Free Republic

Catholic villagers in Thua Thien-Hue province say they have tried their best to follow Church teaching on the use of artificial birth control methods in the face of the government's two-child policy. Huong Toan villagers, just like Vietnamese elsewhere in the country, are required to have no more than two children per family since 1994, when village authorities launched a nationwide family planning program. Families with more than two children have to pay rice to the government as a fine. Many local Catholics say they have done their best to remain true to Church teaching but some have had to...

Chinese baby girls sold for adoption Published: July 2, 2009 at 11:55 PM As many as 80 newborn baby girls from China's southwest Guizhou Province were sold for adoption by foreign parents since 2001, a newspaper probe found. China Daily, quoting the Southern Metropolis News, said the babies were removed from their families by local officials in the province's Zhenyuan county. Most of them were handed over to foreign adoptive parents as orphans at a price of $3,000 each. The report said one poor farming couple, who are among the affected 80 families, had to hand over their fifth baby,...

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans who refuse to buy affordable medical coverage could be hit with fines of more than $1,000 under a health care overhaul bill unveiled Thursday by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama's top domestic priority.</p>

Jon Tennett loves to tinker in his garage. It's not an uncommon pastime for an 81-year-old man, but what is unusual is the city's response. Because Tennett fixes his neighbours' lawn mowers and other small machines, the City of Pickering has charged him with operating an illegal business - even though he's never charged a penny for his work. "They could get a lot of revenue elsewhere than looking at an old 81-year-old man trying to keep his mind busy," he points out. On the same street, a retired nurse is facing a similar problem. Janice Saroop has a lush...

Media regulator Ofcom has fined MTV £255,000 for broadcasting "highly offensive language and material" pre-watershed. These included the pre-9pm broadcast on MTV Networks Europe's UK channel TMF of an Aphex Twin video featuring offensive words including "motherf***er" and a daytime trailer for a Jodie Marsh reality show featuring the phrase "f***ing wanker". Ofcom has imposed the hefty fine for "widespread and persistent" breaches of its broadcasting code by MTV Networks Europe channels MTV UK, MTV France, MTV Hits and TMF. The regulator said MTV had, in some cases, "repeatedly" broken the pre-watershed content ban. [snip]In determining the fine Ofcom took...

SACRAMENTO -- State Sen. Carole Migden has been fined $350,000 by the California Fair Political Practices Commission, the largest penalty ever levied against a state office candidate, for dozens of violations including failing to disclose seven years' worth of political expenses that she paid with credit cards, the watchdog agency said today. The agency's investigation was prompted in part by a complaint filed last fall by fellow San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno, an Assembly member who is one of two Democrats trying to unseat Migden in the June primary. The agency's initial probe concerned $397,000 in credit card expenses from...

The question of just how long it should take to eat fast food is being answered by the burger giant McDonald's, which is making customers finish within 45 minutes or face a charge of £125. Motorists who care to linger over their McMeals for any longer at some drive-throughs are receiving demands from a private company that manages car parks for the burger chain. If they do not pay, the fee rises steadily and customers are threatened with court action and approached by bailiffs. A spokeswoman for McDonald's said the 45-minute restrictions had been introduced at about 40 restaurants because...

Banana producer Chiquita will pay a $25 million fine and serve five years' probation for once paying millions of dollars to groups in Colombia considered by the U.S. to be terrorist organizations, a Department of Justice spokesman said Tuesday.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa agreed Thursday to pay a $5,200 fine for violating multiple campaign finance laws stemming from his 2003 race for the City Council. --snip-- In all, Villaraigosa violated 30 aspects of city campaign finance laws, according to a proposed agreement that he signed Thursday. --snip-- Villaraigosa's campaign lawyer, Stephen Kaufman, downplayed the significance of the violations, calling them common mistakes that other campaigns have made. "These are administrative errors, but nonetheless they should not have happened," Kaufman said. "The mayor has taken steps to make sure this does not happen again." --snip-- Villaraigosa could have faced...

SACRAMENTO — People who refuse to obtain health insurance could be tracked down by the state or a private contractor, enrolled in a plan and fined until they pay their premiums under one proposal Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is considering as part of his vision for covering all Californians. The proposal, which administration aides said was one of many the governor was considering, was presented at a meeting Tuesday with representatives from insurers, hospitals, doctors, business groups and consumer advocates. It drew immediate criticism from critics of the central tenet of Schwarzenegger's healthcare approach, which is to require all Californians...

November 16, 2006 FEC fines Sierra Club By Jim Snyder A Federal Election Commission settlement with the Sierra Club will likely put new limits on how explicit outside groups may be when trying to influence voters. The environmental group agreed to pay a $28,000 fine to settle charges that it had paid for a brochure that expressly advocated the election or defeat of candidates in the 2004 presidential and Senate races from its corporate treasury. Because the Sierra Club brochure was found to contain express advocacy, it was determined to be an independent expenditure. Campaign finance laws prohibit money from...

Over the weekend, we had an opportunity to interview Rochelle Olson from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, who wrote a rather amazing article about the Republican candidate for Minnesota's Fifth Congressional District, Alan Fine, a little over a week ago. The interview exposed the thinking behind the editorial decisions of the local media, in the stories they cover and the stories they do not, and the facts they decide to publish and those they do not. We'll come back to that story in a moment. Today's Front Page Magazine article provides an example of the sins of omission in the local...

In the reprehensible Sunday Star Tribune story by Paul McEnroe and Rochelle Olson on the expunged 1995 arrest of Republican Fifth District congressional candidate Alan Fine, the reporters omitted relevant facts. Fine was charged by his then wife with domestic assault, but the police report (quoted by the Star Tribune) indicated only that Fine had been attacked. What's the rest of the story? The charge was dropped and Fine was never prosecuted for the incident. In 2004 Fine's arrest was expunged by court order -- a court order that was apparently violated by someone who supplied the police report to...

The watchdog group that first provided the FBI with suspicious e-mails from then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) said yesterday that FBI and Justice Department officials are attempting to cover up their inaction in the case by making false claims about the group. Law enforcement officials said the allegations by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) are without merit, and they stood by allegations that the group had refused to provide some information to the FBI. The dispute is the latest controversy this week for CREW, a liberal-leaning group that has come under attack from House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert...

AN Ankara court fined an elderly man 10,000 lira ($8929) for criticising Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in a visitors' book at the former home of Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of modern Turkey. Fethi Dorduncu visited the house in the Greek city of Thessaloniki in May and wrote in the visitors' book that Mr Erdogan was a "traitor" bent on destroying Ataturk's secular republic and building an Islamic state in Turkey. Mr Erdogan ripped the page from the book in anger when he later visited the house, which is now a museum, in the city where Ataturk was born in 1881...

KENNETT SQUARE, Pa., Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Kentucky Derby champion Barbaro continues to gradually improve from injuries suffered in the Preakness, veterinarians in Pennsylvania said Tuesday. Barbaro suffered injuries to three bones in and around his right hind ankle at the start of the Preakness on May 20. It was feared the horse, which had won the Kentucky Derby by 6 1/2 lengths, would have to be destroyed. But Barbaro has been making progress while at the Intensive Care Unit of the University of Pennsylvania's George D. Widener Hospital, where veterinarians said the horse's improvement was gradual. "He had an...

City of Louisville, Kentucky Proposes Strict Limitations on Hunting Dog Ownership- (08/14) Kentucky Join our e-mail alert list A recently proposed municipal ordinance imposes strict limitations on hunting dog ownership within the city of Louisville, Kentucky. The ordinance, which unnecessarily burdens hunting dog owners, modifies Section 91 of Louisville city code. Among other restrictions the ordinance prevents a dog owner from tethering a dog during the day. The proposal also requires anyone who raises a litter of puppies to purchase a $300 animal dealer’s license. The ordinance seeks to also limit the number of dogs able to be owned by...

A court has upheld the jaywalking ticket issued to an 82-year-old Sunland woman who slowly crossed a busy boulevard, but waived the $114 fine - a Solomonic compromise in a case that drew outrage from around the world. Mayvis Coyle of Sunland captured the attention of senior-citizens advocates - and pedestrians everywhere - after she was ticketed Feb. 15 for crossing busy Foothill Boulevard against a light. At the time, she was loaded down with groceries and walking with the help of a cane. Superior Court Commissioner Jeffrey Harkavy of San Fernando issued his ruling June 20 after reading written...

WASHINGTON - Despite the national spotlight on immigration reform, the federal government has virtually abandoned financial sanctions as a way to punish employers for hiring illegal immigrants, choosing instead to pursue criminal penalties, according to officials and documents. Dean Boyd, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said fines against employers were ineffective as a deterrent to hiring illegal immigrants, with some companies simply considering the penalties a cost of doing business. So beginning in 2003, he said, the agency dramatically decreased the number of fines imposed, while increasing its criminal prosecutions. "We have found that to be a far...

Group says huge blow to organized labor WASHINGTON, April 18 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The National Alliance for Worker and Employer Rights today praised Judge Jones historic decision protecting the security and right to work for all New Yorkers enforcing the Taylor Law against TWU Local 100 illegal strike.