Free Republic

WASHINGTON, Sept. 12 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Foundation for Biomedical Research today applauds the stiff sentencing imposed against three members of a radical animal-rights activist group, known as SHAC USA. Federal District Court Judge Anne E. Thompson delivered the sentencing against the group and three of its six members – who were convicted last March on all charged counts for their roles in a campaign to terrorize an animal research company and its employees. Judge Thompson stopped short of delivering the maximum punishment available, though she did sentence the SHAC entity to five years of probation plus restitution and assessments...

GETTYSBURG, Pa. - A woman admitted to smoking marijuana daily with her 13-year-old son to reward him for completing his homework. Amanda Lynn Livelsberger, 30, pleaded guilty to several charges Monday and will be sentenced Nov. 27. Livelsberger, of Conewago Township, admitted in Adams County court that she had been smoking marijuana with her son since he was 11, and that she often gave it to him as a reward. The boy told police that he was required to do his homework as soon as he got home from school, and then was allowed to smoke marijuana with his mother,...

As the war in Iraq becomes more unpopular with an increasing number of Americans, Democrats in collusion with the liberal mainstream media, continue to politicize the war by blatantly distorting the facts. For example, a popular refrain is that President Bush lied about Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in order to implement a grand strategy fashioned by neo-conservatives well before Bush actually took office. Said strategy was supposedly aimed at using military force to install democratic regimes friendly to the U.S. throughout the Middle East. However, the left has never adequately answered the following question. If Bush knew there was...

As the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin made a name for himself around the world. But at the end of the day, he was just an "ordinary bloke." In the first public remarks from Irwin's family since his death on Monday, his father, Bob Irwin, said the family would probably decline the Australian government's offer of a state funeral for his son, because Irwin would not have wanted the fuss of such a formal proceeding. "The state funeral would be refused, because he's an ordinary guy, he's just an ordinary bloke," the elder Irwin said at a press conference at Australia...

LOS ANGELES - Ronald Isley has been sentenced to three years and one month in prison for tax evasion. The 65-year-old R&B singer was also ordered to pay $3.1 million in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Conte. Isley was convicted last year of five counts of tax evasion and one count of willful failure to file a tax return. During Friday's hearing, defense attorney Anthony Alexander argued that Isley should receive probation instead of prison time because of complications from a stroke and a recent bout with kidney cancer. Alexander also pleaded for...

The Drug Policy Alliance is releasing a powerful flash movie that highlights the plight of 18-year-old Mitchell Lawrence, the teen now spending two years in jail for selling one joint’s worth of marijuana to an undercover cop in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. The two-minute movie introduces people to Mitchell Lawrence and the details of his case. The flash asks and then explains how an 18-year-old (he was 17 when arrested) who has never been in trouble before could be sentenced to two years in jail for selling such a minuscule amount of marijuana. The movie states: "It takes two things: A...

Austin, Texas ­- With one day remaining for candidates to withdraw from the race and have their names not appear on the ballot, candidate Michael Badnarik's principal campaign committee, Badnarik for Congress, has asked Democrat Ted Ankrum to withdraw from the race. "While Mr. Ankrum is definitely a nice guy, that is not enough to win over the Republican incumbent," says campaign manager and committee treasurer Allen Hacker. Hacker expects that the Democrat, who has no party or Political Action Committee support, hasn't raised even $75,000.00 and is very unlikely to break $100,000.00 in the entire campaign. A recent appeal...

Fat is not a feminist issue, as Susie Orbach once claimed. Fat is a class issue. Rich, educated people are not fat; you see almost no children in private schools who are overweight. Fatness and obesity are directly related to lower education and lower incomes. What is sad is that at a time when this country is richer than ever and ought to have better schools than ever, we have far more fat people than ever — a dangerous explosion of flab. Last week the Department of Health issued a report grimly called Forecasting Obesity to 2010 and its findings...

As we took off from London for New York a few days ago, our three over-excited children asked if there was any chance of the plane being blown up. I explained that the likelihood of that happening was virtually zero, and wondered how we were going to maintain some semblance of order during the flight. One did not wish the sedate American passengers by whom we were surrounded to form the impression that British parents are unable or unwilling to impart the rudiments of good manners.

LONG BEACH, Ca., Aug. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- His Nesting Place, a pro-life home for unwed mothers will be featured on FX Networks "30 Days" program this Wednesday, August 24th at 10:00PM. Morgan Spurlock, producer of Super Size Me, sent his video crew along with pro-choice activist, Jennifer from Atlanta Georgia, to His Nesting Place for 30 days. During these 30 days Jennifer lived in the home under the same guidelines as any pregnant woman in a crisis pregnancy situation would live. Jennifer was required to help out around the home as well as volunteer at the crisis pregnancy center...

Isn't it ironic that one of the things our enemies, the Islamofascists, hate about America is the very thing that enables them to operate here? I'm talking about our openness. Our rights to privacy. The many freedoms granted us by the U.S. Constitution. And the protections and even special treatment afforded Muslim organizations in the U.S. We're a society like no other. Take for example last week's decision by Federal District Court Judge James Whittemore of Florida, who ruled in favor of ACLU lawyers last week that pat down searches before football games should be prohibited because they violate fans'...

Out in Texas, Libertarian gubernatorial candidate James Werner is having trouble getting into a televised debate A href="http://www.dailytexanonline.com/media/storage/paper410/news/2006/08/02/TopStories/Libertarian.Candidate.Wants.In.On.Debate-2142979.shtml?norewrite200608060649&sourcedomain=www.dailytexanonline.com">(The Daily Texan): Libertarian gubernatorial candidate James Werner is asking public broadcaster KERA to include him in the gubernatorial debate in October. The Texas Debates, coordinated by KERA-North Texas, Univision and The Dallas Morning News, excluded Werner because he didn't meet the established debate criteria as a major candidate. Public broadcaster KERA came up with some excuses for not including Werner in the debate, saying it wasn't because of his party affiliation, but his lack of "newsworthiness": "It really has to do with...

The problem with watching a situation like Israel’s conflict with Hezbollah develop in the news is that it is very much like watching how a sausage is made, Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the president of the Israel Project, told The Jewish Standard. Sometimes you see things that make you queasy.Even though Mizrahi’s Washington, D.C.- based organization is designed to get a pro-Israel P.R. message to the mainstream American and international press, media have been relaying every gory detail of Israel’s attacks against Lebanon, turning the international community decidedly against Israel. But despite international criticism over Israel’s actions in Lebanon over the...

Surgeons fought for hours to save Castro's life By Phil Hart in Havana (Filed: 06/08/2006) Doctors at the exclusive Cimeq hospital in western Havana are accustomed to handling the delicate health problems of Cuba's communist elite. It was here last weekend, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt, that they battled for several hours to save the life of the regime's most important patient, Fidel Castro. Unable to stem intestinal bleeding with drugs, the country's top surgeons performed an emergency operation on the veteran leader. To all but a handful of trusted doctors and his closest lieutenants, President Castro's medical condition has...

Israel ready for massive invasion · Plan to push far inside Lebanon with thousands of troops· Deadlock within UN and EU Rory McCarthy in Metula, Ewen MacAskill and Clancy Chassay in Beirut Wednesday August 2, 2006 Israeli forces yesterday geared up for an expected major ground invasion of southern Lebanon, with troops in fierce clashes and artillery pounding targets across the area. The military called in air strikes despite a previous commitment to a "partial" halt in air bombardments. Israeli commanders said six brigades - several thousand soldiers - were now deployed inside Lebanon. At least 15,000 reserve troops, called...

Violates Military Uniform Code by wearing uniform while campaigning, Wears officer's uniform that does not match rank at which he retired HARRISBURG - Republican State Committee Executive Director Scott Migli today questioned Joe Sestak, Democratic candidate in Pennsylvania's 7th Congressional District, for his repeated violations of federal law and U.S. Navy regulations as it relates to appropriate conduct for the wearing of military uniforms. Those violations include wearing his uniform while engaged in campaign activities and wearing a uniform that displays a rank above what the grade at which he retired from service. "Joe Sestak's improper use of the military...

NEW YORK — Police have proposed placing tighter restrictions on protesters who march on sidewalks by making them obtain parade permits — a move civil libertarians say would cripple the rights of people to stage spontaneous demonstrations. The written proposal, made public on July 17, would require permits for any march on a sidewalk by 35 or more people or for street demonstrations involving 20 or more bicycles or other vehicles. It says the new rules are needed to better police “assemblies that obstruct the free passage of public streets and sidewalks.” Current regulations, which are more loosely worded, mandate...

LA County Gun Task Force Serving Search Warrants LAPD & LASO Might Be Knocking On Your Door Next! LA County Gun Task Force Serving Search Warrants Officers from the Los Angeles County Gun Task Force in CA have begun serving search warrants on residents in that county who are suspected of holding un-registered "Assault Rifles" including 50 BMG target rifles. If you or any of your friends have not complied with the provisions of AB-50 that require you to register any 50 BMG rifles you own, you may very well expect a knock on your door at any time. This...

Germans hit road in search for jobs By Kate Connolly in Berlin (Filed: 08/07/2006) More Germans are emigrating than at any time since the war, driven from home by unemployment or the search for better job prospects. Around 145,000 mainly young people turned their backs on the country last year, more than at any time since 1945, and almost a three-fold increase since the 1980s, according to the Federal Office of Statistics. The favoured countries were America, followed by Switzerland, Poland, Austria, Britain and France. Doctors and academics constitute the largest groups of those leaving. Doctors in particular are choosing...

WASHINGTON, July 7, 2006 – The first shovels have cut into the land that eventually will hold Marine Sgt. Jared Luce's new home -- one specially adapted to accommodate his disabilities. Members of the area Home Builders Association, Marine Sgt. Jared and Melanie Luce (fourth and fifth from left), and Kirt Rebello (far right) and John Gonsalves (back) of America Supports You organization Homes for Our Troops, break ground July 6 on the Luce's future home in Coventry, Conn. The home will be built to accommodate Luce's disabilities resulting from being wounded in Iraq. Courtesy photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution...