Free Republic

LUFKIN, TEXAS, February 15, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Congressional investigation into Planned Parenthood that touched off the controversy over Susan G. Komen’s funding of the abortion giant may soon expand into a series of national hearings in the nation’s capital and court cases around the country that could expose hundreds of millions of dollars of financial impropriety, critics say. Karen Reynolds, a decade-long employee of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast (PPGC) in Texas, has filed a lawsuit claiming 12 Planned Parenthood mills in Texas and Louisiana bilked the government by billing medical agencies for services that were unnecessary or that were...

Controversy erupted at a Slidell junior high school late last week when at least one parent observed drawings and altered pictures depicting malicious images of President Barack Obama, including one photo in which a bullet hole was portrayed on his head. The work is believed to be part of a class project done by students at Boyet Junior High, and several similar pieces were posted on walls at the school. At least five images were posted, including a drawing of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck standing next to a tree with a sign that read, "Obama Season," underneath a likeness...

LSU AD Alleva Deposed in Duke Lacrosse Suit Posted by: Walter Abbott on Saturday, February 4, 2012, 18:20 Louisiana State University (LSU) Athletic Director Joe Alleva was deposed last month in a lawsuit filed nearly five years ago regarding the notorious Duke Lacrosse Case, where a prostitute falsely accused three Duke University lacrosse players of rape. Alleva was Duke’s athletic director at the time and was famously quoted as telling lacrosse coach Mike Pressler as he was cancelling the team’s season that “It’s not about the truth anymore,” because of the intense media coverage of the controversy. Mike Nifong, the...

What a great time for the Wall Street Journal to bring up this topic. After all, the Republican candidates in the nomination battle have focused their arguments on actual competition-based reform and results, right? Oh, wait … we’ve been too busy discussing 1997, 2003, and the finer points of class-warfare attacks on private enterprise and consulting. That may be the reason for the WSJ’s attention: Louisiana is already one of 12 states (including Washington, D.C.) that offer school vouchers, but its program benefits fewer than 2,000 students in New Orleans. Governor Jindal would extend eligibility to any low-income student whose...

The Barack Obama administration is quietly in the process of rigging use of the US Census of 2010, which deliberately counted millions of illegal aliens, for the purpose of restructuring the apportionment of the US House of Representatives. Accordingly, as candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor of one of the negatively affected states (Montana), Mr. Bob Fanning and I have joined with several others in becoming amici curiae in a pending federal lawsuit brought by the State of Louisiana against the US Secretary of Commerce, et al., which was filed January, 13, 2012 in the United States Supreme Court. What...

WASHINGTON—A former research scientist was sentenced late yesterday to 60 months in prison for stealing trade secrets from Dow Chemical Company and selling them to companies in the People’s Republic of China, as well as committing perjury, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux Jr. for the Middle District of Louisiana. U.S. District Court Judge James J. Brady also sentenced Wen Chyu Liu, aka David W. Liou, 75, of Houston, to two years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $600,000 and pay a $25,000 fine. A...

Most of Southern Louisiana is currently covered by rain showers that are headed eastward to New Orleans. The concern should be that by the end of the game tonight severe weather may be over the Superdome. With all the probable drinking and celebrating, this may make for a bad combination. It will not be Chamber of Commerce weather for this event. This weather was on the Texas border this morning, and has been moving Eastward all day...

Leaders of three troops of Girl Scouts quit their posts and disbanded the troops after the organization’s Colorado chapter said it would allow a transgendered 7-year-old to join. The troop leaders, all affiliated with a Christian school in Louisiana, resigned in protest of the Colorado chapter’s decision to allow participation from any child who identifies as a girl, The Christian Post reported. Controversy erupted when Felisha Archuleta tried to enroll her son, Bobby Montoya, who identifies as a girl, in a Girl Scouts troop in Denver. When a local troop leader refused, saying Bobby wasn’t allowed to join because he...

Dem Keystone support creates tougher fight for Reid, ObamaBy Alexander Bolton - 12/16/11 04:08 PM ET Republicans want to jam Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) on the Keystone oil sands pipeline and the Democratic leader will have a tough time resisting, given support within his caucus for the project. GOP leaders have made clear to Reid that they will not approve an extension of the payroll tax holiday unless it includes language to speed up construction of the pipeline. Senate Republicans estimate as many as 14 Senate Democrats support the project. Labor unions have also voiced strong backing, complicating...

These days if you don't like the polls, wait a few minutes. Another will be along shortly. Speaking of which, here's a new one this morning that could presage the start of a significant move by one candidate (or not), as well as some fresh insights into the thinking of those New Hampshire voters who'll hold the nation's first Republican primary early next month. Suffolk University is out with a new survey showing Newt Gingrich gaining and Mitt Romney slipping there, which we already knew. What it also shows though is Jon Huntsman making a push into third place with...

shington, DC, United States (AHN) – The state of Louisiana petitioned the Supreme Court this week for a ruling that would halt the U.S. Census Bureau from counting illegal immigrants as residents of the United States. Louisiana is trying to regain the congressional seat it lost after the 2010 census showed a population shift toward states with the largest numbers of illegal immigrants, such as California and Texas. States are assigned seats in the U.S. House of Representatives based on their populations. The Louisiana lawsuit appears to demonstrate the extent that illegal immigration is distorting U.S. population figures to the...

A strong storm system that produced several suspected tornadoes hit the Southeast on Wednesday, damaging dozens of homes and buildings. At least 15 people were injured in Mississippi. Suspected tornadoes were reported in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Four homes were damaged in western Alabama, about 60 miles southwest of Tuscaloosa. It was the worst bout of weather for that state since about 250 people were killed during a tornado outbreak in April. < SNIP >

First Lady Michelle Obama visited the Royal Castle Child Development Center in New Orleans yesterday, where she led the toddlers in some exercises and read them a book that is an Obama family favorite. Mrs. Obama was in New Orleans to highlight the importance of building healthy habits at a very young age, a key component of the Let's Move Child Care initiative, which is designed to get child care centers to promote healthy eating and exercise habits. After she finished a round of stretching, jumping and marching in place, the First Lady read two books to the children and...

Even though Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal just won re-election in a landslide victory, there is a growing rumbling of discontent statewide among conservatives. While Jindal is being touted nationwide as the next great hope for the Republican Party, there are folks in Louisiana who would beg to differ. How can that be with such an overwhelming mandate? In last week's election, Jindal carried all 64 of Louisiana's parishes. What could be wrong? Conservative discontent with Jindal centers around several issues including his bungled handling of a legislative pay raise in 2008; his sham ethics reform; and now his alignment with...

When Rick Perry announced he was running for president back on August 13, to tell you the truth I got a little excited. Now I know what you're thinking -- James you are a big Democrat, why on earth would you be excited about Perry running for president? This was my thinking: Perry would get in and he would be a major force. He was the bona fide conservative complete with a pedigree to take on Romney. With the way things are shaping up now, the convention planners might be more inclined to take a motivational speaker. Hey Rick --...

Baton Rouge, La. — The Louisiana Democratic party has effectively conceded this year’s gubernatorial race. This does not mean merely that the party could not find a big-name challenger — though they couldn’t — or that they could not even find a token state legislator to be the sacrificial lamb, though they could not do that, either. Technically, four candidates ran as Democrats in the state’s nonpartisan “jungle primary”; the best-known among them was a Haynesville, La., middle-school teacher. No, what really stands out is that the Democratic State Central Committee declined to endorse any of them. Such is Louisiana...

Say, did you hear about the big election yesterday? Well, if you’re like the majority of the country, you probably weren’t even aware anyone was voting on Saturday. But for the politically addicted, you might have known that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was up for another term. So… how did that work out for him? Not too shabby. Bobby Jindal, a Republican who championed stronger ethics laws in his first term as Louisiana governor, won re-election against nine other candidates in an open primary, according to the Associated Press.Jindal earned 65.8 percent of the vote in yesterday’s ballot, negating the...

Gov. Bobby Jindal rolled to an easy re-election Saturday, defeating nine little-known and under-financed candidates in a record-setting landslide. Based on incomplete returns, Jindal had about 66 percent of the vote, eclipsing the 62.31 percent open-primary era victory margin Democrat Edwin Edwards tallied to oust then-Gov. David Treen in the 1983. It also came on a day when turnout was considerably lighter than the 46.6 percent who voted in the 2007 statewide race, then the smallest turnout in the open gubernatorial primary system that began in 1975.His margin was so overwhelming that Jindal was able to deliver his victory speech...

"You've chosen to give me another four years as your governor," he told supporters from a stage at his Baton Rouge campaign headquarters less than an hour after polls closed. "We've got a lot more work to do over these next four years."

Here is the Sec of State site... .. http://staticresults.sos.louisiana.gov/10222011/Default.html will add the AP site when available.. Polls close at 9pm EST

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything. But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session. House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it. "We're gonna lose a lot of business," says Danny Guidry, who owns the Pioneer Trading Post in Lafayette. He deals in buying and selling unique second hand...

Cold hard cash. It's good everywhere you go, right? You can use it to pay for anything. But that's not the case here in Louisiana now. It's a law that was passed during this year's busy legislative session. House bill 195 basically says those who buy and sell second hand goods cannot use cash to make those transactions, and it flew so far under the radar most businesses don't even know about it.

‘Kill the cops!’ shout reported during ‘Occupy New Orleans’ protest By James Plummer - The Daily Caller 12:42 AM 10/07/2011 ADVERTISEMENT NEW ORLEANS – The “Occupy Wall Street” movement came to the Big Easy on Thursday, but its expression of varied and often clashing political messages quickly turned difficult. As about 500 New Orleans protesters marched, complete with a small brass band, from Orleans Parish Prison to the Federal Reserve and then inside City Hall, one activist told The Daily Caller she heard shouts of “Kill the cops!” With tensions running high between police and protesters outside the prison, marcher...

President Obama’s proposed “Buffett Rule”-- which would force the wealthiest Americans to pay higher taxes to help cut the nation’s deficits -- has met its Republican match. Republican lawmakers have introduced their own “Buffett Rule” that would allow billionaire investors like Warren Buffett who say they’re not paying enough taxes to voluntarily give more money to the federal government. Under the legislation, authored by Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and Rep. John Scalise of Louisiana, taxpayers can donate at least a $1 to the Treasury fund for deficit reduction when they file their federal income tax returns starting next...

BATON ROUGE — President Barack Obama is supported by slightly more than one-third of Louisiana voters and would be easily beaten in the state by Republican contenders Rick Perry or Mitt Romney, according to a new poll released Thursday.Obama's approval ratings in Louisiana are below his favorability ratings nationally. But Louisiana's backing of the tea party political movement also is strong. The Clarus poll shows 46 percent of voters surveyed support the tea party, while 30 percent opposed it. ……..When Republican voters were questioned about who they supported for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination, Perry, the Texas governor, was in...

Louisiana Law By Addison Wiggin 10/13/11 Baltimore, Maryland – “Is this just stupid? Or sinister by design?” We couldn’t help asking the question when confronted by a law that took effect in Louisiana on Aug. 15, 2011. The short of it: In Louisiana, if you sell clothes or toys that your kids have outgrown for cash — more than once a month — you’re now breaking the law. And… the why: Over the summer, Louisiana lawmakers decided that mere laws against theft might’ve been good enough for Moses and his people back in the day, but not for the Pelican...

"Why did it take Bea, van Heerden, and Garzino to shed light on this story?The Army Corps of Engineers, as an institution, is not very receptive to criticism, from inside or outside. It dominates the market for engineering certain kinds of projects, mainly to do with water. So the engineering profession is filled with people whose attitude is, "Better not rock the boat." And inside [the corps], it's arguably worse. It exists in a bubble of impunity. Because, as we lay out in the film, Congress likes the corps the way it is, and it doesn't really give it effective...

An indication of what you go through if you live in New Orleans and wish to express your political views in graphic form. Reily’s been threatened, he had an urban radio station gin up protestors outside of his house, he’s had Herman Cain yard signs stolen and now he’s got a left-wing fascist city councilwoman trying to stop him from expressing his first amendment rights.

They’re having a relatively large-scale fight down in Ascension Parish this week thanks to a lefty political survey a teacher at Galvez Middle School gave to seventh-graders. WBRZ-TV in Baton Rouge has the story… Their social studies teacher prefaced a lesson on political parties with a survey that asked: Are you a Republican or Democrat. “In my opinion the answers were highly skewed in order to promote one party over another,” said Terry Stehlik, who’s child was given the survey. Ascension Parish Schools quickly sent a letter to parents to let them know the teacher made a mistake by using...

<p>HOUMA, La. (AP) — The CEO of Gulf Island Fabrication, a leading manufacturer of offshore rigs and drilling platforms, says the company intends to hire hundreds of workers in Louisiana and Texas as it begins work on new projects.</p> <p>The Houma-based company has subsidiaries in the Houma area and at Aransas Pass, Texas.</p>

A medical doctor who has lost his license is performing abortions at night in a legal abortion clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Tonight, the person will be videotaped arriving at the abortion clinic (at around 4pm). His patients (aka victims) start arriving at 6pm. This is being posted under Chit/Chat for the moment, even though there have been previous complaints with the State of Louisiana. The Administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal has the authority to revoke the license of this abortion clinic over this abuse of medicine. At least one complaint has been filed with the state in the past....

“He may have changed parties, but he hasn’t changed his way of life. He can’t fool me. I know him too well.” - Edwin Edwards “If it’s politically expedient, people switch parties. It’s not going to change John Alario one way or the other.” - State Sen. Eric Lafleur, Democrat I’m going to go out on a rather short limb here and say that the entire purpose of putting Democrats out of power in Louisiana was to do away with the crony capitalism, special-interest giveaways and outright corruption that party so completely signified in our state for decades. Republicans run...

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards, a longtime Democrat, says he tells state Democratic leaders that the party needs to move to the center and persuade people that it doesn't advocate socialized government. Though the Democratic Party has faced a string of losses in Louisiana and hasn't attracted well-known candidates for any statewide elections this fall, Edwards says he believes the party will attract people again. He compared politics in Louisiana and the nation to the swing of a pendulum, saying no one party stays victorious forever.

I wonder how long this has been in the works. Was the plan always to roll it out tonight before the debate or did Perry and Jindal speed things up to match T-Paw’s Romney endorsement? Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is backing Rick Perry for president, a major endorsement for the Texas governor as the campaign for the Republican nomination enters the crucial fall stretch of the primary calendar, a source tells CNN.Jindal is on his way to Florida and will be Perry’s guest at Monday night’s “Tea Party Republican Debate� broadcast on CNN from Tampa, the source said. Jindal is...

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jeff Landry knew not to yell at President Barack Obama during his jobs address Thursday night to Congress. That move made Rep. Joe Wilson famous a couple of years ago, and not necessarily for the better. Instead, Republican leaders urged their members to show up, keep an open mind and be polite _ voters were anxious and Congress' bickering had angered large majorities of them. So Landry, R-La., instead printed out a small white sign to raise when Obama mentioned how, exactly, he planned to put more Americans to work. "Drilling(equals)jobs," it read in big black letters....

BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein has issued a cease and desist order to the Gentilly Medical Clinic for Women, requiring the facility, which has been repeatedly cited for health and safety violations since January 2010 and has been under two license revocations, to immediately halt operations. "The repeated violations of Gentilly Medical Center demand action," said DHH Secretary Bruce D. Greenstein. "I assure the public that as long as these facilities are under my watch, I will hold them accountable and use every tool available to make sure Louisianians are not put...

So the offer from Theophile Bourgeois was this: How'd you like to go fish Breton and Gosier islands Monday morning? My answer was: Not sure I've got the time Monday. Have an interview I can't miss (with an MRI machine). It's a two-hour drive to Venice, then a 45-minute boat ride. That means if we fish an hour or two, the round trip would total about eight hours. How about another day? That's when Bourgeois, owner/operator of Lafitte's Bourgeois Charters, went a little crazy -- which is a real warning for a guy who's already casting with a half-empty spool....

BATON ROUGE - LSU senior quarterback Jordan Jefferson and other Tigers football players were implicated in a fight outside a Baton Rouge bar near campus early Friday morning, Baton Rouge Police said.Public information officer Sgt. Don Stone said police don't know if Jefferson was a suspect or a victim in the incident, which took place about 2 a.m. Friday at Shady's, 623 E. Boyd, south of campus. The investigation was continuing late Friday evening.Stone said 15 to 20 LSU football players were involved, according to witnesses, but were gone by the time police arrived. Jefferson was recognized but no other...

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- A Louisiana man is accused of bludgeoning, decapitating and dismembering his disabled 7-year-old son and leaving the boy's head near the street so the child's mother would see it - a killing that brought seasoned police officers to tears, authorities said Monday. Jeremiah Lee Wright, 30, of Thibodaux waived his right to an attorney and confessed to killing Jori Lirette within 30 minutes of being brought to the police station Sunday, Police Chief Scott Silverii said.

A Louisiana man is accused of decapitating and dismembering his disabled 7-year-old son and leaving the boy's head near the street so the child's mother would see it -- a killing that brought seasoned police officers to tears, authorities said Monday. A stuffed bear and a handwritten note are seen outside the home where seven year old Jori Lirette, who was disabled and wheelchair bound from cerebral palsy, was found decapitated and left on the street in Thibodaux, Monday, Aug. 15, 2011. Jeremiah Lee Wright, 30, of Thibodaux has confessed to killing Jori Lirette, Police Chief Scott Silverii said. He...

A Mexican teen became the first person in the United States to die from a vampire bat -- and the Centers for Disease Control warned that the bats may be spreading in the country. The 19-year-old migrant worker contracted rabies from a bite on his heel from the blood sucker on July 15th, 2010. He was bitten in Michoacan, Mexico, 10 days before he left for the United States to work on a sugar cane plantation in Louisiana. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) only just confirmed on Friday, Aug. 12, that his death was the first such case in...

One of the state’s most conservative Democrat legislators is no more. Rep. Taylor Barras of New Iberia is the latest to abandon the Democrats and become part of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives. And the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority, which had targeted Barras for a party switch, is pretty happy about it. “The economy in southwest Louisiana has been devastated by the Democrat’s moratorium on oil and gas drilling,” said John Diez, the executive director of the conservative group founded by U.S. Sen. David Vitter. ”Led by Barack Obama and other Democrats in the U.S....

While their classmates were playing ball, learning to drive or working at part-time jobs this summer, three students at Lakeshore High School near Mandeville spent the past several weeks plotting a shooting spree for the first day of school next week that would have targeted at least one student and a faculty member, authorities said Friday.The plan, which the boys planned to conclude with their own suicides, was sniffed out and foiled by St. Tammany Parish sheriff's deputies and school officials. The three teens who called their group "Day Zero" then were arrested and booked with conspiracy to commit terrorism.The...

Rep. Jeff Landry, Louisiana Republican, told The Daily Caller that Vice President Joe Biden should think twice before labeling him and other tea partiers “terrorists” or “hostage-takers.” He hints that he thinks Biden, President Barack Obama and other Democrats might be more deserving of the label themselves. “Let’s think about it: In my lifetime, I have created jobs and I have paid taxes in the private sector and I have helped move our economy forward,” Landry remarked. “What have they done? You’ve still got above 9 percent unemployment, we’re running record deficits and on Tuesday the president signed the largest...

A federal jury in New Orleans on Friday handed down all guilty verdicts on 25 counts in the infamous Danziger Bridge shooting case, in which current and former New Orleans police officers were charged with civil rights violations, conspiracy charges, and weapons charges in the shooting deaths of unarmed civilians following Hurricane Katrina. In the infamous debacle in the chaotic days after the 2005 storm, police allegedly opened fire on a group that was crossing the bridge out of town, then lied after the fact, saying they had been fired upon and planting a gun on one of the victims....

... The Senate seats targeted by the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority are open because of term limits, including the district currently held by the Senate president. But a list Vitter provided to The Associated Press shows some of the targeted House seats in the Oct. 22 election have first-term Democratic incumbents the group wants to oust. "I don't want to jinx it, but I feel very good we're going to increase our margins," Vitter said in an interview with AP. While the state Republican Party has inserted itself in races where GOP candidates are battling, Vitter said his...

"...We urge the PSC to avoid placing conditions and burdensome regulations on the merged company. Merger conditions – extraneous or otherwise – would be extremely detrimental to the innovative tendencies of the wireless industry. Such conditions would be levied against a single company, picking winners and losers in the market, creating an un-level playing field, and disrupting the merger’s prospects on a national scale. "Today’s wireless market is highly competitive, and it will remain that way following the merger. Over the past decade, there have been five major telecom mergers. Yet, wireless prices have been cut in half during that...

A Louisiana couple says they're being sued by their homeowners' association for refusing to take down a sign honoring their son's military service. Timothy and Jodi Burr, of Bossier City, La., hung a banner on their front lawn in January after their son, 20-year-old Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Corey Burr, deployed to Afghanistan for 14 months. The 3-by-6-foot sign shows a picture of their son in uniform with the words: "Our son defends our freedom!" Since then, the Burrs say they have received several letters from the Gardens of Southgate Association, Inc., requesting them to remove the banner because it...

Max Hardberger, a maritime repo man who recovers stolen ships from lawless Caribbean ports, has set his sights on the notorious Somali pirates 'I don’t know why I like Haiti so much,’ Max Hardberger says, as we battle and swerve through the choking dust and chaos of Port-au-Prince traffic. 'The Haitian people are wonderful, sure, but sometimes they do bad things, especially when they get in mobs, and the country is obviously frustrating. One thing I do like is that it’s lawless here, which makes it much easier for me to operate.’ Hardberger is a 62-year-old adventurer from Louisiana who...

Among the 2012 candidates labeled by media pundits and opinionators as improbable, long-shot, third-tier comic-book characters are former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson and Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan. Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/07/21/buddy-roemer-announcing-2012-gop-bid-for-president-deserves-attention.html#ixzz1SoOfFeKv