Free Republic

Camber Lybbert thought it was a mistake when her bank told her that her daughter's Social Security number, issued by the U.S. government, was on their files for two credit cards and two auto loans, with an outstanding balance of more than $25,000. Her daughter is 3 years old. ...an illegal immigrant, Jose Tinoco, was using their daughter's stolen Social Security number, not in pursuit of a financial crime, but in order to get a job. ... Though most people think of identity theft as a financial crime, one of the most common forms in the United States involves illegal...

There are some things you just can’t do in politics, not at the presidential level, anyway. This is a game like any other, with rules honed over decades by the pros in blue blazers clutching focus-group results: Be likable. Don’t make enemies. Respect the party elders. Avoid funny hats. And never wear white bucks or French cuffs to the Iowa State Fair, a flyover fantasy­land of cholesterol and common decency where the life-size butter cow grazes behind glass with the life-size butter Uncle Pennybags from Monopoly. That’s why Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker wore jeans to pose atop the hay bales...

Recently California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, in an apparent attempt to defend Hillary Clinton over the ongoing scandal involving her private e-mail and her mishandling of highly classified information, has suggested that the former secretary of state “did not send” any of the classified e-mails that were found on her private server. I presume that the California senator is trying to make some kind of point that if Hillary Clinton only ‘received’ classified e-mails, then she’s guilt-free. While I can appreciate the Democratic senator’s loyalty, and trying her best to put a good face on Hillary’s troubles, I have but...

Fort Myers Police Chief Douglas Baker has been fired for the wrongful detainment in February of former University of South Florida football player Nate Allen, who now plays with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders. Fort Myers city manager (a Black man)sent a letter to the mayor Friday notifying him of Baker’s termination after Allen’s controversial arrest in February.

Donald J. Trump continues to overheat the Republican Party’s speech on immigration. What is his latest protest against political correctness? “Anchor babies.” [Snip] The phrase is as offensive as the word “illegals” for many immigrants who come to America.

<p>Frederick R. "Fritz" Payne, a World War II fighter ace who left his mark on aviation and wartime history by shooting down six Japanese warplanes during the Battle of Guadalcanal, a bloody, months-long confrontation that helped change the course of the war, has died at age 104.</p>

LA's scheme to cover a reservoir under 96 million "shade balls" may not be all it is touted to be, experts told FoxNews.com, with some critics going so far as to refer to the plan as a "potential disaster." *snip* "Black spheres resting in the hot sun will form a thermal blanket speeding evaporation as well as providing a huge amount of new surface area for the hot water to breed bacteria," said Matt MacLeod, founder of the California biotech firm Modern Moon Farms. "Disaster. It’s going to be a bacterial nightmare.”

Last week a small California company that provides human blood, cells and tissues to research scientists bailed on one of its partners, Planned Parenthood. Placerville, Ca.-based StemExpress, which had worked with Planned Parenthood to distribute fetal cells and tissues following abortions at the organization's clinics -- with the full consent of the patients undergoing the procedure -- ended its relationship with the healthcare provider "due to the increased questions that have arisen over the past few weeks." These aren't questions about the legality or ethics of Planned Parenthood's activities, which haven't been legitimately challenged. They're questions about whether the organization's...

The Office of Inspector General for Veterans Affairs just found staffers with the Los Angeles VA Regional Office improperly shredded numerous disability claims, tossing them in the trash rather than giving them proper review. ... The IG report also stated: “The shredding of these documents would have prevented the documents from becoming part of the veterans’ permanent record and potentially affect veterans’ benefits.” Examples of the documents that were shredded included disability-compensation claims submitted by two homeless veterans, and a letter from a medical provider confirming a veteran was unemployable due to “service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder,”

From Allstate, CME Group and McDonald's to Motorola Mobility and Walgreens Boots Alliance, it's hard to think of a big company in metro Chicago that's not cutting head office staff. Corporate headquarters operations that created good jobs for generations of Chicagoans have turned into drivers of unemployment in recent years. Total headcount at Chicago's 10 biggest companies fell 5.6 percent last year. And data from Chicago outplacement firm Challenger Gray & Christmas show big, locally based companies contributing an outsized share of nearly 90,000 layoffs in Illinois since 2013. Kraft Heinz joined the parade on Aug. 12, cutting 700 of...

A one-mile elevated section of the bypass under construction on Highway 101 in Mendocino County is to carry the name of a Willits serviceman who died four years ago while in Afghanistan. U.S. Navy SEAL Jesse Pittman, 27, of Willits, was killed when the helicopter he was in was shot down by Taliban insurgents over the Wardack province Aug. 6, 2011. Thirty U.S. servicemen died in the attack. A retired high school librarian who knew him, Mikela Cameron, and Pittman’s uncle, Mike Pittman, initiated the effort to immortalize his name on a bridge. The cause gained the support of Caltrans...

LOS ANGELES — Francisco Rivera is a legal immigrant who delivered an impassioned speech to the Huntington Park City Council on Monday night, joining other residents in protest against their decision to appoint two illegal aliens to city commissions. Rivera, who is originally from Jalisco, Mexico, told Breitbart News that he is opposed to honoring those who have broken the laws of the country. “You shouldn’t get special treatment or get rewarded if you break federal laws by coming illegally,” he said in an interview. I can honestly tell you guys, I’ve been here for 35 years, and I’ve looked...

The first clue that Gwyneth Paltrow didn’t know what she was talking about on Capitol Hill earlier this month came with the first words she spoke: “I’m here as a mother.” Apparently, the actress thinks that any mom can show up in Washington and hold a press conference that attracts lawmakers and the media. Memo to Ms. Paltrow: The rest of us moms don’t have that celebrity power. We haven’t won Oscar awards, assumed glamorous roles in the “Iron Man” movies, or married (let alone divorced) rock stars. But Ms. Paltrow has done all of these things so, of course,...

Small businesses are already struggling to survive the spate of minimum wage increases to $15 per hour in parts of California. Last month, the small Bay Area town of Emeryville, California, (population 10,000) decided to act as flag-bearer for raising the minimum wage in California, hiking its minimum wage to $14.44 per hour. Even though businesses with less than 56 workers are exempt from the $14.44 rate and do not have to raise their wages to $15 until 2018, Vic Gumper, who owns Lanesplitter Pizza, with outlets in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany and Emeryville, decided not only to bite the bullet...

A man who says he saw video of the shooting says the officer acted "hastily"A man shot to death by a San Diego Police officer was holding a pen that the officer mistook for a knife before firing his weapon, according to the city of San Diego’s response to a legal complaint. The $20 million complaint, filed by the family of Fridoon Rawshan Nehad, 42, claims SDPD Officer Neal Browder used excessive and unreasonable deadly force when he killed Nehad outside a Midway District adult bookstore on April 30. The allegations are supported by a man who says he saw...

“It’s a low income area, it’s been heavily dis-invested in,” USC professor of sociology Manuel Pastor said. “When you live in a community that doesn’t have that kind of retail, it’s a sign that the community is devalued and people within the community feel devalued.” Negotiations are currently happening to bring an entertainment district to the city, including a 16-screen cinema. “Seventy percent of that would be the movie theater, and then there would be an additional thirty percent retail space,” Compton City Manager Johnny Ford said. “As they’re coming in, retailers are making in Compton, and that’s what it’s...

With sales sliding and cash dwindling, the Los Angeles company warned Monday it may not have enough liquidity to keep operating for the next 12 months, according to a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The losses may continue through the rest of 2015, the company said. All these factors, American Apparel said, "raise substantial doubt that we may be able to continue as a going concern." The warning comes as the company reported a second quarter in line with its original estimates filed with the SEC last week. The quarter was marked by bad news: Sales fell 17%...

Want a definition of a green boondoggle? This incredible report by the Associated Press tracking the three year program to tax corporations and give the money to schools for green energy projects - a ballot measure that promosed tens of thousands of new jobs - shows the total, abject failure of another green energy project. Three years after California voters passed a ballot measure to raise taxes on corporations and generate clean energy jobs by funding energy-efficiency projects in schools, barely one-tenth of the promised jobs have been created, and the state has no comprehensive list to show how much...

The biological parents of a girl found dead in foster care in Auburn are demanding answers about what happened to their daughter. The Department of Children and Families said 2-year-old Avalena Conway-Coxon died at the hospital after she was removed from her foster home on Pheasant Court in Auburn. The Worcester County DA said another girl around 2 years old who was removed from the home remains hospitalized in "very critical" condition. "I will never see her smile again," said a tearful Jessica Conway, Avalena's mother. "I will never be able to hold my daughter again and it's because of...

The Police Foundation, a research group based in Washington, D.C., released a detailed report Monday on how Stockton police responded to the July 16, 2014, armed robbery of a Bank of the West branch, where three gunmen took three women hostage and fired at officers from a speeding SUV. The group found that 32 officers unloaded more than 600 rounds during the hour-long rolling gun battle, which spanned three counties, 63 miles of highway and reached speeds of 120 mph. One of the hostages, Misty Holt-Singh, was killed when she was struck by 10 police bullets, authorities said. The two...