Free Republic

RI's unemployment card fees questionedBy DAVID KLEPPER | Associated Press – Mon, Feb 20, 2012 PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Rhonda Taylor had never been on unemployment until she was laid off from her information technology job in 2008. When she received the debit card she'd use to access her unemployment benefits from the state, she assumed it worked like any other bank card. But after a month using the card, the North Providence resident noticed she was being charged a fee every time she checked her balance at an ATM. Every time she used her PIN to make a purchase....

Racism is about many things but it isn’t about race. To understand the uses of race in American liberalism requires understanding its place in the political culture. When American liberals speak of race they aren’t speaking in the genetic sense. What they are doing is clumsily piggybacking class onto race and adding one dubious construct to another. The placement of racial politics at the center of liberal advocacy coincided with a growing national prosperity that seemed to be on the way to making class warfare of the old kind irrelevant. Previous liberal civil rights activity had been a subset of...

You know he’s getting desperate. (NYT) — For nearly three years, Republicans have attacked Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on national security and civil rights issues. For months, they have criticized him over a gun-trafficking investigation gone awry, with dozens of leaders calling for his resignation. Last week, more than 75 members of Congress co-sponsored a House resolution expressing “no confidence” in his leadership. [...] In the interview, Mr. Holder offered a glimpse of how he viewed the criticism. He said he thought some critics — like Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who favors allowing the military...

Out of all the possible reactions to the new conservative cartoon, “The Les Dowrey Show,” there is one thing that I never saw coming- the race card. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s the liberal’s favorite trump card to play for anything and everything, but never in my wildest imaginations did I think I would be called a racist. Then again, imagine how Herman Cain must feel. In the second episode of the show, Les Dowrey goes to the scene of the occupy Wall Street protests only to discover the stinky unemployed hippy protest is really a zombie outbreak....

As I detailed here in February in "Dick Durbin Is Stealing Your Free Checking," thanks to price controls on debit card transactions from the Durbin Amendment of the 2010 Dodd-Frank "financial reform" law, free checking is going the way of the dodo bird. The Durbin price controls on interchange fees -- the so-called "swipe fees" that retailers pay to bank and credit unions that process debit card transactions, go into effect this Saturday, October 1, and are already showing more dire effects than originally predicted. Not only is free checking disappearing at a rapid pace -- a new Bankrate.com survey...

Continuing a fiat governance style that is right out of the Obama playbook, Democratic and Working Families Party Governor Dannel Malloy issued two executive orders yesterday that will force daycare providers and home healthcare workers in Connecticut to join unions. The orders, his ninth and tenth since taking office in January, will force the state’s 4,000 daycare providers to add over $1 million in dues to union coffers, and remove the right to secret ballot election for these workers by instituting a card check process.

Black leaders discuss job, budget cuts with ObamaBy SUZANNE GAMBOA - Associated Press AP – 1 hour 9 minutes ago WASHINGTON (AP) — Leaders of the largest and oldest black civil rights groups said they urged President Barack Obama in a White House meeting Thursday to resist deep cuts to programs that benefit urban communities — with some of the highest unemployment rates — as he negotiates the nation's debt limit. NAACP president Benjamin Jealous and National Urban League president Marc Morial said they left the Oval Office feeling assured Obama understands deep budget cuts to safety net programs such...

A total of 60 Bulgarian citizens have now been arrested by police authorities across Europe for participating in a large international scheme for credit card forgery and other crimes.The gang has been active since nine years and has accumulated a fortune estimated at over EUR 50. Around 5000 police officers from Spain Bulgaria, Italy, Poland, Germany, US intelligence agents and experts from Europol have contributed to the operation, codenamed Night Clone Card.The Bulgarian crime ring, which has been described as the world's largest in the sphere of bank card cloning, has been active mostly in Italy, where nine suspects were...

Now we know why unionists were fighting so hard for a federal “card check” law. Organizers can unionize private and public employees, forcing them to pay hundreds in union dues, before they even know anything about it. That's the situation at the Cape Cod Lighthouse Charter School in Orleans, Massachusetts. Last week news broke that the reputable charter school was the second in Massachusetts to be organized by the American Federation of Teachers. (Snip) Several teachers complained that they were never informed about the process and were never asked to vote on the issue.

“Capital One Rejects Hunting Photo for Image Card,” a Friday NRA alert informs members. “Lou Hinger of Hamburg, N.J.… tried to design a credit card using a photo of her husband Frank, dressed in hunting gear, posing with a deer he had taken last hunting season,” the alert continues. Capital One rejected the personalized design, opining: “Sorry, we were unable to approve the image you submitted. We will not approve any images that contain the following: “Violence, hatred, or cruelty to humans or animals, profanity obscenities or any type of death imagery.” That’s a curious position for Capital One to...

Is your credit card safe in your wallet? Something else to worry about. Only cards with the transmit signal seem to be involved at this time.

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A Northern California city is moving forward with plans for a municipal identification card that is being touted as the first in the nation that would double as a full-fledged debit card. The Oakland City Council this month awarded a contract to issue the cards. The goal is to help any city residents, including illegal immigrants, who may have difficulty obtaining a state-issued ID.

Hi All, I tried searching around and I will be darn if I can find any mention of what the White House Christmas Theme would be this year. I know that they received the tree but that is all I can find. No notice on HDTV about decorating the White House, Couldn't find what the Christmas Card will Look Like, etc. Seems really strange, As far as I can remember they First Ladies have always had a theme and card selected early in the year. Can anyone point me in the right direction. The only thing that turned up on...

Presented by President Hugo Chávez as an instrument to make shopping for groceries easier, the ``Good Life Card'' is making various segments of the population wary because they see it as a furtive attempt to introduce a rationing card similar to the one in Cuba. The measure could easily become a mechanism to control the population, according to civil society groups. ``We see that in short-term this could become a rationing card probably similar to the one used in Cuba,'' Roberto León Parilli, president of the National Association of Users and Consumers, told El Nuevo Herald. ``It would use more...

There is a small but growing debate about whether or not President Obama's age is approaching or has already passed Biden's IQ. The way things are going I'm wondering if the same argument should start to happen with the big 0 himself. Ok, its a made up debate, but can anyone give me even one reason why it shouldn't be? All kidding aside, I hope President Obama's birthday is as happy as the country is with his leadership. I even made him a card! Click here to see a larger version of the cover Click here to see a...

CULVER CITY, Calif. (KABC) -- A graduation card sold at local stores has been pulled from shelves after a civil rights group raised concerns about the content. The group claims the card's micro-speaker plays a greeting that's racist. It is a graduation greeting from Hallmark that says, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice." Members of the Los Angeles NAACP did take notice. As characters known as "Hoops" and "Yoyo" banter on, African American leaders hear offensive language. "And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back," the card vocalizes. "That was very demeaning to African...

Democrats unveiled a 26-page proposal on immigration Thursday evening that closely follows a bipartisan draft hashed out by Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) earlier this year. Here are the main points: * Enforce borders: The lawmakers plan to increase the number of border patrol officers and provide them with better equipment to detect fraud and smuggling. They also want to install ground sensors throughout the southern border to make it easier to detect illegal border crossing. * Free up jails: The proposal calls for the deportation of illegal immigrants currently detained in federal and local prisons. Going...

There is a new national ID card being proposed in the Senate as part of the left's latest attempt to import 15 million new Democrat voters (illegal immigrants) that will contain the fingerprints and other personal information of the person it belongs to.

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Credit-card debt has been falling for 16 straight months but consumers aren't paying off their financial obligations as much you might think. Instead, they're walking away from the debt, forcing credit-card issuers to write off as much as 90% of that reported drop, according to a new report by CardHub.com. U.S. banks charged off a record $83.3 billion in credit-card losses last year. That makes up the bulk of the $93.2 billion drop in outstanding credit-card debt that was reported by the Federal Reserve for 2009.

Today is the first anniversary of the inauguration of President Obama. Creative Minority Report has obtained the first year report card. Click Here To See Graphic

"Now beginning the Era of Captivity, the American people have entered a new stage in their once extremely productive lives. This new phase has been purposefully designed to be unproductive and will be called 'existence.' Existence, however, will soon degrade and devolve — with no one stopping the perpetrators of this abhorrence — into subsistence. After that chapter has been written and read, life will have become so essentially bitter and untenable that additional deteriorations in life-conditions will carry no significant meaning — other than base survival. Since the Usurper and Dictator in Chief Barack Hussein Obama assumed power and...

From the Currier & Ives vault, and slightly re-colored by your faithful correspondent, a card to wish you and yours a Happy New Year.

Michael Card's original version of "Joseph's Song".

U.S. stocks erased most of a 156- point rally in the Dow Jones Industrial Average after a House bill to curb credit-card rates spurred concern about bank earnings, outweighing the Federal Reserve's plan to keep interest rates at a record low. Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc. led financial shares to the steepest loss among 10 industries as the vote moved up the start date of many rule changes that will make it more difficult for lenders to raise rates on existing credit cards. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index wiped out most of a...

A quick quesition for our Tech Brigade…a week ago, I seriously misplaced my cell phone, as in, it’s 80% sure it is lost in my house, but the best of research yields nada. I went to the kiosk and AT&T issued me a new sim and deactivated the old one, so no one can use it and if I find the phone, I can insert the Sim and be back to normal.

Red Bluff woman launches credit card revoltBy David Benda Posted September 17, 2009 at midnight RED BLUFF - Ann Minch's vow to stop making payments on her Bank of America credit card has captured a nation. Upset that the bank raised her interest rate to 30 percent, the 46-year-old Red Bluff native vented her outrage on video and uploaded it to YouTube. She calls the four-minute, 28-second clip "the proverbial first shot in an American Debtors Revolution," and it has struck a chord with the public. Minch will be in San Francisco today doing a live TV interview for the...

New credit-card rules, designed to curb the industry's abusive practices, went into effect a few weeks ago. But already lenders have found ways to get around the regulatory roadblocks—moves that may cost good paying consumers and people who pay their balances in full. Watch Video...

And Obama saith unto you, "Insurance companies will be prohibited from denying insurance coverage based on a pre-existing medical condition. Period." And there was a health care famine in the land...

I just want to throw this out there. Has anybody heard if he's changing his position (again) on card check?

"A" for Effort Teacher's Comments: He really knows how to shovel it. "A" for Penmanship Teacher's Comments: He signs those huge spending bills with such flair! "A" for Civility Teacher's Comments: He gets along well with others. Very amenable to critique from ruthless dictators.

I have beaten up Senator Specter pretty well on this site and I do still want the GOP to expel him, but I must give him credit when it is due. Yesterday, the Senator sent the following email stating that he will oppose card check, a bill that would deny workers the right to a secret ballot on unionization votes: Dear Pennsylvania Constituent, After giving exhaustive consideration to the Employee Free Choice legislation, I have decided to oppose the bill for reasons specified in my Senate floor statement which is contained below or you may read here and watch here....

I've used 2 different wireless cards (Linksys and Encore) on my desktop they randomly disconnect...

Download this handy card, warning police officers that if a stop and search is intrusive, unlawful or malicious, you will take action The debate about the use of stop and search – be it protesters or young black and Asian men, be it in the case of stopping knife crime or deterring terrorism – is one that has (understandably, perhaps) been fixed on the police results rather than the times they get it wrong.But it is in the cases where they get it wrong that attitudes towards police are sharpened and the rights we feel we have as citizens practically...

n a Daily Beast exclusive, a former Bush advisor files his account—and his photos—from aboard the former president’s flight back to Texas. Knowing it would be impossible to get out of the city Tuesday morning, many of us arrived Monday night at the very funky Econo Lodge by Air Force Andrews Base. The Blair House it was not. But good to be humbled on the way out. We jumped in a van in the morning and watched Obama’s inaugural address from the lobby at Andrews. The group of 100 or so watching, of which 100 percent were George Bush supporters,...

Hundreds wait for hours to buy S.F. ID card Hundreds of people stood in line for hours at San Francisco City Hall on Thursday to be among the first in the nation to receive municipal identification cards (regardless of their immigration status.) The cards, also available in New Haven, Conn., and being considered in other cities, have sparked fury among advocates of stricter immigration laws. They argue cities have no business declaring people residents if they are not in the country legally. But San Francisco officials and recipients of the cards hailed the new program as a way to connect...

Bernice Gallego sat down one day this summer, as she does pretty much every day, and began listing items on eBay. She dug into a box and pulled out a baseball card. She stopped for a moment and admired the picture. "Red Stocking B.B. Club of Cincinnati," the card read, under a sepia tone photo of 10 men with their socks pulled up to their knees. The card itself was dirty and wrinkled in a few places. [SNIP] The card is actually 139 years old. It, and a handful of others like it, are considered the first baseball cards. This...

NORTH KANSAS CITY, MO. -- A North Kansas City couple has been left scratching their heads after they became the victims of a political scam. Steve and Rachel Larman say a strange credit card charge appeared on their statement this month -- a $2300 donation to Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The Larman's say they don't want this to be about their political affiliation, but they say they're not about to give the Obama campaign any help from their pocketbook. They said they notified Chase, their credit card bank, to report the fraud. "(They) said that they had seen-they were familiar...

Omar Fikri, 42, said he was so offended by the card he destroyed it after showing it to his wife. He told the hearing that although it was meant as a joke, his co-workers knew he was sensitive about being labelled an extremist after the terrorist attacks on London and America. He also told the hearing that co-worker Sam Low called his praying "disgusting" when Mr Fikri failed to answer the phone while praying at his desk. Mr Fikri, who worked as a £30,000-a-year software programmer for international freight company Davies Turner, in Dartford, Kent, is claiming discrimination on the...

Candidates in Key Races Pledge to Support Employee Free Choice [1]     Kay Barnes     [2]     Rep. Tom Udall     Yes, Virginia (and Ohio and Colorado…), it’s true: The battle for the White House isn’t the only election this fall. Every U.S. House seat and 33 Senate seats are up for election, and ensuring a pro-working family Congress will require a strong national effort. Many candidates around the country understand the importance of passing legislation that levels the playing field for workers seeking to form unions. Kay Barnes (D-Mo.) and Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) are both...

In spite of fawning media coverage, an unpopular Republican president and economic challenges, Democrat Barack Obama has not managed to build a very substantive lead over his Republican rival John McCain. Recent polls show McCain closing the distance in key states, and one national poll even had the Republican candidate with a slight lead. There are those that have, of late, attributed Obama’s lackluster polling to race. It happens that they are correct. But Obama’s presidential run has always been about race. It has not, however, been about race as we most often envision it, as part and parcel of...

Midland, TX (LifeNews.com) -- A Chinese couple is happily living in Texas after escaping both religious persecution and a potential forced abortion for breaking China's one-child family planning law. Bob and Heidi Fu are but one example of the human rights problems Chinese people face despite China's holding the Summer Olympics. When Fu and his wife discovered they had become pregnant with their first child -- without getting permission from the government -- they knew they had to leave the country. "My wife was pregnant without the pregnancy permission card. You know in China the one child policy [applies] even...

As the threat of recession looms, some people are searching for extra cash to supplement their incomes. People used to use their homes as piggy banks, but the mortgage crisis has led many to tap into their 401(k)s and now there's even a new debit card that lets you get money from your retirement savings just as you would a checking account. "Good Morning America" financial contributor Mellody Hobson tells you the smartest way to handle your money and gives you the pros and cons of the new 401(k) debit card plan. 1. How does the 401(k) debit card...

FORT WRIGHT, Ky. — Police in northern Kentucky arrested a woman who officers say traded sex for gasoline. Police in Fort Wright set up a prostitution sting and said one of the suspects they arrested engaged in sex for a $100 gasoline card and other gifts. Angela Eversole, 34, of Fort Wright is charged with prostitution and doing business without an occupational license. She pleaded not guilty at a Tuesday arraignment. Police also arrested a man they said paid Eversole. He is 50-year-old Kenneth Nowak of Avon, Indiana.

I use a prepaid calling card for long distance. Does anyone know of one where I do not have to press 1 for English? MCI-Verizon require it.

Hacker gives live video demonstrationFollowing on from last week’s story about how the MIFARE Classic’s RFID chip, as used in London Transport’s Oyster card, had been compromised, BoingBoing has gone a step further. It gave a video demonstration of a hacker demonstrating how easy it is to extract details from a RFID-equipped credit card. In the video, the hacker Pablos Holman boasts that he is able to “decrypt the data” using an “eight dollar reader from eBay”. One quick swipe of the reporter’s American Express card later and he appears to have done just that, with the cardholder’s name and...

A new debit card that lets consumers use ATMs to withdraw money from their 401(k) plans is drawing a sharp reaction from financial planners. The ReservePlus card is marketed by Reserve Solutions Inc., a New York financial firm that says it has 10,000 cardholders already. The debit cards allow cardholders to take out loans from their employer-sponsored 401(k) retirement funds. Normally, restrictions on the funds discourage account holders from making withdrawals before they are 59½ years old. Early withdrawals from 401(k) plans come with taxes and fees, which could deprive account holders of their nest eggs if they fail to...

We start the year in Britain with a challenge to our essential nature, for 2008 might turn out to be the year when we decide to rip up the Magna Carta. Among the basic civil rights in this country, there has always been, at least in theory, an inclination towards liberal democracy, which includes a tolerance of an individual's right to privacy. We are born free and have the right to decide what freedom means, each for ourselves, and to have control over our outward existence, yet that will no longer be the case if we agree to identity cards.

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Many South Carolina Republicans got a bogus holiday greeting card this week, purported to be from White House hopeful Mitt Romney, that cites some controversial passages of the Book of Mormon. "We wish you and your family a happy holiday season and a joyful New Year. The Romney family," the card says. The last page features a photograph of a temple above a box that says "Paid For By The Boston Massachusetts Temple." Romney's campaign said it had nothing to do with the cards, postmarked Thursday from Columbia with a 41-cent stamp, and Boston Temple President Ken...

Family and sports — likely in that order. Those were John Jay Barry's greatest loves. Though he passed away some 20 years ago, the den of his home on Main Street still personifies the nostalgic renaissance man who used to occupy it. Beside his desk (a deep mahogany brown wood encasement that stretches from the floor to the ceiling and nearly wall to wall) is a latch hook rug with the Brown University seal. An authentic Lionel train snakes across the top shelf of the desk, next to a series of one of a kind hand made ships. In...

Barbara Walters likes to receive Christmas greetings from high-profile celebrities and leaders, but apparently not if they refer to the Bible. On Thursday’s episode of ABC’s The View, Walters expressed dismay that President and Mrs. Bush would send out greetings containing Scripture. During the segment, Walters showed the other gals some of the “highfalutin Christmas cards,” and explained the White House card: “First of all, let me show you the cover of the White House, which is nice and bland…So that’s pleasant enough. This is what interested me, that it is a religious Christmas card. Usually in the past when...