Free Republic

When words aren't enough to describe loss and trauma, images have the power to speak for us. This we witnessed in the moments following the first plane crashing into the World Trade Center. Most Americans sat transfixed and horrified in front of their televisions. Without access to television or the photographs published in newspapers and magazines, the destruction and the chaos of 9/11 would have been virtually impossible to imagine. For Ithaca-area residents George Sapio and Maura Stephens, who have made two humanitarian trips to Iraq this year, the loss of any innocent life resulting from political circumstances is tragic....

<p>The Bush administration has tried to minimize the importance of the false claims about Iraqi uranium purchases by saying that it was only 16 words in the State of the Union Address.</p> <p>The truth is that it was a crucial part of the case for going to war.</p>

When a Democratic politician needs to "get healthy," Katie Couric is normally brought in to groove some pitches down the middle of the plate for him to hit out of the park. In his just-completed interview with embattled California Gov. Gray Davis, the Today Show's Matt Lauer demonstrated that he's no slouch when it comes to serving them up on a platter for liberals looking to raise their batting average. Start with the format of the interview. Matt permitted Davis's wife to sit in. That's a tried-and-true technique to cast an unpopular pol in a softer and more sympathetic light....

In the course of just-completed interviews on The Today Show, Katie Couric wondered aloud whether, with respect to the justification for the war with Iraq, President Bush engaged in "a pattern of deception." Couric's guests were Senators Ted Kennedy and Republican Richard Shelby. Couric began with Kennedy, and started by lobbing him the softest of softballs: "We've seen a firestorm erupt. What is the most upsetting thing?" When Kennedy wandered too much into suggestions that NATO and other troops share part of the burden in Iraq, Katie yanked him bank to where she wanted to go - an attack on...

<p>MAMTA POPAT/Journal Staff Jessica Brown sits with her daughter Tia Bernegozzi, 4, at their home in Enfield. Brown was on public assistance for four years. She believes the food stamp applications should be more user-friendly.</p> <p>Program statistics: As of March of this year, 4,148 Tompkins County residents were receiving $340,109 in food stamp benefits. In 2001, according to The Nutrition Consortium of New York 11,412 -- or 12 percent of local residents -- were potentially eligible for food stamps.</p>

<p>ITHACA -- Organizers of what was billed as Ithaca's first gay pride celebration said Saturday's turnout exceeded their expectations.</p> <p>Micaela Salort-Medina, one of about six local people who coordinated Out in the Finger Lakes, said around 350 to 400 people marched in the parade from Washington Park to The Commons.</p>

<p>ITHACA -- When she returns to Baghdad, Maura Stephens will be looking up friends.</p> <p>They're people she met just weeks before the start of the war in Iraq. Stephens, of Spencer, is afraid for them and their families.</p> <p>"I hope they're alive and I hope to see them," she said.</p>

When I was growing up, there was a popular bumper sticker, seen mostly on the back of old VW vans that said: "What if there was a war and nobody came?" I am reminded of that bumper sticker now, in light of this administration's unprecedented attack on civil liberties. What if our basic rights were taken away and no one noticed? What if our system of checks and balances was destroyed and everyone remained convinced it was happening to someone else? Under current legislation, if you are "suspected" of terrorist activity, you can be picked up and held indefinitely, without...

THE TIMES CONTINUES TO UNRAVEL Our friend Caroline Baum found this item, reporting on an internal memo to staff from the Rocky Mountain News' editor/publisher/president John Temple, mandating new rules for the News' own reporters, but also regulating how they can re-use syndicated material from the New York Times. "...references to unnamed info-providers must be approved in advance 'by the managing editor or editor or, in their absence, the senior editor in charge of the newsroom' -- and the supervisor in question 'must also know the name of the source(s).' "More intriguing was Temple's newly declared policy in regard to...

Tompkins County Democrats spoke in grave tones about President Bush's attempts to push the third largest tax cut in history through Congress. Speaking at a news conference Friday, local Democrats said the tax cut, expected to total at least $350 billion, is a serious mistake for a nation that faces high unemployment, looming deficits and state budgets in turmoil. Dan Lamb, district representative for U.S. Congressman Maurice Hinchey (D), said 2.5 million jobs have been lost since Bush came to office, the worst record for any president in 50 years. The tax cut will cause greater problems, he said, by...

A study recently issued by student Republicans and Tompkins GOP Chair Mark Finkelstein has kindled accusations of liberal bias at Ithaca College. After checking voter registration records of 125 faculty members in 14 departments in the social sciences, Republicans found that 117 were registered Democrats or Greens while only eight were registered Republicans or Conservatives. The English, History and Politics departments have no Republicans, according to the study. Some may wonder what a professor's political background may have to do with, say, the study of authors like James Joyce. But Republicans argue that the lack of balance gives faculty members...

Toogood Reports [Weekender, May 4, 2003; 12:01 a.m. EST]URL: http://ToogoodReports.com/ A Few Good Persons If you're goin' to fight for freedom, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, If you go to fight for freedom, April time will be a love-in there. Remember the song, "San Francisco"? As written by John Phillips and sung by Scott McKenzie, it was a big hit in 1967, a time when the city by the bay was famous for "flower children." "If you're going to San Francisco, Be sure to wear some flowers in your hair, If you're going to San Francisco,...

ABC News and Peter Jennings' favorite country, Cuba, was named by the CPJ as one of the world's worst countries to be a journalist. The Committee to Protect Journalists named Iraq (news - web sites), where nine journalists died in the first three weeks of the U.S.-led invasion, the "worst place in the world" to be a journalist. Afghanistan (news - web sites) was fourth on the list released Friday by the U.S.-based media watchdog, which said its list of "10 worst places to be a journalist" reflected the physical danger, government harassment, jailings and intimidation faced by journalists....

BOSTON GLOBE CONTINUES FABRICATIONS On its front page today, the Boston Globe continues its misreporting and printing false information to deceive the Boston and American public for its thoroughly antiAmerican owners (NYTimes). On page 1 and then leading in to the War in Iraq section, Brian BacQuarrie, is disingenuous to America over and over claiming the torture chambers are a "ghost", a "tale", and mostly made up. Most importantly, the article claims that no one was found imprisoned -- despite the fact that yesterday over 100 men and women were freed from a cemented-in chamber. No matter that torture chambers...

ITHACA, N.Y., March 29 — The other night was Joan Baez, and tonight there will be gay and lesbian choruses. But Friday night the main feature at this small city's majestic State Theater was a congressman in the prerequisite gray suit, standing alone at a lectern and talking about geopolitics, oil and war. He wowed them. He said the war against Iraq was wrong, illegal, a tragedy. He said President Bush had deceived people and was stifling dissent rather than embracing diplomacy. He said that he had explored the prospect of impeachment, but that the time was not right, at...

Cornell Peace Protester: “Bomb Israel!”By Joseph J. SabiaFrontPageMagazine.com | March 11, 2003 Cornell University’s Anti-War Coalition—comprised of students, employees, campus religious leaders, and professors—urged students to "Skip Class for Peace" last week as part of their ongoing effort to protest U.S. military action in Iraq.  (Presumably, earlier proposals for “Make the Dean’s List for Peace” and “Work Overtime for Peace” were nixed.)  In lieu of attending classes, the wild mob of Stalinists gathered at the entrance to the main administration building and blamed the United States and Israel for world terrorism.The National Youth and Student Peace Coalition directed the rally,...

The Sun storms Paris Zut alors! ... The Sun's Paris editionClick pic to enlarge THE Sun is handing out a special edition of the paper on the streets of Paris today. In it we ask the French people if they are ashamed of their spineless President, Jacques 'Le Worm' Chirac: **Translation below** THE SUN, journal lu quotidiennement par dix millions de personnes, présente ses salutations aux parisiens. Nous pensons qu’en menaçant constamment de recourir à son droit de veto pour empêcher toute action militaire destinée à faire appliquer la volonté des Nations Unies en Irak, votre président, Jacques Chirac, est...

Letters of Recommendation Before you ask me to write you a letter of recommendation for graduate or professional school in the biomedical sciences, there are several criteria that must be met. The request for a letter is best made by making an appointment to discuss the matter with me after considering these three criteria: Criterion 1 You should have earned an "A" from me in at least one semester that you were taught by me. Criterion 2 I should know you fairly well. Merely earning an "A" in a lower-division class that enrolls 500 students does not guarantee that I...

Ads rushing out of Limbaugh show? Progressives take aim at radio program's sponsors By William Spain, CBS.MarketWatch.com Last Update: 12:04 AM ET Jan. 30, 2003 CHICAGO (CBS.MW) - A Rush to the exits? Though still in its infancy, a letter-writing campaign aimed at advertisers on "The Rush Limbaugh Show," has already claimed a few choice scalps -- and hopes to soon have other marketers saying "ditto." Kicked off last week on the website of a group called Take Back The Media, the effort is generating a growing buzz among online progressives (or, if you prefer, "liberals") -- along with hundreds...