Free Republic

Viewing The 1960s From My 60s By Burt Prelutsky Even though I'm embarrassed to have been a Democrat for so many years, I'm proud that even in my 20's, I thought the 60's was the worst decade in America's history. Because I was born in 1940, I was at UCLA for some of those years and had a bird's eye view of my fellow college students. It was not a pretty sight. What makes that time the source of so much nostalgia for so many people of my age -- the incessant folk songs, the tie-dyed shirts and blouses, the...

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards said they would not bow to pressure and threatened to "punch" the U.S., in their first response to Washington's plan to list them as a terrorist organization, newspapers reported Saturday. Local press in the Iranian capital of Tehran quoted Revolutionary Guards leader Gen. Yahya Rahim Safavi saying that he could understand Washington's ire toward the group because of their "leverage" against the U.S. "America will receive a heavier punch from the guards in the future," he was quoted as saying in the conservative daily Kayhan. "We will never remain silent in the...

MONTGOMERY, Ala., June 9, 2007 -- Senator Charles Bishop (R- Jasper) had some things he wanted to say Saturday morning about the way the Senate functions and what happened in the Senate on Thursday. Following is the senator's statement to wsfa.com: ........... "NO, you can't have senators going around striking things, but see Senator Barron is used to cussing people. He called our senator, lady senator, Republican senator, he called her a bitch, a damn bitch." ................. But this guy's got a long history of cussing people and expecting them to bow down to him." .........

Simmering tensions in the Alabama Senate boiled over Thursday when a Republican lawmaker punched a Democratic colleague in the head before they were pulled apart. Republican Sen. Charles Bishop claimed that Democratic Sen. Lowell Barron called him a "son of a (expletive)." "I responded to his comment with my right hand," Bishop said. Alabama Public Television tape captured the punch. Barron refused to comment and went into a closed-door meeting with other Democrats. Sen. Vivian Figures went into the meeting carrying first aid supplies, but she said he was not hurt. Bishop said he regretted throwing the punch because "that's...

Rape, Justice, and the ‘Times’ “I’ve never felt so ill,” says one reporter about the paper’s coverage of the Duke lacrosse-team case. Luckily, a blogger’s on the story, too. * By Kurt Andersen As a young writer at Time, whenever I’d hear “That story’ll write itself,” I wanted to reach for my revolver. The line, delivered with bluff cheer, suggests that good material makes good writing easy, which isn’t true. Its premise is the very wellspring of hackdom: The more thoroughly some set of facts reinforces the relevant preconceptions, caricatures, clichés, and conventional wisdom, the easier it makes life for...

New York Times (NYT - commentary - Cramer's Take), hurt by declines in advertising revenue and various charges, predicted third-quarter earnings will drop by as much as half from a year ago. The media company said Thursday it expects third-quarter earnings of 8 cents to 10 cents a share, compared with 16 cents last year. The projection includes 1 cents to 2 cents a share from charges related to workforce cuts, as well as 2 cents to 3 cents a share from the sale of the company's investment in the Discovery Times Channel. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call project...

Topic: Memos Sent to Romenesko Date/Time: 9/14/2006 8:58:17 AM Title: NYT Co. execs to forgo stock bonuses Posted By: Jim Romenesko To: [New York Times Co. employees] Sent: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 8:36 AM Subject: Memo From Arthur & Michael September 14, 2006 Dear Colleagues: As we make our way through the challenging period of transition that we and our industry are in, there are a few things of which we at The New York Times Company can be sure. One is that we're in this together. The members of the Ochs/Sulzberger family, who for over a century have helped...

SAN FRANCISCO (MNarketWatch) -- New York Times Co. (NYT NYT) said late Tuesday it plans to sell its broadcast media group, including nine network-affiliated television stations. The group includes stations in Memphis, Tenn., Oklahoma City and Norfolk, Va. Last year, the broadcast media group accounted for 4% of the company's total revenue. In 2006, the group is expected to have revenue of $150 million and operating profit of about $33 million. "We believe a divestiture would allow us to sharpen our focus on developing our newspaper and rapidly growing digital businesses, and the synergies between them, thereby increasing the value...

52wk Range: 21.58 - 35.00 Last Trade: 21.58

<p>CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- New York Times Co. said Tuesday that advertising revenue dropped 3.3% in July compared with the same month a year ago, hurt by weakness in such categories as movies, national automotive and corporate.</p>

Bird flu mixed with human flu lacks punch 18:04 01 August 2006 NewScientist.com news service Peter Aldhous Combining genes from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus with those from a common human flu virus does not seem to create strains with instant pandemic potential, researchers have found. H5N1 meets two of three requirements for a pandemic strain: it is highly pathogenic and unfamiliar to most people’s immune systems. If it also acquired the ability to transmit easily from person to person, H5N1 would threaten millions of lives. One way this could happen is if the virus swapped genes with human...

OUCH! Nasty. :(

Capitol Police Frustrated By Slow McKinney CaseUpdated: May 23rd, 2006 04:54 PM PDT JOHN McARDLE Roll Call As another week ended without a decision from the grand jury reviewing Rep. Cynthia McKinney's (D-Ga.) alleged assault on a U.S. Capitol Police officer, police labor committee officials expressed frustration on Friday with how long the process is taking and how the U.S. Attorney's office has handled the case. More than a month and a half after the incident occurred, USCP Fraternal Order of Police Chairman Andy Maybo said Friday that "there is a large concern on behalf of the U.S. Capitol Police...

Photographer Says 'Dame Edna' Punched Him May 03 9:43 AM US/Eastern SYDNEY, Australia Internationally renowned comic character Dame Edna Everage's alter ego, Australian actor Barry Humphries, punched a photographer who pursued him outside a Sydney restaurant Wednesday, his publicist said. The 72-year-old _ who has found enduring fame in the United States, Britain and Australia on stage and screen through the purple-haired housewife character he has been playing since the 1950s _ struck celebrity freelance photographer Malcolm Ladd, 54, publicist Suzie Howie said. Humphries became upset when Ladd followed him from Dee Bee's Cafe in Sydney's exclusive Double Bay where...

Just heard driving home Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga) has been accused of slapping a Capitol Guard (?) over some type of dispute. 10 second story nothing follows.

BOCA RATON, Fla. - Oscar-winning actor Joe Pesci will not be charged for allegedly punching a fan who photographed him in a shopping center parking lot, officials said Wednesday. The Palm Beach County State Attorney's Office will not file charges against the "Goodfellas" star because there was no likelihood of conviction, said to Assistant State Attorney Jill Estey Richstone. "The investigating officer was unable to determine who the primary aggressor was and there are no independent witnesses to the incident," Richstone wrote in response to a Boca Raton police warrant request. Broward Community College student Juan Carlos Montenegro, 24, told...

TULSA, OK -- A pastor was standing in front of a group of people when one man rears back and punches him right in the eye....

Sen. Mary Landrieu refused on Friday to withdraw or apologize for her threat to punch President Bush if he criticized Louisiana officials - despite Bush's magnanimous speech Thursday night and a federal downpayment of more than $60 billion dollars to rebuild her state. "I do not take it back, I don't apologize for it. I said I would punch anybody, including the president," she told the Chicago Tribune. "Though threatening the president is a crime," the Tribune noted - "the Secret Service took it as a joke and the White House brushed off her remarks." Standing in the Capitol, however,...

Sen. Mary Landrieu threatened the president of the United States with physical violence on Sunday, saying that if he or any other government official criticizes New Orleans police for failing to keep civil order in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina - "I might likely have to punch him - literally." "If one person criticizes [our sheriffs], or says one more thing, including the president of the United States, he will hear from me - one more word about it after this show airs and I - I might likely have to punch him - literally," Landrieu railed on "ABC's "This...

The spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, is warning the U.S. to stay out of his country's business – and, in particular, its nuclear program, which is set to resume this week. Speaking on a tour of southeast Iran, Khamenei called the U.S. "arrogant," "rude" and said the country "deserved a punch in the mouth." He also said Iran's presidential elections in June would not make any difference to its nuclear policy. Khamenei said it was not up to the U.S. to decide which countries needed nuclear technology. Iran announced yesterday it is likely to resume uranium enrichment-related activities...

Members of the Democratic National Committee’s (DNC) Black Caucus have become seemingly desensitized to racial slurs. The Caucus did not even blink when the extreme Left’s new champion, Howard Dean, made prejudiced statements right before their very eyes. From Dean’s comments, it seems he believes that a Black person’s place is to be cleaning toilets at a hotel in which whites stay. According to the Washington Times, On Feb. 11, the day before he was elected party chief, Mr. Dean asked, at a meeting of the DNC Black Caucus, "You think the Republican National Committee could get this many people...

Politics in Gainesville turned rough and tumble Thursday night when, police say, a social behavior sciences instructor - a Democrat - punched the chairman of the Alachua County Republican Executive Committee in the face. David Philip McCally, 55, of Gainesville faces misdemeanor battery and criminal mischief charges after he was accused of hitting both committee chairman Travis Horn, 32, and a life-sized, cardboard cutout of President George Bush. The incident occurred at the Republican headquarters in downtown Gainesville at about 7:30 p.m.

<p>WASHINGTON -- A company developing security technology for electronic voting suffered an embarrassing hacker break-in that executives think was tied to the rancorous debate over the safety of casting ballots online.</p> <p>VoteHere of Bellevue, Wash., confirmed Monday that U.S. authorities are investigating a break-in of its computers months ago, when someone roamed its internal computer network. The intruder accessed internal documents and may have copied sensitive software blueprints that the company planned eventually to disclose publicly.</p>

The Jewish Ombudsman: Sippin' Geneva JuiceInside the surreal world of the Geneva Peace Accords, out-of-power politicians are leaders, their supporters carry weight, and the peace expert Tom Friedman gets violent. by Steven I. Weiss/Jewsweek.com December 11, 2003 The recent Geneva Peace Accord exists in some sort of alternate dimension: Representatives from two sides in a conflict hack out an agreement without actually representing either side, or coming to agreement on many of the more pressing issues; a document that will guarantee peace has no provisions for stopping violence. An event last Thursday featured the authors of the Accord; adding to...

New York Times Columnist Punches Man at Peace Symposium. According to the editor of an online magazine, Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, assaulted a New York attorney at a recent event where he had spoken on the private Middle East discussions in Geneva. Here's the writer's account of what he saw Friedman do: Kick a little somethin' I run over to the stage to catch Tom Friedman for that question-and-answer he promised I'd get after his speech. Harvey Schwartz, a Manhattan lawyer, greets Friedman and with a smile on his face tells him he learned two things from...

Clay Teen Dies 8 Days After 'Sucker Punch' At School Grief Counselors To Be At Ridgeview High Today A Clay County family made a heart-wrenching decision to take their 15-year-old son -- in a coma for eight days after being punched in the head after school. The decided Friday to take the boy off life support. David Baez was in critical condition at Shands-Jacksonville Medical Center for more than a week after he was hit in the head by a 17-year-old fellow student after classes at Ridgeview High School. He was knocked unconscious by what was described as a sucker...

Academy releases video of punch incident Northwestern assistant coach struck Harridge with forearm By MARK FITZHENRY THE GAZETTE A Northwestern assistant coach walked onto the field and delivered a blow with his left forearm under Air Force quarterback Chance Harridge's chin during a game Saturday, as shown on a videotape released by the academy Tuesday. In the same motion, defensive line coach Jay Peterson wrapped his left arm around the neck of one of his players to complete a hug. Harridge responded by punching Peterson in the left side of his torso. The academy released the videotape of the incident,...

San Jose Teen Dies Trading Friendly Punches With Pal Officials decline to press charges. They say game is a common 'test of manhood' and doesn't have a high death risk. By Hilda Munoz, Times Staff Writer A punching contest between two teenage friends Sunday ended when one of the boys died in front of his San Jose home after receiving a blow to the chest. Jacob Salas, 16, was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, authorities said. Richard Jimenez, 19, who allegedly delivered the fatal blow, fled the scene but was arrested at a friend's house five hours later and...

<p>June 7, 2003 -- New York Times Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. has also been damaged in the Jayson Blair scandal — and industry observers are increasingly wondering whether he'll survive, and for how long.</p> <p>Before top editor Howell Raines quit, "Pinch" Sulzberger reportedly described Raines as being on probation; now it looks more like Sulzberger himself is on probation — both with his family and his roiling newsroom.</p>

<p>June 6, 2003 -- The Gray Lady's two top newsmen collapsed under the pressure of the Jayson Blair scandal yesterday, resigning from their positions at the head of the nation's "paper of record."</p> <p>The departure of New York Times executive editor Howell Raines and managing editor Gerald Boyd was announced in an emotional newsroom meeting at which publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. also said former Times editor Joseph Lelyveld will take over in the interim.</p>

ABOARD THE USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT: The US Navy battle groups now in position to strike at Iraq bristle with fighting power: long-range missiles, jets and a menacing array of cannons, Gatling guns and attack helicopters. The five battle groups - aircraft carriers and accompanying warships - deployed in the Persian Gulf and eastern Mediterranean are a key part of the military build-up against Baghdad. If it comes to war, much of the long-range punch brought to bear on Iraq will be launched from ships like the USS Roosevelt and its three destroyers, two cruisers and frigate. Of the five carrier...

'Long-lost treasure' has a painful punch-line February 17 2003 at 10:16AM San Francisco - It turns out that one of the American West's enduring mysteries - a tale of 16th century sea-borne explorers and a perplexing brass plaque - was a 1930s joke-gone-wrong sprung on an influential University of California professor by a group of friends. Historians believed the hoax for decades, but tests in the late 1970s proved that the small brass plate with old English inscriptions was not in fact the one left by Sir Francis Drake when he sheltered just north of San Francisco in 1579. One...

I just finished reading "The Punch" by John Feinstein. Great book. Perhaps it is morbid couriosity, but does anyone know if a clip of the "punch" is on the web?

Did anyone here attend the debate last week between Baron Hill (democratic incumbent from IN's 9th congressional district) and Mike Sodrel (republican challenger)... I have heard that after the debate, Hill sucker punched Sodrel in the kidney (sent him to the floor) when Sodrel went to shake his hand... I am looking for someone who was there to confirm or deny the story

Beverly Hills police said they are investigating a complaint that Apollo 11 astronaut Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin struck a man in the face Monday after the man asked Aldrin to swear on a Bible that he had been to the moon.

<p>Bart Sibrel, a man who claims that man never set foot on the moon, also claims that famous Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin punched him in the jaw on Tuesday in Beverly Hills.</p> <p>There's a small cottage industry of people who, like people who still believe that the earth is flat, or alternatively, that it's round but hollow, live in an alternate reality--one in which NASA was not capable of sending men to our sister orb in the 1960s. Unfortunately, it's not small enough. While just a few percent believe this, according to most polling, that still constitutes millions of people deluding themselves about what many consider the greatest achievement of the 20th century, and perhaps in history to date.</p>