Free Republic

DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A figurative beat down turned literal beating has led to the felony arrests of a group of local high school football players. Police arrested four Star International Academy seniors Wednesday on aggravated assault charges stemming from an altercation in the team’s last game of the season. The players -- Mohamed Ahmed, Fanar Al-Alsady, Hadee Attia and Ali Bajjey, all age 17 -- are accused of gang-beating Lutheran Westland’s quarterback as time expired in Lutheran’s 47-6 drubbing of Star on Oct. 21. According to numerous witness statements gathered by police, Lutheran’s quarterback was set to take a knee...

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a political high, President Barack Obama capped a bruising year by securing a tax cut for millions of Americans — an achievement that overshadowed Washington's deepening dysfunction and the slow progress of the economy on his watch. The White House has ended a year with a political victory before. This time around the stakes are higher, and the president is by no means assured of carrying the momentum deep into an election year. Addressing reporters before heading to Hawaii on Friday, Obama looked like a president in command of the stage again, for now. He left...

BOSTON -- Tensions were high at Dewey Square Thursday night when police took Occupy Boston protesters into custody. The confrontation started when a protester allegedly brought a sink into the Occupy Boston encampment. According to protesters at the scene, they demanded to know from police why they were blocking the sink from entering the site. 7News was told police took possession of the sink. People then formed a barricade around a police vehicle. A protester told 7News one person was injured, and police confirmed that three people were taken into custody for disorderly conduct. Earlier on Thursday, a judge upheld...

State football playoffs kick off on Friday in nearly all states which didn't start them on the first weekend of November. That's the case in New Mexico, too, though one school is fighting to put some of the state's scheduled matchups on hold until it can have a blown call rectified … and possibly be added to the playoff mix itself. As reported by KOB-TV and KOAT-TV, among other New Mexico outlets, Atrisco (N.M.) Heritage High parents filed an injunction on behalf of the school's football team after it was kept out of the New Mexico Class 4A state playoffs...

Jobless rate in Chicago area rises to 10.4 percent BY FRANCINE KNOWLES fknowles@suntimes.com Last Modified: Sep 22, 2011 08:42PM The unemployment rate in the Chicago metropolitan area rose to 10.4 percent in August from 9.7 percent a year earlier, but dipped from 10.5 percent in July, the Illinois Department of Employment Security said Thursday. The Chicago area was the only metropolitan area in the state to show an increase. The area created 14,000 jobs since August 2010. That’s down from the 31,600 jobs added year-over-year in July. The non-seasonally adjusted report showed the highest unemployment rate in the state was...

Take this with the customary grain of salt that accompanies most breaking reports from urban-warfare theaters, and perhaps especially in Tripoli, where Moammar Qaddafi’s sons are either in custody or acting as tour guides for the capital of Libya.  Rebels now report having reached Qaddafi’s compound, which means that either the regime will fall shortly, or … not:  Libyan rebels battled on Tuesday around Muammar Gaddafi’s headquarters, where a son of the veteran leader had emerged overnight to confound reports of his capture and to rally cheering loyalists for a rearguard fightback.NATO jets flew in support of the rebels, who...

With all the other horrible events of the weekend, China's high speed rail crash sort of faded into the background. But the toll is horrific: 43 dead, and hundreds more injured after one high speed train ran into another. Critics, such as Michael Sainsbury of The Australian, are now arguing that this is the result of cut corners in the construction process:A picture is beginning to emerge of a network that has been built to unrealistic and politically driven timetables, using a mix of technologies that were given little time to be properly integrated.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday finalized stronger regulations for Wisconsin and 26 other states aimed at curbing air pollution from long-distance sources. The rules will help those states fight ozone and particle pollution caused by power plants in Illinois, Indiana and other states. But Wisconsin utilities - whose pollution can contribute to air-quality problems elsewhere - will also need to find ways to reduce their own emissions. The likely result: Higher electric bills in the coming years. A group of power companies known as the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity called the action one of the most...

A New Jersey high school with a 70-year tradition of hosting graduation ceremonies in a historic auditorium is standing firm against legal threats from the American Civil Liberties Union, which claims the event violates the separation of church and state because of the Christian-owned site's religious displays. For generations, graduates of Neptune High School have walked down the aisle of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove, where the impressive 6,500-seat venue dominates the landscape of one of the area’s most historic beach towns. Built in 1894, the auditorium is owned and operated by the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association,

Gasoline prices will remain high through 2012, the U.S. Energy Information Administration says. The government's prediction Tuesday assumes significant increases in global oil consumption, oil price increases to go along with that, and even stronger profits for oil companies in the short run. But it does not mention the volatility that has beset oil markets in the last couple of weeks, driving prices to near record highs. The spikes -- driven by massive amounts of investor money electronically moving in and out of the commodities markets -- have convinced many motorists that somebody is gouging them.

Much has been said about the rising price of crude oil over the past months but one aspect that hasn't been the focus has been the fact that while oil itself is still a fair distance from its all-time high of $147 a barrel (light-sweet), gasoline is now just pennies away from the all-time high of $4.11 per gallon. While the pundits are focusing on our need to drill for more oil at home, they are not discussing this disparity between prices then and now and what might be done to mitigate the problem in the more immediate term. Some...

Protesters hit high-end Obama fundraiser... Thurs April 21 2011 12:52:09 EDT Subject: Pool report #1 San Francisco -- ***Protestors in high-end fundraiser - see below*** Motorcade left the Intercontinental Hotel at 9 am local and arrived at the St. Regis for President Obama's last Bay area fundraiser. A couple dozen demonstrators are on a corner across the street from the hotel. They have signs - "Yes We Cannabis" and "Protect Marijuana Patients Rights" - and are chanting something your pooler couldn't make out. One of them also has sign of Uncle Sam's face with "LIAR" written on his hat. About...

Family doctors are being prevented from prescribing drugs for conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and osteoporosis as NHS managers attempt to make drastic budget cuts, an investigation has found. Primary care trusts are adding more medicines to their so-called "red lists" which means they can only be prescribed by a hospital consultant and not a GP. The measure is designed to save money by restricting access to drugs that are often among the more expensive. It also means that many patients find it more difficult to obtain the most effective drugs free on the NHS, even though they have

After reading the article, "Rebels execute black immigrants while forces kidnap others", I was incensed as many are. It looks like Obama has committed another crime against the citizens of America by giving aid, comfort, weapons, money, and moral support to those who have not just attacked us in Afghanistan and Iraq, but who are also committing crimes against humanity in Libya. We all know this is not the first time Obama has committed a crime that is worthy of impeachment and incarceration in Leavenworth. So I would like to know if anyone has a list of all his...

Everyone knows that the unemployment situation is very bad, but the official figures (not surprisingly) understate the problem. In this article I'll outline the severity of the stalled labor market, and explain some of the major causes. The Employment Outlook According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the official civilian unemployment rate in February was 8.9 percent. However, this figure (called U-3) is very misleading in the present environment, because so many potential workers have become discouraged and are no longer seeking work. Just as a retired person, or a stay-at-home parent, isn't normally classified as "unemployed," so too...

The U.S. vetoed a controversial Palestinian Authority resolution at the United Nations Security Council as pressure on the administration mounted in the House. A letter urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton to stand up against the resolution condemning Israel quickly racked up signatures in the House on Friday. Reps. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) and Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) circulated the letter, which had been signed by at least 110 members, making the rounds beginning Thursday afternoon and again later on Friday. The members responded to reports that a presidential statement condemning Israeli settlements could be

Three North County residents contend a textbook used to teach seventh-graders about the Islamic religion in the San Dieguito Union High School District “romanticizes” the history of the religion, and they want the district to use supplemental information to provide what they say would be a more balanced view. Michael Hayutin and Linda Sax, both of Carmel Valley, and James Freedman of Rancho Peñasquitos presented their findings in a 21-page report to the school district’s board of trustees at a meeting last

TAMPA, Fla. - There are new concerns for parents, as a common household spice is now being abused by teenagers to get high.  Video of kids smoking, eating and drinking large quantities of nutmeg to get high can be found all over YouTube.com. According to various online reports, Nutmeg contains Myristicin, a compound that can cause euphoria and hallucinations. Potential side effects from getting high off Nutmeg include: vomiting, dizziness and convulsions. When shown some of the YouTube videos, random people on the street were shocked to hear this was happening.  "What other kind of seasoning could you possibly try...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court is questioning the government's broad use of an exemption in the federal Freedom of Information Act to withhold documents from the public. The justices heard argument Wednesday in an appeal from Glen Milner, a Washington state resident who sued under FOIA for maps showing the extent of damage expected from an explosion at the Navy's main West Coast ammunition dump on an island near Port Townsend in western Washington.

The price of oil has hit a six-month high after encouraging manufacturing data in the US and China boosted confidence in the global recovery. US light crude oil rose by $2 (£1.25) a barrel or 2.5%, to $83.45, while London Brent rose by $1.90 to $85.04 a barrel. Figures showed that the US manufacturing sector accelerated faster than expected in October, thanks to strong new orders and exports.

California's budget crisis has proved a boon for some defendants. In a unanimous ruling, the California Supreme Court on Monday upheld the dismissal of 18 criminal cases, two of them felonies, in Riverside County because there were not enough judges to hear them. The court blamed the problem on the state's failure to hire more judges. Chief Justice Ronald M. George, writing for the court, said Riverside County's "congested criminal caseload represented a chronic" problem. "The lack of available courtrooms and judges was attributable to the Legislature's failure to provide a number of judges and courtrooms sufficient to meet

The cost of maintaining a checking account rose to an all-time high this year, with much of the increase coming from the fees assessed to maintain both interest and non-interest-bearing accounts rising 40 percent. Other cost increases included a 5 percent increase from last year in ATM fees, to an all-time high of $2.33, while the average fee for using an out-of-network ATM was $1.41, rising almost 7 percent, according to a survey released Monday by Bankrate.com. Other fees that rose this year included a 3 percent increase in overdraft fees, to a record high of $30.47

Wall Street is ditching the white stuff in favor of something somewhat more green. And we're not talking about cash. Marijuana was present in 80% of failed drug tests last year, up from 64% in 2007, according to the tests reviewed by Sterling Infosystems Inc.. Cocaine showed up in only 7% of positive Wall Street drug tests last year, instead of 16% in 2007. Relative to the rest of the working world (3.6% of whom failed drug tests last year), the finance industry is pretty clean, with only a 2% rate of drug test failure, according to the Wall Street...

U.S. bankruptcy filings have reached the highest level since 2005, government data released on Tuesday show, as the economy slows and the unemployment rate hovers just below double digits. There were 422,061 bankruptcy filings between April and June, according to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, up 9 percent from 388,148 in the prior three-month period, and up 11 percent from 381,073 a year earlier.

In late 2009, when high rates of unemployment began looking like a sad fact of life for the foreseeable future, the media started looking for ways to put a positive spin on the situation. Sure, many had predicted the next great depression when unemployment stood at around 6 percent in 2008, but with Democrats in control of the White House and Congress, a number of reporters suddenly found the recession's many silver linings. (Snip) Now the New York Times is celebrating the fact that the 90.5 percent of those who are employed are seeing a pleasant rise in their wages.

If there’s one thing to be learned from "Sex and the City," it’s that women love high heels. Sure, they might be painful to wear and challenging to walk in (for some of us, anyway), but as the saying goes, beauty is pain. But blisters might not be the only downside to wearing high heels. In fact, the damage might be occurring higher up on the body – in the ankle, knee and hip, according to new research being presented later this month at the annual meeting of the American Society of Biomechanics. Another key finding: The higher the heel,...

Hezbollah warned on Saturday that Israel was preparing "something" in Lebanon and that the organization has been on high alert since Israel released aerial images to highlight the militant group's activities close to the Israeli border earlier this week, the London-based Arabic language daily Asharq al-Awsat reported.

Executive Summary Most high school students in the U.S. are not very well informed about the specifics of the current economy. Based on a series of six multiple choice questions about the economy, the average number of correct answers was slightly over two. There is somewhat of a dichotomy in youth expectations of the future of the economy. Although most are skeptical about the future of social security and believe that there is a reasonable chance that China will surpass the U.S. as an economic power, they also believe that their standards of living will be better than that of...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In this banking center walloped by the Great Recession, where unemployment just hit a 20-year high and as many as one in three black people are out of work, blacks could easily be frustrated with President Barack Obama's insistence that a rising economic tide for all will lift African-American boats. Yet despite surging discontent among some black advocates over Obama's refusal to specifically target rising black unemployment, it's hard to find average black folks here who disagree with the president's approach. "He has been addressing the black agenda as far as health care, education, all that," said...

The Pennsylvania woman who allegedly used the Internet alias JihadJane to recruit people for violent jihad had dropped out before reaching high school and was married at age 16, the start of a bumpy life that might have left her vulnerable to radical beliefs, according to federal sources and public records.

Japanese research and development firm Eamex claims to have found a new way to increase the typical average life of a high-capacity lithium-ion battery. Eamex's new technology will allow the demanding batteries to sustain over 10,000 recharges over the course of 20 years. This rather dramatic increase in performance is made possible by new techniques such as a stabilization process of the battery's electrodes, which in-turn puts less stress on the battery's tin. This maintains the bonding of particles for a longer period of time and reduces the overall deterioration process. The result is a battery that lasts up to...

LONDON – The number of anti-Semitic incidents in the UK set a new high in 2009, the most since records began, according a report released on Friday. The Community Security Trust, a charity that monitors anti-Semitism and provides security for the Jewish community in Britain, recorded 924 anti-Semitic incidents in 2009. The high number of incidents was attributed to “unprecedented levels of anti-Semitism” during and in the immediate aftermath of Operation Cast Lead. This included 288 incidents last January, during the conflict, and 114 in February, after the cease-fire. These compared with a previous highest monthly total of 105 incidents...

By Mary Ann Ford | mford@pantagraph.com | Posted: Friday, January 29, 2010 9:00 pm | (10) Comments Font Size: Default font size Larger font size NORMAL — Not everyone at Friday’s news conference supported spending $8 billion for high-speed rail. Several people gathered at the Amtrak station held signs and even made negative comments while Sen. Dick Durbin was speaking. They questioned projections of economic growth from high-speed rail spending and the wisdom of spending so much money in the face of mounting state and federal budget deficits. “I’m really upset,” said Jeff Strange of Bloomington. While officials say the...

Pay close attention to his eyes in the YouTube video. I've seen people high on drugs many times and they usually had that same vacant look in their eyes.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia—As an engineer pulls the throttle, villagers track side gawk at the bullet-shaped train as it gathers speed. Soon, forests and wooden shacks are a blur as a dashboard display reads 250 kilometers an hour (155 miles per hour). Ten years in the making, Russia's state-owned railway is testing eight aerodynamic trains that in December will rush travelers from here to Moscow in less than four hours. With fancy kitchens and leather seats in first class, the Sapsans (Russian for peregrine falcons) mark a change in Russia's egalitarian rail tradition. More broadly, though, Russia's new trains mirror a...

The worst recession since the Great Depression has already eliminated 7.2 million jobs, and analysts figure 750,000 more jobs could disappear over the next six months. That means the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama may be forced to employ a second stimulus if it wants to preserve the fledgling recovery that has carried the Dow Jones Industrial Average back above 10,000. The U.S. unemployment rate officially hit 28-year high of 9.8% in September, according to the Labor Department. But that number grows to 16.8% when you add the number of “total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total...

Taking on a major new constitutional dispute over gun rights, the Supreme Court agreed on Wednesday to decide whether to apply the Second Amendment to state, county, and city government laws. In another major case among ten new grants, the Court said it will rule on the constitutionality of one of the government’s most-used legal weapons in the “war on terrorism” — a law that outlaws “material support” to terrorist groups. The Court had three cases from which to choose on the Second Amendment issue — two cases involving a Chicago gun ban, and one case on a New York...

This data is current upto 28 September 2009. http://www.google.org/flutrends/intl/en_us/

The quote of the day from President Obama: “There is something about August going into September where everybody in Washington gets all wee weed up!” Now I realize that Matt Drudge is having a little fun running this photo on the right with this quote, but remember how tired Candidate Obama used to get? President Obama needs a nap. Even though he is on vacation, he is frantically doing interviews as he flails about trying to avoid having his popularity fall — oh no — below 50% approval. And so he’s going whee-whee all the way home. Or maybe...

President Barack Obama makes short work of a pesky fly during an interview with CNBC's John Harwood.

Not the greatest image, but there aren't very many of this place. Nonetheless, it is both geologically and geographically significant. So: where is it, and why is it noteworthy? (After guesses, answer will likely be posted Friday evening 05/01 or Saturday 05/02). I've scattered a couple of nebulous clues in this text. Super great cudos if you can name this place. Good luck! (Click for full size, if that helps.)

A Dobson High School Advanced Placement government class with strong opinions about Barack Obama watched the president's speech Wednesday on a small, grainy TV in the corner of their classroom. Some of the students attentively watched the speech, giving questioning looks and comments, shaking their heads and laughing at some of Obama's words. Other students listened, occasion ally glancing up to watch, while texting on their cell phones, reading a book or finishing school work. The gymnasium's events were shown simultaneously in rooms throughout the Mesa school, and teachers were given discretion on whether to show the speech, the students...

DALLAS -- A Texas high school girls basketball team on the winning end of a 100-0 game has a case of blowout remorse. Per the rules, only an excerpt allowed on AP stories. Read the full story at the link.

Where tax goes up to 60 per cent, and everybody's happy paying it The British want taxes kept low, but Gwladys Fouché discovers that in Sweden high rates underpin a successful society * guardian.co.uk, Sunday November 16 2008 00.01 GMT Political parties have been vying to offer the biggest tax cuts as the credit crunch tightens its grip on Britain. In their view, low taxes are now the best way to get the economy going and to help out families. Cutting or keeping taxes low has always proved popular with the electorate: in 1992 the Conservatives' election campaign slogan 'Labour's...

Red Planet on the Money Will $13 a gallon gasoline change voters' minds in Blue States? [Click on images to enlarge them.] If the voters in Blue, Democrat-controlled states are looking for a culprit for high gas prices, they may look no further than in the mirror. Their representatives in Congress continue to strangle the oil supply--by ruling most of the USA off-limits for drilling. This artificial restriction by the Dem-controlled Congress is a great subject of two great Red Planet Cartoons. The subject: why the Dem-controlled Congress' posturing on the environment is costing every driver, every energy-user in the...

She was captain of her high school cheerleading squad, a nearly straight-A student and a soon-to-be pre-med student at the University of Florida. But now, 18-year-old Stephanie Kuleba is dead, and her friends and family are pointing to breast augmentation surgery as the cause, The Palm Beach Post reported. "She was a role model for a lot of people," her friend Vicky Goldring, 16, told the paper. "She was incredibly smart. She wanted to help people. She was just a happy 18-year-old girl." Kuleba died Saturday of what friends believe were complications from the plastic surgery she had the previous...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq, Feb. 21, 2008 – Hearing a noise in the hallway, Dean gets out of his bed on the floor and trots to the door as he searches the cool February air for a clue. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Vaneta Vaughn, the top enlisted soldier with 64th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multinational Division Baghdad, scratches Dean, the battalion chaplain’s dog, behind his ear at Camp Taji, Iraq, Feb. 16, 2008. Dean deployed to Iraq with the soldiers as the battalion’s therapy dog. Photo by Pfc. April Campbell, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Homecoming events say viva East High! Fun-filled week is planned THE DANCE: The "Viva Las Vegas" theme event will be from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. Oct. 6 in the school gym. Tickets are $10 each and must be purchased in advance during homecoming week at the school. THE GAME: 7:20 p.m. Oct. 5 at Williams Stadium against Roosevelt. THEME DAYS: Monday, dress in Las Vegas-style apparel or as a famous person for Vegas Day; Tuesday, dress in clothing of the opposite sex for Gender Bender Day; Wednesday, dress as a person or occupation on "...er" Day; Thursday, dress as someone...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 21, 2007 – Operation Homefront, a national nonprofit group started shortly after the 9/11 attacks, recently earned a leading charity evaluator’s highest marks. Charity Navigator, which evaluates charities’ financial health, including day-to-day operations and sustainability, has bestowed its top “four-star” rating upon Operation Homefront. Less than a quarter of the charities Charity Navigator evaluates received their highest rating. “This exceptional designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Operation Homefront from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust,” said Trent Stamp, president of Charity Navigator, in a letter to Operation Homefront. Operation Homefront is...