Free Republic

If my heart is with Paul Broun, my head is with Karen Handel. Whoever the nominee is will face Michelle Nunn, the great white hope of the Georgia Democratic Party. A unified front — the Democrats don’t even have a gubernatorial candidate — and a bankrupt party will throw its full weight behind her family name with a helping hand of Barack Obama’s organizational skills. Her early reviews have captured the imagination of the geriatric press corps (those still with a pulse) who swooned over her father in his day as well as the younger, liberal reporter cubs on the...

The GOP division over whether to defund ObamaCare can be summarized in two quotes: This, from Texas senator Ted Cruz: "We can de-fund Obamacare if Republican leaders who tell their constituents they're conservative stand up and act like they're conservative." And in opposition, Ramesh Ponnuru: "[I]f Republicans stay firm in this demand [to defund Obamacare], the result will be either a government shutdown or a partial shutdown combined with a debt default. Either would be highly unpopular, and each party would blame the other. The public, however, would almost certainly blame Republicans. And which blame, according to Ponnuru and those...

Chilling video from a home in Dekalb County, Ga., shows local police entering a house illegally, berating the home’s residents and then tackling them to the ground. The entire incident took place because the mother of the home, Natania Griffin, was two weeks late on paying a $1,000 fee to the county. Griffin’s 23-year-old son, Donovan Hall, recorded the event. He was alarmed and confused when police began banging loudly on his door in the middle of the night. “I was immediately confused as to why the police would be at my house,” Hall told the Huffington Post. “The knocks...

Chilling video from a home in Dekalb County, Ga., shows local police entering a house illegally, berating the home’s residents and then tackling them to the ground. The entire incident took place because the mother of the home, Natania Griffin, was two weeks late on paying a $1,000 fee to the county. Griffin’s 23-year-old son, Donovan Hall, recorded the event. He was alarmed and confused when police began banging loudly on his door in the middle of the night. “I was immediately confused as to why the police would be at my house,� Hall told the Huffington Post. “The knocks...

DEKALB COUNTY, GA (CBS ATLANTA) A woman said her family got an aggressive wake up call from the DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department. The family told CBS Atlanta News they were startled at 1:30 a.m. when deputies beat on their front door. Fearing for their safety, the family said they took their time to open the door. Once inside an officer used excessive force and aggressive language, according to one family member. After the incident, the family posted the video on YouTube. Watch full video now The sheriff’s department claims they received a copy from an anonymous sender Wednesday morning. Both...

Is the Republican Party “truly” the party of limited government, less spending, less taxes and less regulation? That’s what Dalton Mayor David Pennington, who plans to challenge incumbent Gov. Nathan Deal in the 2014 GOP primary, says he intends to find out. Pennington found a receptive audience for his message of low taxes and limited government on Thursday in Chatsworth when he spoke to about two dozen people during a meeting of the Murray County Tea Party Patriots. Pennington said Republicans have controlled the governor’s office and the General Assembly for a decade now but have done little to cut...

Georgia State University’s official roster of more than 300 campus organizations includes everything from the Bengali Student Association to the Women’s Ultimate Frisbee Club. But one student group you won’t find on the list — the new White Student Union — is already making headlines nationwide. Freshman Patrick Sharp says he launched the White Student Union this summer in order to recognize and appreciate white culture. As he told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “All we want to do is celebrate white identity. This is about being in touch with who you are as a white person and being proud of...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he sides with Sens. Rand Paul and Ted Cruz because they are not afraid to ask important questions, and it is disheartening to watch establishment Republicans like Gov. Chris Christie "grow hysterical." "I consistently have been on the side of having the courage that Rand Paul and Ted Cruz have and I think it's sad to watch the establishment grow hysterical, but frankly they're hysterical because they have no answers," Gingrich said while appearing on "The Laura Ingraham Show," Politico reports. Gingrich was on Ingraham's show to offer his opinion on the...

An Atlanta crook picked the wrong Waffle House to target early Monday morning. That’s because when the bandana and hoodie-wearing bandit walked into the restaurant and pointed a gun at patrons, one of them reached for his gun and fired back. Police say the suspect entered the Waffle House in south Fulton County just before 2 am, brandishing a pistol and demanding money. “Nobody move and open the cash register,” the suspect, 20-year-old Ashton Macafee, allegedly said according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC). What he didn’t know was that seated together at a booth were off-duty Atlanta police officer...

On Saturday, more than 75 people gathered for a rally to protest the Trayvon Martin verdict, a week late due to rain last weekend, in Marietta, Ga., but within the crowd, some of those in attendance were members of the radical Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) who have called for a revolution. Shortly after the verdict, the Revolutionary Communist Party went on a verbal rampage on their official website even to the point of calling the police officers ”pigs” and calling for a revolution to overthrow the U.S. government and replace the U.S. Constitution with a socialist government. The RPC said,...

Clarke County public schools will take a pass on a new free-lunch-for-all federal program, at least for now. Under the “Healthy, Hunger-free Kids” act of 2010, school districts with high levels of students who qualify for free or reduced lunchroom prices can opt to offer free lunches to all students this year. The Clarke County School District easily qualifies. Since 2003, the percent of pupils in Clarke schools who qualify for free or reduced lunch has jumped from 64 percent in 2003 to 82 percent as of 2013. If Clarke entered the all-free-lunch program, schools and parents would no longer...

From left, members of Game Elite: John Carlos Reyes, Avery Patterson, Antonio Lang, Shawntrez DavisLAS VEGAS -- They strolled into the auxiliary gym at Rancho High School with backpacks on and the message clear on their shirts: I AM TRAYVON. Every player on Game Elite's 17U squad was donning the T-shirts during warm-ups and didn't remove them until it was time to tip. The AAU program based out of Atlanta first displayed the shirts Wednesday night, and per program co-director Ryan Falker, they'll wear the shirts before and after games for the duration of their stay for tournament play in...

  Hello. Don’t recognize me? That’s OK; I understand.   My name was Antonio West. I was the 13-month old child who was shot in the face at point blank range by two black teens, who were attempting to rob my mother, who was also shot.   I think my murder and my mommy’s wounding made the news for maybe a day, and then disappeared.   A Grand Jury of my mommy's peers from Brunswick, Georgia ruled the black teens who murdered me will not face the death penalty... too bad it was me who got the death sentence from...

The Romeikes, a German family granted legal asylum in the United States by a U.S. immigration judge in 2010, will petition the Supreme Court to hear its case to be granted permanent legal status in the country. Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled Germany after their family was vigorously prosecuted with steep fines, threats of loss of custody of their children, and imprisonment—all for homeschooling. Homeschooling is largely illegal in Germany. Though the family was granted political asylum in the United States, the Obama administration appealed that decision to the Board of Immigration Appeals, and that Board decided in favor of...

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. —A Georgia woman accused in her neighbor's stabbing death appeared in court, threatened a judge and demanded to be released from jail. Sahara Tabriz Fakhir, 32, is charged with murder in the death of Jerry Wheeler, 66. Fakhir appeared in court Thursday morning. When a judge asked if Fakhir planned to get an attorney, she said Allah was representing her and would seek vengeance if the judge didn't release her from jail. Wheeler, who owned an auto shop, was found dead June 19 when his son came to check on him. Authorities have not disclosed a motive in...

Falcons wide receiver Roddy White caused another digital firestorm with a tweet last night after the outcome of the George Zimmerman trial was announced. White called for the jurors to kill themselves.

"Police have arrested four suspects in connection with the beating death of a former U.S. Marine who was found unconscious outside of a party at a Cobb County, Georgia, apartment complex in March. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Arthur Batchelor, 37, Tarell Secrest, 36, and Jason Hill, 35, were taken into custody on Tuesday for allegedly killing 34-year-old Zachary 'Zach' Gamble." Anot

New York Giants star receiver Victor Cruz tweeted an ominous prediction for George Zimmerman shortly after Zimmerman was acquitted of murder, and then quickly deleted the tweet. And later apologized for it. The NFL star tweeted to his more than 334,000 follwers, “Zimmerman doesn’t last a year til the hood catches up to him.” The tweet has since been deleted. In a series of follow up tweets, the Giant said that his angry tweet was “my initial interpretation of the reaction I was reading on twitter.I immediately realized my tweet was a mistake and I apologize.” Cruz was not the...

Atlanta Falcons receiver Roddy White responded to the George Zimmerman not guilty verdict Saturday night by tweeting: “All them jurors should go home tonight and kill themselves for letting a grown man get away with killing a kid.”

A new billboard in Canton, Ga., says South Carolina welcomes illegal aliens. A brand-new Georgia billboard proclaiming South Carolina’s alleged affinity for illegal aliens is raising eyebrows this week. The sign, posted in Canton, Ga., declares: “South Carolina welcomes the undocumented. Sen. Lindsey Graham says his state has a labor shortage and wants more immigrants. For job tips, call his office at (864) 646-4090. Located in Pendleton, S.C. Only 2 hours from Atlanta!” Sen. Graham, R-S.C., sits on a bipartisan committee that just passed a sweeping immigration-reform bill. “These people must have been off the planet for the last five...

On July 1st a group of black gang members brutally attacked and beat a random white pedestrian in Cobb County, Georgia. He was then knocked onto the road where he was hit by oncoming traffic. This story received minor coverage in the local news. If the races had been reversed this would be the biggest news story in the United States. It would have knocked the Zimmerman trial out of the news.

Ending months of speculation, Dalton Mayor David Pennington filed paperwork on Monday in advance of a run for governor in 2014, when he would take on a sitting Republican governor in the GOP primary. Pennington filed with the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission, which will allow him to raise money for a gubernatorial run. Asked how much he needs, Pennington said enough to be competitive but did not give a specific figure. Qualifying for the June 2014 primary starts in April 2014.

Ithaca, N.Y. - FBI agents arrested a 62-year-old man in Ithaca, N.Y. for attempting to extort Paula Deen. Thomas Paculis was taken into custody Friday morning by FBI agents and deputies from the Tomkins County Sheriff’s Office. Authorities say Paculis threatened to expose “true and damning” information about Deen if she did not pay him $100,000. Paculis was transported to the Onondaga County Jail and will appear in a Savannah, Georgia court on July 16.

NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre was famously ridiculed in elite circles for his post-Newtown observation that "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." Well, from the facts-are-stubborn-things department comes this item from Atlanta: Police say an armed man trying to rob customers outside an Atlanta shoe store was fatally shot by one of the patrons waiting in line to buy sneakers. WSB-TV reports the shooting happened Saturday morning in the city's Little Five Points neighborhood, where people lined up outside Wish Clothing to buy new $180 sneakers endorsed...

A landmark Supreme Court ruling that struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act has set up a stand-off between Republican-led states and the Obama administration over controversial voting laws that until now had been stalled. The 5-4 ruling on Tuesday addressed a 1960s-era provision that largely singled out states and districts in the South -- those with a history of discrimination -- and required them to seek federal permission to change their voting laws. The court ruled that the formula determining which states are affected was unconstitutional. ********************** Attorney General Eric Holder warned states against going too...

Atlanta police said a man was shot and killed in Little Five Points early Saturday morning after he tried to rob a group of people waiting in line to buy the new, $180 sneakers, the Nike LeBron X EXT, which were released today. One man in the line pulled out a gun and shot the would-be robber, witnesses told police, who have charged no one and consider the shooting to be self-defense. The shooter then got back in line, according to Channel 2 Action News.

That's what some defeated House candidates from 2012 are hoping, at least. Several failed candidates who ran strong campaigns, but fell just short last year, are back for a rematch this election cycle. Whether they can use lessons learned in their losing campaign to change next year's results will go a long way in determining which party gains seats in the House.

The clean sweep at the Komen Foundation is finally complete. A few days ago Komen founder Nancy Brinker finally lost her job as CEO. It took a while but they finally got rid of her, the woman who watched her sister suffer and die from breast cancer, who dedicated her life to eradicating the disease, who created one of the most successful global health charities in the world. They removed her for the crime of trying to defund Planned Parenthood. She’s being replaced by a woman some say had a hand in developing Obamacare and who has never run a...

Man faces disorderly conduct charges for blocking Dillard's walkway, cursing at Peachtree Mall security A man faced disorderly conduct charges during a Recorder's Court hearing Monday after he allegedly refused to stop blocking a walkway to Dillard's at the Peachtree Mall ... When the security officer called for help to detain [the perp] and charge him with disorderly conduct, he allegedly tried to run but was unable to because his sagging pants hindered his mobility ...

ATLANTA – If the example one Georgia insurance company offered is true of the others, coverage under the individual plans to be offered in October under federal health reform will be about 45 percent higher than what a middle-aged family of five could get today. “I am very concerned that the full implementation of ObamaCare will drastically increase the price Georgians pay for health insurance,” said Insurance Commissioner Ralph Hudgens.

BRUNSWICK | A homeowner who answered his doorbell at 11 p.m. Saturday night shot a masked man who lunged at him with a knife, the Glynn County police said. (snip) A man wearing a mask approached and lunged at the homeowner who opened fire with his .45-caliber handgun, she said.

The recruitment drive to join the Ku Klux Klan in Covington, Ga., is in full swing again as residents are being urged to join the brotherhood of White supremacists via fliers dropped outside their homes, reports the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The “Save Our Race” fliers were placed in to clear plastic sandwich bags with a rock and distributed throughout the Laurel Ridge subdivision. According to one of the complex’s residents, who chose to remain anonymous, though, most of her neighbors threw the racist announcement away. “I think they are just trying to [stir] up the little bit of racism that some...

The earliest known examples of wine-making as we know it are in the regions of modern-day Iran, Georgia, and Armenia -- and researchers believe that modern winemaking slowly spread westward from there to Europe... The Etruscans, a pre-Roman civilisation in Italy, are thought to have gained wine culture from the Phoenicians -- who spread throughout the Mediterranean from the early Iron Age onward -- because they used similarly shaped amphoras... Dr McGovern's team focused on the coastal site of Lattara, near the town of Lattes south of Montpellier, where the importation of amphoras continued up until the period 525-475 BC....

Video link. Georgia Senator Johnny Isackson "not sure which way he will vote on immigration reform." His office also barred activist D.A. King from a meeting because "previous meetings with him were 'unproductive'."

Thousands of demonstrators massed on streets surrounding Istanbul's central Taksim Square, long a venue for political unrest, while protests erupted in the capital Ankara and the Aegean coastal city of Izmir. Broken glass and rocks were strewn across a main shopping street near Taksim. Primary school children ran crying from the clouds of tear gas while tourists caught by surprise scurried to get back to luxury hotels lining the square. The unrest reflects growing disquiet at the authoritarianism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Islamist-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP). Riot police clashed with tens of thousands of May...

ISTANBUL — Police officers attacked a group of peaceful demonstrators on Friday in Istanbul’s Taksim Square with water cannons and tear gas, sending scores of people, protesters and tourists alike, scurrying into shops and luxury hotels and turning the center of this city into a battle zone at the height of tourist season.

Georgia Institute of Technology has announced a partnership with Udacity to offer an online Masters Degree in Computer Science for $7,000, down 80% from the existing cost of $40,000 for the on-campus, instructor led program. Suddenly, masters programs around the country will have to compete with Georgia Tech‘s $7,000 program, and that won’t be easy or fast in coming. The traditionally taught graduate degree in computer science at Georgia Tech is a very well regarded program that is in high demand and has very positive outcomes in terms of jobs and earnings. Georgia Tech graduates tend to do very well...

A House Republican group is launching an ad campaign against four incumbent Democrats this week that aims to tie the lawmakers to the Internal Revenue Service, a government agency under scrutiny after officials admitted earlier this month to targeting conservative groups applying for nonprofit status. The National Republican Congressional Committee will dispatch thousands of trucks to drive around the districts of Democratic Reps. Ann Kirkpatrick and Ron Barber of Arizona, Collin Peterson of Minnesota and John Barrow of Georgia on Tuesday with versions of this billboard:...

About two dozen members of the Dalton Tea Party gathered outside the Internal Revenue Service office on Professional Boulevard in Dalton on Tuesday during the lunch hour protesting the agency on the national level for singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny. “They went way overboard in demanding information and throwing up obstacles to some groups and allowed groups that weren’t conservative to sail through. That isn’t fair,” said Warren Tatum.

President Again Denies Georgia Co-Opted Chechen Fighters April 28, 2013 Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has again denied that the previous Georgian government recruited and trained a group of Chechens with the aim of infiltrating them into the Russian Federation. Saakashvili was responding to what he termed “irresponsible” and “extremely dangerous” comments made by Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili in an April 26 interview with the TV channel Rustavi-2. Referring to the annual study of the human rights situation in Georgia presented to parliament on April 1 by Public Defender Ucha Nanuashvili, Ivanishvili said in that interview the ongoing probe into the...

A raging mob in Tbilisi chased away a downtown rally designed to commemorate the May 17 International Day against Homophobia. “Kill them! Tear them to pieces!” yelled the agitated crowd as police struggled to evacuate a handful of gay-rights supporters from the Georgian capital's central Freedom Square. It was a scene of medieval mob violence, as thousands of Georgians -- mostly young men, but also robed priests and women in headscarves -- stormed through a police cordon and went pursuing the activists. “Where are they? Don’t let them leave alive!” screamed frenzied men, as they took over the square, outnumbering...

<p>TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- Thousands of anti-gay protesters, including Orthodox priests, occupied a central street in Georgia's capital Friday, with some threatening to lash with stinging nettles any participant in a gay pride parade which was to take place there.</p>

<p>TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of anti-gay protesters, including Orthodox priests, occupied a central street in Georgia's capital Friday, with some threatening to lash with nettles any participant in a gay pride parade which was to take place there.</p> <p>Police in Tbilisi guarded several dozen gay activists and bused them out of the city center shortly after they arrived at the gathering.</p>

CHATSWORTH, GA (WRCB) - Hundreds of people in one north Georgia town are not allowed to drink their water. The water treatment plant in Ramhurst is temporarily shut down after someone broke in and changed the chemical settings. It's affecting about 400 Murray County residents. Local, state and federal officials are investigating who's to blame. Officials with Chatsworth Water Works say the source of the problems is at the Carter's Lake Water Treatment Plant in the Ramhurst area. Saturday workers noticed someone had changed some chemical settings. First, officials issued a "boil advisory" but the Environmental Protection Department bumped it...

SAVANNAH, Ga. May 5, 2013 (AP) Less than two months after British forces captured Savannah in December 1778, patriot militiamen scored a rare Revolutionary War victory in Georgia after a short but violent gunbattle forced British loyalists to abandon a small fort built on a frontiersman's cattle farm. More than 234 years later, archaeologists say they've pinpointed the location of Carr's Fort in northeastern Georgia after a search with metal detectors covering more than 4 square miles turned up musket balls and rifle parts as well as horse shoes and old frying pans. The February 1779 shootout at Carr's Fort...

As Biden speaks at event named for Old Hickory tonight, more appalling stories show party should dump him as icon Spring means that appeals for money are bursting forth from both major political parties. It also means Democratic officials in states and counties around the country are busy getting people out to their major fundraiser, the Jefferson-Jackson Day Dinner. And theyÂ’re bringing in the big guns: Vice President Joe Biden will keynote the South Carolina DemocratsÂ’ dinner tonight.But after an election in which Democrats rode a wave of minority support to keep the White House and Senate, party activists should...

A billboard taking aim at U.S. Senator Marco Rubio is expected to be installed next week in Georgia, said the head of a conservative group that is behind the effort. The group is unhappy with the Florida lawmaker because of his central role in a bipartisan Senate bill that seeks to reform immigration laws, by among other things, tightening enforcement, expanding the guest worker program......

ames Eades of Augusta is charged with obstruction of a police officer, stemming from an incident during Operation Thunder, but he says there is much more to the story than that. Eades says that he and a friend were driving down Alexander Drive early Friday morning when they came to an Operation Thunder Checkpoint on River Watch Parkway. What happened during that stop lead to Eades getting arrested... and he says it's all because he didn't roll down his window all the way "We saw what appeared to be an accident scene. A couple of police cars with blue lights,...

A major flooring company is considering building a new factory – and hiring more than 2,000 workers – in northwest Georgia, an area hit hard by layoffs after the housing bust. Two people with direct knowledge of the potential plan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a deal to bring the factory to Georgia is pending. They declined to name the manufacturer, but a third person familiar with the plans said the company is Engineered Floors, founded by former Shaw Industries chief Bob Shaw. The jobs announcement, which could come in the next two weeks, would be larger than the Baxter International...

The suspects accused of raping and molesting a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl videotaped part of the crime, authorities said. District Attorney Pat Head would not say what the videotape revealed, but said he did not plan to show it to the grand jury. Up to 25 males — ages 12 to 25 — raped and molested the girl for 12 hours after luring her off of a bicycle and into an apartment building, police said Wednesday. Eight suspects have been arrested and warrants were issued for three others sought in the Oct. 13-14 attack, Cobb County police spokesman Dana Pierce...