Free Republic

n his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer revealed how members of Congress enrich themselves and their relatives using earmarks and insider information. Now, the Washington Post, following in Schweizer’s footsteps, has conducted a study that found 16 members of Congress have used their power of the purse to benefit companies, colleges, and community groups tied to their relatives. *snip* Among those cited in the Washington Post report were the following (below):

Actor Ian Somerhalder has vowed to launch a private investigation into the cruel killing of an Arkansas family's cat after it was skinned as part of a sick political protest - if police refuse to chase the murderers. Jacob Burris, the campaign manager for Arkansas Democratic congressional candidate Ken Aden, found the family's pet slain on his doorstop on Sunday, with the word 'liberal' inscribed along the dead feline's back. Burris contacted the Russellville Police Department to report the act of animal cruelty and now The Vampire Diaries star has taken to his Twitter.com to express his disgust and demand...

Congressional support for controversial online piracy legislation eroded dramatically on Wednesday in the face of an unprecedented online protest supported by tech titans such as Google, Wikipedia and Facebook. Several key senators withdrew their support from the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA), including Tea Party favorite Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), an elected member of his party's leadership. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who leads the Senate GOP's campaign team, said the legislation should be put on hold, while Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), a sponsor and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, retreated from the...

Thanks to the efforts of Catholic Charities, Arkansas Advocates for Families & Children, the ACLU, and other "undocumented" immigrant groups, several private sector jobs were created and healthcare was provided for the poor! According to Cherith Beck, The Public Information Office for the US. Attorney's Office for East Arkansas, at least 5 of the people involved are here illegally or to use the politically correct term "undocumented immigrant". Only 1 has been mentioned by the media. Other members of this business are here on immigrant visas processed by the system that is supposed process millions of "undocumented people" if a...

<p>LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Police in central Arkansas say an 18-year-old woman was shot and wounded when she was caught in the crossfire after she got into an argument at the city's Martin Luther King Day parade.</p> <p>"I called the police because I got scared you know," said witness Martha Fuentes.</p>

A few days ago, Gingrich was to own Iowa, followed by Romney. The rest really didn't matter. Here are the numbers from a Reuters story on Dec 12th of those likely to vote in the Iowa caucuses: Gingrich 29.8% Mitt Romney, 20.3%, Ron Paul 10.7%. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachman 8.5%, Rick Perry 8.2%. Since he didn't buy enough ads or hire enough ex/future media people from PR firms, and is a conservative that can win with conservative volunteers, Rick Santorum wasn't worth mentioning. Pat Caddell said that Santorum was in single digits a week before 01/03/12! Keep that in mind...

A few days ago, Gingrich was to own Iowa, followed by Romney. The rest really didn't matter. Here are the numbers from a Reuters story on Dec 12th of those likely to vote in the Iowa caucuses: Gingrich 29.8% Mitt Romney, 20.3%, Ron Paul 10.7%. U.S. Rep. Michele Bachman 8.5%, Rick Perry 8.2%. Since he didn't buy enough ads or hire enough ex/future media people from PR firms, and is a conservative that can win with conservative volunteers, Rick Santorum wasn't worth mentioning. Pat Caddell said that Santorum was in single digits a week before 01/03/12! Keep that in mind...

BEEBE, Ark – Blackbirds raining from the sky for the second New Year running over the town of Beebe, Ark. was more likely a criminal rather than a supernatural phenomenon. The authorities in the small US town said Sunday the 200 or so dead birds littering the streets -- exactly a year after 4,000 plummeted to the ground sparking a media frenzy and apocalyptic prophesies -- were targeted. In a statement, Genny Porter from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said, "We know that there was evidence of fireworks set off in the middle of the roost, and it wasn't...

I'd planned to do this one soon, and today seems as good a time as any, with POLITICAL blog aggravation being what it is. So with that, I'm gonna take a little break, and write about a life & death decision. We live in a nation today where NOBODY is safe anymore. Even Mountain Home is no longer the little "Mayberry" it was when I first came here 39 years ago, and while I have owned, collected and hunted ever since my Marine Corps days, it has only been over the past 5 years or so that I have "packed...

Dem Keystone support creates tougher fight for Reid, ObamaBy Alexander Bolton - 12/16/11 04:08 PM ET Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting, given support within his caucus for the project. GOP leaders have made clear to Reid that they will not approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday unless it includes language to speed up construction of the pipeline. Senate Republicans estimate as many as 14 Senate Democrats support the project. Labor unions have also voiced strong backing, complicating...

In Boston, one university has taken steps to help Muslim students maintain an important ritual: bathing before prayer ... Across the country a number of universities, including the University of Michigan in Dearborn and George Washington University in Washington D.C., have installed foot baths. So have two airports, the Indianapolis Airport and KCI Airport in Kansas City, Missouri. In each case the move came with some degree of resistance. ... Some of the foot baths in other states were built using public funds. The American Civil Liberties Union generally objects to public money being used for religious structures.But they don't...

In their zeal to bash Wal-Mart, Occupy Wall Street protesters are even complaining about the company giving $1.4 billion to found a free art museum in Arkansas. Alice Walton, Wal-Mart heiress, is being criticized by Occupy Wall Street for giving $1.4 billion to found an Arkansas art museum. The incoherent and absurd messaging of the Occupy Wall Street movement continues. Recently, the OWS crowd joined forces with Wal-Mart workers to protest Crystal Bridges, an American art museum that opened on Nov. 11 in Bentonville, Ark. Art snobs are outraged by the notion of a major art collection in Arkansas, but...

There is a problem with the Bowl Championship Series, but it’s not the one you probably think. College football doesn’t need a playoff. A traditional playoff system – an eight-team or even four-team bracket – brings nothing in the way of advantages over the current system and probably would make things considerably worse. Don’t tell me the traditional architecture for playoffs is the only – or even most – accurate way to determine a champion. The St. Louis Cardinals just won the World Series under that system despite having fewer wins in the regular season than any other team that...

Democrat criticizes Obama for '4,200 pages' of pending regulations By Joshua Altman - 11/22/11 12:29 PM ET Former Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln (Ark.) attacked the Obama administration Tuesday for proposing a litany of new regulations she says are hurting the economy. "You’ve got 4,200 pages of pending, new regulations to be put on the books that just create huge uncertainty,” Lincoln said. Lincoln lost her reelection bid last year to Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.) and is now chairwoman of the Small Businesses for Sensible Regulations campaign at the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The former two-term senator said in...

<p>A new report claims that Republican presidential contender Herman Cain voted for Democrat Bill Clinton for president in his first run, as well as for two Nebraska Democratic candidates in the past.</p> <p>In a story on the Nebraska Watchdog website, Joe Jordan writes that Mr. Cain supported Mr.Clinton during his 1992 presidential bid, 17 months before he squared off with Mr. Clinton over his push to overhaul the national health care system.</p>

When it comes to sex, the media apply different standards to Republicans and Democrats. Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton allegedly trolled for women, using state troopers as his procurers. As president, Clinton engaged in oral sex with Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office. He lied about it under oath and was impeached, though later acquitted by the U.S. Senate. Other sexual accusations tainted Clinton, including one that he raped one Juanita Broaddrick. That "everybody lies about sex" and "it was just sex" and didn't affect his public responsibilities, were just two of the exculpatory statements from Clinton's Democratic defenders. James Carville...

LITTLE ROCK – The Occupy Little Rock movement has begun camping out near the William J. Clinton Presidential Library, hoping to advance its cause by staying there indefinitely. More than 20 activists have made themselves at home at a public park near the Clinton Library. Organizers say the number of people who have turned out has doubled since they first arrived Friday night. "This is a sit in, this is a peaceful protest and it has to continue until the dialogue is opened, until some solutions are resolved," said Adam Lansky, one of the participants. Occupy Little Rock is a...

This just posted on Occupy Arkansas Facebook page by Paul Timmer: "Raymond...were all meeting at the Democratic Party headquarters of Arkansas in front of the capitol....the Union leaders and democratic chairmen have been up all night making food, tent donations, sleeping bags at Academy sports, and making the signs they want us to hold. Make sure to go pick them up!" Interesting, huh? What are some ironic or telling quotes from Occupy facebook pages going on in your area? Post here!

Mike Huckabee has been approached by Republican and conservative activists unhappy with the current crop of presidential hopefuls and he is considering entering the fray, two sources who have spoken with Huckabee told Reuters. The former Arkansas governor, who made a splash by winning the Iowa caucuses as a candidate in 2008, announced last May on his Fox News show that he would not enter the race. But the conservative Huckabee, who appeals to evangelical Christians and is seen as an effective campaigner, is taking another look at jumping in, said the two sources, who are close to Huckabee. They...

September 30, 2011 Huckabee: 'Happy With Decision' Not to Run for President Former Arkansas governor on reports he's been approached by Republican activists.

The Associated Press is reporting that Arkansas Democratic Governor Mike Beebe "is unlikely to seek a $3.8 million grant to research how to establish a health insurance exchange for Arkansas because several top Republican lawmakers have told him they oppose the plan." In Michigan, the Snyder administration also plans to apply for what appears to be the same kind of federal grant by the end of this week. Health care policy expert Ed Haislmaier of the Heritage Foundation told Michigan Capital Confidential last week that these grants come with strings attached that increasingly commit the state to creating an Obamacare...

Former President Bill Clinton suggested Thursday that Texas Gov. Rick Perry was ideologically in line with “militant subgroups in Israel” and was too willing to let the Jewish state do whatever it wants. Asked about Perry’s recent strongly pro-Israel comments, Clinton said the 2012 Republican hopeful’s stance was “good politics.” “Rick Perry — that’s my culture, you know? I’m from next door,” the Arkansas native said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “There’s an enormous reservoir of support for Israel in the Christian evangelical community, and a lot of them believe — as some of the more militant subgroups do — that...

Monday, September 12th at 12:00 Noon on the corner of Markham and Broadway The Chamber of Commerce is calling for a "Early Vote PRO 1 cent Sales Tax" Rally. The Arkansas Tea Party is asking you to make a sign Against Any New Tax and stand across from them. No shouting, No Chanting.....just to have our presence in opposition to a new tax!!! Rally against the Little Rock Sales Tax Monday September 12th! _________________________________________________________ We need people to cover polling sites with signs and flyers opposing urging people to vote NO (against) on the LR sales tax increases September 13th!...

(Sherwood, AR) -- A burglar is dead after being shot while breaking into a home in Sherwood. Sherwood Police say the man was confronted by an armed Arkansas State trooper who lived there and had been woken up by the sounds of the break-in. It happened around 11:15 in a neighborhood east of Highway 107 and north of Kiehl Avenue. It's not yet known if the trooper, who works the overnight shift, fired any other shots, or if the suspect had a weapon. Pulaski County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Jegley was on the scene shortly after the shooting. It is protocol...

Jonesboro, Arkansas (CNN) -- Crazy. That is the word John Mark Byers, whose stepson Christopher was among three second-graders killed in West Memphis, Arkansas in May 1993, repeatedly used to describe Friday's release of three men convicted in the boys' murders from a Craighead County Courthouse in Jonesboro. It is a sentiment shared by Steven Branch Sr., whose son Steven also was slain -- but for entirely different reasons.

LITTLE ROCK — State Rep. Linda Collins-Smith, a Democrat, announced today that she is switching parties and becoming a Republican. Collins-Smith, of Pocahontas, announced the switch during a news conference at the state Capitol. She did not take questions from reporters and did not say whether she would seek re-election next year as a Republican. “I have not changed. I have not left the Democratic party, but the party left me,” she said. Rep. Linda Collins-Smith Collins-Smith called Republicans “hard-working, commonsense people” and said the GOP “most closely holds to the principles that I and most Arkansans believe in.” The...

(Reuters) - Arkansans shopped until they dropped on Saturday, braving temperatures deep into the triple-digits to take advantage of the state's first sales tax holiday weekend. "I have never seen anything like this," said Clancy Graham, a manager at Little Rock's RK Collections Boutique, an independently owned store. "If we could do this three times a year, it would be amazing. It has done crazy good stuff for our business." Arkansas lawmakers approved the holiday in February to give parents a tax break on their back-to-school shopping for items such as uniforms, clothing and school supplies.

Skies over Fort Chaffee were fire red Wednesday night as World War II era buildings went up in flames. Fort Smith Police said the historic Fort Chaffee hospital caught fire late Wednesday night. At least four buildings were engulfed by flames and at least two buildings burned to the ground. "With a shift in the wind, these conditions, this thing, could get out of hand and go a long ways in a hurry, " Fort Smith Fire Chief Mike Richards said. Several fire departments including Fort Smith, Barling, White Bluff and Fort Chaffee were on scene before 10:30 p.m. Wednesday...

The mayor of an Arkansas city claims to have been pistol whipped following a heated discussion with council members, it has been reported. Earnest Nash, mayor of Gould, described the incident on Thursday evening as the culmination of months of abuse aimed at him and his family.

Rabbi Targeted before Recruiter ShootingBy JEANNIE NUSS Associated Press Updated: Friday, 29 Jul 2011, 10:28 AM CDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A man who pleaded guilty to shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas said he also shot at the home of a rabbi in Little Rock days earlier, according to a letter he wrote to the FBI. In the letter obtained by The Associated Press under a Freedom of Information Act request, Abdulhakim Muhammad said he fired 10 rounds at the home of Rabbi Eugene Levy days before he fatally shot Pvt. William Andrew Long and...

Kymberly Wimberly is an 18-year-old mother who was valedictorian of her graduating class at an Arkansas high school. Well, co-valedictorian. Wimberly, who is black, alleges in a lawsuit that McGehee Secondary School Principal Darrell Thompson assigned a white student with a lower GPA as co-valedictorian after she was named the sole valediction. She’s asking for $75,000 in damages and for the school record to be corrected, according to the suit. Molly Bratton, Wimberly’s mother who works as the school’s media specialist, learned of her daughter’s honor from the school counselor. But shortly after, said she overhead someone in the copy...

Family seeks recognition for soldier slain in Ark.By: JEANNIE NUSS | Associated Press 07/26/11 4:36 PM Andy Long lies in a military cemetery in Arkansas, between a Persian Gulf veteran and a man who served in Korea. While the tombstones around him say where the soldiers served, the granite slab marking the 23-year-old's grave doesn't list a military campaign — at least, not one the Army recognizes. In the two years since Long was killed and another soldier was wounded outside a military recruiting station in Little Rock by a self-professed jihadist, their families have struggled to convince the military...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- A man who confessed to shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas has pleaded guilty and received a sentence of life in prison without parole. Abdulhakim Muhammad pleaded guilty to capital murder in the middle of his trial Monday. Prosecutors took the death penalty off the table in return for Muhammad's plea.

Arkansas Democrats face extinctionBy ALEX ISENSTADT | 7/26/11 4:42 AM EDT The last time Republicans had full control of the Arkansas congressional delegation, a battle-ravaged United States was picking up the pieces from the Civil War. Now, with the retirement of Democratic Rep. Mike Ross, the GOP is well positioned to once again sweep all four of the state’s House seats, giving the party domination in a state that has long been a Democratic power center in the South. Once home to prominent and long-serving Democratic figures like J. William Fulbright, Dale Bumpers and David Pryor and the launching pad...

<p>UPDATE: Abdulhakim Muhammad--who confessed to shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas in June of 2009--has changed his plea to guilty. Jury has been dismissed.</p>

Psychiatrists testify in Ark. soldier death caseBy JEANNIE NUSS Associated Press Originally published Monday, July 25, 2011 at 12:25 AM LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — At least two psychiatrists are expected to testify this week in the trial of a man who confessed to shooting two soldiers outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas. Dr. Shawn Agharkar (uh-GAR'-ker) is due back in court Monday for the trial of Abdulhakim Muhammad. Agharkar says Muhammad suffers from a delusionary disorder. A state psychiatrist who says Muhammad doesn't have a mental disease is expected to testify, too. **SNIP** He's confessed to the shooting, but...

I went to my first Republican State Committee Meeting that was held at the Little Rock Peabody. I was able to record some of the speeches. Most of the meeting was about rules and how to operate the Republican Party of Arkansas. After a lunch break, they had some training sessions. I confirmed that Republican County Committees can refuse funds and support for a Republican who acts like a liberal. With things like Teague-Gate, another Republican US House Bill stabbed in the back by a Republican US Senate "Gang", and no punishment from state or national GOP leadership, when is...

Delusion guided accused shooter of soldiers at Little Rock recruiting centerPsychiatrist says reality was lost on Muhammad By Kristina Goetz Memphis Commercial Appeal Posted July 23, 2011 at midnight LITTLE ROCK -- The star defense witness in the capital murder trial of Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad said Friday that the defendant believes he is persecuted because he's Muslim and that his actions are more important than they really are -- all because he suffers from a delusional disorder. "Saying you're an operative of a major terrorist organization is grandiose," said Dr. Shawn Agharkar, a psychiatrist who examined Muhammad three times in...

Link only - New York Rep. King sends aide to Little Rock terror trial

Unbelievable!!!! Notice the the CC member says that everything is controlled.

Update: Jury set, opening arguments have begunPublished: 7/19 2:16 pm - Updated: 10:45 am LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - Opening statements have wrapped up in the Abdulhakim Muhammad murder trial. The state is set to begin calling witnesses after a 15 minute break. The judge, prosecutors and defense attorneys for Abdulhakim Muhammad questioned more than four dozen potential jurors Monday and Tuesday before they found 12 jurors and two alternates. Muhammad has confessed to killing 23-year-old Army Pvt. William Andrew Long and wounding Pvt. Quinton Ezeagwula in Little Rock in 2009. He says the shootings were in retaliation for U.S....

Jury Selected for Trial in Soldier DeathUpdated: Tuesday, 19 Jul 2011, 1:49 PM CDT LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - It's possible that opening statements could be delivered as early as Tuesday afternoon at the trial of a man accused of killing a soldier outside a military recruiting station in Arkansas. As of midday, 11 jurors had been picked for the trial of 26-year-old Abdulhakim Muhammad. Muhammad was charged with capital murder after the 2009 shooting death of Pvt. William Andrew Long in a west Little Rock shopping center. Muhammad has admitted killing the soldier, calling it justifiable revenge for U.S. military...

This story sounds like something you would hear out of China, not the United States. In Gould, Arkansas the city council is planning to pass an ordinance that forbids any group from forming or gathering that will discuss city matters without first getting city council approval – a clear violation of the First Amendment. They mayor is dead set against it but it appears from the video that they can override him: VIDEO This is tyranny on steroids. I can’t imagine this will stand up in court but it appears that the city council wants to test that theory. Just...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - When Abdulhakim Muhammad killed a soldier outside a recruiting station in Arkansas, he hoped the world would pay attention to the war he had declared on the United States. He took responsibility for the shooting, called it retaliation for U.S. military action the Middle East and claimed ties to al-Qaida. But when Muhammad goes on trial this week in Little Rock, he won't face any federal or terrorism charges. He complained he's being treated like a common criminal, with a state trial on a capital murder charge. There will be no grand stage for his...

Abdulhakim Muhammad Trial Begins MondayFriday, July 15 2011 Jury selection begins on Monday in Pulaski County Circuit Court in the trial against Abdulhakim Muhammad. He is the man accused of killing Private William Long and wounding Private Quinton Ezeagwula at a Little Rock recruiting center in 2009. The state is seeking the death penalty in this case, and Muhammad could become the first person sentenced to death in the U.S. for an act of terrorism since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, although that is not the charge against him. Muhammad was born Carlos Bledsoe in Memphis. He converted to Islam...

Accused soldier killer says he's like other notorious figuresReported by: David Goins Updated: 7/12 5:35 pm Self-proclaimed terrorist Abdulhakim Muhammad is comparing himself to some of the most notorious Islamic extremists in his latest jailhouse letter. Part two highlights his belief he is part of a larger Muslim army waging a holy war. He calls it his "last public statement" before his trial next week. In it Muhammad, 26, says he's showing respect to what he calls other “real” Muslim soldiers, including John Walker Lindh, dubbed the American Taliban after he was captured in Afghanistan in 2001. His handwritten letter...

A poll unveiled this week from American Research Group shows that three Republican presidential candidates -- U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and former Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska -- are gaining serious momentum in Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus. Bachmann, who declared her candidacy in June and has been surging in polls at both the national and state levels, topped the poll with 21 percent. Former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts placed second with 18 percent. Paul, who was the Libertarian candidate in 1988 and ran for the Republican nomination in...

Federal government isn't touching Arkansas terrorism caseBy Richard A. Serrano, Washington Bureau July 11, 2011, 5:01 p.m. Reporting from Little Rock, Ark., and Memphis - Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad insists he is an Islamic radical, has confessed to killing an Army soldier and wounding another at a Little Rock recruiting station two years ago, and wants to be tried on terrorism charges in federal court. But in an unusual twist, state prosecutors, with the blessing of the federal government, are treating him like a common American criminal and trying him in state court next week on capital murder charges. Either way,...

SNIPPET: "Shanti was arrested by u.s. Customs and Border Protection in Blaine, Wash. ..." SNIPPET: "Both were from Morocco. It's unclear why Shanti would need to jump the border so often. But a LinkedIn account listed in Shanti's name lists a string of jobs in Canada, Dubai, and Jordan, so it may have been work-related."

Man accused of killing soldier in AR mocks courtUpdated: Jun 22, 2011 5:42 AM EDT LITTLE ROCK, AR (AP) - A man charged with capital murder for killing a soldier at a Little Rock military recruiting center is confronting prosecutors, his defense attorneys and the judge set to oversee his trial next month. In a note from jail filed Monday, Abdulhakim Muhammad lobbed insults at his attorneys, both of whom he has attempted to fire in the past. He called the Pulaski County circuit court judge handling his case a "tyrant" and said that the court has no jurisdiction over...