Free Republic

"AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday defended his removal of three commissioners looking into whether the state used bad science to execute an innocent man, suggesting too much was being made of his move. On Wednesday, Perry decided to replace three members of the Texas Forensic Science Commission, including its chairman, just two days before it conducted a hearing to examine the case of Cameron Todd Willingham. The new chairman canceled the meeting."

NEW YORK, Sept. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Jewish Committee sharply criticized South African Judge Richard Goldstone's verbal attack on Israel during a UN Human Rights Council debate concerning his commission's recent report on the Gaza conflict earlier this year. "Judge Goldstone described Israel's own investigations into allegations of wrong-doing by IDF personnel as 'pusillanimous,'" said AJC Executive Director David Harris. "I wonder what is the appropriate word for the Goldstone Commission, which convicted Israel before its investigation had even begun, which barely mentioned the suffering of Israelis living with endless Hamas rocket attacks, and which received its mandate from...

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ruled that Section 13, Canada's much-criticized human rights hate speech law, is an unconstitutional violation of the Charter right to free expression because of its penalty provisions. The decision released Wednesday morning by tribunal chair Athanasios Hadjis appears to strip the Canadian Human Rights Commission of its controversial legal mandate to pursue hate on the Internet, which it has strenuously defended against complaints of censorship. It also marks the first major failure of Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, an anti-hate law that was conceived in the 1960s to target racist telephone...

LOS ANGELES — California's three-member State Lands Commission has passed a resolution urging the Legislature not to support a proposed new oil drilling project off the Santa Barbara coast. ... Last year, Houston-based Plains Exploration & Production Co. unveiled an unprecedented deal with longtime anti-oil conservationists in Santa Barbara County to allow the state's first new offshore oil project in more than 40 years. ... The commission rejected the proposal in January. ... Members of environmental groups accused the governor of attempting a power grab. ...

WASHINGTON (AFP) – US lawmakers voted Wednesday to create a 9/11-style commission of experts to probe the causes of last year's devastating financial meltdown and to draw lessons to prevent its recurrence. The vote in the House of Representatives coincided with a new study that accused US and foreign banks of deliberate culpability in the collapse that engulfed the US and world economy. The House voted 367-59 for a bill aimed at curbing financial fraud that included the proposal for an independent panel modeled on the bipartisan commission that investigated the September 11 attacks of 2001. Republican Representative Darrell Issa,...

WASHINGTON -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday rejected calls for an independent commission to investigate harsh interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency, making such a panel unlikely. The Nevada Democrat said he wanted to wait until an investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee is completed. That panel's hearings will be closed and its chairman, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D., Calif.), said in a letter to President Barack Obama that the work could take six to eight months.

It seemed appropriate that a panel examining ways to overhaul the state's tax structure met Thursday in the academic confines of UC Davis rather than the politically charged Capitol. The discussion focused on the theoretical, from examining the merits of a flat income tax to considering a "split-roll" property tax system that treats commercial businesses differently from homeowners. The daylong meeting occurred largely in a political vacuum, for now ignoring the difficulty of getting such ideas through a divided state Legislature where special interests hold great sway. But Chairman Gerald Parsky said the state's current fiscal woes may allow for...

Illinois Reform Commission P.O. Box A3935, Chicago, IL 60690 Ÿ Phone: 312.324.8486 Ÿ Fax: 312.324.9486 For Immediate Release Contact: Lori G. Anger, Media Relations 312.324.8685 ILLINOIS REFORM COMMISSION TO MEET IN SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS TO TACKLE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM CHICAGO (February 20, 2009) – The Illinois Reform Commission (IRC) will hold its next meeting in Springfield, Illinois on Monday, February 23, 2009 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The meeting, the first of two on the topic of campaign finance reform, will take place at the University of Illinois Springfield, One University Plaza, in Conference Room C/D on the First Floor...

Surprise and even shock were among the reactions to my recent column about how elite members of the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Davos, Switzerland, were considering a proposal for a new global television network to usher in a state of "global governance." It sounded authoritarian, even totalitarian, to some. Here are more of the troubling details. The media proposal, which was included in "The Global Agenda 2009" report, is to create "a new global network" with "the capacity to connect the world, bridging cultures and peoples, and telling us who we are and what we mean to each...

WASHINGTON – Two U.S. senators are proposing a Sept. 11-style commission with subpoena powers and a $3 million budget to investigate what caused the banking and financial crisis. .. the bipartisan panel would conduct a comprehensive "forensic audit" .. Isakson, a Georgia Republican, and Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, .. said the investigation is needed to hold people accountable.

FORT MONROE, Va., Dec. 29, 2008 – The blast of a roadside bomb in Iraq's Sunni Triangle resulted in the amputation of a portion of Richard Ingram's left arm, but it did not rob him of his dream of becoming an Army officer. Richard Ingram, right, takes the oath of office as a second lieutenant administered by Army 1st Lt. Robert Morris at North Georgia College and State University, Dec. 13, 2008. Photo by Kate Maine  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Ingram's dream became a reality Dec. 13 when he graduated from North Georgia College and State University...

AUSTIN — Legislators scrutinizing the embattled Texas Department of Transportation voted Tuesday to recommend replacing the existing five-member appointed transportation commission with a single commissioner. The Sunset Advisory Commission voted 7-5 for the recommendation, which would have to win approval in the full Legislature in the spring to take effect. Several senators on the sunset panel voted against the proposal, raising questions about whether the idea would make it through the Senate.

AugustReview.com [Editor's note: members of the Trilateral Commission and companies with Commission representation appear in bold type.] Since 1973, this writer has made inquiry as to the location and ownership of the vast stores of monetary gold (400 oz., .999 pure bars) in the world. There has not been a formal audit on Fort Knox, for instance, since the Eisenhower administration. Official statistics on gold holdings are often contradictory. Getting plain answers from any Central Bank in the world, including the Fed, is virtually impossible. This paper points out a pattern of manipulation that has been clearly observed by many...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger established a new state commission Thursday to overhaul the state's tax structure after facing significant volatility tied to stock market losses that already have hamstrung this year's budget. The Republican governor, joined in Los Angeles by Democratic Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, blamed the state's latest budget problem on a tax system that relies on the top 1 percent of earners to pay a significant share of revenues. He said changes are necessary to even out the state's revenues over time to stabilize funding for state programs. Schwarzenegger did not specify exactly what types of different taxes he...

Should Gwen Ifill recuse herself from the VP debate given that her Obama book is coming out Jan. 20, 2009? For those who think she ought to, they might make their feelings known to PBS CEO Paula Kerger. Her phone is 703-739-8619. They might also wish to address their concerns with Sharon Rockefeller, CEO of WETA/Washington from where Ifill broadcasts and does her show. Ms. Rockefeller’s phone is 703-998-2089.

St. Hedwig has homes on large lots and a longtime tradition of rural living. And folks there want to keep it that way. “We want to be able to maintain as best we can the reason we moved out here in the first place,” said Kathy Palmer, the city’s planning and zoning commissioner. But a new master plan and recently updated zoning maps are no match for a proposed route of Trans-Texas Corridor 35 that would slice straight through the city of about 2,000 people and create headaches for several city departments, officials said. With neighboring Wilson County, St. Hedwig...

Commission approves financing plan for toll lanes on Highway 101, other Bay Area freeways A Bay Area transportation commission took a step today toward creating an 800-mile network of toll lanes on parts of Highway 101 and other local freeways for car pools and drivers who pay a toll. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission approved a 25-year financing plan that allocates $6.1 billion for the lanes. Transportation planners say the money for the project will come from the tolls collected from motorists who use the lanes. The commission also approved a set of principles for developing the network. The profits from...

HOLLAND - The mayor of this small community 15 miles south of Temple said Tuesday the commission of which she is president is ready to take by the horns the Texas Department of Transportation and its controversial proposal, the Trans-Texas Corridor. Armed with an 80-page manual, “How to Fight the TTC,” and backed by two non-profits who say they protect private property rights, Holland mayor Mae Smith said rural Bell County is ready for a fight. “Bell County sits here like a stepchild and they’re cramming this corridor down our throats,” Ms. Smith said, regarding the commission’s relationship with TxDOT....

Anyone familiar with the threat posed by the advancing American Fifth Column understands all too clearly that our Constitution is under attack. Whether it is the insistence that the Constitution is a living document meant to conform to the will of the times or the institution of political correctness – a shadow set of laws effectively usurping the laws of our Constitutional Republic – the American Fifth Column is slowly, incrementally, systematically, chipping away at the wisdom as set forth by our Founders and Framers. With news that a non-governmentally charged commission is introducing a measure that would impose “group...

It has been roughly three months since residents of Huntsville and Walker County attended town hall meetings to voice their opinion on the Trans-Texas Corridor/I-69 project to the Texas Department of Transportation. There was no question then that there was strong opposition to the proposed 1,600-mile national highway, and it seems as though residents’ efforts to stop it has not lost any of its momentum. Several residents attended the Walker County Commissioners Court on Monday morning, expressing concerns about the project and encouraged the court to take another step of action. The five-member court agrees with the majority of the...

PROVIDENCE — A new initiative borne of a recent incident between a Providence storeowner and two Spanish-speaking customers is asking all Rhode Islanders to help stop hate speech and violence directed at “immigrants and communities of color.” The “We Can Stop the Hate” campaign was announced at the University of Rhode Island’s downtown campus, a week after published reports about a March 1 encounter between two Dominican natives who are also U.S. citizens, and David C. Richardson, owner of Rhode Island Refrigeration. The incident provoked accusations against Richardson of racial profiling and committing a hate crime. The “stop the hate”...

LUFKIN — Mae Smith, the 64-year-old mayor of the teeny Central Texas town of Holland, seized the civic center lectern like a dragon-slayer ascending the throne. In a fiery red pantsuit and a voice that echoed without the help of a malfunctioning microphone, she and her cohorts revealed to a crowd of about 50 souls clad in denim and plaid a little-known weapon against the foe of all in the room: Gov. Rick Perry's Trans-Texas Corridor. The weapon, Smith said, doesn't involve marching on the Texas Capitol, like more than 1,000 did last year, some on tractors and horses. It...

Indiana Commission on Local Government Reform report releasedAssociated Press Tuesday December 11, 2007 INDIANAPOLIS Eliminating nearly 6,000 elected positions and more than 1,000 units of government are two of the recommendations by a committee that studied ways to reform Indiana government. The report includes 27 recommendations for making Indiana's local government more efficient, effective, understandable and accountable. It calls for changes in counties, cities, townships, libraries, schools and elsewhere. Former Gov. Joe Kernan and Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall Shepard were co-chairman of the committee and released the results today. If enacted, the recommendations would reduce the number of...

MEYERS, Calif. A 23-member commission will examine whether bureaucratic delays and government mistakes contributed to a devastating South Lake Tahoe wildfire last June that generated fierce criticism from local residents. "Where there is gridlock today, tomorrow we need to have effective, efficient policies in place for the protection of homes," Nevada Gov. Jim Gibbons said as he and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced their plan Wednesday. The California-Nevada Tahoe Basin Fire Commission will review land-use and other regulations affecting the Lake Tahoe basin in an attempt to prevent another catastrophic wildfire from striking the region. The Angora fire, started by...

The California Tomato Commission is supposed to be in the business of promoting the blessed red globe with funds that come from growers and shippers. But something else has been happening with the tomato money. Private plane travel. Four-figure dinners at Morton's. Conferences in Cabo San Lucas, with friends and family along on the commission dime. It took auditors 128 pages to document it all. The story of the California Tomato Commission is an all too familiar one. When a government thinks that nobody is watching, bad things can happen. There are just too many governments, boards and commissions for...

The Fairness Commissioner will oversee the legislation that came into force on March 1 called, what else, the Fair Access to Regulated Professions Act, 2006. Augustine's job will be to see that the process of recognizing the qualifications and foreign credentials of immigrants is run, well, "fairly". For this task, the 69-year-old former MP will be paid $566 a day, up to a maximum of $110,000 a year. Obviously being fair is not expected to be a full time job.

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2007 – Americans have a moral obligation to provide the best possible care and treatment to the men and women who serve their country, President Bush told members of the American Legion here today. In order to ensure that troops get the best care, Bush introduced a new bipartisan presidential commission that will review servicemembers’ health care. “This review will examine their treatment from the time they leave the battlefield through their return to civilian life as veterans, so we can ensure that we’re meeting the physical and mental health needs involved,” Bush said. The commission,...

State transportation officials on Wednesday divvied up more than $4 billion in bond money voters approved in November for highway construction, approving car pool lanes, a tunnel and other projects. Many lawmakers and transportation experts, however, say the allocation made only a dent in California's overall highway needs. After an intense two-week lobbying campaign led by Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the largest chunk of the $4.5 billion earmarked for reducing highway congestion will go to build an 11-mile-long, $730 million car pool lane on Interstate 405. Southern Californians also will get more than $1 billion for car pool lanes...

California should establish an independent panel to reform its prisons and the state's haphazard sentencing laws, a government watchdog panel said Thursday. The sentencing changes should take effect automatically unless the governor or a majority of the state Legislature reject them, the Little Hoover Commission said in its report. That appears to be the only way to move urgently to fix the prison system before it is taken over by federal judges, commission members said in unusually blunt comments. "If you guys aren't man enough to handle it yourself, you ought to turn it over to somebody else," commission Vice...

For the first time in its 34-year history, the state Coastal Commission has chosen a developer to be its chairman. Multimillionaire builder William Patrick Kruer of San Diego was recently selected by his peers to lead the powerful agency, which oversees land use along California's 1,100-mile coastline. So why aren't environmentalists ranting about a fox being chosen to watch the hen house? Because they consider Kruer – who has a reputation as a political moderate – to be friendly, fair-minded and accessible. In fact, it's hard to find anyone who doesn't. But the commission is a high-stakes, survival-of-the-fittest political arena....

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday he will appoint a bipartisan commission to study the growing cost of funding state public pensions and retiree health benefits. The governor said the mounting costs, mostly due to health care, "remain one of the biggest problems facing governments everywhere" and threaten to take money away from education, public safety, environmental protection and health care for the poor. Over time, the state will have to come up with between $40 and $70 billion to pay for the health benefits promised to retired state workers, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. To do that, the...

http://landrieu.senate.gov/hurricanes/index.cfm Scroll down to Page 2 of site. Start at: Information for You First Step: Call the American Red Cross hotline at (866) 438-4636.MoveOn.org Hurricane Housing Emergency Shelter Information Point: Tourist Welcome Center, US 65 & 84, 1401 Carter St. (US 84), Vidalia, LA Tourist Welcome Center, TA Truck Stop, Tallulah Exit (Hwy 65 & I 20) Paragon Casino, 711 Paragon Place, Marksville LA Sammy's Truck Stop, I-49, Exit 53, 3601 LA 115W, Bunkie, LA Med Express Office, 7525 US 71, Alexandria, LA P.E. Gym, LSU- Shreveport, One University Place, Shreveport, LA Pickering High School, 180 Lebleu Rd., Leesville, LA...

NEW ORLEANS -- On the eve of taking control of Congress, Democrats are interested in forming an investigative panel similar to the 9-11 Commission to investigate who was responsible for the levees that broke during Hurricane Katrina and to probe the government's efforts to repatriate and rebuild this devastated city. Advocates say the commission is needed to truly understand what went wrong to cause the flooding of New Orleans and the deaths of more than 1,300 people. They also say a commission would be a forum to discuss broad changes to the way the Army Corps of Engineers and other...

Nearly four years after U.S. military forces toppled the Saddam Hussein regime, the United States faces a “grave and deteriorating” situation in Iraq and the Middle East, according to the bipartisan commission headed by the commission’s co-chairmen, former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, and former Rep. Lee Hamilton. The report painted a grim picture of the situation in Iraq and delivered 79 recommended actions. “There is no path that can guarantee success, but the prospects can be improved,” the report says. The commissioners warn that if the situation continues to deteriorate, there is a risk of a “slide...

It was a solemn pledge, repeated by Democratic leaders and candidates over and over: If elected to the majority in Congress, Democrats would implement all of the recommendations of the bipartisan commission that examined the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. But with control of Congress now secured, Democratic leaders have decided for now against implementing the one measure that would affect them most directly: a wholesale reorganization of Congress to improve oversight and funding of the nation's intelligence agencies. Instead, Democratic leaders may create a panel to look at the issue and produce recommendations, according to congressional aides and lawmakers.

I'm not a legal scholar, be gentle. :) Pocket veto - The Constitution grants the President 10 days to review a measure passed by the Congress. If the President has not signed the bill after 10 days, it becomes law without his signature. However, if Congress adjourns during the 10-day period, the bill does not become law. MCA passed September 28th, 2006 Congress ADJOURNS SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2006 Bill signed Tuesday, October 17th, 2006 . So...my question is, why is this scenario not a problem? Thanks in advance for pointing out what is likely the obvious.

The report of the September 11 Commission, once a best seller and hailed by the news media as the definitive word on the subject, must now be moved to the fiction shelves. The commission concluded...the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon couldn't have been prevented. Able Danger has changed all of that. The problem was...Jamie Gorelick. What may be a bigger scandal is that the staff of the September 11 Commission knew of Able Danger and what it had found, but made no mention of it in its report. This is as if the commission that investigated...

On a sandy bluff overlooking the Pacific, surfer Mark Massara sees a developing threat to a California amenity: guaranteed beach access for average families. Luxury hotel builders are hovering over the coastline, hoping to expand to California's shores the nationwide trend of developments split between high-priced hotel rooms and privately owned condominiums. Where developers see opportunity in "condo hotels," Massara and others see a legal loophole that lets private buyers snap up parts of the coast which are supposed to remain public. And that, he fears, will make getting to the beach harder. In this low-key northern San Diego County...

ATLANTIC CITY A mob-linked construction company - accused of lying about dealings with ex-NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik - must stop doing work for Atlantic City casinos....the Casino Control Commission suspended the licenses of Interstate Industrial Corp.......owners pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to a grand jury.....denying they secretly paid for the bulk of an extensive makeover of Kerik's apartment when he was in charge of city jails.

A state appeals court has ruled that a landowner can build his dream home on an oceanfront cliff along the Central Coast despite attempts to block the construction because it would be an eyesore for boaters and surfers. The California Coastal Commission sued Dennis Schneider, trying to stop construction of his 10,000 square foot mansion in San Luis Obispo County. In a unanimous opinion Wednesday, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said there were no grounds to restrict seaside development. "We believe that it is unreasonable to assume that the Legislature has ever sought to protect the occasional boater's views...

It may not be on a scale of Franklin D. Roosevelt's attempt to pack the Supreme Court, but Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez's bid to pack the Coastal Commission with his cronies is very troubling all the same. As speaker, Núñez, D-Los Angeles, gets to make four appointments to the 12-member panel. Under state law, if an appointee is unable to attend a Coastal Commission meeting, he may send a designated alternate in his place. Núñez, however, is attempting to dictate who the four alternates will be – a clear usurpation of each commissioner's legal authority. What's more, the timing of...

SACRAMENTO Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filled a dormant state commission with four Democrats on Friday before asking them to approve a $1-an-hour minimum wage increase without the annual cost-of-living adjustments pushed by Democratic lawmakers. Two of the four were originally appointed to the Industrial Welfare Commission by former Democratic Gov. Gray Davis and served until their terms expired last year. The two others were new appointments by the Republican governor, one of them representing the state manufacturer's association. A fifth commissioner's term expires in January. Schwarzenegger, who vetoed two previous minimum wage increases, is asking the commission to increase the minimum...

PHOENIX -- The Citizens Clean Elections Commission voted 4-1 Thursday to authorize an investigation into spending by Gov. Janet Napolitano's reelection campaign. Commissioners accepted the recommendations of Todd Lang, their executive director, that there was reason to believe that the campaign started spending money before it was legally authorized. Lang specifically said that once the campaign had work done to design and post a web site, as well as to send out e-mails soliciting donations, it "spent" money. That occurred March 1.

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2006 – Recognizing the need for a federal agency to take the lead in honoring U.S. servicemembers who died on foreign soil, Congress enacted legislation in 1923 to create the American Battle Monuments Commission. The U.S. cemetery in Cambridge, England, contains the remains of 3,812 of American war dead from World War II. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. "The American Battle Monuments Commission maintains and oversees American cemeteries and monuments around the world. They are commemorative sites honoring our nation's war heroes," retired Army Brig. Gen. John "Jack" Nicholson, secretary and chief executive...

Adopting a new tactic in a fight over the minimum wage, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked a dormant state commission Thursday to raise the wage by $1 an hour without the annual cost-of-living increases sought by Democrats. The Republican governor sent a letter to Bill Dombrowski, chairman of the Industrial Welfare Commission, and asked the panel to consider raising the wage from $6.75 to $7.75 in two steps over a nine-month period. A decision by the commission to grant the increase could give Schwarzenegger political cover if, as expected, he vetoes legislation later this year raising the wage and requiring subsequent...

Dr. Jonathan P. Oline waits for his commissioning ceremony to begin.  Oline received a direct commission as a lieutenant colonel during a ceremony at Headquarters, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N.C., April 29, 2006.   Photo by Gillian M. Albro U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jonathan Oline Heart Surgeon Restarts Career, Accepts Direct Commission By Paul D. Prince U.S. Army Special Operations Command FORT BRAGG, N.C., May 3, 2006 — Coronary specialist Dr. Jonathan P. Oline had a change of heart and a change in career. He put his 17-year private practice on hold to serve his country. The...

UNITED NATIONS - Iran's U.N. ambassador on Thursday denounced Israel's election as a vice-chair of the U.N. Disarmament Commission, calling the Jewish state a threat to peace in the Middle East. Ambassador Javad Zarif accused Israel of "violating every single Security Council resolution that has been adopted about the Middle East." He also lashed out at Israeli criticism of Iran's own election as a vice-chair of the commission, noting the Jewish state has refused to sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty but "has the audacity to talk about another country having a seat." "That's absolutely ridiculous," he told a group of...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 27, 2006 – The presiding officer in the military commissions case of a suspected Algerian terrorist here yesterday denied a defense motion to move the detainee back to a medium-security facility from the maximum-security facility he was moved to a month ago. Navy Capt. Daniel O'Toole ruled that the movement of Sufyian Barhoumi was not done as punishment, but was part of a larger plan to reorganize the entire prison camp and was done for the safety and security of the detainee. Barhoumi, who is accused of being an explosives trainer for al Qaeda,...

Grab yourself a cup of coffee and head on over to TKS for the best summation of Able Danger as things presently stand. Or stay here and I'll summarize it for you. In very, very brief summation: The 9-11 commission did know about Able Danger; some of its staff were briefed on it twice, and the information got to some but not all of the commissioners What seems increasingly likely, based on the TKS summary and others, is that the commissioners who knew of Able Danger dismissed it because its Mohammed Atta timeline didn't agree with theirs. That in and...

NAVAL STATION GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba, April 7, 2006 – Defense and prosecution attorneys in the military commissions case of an accused al Qaeda propagandist continued the argument here today about whether the detainee has the right to represent himself. Ali Hamza Ahmad Sulayman al Bahlul, a Yemeni believed to be a close associate of Osama bin Laden, did not appear at his commissions hearing today, leaving Army Maj. Thomas Fleener, his appointed military defender, alone at the table. Bahlul asked to represent himself in August 2004, but a ruling by John D. Altenburg Jr., the appointing authority for the Defense...