Free Republic

This is what the situation in Ferguson -- where authorities seemed determined not to prosecute the cop who shot and killed unarmed black teen Mike Brown in August -- has devolved to. It's necessary for people to start kinda acting like jerks. The key word in that sentence is "necessary." It has to be done. Call them Jerks for Justice. I'm in! Let's briefly review the story so far. It's been 57 days since 18-year-old Brown was gunned down on a residential street in the St, Louis suburb, by Police Officer Darren Wilson. There are legitimate unanswered questions about why...

PHILADELPHIA - The Philadelphia Inquirer on Tuesday began a round of long-expected layoffs amid a drop in circulation and ad revenue. Several reporters at the Inquirer, Pennsylvania's largest newspaper, said they were told Tuesday morning that their jobs were being eliminated. The employees said that they were told to meet with personnel officials on Wednesday to discuss details of their severance pay and health benefits. The specific number of layoffs is still unclear because some Inquirer employees have already taken other jobs since word of the impending layoffs was announced in November. Neither company spokesman Jay Devine nor Inquirer editor...

Marimow Predicts 'Painful' Cuts At 'Philadelphia Inquirer' Jed Kirschbaum/Baltimore 'Sun' Bill Marimow By Joe Strupp Published: November 09, 2006 10:55 AM ET NEW YORK Incoming Philadelphia Inquirer Editor William Marimow told his new staff Wednesday that cuts are likely at the legendary paper, but promised that the daily would continue to provide quality news, although more of it local, the Inquirer reported Thursday. "With the paper facing a costly fall in national advertising and tough union contract talks with a Nov. 30 deadline, Marimow warned of 'painful' staff cuts and narrower horizons at a paper that has prided itself on...

NEW YORK Joe Natoli, publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer and Daily News, is leaving the papers. He has accepted a job with the University of Miami as chief financial officer. The Inquirer reported that Brian Tierney, CEO of Philadelphia Media Holdings, and consultant Gordon Medenica will share Natoli's duties. "For some time now, I have thought about taking on a new challenge, this after 30 years in the newspaper business. I wanted an opportunity where I could learn new things, contribute to the community and spend some more time with my family," Natoli wrote in a staff memo. Natoli was...

A YEAR ago, I was talking on the phone to the editor of a major newspaper for a column I was working on. With business concluded, we had The Conversation, the one about the large boulder that seems to be tumbling through the newspaper business. "How old are you?" he asked. Forty-nine, I told him. "Me too. Do you think we outrun this thing?" I said I thought so. But I wonder whether it will be the same for my friend Michael Schaffer. At 32, Michael Currie Schaffer — one of two Michael Schaffers who writes for The Inquirer —...

Back when President Bush was riding high - before the public turned sour on Iraq, before conservatives got mad about his lavish federal spending and his Harriet Miers nomination - it was widely assumed that the 2008 Republican presidential candidates would vie amongst themselves for the right to proudly carry their leader's torch. But that's not happening. The Republican hopefuls - as many as a dozen men who already are jockeying for advantage - don't want to be perceived as insiders and heirs to the Bush political establishment. On the contrary, most of them are trying to advertise their independence,...

The Inquirer and Daily News have announced plans to cut some 100 writers and reporters along with other newsroom employees.That is 16 percent of staff. Falling advertising revenues and circulation are blamed. Actually, sheer stupidity and arrogance could account for a good part of the declining circulation. I have tried over the past months to save the Inquirer, but alas, the left-wing, liberal commissars there have refused to follow my advice and accept my aid.They continue to preach to the choir.Anything and everything bad is "Bush's fault."Tony Auth is even calling Katrina "George's Hurricane."Inquirer editor Amanda Bennett said, "as long...

Every so often, a member of the economic orthodoxy decides to attack me personally in print. Today I'd like to address a column in The Philadelphia Inquirer, with this question as its lead: "Will China's decision to unpeg its currency to the U.S. dollar make Lou Dobbs shut up?" This was written by a nasty piece of business by the name of Andrew Cassel, who calls me "pompous," "portly" and a "protectionist." First, let me answer Cassel's question: No, it won't. By the way, Andrew, bad timing. The People's Bank of China now says that the 2 percent revaluation of...

TO: Editorial Staff Philadelphia Inquirer 215-854-4483 Why did it not surprise me that the so-called elitist and dedicated socialist staff of your paper came out in support of John Kerry, a traitor to his country, and a hero in Vietnam where he is honored as a hero in their struggle with the American? It didn’t surprise me, since in the past your socialist minded editorial staff supported: 1. John Kennedy who got us into that war, which we incidentally lost due to the actions of the likes of John Kerry, Bill & Hillary Clinton, Jane Fonda, others and more likely...

The choice is vivid. The stakes are vast. Our nation is threatened by jihad warriors who scoff at boundaries. It stumbles toward a fiscal ruin that will punish our children. The rules that protect our air, water and health are weaker than we know. When 45 million of our neighbors fall ill, they have no insurance card to hand to the doctor. We boast of exporting liberty and rule of law, yet watch them erode at home. A hooded prisoner on a box has replaced a soaring lady with a lamp as the global icon of America's intentions. Our national...

Unfit for CommandSwift Boat Veterans Speak Out Against John Kerry By John O'Neill and Jerome E. Corsi Regnery. 216 pp. $27.95 Nemesis was the Greek goddess of retribution. Her name has come to be used to designate anyone relentless in the pursuit of vengeance. John O'Neill is John Kerry's nemesis. O'Neill is the man behind Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which has run a couple of television ads sharply critical of Kerry's military record. John O'Neill was also the commander of Swift Boat PCF 94. The man he succeeded as commander was none other than John Kerry. O'Neill served in...

Democrats seem more united than ever By DICK POLMAN Philadelphia Inquirer WASHINGTON - When the AFL-CIO staged a sun-kissed lovefest for John Kerry the other day, with the White House glimmering just two blocks away, the portable JBL loudspeakers blasted the opening stanzas of "Street Fighting Man," by the Rolling Stones. Whether intended or not, the lyrics were perfect: "Where I live, the game to play is compromise solution." And that was labor's game, played out for the sake of Democratic party unity. Labor had flatly rejected John Kerry last year when his candidacy flagged, yet now here he was...