Free Republic

IRVINE - A 10-year-old girl kicked a man in the groin and ran away after he offered her candy to take off some of her clothes, authorities said. Police are searching for the man who escaped in a battered green Jeep Wrangler. The girl was walking near Bryan Avenue and Marketplace about 3 p.m. Tuesday when the man came up to her and asked her to remove her clothing, said Lt. Rick Handfield of the Irvine Police Department. When the man reached for the girl, she kicked him in the groin and ran, Handfield said. The man fell to the...

At the University of California, Irvine the Muslim Student Union (MSU), a virulently anti-Semitic and anti-American student group, holds several programs which unabashedly support terrorist groups and unjustly denounce Israel, America, and the Western world. MSU events have featured speakers like Norman Finkelstein, Ward Churchill, Muhammad al-Asi and Amir Abdel Malik Ali, and have had titles such as "Hamas: the People's Choice" and "Israel: The 4th Reich." On May 12, 2008 the Muslim Student Union invited Muhammad al-Asi to speak on the main part of the campus in front of the flag poles. Al-Asi has spoken at UC Irvine before,...

The University of California-Irvine is a sprawling campus in Orange County. The institution, located between the Santa Ana Mountains and the shore of the Pacific Ocean, is not only home to some of the best minds in science and engineering, but also to some of the most virulent supporters of radical Islam in America — and a school administration bent on capitulating to them. The university’s Muslim Student Union (MSU) holds several annual events, at which members unashamedly voice support for terrorist groups and denounce Israel, America, and the Western world. Past events hosted during the group’s annual anti-Israel week...

A year ago Irvine, Calif., was still riding high on the subprime boom; then almost overnight the industry and more than 4,000 good paying jobs vanished.___ IRVINE, Calif. (CNNMoney.com) -- The subprime mortgage meltdown has shaken the entire U.S. economy. But nowhere might the impact be as stark as Irvine, California, a planned community nestled between Los Angeles and San Diego. A year ago at this time, Irvine was home to 18 subprime lenders, including many of the leaders in the field, such as New Century Financial and Option One. Then, in what seemed like the blink of an eye,...

(IsraelNN.com) A local task force has advised Jewish students not to enroll at the University of California's Irvine campus "until tangible changes are made" to combat growing anti-Semitism. The Newport Beach and Costa Mesa Daily Pilot reported that a community task force stated, "The acts of anti-Semitism are real and well documented. Hate speech has been unrelenting. There is no indication that the university is at all concerned about the disconnect between campus values and the values of the greater society." The State Department issued a report two months ago that the university does not discriminate against Jews, but the...

<p>What could be worse than getting behind on mortgage payments? Owing your lender more than your home is worth.</p> <p>That's what's happening to homeowners across the country, many of whom just a couple of years ago opted for interest-only or adjustable-rate mortgages. For them, just as their loans reset and interest rates rose, home values began to plummet, leaving them with negative equity; this is where their mortgage is greater than the value of their home.</p>

Editorial: Fires are terrible, arson is worse Amid so much tragedy and destruction, some of it appears deliberate An Orange County Register editorial We had hoped beyond hope that, somehow, in this season when all the conditions, including a devastating lack of rain, were ripe for the kind of wildfires that are a regular feature of life in what we like to think of otherwise as near-paradise, we miraculously would be spared. But it was not to be. Our dismay is doubled, however, by the circumstances that authorities believe caused the fire that has burned at least 8.800 acres in...

A wildfire that has swept through 8,800 acres of dry wilderness near Irvine was believed to be intentionally set, firefighters announced this morning as they prepared for another fierce day of wind and heat. The fire was 30 percent contained this morning, fire officials said Firefighters have found at least three separate places that were lighted near Santiago Canyon Road, east of Irvine Lake, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather said at an early-morning news conference. The fire, pushed along by hellish Santa Ana winds, exploded in size overnight, but firefighters were able to block it from moving toward...

An FBI agent confronted by a Muslim student at the University of California, Irvine, earlier this month was trying to get a closer look at a "suspicious" truck at the time, federal authorities said Sunday. The agent had followed the truck to the campus from a separate location as part of an investigation that was unrelated to the school or student activities, bureau spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. "The investigation the agents were engaged in had nothing to do with the UCI campus or student activities there," she said. The FBI's response comes after a Muslim student said an agent bumped...

The University of California, Irvine, is investigating whether an FBI agent bumped a Muslim student with his car near the site of an anti-Israel protest. Yasser Ahmed, 21, said he noticed he was being followed by a car with blackened windows as he drove a 24-foot moving van on campus Monday night to pick up an exhibit sponsored by the Muslim Student Union. The exhibit was a mock wall set up on campus to represent a barrier Israel has built in Palestine. Ahmed said he got out of the truck, stood in front of the car and asked the driver...

SANTA ANA An Iranian-born man has been sentenced to two years in prison for illegally exporting U.S. military aircraft parts to Iran, authorities said this week. Reza Tabib, 52, of Irvine, pleaded guilty in June to violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which prohibits the export and re-export to Iran of certain items of U.S. origin. As part of his sentencing Monday, Tabib also must complete six months of home confinement. Tabib, a U.S. citizen, was arrested along with his wife, Terri Repic-Tabib, in February 2006 after Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents intercepted and seized maintenance kits designed for...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE SWORD, Kuwait, April 27, 2007 – A group of civic and business leaders had the opportunity to learn more about the capability of the U.S. Army during a visit yesterday and today to troops stationed in Kuwait. Forty-five participants of the Defense Department’s Joint Civilian Orientation Conference made a stop during their tour of the U.S. Central Command region to learn about the training and missions of today’s soldiers. The group had the opportunity to go through the last-stop training soldiers get before continuing forward for deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, such as Humvee rollover training,...

Finally being able to meet Daniel Pipes in person was a great opportunity, with his visit to University of California, Irvine (UCI). He was hosted by Hillel at UCI and the Hillel Foundation of Orange County. A forty-five minute trip through rare light traffic brought me early for the event to UCI and the Physical Sciences Lecture Hall on the sprawling campus. I was anticipating some sort of protest by Islamist interests, which always appear when Professor Daniel Pipes speaks at a California University campus. The exterior of the lecture hall was peaceful as a few elderly Jewish men and...

Last night at the University of California Irvine, the Muslim Students Union staged a threatening, thuggish disruption of a talk by Daniel Pipes. UC Irvine is a hotbed of Muslim radicalism, as we’ve documented many times at LGF, but you may not have understood how bad it is until you see this. (Watch out for a burst of white noise near the middle.)

The University of California Irvine has been the subject of many posts at LGF, because the school plays host to one of the most unabashedly radical Muslim Student Union groups in the US. And now the anti-Jewish incitement has reached such a fever pitch that on the weekend of October 8, a student housing building was defaced with swastikas. What? You didn’t hear about it on the news? Apparently, deranged expressions of antisemitism on California campuses are not really news any more. In response to this event, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Manuel Gomez held a meeting and demonstrated exactly...

37,000 Acres of Irvine Ranch Land Receives Prestigious ‘National Natural Landmark’ Designation from U.S. Department of Interior • ‘The Irvine Ranch National Natural Landmark’ joins Mount Shasta, Anza Borrego, Hawaii’s Diamond Head and other beloved national landmarks • Honor recognizes designated land as “a nationally significant natural area” • First site in California to receive NNL designation since 1987 • Land is “a shining example of our nation’s natural treasures,” says National Park Service Director Fran Mainella • Governor Schwarzenegger notes, “Today’s event celebrates another area of our state that can be enjoyed for generations.” NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Standing on...

AP) IRVINE, Calif. The mayor of Irvine apologized this week to Taiwanese officials after a city staffer signed an agreement with China last month formally disavowing the existence of the island nation. The sister-city agreement, signed in late May, includes promises not to send official city delegations to Taiwan, not to fly the Taiwanese flag and not to play the Taiwanese national anthem or attend National Day celebrations, among other things. Irvine Mayor Beth Krom said she signed a routine sister-city agreement at an official ceremony in China and was unaware another employee had signed a memorandum that contained the...

Apr 24, 6:11 PM (ET) By JENNIFER LOVEN (AP) President Bush makes remarks at a 'John Porter for Congress' luncheon in Las Vegas, Nev. Monday,... IRVINE, Calif. (AP) - President Bush had a blunt message Monday for fellow Republicans focusing only on get-tough immigration policies: He said sending all the nation's estimated 11 million illegal immigrants back to their home countries is not the answer. "Massive deportation of the people here is unrealistic - it's just not going to work," Bush said. "You know, you can hear people out there hollering it's going to work. It's not going to work."...

President Bush in Irvine today called for a rational, temporary guest worker program and said that attempting to deport as many as 12 million undocumented workers illegally in the United States was a policy that was not going to work. Bush capped a four-day trip to California with a visit to the Orange County Business Council, made up of 300 businesses, where he gave his most detailed comments on immigration since a bipartisan compromise in the Senate fell apart more than two weeks ago. Congress returned to Washington today from its holiday recess with immigration policy one of the key...

Giving an Interview Future Minuteman Local Republicans Young Republicans Lots of Media Republicans Counter Protesters: Armenian Protesters: The Armenians Refuse to Stand with the Pro Illegal / Muslim Protests. They walked over to our side of the street. The bikers pointed to the flags on their jackets and said "We are American first." Muslim Protesters Walked over to our side of the street and tried to start a fight: But the Armenian Bikers stood up with the anti illegal protesters and held their ground. One Muslim Arrest The Armenians and the Anti Illegal protesters took turns chanting "Never Forget, Never...

9:14 A.M. PDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Please be seated. (Applause.) Thanks for letting me come by. Tom, thanks for the invitation. What I thought I would do is share some thoughts with you on some issues that kind of like may be on the TV screen these days. (Laughter.) And then answer some of your questions. I'm interested to know what's on your mind.First, I've had a fabulous trip to your unbelievably beautiful state. It started off in northern California, Cisco; then I went to Stanford; then I went to Napa Valley; then I rode my bicycle on...

By Tabassum Zakaria IRVINE, California (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Monday he doubted a "massive deportation" of foreigners living illegally in the United States would solve the country's immigration woes, as he tried to revive prospects for an election-year agreement in the divided U.S. Congress. Senators returned to Washington on Monday from a two-week recess after Democrats and Republicans were unable to reach a compromise on what to do about an estimated 11.5 million to 12 million illegal immigrants living in the United States. 

.Demonstrators protest outside Bush immigration speech in Irvine By GILLIAN FLACCUS The Associated PressIRVINESeveral hundred demonstrators from both sides of the immigration issue protested outside President Bush's speech Monday at an Orange County hotel. With Congress returning from a two-week recess, the speech let Bush relaunch his proposal for a temporary guest worker program. It also gave a venue for protesters in a region where the immigration debate has become increasingly heated.More than an hour before Bush arrived, protesters from the Minuteman Project the volunteer border patrol group whose co-founder ran for Congress in Orange County were chanting "Go back...

His speech started about 8 minutes ago. You can listen live at http://760kfmb.com/listen_live/

When President Bush arrives in Irvine on Monday morning to pitch his immigration reform plan, one of his party's best-known local standard-bearers will be maintaining a respectful — and politically careful — distance. Dana Rohrabacher, the nine-term Republican congressman from Huntington Beach, generally supports the president, but disagrees with his immigration policies. So Rohrabacher plans to sit out Bush's speech to the Orange County Business Council. "I don't want to be behind him looking glum and not applauding," Rohrabacher said. "So as not to be rude to the president — which I think is inexcusable — I think I'll just...

President Bush is extending his weekend trip to California to speak Monday in Irvine on the volatile issue of immigration reform. Bush will speak to the Orange County Business Council between 8 and 9 a.m. at the Hyatt Regency Irvine, according to Myal Greene, spokesman for Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine. The president has repeatedly said he favors a comprehensive approach to immigration reform, one that strengthens borders and includes a guest-worker program that matches "willing workers with jobs that Americans won't do." That position puts him at odds with many Republicans in Orange County, including Campbell, who plans to attend...

.Apr 20, 2006 7:28 am US/PacificPresident Bush's California ItineraryPresident Bush begins his four-day visit to California today. Here is his schedule. FRIDAY (4/21)Visits Cisco Systems in San Jose and talks with Silicon Valley executives about the American Competitiveness Initiative. After this even is when Governor schwarzenegger says he'll make a direct appeal to the president for federal help to repair the state's levees. SATURDAY (4/22)Tours the California Fuel Cell Partnership in West Sacramento, speaks on advanced transportation technology. Attends a Republican National Committee fundraiser in Palm Springs. SUNDAY (4/23)Attends church service and has lunch with troops at Marine Corps Air...

President George W. Bush is likely to get a large welcome from the county's highly vocal anti-illegal immigration activists when he comes to Irvine on Monday morning to pitch his immigration plan.

Planned Exhibit of Cartoons Protested The caricatures of Muhammad will be displayed at a UCI student forum. Muslims object, and university officials are wary. By Daniel Yi, Times Staff Writer February 25 2006 Plans by a Republican student group at UC Irvine to showcase the controversial cartoons of the prophet Muhammad that led to violent protests around the world are drawing condemnation from Muslim groups and university officials. The caricatures will be part of a panel discussion sponsored by the campus College Republicans scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. in UCI's Crystal Cove Auditorium.

Irvine, Calif. (AP) -- A student panel discussion on Islamic extremism that included the "unveiling" of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including one of him wearing a bomb-laden turban, repeatedly descended into name-calling chaos Tuesday night. The panel, which included one Muslim speaker, was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers from the audience who challenged assertions by panelist Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson that Islam was an "evil religion" and that all Muslims hate America. Outside, hundreds of Muslims and their supporters noisily protested the event amid a heavy prolice presence. At one point, University of California, Irvine, police removed two men, one...

Muhammad Cartoons Rile Calif. College Wednesday, March 1, 2006 7:54 AM EST The Associated Press By GILLIAN FLACCUS IRVINE, Calif. (AP) — A student panel discussion that included a display of the Prophet Muhammad cartoons descended into chaos, with one speaker calling Islam an "evil religion" and audience members nearly coming to blows. Organizers of Tuesday night's forum at the University of California, Irvine said they showed the cartoons as part of a larger debate on Islamic extremism. But several hundred protesters, including members of the Muslim Student Union, argued the event was the equivalent of hate speech disguised as...

Irvine Three cartoons mocking the Prophet Muhammad drew about 300 peaceful protesters to UC Irvine on Tuesday night outside a forum that at times sparked free-wheeling shouting matches and audience ejections by police. The free public forum, co-sponsored by a Republican student group at UCI and a self-described conservative student group in Burbank, featured the unveiling of images that for weeks have sparked rioting and deaths in Afghanistan and other Muslim countries. The images originally were published by a Danish newspaper.

A student panel discussion on Islamic extremism that included the ''unveiling'' of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, including one of him wearing a bomb-laden turban, repeatedly descended into name-calling chaos Tuesday night. The panel, which included one Muslim speaker, was repeatedly interrupted by hecklers from the audience who challenged assertions by panelist Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson that Islam was an ''evil religion'' and that all Muslims hate America. Outside, hundreds of Muslims and their supporters noisily protested the event amid a heavy police presence. At one point, University of California, Irvine, police removed two men, one of them a Muslim,...

This event is TONIGHT!!!Controversial Cartoons Debut at UC IrvineIRVINE - Security will be increased at UC Irvine tonight when students plan to "unveil" Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that sparked widespread violence in the Middle East and Europe, an official said. A confrontation will be avoided "if our students have anything to do with it," UC Irvine Dean of Students Sally Peterson said. "But who knows who might show up." Peterson said her concerns are protecting students' safety and security as well as their free speech rights. She declined to reveal the specifics of the increased security. Representatives of...

Tuesday, February 28th THE UNITED AMERICAN COMMITTEE together with THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA IRVINE COLLEGE REPUBLICANS present: The Unveiling of the Cartoons and a Discussion to Confront Terror A panel discussion at U.C. Irvine, California Tuesday February 28th @ 7:00 PM Topics of discussion will be: A) Are some U.S. Islamic groups apologists for terror? B) Discussing Islamic militancy on U.S. college campuses. C) The 'Unveiling of the Cartoons' in which the controversial Danish cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Mohammad will be displayed along with Anti-Semitic and Anti-Western cartoons which have been printed in Iran, Saudi Arabia and other Islamic...

ORANGE, Calif. - Over the last two years, more than 30 people died awaiting liver transplants at UCI Medical Center here as the hospital turned down scores of organs that might have saved them, according to a federal report. Following that report, the federal government yesterday rescinded its approval for the liver transplant program. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, in a letter to UCI chief executive Ralph Cygan, said that, effective immediately, it would stop paying for liver transplants for Medicare recipients on UCI's waiting list. While the agency's action does not close the program, it will...

Irvine is the safest big city in the United States, according to an Orange County Register analysis of preliminary crime statistics released Monday by the FBI. Orange is No. 13 on the same list, which ranks violent crime by population in cities of more than 100,000 people.

The phrase, “Level Playing Field,” was coined in the 1980s, according to The Phrase Finder, to mean fair competition with no advantage to either side. Today, I hear this phrase used more often in politics—from both the Left and the Right. Somehow, I think this phrase has become contaminated, depending on one’s viewpoint or naiveté. Coming from the Right, this probably means “idealism.” Coming, though, from the Left, I suspect that it means that they want welfare from the USA, or they prefer to blame the USA for its capitalism and imperialism and look to either Socialism or Communism as...

The apparent suicide attempt ends when he's arrested after a slow-speed pursuit. IRVINE – A 25-year-old Aliso Viejo man was arrested after police spotted him parked in his SUV on the train tracks in what appeared to be a suicide attempt, police said. Irvine police Lt. Jeff Love said it was not known if the man, Tigran Kashkarian, was trying to copy the train derailment in Glendale on Wednesday. Eleven people were killed in that chain-reaction crash, which started when a passenger train hit the SUV of a man who told authorities he wanted to commit suicide.

Reed Irvine, the indefatigable founder of Accuracy in Media and one of the very first people to question the received wisdom of the news media, passed away last night. He was 82. As a media critic, Reed Irvine was a trailblazer. While much of America was still blinded to the still fairly new notion that journalists could rise above their human nature and deliver the news without even a scintilla of bias, Irvine knew better. Decades before the internet and talk radio, Reed Irvine set out to change that. Little did he know that his shoestring group Accuracy in Media...

<p>Trailblazing media critic Reed Irving has died at the age of 82, according to Drudge.</p>

the Clearchannel radio station in Los Angeles KFI640.com news department is doing some very interesting coverage on this Gerber baby food case. Here is an article from MSN http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5539918/ What the MSN article doesnt mention is that, according to KFI news, the notes in the baby food accused an Irvine police officer of having an affair with married women. Eric Leonard of KFI news dept. talked with John and Ken today and said that tainted baby food jars were found in June, yet the information about the tainted food was not released to the public until several weeks later, in...

FBI Confirms Traces of Ricin and Rinolic Acid Found In Baby Food jarsThis Headlind is scrolling on the KABC News Website In LA. ABC7.comNo Story on website as of yet.

IRVINE, Calif. (AP) - Costco workers checked the merchandise at its food court and found nothing out of the ordinary after a woman claimed she bit into a bullet while eating a hot dog, the company's chief executive officer said Wednesday. Police interviewed workers and opened all of the approximately 25 remaining hot dog packages after Olivia Chanes, 31, reported the incident, CEO Jim Sinegal said. "We checked everything thoroughly," Sinegal said by phone from Costco's corporate office near Seattle. "Obviously, it's regrettable. ... The question is when could something like this happen."

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger flew from Sacramento to drop by the Shady Canyon Golf Club in Irvine on Wednesday, returning to budget negotiations in the Capitol with at least $500,000 more in his campaign chest.</p> <p>The 100-plus guests at the reception forked out $5,000 apiece to hear the governor, and sample hors d'oeuvres, wine and an open bar.</p>

<p>It was in an article in the National Interest in 1989 that Francis Fukuyama boldly asked if we had reached "The End of History." His notion was that free-enterprise democracy had finally defeated both communism and fascism. There would be no more real arguments about the best way to organize society. That was decided.</p>

<p>Toad gambling. Fireworks burning down tents. The bubonic plague. And the dust from 100,000 trampling feet coating everything.</p> <p>Those are just a few stories waiting to be rehashed tonight when aging Boy Scouts gather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1953 National Scout Jamboree held where Fashion Island now stands.</p>

You know the story, right? she asked, nodding toward the wooden stakes planted in tight rows. How a guy put them up, just because he couldn't sleep. The war in Iraq bothered him. These are for its dead. "It's a beautiful graveyard," Mary Laurin said softly. "Why would they want to take it down?" At the corner of Yale and Bryan avenues in Irvine's Northwood Community Park, a makeshift memorial has become local lore. It appeared in March, 10 days into the war in Iraq, as the brainchild of a local medical company executive. Only a few wooden stakes, topped...

<p>IRVINE – A mentally disturbed man wielding a samurai-style sword killed two workers and slashed three other people at an Albertsons before police shot and killed him Sunday.</p> <p>Shoppers and workers screamed as they fled the bloody supermarket rampage wrought by Joseph Parker, 30, a bag clerk tormented by what friends and family described as a history of schizophrenia-induced demons.</p>