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HOPE MILLS, N.C. – North Carolina authorities say they used a stun gun on a woman motorist who blocked a McDonald's drive-thru for 20 minutes after employees refused to serve her because she cut in line. Authorities say 37-year-old Evangeline Lucca bypassed the order screen and line and pulled directly up to the pick-up window Friday afternoon at the restaurant in Hope Mills, about 60 miles south of Raleigh. Cumberland County sheriff's spokeswoman Debbie Tanner told The Fayetteville Observer that the woman had her 3-year-old daughter in the car when she became confrontational with the workers before deputies arrived. Tanna...

Republican objections to President Obama's temporary appointments last week to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) haven't been unexpected. The board, by law, must consist of three members of one major party and two of the other. And so long as he remains in the White House, Democrats will enjoy an automatic majority. But at least two appointments may also be unconstitutional, say critics. That's because the president's referrals to the Senate of the two Democratic nominees, Sharon Block and Richard Griffin, were made during a period in which senators were not on official recess. Block, Griffin and the...

In case you aren't intimately acquainted with the cast this ongoing drama yet, Mark Block is Herman Cain's top strategist. He's the guy who lit up a smoke in that unusual viral web ad, and who went on national television to angrily accuse an individual Perry staffer of leaking the sexual harassment story to Politico -- only to retract his baseless bombast within 24 hours. Last night he appeared on Hannity, and unleashed another embarrassing whopper (click through for video): Mark Block: "It's become quite apparent that Mr. Cain's candidacy and his rise in the poll is the -- both...

The inevitable appears about to take place: The Obama administration is said to be considering a manoeuvre that would save it from having to render a decision on the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Alberta until after the presidential election next year. The [external] Los Angeles Times reports: The Obama administration is considering a move that could delay a decision on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline by requiring sponsors to reduce the project’s environmental risks before it can be approved, according to people with knowledge of the deliberations. The step might put off a decision until after the 2012 election...

Mark Block: Did you know that the son of Cain’s accuser works for Politico? November 8, 2011 by Allahpundit I did not know that. He’s, er … not thinking of Josh Kraushaar, is he? “Her son works at POLITICO,� Block said of Karen Kraushaar, whose name POLITICO printed earlier today after other media outlets made her identity public…Block appeared to be referring to former POLITICO reporter Josh Kraushaar, who left for another outlet, National Journal, in 2010.Josh Kraushaar tweeted earlier in the day, apparently after getting questions, that he’s in fact not related to Karen Kraushaar, and simply has the...

Cain campaign launches internal investigation Daniel Bice November 1, 2011 For GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain, the questions far outnumber the answers.Mark Block, chief of staff for the Cain campaign, announced the campaign was hiring an investigator to check out claims that a private Wisconsin-based firm owned and run by Block and his No. 2 picked up the tab for as much as $40,000 in campaign expenses for the Cain campaign earlier this year."We've retained independent counsel to look at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story and report back to us," Block said Tuesday at a Washington, D.C., media event.A reporter...

Blowing SmokeWith a politically incorrect puff, Mark Block lights up the presidential race. As I strolled up First Street, I spotted him immediately. Mark Block, as he likes to say, was “being Block.�He was smoking.To be exact, he was puffing a Marlboro Light. And like most in Washington, he was doing it outside on a Wednesday afternoon, banished from the indoors.As Block paced, a drizzle began. Others took cover. Block lit up another cigarette, gripping an iPhone to his ear as he circled his campaign papers, which were piled in binders on the pavement.When the drops fell harder, he picked...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I want you to hear these sound bites. The media is going nuts over the Herman Cain ad. First, here is a montage from yesterday and last night, and the reaction, the State-Run Media hyperventilating over Herman Cain's smoking ad. It tells you so much about how insane our society has become about smoking and political correctness. There is a humorless doom-and-gloomism out there, and if you drag on cigarette, if you show a picture of somebody dragging on -- I mean Hollywood is famous, everybody in every movie it seems smokes. Have you noticed? You can't...

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, in an attempt to pluck an arrow out of President Obama's rhetorical quiver, tried to get the Senate to vote on the president's $447 billion jobs bill Tuesday -- presumably to test whether Democrats have the votes to pass it. But while Obama repeatedly has called on Congress to pass the bill right away, Democratic Leader Harry Reid shot down the effort, accusing McConnell of pulling a political stunt. "I am disappointed that he would play games with this important legislation," Reid said, pledging to take up the bill later on in the session. The...

At the age of 21, Sergio has an undying love of politics. He has already interned for two state lawmakers and hopes to pursue a career in politics. He plans to commit himself to changing his community, but there is one catch: Sergio is in the country illegally; he can’t even vote. "It is something that I am really passionate about, but because of my position, it gets really frustrating," Sergio said. A student at San Diego State University, Sergio graduated from San Diego High School with a 4.3 GPA and entered SDSU with a full, privately funded scholarship.

The ink was barely dry on President Barack Obama’s nomination for Secretary of Commerce before congressional Republicans promised to oppose the pick. California Rep. Darrel Issa, chairman of the House oversight committee, took aim at John Bryson, the nominee, calling him a “green evangelist.” Oklahoma Republican Sen. James Inhofe promised to work “actively” to defeat Bryson’s nomination. Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, said Tuesday that Obama’s choice shows “that he has no intention of backing down from his job-killing agenda.” In a statement, Issa decried Obama’s choice to head the Department of Commerce,...

A landlord has blocked off his plush £1m home with ten skips to stop his tenants from leaving without paying the £15,000 he claims they owe him. Businessman Simon Everingham says he has been in a constant battle for £3,000-a-month rent since the occupants of his four-bedroom 18th century farmhouse in Markington, near Harrogate, North Yorkshire, fell behind with the payments last November. He barricaded the American tenants Dan and Christina Herring in by blocking the drive on Monday and the fight to stop them leaving continued today. They work at the controversial Menwith Hill U.S. spy base nearby but...

A new standoff is shaping up at the Capitol Thursday, as protesters inside sit in front of the doors to the state Assembly and Gov. Scott Walker's administration has closed the building to the public. The statehouse did not open at 8 a.m. Thursday, which is supposed to be the time it is open for business. The Assembly is scheduled to convene at 11 a.m. to take up Gov. Scott Walker's bill to repeal most collective bargaining by public employee unions, a measure that has sparked massive protests and drawn international attention. Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch said he wanted to...

Senate Republicans intend to block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending in the current postelection session of Congress, officials said Tuesday, adding that the leadership has quietly collected signatures on a letter pledging to carry out the strategy. If carried out, it would doom Democratic-backed attempts to end the Pentagon's practice of discharging openly gay members of the military service and give legal status to young illegal immigrants who join the military or attend college. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has made both measures a priority as Democrats attempt to enact legislation long...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected a key provision of President Barack Obama's health care law, sending a clear message of discontent to Washington and Democrats less than 100 days before the midterm elections. With about 70 percent of the vote counted late Tuesday, nearly three-quarters of voters threw their support behind a ballot measure, Proposition C, that would prohibit the government from requiring people to have health insurance or from penalizing them for not having it. That would conflict with a federal requirement that most people have health insurance or face penalties starting in 2014.

House Democrats Wednesday blocked an attempt by Republicans to find out more about the job offer the White House made to Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., in an attempt to get him to drop out of Pennsylvania’s Senate Democratic primary. The House Judiciary Committee voted 15-12 to reject a motion that would have directed the Justice Department to turn over all material related to the job offer, which the White House said was made by former President Bill Clinton and did not involve a paid position. Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,...

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Thursday blocked an effort by Democrats to start debate on legislation to tighten regulation of the nation’s financial system, and the two sides traded bitter accusations about who was standing in the way of a bipartisan agreement. The majority leader, Harry Reid of Nevada, asked Republicans to agree to begin debating the measure, which would impose a sweeping regulatory framework on Wall Street and big financial institutions. But the Republican leader, Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, objected, saying Democrats were pre-empting negotiations to reach a deal.

Justice Stevens has in recent days become the Justice To Watch, namely because rumors continue to swirl that the 89-year old will soon step down, paving the way for another President Obama appointment.

A new Rasmussen poll shows that 57% of voters want limits on the amount of money a jury can award a plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit. This once again puts what Democrats want directly at odds with what Middle America wants (who are the extremists here?). Frivolous lawsuits are the number one cause of skyrocketing costs...

Berkeley may take great pride as a champion of free speech and civil rights, but an unusual campaign has been under way - led by most of the city's top elected officials - to stop residents from signing a citizen's petition. Opposing a petition, in this case asking for a public vote on a controversial downtown development plan, might not be unusual in many cities. But in Berkeley, which promotes extensive citizen involvement in city affairs, the campaign has provoked some unusual arguments. "Sometimes democracy can go too far," Councilwoman Susan Wengraf, one of the six council members opposing the...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration says it will defend a 2001 rule imposed by President Bill Clinton that blocked road construction and other development on tens of million acres of remote national forests. The administration's decision was contained in court papers filed Thursday in a case in Wyoming that could help settle the fate of remote federal forests. The administration is siding with environmentalists in the case.

Mystery unraveled by construction worker

For the past 2 weeks, I have encountered a serious problem logging into Free Republic. My service provider is Comcast. If I type in the URL www.freerepublic.com, I get the following error page every time: As of last week, I could click again on the suggested weblinks and get re-routed to Free Republic. Today, even that does not work. Not does going to address down arrow for recently visited web addresses. The only way I can access the site is to go to a previous specific page of a post, and then go back to Pings. I am logged onto...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Sunday he will not join legislative Democrats in a court fight against Proposition 8 despite his opposition to the same-sex marriage ban, but he believes the courts ultimately should and will allow such marriages in California. The Republican governor reiterated on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" that, "for me, marriage is between a man and a woman. But I don't want to ever force my will on anyone." "I think that the Supreme Court was right by saying (a gay marriage ban) was unconstitutional and that everyone should have the right," Schwarzenegger said. "So the...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Online forums where thousands of child-porn images have been posted have been stricken from three Internet providers, including two of the nation's five largest, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday. Verizon, Time Warner Cable and Sprint agreed with Cuomo to block access to child pornography disseminated through newsgroups and user groups, a hard-to-regulate sector of the Internet designed to bring together users with like interests. With the agreement announced Tuesday, Cuomo skipped over the untold number of individual users accessing child porn and went to the portals that, unwittingly they all say, provided the...

VISTA ---- The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties will ask a judge to stop Vista from releasing the names, addresses and phone numbers of private individuals who have registered with the city as day-labor employers, an attorney with the group said Thursday. The ACLU's legal director, David Blair-Loy, said he would file a class action complaint today in Superior Court on behalf of four anonymous employers to block the release of the information, which has been requested by a local anti-illegal immigration activist. "This is just one of those cases where, I think, the right...

Plans to vaccinate young girls against the sexually-transmitted virus that causes cervical cancer have been blocked in several US states by conservative groups, who say that doing so would encourage promiscuity. Advocates of the vaccine point out that the jabs work against human papillomavirus (HPV) - which causes virtually all cases of cervical cancer - and are safe. The latest data from a large clinical trial of Merck's cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, found it offered 100% protection against cervical, vulval and vaginal diseases, caused by HPV (types 6, 11, 16 and 18) and 98% protection against advanced pre-cancers caused by...

H&R Block 2Q Loss Grows on Continued Mortgage Problems KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- H&R Block Inc. on Thursday said its second-quarter loss almost doubled, missing Wall Street expectations as the company's mortgage lending arm continued to hemorrhage cash. The company said it will make a decision on whether to sell the mortgage business during the first quarter of 2007, with Chief Executive Mark Ernst telling reporters, "We think there will be a strong demand for it." For the three months ended Oct. 31, the Kansas City-based company reported an overall loss of $156.5 million, or 49 cents per share,...

Vitamin shots may help protect multiple sclerosis patients from severe long-term disability, a study suggests. Currently, there is no effective treatment for the chronic progressive phase of MS, when serious disability is most likely to appear. Researchers cut the risk of nerve degeneration in mice with MS-type symptoms by giving them a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide. The Children's Hospital Boston study appears in the Journal of Neuroscience. MS, which affects about 85,000 people in the UK, is a disease of the central nervous system. It causes the break down of the myelin sheath, a fatty protein, which coats...

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's leftist presidential candidate threatened to disrupt the swearing in of his ruling party rival Saturday, a day after lawmakers blocked the outgoing president from delivering his state-of-the-nation speech to Congress in an escalating crisis over the July 2 election. Leftist legislators yelling for a recount of votes surrounded the congressional podium on Friday, leaving President Vicente Fox, wearing his presidential sash, standing at the door of the chambers with no choice but to hand in his annual, written report and leave. Leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has said he will never recognize a victory by...

/begin my translation China to Cut Oil Shipment to N. Korea China has cut oil shipment to N. Korea, in order to prevent N. Korea's nuclear test, according to local sources in China on Aug. 26."These days the amount of oil shipped to N. Korea from here has substantially dropped,", said an employee at Basan Oil Repository, located 20km(12.5 miles) away from Dandong, a Chinese city sitting next to Sino-Chinese border. The repository stores oil sent from Daqing Oil Field. Crude oil stored here is sent to the shore of Yalu River 10 km(6.25miles), from which it is shipped to N. Korea. The worker...

Iran anger at Lebanon aid 'block' By Frances Harrison BBC News, Tehran The international community is trying to clear aid channels Turkey and Saudi Arabia have stopped Iran using their air space to send humanitarian relief to Lebanon, media in Iran have said. Iran's health ministry has been collecting supplies to send to the Lebanese people, the reports said. But the goods had to be sent via Dubai to Syria because of objections by other countries in the region. This may fuel Iranian anger against nations they feel have not done enough to support Hezbollah against Israel. 'Passivity' Iran's Labour...

An anonymous tipster sends some intriguing information about the "whiny kids grow up to be conservatives" study conducted by left-wing UC Berkeley prof Jack Block. Wondering where the nursery school kids who were the subjects of the study came from? Check this out: I know exactly which "nursery school" was used as the basis of this study. It is not mentioned anywhere in the text of the 16-page pdf you provided for downloading, but I know because -- well, because I know people who were some of the subjects of this study (and of other similar studies). And an extremely...

Michelle has kindly posted the infamous "whiny kids grow up to be conservative" paper in PDF format. Would you believe that the paper claims that conservative boys were "visibly deviant?" Yes, it does. Click here to download and read the entire document from Michelle's site. Much of it is pretty boring, mundane stuff, but there is a noticeable pattern of ascribing negative behaviors to conservatives and positive behaviors to liberals.Read this part of the report. The participants’ LIB/CON index scores at age 23 were correlated—for the genders separately— (1) with their CCQ item values gathered 20 years earlier, (2) with...

After my automatic AVG update came through this AM, I could no longer log on. All my cookies had been deleted, and the computer would not accept new ones. I opened system restore, and the date had been reset to 2099. I got a message advising that the update had problems. I reset, ran restore, and the date changed again. I ended up unloading AVG, the computer works. I have reloaded AVG, but not going to update until later, in case this is a problem with their update file. It is the only explanation I can imagine.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A federal grand jury in Eugene on Thursday indicted two more people in the 2001 arson at a Clatskanie tree farm, court officials said, bringing the number charged in the case to six. In all 14 people are charged in what government prosecutors describe as an arson conspiracy across several Western states over five years. Nathan Frazer Block, 24, and Joyanna L. Zacher, 28, were arrested Thursday in Olympia, Wash., after the 14-count indictments were handed up. Advertisement Government attorneys will seek their return to Eugene to face trial, said Karin Immergut, U.S. Attorney for Oregon....

Master Sgt. Jay Phelps and Sgt. Teresa Burroughs hold the 25-pound block of gold they discovered in their office at FOB Speicher. Staff Sgt. Jesse C. Riggin Printer-friendly version TIKRIT, Iraq (Army News Service, Feb. 7, 2006) – A unique challenge for two Soldiers arose recently with the discovery of a very special doorstop in the terrain team’s work space: a 25-pound block of solid gold. “I noticed it during the relief-in-place with the unit before us, sitting under the table in the office,” said Sgt. Teresa Burroughs, a terrain analyst in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne...

Govt defends block to same sex marriage January 18, 2006 - 9:29AM Attorney-General Philip Ruddock has defended his department's action in attempting to block a legal same-sex marriage overseas. The Australian Embassy in Vienna refused Melbourne man Peter Kakucska a certificate confirming his single status once it became clear he needed it to marry his male partner Markus Muehlmann, an Austrian national. The Netherlands requires proof that foreign nationals wishing to marry there are not already married in their country of origin. Australian embassies provide this proof in the form of a Certificate of No Impediment to Marriage, or a...

I hate block lists... But after careful consideration, we do recommend blocking traffic from these two netblocks: InterCage Inc.: 69.50.160.0/19 (69.50.160.0 - 69.50.191.255) Inhoster: 85.255.112.0/20 (85.255.112.0 - 85.255.127.255) They have been associated with a number of high profile criminal activities in the past. A good number of WMF exploits use name servers or other resources in these netblocks. They have been non responsive to current and past requests to remove malicious content.

AR RAMADI, Iraq (Dec. 20, 2005) -- The Marines were up early, bracing themselves against the cold-desert wind off the Euphrates River and waiting for the “all go” from headquarters. The sun was just breaking the horizon and painting the sky a splotchy pink and blue while word was passed that the mission would go off as planned. The first team of Combined Anti-Armor Team White, along with Company L’s 2nd Mobile Platoon exited the heavily fortified gates of Hurricane Point and began their part in Operation Block Party 6. Soon after the first two units left the base, the...

Senate Blocks Patriot Act Legislation By Richard B. Schmitt Times Staff Writer 1:48 PM PST, December 16, 2005 The Senate, in a bipartisan show of strength, blocked legislation today to renew the USA Patriot Act — a surprising and dramatic rebuff to President Bush that reflected rising concern over his handling of the war on terrorism. The failed vote to end debate and consider a bill that the House easily approved this week left the fate of the terror-fighting law, critical portions of which are due to expire Dec. 31, unclear at the eleventh hour. Four Republicans broke ranks. It...

Immigration block traps Zimbabweans in Britain By Stewart Payne (Filed: 14/11/2005) The Government was accused yesterday of ignoring the plight of hundreds of white Zimbabweans living in Britain on ancestral visas whose applications to remain in the country have been blocked by the Home Office. Janine Pringle with Reg and Charmaine Stephens with a pile of some of their visa application paperwork The immigration service has retained their travel documents but has suspended consideration of their applications for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) in the UK. As a result, many Zimbabweans have been unable to return home for weddings, funerals...

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Twenty environmental groups sued the Bush administration over a decision to repeal Clinton-era regulations that blocked road construction, logging and industrial development on more than 90,000 square miles of the nation's last untouched forests. In the lawsuit filed Thursday, the Sierra Club, National Audubon Society, Greenpeace and other groups challenged the U.S. Forest Service decision earlier this year to reverse the 2001 "roadless rule" that protected 58.5 million acres of undeveloped national forest. "These are the last wild areas of North America, and there is overwhelming public support for their protection from development," said Kristen Boyles,...

WASHINGTON (AP) - An effort by environmental groups to block the Bush administration from implementing regulations on mercury pollution power plants was rejected by a federal appeals court. Without comment, Judges David Sentelle and Janice Rogers Brown of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia denied a motion to halt immediately the regulations adopted in March by the Environmental Protection Agency. The rules set a nationwide cap on mercury emissions from about 600 coal-burning power plants and puts a ceiling on allowable pollution for each state beginning in 2010. Individual plants, however, can avoid cleanups by buying...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the 2005-06 budget yesterday amid an orgy of self-congratulation among California's leaders, who were proud to miss the constitutional deadline of June 15 by a few weeks instead of the usual few months. Unfortunately, while the relatively quick agreement on the budget is welcome, the $117.5 billion spending plan is anything but. If the stakes weren't so high, the Sacramento types' celebration of their new comity would seem like, well, comedy. Consider the points raised by Sen. Tom McClintock, as ever the skunk at the Capitol picnic: The 2004-05 budget had a gap of only $2...

The last thing California needs is another sideshow. That's why the looming battle between Attorney General Bill Lockyer and Secretary of State Bruce McPherson over Proposition 77 is so dismaying. The measure would take redistricting power away from the Legislature and give it to a panel of judges. Unfortunately, sponsors submitted an initiative with slightly different wording than the petition signed by 951,000 Californians. As a result, Lockyer yesterday sued to keep the measure off the fall ballot. But McPherson says it is his call – and he sees the wording differences as trivial. On balance, McPherson has the better...

Secretive panel could block China's Unocal bid By Jim Wolf 38 minutes ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) - If Unocal Corp. accepts an $18.5 billion takeover by China's CNOOC Ltd. the deal's fate may hinge on how a secretive U.S. review panel defines "national security," experts said on Friday. "The primary question for this transaction is whether they consider energy security to be a national-security issue," said Michael Wessel, a Democrat and a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Wessel said the Bush administration, so far, had restricted the definition of national security. State-owned CNOOC's unsolicited bid trumped a...

SWITCH on your satellite television receiver in Tehran nowadays and something is amiss - "No Signal", the otherwise fuzzy television screen says for much of the day and night. With presidential elections just over a week away, Islamic Iran's technological guardians appear to be waging a war against enemies in the airwaves - opposition-run television channels. However, the problem is that they may also be frying people's brains. "Microwaves," explained an Iranian satellite television technician, who earns his keep by installing dishes even though they are technically banned. "They're jamming, and these signals used to block the satellites have never...

Democrat wants Congress to block pension defaults By Susan Cornwell Fri May 13, 5:15 PM ET United Airlines Flight Attendants supporters protest outside the Dirksen Federal courthouse in Chicago prior to the bankruptcy hearing of United Airlines, May 11, 2005. On May 13, 2005 a Democratic lawmaker said congress should impose a six-month moratorium keeping bankrupt companies such as United Airlines from dumping their workers' pension plans onto a federal agency. A bankruptcy judge this week approved a deal between United Airlines, a UAL Corp unit, and the federal pension insurer allowing the carrier to terminate its pension plans, in...

SACRAMENTO - The union representing prison doctors sued the Department of Corrections to block higher standards for physicians, blaming appalling health care problems on an inferior prison system. The Oakland-based Union of American Physicians and Dentists said Monday its doctors are not responsible for the problems. The Department of Corrections wants doctors to be board certified in internal medicine or family practice, or pass a competency test. The plan follows a series of scathing reports on health care at state prisons. National experts reported last month that conditions are so poor that inmates are dying of neglect and maltreatment. The...