Free Republic

Protesters have been on location since October 15 A spokesman for Miami-Dade County has confirmed it has served Occupy Miami protesters an eviction notice. They must leave the West Lawn of the Stephen P. Clark County building by sundown or face arrest for trespassing. Miami-Dade police say they do plan to issue the disperse order starting at 5 p.m.

Possible presidential candidate Rick Santorum conceded Sunday that he made a "mistake" in voting for the Medicare prescription drug benefit back in 2003, as he tried to bolster his fiscal credentials. Santorum, a former Republican Pennsylvania senator, told "Fox News Sunday" that there were two things wrong with the bill creating the program, which is now estimated to cost about $60 billion a year, contributing to the country's out-of-control deficit. Santorum said Congress should not have made the program universal and should have found a mechanism with which to pay for it.

Arizona state politicians will introduce model legislation this week to encourage states to prevent children of illegal immigrants from being granted citizenship under the 14th Amendment. Lawmakers in at least 14 states have said they are committed to passing the legislation targeting birthright citizenship. Arizona's anti-illegal-immigrant bill, SB-1070, was also based on model legislation that could be easily copied by states, and at least seven states are likely to pass bills similar to the first Arizona immigration overhaul this year, according to one analysis by an immigrants rights group. Arizona state Senator Russell Pearce will unveil the bill Jan. 5...

LOCKED in the grip of drug addiction, the only thing mum-of-nine Felicia LeMay cared about was getting her next hit of crystal meth. The victims of her deadly habit included her baby son, who was born hooked on the drug and put straight into care by social workers. But the birth helped create a turning point in Felicia's life, and when she fell pregnant again she agreed to take part in a controversial sterilisation scheme which has caused a storm in America - and could be about to hit Britain. US campaigner Barbara Harris runs Project Prevention - a group...

Around 1,000 pregnant women who are illegal immigrants will no longer receive prenatal services through the federal-state Medicaid program, beginning in early spring, according to Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services leaders. The prenatal care issue creates a conflict between two state goals: On the immigration front, senators have wanted to make certain that illegal immigrants do not get any public benefits, passing strong anti-immigration legislation (LB403) last year. Because of the strong pro-life sentiment, Nebraska also has provided Medicaid coverage for all pregnant women, regardless of their immigration status. The assumption is that the prenatal coverage also is...

(1) We support smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama's "stimulus" bill; (2) We support market-based health care reform and oppose Obama-style government run healthcare; (3) We support market-based energy reforms by opposing cap and trade legislation; (4) We support workers' right to secret ballot by opposing card check; (5) We support legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants; (6) We support victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges; (7) We support containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate...

NEW YORK (AP) - Investigators in New York City raided circulation offices at some of the nation's largest newspapers Tuesday as part of a union corruption probe, a law enforcement official said. Police officers working with the Manhattan district attorney's office searched circulation offices of The New York Times in Queens, the New York Post and the Daily News in Manhattan, and El Diario in Brooklyn, the official said, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Investigators were seeking paperwork related to the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union, which packages and delivers...

Investigators in New York City raided circulation offices at some of the nation's largest newspapers Tuesday as part of a union corruption probe, a law enforcement official said. Police officers working with the Manhattan district attorney's office searched circulation offices of The New York Times in Queens, the New York Post and the Daily News in Manhattan, and El Diario in Brooklyn, the official said, speaking to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. Investigators were seeking paperwork related to the Newspaper and Mail Deliverers Union, which packages and delivers newspapers across the region....

<p>Susan Atkins, who committed one of modern history's most notorious crimes when she joined Charles Manson and his gang for a 1969 killing spree that terrorized Los Angeles and put her in prison for the rest of her life, has died. She was 61.</p>

ERIE, Pa. | Former President George W. Bush fired a salvo at President Obama on Wednesday, asserting his administration's interrogation policies were "within the law," declaring the private sector - not government - will fix the economy and rejecting the nationalization of health care. "I know it's going to be the private sector that leads this country out of the current economic times we're in," the former president said to applause from members of a local business group. "You can spend your money better than the government can spend your money."

Worried that welfare costs are rising as the number of taxpayers declines, state Rep. John LaBruzzo, R-Metairie, said Tuesday he is studying a plan to pay poor women $1,000 to have their Fallopian tubes tied. "We're on a train headed to the future and there's a bridge out, " LaBruzzo said of what he suspects are dangerous demographic trends. "And nobody wants to talk about it." LaBruzzo said he worries that people receiving government aid such as food stamps and publicly subsidized housing are reproducing at a faster rate than more affluent, better-educated people who presumably pay more tax revenue...

LAGUNA NIGUEL -- More than 50 law officers were breaking up an estimated 8,000 people drinking alcohol and mooning passing trains late Saturday, as an annual "Moon Over Amtrak" party was shut down due to complaints about public nudity. The event drew a crowd of about 8,000 Saturday along the tracks near Mugs Away Saloon, 27324 Camino Capistrano, but things got out of hand as businesses and residents called in complaints, said Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino. California Highway Patrol officers were called in to assist Orange County sheriff's deputies shut down the impromptu event, where thousands of...

SAN DIEGO – Presidential candidate Barack Obama will travel to San Diego next month to join opponent John McCain in speaking at the annual convention of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest Latino civil rights and advocacy organization. Both senators are expected to address immigration and other issues pertinent to Latino voters, NCLR President Janet Murguía said during a visit to San Diego promoting the convention. Obama's plans were announced yesterday; McCain had agreed earlier to address the convention. The fact that both candidates will attend “speaks to a number of things, not only to the importance...

The United States has quietly informed Western allies of its intention to walk away from the U.N. Human Rights Council, diplomatic sources said on Friday. The U.S. delegation has observer status, with the right to speak, in the 47-member state forum, which meets in Geneva, and has never stood for election to the Council since it was set up two years ago. Diplomatic sources and rights activists said that U.S. officials had informed the European Union on Friday morning of its intention to halt its involvement in the Council. "They said they were going to disengage totally," said one representative...

US walking away from U.N. rights forum -diplomats 06 Jun 2008 15:50:07 GMT Source: Reuters GENEVA, June 6 (Reuters) - The United States has quietly informed Western allies of its intention to walk away from the U.N. Human Rights Council, diplomatic sources said on Friday. The U.S. delegation has observer status, with the right to speak, in the 47-member state forum, which meets in Geneva, and has never stood for election to the Council since it was set up two years ago. Diplomatic sources and rights activists said that U.S. officials had informed the European Union on Friday morning of...

Seven years ago, there was mass preparation for Y2K, alleged by some to be the end of the world. Believers scurried to save water and canned foods just in case the new millennium brought the immense devastation theories speculated. Again, we are faced with the timeless question of whether our world will endor not. The highly intelligent Ancient Mayan civilization developed an intricate calendar which anticipated the end of their Great Cycle of the Long Count-better known as the apocalypse-on Dec. 21, 2012.

The traditional farm laborers, who planted and picked vegetables on southern Colorado farms, are staying out of the state after legislators last year passed one of the country's toughest laws against illegal immigrants, Butcher said. She said the farmers see Colorado inmates as their possible salvation - the most viable replacements for the gaps once filled by illegal immigrants.

WASHINGTON, June 26 (UPI) -- A U.S. lawmaker says the United States and its allies would recognize a unilateral declaration of independence by the Serbian province of Kosovo. The comment by House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Lantos, D-Calif., came during a heated discussion with Russian lawmakers in Washington last week and highlights sharp differences with Russia over the future of Kosovo, whose majority ethnic Albanian residents want independence from Serbia. Lantos and Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., said the United States supported the U.N. plan for Kosovo independence drawn up by Finnish diplomat and former President Martti Ahtisaari. Russian officials...

High court's new majority is a downright mean bunch Monday, June 25, 2007 3:25 AM By Robyn Blumner Often you can sum up the collective actions of the Supreme Court under a particular chief justice with one word. The Warren Court always will be remembered as liberal, the Burger Court as pragmatic and the Rehnquist Court as conservative. The Roberts Court in its short tenure has already earned the moniker mean. The addition of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito to the heartless duo of Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas has cemented a plurality for cruelty. If...

Most respondents to a UPI-Zogby International poll want to repeal the law granting automatic citizenship to anyone born in the United States. More the half of the overall pool of 8,300 U.S. residents said if parents who are illegal aliens are deported, their children should go with them -- even if they are U.S. citizens

SYRACUSE - A Syracuse man convicted of driving drunk for a seventh time since 1982 was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years to life in prison by a judge who blasted his “lethal disregard� for others. “I don't think there is anything I can do to protect the public from you and your conduct except to put you away for a long time,� Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey said as he sentenced 43-year-old Ronald Daggett. “It is inconceivable to me that someone involved in a drunk driving fatality could go out and pick up six more drunk driving convictions over the...

Almost legal Near the end of visa quest, Mexican immigrant is arrested and forced to leave his American family behind in Gahanna Monday, January 29, 2007 Kelly Lecker THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Juvenal Barajas was tired of looking over his shoulder. He had a 13-year marriage to an American woman and had raised five stepchildren. He had a steady job at a Westerville drywall company. He paid taxes and had joined a church. But Barajas knew his American dream could end at any time, because he had come here illegally from Mexico as a teenager. It didn’t make him shy away...

US soldiers have been authorized to kill or capture Iranian operatives found in Iraq, the Washington Post has reported, citing US government and counterterrorism officials. The authorization covers Iranian Revolutionary Guard and intelligence officers found in Iraq, but not Iranian civilians or diplomats, the Post reported. The newspaper describes the policy as "part of an aggressive new strategy to weaken Tehran's influence across the Middle East and compel it to give up its nuclear program." For more than a year US forces have been secretly holding dozens of suspected Iranian agents for up to four days in a "catch and...

Kansas ' Recognition of other states' Conceal Carry Licenses On July 1, 2006 Kansas joined 47 other states allowing qualified citizens to carry handguns in a concealed manner.  In addition to licensing qualified residents, the Kansas Personal and Family Protection Act (KPFPA) granted authority to the Attorney General to determine which other states' concealed carry licenses would be recognize in the state of Kansas, and to authorize a licensed non-resident to carry a concealed handgun within the borders of Kansas.  The KPFPA, found in S.B. 418 (as amended by H.B. 2118), will be codified as K.S.A. §75-7c01 et seq.According to...

Supporters of Elvira Arellano, an illegal immigrant who has been living in "sanctuary" in a West Side church for more than four months, believe that federal agents may be preparing to arrest her. Arellano and her son Saul have been living in Adalberto United Methodist Church since receiving an order of deportation last summer, according to a release from Cintro Sin Fronteras, a group supporting immigrant causes. The boy is a U.S. citizen, but his mother is not. Federal Homeland Security officials have said they have the right to arrest Arellano at any time, and plan to do so, but...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At the direction of Pope Benedict XVI, extraordinary ministers of holy Communion will no longer be permitted to assist in the purification of the sacred vessels at Masses in the United States. In an Oct. 23 letter, Bishop William S. Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, asked his fellow bishops to inform all pastors of the change, which was prompted by a letter from Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. The U.S. bishops had asked the Vatican to extend an indult -- or church permission --...

NAIROBI, Kenya - Ethiopia is prepared to invade neighboring Somalia to defend its U.N.-backed government against what appeared to be an imminent attack by Islamic militiamen, a government spokesman said Wednesday. The militiamen, who hold most of southern Somalia, deployed hundreds of fighters outside the town where the largely powerless government is based and said they planned to seize it. "We have the responsibility to defend the border and the Somali government. We will crush them," Ethiopia's Minister of Information, Berhan Hailu, told The Associated Press. Seizing the town of Baidoa would give the Islamic militia — which the United...

An eerie quiet has descended over the past week on Fulton Street, a stretch of weather-beaten apartment buildings in eastern Linda Vista that is home to a large number of recent immigrants, some of them legal residents, others not. Some people have skipped work. Others have skipped doctor appointments. Children are walking to school more frequently by themselves, neighbors say, because their parents are afraid to accompany them outside. “Today the migra was here,� explained Jose Cardenas, 30, one of those here legally, on a gray afternoon this week when the sidewalks were empty and the street deserted save for...

An examination board at the centre of a storm surrounding the teaching of creationism in UK schools has committed to re-visit its guidance to avoid the threat to science teaching that many feared, and to issue strict guidance to trainee teachers on their exam programme. The 'Gateway Science' specification had caused controversy because teachers were asked to “explain that the fossil record has been interpreted differently over time (e.g. creationist interpretation).” But now the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA (OCR) exam board has said they are “happy to commit to reviewing the wording of this part of the Gateway Science (Biology)...

Republican businessman Eric Roach announced he would be "standing down" in the 50th District Congressional race and stop campaigning for the seat to try to ensure a Republican victory. “Maintaining the Republican majority in Congress is a vital goal this year, and a loss here in the 50th Congressional district to a liberal Democrat like Francine Busby would send the wrong signal across our great nation,” he announced in a statement read to reporters in a conference call. Roach did not speak in the call; instead Stan Devereux, his communications director, read his statement and answered questions. In the statement,...

We are democrats and progressives. We propose here a fresh political alignment. Many of us belong to the Left, but the principles that we set out are not exclusive. We reach out, rather, beyond the socialist Left towards egalitarian liberals and others of unambiguous democratic commitment. Indeed, the reconfiguration of progressive opinion that we aim for involves drawing a line between the forces of the Left that remain true to its authentic values, and currents that have lately shown themselves rather too flexible about these values. It involves making common cause with genuine democrats, whether socialist or not. The present...

Rumors were true.

See for example this thread first. There is a spa over in Czech that will be worth making the trek From all that I hear it revolves around BEER Finally, men have a spa, too, by HECK!

Milosevic's death marks 'total defeat' for UN tribunal, prosecutor says Last Updated Sun, 12 Mar 2006 11:35:20 EST CBC News Slobodan Milosevic's death is a 'total defeat' for the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, says the chief prosecutor at his trial. Carla del Ponte made the comments on Sunday, a day after the former Yugoslav president and Serbian nationalist was found dead in his cell at the UN detention centre in Scheveningen, a suburb of The Hague. An autopsy was being performed on Sunday amid accusations that Milosevic, 64, had been poisoned only months before the end...

The Bush administration, seeking to limit leaks of classified information, has launched initiatives targeting journalists and their possible government sources. The efforts include several FBI probes, a polygraph investigation inside the CIA and a warning from the Justice Department that reporters could be prosecuted under espionage laws. In recent weeks, dozens of employees at the CIA, the National Security Agency and other intelligence agencies have been interviewed by agents from the FBI's Washington field office, who are investigating possible leaks that led to reports about secret CIA prisons and the NSA's warrantless domestic surveillance program, according to law enforcement and...

PETER Costello last night condemned "mushy multiculturalism" and told Muslims who could not tolerate others to leave Australia. The Treasurer said the citizenship pledge of loyalty and respect for law should be a "big flashing warning sign" for those Muslims. Mr Costello departed from economic matters to address Muslim protests following the publication of cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed. He said those offended "must recognise this does not justify violence against newspapers, or countries that allow newspapers to publish them". His comment reinforced the stand of Prime Minister John Howard, who this week criticised Muslims who were "utterly antagonistic to...

After two decades of use, the U.S. Department of Defense is getting rid of its Beretta M9 9mm pistol, and going back to the 11.4mm (.45 caliber) weapon. There have been constant complaints about the lesser (compared to the .45) hitting power of the 9mm. And in the last few years, SOCOM (Special Operations Command) and the marines have officially adopted .45 caliber pistols as “official alternatives” to the M9 Beretta. But now SOCOM has been given the task of finding a design that will be suitable as the JCP (Joint Combat Pistol). Various designs are being evaluated, but all...

RICHMOND -- A new Virginia law that bars illegal aliens from receiving state-funded benefits goes into effect tomorrow. The law restricts anybody without a Social Security number from receiving Medicaid, temporary assistance for needy families, and help from several other state and local programs. Supporters say the measure could save the state millions. "A lot of us were saying, instead of raising taxes, why don't we start prioritizing where we're spending our existing money," said Delegate David B. Albo, Fairfax Republican, who sponsored the bill. "One of the things we found was the state was not checking for legal presence...

Just announced on Fox News, the Justice Department is going to investigate leaks pertaining to Goverment Wiretapping and Security programs.

A group of out-of-state college students sued to challenge a law that lets some classmates who are illegal immigrants pay the lower in-state rate if they graduated from California high schools. The class-action lawsuit said the policy violates a federal law barring states from offering benefits to illegal immigrants that are not available to U.S. citizens. The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Yolo County by 42 plaintiffs seeks unspecified damages. The difference in fees can amount to many thousands of dollars a year. For example, out-of-state students pay nearly $24,000 a year to attend the University of California, about $17,000 more...

President Bush is returning to his conservative agenda after being distracted from his message the past few months by hurricanes, an anti-war mother and a failed Supreme Court nomination. The White House, which already is planning next month's State of the Union address, is preparing an agenda that will highlight progress in the Iraq war, economic expansion, immigration reform, tax cuts, tax-code reform and spending restraint. "What you will see more of next year is the president going back to the basics -- winning the war and growing the economy and creating jobs," White House deputy press secretary Trent Duffy...

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has told federal officials that the lighted, decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- known in recent years as the "Holiday Tree" -- should be renamed the "Capitol Christmas Tree," as it was called until the late 1990s. The Capitol's senior landscape architect confirmed the name switch yesterday for The Washington Times. "It was known as the 'Holiday Tree' for several years and just recently was changed back to the 'Capitol Christmas Tree.' This was a directive from the speaker," said Capitol architect Matthew Evans. "The speaker believes a Christmas tree...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The House of Representatives on Friday narrowly voted to trim social programs for the poor along with farm subsidies, student loans and other federal benefits as part of a $49.9-billion package of spending cuts. The "deficit-reduction" plan passed the House by a cliff-hanger vote of 217-215, with all Democrats and 14 Republicans voting against the Republican-authored bill.

US Senate backs oil drilling in Alaskan refuge 03 Nov 2005 18:10:50 GMT Source: Reuters (Adds lawmakers' comments, vote for ANWR oil exports, background) By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Thursday voted to allow oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), narrowly rejecting a Democratic attempt to strike the plan from a budget bill. Drilling supporters said developing the refuge's 10.4 billion barrels of crude would raise $2.4 billion in leasing fees for the government, reduce U.S. reliance on foreign oil imports and create thousands of American jobs. However, it remains far...

The pickup, introduced to the roads more than a century ago, was conceived to be the smallest possible get-the-job-done truck. Now International Truck and Engine has taken that concept and, oxymoronically, developed the world's biggest smallest truck -- the CXT. Such a feat is the equivalent of creating the world's shortest skyscraper, quietest fire alarm, slowest jet, driest swimming pool. The new CXT from International is hu-freakin-mongous. This bad boy is nine feet tall. It's got thigh-high tires, and two running boards up to the cab, and door handles you have to stretch for. When the bed gate folds down...

Written apologies will be sent to a fallen Marine's relatives angered by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll's uninvited appearance at the soldier's funeral and her criticism of the war in Iraq, Gov. Ed Rendell said Sunday. Rendell said he will send a personal letter to the family of the late Marine Staff Sgt. Joseph Goodrich, of Westwood, and will ask Knoll to do the same. Goodrich, 32, a police officer and infantry unit leader, died July 10 in a mortar attack in Hit, Iraq. Rendell said he hadn't spoken with Knoll about the incident, but was disturbed by the family's...

"House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said yesterday that the House will produce another immigration and border security bill this Congress and will have to pass that bill before turning to a guest-worker program. ...He said the House has received the message that immigration is "an incredibly important issue to the American people." ...Mr. DeLay said more security measures are needed and that the government has to prove it can enforce immigration laws before voters will be willing to accept a guest-worker program. He said the House will act on the issues in that order. "We'll probably have a law-enforcement-type bill,...

CHINA gave way to mounting political, diplomatic and economic pressures yesterday by scrapping its decade-old currency peg to the dollar, revaluing the yuan and paving the way for further rises in its exchange rate. In long-awaited move, partly designed to defuse intense pressure from Washington for a rise in the super-competitive value of the yuan, China said it was switching to a complex new arrangement that linked the yuan’s value to an undisclosed basket of other world currencies. In the sudden change, which caught markets by surprise, China said that, under its new “managed float” arrangement, the yuan would immediately...

The stakes in politics are about to get a lot higher. The partisan battles in the coming weeks -- on judges, Social Security and the future of Tom DeLay -- are part of a larger struggle in which Republicans are seeking to establish themselves as the dominant party in American politics. Essential to their quest is persuading Democrats, or at least a significant number in their ranks, to accept long-term minority status. The current acrimony in politics is incomprehensible unless it is understood as the inevitable next act of a long-term struggle. Its ferocity arises from the Democrats' refusal to...

The White House has ordered the new CIA director, Porter Goss, to purge the agency of officers believed to have been disloyal to President George W. Bush or of leaking damaging information to the media about the conduct of the Iraq war and the hunt for Osama bin Laden, according to knowledgeable sources.