journalists—this because two journalists have been ordered to jail for refusing a judge’s order to reveal their sources. Both hacks are free pending appeals. Although I was in Albania for a short visit 25 years ago, I was unaware that freedom of the press was about to be curtailed in the Land of the Free. Kristof admits that judges do...