Free Republic

'Stunned' superintendent reacts to national TV segment saying Decatur 'has bad schools' By Bayne Hughes hughes@decaturdaily.com · 340-2432 Superintendent Sam Houston issued a "y'all come" invitation to the New York studios of the "Today Show" after a segment Thursday morning claimed that Decatur "has bad schools." Houston sent a letter to "Today Show" officials inviting them to see Decatur's education status. The letter is in response to a statement correspondent Barbara Corcoran made. In a comparison of $500,000 real estate, she said a buyer could buy a two-bedroom townhouse in a gated community in Tucson, Ariz., or a four-bedroom, 3,800-square-foot...

Apparently, Fred Thompson had lapses of judgment during his trip to Iowa last week. No, he didn’t suggest he would bomb Pakistan. He didn’t state that he was going to “take” anybody’s earned profits, nor did he make any similar political faux-pas. That was someone else. He did, however, wear Gucci loafers and ride around in a golf cart. That’s right. According to Fox News, Thompson’s Iowa travels involved mistakes such as “wearing Gucci loafers at a country fair.” Really? That’s the mistake? Before we even get to the merits of wearing Gucci loafers (which in the video look a...

A media analyst fears an upcoming CNN special will attempt to create a moral equivalency between all religions. Bob Knight says it appears the network is trying to equate Muslim homicide bombers with evangelical Christians. Starting August 21, CNN plans to air a three-night, six-hour documentary in prime time called God's Warriors. The special, hosted by chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour, will purportedly discuss "the impact of religious fundamentalism as a powerful political force around the world." CNN says the documentary will feature what it calls "patriot pastors who seek to change American culture through the ballot box," "parents who...

"This is really an organization that's evolving. On the one hand, they're a political organization, they want to stay in political power, and of course on the other hand they're a military organization who are fighting for independence against Israel."

It seems that the Lebanese army is starting to inspect and neutralize all of the unexploded artillery and other ordinance that Shamnesty is so worried about. This photograph is rather odd, though. It's extremely grainy, due to high levels of jpeg compression, but it purports to be two members of the Lebanese Army inspecting an unexploded missile. What's odd is that the object they're studying doesn't readily appear to be a missile to me—Could it be an external fuel tank? Some other piece of artillery? Humpback whale? Beats me. As usual, if you have exceptional eyesight and vast stores of...

Eddie Johnson is still getting over what he calls the worst day of his life. He scratched his way out of the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago, fashioned a long, successful NBA career, turned that into an opportunity on TV and built a reputation as an all-around good guy who loves to work with kids. His worst scrape with the law involved a couple of traffic tickets. Now he's dealing with a case of mistaken identity that shocked him and his friends and may have permanently sullied his reputation. Eddie Johnson was mistaken in some media reports for another Eddie...

 A recent article by Pulitzer-winning AP writer Charles Hanley entitled “Half of U.S. still believes Iraq had WMD” builds a not so subtle argument: those who believe Saddam Hussein still had WMD need to get fitted for tin foil hats. He begins the piece with a reasonable question “Do you believe Saddam Hussein had WMD in 2003?” What follows is an examination of possible reasons why fifty percent of American’s said yes: experts see a raft of reasons why: a drumbeat of voices from talk radio to die-hard bloggers to the Oval Office, a surprise headline here or there, a rallying around a...

Athletically speaking, Gay Games VII was a joke. Everybody knows true competition shouldn't include hefty figure skaters, any kind of line dancing or games best played with a beer in your hand. More than winning medals and breaking records, Gay Games participants talked of the importance of participating, having fun, being "out and proud," making strides toward a more accepting America and all that jazz. All around Chicagoland, guys kissed guys in the on-deck circle. Girls kissed girls between billiard matches. They didn't feel afraid or scared or judged. And in those eight days of reprieve -- something special happened...

July 24: As Israeli assaults continue, the humanitarian crisis in Lebanon worsens. NBC's Richard Engel reports from Beirut. Nightly News with Brian Williams Read the broadcast's blog, The Daily Nightly Latest news from MSNBC.com

BILL KELLER ISN'T VERY BRIGHT, or else he thinks you aren't. How else to explain this passage in his apologia for the Times' publication of classified information about the terrorist financial surveillance program: "Some of the incoming mail quotes the angry words of conservative bloggers and TV or radio pundits who say that drawing attention to the government's anti-terror measures is unpatriotic and dangerous. (I could ask, if that's the case, why they are drawing so much attention to the story themselves by yelling about it on the airwaves and the Internet.)" I realize that the Times' circulation is falling...

An article and a picture caption yesterday about the funeral of Sgt. Jose Gomez of Queens, who was killed on April 20 in Iraq, referred incorrectly to the Army representative who comforted his mother. She was a sergeant first class — an enlisted woman, not an officer. The article also misstated the name of a service medal that a general presented to Sergeant Gomez's mother. It is a Purple Heart, not a Purple Star. In some copies, a picture of the coffin being carried out of a funeral home carried an erroneous credit. The photographer was Ozier Muhammad of The...

by Mark Finkelstein May 3, 2006 Matt Lauer conducted a wide-ranging interview this morning with Rex Tillerson, Chairman and CEO of Exxon/Mobil. Lauer's tone was unantagonistic, and for that matter he was clearly grateful to Tillerson, the lone CEO among the Big Oil companies to accept Today's invitation. Still, there was some bad economics on display, along with a notable attempt by Matt Lauer to make the GOP look like ingrates to an industry with which they've been cozy. Tillerson put in a solid, undefensive performance. Here are highlights: Lauer: "Critics say the big oil companies crushed the competition and...

The National Geographic Society released the manuscript of what is called "The Gospel of Judas" yesterday. By National Geographic's own account, a team first assembled by the Maecenas Foundation has been working on the text since 2001. As a result of press releases tied to publication of the text, widespread coverage has repeated the claim that this is an authentic and unique representation of the historical relationship between Jesus and Judas, and that Jesus encouraged Judas to betray him. Despite the careful work by scholars that has gone into a document of obvious interest, I have to express disappointment when...

A Seaside man narrowly escaped with his life after being pistol-whipped in a gang-related dispute Friday morning, according to the Seaside Police Department. Police went to the 1300 block of Noche Buena Street around 11:15 a.m. A 19-year-old man told police that Hector Ramos, also 19, whom the victim was vaguely acquainted with, had struck him across the face with a pistol. Police said the victim suffered a broken nose. The man said that after Ramos pistol-whipped him, he loaded a chamber of the pistol, and then pointed the firearm at him. But when Ramos pulled the trigger, according to...

There was an astonishing amount of ignorance and incompetence on display in the Dick Cheney hunting accident. No, I'm not referring to the vice president's actions. Instead, I'm talking about the ignorance of so much of the news media on the subject of firearms. [...]

Correction: In the original version of this report, NEWSWEEK misquoted Falwell as referring to "assault ministry." In fact, Falwell was referring to "a salt ministry"—a reference to Matthew 5:13, where Jesus says "Ye are the salt of the earth." We regret the error.

by Mark Finkelstein January 30, 2006 - 08:29 With all the speculation about Katie Couric moving to the CBS Evening News anchor desk, a guy like me whose shtick is to cover her antics at the Today show could be concerned about his blogging future. Not to worry. Flipping over to Good Morning America today reassured me: there is an apparently inexhaustible supply of liberal media bias and the talking heads to spout it. The topic was President Bush's impending State of the Union Address. In assembling its panel, GMA resorted to an old MSM trick - coupling a fire-breathing...

The Federalist Society has sent a letter to ABC Nightline where they demand that ABC News investigate the producer, reporter, and anchor in their report on Jan 23rd, 2006 where they accuse Supreme Court Justice Antione Scalia of violating judicial ethics laws in attending a Federalist Society CLE Course instead of watching Chief Justice Robert's swearing in ceremony. Here is the Letter from The Federalist Society: Mr. David Westin President ABC News 7 West 66th Street New York, NY 10023 Dear Mr. Westin: I write to express my deep disappointment and concern about a January 23rd report aired on ABC's...

WASHINGTON -- President Bush has long cultivated the image of a macho rancher, frequently donning his boots and Wrangler jeans to clear brush on his sprawling Texas property. But he was decidedly noncommittal today — and even a bit nonplused — when asked for his reaction to the most talked-about ranching film in years: "Brokeback Mountain." "I hadn't seen it," Bush told thousands of students and professors at Kansas State University, responding to a query from an audience member. "I'd be glad to talk about ranching, but I haven't seen the movie." The movie, featuring the love story of two...

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 19, 2006 (Zenit.org).- The Holy See has not launched a campaign to rehabilitate Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus, says a Vatican representative to whom the media have attributed words he never said. The question arose after the news that the Swiss-based Maecenas Foundation for Ancient Art and U.S.-based National Geographic magazine intended to publish at Easter the content of a first-century manuscript, with the apocryphal gospel of Judas. Until now, knowledge of this writing came only from the second-century bishop, St. Irenaeus. The announced publication sparked a debate in Italy over the figure of Judas Iscariot....