Free Republic

California is a mess, but I love it all the same--especially the Bay Area, where I lived for 15 years. I went to Berkeley in 1962--a refugee from Amherst College, which at that time was dominated by frat boys with high SAT scores. I didn't go to Berkeley to go to school, but to be a bus ride away from North Beach and the Jazz Workshop. In a broader sense, I went to California for the same reason that other émigrés had been going since the 1840s. I was knocking on the Golden Door. Immigrants from Europe had come to...

Ok, at 300,000 FReepers and a goal of $80,000 for this quarter, well speaking of quarters, that comes to $.27 each. That means the measley $150 I contributed allowed 555.5 FReepers to pay nothing.

WASHINGTON - Emblazoned on every page of President Obama's budget are the words: "A New Era of Responsibility." That would be a responsibility for you to fork over more taxes. That would be a responsibility for your company to pay even higher taxes. That would be a responsibility for you to foot the bill for one of the largest expansions of government welfare in history. Obama's budget schemes to drain staggering amounts of money from people who worked for it and steer it to people who didn't. This isn't the free market. It's the freeloader market. "It is not just...

The Dutch Radio One news and sports station reports that a controversial Socialist Party policy has been introduced by the council in Groningen in the north of the Netherlands. People on low incomes in the Groningen area will now be eligible to receive flatscreen televisions paid for by the council. The councillors apparently believe that everyone, including minimum earners, should be able to buy flatscreen TVs. They decided grants available to the poor to replace television sets should rise from the present 170 euros to no less than 450 euros.

Lachrymose tales of battered women abound when representatives of abuse shelters come calling, hat in hand, for taxpayer money. But what is the truth of the matter — are abuse shelters really brimming with hapless victims trying to break free of the cycle of violence? The answer to that question is a surprising "No." In the great majority of cases, women at abuse shelters have suffered no physical injury or harm. A former worker at the YWCA Emergency Shelter in Enid, Okla. reveals, "In all the time that I volunteered there, I saw one woman who showed signs of physical...

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama opposes offering reparations to the descendants of slaves, putting him at odds with some black groups and leaders. The man with a serious chance to become the nation's first black president argues that government should instead combat the legacy of slavery by improving schools, health care and the economy for all. "I have said in the past - and I'll repeat again - that the best reparations we can provide are good schools in the inner city and jobs for people who are unemployed," the Illinois Democrat said recently. Some two...

This thread is for the purpose of discussion regarding fundraising efforts. Free Republic is sustained by voluntary contributions. There is no paid advertising and, hence, no pop up or banner ads. We all know, and hopefully, appreciate this. We all also know of the quarterly fund raising campaign, a.k.a. the Freepathon. Love ‘em or hate ‘em - this is how a great deal of the money is obtained to pay expenses. Some of us know of the monthly donor option. We can elect to have an automatic deduction made from a credit card account. There have been some private discussions...

Illegal immigrants not U.S. health care burden: study Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:14pm EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Illegal Latino immigrants do not cause a drag on the U.S. health care system as some critics have contended and in fact get less care than Latinos in the country legally, researchers said on Monday. Such immigrants tend not to have a regular doctor or other health-care provider yet do not visit emergency rooms -- often a last resort in such cases -- with any more frequency than Latinos born in the United States, according to the report from the University of California's...

...America's far-flung network of emergency food programs -- from Second Harvest to tens of thousands of neighborhood food pantries -- constitutes one of the largest charitable institutions in the nation. Its vast base of volunteers and donors and its ever-expanding distribution infrastructure have made it a powerful force in shaping popular perceptions of domestic hunger and other forms of need. But in the end, one of its most lasting effects has been to sidetrack efforts to eradicate hunger and its root cause, poverty. ...The cutback in federal support for social welfare programs triggered by the Reagan administration in the 1980s...

They seem to be everywhere. There is the corporate elite compensated far beyond his/her worth, lawsuit leeches seeking to profit from imagined slights or fake injuries, etc. Deadbeats. If you're a hardworking, law-abiding citizen, you probably fume every time you read about them or see them on TV (or in person as the case may be). America is supposed to be the Land of Opportunity, you think. But it's looking more like the Land of Opportunists. Each man, woman and child in the United States pays almost $10,000 per year in higher product costs, higher costs for services, higher insurance...

It was an unfamiliar pain, sharp and persistent, as if a rag were being twisted inside his abdomen. Tighter and tighter, crunching in on his organs, enough to wake Andrew Ondrejcak one morning in 2004 before his alarm went off. Indigestion? No, probably it was a return of the stomach ulcers that had plagued him as an undergrad a few years back. Ulcers felt somewhat different, it?s true, more an isolated stabbing compared with the lateral serrations currently tormenting him. But it had been a while; you forget the specifics of pain. Whatever it was, Ondrejcak, who was 24, worried...

By Emer Mullins The large increase in babies being born to immigrants in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is putting maternity hospitals in that city under strain, The New York Times has reported. Hundreds of babies are being born to Latino immigrant workers, who flocked to the city to work during the reconstruction. “The throng of babies gurgling in the handful of operational maternity wards here has come as a big surprise — and a financial strain — to this historically black and white city, which before the hurricane had only a small Latino community and virtually...

Philip Plummer opened the door one morning in October to find an officer from the Belknap County Sheriff's Office standing there. The officer handed Plummer a court summons saying he owed Lakes Region General Hospital more than $100,000 in medical bills. "When I saw how much the hospital said I owed, I almost literally hit the floor," said Plummer, 36, a former Tilton resident who now lives with a relative in Massachusetts. He said he lived in Tilton until just about two months ago, when he moved in with his sister in Massachusetts. "I didn't know until I got served...

OAKLAND — Political and social activists, historians and educators from the United States and around the world are gathering in the Bay Area this weekend to discuss reparations for slavery of African people and colonialism in Africa. "The wealth of the West is built on slavery of African people," said Penny Hess, chairwoman of the African People Solidarity Committee. "White people need to recognize it and support (reparations)." Hess is one of nine speakers during the two-day event set for Saturday in Oakland and Sunday in San Francisco. The event celebrates African People Solidarity Day and calls for the white...

New fees discourage noncritical patients from using emergency rooms Larnita Booker sat patiently in the waiting room at Ben Taub General Hospital's emergency room Tuesday morning, as she always does when she needs to renew a prescription. But when her name was called, she learned the hospital no longer offers that service for free. She could go to one of a dozen community health clinics suggested by Ben Taub counselors, she was told, or she could pay $80 to be seen by a physician at the hospital. "I'm going to have to go somewhere else because I don't have the...

The streets where Patrick Nicolosi sees America unraveling still have the look of the 1950's. Single-family homes sit side by side, their lawns weed-whacked into submission to the same suburban dream that Mr. Nicolosi's Italian-American parents embraced 40 years ago when they moved to this working-class community on Long Island. But when a school bus stops at the white Cape Cod opposite his house, two children seem to pop up from beneath the earth. Emerging from an illegal basement apartment that successive homeowners have rented to a Mexican family of illegal immigrants, they head off to another day of public...

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A state agency is ready to begin requiring proof of U.S. citizenship before residents can receive Medicaid services. The new step, which takes effect July 1, is mandated by the federal government under a budget-cutting bill passed by Congress last year and signed by President Bush in February. But state Medicaid officials just learned of the change June 9, when the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services sent out several memos and letters on the new procedure. The law requires proof of both identity and citizenship for those seeking to be covered by the state-federal program...

Mexican mansions bloom from U.S. jobs By Ioan Grillo, Associated Press Inland Valley Daily Bulletin BOYE, Mexico - Clementina Arellano grew up with her six brothers in a shack in this dusty Mexican hamlet. Now 42, she's raising her sons in a spacious, 10-room mansion with Roman-style pillars at the doorway and a garden full of flowers and singing birds. How did she transform her fortunes so dramatically? By waiting tables and sweating in a furniture factory for about 10 years in Hickory, N.C., and sending home up to $500 a month. A couple of doors down, Berta Olgin, lives...

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS | KC weighs costs, benefits One family’s struggle The Monroys, six without documents, work hard to provide for themselves, but they must rely on the social safety net, too.   Meet the Monroys, two illegal immigrants from Mexico.He prepares condiments for $8.25 an hour and cleans offices on the side. She chops vegetables for $8. Together they bring home $30,000 a year.That’s not enough for their family of seven in Overland Park. To get by, they need a little taxpayer help.Medicaid assistance for the baby’s delivery and for her doctor visits.Free breakfast and lunch at school for the...

The U.S. emergency medical system is in critical condition and on life support -- overburdened, under-funded, and highly fragmented, according to three new reports released Wednesday by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). According to the reports, ambulances are being turned away from emergency departments and patients can wait hours or even days for a hospital bed. And, as it stands, the system is currently unprepared to handle overloads of patients from disasters such as hurricanes, bombings, or disease outbreaks, the authors contended. "These reports reinforce something we have known for a long time," said one expert, Dr. Rick Blum, president...

This should be a list of who is planning to close their business on Monday, May 1 in response of the Great American Boycott. We should compile it and boycott them ourselves if possible! Remember to go shopping or work overtime on May 1!

Get a job. Find a place to live. Pull yourself up. These are the things some people are saying about evacuees from hurricanes Katrina and Rita, about 12,000 of whom remain in taxpayer-funded hotel rooms in Georgia. In the weeks after Katrina struck the Gulf Coast, people across the country opened their wallets, homes and hearts to the victims. But three months after thousands of evacuees arrived in Georgia, some attitudes have shifted from compassion to something very different. For Anna Corley, a 39-year-old communications worker from East Point, the change in attitude occurred while she was watching a television...

Allowing Mexicans who pay into U.S. Social Security to collect benefits would place a long-term drain on the system since Mexican workers are less-educated and tend to have more dependents, according to a new congressional report. The report, released last week by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), looks at the effects of a "totalization" agreement with Mexico. Right now Mexican workers who are in the United States temporarily must pay into both the U.S. and Mexican systems but cannot get U.S. benefits. Totalization would allow them to pay into just one system, and collect benefits based on the time they...

WASHINGTON, May 9 - The Bush administration announced on Monday that it would start paying hospitals and doctors for providing emergency care to illegal immigrants. The money, totaling $1 billion, will be available for services provided from Tuesday through September 2008. Congress provided the money as part of the 2003 law that expanded Medicare to cover prescription drugs, but the new payments have nothing to do with the Medicare program. Members of Congress from border states, like Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, had sought the money. They said the treatment of illegal immigrants imposed a huge financial burden on...

Evelyn won't return my phone calls. So that means she's ignoring me. Or she wants to talk to me, but can't, because the Recording Industry Association of America won't let her. In December, Evelyn found out she had been targeted by the RIAA in its ever increasing crusade against children, mothers and senior citizens who don't uncheck the "share" option in their peer-to-peer downloading software. The Daily Texan office received Evelyn's call on the last press day before winter break. She had received a notice from Time Warner stating that they were subpoenaed into releasing her personal information in a...

Illegal immigrants 'are not free-loaders,' says Guatemalan bishop WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Illegal immigrants "are not free-loaders" but hard-working people who are seeking better lives for their families because social and economic improvements are not readily available to the Latin American poor, said a Guatemalan bishop. "Some call them 'illegals.' But according to the market model, they are better described as entrepreneurs without assets, pursuing the American dream," said Bishop Alvaro Ramazzini Imeri of San Marcos, Guatemala. "They work hard, often in several jobs, supporting a way of life that many take for granted," he said April 13 in written testimony...

Hospitals in Arizona fund clinics in Mexico Susan Carroll Republic Tucson Bureau Feb. 17, 2005 12:00 AM NOGALES, Sonora - Arizona hospital administrators say they have found an innovative way to save money - by spending money to upgrade the level of care available in Mexico. Health care officials in Tucson and Nogales, Ariz., strapped with millions in unpaid medical bills from Mexican patients, say investing in new equipment and better training in hospitals south of the border has reduced the strain on Arizona's urgent-care system. With private donations from the community and a $365,000 grant from the U.S. government,...

Immigration Daily is pleased to bring to our readers a pro-immigration op-ed by Rupert Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch is the head of News Corp, one of the largest media companies in the world, involved in the production and distribution of newspapers, films, television, satellite, and cable tv. We commend Mr. Murdoch for taking the time to write and express his pro-immigration views (we encourage other successful immigrants to follow his lead). Some excerpts: "In my book, anyone who comes here and gives an honest day's work for an honest day's pay is not only putting himself closer to the American Dream,...

To call Lev Rozin's back yard an urban paradise might be an exaggeration. But with its swimming pool, fig tree, ginger plants and rose bushes, it's a pleasant refuge. Some days, there's nothing finer than to kick back, watch Lord Axel, the Great Dane, frolic on the grass and listen to the wind in the power lines. Rozin's playground is CenterPoint Energy's right of way, and for years the relationship between the utility and Rozin's neighborhood has been congenial. With the company's permission, at least 22 residents on Twin Hills in southwest Houston extended their back yards onto the utility's...

Invade Canada, eh? No, that kind of pre-emption won't be part of the new Bush administration's national security agenda. Insist that Canada be a better neighbour and ally in the global was against terrorists? Yes, it's about time. While Canada's chattering classes bilingually joke about the coming surge of asylum-seeking Blue State Bush-haters, serious Canadians will take George W. Bush's re-election as an opportunity to rethink their country's security emphasis. Its persistent frisson of visceral anti-Americanism notwithstanding, Canada has no future as a France (ultra) Lite. Conversely, the country lacks both the resolve and the resources to even attempt to...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The drain of jobs to cheaper markets overseas and the Republican candidate's eagerness to usher in free trade agreements has prompted textile leaders to support a Democrat in South Carolina's U.S. Senate race this year. "There's a lot of Republicans up here who would struggle to vote for a Democrat, but in the textile industry there's a number of us who are finding it much easier this election," said Carl Lehner, chief executive officer of Leigh Fibers in Spartanburg. Industry leaders embraced Democrat Inez Tenenbaum after U.S. Rep....

LOS ANGELES - Financial problems caused mainly by the treatment of uninsured patients have forced two emergency rooms to close in Los Angeles County, raising concerns that other facilities may be overwhelmed. The latest closings are the fifth and sixth emergency rooms to close in two years, causing some officials to worry about a shortage of emergency care in the state's most populous region. "We cannot stand any more closures in an emergency system capacity in Los Angeles - this system is on the brink of absolute chaos," said Jim Lott, executive vice president of the Hospital Association of Southern...

The occupation ends this evening, and it can't come a moment too soon. It is imperative to get these 5,000 free-loading delegates out of town before they discover the location of the nearest welfare offices. If anyone in a ponytail wearing a Kucinich T-shirt asks you for directions to 1010 Mass. Ave. or Davis Square, dummy up, unless you want to be responsible for their care and feeding. If you've spent any time in the FleetCenter this week, you know what I'm talking about. Think Teresa Heinz - minus the billion dollars. If you're rich, they say you're eccentric. If...

Hospitals losing millions from non-paying Mexican Nationals are now sending collections agents across the border. At University Medical Center, both legal and illegal immigrants racked up $16 million in unpaid bills last year. A huge debt, collection agents are now tracking patients down in Mexico to pay. If patients can't pay, it's written off as charity. If they can afford a payment plan, but refuse, agents inform them the hospital will turn their name over to Immigration and Naturalization and Border Patrol agents. This can hurt their ability to cross back into the U.S. freely. Typically, collection agents only recover...

College shouldn't be difficult for Joaquin, who mastered Advanced Placement classes in a language he learned only four years ago and recently graduated 12th in his high school class. But paying for it will be. The 19-year-old is an undocumented immigrant. He doesn't qualify for federal financial aid, which makes up 90 percent of the average Texas college student's aid package... Congress is considering the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, which would make some undocumented immigrant students eligible for federal loans, but not grants. The bill would make students who immigrated here five or more years ago...

ISTANBUL (AFP) NATO-member Spain on Monday ruled out playing any role in Iraq, just hours after the alliance promised to help train the Iraqi army to calm the violence-wracked country. "The Spanish government does not foreseee any participation in the process under way in Iraq, and in no circumstances any participation on Iraqi territory," Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters here. He was replying to a question on whether Spain would help train the fledgling Iraqi army. Spain last month completed the withdrawal of its 1,400-strong military contingent in Iraq, fulfilling a pledge by the Socialist prime minister...

Freedom? Democracy? Sixty years after D-Day we're no longer warriors – and see few 'just wars.' What's worth dying for? A half-century after Korea, 60 years past the heroism and tragedy of D-Day, and with our last living links to the "War to End All Wars" soon to be severed, it's a question fewer and fewer of us have had to answer. And one, it seems, most Canadians will never be forced to contemplate. A couple of generations ago, however, millions of us were sure we knew. A large majority believed certain causes — freedom, democracy, ending tyranny — automatically...

Whites 'shun' S Africa military The army has racial quotas The South African government says there is a shortage of white people joining the defence forces. Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota said the military was finding it difficult to attract sufficient white candidates to reach racial quotas. Mr Lekota said many young white people were finding better opportunities for themselves in the business world. Correspondents say the army has had a delicate job of racial integration since the end of apartheid in 1994. Nationwide issue "When will we cease to be Africans, coloureds, Indians and whites and merely South Africans? This...

Toronto, ONT – According to the latest Ipsos-Reid/CTV/Globe and Mail poll released today, three quarters of Canadians (74%, up 3 points from 71% in December 2003) believe that Canada made the right decision by not going to war with Iraq.

Freeper needs advice on potential lawsuit...

Posted on Sat, Jul. 12, 2003 Welfare Recipients Travel for Benefits DAN LEWERENZ Associated Press STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Welfare recipients are willing to move from state to state to pursue benefits, but it's not the size of the check that matters, it's how difficult it is to qualify, according to a new study by Penn State University researchers.Welfare reforms enacted in 1996 created clearer differences between states' eligibility requirements, said Gordon De Jong, a professor of sociology and demography and a research associate at Penn State's Population Research Institute."There wasn't a whole lot of change in the welfare-benefit levels,...

<p>WASHINGTON — The Los Angeles City Council's latest move to force companies seeking contracts with the city to disclose whether they ever earned profits from slavery has reparations opponents sounding off.</p> <p>On May 16, the city council unanimously voted to have the city attorney draft a new ordinance dictating full disclosure by companies doing business with the city.</p>

Food FightWhen the Food Workers Union stages an impromptu walkout at the U.N., the diplomats start looting for lunch and booze  By STEWART STOGEL/U.N. MILOS BICANSKI/GETTY IMAGESKofi's lunch service was cut short Saturday, May. 03, 2003 Hunger pains can apparently turn even the most upstanding diplomat into a looter. At noon on Friday, food workers at the U.N. headquarters walked off their jobs, calling a wildcat strike. The result: none of the U.N.'s five restaurants and bars was staffed. The walkout left thousands of U.N. employees scrounging for lunch — eventually, the masses stripped the cafeterias of everything, including the...

Sleazeball spoiled brats totally blocking the road.

Popular Democratic Party Sen. Juan Cancel Alegria said Friday Navy Adm. Robert J. Natter's decision to close the Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Facility at Naval Station Roosevelt Roads is illegal, citing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2001. He also called on U.S. government officials to investigate the legality of the matter. "Section 1504 of the Act is clear to the effect that the termination of training and related closures are specifically and exclusively limited to Vieques Naval Training Range. No authorization was granted to affect the rest of the AFWTF," Cancel Alegria said in a letter to several U.S....

<p>Pushed by the Mexican government, the Bush administration is working on a Social Security accord that would put tens of thousands of Mexicans onto the Social Security roster and send hundreds of millions of dollars in benefits south of the border.</p> <p>White House and Mexican government officials say discussions on an agreement to align the Social Security systems of the two countries are informal and preliminary. But excerpts from an internal Social Security Administration memo obtained this month say the agreement "is expected to move forward at an accelerated pace," with the support of both governments, and could be in force by next October.</p>