Free Republic

WASHINGTON Just about everyone at this newspaper is sick at heart at the way one Times reporter betrayed our readers and all of us with his sustained deceit and plagiarism. The Times team investigating the lies of Jayson Blair — grimly front-paged and spread over four inside pages of yesterday's paper — found his phony interviews and faked articles "a low point in the 152-year history of the newspaper." The publisher called it "a huge black eye." How could this happen at the most rigorously edited newspaper in the world? We had plenty of warning: his 50-plus corrections in less...

Yesterday was the first time most New York Times readers will have realized the full extent of the damage that Jayson Blair and his enablers at the very top of the New York Times have done to the newspaper. To their credit, the Times' editors have laid out the full scope of deceipt and incompetence that allowed what they call this 152-year low-point to happen. But their own account is also devastating - not about the ingenious lies and fraud of Jayson Blair - but about how the New York Times is currently run and edited. What seems obvious is...

<p>''THE BOOKIE of Virtue.'' ''The Man of Virtues Has a Vice.'' One could almost visualize the gleeful rubbing of hands in response to the revelation that conservative activist, moralist, and best-selling author William Bennett is a heavy gambler, a ''preferred customer'' in several Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos. Bennett, a former secretary of education and former ''drug czar,'' has also been something of a self-appointed ''morals czar'' to the nation, celebrating old-fashioned virtues and castigating America's moral decline in his books, ''The Book of Virtues,'' ''The Moral Compass,'' and The Death of Outrage.'' To Bennett's liberal critics, he is the latest example of a self-righteous moralizer exposed as a hypocrite. To his conservative defenders, the liberals are the real hypocrites, claiming to champion privacy while joining a witch-hunt against Bennett for his private behavior.</p>

<p>At 94, Simon Wiesenthal has to be chauffeured to his office by his secretaries, skips public appearances, and cannot get out of his chair without bracing himself against the wall.</p> <p>But the legendary Nazi hunter perseveres in his unending mission: to keep the Holocaust from being forgotten.</p>

Jay Leno appeared as a guest host on The Today Show. In return, Katie Couric will be guest-hosting in Leno's place on the Tonight Show. No, this is not a joke - it really happened. Given that he is a seasoned TV personality, it was surprising that when Jay first came on, he appeared rather nervous and out of place. However, as the first half-hour went on, he seemed to relax and get into the swing. The show played a taped interview that Leno had conducted with Colin Powell that focused on Powell's current peace mission to the Israel. Powell...

The Drudge Report says the Christian-hating Walt Disney Co. is set to spend millions financing a new explosive documentary by anti-American Michael Moore who bashed president Bush on the Academy Awards telecast. Disney owns ABC-TV the Anybody But Christians network. Moore will make all kinds of allegaitons to undermine Bush and his family. Disney, via subsidiary Miramax, has agreed to cover the production costs, said to be in the millions, of Moore's planned Fahrenheit 911, Drudge reported. Miramax headed by Dumbocrat Big Bucks Donor Harvey Weinstein is Hitlery's paymaster. "The primary thrust of the new film is what has happened...

We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail! Good morning!! Do not let the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington, nor the brave members of our Nation's military who have given their lives to protect our freedom, die in vain!! Disney will be financing a Mickey Moore expose that will, among other things, allege the Bush family was responsible for enriching bin Laden in the years before 9/11. Moore says the main thrust of the show, however, will be what has happened since 9/11 and how President Bush has exploited the tragedy...

Freak show or circus? You be the judge 05/11/03 John Petkovic Plain Dealer Reporter Ladies and germs, step right up to the freakiest show in town. Where every stunt will tease, titillate and amuse the entire family. That is, if you're the Addams Family. Oh, no, the Bindlestiff Family Cirkus. The New York-based troupe is an orgy of bizarre stunts, burlesque tricks and wacko gags that are weirder than a 50-foot, three-headed woman with facial stubble. At 8 p.m. Thursday, the Bindlestiffs will unveil their latest production, "High Heels and Red Noses," when they hit the Beachland Ballroom and...

Monday May 12th, 2003, 12:15 Iraqi Politician: Hussein and His Sons Are Alive Dubai (Reuters) - The toppled Iraqi president Saddam Hussein and his two sons are live and are still staying in Iraq in the assessment of pro-American Iraqi politician Ahmad Chalabi. "Our sources confirm that he (Saddam) hasn't left Iraq", Chalabi told the Arabian newspaper 'Aschark El Ausat' in an interview published on Monday. "I can't say how I know it but Saddam is traveling with a special escort and his former advisers have no idea where he is and what he is doing." Saddam is together with...

<p>WASHINGTON/BEIJING -- The SARS virus can live for days in the stool and urine of patients, the World Health Organization said Sunday in a new report that could shed light on the frightening spread of the disease.</p> <p>Hong Kong scientists have suspected the virus could live in sewage -- something that could help explain an outbreak that affected residents at a large apartment complex.</p>

Ohio Set to Exempt Amish from Workers' Compensation Friday, May 9, 2003 Ohio's House and Senate passed a bill that would exempt members of Amish and other religious sects from paying workers' compensation premiums if it goes against their beliefs, the Associated Press reports. A spokesperson for Ohio Gov. Bob Taft says the governor is expected to sign the bill into law. The measure would cover groups that have been a recognized religion since 1950. In addition, the religious groups must carry a program with coverage for their members' insurance needs. Other states with large Amish and Mennonite populations...

Chechnya truck blast kills 30 At least 30 people were killed and dozens injured today when a truck packed with explosives blew up in a government compound in northern Chechnya. Sultan Ahmetkhanov, the top official in the Nadterechny region where the attack took place, said the suspected rebel attack damaged part of an administrative building and the HQ of the federal security service in the town of Znamenskoye, as well as about eight homes. At least 30 people died and two to three times that number were injured in the blast, he said. The ITAR-Tass news agency, citing Chechen administration...

Sidney Blumenthal, journalist turned Clintonist, has written a deeply reported, deeply partisan book about his time as a senior White House aide. Scores are settled, both petty and portentous, and the book is being passed around Washington, samizdat-style, so the various players can check the index for their names. But Mr. Blumenthal's focus is on proving that Hillary Clinton — his friend, former first lady and now junior senator from New York — was engaged in truth telling, not hyperbole, when she suggested that a "vast, right-wing conspiracy" set out to destroy her husband, the president. "The Clinton Wars" (Farrar,...

'Super-spreaders' of Sars are elderly: WHO   The make up of extremely infectious patients of the SARS virus, known as "super-spreaders," is becoming clearer, with many appearing to be the elderly or those already suffering medical ailments, a World Health Organization official said Monday. "Super spreaders" of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome are a handful of carriers who have infected 10 or more people, often family members and medical workers treating them. They are seen as a key link in the transmission of the respiratory disease. "We are getting more and more information on 'super spreaders' and it appears that...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARK WARS, PART 1 Debate roars over future of Yosemite Protesters, communities mobilize to fight Clinton-era anti-car plan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 12, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series exploring the controversy surrounding a massive plan underway by the U.S. Park Service to reduce the level of human access to America's most beloved national park – Yosemite. In this installment, WND explains the history of the plan and the efforts of local communities to put a stop to it. By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In late December 1996, a tropical storm...

<p>President Bush's triumphant "Top Gun" landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln had political photo op written all over it from the start.</p> <p>But the sniping over whether it was an outrageous waste of money is silly.</p>

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN MAY 11, 2003 17:32:04 ET XXXXX MICKEY MOORE: DISNEY TO FINANCE NEW BUSH-BASHING DOCUMENTARY DISNEY's modern-day magic kingdom has room for all: Now joining Mickey and Minnie and Pooh bear and Goofy -- is Hollywood badboy Michael Moore, the DRUDGE REPORT explains. The WALT DISNEY CO. is set to spend millions financing a new explosive Bush-bashing documentary from Michael Moore [BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE] -- a documentary which claims bin Laden was greatly enriched by the Bush family! DISNEY, via subsidiary MIRAMAX, has agreed to cover the production costs, said to be in the millions, of...

Clare Short resigns from government By Christopher Adams, Political Correspondent Clare Short, the international develpoment secretary, has resigned from Tony Blair's government after weeks of speculation about her position. She is expected to make a statement in the House of Commons later on Monday. Aides said she had quit over the issue of Iraq, but declined to elaborate. For several weeks, constant speculation about Ms Short's future has swept Westminster. Her verbal attack on Mr Blair's Iraq strategy before the conflict and threat to quit the cabinet led to suggestions she would not survive the next reshuffle. Last week, she...

Dear Lord, There's a young man far from home, called to serve his nation in time of war; sent to defend our freedom on some distant foreign shore. We pray You keep him safe, we pray You keep him strong, we pray You send him safely home ... for he's been away so long. There's a young woman far from home, serving her nation with pride. Her step is strong, her step is sure, there is courage in every stride. We pray You keep her safe, we pray You keep her strong, we pray You send her safely home...

<p>A thigh injury forced Anna Kournikova to withdraw from the Cloister Cup before her semifinal match.</p> <p>Kournikova quit the tournament Saturday after a practice earlier in the day. The withdrawal advanced fellow Russian Maria Sharapova to the final, where she beat Australian Christina Wheeler 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday.</p>