As described in my story, "Porn, Hypocrisy, Plagiarism: The Dark Side of Jacksonville's Daily," the Florida Times-Union's opinion pieces -- especially those on national, international and legislative issues -- were largely culled from "research" fed to the paper by the far right.

In the examples below, the original source material is followed by the Times-Union version.

Imprimis, Hillsdale College, October 1996, "The Moral Case for the Flat Tax"

Scholars like former education secretary Bill Bennett and Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman have pointed out that every time you take a dollar out of one person’s pocket and put it into another’s you are making a moral decision.

Remember, says investor and philanthropist Theodore I Forstmann, "No government has ever borne the cost of anything. Taxes cost people. Tax cuts do not cost government."

According to the Family Research Council, a family of four at the median income in 1948 paid 2 percent of its income in taxes; in 1994 the figure was 25 percent.

The Forbes article lists six flat tax myths: "The flat tax would increase the budget deficit …hurt the housing industry and property owners…hurt charitable giving…raise taxes on the middle class…destroy municipal bonds."

Ralph Waldo Emerson said 150 years ago. "A dollar is not value, but representatives of value, and at last, of moral value."

Times-Union Editorial, Dec. 15, 1996, "Taxes: Let Clinton Lead"

Every time an elected official votes to take money from one hard-working family and give it to another person, he is making a moral decision.

Taxes are a cost to people, not government. Reducing them reduces cost to those people.

Much written about stagnant wages overlooks the fact that the average family paid 2 percent of its income to the federal government in 1948 and pays 25 percent today.

What the flat tax would not do is increase the federal budget deficit, hurt the housing industry, reduce charitable contributions, raise taxes on the middle class or harm municipal bonds.

(This editorial uses a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson and does attribute the quote to Forbes, but does not note it is lifted from the Imprimis article.)

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Employment Policies Institute, June 2002, "Executive Summary, The Employment Impact of a Comprehensive Living Wage Law/Evidence from Florida"

Currently, 82 local governments, including three in Florida, have passed such living wage laws. In addition, living wage campaigns are active in 125 jurisdictions, including five in Florida.

In 1999, Miami-Dade County passed a living wage ordinance, which now requires the county and contractors to pay their employees $8.81 with benefits, or $10.09 without benefits.

Living wage advocate Bruce Nissen….has recently urged the state to pass a $6.00 minimum wage applicable to all employers, and to require the state to pay even higher wages for state government employees and contractors.

This report examines the employment and income consequences of setting a minimum wage throughout Florida of $8.81 or $10.09, wage levels corresponding to the Miami-Dade County law for employers.

Such minimum wages would result in approximately 131,000 to 222,000 workers losing their jobs.

Employers would see their wage costs skyrocket in the range of $4.9 billion to $8.8 billion.

Many of the projected wage gains would go to low-wage workers in higher income families rather than to those most in need. For example, about one-third of the wage gains would go to the families with incomes above $40,000.

Finally, compared with living wage mandates, targeted employment tax credits are a better policy to assist poor families because they reward work, do not cause workers to lose jobs, and also reduce costs by providing assistance only to those in need.

Times-Union Editorial, July 14, 2002, "Business: Pink-Slip Law"

Currently, 82 local governments, including three in Florida, have passed such laws. Campaigns are active in 125 jurisdictions, including five in Florida, according to the Employment Policies Institute.

In 1999, Miami-Dade County passed a living wage ordinance requiring the county and contractors to pay employees $8.81 an hour with benefits, or $10.09 without benefits.

One living wage advocate has asked the state for a $6 minimum wage applicable to all employers, and to require the state to pay even higher wages for state government employees and contractors.

A study done at the University of Florida for EPI examines the employment and income consequences of setting a minimum wage throughout Florida of $8.81 or $10.09, the wage levels in the Dade County law for employers.

Such minimum wages would result in approximately 131,000 to 222,000 workers losing their jobs.

Employers would see their wage costs skyrocket in the range of $4.9 billion to $8.8 billion.

Many of the projected wage gains would go to low-wage workers in higher income families rather than to those most in need. About one-third of the wage gains would go to the families with incomes above $40,000.

Compared with living wage mandates, targeted employment tax credits are a better policy to assist poor families because they reward work, do not cause workers to lose jobs, and also reduce costs by providing assistance only to those in need.

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The Jerusalem Post, June 12, 2002, "Stop Apologizing for 1967" by Michael Freund

Pointing out that Israel’s four Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon combined had 60 times the land area of the Jewish state, Eshkol suggested that the pursuit of war by the Arabs was a needless waste of precious human and material resources.

All he asked from the Arabs, said Eshkol, was "full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the States in the region." Israel’s offer of peace was met two years later with a clear and unequivocal Arab response. Egypt and Syria mobilized their armies and vowed to destroy the Jewish state.

On May 30, Cairo Radio was even more explicit: "Israel has two choices, both of which are drenched with Israel’s blood: Either it will be strangled by the Arab military and economic siege, or it will be killed by the bullets of the Arab armies surrounding it from the south, from the north and from the east." A week later the war began. And a week after that, it had ended, leaving Israel in control of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

Times-Union Editorial, May 31, 2003, "Mideast: Two Steps Back"

Pointing out that Israel’s four Arab neighbors, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon, combined had 60 times the land area of the Jewish state, Eshkol suggested that the pursuit of war by the Arabs was a needless waste of precious human and material resources.

All Eshkol asked in return was "full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the states in the region." The offer was met two years later with an unequivocal Arab response. Egypt and Syria mobilized armies, intent on destroying the Jewish state.

Cairo Radio was explicit: "Israel has two choices, both of which are drenched with Israel’s blood: Either it will be strangled by the Arab military and economic siege, or it will be killed by the bullets of the Arab armies surrounding it from the south, from the north and from the east." A week later the war began. A week after that, it was over, leaving Israel in control of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan Heights.

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Stanfordfanz.net Message Board, April 10, 2003, "Weird Liberals"

"The United States is going to leave Iraq with its tail between its legs, defeated. It is a war we cannot win. We do not have the military means to take over Baghdad and for this reason I believe the defeat of the United States in this war is inevitable. Every time we confront Iraqi troops we may win some tactical battles, as we did for ten years in Vietnam, but we will not be able to win this war, which in my opinion is already lost." - Scott Ritter, South African TV.

"I bet you in the Pentagon the military planning assumes 5,000 to 10,000 American casualties and at least 100,000 to 250,000 civilian casualties in downtown Baghdad. All on CNN." - Gary Hart, Denver Post, March 30.

"Iraqis, very clearly, do not want to be ‘liberated,’ even many who had long opposed Saddam’s brutal regime. To the contrary, the US-British invasion appears to have ignited genuine national resistance among 17 million Arab Iraqis, just as the 1941 German invasion of the USSR rallied Russians and Ukrainians behind Stalin’s hated regime. ... The nasty, bloody urban warfare the Americans and Brits sought to avoid at all costs is now confronting them." - Eric Margolis, ForeignCorrespondent.com.

"Though Operation Iraqi Freedom has been underway for only two weeks, Rumsfeld’s "shock and awe" strategy was a flop. Pentagon strategists expected to have taken Baghdad by Mar. 27. Best-laid plans and all that: U.S. generals, worried that they don’t have enough men on the front lines, are considering whether to lay siege to Baghdad, bomb it to ruins or take it one block at a time. Basra hasn’t fallen. Suicide bombers are on the loose, we’re offing civilians and the Iraqi army has gone guerilla. And we hold a mere 4,000 Iraqi POWs. Only 45 Americans and Britons have died so far — compared to 112 total combat deaths in 1991 — but allied casualties will soar if and when ground troops are ordered to take Baghdad... In this respect, Iraqis are no different than we are. Millions of Americans consider Bush to be a hateful, extremist dimwit who seized power twice, once in an unconstitutional judicial coup d’état and again by using the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext to expand his personal power and gut the Bill of Rights."

"Have you ever seen such amazing arrogance wedded to such awesome incompetence?" - Molly Ivins, March 16, 2003.

Times-Union Editorial, April 15, 2003, "Iraq: Accountability"

One hero of the anti-war leftists was Scott Ritter, a former weapons inspector who said this: "The United States is going to leave Iraq with its tail between its legs, defeated. It is a war we cannot win. We do not have the military means to take over Baghdad and for this reason I believe the defeat of the United States in this war is inevitable. Every time we confront Iraqi troops we may win some tactical battles, as we did for 10 years in Vietnam, but we will not be able to win this war, which in my opinion is already lost." Ritter was praised widely by the left for his courage and foresight.

On March 30, Gary Hart of Monkey Business fame, who still wants to be president, said, "I bet you in the Pentagon the military planning assumes 5,000 to 10,000 American casualties and at least 100,000 to 250,000 civilian casualties in downtown Baghdad." Call Hart to collect your winnings.

One of our favorites:

"Iraqis, very clearly, do not want to be ‘liberated,’ even many who had long opposed Saddam’s brutal regime. To the contrary, the U.S.-British invasion appears to have ignited genuine national resistance among 17 million Arab Iraqis, just as the 1941 German invasion of the USSR rallied Russians and Ukrainians behind Stalin’s hated regime. ... The nasty, bloody urban warfare the Americans and Brits sought to avoid at all costs is now confronting them." This from a pundit named Eric Margolis, who must have wept when the Saddam statue fell in Firdos Square.

The war was, for all intent and purposes, decided in three weeks. Two weeks after it began, ultraliberal columnist Ted Rall ranted, "... Rumsfeld’s ‘shock and awe’ strategy was a flop. Pentagon strategists expected to have taken Baghdad by March 27. Best-laid plans and all that: U.S. generals, worried that they don’t have enough men on the front lines, are considering whether to lay siege to Baghdad, bomb it to ruins or take it one block at a time. Basra hasn’t fallen. Suicide bombers are on the loose, we’re offing civilians and the Iraqi army has gone guerilla. And we hold a mere 4,000 Iraqi POWs. Only 45 Americans and Britons have died so far — compared to 112 total combat deaths in 1991 — but allied casualties will soar if and when ground troops are ordered to take Baghdad ... In this respect, Iraqis are no different than we are. Millions of Americans consider Bush to be a hateful, extremist dimwit who seized power twice, once in an unconstitutional judicial coup d’etat and again by using the Sept. 11 attacks as a pretext to expand his personal power and gut the Bill of Rights."

Liberal columnist Molly Ivins could have been referring to the above rather than the leaders of her own country when she wrote on March 16:

"Have you ever seen such amazing arrogance wedded to such awesome incompetence?"

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Editor’s Note: In response to Folio Weekly's articles, the Times-Union announced the formation of a panel to review the allegations of apparent plagiarism.

On Nov. 2, three weeks after Folio Weekly published its stories, Florida Times-Union Publisher Carl Cannon announced Editorial Page Editor Lloyd Brown’s resignation.