Free Republic

"The more you know, the less you need." "Think globally, act locally." These are just two of dozens of bumper stickers that Jack Powell has carefully arranged on his white van. They've become stuck in his psyche as well. A longtime singer and guitarist with the Zucchini Brothers and a substitute teaching assistant for Washington-Saratoga-Warren-Hamilton-Essex BOCES, Powell has lived frugally for years. He works about three days a week as a sub, earning about $70 a day, with no benefits. From March to October, he rides his bike 20 miles to work when work is available. Sometimes he works for...

Scott Ritter ...a card-carrying Republican former Marine who was one of the United Nation’s top weapons inspectors in Iraq between 1991 and 1998, will make his third appearance at SUNY New Paltz to discuss the latest developments in Iraq and Iran and his new book, Iraq Confidential: The Untold Story of the Intelligence Conspiracy to Undermine the UN and Overthrow Saddam Hussein. AND Joan Mandle, Executive Director of Democracy Matters, will speak on various approaches to reclaim our government. Thursday March 16th JULIEN J. STUDLEY THEATRE SUNY NP - 7 PM ...What the Bush administration does not want you to...

NEW ORLEANS — It was the epicenter of disaster, and now it’s a tourist attraction. The Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans is still the site of unsalvageable wrecks — homes completely unanchored from their foundations, upside-down and rusted-out pickup trucks, spray-painted symbols denoting the number of dead that rescue workers found inside. But the area is on the rise — and perhaps the best indication that it’s a much different time from August 2005 is the crowds of disaster tourists, out-of-towners in four-wheel-drive trucks and chartered buses surveying for themselves the damage they had seen on television. Disaster tourism...

The first gay couple to be unofficially married in New Paltz, Billiam vanRoestenberg and Jeffrey McGowan, are splitting up after two years of marriage. VanRoestenberg told midhudsonnews.com of the split and that he is “very distraught” over it. McGowan is said to have been the partner that sought the separation. According to midhudsonnews.com, the New York State courts have ruled that marriage, as defined by the state Constitution, is a union between a man and a woman. No court decision invalidated any of the solemnizations between the same-sex couples in New Paltz. Almost exactly two years ago, on Feb. 27,...

<p>The Supreme Court dealt a setback Tuesday to abortion clinics in a two-decade-old legal fight over anti-abortion protests, ruling that federal extortion and racketeering laws cannot be used to ban demonstrations.</p> <p>The 8-0 decision ends a case that the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had kept alive despite a 2003 ruling by the high court that lifted a nationwide injunction on anti-abortion groups led by Joseph Scheidler and others.</p>

Betty Friedan (1921-2006) died last Saturday at the age of 85. Eulogies have stacked up quickly for the feminist icon: Friedan founded modern feminism; she rescued women from the '50s; she pioneered the brave 'new woman' who now strides through society. I disagree with those eulogies about the content of Friedan's legacy. The disagreement contains no malice; however, because Friedan is a public and now-historical figure, an accurate view of her social impact is simply necessary. Accuracy may be especially important as the impact of her death is already being used (or abused) by various political organizations and groups to...

http://www.nbc30.com/news/6155121/detail.html All day I considered losing my anonymity to post this, but it's too important to let it go. I have seen that Freepers are an extremely supportive bunch, so I knew this was a good idea. My brother has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and it is has been in the single digits/teens in CT since yesterday. My brother left home without his wallet, carrying just a backpack. He said he was going for a walk and never returned. My family and I are worried SICK. We need all the prayer we can get. Pray that my younger brother...

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Dr. Harry Hull, the state epidemiologist, said the cases do not pose a threat to the general public because most people have been vaccinated against polio (search) and are unlikely to have contact with Amish people. But he said he expects to find more infections within the Amish community because some of its members refuse immunizations on religious grounds. None of the children have shown any symptoms of the paralyzing disease. About one in 200 people who contract the polio virus suffer paralysis because of it; others typically rid themselves the virus after weeks or months....

ALBANY, N.Y. — A prosecutor dropped all charges Tuesday against a small town mayor who could have faced up to a year in jail for marrying gay couples on the steps of the village hall. New Paltz Mayor Jason West (search), then 26, was among the first public officials in the nation to marry same-sex couples, following San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom (search) in February 2004. He had been charged with 24 misdemeanor counts of violating the state's domestic relations law after marrying about two dozen gay couples in ceremonies that drew national attention to the village of about 13,000...

"What do you want?" NYSUT President Dick Iannuzzi shouted to a pumped-up crowd of 20,000, his image projected onto the huge television screens from the overhanging scoreboard. "A contract!" they screamed back. "When do you want it?" he asked. The crowd roared: "Now!"If you pulled together even a fraction of the NYSUT members supporting the United Federation of Teachers in its long struggle for a new contract, you could, well, fill New York City 's Madison Square Garden .That's just what unionists from around the state did June 2, joining in a massive "Rock the Garden" rally marking the second...