Free Republic

"I had no aviation experience when I was appointed to head the Massachusetts Port Authority in September 1999. What I had were political connections, the right gender, and a governor's faith in my abilities. The learning curve was steep, but the allure of aviation quickly captured my imagination - until the events of September 11, 2001. This story is a recounting from Logan Airport, Boston's own ground zero, of the first hours and days following the new century's most searing moment. It is a sharing of my soul and a look into the soul of a city that felt sorrow...

Trying to calm worldwide alarm about the spread of an avian influenza virus to Europe from Asia, an official of the World Health Organization cautioned yesterday that there were still no signs of an influenza pandemic in humans. But the A(H5N1) avian strain is expected to spread to additional countries, and the agency remains concerned about the longer-term potential for the virus to mutate or combine with a human influenza virus to create a new one that could cause a human pandemic, the official, Dr. Mike Ryan, said. A pandemic is an epidemic that is prevalent across a wide area....

For someone who's not running for the White House, Hillary Clinton will certainly look like a presidential contender Thursday as she embarks on a swing through Hollywood. While Clinton continues to deny her presidential aspirations and Hollywood Democrats started the year fatigued and frustrated following their unsuccessful effort to elect John Kerry, recent political setbacks for President George W. Bush and Republicans have emboldened Democrats in the entertainment industry. No fewer than three separate fundraisers drawing on Hollywood coincoin are set for the New York senator's West Coast trip, including a $500-per-person reception at the home of Rob ReinerRob Reiner...

BOSTON --A new documentary about Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign, warts and all, is making the rounds in New York and Washington. But its leading man has no plans to see it. "I lived it," the Massachusetts Democrat told reporters with a laugh on Tuesday. "I think I know what happens." "Inside the Bubble," shot by two filmmakers given extensive behind-the-scenes access, includes lengthy scenes in which a press assistant goes on an expletive-laced tirade as he tries to arrange to have a pony placed in the room of another Kerry aide as a surprise birthday gift. Kerry is also...

A LIFETIME of hard work should bring economic security -- income sufficient to raise a family, and resources to enjoy a retirement earned over many working years. It is troubling that as far off as this goal seems to millions of American men, it is even further off for America's working women, especially in the area of retirement security. Even as families become more dependent than ever on second incomes, and the number of women as sole providers grows, women still earn less money than men; women are less likely to have a pension than men; and women are less...

'I have always striven to be your full-service column-writer. For example, for readers who are not as immersed in the news as we copy editors, I have written helpful summary guides covering clowns such as Cindy ("Warmonger!") Sheehan and Joe ("Spy Leak!") Wilson. Then, two weeks ago, I described how to feed yourself until next February on just $400 by producing a Big Blue Bucket of Meat. Therefore, you should not be surprised that today I'm offering even more valuable information. I want to tell you how to beat the price of gas. The answer is simple: the motor scooter....

As usual, loyal George W. Bush bashers never let the dust settle and the truth come out before sticking a foot in their mouths. The truth is coming out, regardless of what the biased media has tried to do. The mayor never mobilized the school buses or stocked the Superdome with emergency supplies. The governor needed another 24 hours before she would allow federal officials to come in and banned the Red Cross and Salvation Army from delivering supplies immediately after the winds died down. The senator from Louisiana is complaining Mr. Bush didn't help the Army Corp of Engineers...

'WASHINGTON, DC --- John Kerry contacted the Pentagon today to request a Silver Star for a recent swift boat mission he ran through the streets of New Orleans. While the Pentagon claims the mission was unauthorized, Kerry claims it was a secret mission approved by the highest levels of the government. "I clearly remember listening to the radio and hearing President Bush deny that swift boats were in New Orleans," said Kerry. "And there I was on a swift boat in New Orleans. Dodging bullets. Scanning the shore for enemy fire and mortar attack. The band aid on my hand...

...'Would the response have been more urgent if the victims had been mainly white? Is economic class a factor even more than race? In Orleans Parish, where the boundaries are the same as the city limits, 66.6 percent of the residents are black. The black population nationwide is 12.1 percent. snip.. When 80 percent of the city's population, according to the mayor, evacuated before Hurricane Katrina, that left behind those with no cars, no resources, no way out. Twenty-one percent of Orleans Parish households earn less than $10,000 a year. Nearly 27,000 families are below the poverty level. Most of...

Rep. Charles Rangel, the gravelly voiced dean of the New York State congressional delegation, launched a blistering attack on Vice President Dick Cheney Friday night, calling him a "sick man" who was unfit to lead. In a rambling interview on NY1, the Harlem Democrat also said Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is the "guy who's running the country" - not Cheney or President George W. Bush. "Sometimes I don't think Cheney is awake enough to know what's going on," Rangel said. "He's a sick man, you know. He's got heart disease but the disease is not restricted to that part of...

In time of war, recruiters turn to young racing fans By Brian MacQuarrie, Globe Staff | August 28, 2005 BROOKLYN, Mich. -- Swiveling an imitation machine gun mounted on a mock Army jeep, young men and women fire round after round of laser ''bullets" at masked insurgents while ''patrolling" the dusty streets and sand-colored buildings of a war-pocked city that looks very much like Baghdad. ...snip... For Seger, the experience only heightened his interest in the Army. ''I've been thinking about joining ever since I was a little kid," he said. Seger's reaction is music to the ears of the...

OPINION - One of the few compensations of hitting deep middle age is that life leaves you with some experiences and with them, some perspective. Perspective, properly applied, equals judgment. That judgment is why old guys can sometime beat the young and exuberant. The news media gleefully reports that president’s poll numbers have collapsed and that Americans are becoming frustrated with the management of the war in Iraq. This has lured many reporters who do not have the benefit of middle-aged perspective, to conclude that there is a burgeoning anti-war movement. The problem with this is that when the network...

'while Republicans dither and practice politics of "nastiness and partisanship," Democratic legislators are showing the right stuff, connecting with people on their front porches and then going to the capitals to fix their problems.'

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Sen. John F. Kerry told state legislators Friday the Democratic Party doesn't need to undergo an extreme makeover, saying "the last thing America needs is a second Republican Party." After blistering Republicans on everything from Iraq to health care, Kerry said Democrats have an opportunity to rebuild nationally by simply addressing the concerns that affect people's daily lives -- energy, transportation, health care and security. "We have to go out and fight for the real issues that make a difference in the lives of the American people and we don't need some great lurch to the...

As you may know, those big, bad, wascally Republicans have long been stealing elections with a sleight-of-hand that would do Boss Tweed proud. It has gotten so bad that a philistine like George Bush was actually able to vanquish profoundly intellectual, eminently virtuous, truly great Americans like Al Gore and John Kerry in successive national elections. Can you imagine that? Why, since the inestimable character and acumen of these gentlemen could never fail to awe and inspire a majority of our countrymen, there must be subterfuge. Or, so the proverbial "they" say. But according to the most comprehensive and authoritative...

An effort was made to release the controversial documentary "Winter Soldier" during John Kerry's failed 2004 presidential campaign, but industry insiders decided to hold the film back fearing a backlash against Kerry. But with the election safely behind them, "Winter Soldier" -- a documentary which alleges atrocities by U.S. troops in Vietnam -- is set for re-release and is once again causing a stir. The Village Voice reports that last year a movie executive balked at screening "Winter Soldier” during John Kerry’s run for president for fear that it would do him more harm than good. After Kerry won the...

'SHOT TO CURE FLU FOR LIFE' Thu Aug 04 2005 19:34:29 ET BRITISH scientists are developing a revolutionary vaccine that works against all types of flu, the UK DAILY MAIL fronts on Friday. It would protect people against flu and a single jab could give lifelong immunity. Currently, new vaccines have to be developed each year. The major breakthrough has been made by the Cambridge biotech firm Acambis. When it announced the news yesterday the value of its shares jumped by 9p. Such a vaccine would be massively lucrative for its manufacturer. Each year, flu kills up to 12,000 people...

"Public's view of John Kerry growing more negative" PRINCETON, NJ -- Even though the next presidential election is more than three years away, those who might pursue the office are already testing the waters in New Hampshire, in Iowa, and at other gatherings where party power brokers are present. The latest Gallup Poll assessed the public's overall views of four possible contenders for the office and tested how they would fare today in a hypothetical election. A majority of Americans say they have favorable views of Republican and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.,...

The ascendant blogosphere has rattled the news media with its tough critiques and nonstop scrutiny of their reporting. But the relationship between the two is more complex than it might seem. In fact, if they stay out of the defensive crouch, the battered mainstream media may profit from the often vexing encounters. By Barb Palser Barb Palser, AJR's new-media columnist, is director of content for Internet Broadcasting Systems Inc. "We see you behind the curtain..and we're not impressed by either your bluster or your insults. You aren't higher beings, and everybody out here has the right--and ability--to fact-check your asses,...