Free Republic

BALTIMORE -- Philip Berrigan, the former priest whose fight against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons helped ignite a generation of anti-war dissent, has died of cancer. He was 79. Berrigan's family said he was diagnosed with cancer two months ago and decided to stop chemotherapy last month. He died Friday night at Jonah House, the communal residence for pacifists that he founded. His brother, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, officiated over last rites ceremonies Nov. 30, attended by friends and peace activists, family members said. Berrigan led the "Catonsville 9," a group that staged one of the most dramatic protests...

Guantanamo, Cuba—A group of anti-war protesters awaiting sentencing on charges of throwing blood on a soldier, a recruiting station and the U.S. flag are now in Cuba, protesting the alleged treatment of terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay.According to a Ithaca Journal, the three Ithaca residents, “Daniel Burns, Clare Grady and Teresa Grady, have joined about 25 other protesters fasting since Monday at a Cuban military checkpoint outside the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay.” The group is demanding access to the hundreds of detainees being held at the naval base, some since just after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11,...

<p>Anyone who doubts that news media hostility to religious-based activism is often political at its core need only review the media's treatment of three Dominican nuns sentenced last week to federal prison in Denver for damaging government property at a missile silo. For months the three were regularly applauded in the Colorado press, the subject of tributes in columns and a number of one-sided news reports. One Rocky Mountain News writer started his commentary on the nuns' impending prison stint with the following warning: "We like to think of ourselves as a just nation. So if you want to hold onto that thought, you might want to stop reading here."</p>

Lisa Guido, Peter DeMott and Grace Ritter of Ithaca and 13 others were arrested on December 28, 1:30 pm at the White House in Washington DC for participating in a nonviolent, peaceful die-in to protest the ongoing war against Iraq and the invasion of Iraq, now well underway. Some of the participants poured their own blood on themselves during the protest. DeMott and Ritter were charged with participating in a stationary demonstration in a restricted area and released with an order to appear in DC court on April 16; Guido is still being held. All three were part of the...