Free Republic

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) denounced President Obama for refusing to comment on a controversial gun-tracking program that is under investigation. Issa, who is the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said Obama did not express the necessary “urgency” that is called for in investigating who approved of the “Fast and Furious” operation, which may have contributed to the death of at least one federal agent. At a press conference Wednesday, Obama reiterated that Attorney General Eric Holder did not order the gun-tracking program, which was run by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and...

We pay tribute to the fallen this Memorial Day on Freedom Radio as we welcome retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, former commander of the USS Cole and senior military fellow at Military Families United. Lippold is running for Nevada’s 2nd Congressional District seat. Learn more about the Commander here. Freedom Radio is also proud to welcome Joe Kaufman, who is the Chairman of Americans Against Hate and the founder of "CAIR Watch". He was responsible for the closure of at least one terror-related charity and convincing a number of government officials to shun the Hamas front group, CAIR. In...

The list is lengthy. From the highly sensual Ursula Andress as Honey Rider to the electric Halle Berry as Jinx, every James Bond film is known as much for one gorgeous female character as it is for its high tech action and suave sophistication. But when it comes to the most recent selection, the casting folks hope they have broken the vault with Caterina Murino. The exotic beauty plays Solange in the latest Bond endeavor, Casino Royale, the first of Ian Fleming's wondrous Bond books. Somehow, the beautiful Murino managed only a fourth place finish in the 1996 Miss Italy...

Senate Republicans blocked a nomination by President Obama for the first time this year on Monday, when they successfully filibustered the confirmation of the White House’s pick for the No. 2 official at the Justice Department. Democrats had argued that acting Deputy Attorney General James Cole, whom Mr. Obama wanted named to the post permanently, needed full congressional backing if intelligence from terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden’s killing is to be fully put to use. But Republicans objected to Mr. Cole, largely over concerns about his suggestions that terrorist suspects should be tried in civilian criminal courts, not military tribunals....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republicans on Monday blocked President Barack Obama's choice for the No. 2 job in the Justice Department and dampened talk that Osama bin Laden's death might usher in bipartisan cooperation on terrorism matters. The 50-40 vote, short of the Senate's required 60-vote threshold, sidelined Obama's monthslong drive to make official James M. Cole's position as deputy attorney general. ((snip)) Some saw the vote Monday, which Senate Democrats kept open for about 40 extra minutes, as an early sign of whether Republicans might give Obama the national security team he seeks. Only Sen. Dick Lugar, R-Ind., crossed...

With a key test vote in the Senate on Monday, Democrats are playing the national security card in their push to get the No. 2 man at the Justice Department confirmed. Democrats argue that acting Deputy Attorney General James Cole, whom President Obama wants named to the post permanently, needs full congressional backing if the treasure trove of intelligence from Osama bin Laden’s killing can be fully put to use. “There’s a heightened need for him now, given all the new work that’s going to come forward,” Sen. Charles E. Schumer, New York Democrat, said during a SenateJudiciary Committee hearing...

Austin City Council Member Sheryl Cole wants visitors flocking downtown today and through the weekend for the Texas Relays and Urban Music Festival to know that the city welcomes them and their dollars. We do, too. More than 40,000 people are expected to be in town, generating more than $8 million for the city's economy. Special events have boosted Austin's tourism business, which generates $3 billion annually for the city's economy, according to the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau. snip Cole also wants to get the word out that there are plenty of things to do in addition to the...

The Twittersphere went to war with Kenneth Cole Thursday after the clothing giant used the Egypt uprising to promote its new spring collection. "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo", the company's twitter account posted at 9:58 a.m. "Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available," the tweet continued, followed by a link to their latest designs. The message sparked uproar from throngs of Twitter followers who have been closely following events in Egypt using the hashtag #Cairo.

Orange Park native Kat Cole has been promoted to president of Cinnabon Inc., which has 770 locations worldwide. Cole, a 1996 graduate of Orange Park High School, joined Atlanta-based Cinnabon three months ago as chief operating officer. Previously she served as vice president of training and development for Hooters of America Inc., after starting with that company as a Hooters’ Girl, according to the firm’s website. She received her MBA from Georgia State University.

President Obama used a recess appointment Wednesday to name James Cole as deputy attorney general. The president also recess appointed five other officials, including four ambassadors. Cole's nomination to the second-ranking post at the Department of Justice had been held up over objections from Republicans, who raised concerns over his tenure as an independent monitor of insurance giant AIG between 2005 and 2009. The federal government bailed out the company in 2008. Republican senators also quibbled with a 2002 report that Cole wrote advocating civilian trials for terror suspects. Republicans have objected to trials in civilian courts for any of...

Cyn Bird grabbed a torn piece of notebook paper to scribble the secrets spilling from her mother's mouth as she neared death: The mysterious Miami doctor named Katherine Cole who delivered and supposedly sold babies to couples. The phone call on Jan. 12, 1962, that a baby girl with sky blue eyes was available. The $2,500 price tag. After 46 years, Bird had learned the stunning truth about her birth from her mother. Bird was adopted. Illegally. ``How do you wake up at my age and realize you have no idea who you really are?'' asks Bird, a New Jersey...

It’s a sleepy Friday in late August, the president is on another vacation, Congress is out of town, no one is paying much attention. What better time for the Obama administration to pull the plug, once again, on military commissions? This time, it has halted the case of top al-Qaeda operative Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, who was to be prosecuted by a military court for the Cole bombing. The Washington Post report is here, and Jen Rubin has thoughts at Contentions. None of this is terribly surprising. Prosecuting the Cole case by military commission sticks in the Left’s craw because it...

The Obama administration has shelved the planned prosecution of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged coordinator of the Oct. 2000 suicide attack on the USS Cole in Yemen, according to a court filing. The decision at least temporarily scuttles what was supposed to be the signature trial of a major al-Qaeda figure under a reformed system of military commissions. And it comes practically on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the attack, which killed 17 sailors and wounded dozens when a boat packed with explosives ripped a hole in the side of the warship in the port of Aden.

Obama Justice Department outrages never cease. The politically charged gang led by Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. is more interested in helping felons vote than in helping the military to vote. Sen. John Cornyn, Texas Republican, has put a legislative hold on the already troubled nomination of James M. Cole to be deputy attorney general until the attorney general ensures full protection for voting rights of our military (and associated civilian personnel) stationed abroad. The senator is right to raise a ruckus. Mr. Cornyn co-authored a 2009 law mandating that states mail absentee ballots to military voters at least...

(CNSNews.com) - Despite a resolution by Congress authorizing war against those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama’s nominee to be the number two official at the Justice Department, James Cole, wrote an op-ed in 2002 likening the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to the domestic crimes of murder, rape and child abuse, while arguing that the attackers ought to be treated like domestic criminals. “But the attorney general is not a member of the military fighting a war--he is a prosecutor fighting crime,” Cole wrote in a Sept. 9, 2002 article in Legal Times that critiqued the...

Obama Nominee for Deputy Attorney General Says 9/11 Attacks Not Acts of War, Likens Them to Domestic Crimes of Murder, Rape Monday, June 14, 2010 By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer (CNSNews.com) - Despite a resolution by Congress authorizing war against those responsible for the 9/11 terrorist attacks, President Obama’s nominee to be the number two official at the Justice Department, James Cole, wrote an op-ed in 2002 likening the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon to the domestic crimes of murder, rape and child abuse, while arguing that the attackers ought to be treated like domestic criminals....

Cheryl Cole looks set to pursue her career in America after announcing her divorce from husband Ashley today. She confirmed she had lodged a petition against the England and Chelsea star in the High Court yesterday and is understood to be looking for a clean break. Mrs Cole, 26, is said to want a 'quickie' divorce and will not be asking for any of the £6m-a-year star's money. She will also let him have the £6m matrimonial home in Surrey, allowing her to move to the States when it suits. The London Evening Standard claimed today Simon Cowell is 'very...

Cole came to America with his family in 1818. With little formal training in the art of painting, Cole was recognized as a landscape artist by his mid-twenties. Beginning in about 1833, Cole maintained a studio in Catskill, New York, where he painted many landscapes of the Catskill Mountains and other areas of the Northern Appalachians. [Images of 10 Cole landscapes]

ANN ARBOR, MI – Jesse Nieto is one of those many unsung patriotic Americans. He served 25 years in the Marine Corps, including two combat tours in Vietnam.  His youngest son, Marc, and 16 of Marc’s shipmates were killed on October 12, 2000, by Islamic terrorists who bombed the USS Cole.  Nieto has worked as a civilian employee at Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in North Carolina since 1994. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Malcolm J. Howard delivered good news to Mr. Nieto. He ruled that Camp Lejeune officials violated his free speech rights when they ordered him to remove...

There is a small but dedicated faction of collectors and aficionados which considers Philmore Graves to be among the best turners in the renowned group of masters of the North Carolina art pottery genre. I count myself among the Phil Graves fans, but perhaps I am biased, as I will explain.