Free Republic

When President Obama outlines his tax-increase plan on Wednesday, it’ll be based on the liberal assumption that all money belongs to the government, with Americans retaining only what bureaucrats allow. That’s the dangerous argument Supreme CourtJustice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee, made last week in a case on education funding. Arizona Christian School Tuition Organization v. Winn involved a tuition tax credit whereby Arizonans can contribute to groups providing scholarships for private schools. Some cranks argued that because the scholarships can be used at religious schools,

And then the Health Police™ came for the cupcakes: A child nutrition bill on its way to President Barack Obama — and championed by the first lady — gives the government power to limit school bake sales and other fundraisers that health advocates say sometimes replace wholesome meals in the lunchroom. Republicans, notably Sarah Palin, and public school organizations decry the bill as an unnecessary intrusion on a common practice often used to raise money. “This could be a real train wreck for school districts,” Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association said Friday, a day after the House...

Sacramento - -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, whose budget already makes dramatic cuts in education, is proposing to withhold billions of dollars from schools that were guaranteed by a measure approved by voters two decades ago. School officials and education advocates railed Tuesday against Schwarzenegger's proposal, which would go into effect after 2010, arguing that it would make permanent reductions in school spending that would eliminate programs and increase the size of classes. "The vast majority of the education community in California believe that we're underfunded already," said Nancy Waymack, a policy director for San Francisco's public schools. "So when the...

It’s hard to pinpoint the worst part of the public lands legislation bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling up for an under-the-radar Sunday tomorrow. The 1200-page, pork-laden, $10 billion proposal locks up millions of acres of energy-rich property by designating it an environmentalist-friendly “federal wilderness” area where not even as much as a bicycle would be permitted to travel across the land. Many of these areas recently became available when the ban on domestic drilling in Western states expired last fall and the liberal left couldn’t muster the courage to keep it in place due to rising energy...

South Africa in first land grab By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg Last Updated: 1:43am GMT 14/02/2007 South Africa has expropriated the country's first farm under its land reform programme aimed at returning agricultural land taken from black communities during the apartheid era, officials said yesterday. The South African Evangelical Lutheran Church, owners of the large farm in the Northern Cape Province, have been ordered to sell it for 35.5 million rand (about £2.5 million). The Commission on Restitution of Land Rights said the farm had been expropriated to meet the claim by locals, including several who worked there, that their...

/begin my translation China Donated 20 Locomotives to N. Korea in First Half of This Year (Shenyang=Yonhap News) Cho Gye-chang = It has been confirmed that China donated 20 locomotives to N. Korea in first half of this year. According to data published by Dangdong Custom's Office, China's Ministry of Railroad donated to N. Korea 20 locomotives which can run on its badly maintained railroads, as an aid project for its N. Korean Railroad Ministry for the first half of this year. The price of each locomotive donated is 10million yuan($1.28 million) and the total amount of the aid is...

Mugabe admits land-grab failure By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 15/08/2006) President Robert Mugabe admitted yesterday that Zimbabweans were "begging" for food because of his mass seizure of white-owned farms. After years of official claims that his land policies would improve production and guarantee self-sufficiency, he confessed that many of those awarded white-owned farms were doing nothing with their gains. "If farming is not in your blood, switch to what you are good at," Mr Mugabe told supporters in the capital, Harare. "We want those with land to use it. We don't want to keep begging for food." Zimbabwe has...

Mugabe to ask whites back in land grab U-turn By Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 09/02/2006) President Robert Mugabe has begun to reverse his "insane" land grab and offer some white farmers the chance to lease back their holdings in Zimbabwe. With the fastest shrinking economy in the world, Mr Mugabe has had to backtrack on six years of chaos and his own determination to rid the country of all white farmers. Robert Mugabe In an orgy of violence, Mr Mugabe seized the land, homes, equipment and infrastructure of about 4,000 white commercial farmers who produced almost half of Zimbabwe's...

Date: January 20, 2006 From: Jerry Falwell EMINENT DOMAIN KNOCKING ON CHURCH’S DOOR I learned this week that a small Baptist church in Oklahoma is at risk of losing its place of worship because it sits on a site where city leaders want to build a shopping plaza. This eminent domain business is getting serious. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo ruling last year, we are facing a brand new ballgame in terms of private property and what that term really means. For the Rev. Roosevelt Gildon, pastor of the Centennial Baptist Church in Sand Springs, Okla., eminent domain is...

WALNUT CREEK – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last night insisted his spending-control initiative on the Nov. 8 ballot is not a gubernatorial power grab that would produce draconian budget cuts, as opponents contend, and that it could actually lead to a tax increase. Struggling to gain traction for his four-part ballot agenda with two weeks to go until the special election, Schwarzenegger fielded questions for the first time during the campaign from voters not selected by his campaign. He and two of the most persistent critics of his agenda made separate appearances during a 90-minute forum. His opponents – state Senate...

Has anyone heard about the CAO law that passed in King county? It says that 65% of your land must be undeveloped in rural King county. You still pay taxes on it, but you cannot build on it. I just don't understand how these libs push this stuff through without a public vote. I have been looking at houses, and it takes a quarter million to buy an average house, (not big, just average), so if I want to build a shop in the future, I will have to buy an acre of land just so there is enough grass....

What do the Statue of Liberty, Independence Hall, and Monticello have in common? The average American with a smattering of historical knowledge might say that those historic sites are all symbolic of America’s unique heritage of freedom. Monticello, of course, was the home of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence. That document (as well as the U.S. Constitution, later) was signed in Independence Hall. The Statue of Liberty memorializes the free nation under God that those founding documents created. What about the Great Smoky Mountains, Yellowstone Park, and the Grand Canyon? Well, these priceless natural resources are...

White land grab policy has failed, Mugabe confesses By David Blair in Johannesburg (Filed: 03/03/2005) President Robert Mugabe confessed yesterday that millions of acres of prime land seized from Zimbabwe's white farmers are now lying empty and idle. After years spent trumpeting the "success" of the land grab, Mr Mugabe, 81, admitted that most of the farms transferred to black owners have never been used. Robert Mugabe: land grab has been a failure All but a handful of Zimbabwe's 4,000 white farmers lost their homes and livelihoods when armed gangs of Mugabe supporters began invading their property in 2000. In...

Namibia farmers face land grab By Christopher Munnion in Johannesburg (Filed: 16/11/2004) Namibia's white farmers were braced for a Zimbabwe-style land grab after polls opened following the retirement of President Sam Nujoma. Voters among the 1.8 million people queued outside polling booths yesterday at the start of two days of voting which is certain to see the ruling South-West African People's Organisation (Swapo) returned to power, probably with an increased majority. A smiling Mr Nujoma, who unsuccessfully sought to change the constitution so that he could seek a third term, was one of the first to cast his vote. "Namibians...

I just saw a report on FOX News about King County, Washington. They are about to enact an unbelievably restrictive zoning ordinance. The citizens are up in arms as they should be. If I have it right, the ordinance specifies that a land owner who owns over 2.5 acres can only build on 10 percent of their land. The remaining acreage is basically condemned as a nature preserve. The owner cannot even erect a barn. These events are of particular interest to me, since I am a land surveyor in the state of Tennessee. Freepers having any more information please...

SB470 By DARDENNE WEAPONS:Provides for the illegal possession of a firearm or ammunition by any person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. (and anybody with who has ever had a restraining order placed against them) RETURN CAL - SUBJ TO CALL YEAS Adley Fields Lentini Amedee Fontenot Malone Bajoie Gautreaux, B Marionneaux Barham Gautreaux, N McPherson Boasso Heitmeier *Michot Boissiere Irons *Mount Cheek *Jackson Nevers *Duplessis Jones Smith Ellington Kostelka Ullo Total—27 NAYS *Chaisson Dupre *Schedler Cravins Hainkel Theunissen Dardenne *Hollis Total—8 ABSENT Mr. President Holden Cain Romero Total—4 ============================= * Indicate "Judiciary C" committee members. This is...

Investors pounced on $1.8 billion in California bonds this week, sending the strongest signal yet about growing confidence in the recovering state budget. The bond sale that ended Thursday exceeded expectations despite the specter of rising interest rates and the state's lowest-in-the-nation bond rating. The bonds were so popular that state officials boosted the offering from $1.75 billion to $1.8 billion, and they saved money by selling at a lower rate. A spokesman for the state treasurer's office said the sale was oversubscribed, meaning the banks had more orders from investors than bonds to sell. "There seems to be a...

<p>Legislation introduced yesterday by state Sens. Bob Smith (D- Middlesex) and Robert Martin (R- Morris) would virtually ban development on important watershed lands in the northern Highlands.</p> <p>The proposed law -- and an identical version sponsored by Assemblyman John McKeon (D- Essex) -- largely follows the recommendations of Gov. James E. McGreevey's Highlands Task Force.</p>

South Africa heading for political land grab, say farmers By Basildon Peta, Southern Africa Correspondent 12 January 2004 Seated behind his office desk, Rhys Rolfe had the face of a frightened man. The current devastating drought threatening to wipe out his vast plantations of maize is a huge worry for the South African farmer. But he did not hide the fact that new land expropriation laws planned by the South African government were an even bigger worry. He was starting to wonder whether his family has a future in farming. The South African President, Thabo Mbeki, launched his recent re-election...

Outrage as Mbeki hints at S African land grab By Tim Butcher in Johannesburg (Filed: 19/12/2003) President Thabo Mbeki sent shockwaves through South Africa yesterday when he hinted that it might adopt the brutal land-grab policies of President Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe. Thabo Mbeki South African opposition politicians were incensed by Mr Mbeki's comments at the start of a one-day visit to Harare, where he underlined his status as chief apologist for the Mugabe regime. While other world leaders, including some in Africa, have distanced themselves from the brutal Mugabe dictatorship, Mr Mbeki said he could learn from Mr...

Cities use legal clout to grab land By Ludmilla Lelis Sentinel Staff Writer November 7, 2003 DAYTONA BEACH -- Dino Paspalakis and James L. Mathas are fiercely proud of the arcades and amusement centers that their families have owned for decades on the World's Most Famous Beach. Snip... In Connecticut, four elderly siblings have been evicted from their home for an industrial park. In Texas, 10 homes were condemned for a shopping center and parking lot. In California, land for a Christian community center was condemned for a Costco. A historic Ohio neighborhood faces condemnation because its homes don't have...

<p>It started with an e-mail message last week to this column from a reader, asking whether strict interpretation of the state constitution would automatically make Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante the governor should Gov. Gray Davis be recalled.</p> <p>"I am mystified by the governor recall election talk," the reader wrote. "If I understand the California Constitution, if Gray Davis resigns, dies in office, goes into a coma or is impeached and removed, Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante will become governor for the remainder of the term. So why not the same outcome if Gray Davis is recalled?"</p>

Do you remember how quickly the amendment to the Constitution which enables the president to appoint a vice president in the event of a vacancy virtually snuck up on us? There really wasn't much understanding in the country of the implications of that amendment until one day Americans woke up to the fact that they now had the first non-elected president in their history. When the duly elected Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew resigned, President Richard Nixon then appointed House Minority Leader Gerald Ford as president. This choice was quickly ratified by Congress without much thought, because at that point no...

Overview of Conference and Program This conference brings stakeholders together for an open dialogue on the integration of environmental, social, and economic issues in the Great Lakes basin while fostering relationships among all sectors of the Great Lakes community. This conference advances efforts to secure a sustainable future for the Great Lakes. The following issues will be addressed: Sustainability from concept to application Great Lakes restoration planning Creating a sustainable transportation intermodal network to support a growing Great Lakes economy Waterfront redevelopment Water quality and quantity Recreational issues Institutional, legal and scientific issues

Choosing a time when the attention of all Americans is on our conflict with Iraq, the Senate is poised to vote on a bill that would unleash a major attack on private property rights. It would empower environmental groups and government agencies to use taxpayer funds to purchase land. The bill, S. 476, called the "Faith-based Initiative," has two insidious sections, 106 and 107, that call for a 25% tax cut on capital gains of land sales, but only if the land is sold to an "environmental group" or a government agency. This legislation is a classic Trojan horse....

To all NJ Freepers: On Monday, September 30, your State Senator will vote on an alarming "Gun Ban" bill. This bill, sponsored by Senator Dick Codey, is being masqueraded as a "childproof" handgun bill. As currently written, S. 890 would set in motion the ultimate ban on the sale of all new "non-personalized" models of handguns in New Jersey, after just one manufacturer delivers a single "personalized" handgun to any subsequently pulled off the market as unsafe, or for any other reason. Simply put, S.890 would ALL current models of handguns in New Jersey. The Senate has debated this issue...

Mugabe flaunts his land grab to summit By Bruce Johnston in Rome and Peta Thornycroft in Harare (Filed: 11/06/2002 President Robert Mugabe used a United Nations food summit in Rome yesterday to hail his land grab as a "visionary" response to the hunger and poverty laying waste to his country. Robert Mugabe takes his seat before the start of the UN food summit in Rome He made his policy of expropriating white-owned land the mainstay of his address at the opening day of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation's World Food Summit. He told fellow delegates that his government had...