Free Republic

It’s far too premature to write about the demise of the San Francisco Chronicle, but it may be fair to say that the moves taking place over at the once-mighty newspaper’s headquarters these days have a faint murmur of a death march. Highly respected editors and reporters some consider among the most talented at the paper are being called into meetings and then quietly escorted from the building at Fifth and Mission streets, leaving those behind in shocked silence. It is the grim, somewhat inevitable consequence of an organization that lost its way and panicked in its efforts to find...

CAIRO — Conditions in the US detention facility in Guantanamo are worsening with the sweeping majority of detainees being held in cruel isolation, Amnesty International said in a new reported issued on Thursday, April 5.

It has all unraveled; his career, his marriage, his health, his reputation. Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson was once a Super Bowl champion and a fan favorite, admired for his jarring hits and thoughtful approach to a violent game. But now he is a struggling ex-athlete who has become unreliable and unreachable, making promises and commitments he does not keep, the subject of steamy tabloid gossip, shunned for an alleged domestic abuse incident involving his wife. Johnson, 34, suffers from such severe depression that some mornings he literally cannot pull himself out of bed. When the crippling malaise overtakes him,...

Democrat Christine Jennings was in Washington over the last two days renewing her call for a revote in her race against Rep.-elect Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), as government and independent reviews failed to support her case. Jennings said she would do everything she could to see the legal challenge through. She set up shop at Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee headquarters and was to meet with lawmakers including Reps. Allen Boyd (D-Fla.), Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.). She was also asking for financial support and continuing to push her case to the news media. Jennings’s visit came as state officials...

Muslim activists called on Pace University yesterday to crack down on hate crimes after a second copy of the Koran was found in a toilet at its Manhattan campus. "This incident meets the legal definition of a hate crime," said Aliya Latif, a member of the Association of Muslim American Lawyers. "Indeed, this is no different from placing a burning cross in front of a house or painting a swastika on a locker." The discovery of the holy book in a toilet at Pace's lower Manhattan campus on Oct. 13 follows a similar act at Pace on Sept. 21. Earlier...

Anti-drug campaigners today attacked the makers of a soft drink who have called their product cocaine. The high-energy drink is being billed as a "legal alternative" to the class A drug, using a massive hit of caffeine instead of cocaine. Its maker claims the title is "a bit of fun" but critics slammed the technique as a cynical ploy which could tempt young people into using drugs. The drink's inventor, Jamie Kirby, said: "It's an energy drink, and it's a fun name. As soon as people look at the can, they smile." He claims Cocaine is "350 percent stronger than...

Indecency Complaints in Q1 '06 Surpass Full 2005 Count By Tony Sanders Billboard Radio Monitor May 30, 2006 There already have been more consumer complaints filed this year concerning obscene, indecent or profane programming on TV and radio than were filed for all of 2005. The FCC’s latest tally of such consumer complaints in the first quarter jumped by 118,115 filings this year to come in at 275,131 complaints for the three months ended March. That’s a 75% increase over last year’s comparable 157,016 filings received in the first quarter of 2005. For all of 2005, there were 233,471 indecency/obscenity...

HARTFORD, Conn. - Three familiar faces from Hollywood urged Connecticut legislators yesterday to help protect their images.Actors Paul Newman, Christopher Plummer and Charles Grodin, all state residents, said they worry that technology has made it possible to access their films, images and voices, and to use that material to produce another product they know nothing about."We are suddenly cloned into something we're not," Plummer said. "We are robbed of our individuality, and our life's work is tarnished."A bill before the legislature's Judiciary Committee would forbid use of another person's "right of publicity," such as their name, voice, signature, photo, image,...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - A consumer group wants to keep Tony the Tiger from promoting sugary cereals on the SpongeBob SquarePants cartoon show or anywhere else kids are watching.   The Center for Science in the Public Interest said on Wednesday it would sue Kellogg Co., the maker of cereals such as Frosted Flakes, and Viacom Inc., which runs the Nickelodeon cable network, if the companies do not change some marketing practices aimed at children. The Center said letters had been sent to Kellogg and Viacom saying it would settle for a commitment from the companies within 30 days rather than sue....

I am a fan of Limbaugh's but I think the soldiers don't need a 24/7 subscription. I think Limbaugh would've been a real mensch if he had just endorsed a standard Adopt- A - Soldier program that provided them with the normal TLC-- food, shaving kits, etc. He didn't have to get his beak wet... I would've gladly participated in a standard program, the subscription thing is a missed opportunity that risks appearing self interested. I don't care if a bonehead from Rio Linda gave him the idea.

Text of Gore Speech at Media Conference Oct 06 10:04 AM US/Eastern By The Associated Press NEW YORK Here is the text of former Vice President Al Gore's remarks at the We Media conference on Wednesday in New York: I came here today because I believe that American democracy is in grave danger. It is no longer possible to ignore the strangeness of our public discourse . I know that I am not the only one who feels that something has gone basically and badly wrong in the way America's fabled "marketplace of ideas" now functions. How many of you,...

WASHINGTON, June 17 (UPI) -- Russia and China have joined forces in a major U.N. forum to oppose U.S. plans to develop new space weapons. And the move could herald a far more wide-ranging strategic cooperation between the two nations. Russia and China have joined forces to urge the U.N. Conference on Disarmament to launch a new round of international negotiations to prevent the increased militarization of space. On June 9, the two countries issued a joint working paper calling for the reactivation of the moribund Committee on Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space that was discontinued in...

Clinton: ‘I paid a big price’The former president on his legacy, his health and his wife's future By Brian Williams Anchor & “Nightly News” Managing Editor NBC News Updated: 6:52 p.m. ET June 1, 2005 CHAPPAQUA, N.Y. - Former president Bill Clinton is just back from a grueling 14-day, 12-nation, 16-stop tour. **SNIP** I asked the president a blunt question about his legacy and any regrets he may have that impeachment will always play a prominent role in how his presidency is remembered. Clinton: It probably would, because — but to be fair, you said you're being blunt with me....

PARIS, May 29 - Turning its back on half a century of European history, France decisively rejected a constitution for Europe on Sunday, plunging the country into political disarray and jeopardizing the cause of European unity. The victory for the no vote - 55 percent to 45 percent - came in a nationwide referendum on the European Union constitution after a bruising campaign that divided France and alarmed Europe. Foreshadowed in recent polls, the no vote could doom the 448-article treaty because all 25 members of the European Union must ratify it before it can take effect. The rejection could...

My son was taken from me when he was only 2 months old because I supposedly "worshiped the devil" in front of him. I am an atheiest. I don't even belive in the devil. It ruined my life and at the same time opened up a whole new world of horror stories from other parents. How our government is walking all over the rules they put in place to protect us and how our civil rights are violated each and everyday. EVERYONE especailly those with families should be aware of this!!! Please visit my sites and sign my petition to...

First, this is NOT an April Fool's joke. I am leaving Free Republic. Over the past two years, civility and thoughtful discourse has vanished from this site, replaced with demands for ideological conformity that are straight out of Stalinist Russia or China's Great Cultural Revolution, and unrelenting uncivility if said conformance is not forthcoming. This trend began with the California recall election, where certain posters were allowed to flame the living beejezus out of those who didn't wholeheartedly support Tom McClintock, or thought that he wasn't running a campaign capable of winning. It extended into the Keyes campaign last year,...

Venezuelan Information Minister Andres Izarra is stomping his feet and crying because the mean ol' US media is being so nasty to Marx-crazed tyrant Huga Chavez. According to Izarra, continuous publication of information disclosing false data and making baseless accusations in US media has prompted the Executive to conclude that Venezuela is "indeed" facing a "media offensive," a "dirty campaign or war similar to the one launched by Otto Reich in the 80's

WASHINGTON (AP) - Senate Democrats demanded Thursday that President Bush order a halt to personal attacks on the party's leader, Sen. Harry Reid, and expressed regret that they had failed to mount a stronger defense for his defeated predecessor. ``This is a new Democratic Party,'' Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said at a news conference called to release a letter telling Bush to muzzle his ``political operatives.'' ``It says to the president, `You will not intimidate us','' said Schumer, who likened the attacks on Reid to political knee-cappings. The letter itself was written in milder terms. ``We urge you to keep...

WASHINGTON (AP) - You might say the Janet Jackson moment of President Bush's inaugural festivities came Tuesday at a youth concert with hundreds of preteen Hilary Duff fans in the audience.No nudity was involved, but the Vince Neil-style profanity probably didn't win rock band Fuel any fans at the Federal Communications Commission, nor from the parents at the concert. Now the Pennsylvania band is just hoping the concert, "America's Future Rocks Today," wasn't aired live. Borrowing a word from Motley Crue's Neil, the lead singer of Fuel proclaimed, "Welcome to the greatest ----ing country in the world." Brett Scallions followed...

A scheduled appearance by vulgar rock-rapper Kid Rock at a Bush inauguration concert hosted by Bush daughters Jenna and Barbara has shocked conservative supporters. The rapper’s lyrics often focus on the recreational nature of sex and send a message of female sexual exploitation. In 2000 he appeared in a porn film with well-known porn stars, and he was named the Sluttiest Male Celebrity by MTV. According to Donald E. Wildmon, chairman of the American Family Association, the White House has sent a shocking statement to the millions of families who supported his re-election. "Kid Rock is an inexcusable choice,” Wildmon...

This is abominable!!!! Contact the committee via e-mail at info@inaugural05.com. BUSH SWEARING IN: TAKE 2 Kid Rock too vulgar for inauguration? Some wonder why values voters rewarded with F-word-spewing rapper -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: January 5, 2005 8:40 p.m. Eastern By Ron Strom © 2005 WorldNetDaily.com Kid Rock, a popular vulgar rock-rapper whose lyrics wouldn't begin to pass muster with the Federal Communications Commission, is headlining the youth concert during the inauguration festivities for President Bush – a politician who was re-elected largely due to the participation of traditional "values voters." The Detroit-based rapper, who dedicated his first album to songs about...

ANN ARBOR - Ohio State's athletic department took another hit yesterday. Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, whose Wolverines were upset by the Buckeyes 37-21 Saturday in Columbus, launched an all-out blitz at Ohio State officials. Carr criticized the Buckeyes' brass for making the Wolverines wait outside Ohio Stadium before the game Saturday while police and police dogs searched the bags of every player and coach. And he questioned the credibility of Ohio State's athletic department, which already has its hands full with Maurice Clarett's recent allegations and NCAA investigators. Carr said the unusual pre-game search, which lasted between 10 and 15...

Barbi Weiner, a third grade teacher currently on disability, is suing the Republican party for having taken an active role in returning George Bush to the White House, a circumstance that resulted in Ms. Weiner suffering a nervous collapse last Nov.8th as she crossed West 72nd Street. "I looked up and saw the WestSideWaffle! sign with its big red 'W’s,'" she says. "And I realized it was true – he won. Then I started thinking about my life and I realized that I couldn’t go on living in a country where a war-mongering baby-killer holds the highest office in the...

Mental health officials in South Florida blasted Rush Limbaugh on Monday, saying the conservative talk show host’s offer of “free therapy” for traumatized John Kerry voters has made a mockery of a valid psychological problem. “Rush Limbaugh has a way of back-handedly slamming people,” said Sheila Cooperman, a licensed clinician with the American Health Association (AHA) who listened Friday as Limbaugh offered to personally treat her patients. “He’s trying to ridicule the emotional state this presidential election produced in many of us here in Palm Beach County. Who is he to offer therapy?”

Why did I get banned? You people don't like to listen to any side but your own? No wonder your worldview is so impoverished.

Subject: Don't let Bush question your patriotism Date: Mon, 24 Nov 2003 19:24:07 -0500 From: "Democratic Party" dnc-002Nf03W5y@mailer.democrats.org To: "Jim Robinson" webmaster@freerepublic.com GOP Revs Up Attack Machine Dear Jim Robinson, This time, they have gone too far. We know Republicans are willing to politicize the attacks of September 11. Karl Rove explicitly told them to do so in the 2002 elections, and the Republicans even sold a September 11 picture of George W. Bush to raise money. But now the Bush attack machine has crossed the line again. The RNC has released an advertisement that questions our Democratic candidates' commitment...

Outspoken actress Susan Sarandon has lashed out at American TV coverage of the war in Iraq - claiming viewers are being subjected to pro-US President George W. Bush propaganda. The Banger Sisters star says it wasn't until she was on location in Toronto, Canada, last winter that it became clear to her the conflict was being falsely reported in her home country. She says, "I was in Canada when this was happening and if you're outside the country you get a very different perspective on the way things are working. You get news from around the world." The vocal anti-war...

Ban me, but have the courage to accept the truth. This War is wrong. Many innocent Iraqis have died. Many Americans have died. Iraq is in chaos. No food. No water. No power. I don't care if staged events involving a few criminals and looters make the people appear to be happy. Ask the ones who had their lives destroyed by American bombs. There are no WMDs. America will remain in Iraq long enough to: A) plunder its resouces B) ensure a Bush election victory in spite of massive deficits and a terrible economy. THIS WAR IS WRONG.

ow that the cigarettes are, in theory, banished from the great indoors, the foodies can freely sniff the aroma of their truffled entrees. The air in the taverns is at least as clear as the air on a subway platform. But out in the park, it is awfully hard to breathe. Walking down the sidewalk can seem dangerously precancerous. Gardens and enclosed patios are suddenly, just on the brink of balmy weather, impossible settings for the pure of lung. And it seems reasonable to ask if pregnant women will soon be seeking refuge in bars.The little knots of smokers who...

Heads Up! Sean Hannity just announced that Jim McGreasy called and asked to be on his radio show this afternoon. Sean said they are trying to arrange the call-in, so be listening; Sean predicted fireworks. Tony