Free Republic

ATLANTA - Eriberta Mota crossed the unlit, four-lane highway with her two little boys so she could call home to Mexico from a nearby business. As the family crossed back with Mota cradling her 18-month-old and grasping her 3-year-old's arm, a car slammed into them, killing the older boy and fracturing the skull of the younger. This scene played out on a recent evening in the Atlanta suburb of Norcross, but such tragedies have become all too common across the South. Since many of the new Hispanic immigrants from Mexico and other Latin American countries have limited access to vehicles...

A "trophy" video appearing to show security guards in Baghdad randomly shooting Iraqi civilians has sparked two investigations after it was posted on the internet, the Sunday Telegraph can reveal. The video has sparked concern that private security companies, which are not subject to any form of regulation either in Britain or in Iraq, could be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent Iraqis. The video, which first appeared on a website that has been linked unofficially to Aegis Defence Services, contained four separate clips, in which security guards open fire with automatic rifles at civilian cars. All of...

ROADSIDE distractions ranging from advertisements featuring scantily-clad women to Christmas lights are ruining motorists' concentration, with a quarter admitting to veering out of their lane while driving. A survey of 2,000 adults in the UK showed that one in four had admitted veering out of their lane because their attention had wandered to an off-road object. Advertisements, flashing signs and Christmas decorations caused a third of motorists to lose concentration, the poll found. Many motorists said that they were distracted for up to five seconds, which equates to the length of a football pitch if the car was travelling at...

VERY IMPORTANT!! Now you can see anyone's Driver's License on the Internet, including your own! I just searched for mine and there it was...picture and all! Thanks Homeland Security! Privacy, Where is our right to it? I removed mine, I suggest you do the same. Go to the website and check it out. Just enter your Name, City and State to see if yours is on file. After your license appears on the screen, click the box marked "Please Remove." This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement. http://www.license.shorturl.com

ST. PETERSBURG -- A 93-year-old driver apparently suffering from dementia fatally struck a pedestrian, then continued driving through a toll booth with the man's body on his windshield, police said. Ralph Parker of Pinellas Park drove for 3 miles Wednesday night after striking the 52-year-old pedestrian with his gold 2002 Chevrolet Malibu, severing the man's right leg, police said. A toll taker on the Sunshine Skyway saw the body stuck through Parker's windshield and notified police, Traffic Homicide Investigator Michael Jockers said. Authorities did not identify the pedestrian. Parker was hospitalized overnight with minor scrapes, and was expected to be...

PINELLAS PARK - When the exam was over and score tallied, John Cox felt his spirit sag. He failed his driver's license test. "You're going to see a lot of me until I get my license," he promised the man behind the desk. Cox returned a month later in July and passed. His license is valid through 2010. "I'll be 103 then," Cox said Friday. "I'll keep driving until I can't. I don't let age get to me." The often difficult issue about elderly drivers resurfaced this week when a pedestrian was killed by a 93-year-old man who drove 3...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States has embarked on a massive effort to create a secure digital driver's license system by early 2008 but some experts warn that the plan may be hugely expensive and lead to chaos. Congress passed the Real ID Act last May and gave states three years to implement it. It laid out minimum national standards for licenses, which will have to include a digital photo, anti-counterfeiting features and machine-readable technology. States will have to verify all documents presented to support license applications, such as birth certificates, Social Security cards and utility bills, with the issuing...

MAFIKENG, South Africa (Reuters) - A South African became the world's fastest blind driver Thursday after driving across a remote airstrip at 269 kph (167 mph). Blind since birth, 33-year-old Hein Wagner of Cape Town had a sighted navigator for his record attempt. After crossing the airfield, he told reporters he wanted to do it again but was considering piloting an aircraft for his next record attempt. "I'm very happy," said Wagner, whose drive in a borrowed Maserati V8 GranSport was monitored by motoring organization Motorsport SA and filmed for the Guinness Book of World Records. The drive, on an...

A Virginia man who worked as a manager at a Department of Motor Vehicles office at Springfield Mall and his wife, a former DMV clerk, were arrested yesterday by federal agents on charges of selling valid driver's licenses for as much as $3,500 each -- mostly to illegal aliens. U.S. Attorney Paul J. McNulty said Francisco J. Martinez, 57, and his wife, Miriam, 56, both of Stafford, Va., have been charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud and conspiracy to produce Virginia driver's licenses by fraud, both felonies. If convicted, they could get 15 years in prison and fines totaling...

Something about the proposed National ID Cards has really been gnawing at me. I've known why, but couldn't quite express it properly. Now I think I can. The proposal alone suggests all citizens and legal residents need to be confirmed and tracked at a federal level. The veiled reasoning is that such ID would be difficult for illegal immigrants and foreign terrorists to obtain. Isn't that illegal immigrant phrase the same familiar tune they sung when the green card program was launched? If that failed due to forgeries, why should anyone believe the proposed federal ID program is for anything...

RICHMOND — Wanted: Applicants seeking the responsibility of transporting as many as 78 sometimes unpredictable students to school on a 38-foot-long vehicle through congested suburban traffic. Requirements: Obtain a commercial driver's license and extensive training (certification training), pass criminal background checks, a drug screening and a physical exam. Sincere affection for young people is strongly preferred, even when they're being unruly. Pay: Relatively low.

RIYADH, May 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia's appointed Shura (consultative) council shelved a proposal by one of its members to lift the ban on women's driving in the kingdom, newspapers reported Monday, May 23. “I do not know why the recommendation (to debate an end to the ban) was not approved by the (acting) president,” Mohammad Al Zulfa, who put the proposal forward to the 150-strong body on Sunday, May 22, told the English-language Arab News. “We are not asking for a discussion of something that is sinful in our religion or in our culture. I...

The REAL ID Act has many Americans, especially civil libertarians, up in arms. They are concerned that "Big Brother" has crossed the fine line between security and intrusion. While we are all well advised to guard against an ever-intrusive government, it serves no good purpose to denigrate a piece of legislation simply because special interest groups are attempting to persuade us into believing there is something sinister afoot. "We the People" have a responsibility to ascertain the facts about any given issue before we storm the village square, flaming torches in hand. This concept is called civic responsibility and our...

A Video of Lou Dobbs interviewing, Peter Gadiel (PRESIDENT, 9/11 FAMILIES FOR A SECURE AMERICA) DOBBS: "We talked, of course, as we have a number of times, with the consulate of Mexico. They said that the card you have they simply wanted to let you know that it was invalid and they have a far more secure one now. GADIEL: "Right. Well, I took care of that problem. Hal Netkin (ph), a friend of mine out in California, got me -- got me a new one. And while I was in the process, he also got you one." DOBBS: "Oh,...

ANNAPOLIS -- An immigration rights group says the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration is violating state law by denying driver's licenses to illegal aliens... ...Maryland law does not bar illegal aliens from receiving driver's licenses, and the Democrat-controlled General Assembly has killed legislation to change that over the past several years... ...More than 20 states have laws prohibiting illegal aliens from obtaining driver's licenses. Virginia recently enacted such restrictions in response to public outrage that its lax security enabled the September 11, 2001, hijackers to obtain state IDs...

Duplicity is the name of the game for America’s liberals. It has been standard practice of the Democratic Party for decades to create a problem through poorly conceived and unrealistic legislation, decry and obstruct any attempts by Republicans to fix the problems the Democrats created as “racist,” sexist,” or any of the other myriad of “-ists” they concoct, and then when the problem is not solved, blame the Republicans for doing nothing about it. There is no “vast left wing conspiracy” orchestrating all of this deceit from behind the scenes. No secret bunker under Berkley’s city hall where Hillary Clinton,...

For those of you who are not "fortunate" enough to live in California, here is a copy of the California Driver's Exam, and for those of you who do, study real hard. This is a new Exam. Since driving conditions (and culture) are unique in California, you may not have realized that the California Department of Motor Vehicles has now issued a special Application and driver's test solely for the California area. 2005 CALIFORNIA DRIVER'S LICENSE APPLICATION Name: ___________________ Stage Name:__________________ Agent: ___________________ Attorney:____________________ Therapist's Name: _________________ Sex: [ ] Male [ ] Female* [ ] Formerly Male [ ]...

Drivers quick with an excuse Sunday, April 10, 2005 By Larry O'Connor When confronted by a traffic cop, motorists will say the darnedest things to dismiss their misdeeds. Last year, police agencies in Jackson County doled out 47,005 tickets. In return, officers writing those dreaded citations heard at least that many excuses. Few are original and even fewer are legitimate, officers say. "Only in about 2 percent of the cases will they tell you the truth," said state Trooper Dave Clark, a 16-year road patrol veteran. At least in one instance, the oft-repeated claim of urgently needing to go to...

I recently read about a very disturbing incident that happened just last week — literally in my own back yard. Federal agents arrested 27 illegal immigrants at the Piedmont/Triad International Airport in Greensboro, North Carolina, not very far from where I live. What were these guys doing when they were arrested? They were working on commercial jet airliners! You know, like the ones that al Qaeda terrorists flew into the Twin Towers on 9-11. This strikes me as a pretty lax approach to national security. These 27 men originally came from a variety of countries, including Sudan, Chile, Peru, Zimbabwe,...

Madison - With an aging population that experts said is creating greater danger on the roads, elderly drivers could face more stringent requirements for renewing their driver's licenses. State lawmakers are considering legislation that would require drivers over age 75 to renew their licenses more frequently, take more frequent vision tests and, after age 85, pass a traffic skills test. One of the bill's co-sponsors is Rep. J.A. "Doc" Hines (R-Oxford), who, at age 77, is the oldest member of the Assembly. Hines told the state Assembly's Committee on Transportation at a Thursday hearing that he's familiar with the effects...

By Claudia Pinto / Charlottesville Daily Progress February 11, 2005 ----------------------- Two pizza delivery chains refused to send drivers to a public housing community Thursday afternoon, shocking and angering members of the AIDS/HIV Services Group and the president of the local NAACP. Kathy Baker, ASG’s executive director, said that when Domino’s and Papa John’s were called to deliver to an HIV testing event at Westhaven public housing community, the businesses responded that they don’t deliver to Hardy Drive. Managers from Domino’s and Papa John’s said they don’t deliver to certain areas of the city out of concern for their drivers’...

DYSLEXIA can slow down a driver’s reaction time more than "moderate" drinking, it was claimed yesterday. A study found that motorists with the reading-and-writing disorder - which affects as many as one in ten of the population - took longer than normal to react to traffic signs. But campaigners dismissed claims that the findings mean people with dyslexia should face extra tests before being allowed to drive. The new study showed that drivers with dyslexia took 30 per cent longer to react to road signs in a driving simulation, while drivers who are just over the alcohol limit show an...

WINNIPEG (CP) -- Manitoba drivers suspected of being high on drugs will be asked to perform a specific series of tasks, including standing on one leg while counting out loud, under new regulations approved by the NDP government. "The tests are, by nature, divided attention tests," David Greening, a senior Justice Department policy analyst, said in an interview. "(Police) can determine if a person is impaired by how they perform on the tests." The new regulations stem from amendments to the provincial Highway Traffic Act approved by the legislature last spring which are intended to crack down on motorists who...

At least some of the Sept. 11 terrorists, all Arabs, obtained illegal driver's licenses and used them to board airliners on that horrific day. Which is why the issue of granting driver's licenses to illegal immigrants is a matter of pressing national security concern. Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, has led a long-running campaign to enact a bill allowing illegal immigrants to obtain California driver's licenses freely. His efforts run counter to post 9-11 initiatives at the federal, state and local levels to strengthen homeland security against terrorist infiltration. The sweeping intelligence overhaul passed by Congress this week recognizes the...

Bush was 're-elected by Porsche drivers' By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 07/12/2004) The backroom wizards who won the American presidential election for George W Bush have disclosed how they tracked down every last Republican, even in traditionally unfriendly districts. Using market research more normally reserved for the launch of a new soap powder or soft drink, they drew up a database indicating the likely political persuasion of every consumer, based on car brands, hobbies and favourite television programmes. Research showed that the most Republican car was Porsche Having found America's water-skiing, golf-loving Porsche drivers, they then persuaded them to...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger terminated the latest version of the license bill, AB2895, yesterday. It was Schwarzenegger’s twenty-second veto since entering office last year. In a simple statement that read more like a condolence than a mandate, the Republican governor said he could not sign the bill because it would make California too vulnerable. “One of the most important duties of the Governor of a state is to protect its citizens. Determining the true identity and history of an individual is a key component of that protection,” the governor wrote. “This bill does not adequately address the security concerns that my...

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger won his first legislative victory last year after the California Republican Party contributed $400,000 for a ballot signature drive that forced Democrats to repeal a law intended to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. But as state Sen. Gil Cedillo prepares to introduce his fifth license bill next year, the governor - who recently vetoed an Assembly version - and the GOP are distancing themselves from a ballot measure that could put the issue to rest. The constitutional amendment would bar the Legislature from granting licenses to illegal immigrants, and cut off their access to professional...

Stage Setting For The Mark Of The Beast Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Beware of the New World...

Stage Setting For The Mark Of The Beast Revelation 13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: 17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. 18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. Beware of the New World...

NEW YORK (AP) - The state may suspend driver's licenses for up to 300,000 people, including many illegal immigrants, because their Social Security numbers could not be verified, a top state official said Thursday. Motor Vehicles Department Commissioner Raymond Martinez called the program a matter of homeland security and traffic safety. "The rules must be applied to all, and we must be sure that no document is issued to any individual unless we are certain of that individual's identity," he said, testifying before the state Assembly's transportation committee. The move was condemned by immigrant advocates. "Immigrant workers are not terrorists,"...

John Luster of Orange piloted his new silver Toyota Prius 300 miles up to the Sequoia National Park earlier this month, using just six gallons of gasoline. Had Luster driven his Acura Integra, he would have used twice as much fuel - and paid twice as much gas tax. But what's good for Luster (and the environment) is bad for state highway funds: The state got half as much tax revenue to deal with the same amount of wear and tear on the roads. It's a looming problem as hybrids become more popular, and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's government-reform commission has...

If you inspected Will Foreman's SUV, you might notice how clean and shiny his Maryland license plates are. But you probably wouldn't detect the clear glossy coating the Howard County resident sprayed on them eight months ago to thwart traffic cameras from snapping readable photos of his tags. "It must work," says Foreman. He has not received a traffic camera ticket since using a $29.99 spray called PhotoBlocker. Foreman, owner of Eastover Auto Supply in Oxon Hill, also coated the plates of his eight delivery trucks. He says they previously drew $1,200 in photo-radar fines but none since the application....

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration now recommends that drivers not use cellphones at all, except in an emergency. A great deal of research has concluded that headsets and speaker-phones don't improve safety because it's the mental distraction of talking on the phone, not holding it, that causes the danger while driving, the WALL STREET JOURNAL reports in Page Ones on Monday. MORE Earlier this month, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., joined New York in requiring drivers to use headsets or other so-called hands-free devices when they talk on cellphones. After initially fighting such laws, the nation's cellphone carriers are...

Bus Drivers Say They'll Picket Convention Picket Lines Could Cause Dilemma For Kerry POSTED: 9:50 am EDT July 7, 2004 UPDATED: 9:53 am EDT July 7, 2004 BOSTON -- More potential labor problems for the Democratic National Convention. The union representing about 1,200 Boston school bus drivers told the Boston Globe that some of its members plan to picket outside the FleetCenter during the convention. Unlike the unions representing police and firefighters, the school bus drivers are not technically considered city employees, since they work for a private contractor that provides school bus service for Boston. The drivers have been...

SACRAMENTO — The renewed legislative push to issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants has prompted disagreement among law enforcement officials about whether the permits would make it easier or harder for would-be terrorists to infiltrate California. The license fight, which helped Arnold Schwarzenegger unseat Gov. Gray Davis in last year's recall, has been resurrected in the Legislature, where a Democratic-controlled Senate panel Tuesday voted 7 to 4 to approve a bill that would grant licenses to immigrants who passed a criminal background check.

Many men say they drive more carefully if they have a woman as a front-seat passenger. But most women say they don't change their driving style with a male passenger, the German magazine Men's Car reports. In a survey of 500 drivers in Germany, the magazine said, 65 percent of men said they changed their driving style with a woman in the seat next to them, with 44 percent reporting they tried to drive more safely. Only 12 percent of men claimed having a woman as a passenger prompted them to drive more aggressively. Women tend not to be influenced...

FORGET THE HYPE and the threats and the rumors about a deal brewing in Sacramento. California is not going to enact a bill to allow illegal immigrants to apply for driver's licenses this year or anytime soon. SB60 author Sen. Gil Cedillo, D-Los Angeles, proclaimed that the Legislature's about-face was a good thing because the new governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, had agreed to work with him on a bill this year that would be more acceptable to voters. Did Cedillo actually believe that? At the time, I figured that Cedillo and his supporters were running away from the bill in order...

WOW! COngressman Tom Tancredo (Left), U.S. Senate Candidate Howard Kaloogian (R) (Center), and KSFO AM 560 Talk Show Host Melanie Morgan (Right) Yesterday's rally against giving drivers' licenses to illegal aliens (as proposed by Democrat Gil Cedillo's SB1160 which Repub. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger says he supports) was a H U G E success. The rally planning had been going on for several weeks. It was set to take place Saturday, February 21st at the Burlingame Hyatt, where the California Republican Party Convention would be taking place. Since Governor Schwarzenegger has said he thinks giving drivers' licenses to illegal aliens...

SACRAMENTO — The Assembly handed Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger his first legislative victory Monday, voting overwhelmingly to overturn a new law that would have given driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. The bill to block the license law from taking effect in January passed 64-9 after brief debate and will probably be signed by Schwarzenegger this week. Republicans who had been gathering signatures to ask voters to repeal the law in March said they would halt their campaign because their goal had been accomplished, and Latino advocacy groups pressed ahead with plans for an "economic boycott" to protest the expected repeal of...

<p>The state Senate moved to fulfill one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign promises Monday, voting to repeal a bill that would have allowed 2 million illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses starting Jan. 1.</p> <p>The overwhelming vote to repeal the law came after the measure's author met with Schwarzenegger and decided to endorse the repeal in exchange for cooperation on a new measure. Quick action is expected by the Assembly, and the bill repealing the law is likely to hit Schwarzenegger's desk next week.</p>

<p>State auditors checking the records of a random sample of 100 city bus drivers have found that more than a quarter of them had criminal histories.</p> <p>The audit also found that 26 of the drivers were never checked for child abuse histories -- in Pennsylvania schools, a mandate for all employees and even some volunteers.</p>

Friday afternoons see most crashes October 26, 2003 BY JANET RAUSA FULLER Staff Reporter Ah, Friday. Goodbye, workweek. Hello, weekend. You've got places to go, people to see, and no time to waste. You hop in your car. But traffic sure stinks. And then, it happens: The Friday fender bender. Been there? More car wrecks happen during the Friday afternoon rush hour than at any other time of the week, a new study shows. The study by Ohio-based Progressive Insurance Group looked at more than 1.4 million claims reported to the company nationwide between January and June. It found that...

According to the Oct. 13 Metro article "Licensing Foreign Drivers Studied," Maryland Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. has signed legislation establishing a task force to study whether to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses.

LAS VEGAS (AP) - Hispanic activists in Las Vegas are criticizing new state laws making it harder for people from some states to obtain a Nevada driver's license. "Basically, they're saying, 'Let them do our dirty work, but let's not really treat them like human beings or Americans,'" said Thomas Rodriguez, author of books on the Mexican immigrant experience and manager of diversity and affirmative action at the Clark County School District. But several legislators and proponents defend the new laws, saying they fulfill requirements of the federal Homeland Security Act and block undocumented immigrants from getting cutting corners on...

In some quarters of California, it can be harder to get a library book than vote for governor. Possibly less fraud-laden, too. For two days from now, I will arrive at the polls, cast a ballot and maybe check for hanging chads. If past performances run to form, kindly poll-watchers will never ask for a single piece of identification. They may smile and offer refreshments. They may wish me well. If there are few other voters, they may return to their knitting or novels. But that is not the worst of it. In a nation with a long and storied...

BOSTON -- A bill that would allow undocumented immigrants to obtain Massachusetts driver's licenses is inching its way through the Legislature, despite critics' concerns that the proposal poses a threat to national security and could encourage illegal immigration. The measure recently earned an endorsement from a key panel of lawmakers, but an informal poll by the Daily News last week indicates that MetroWest legislators are sharply divided over whether to grant driver's licenses to immigrants who are living in Massachusetts illegally. The bill's supporters, including state Rep. Deborah Blumer, D-Framingham, argue that the roads would be safer for all motorists...

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003 Political opposition to the handing out driver's licenses to illegal aliens is growing in Washington, especially in light of a new law signed by California Gov. Gray Davis on Sept. 5. Wednesday, less than a week after signing the law, Davis received a letter from all 19 Republicans representing California in the U.S. House condemning the action. The new law is an "invitation to forgery" for terrorists and criminals alike, Rep. Christopher Cox said, especially because illegal aliens won't even have to present a Social Security number to obtain a license. In addition, although it is...

Fake drivers licenses easy to obtain Government investigators easily dupe state agencies, warn of terror loophole NBC's Bob Hager reports on how easy it is to get a fake driver's license. By Bob Hager and Bob Sullivan MSNBC AND NBC NEWS Sept. 9 — Armed with fictitious birth certificates, utility bills, out-of-state licenses and other falsified documents, congressional investigators easily convinced motor vehicle agency employees around the country to issue genuine drivers licenses, a security flaw that could open the door to future terrorist attacks, a government report to be released Tuesday says. THE REPORT from the General Accounting Office,...

This deserves a thread of it's own ! Started by the California Republican Assembly

Thanks to the same out-of-touch Democrats that Golden State voters continue to reelect year after year, the California State legislature has passed a bill that would allow illegal immigrants to obtain California driver’s licenses. Now, it sits on the Governor’s desk—where he can sign it into law, veto it outright, or do nothing at all and allow it to become a full-fledged statute on its own. I have a suggestion—while they’re at it, perhaps these same elected officials in Sacramento can vote to erect signs at state borders and airports that say: “Welcome, criminals and terrorists!” Senate Bill 60 author...