Free Republic

Millionaire charged with taking kickbacks from teachers' pension fund By Andy Shaw Stuart Levine August 3, 2005 — A politically connected businessman has been indicted for a second time on federal fraud charges. Stuart Levine is linked to a scam involving the Illinois Teachers Pension Fund along with one of the Democratic party's biggest fund raisers, Joseph Cari. The message from the feds Wednesday is crystal clear: Chicago City Hall is only one of the fronts in the war on government corruption. It also appears to be rampant at the boards and commissions that oversee billions of dollars in state...

John Roberts is a $6 million man, with a fancy golf club membership and some hefty investments, according to a financial statement filed with the Senate Judiciary Committee. The 83-page document released Tuesday shows Roberts' home in the fashionable Washington suburb of Chevy Chase, Md., is worth $1.3 million. His investment portfolio includes $291,200 in XM Satellite Radio, $264,000 in Dell computers and $106,553 in Texas Instruments. His total worth is $6 million, despite the big pay cut he took in 2003 when he left the Washington law firm of Hogan & Hartson, where he was a partner earning in...

http://www.chosun.com/international/news/200505/200505010310.html/begin my translation26-year-old female office worker is the 8th richest person in ChinaA Major shareholder of Ping-an Insurance.... wealth totaling 637 million dollarsCould be a proxy for 'another figure'Beijing, Cho Joong-shik jscho@chosun.com05/01/05A 26-year-old woman became the 8th richest figure in China, sparking all kinds of speculation.'Xin-cai-fu,'  a Chinese business magazine which publishes the list of wealthiest people in China every year, announced on Apr. 28 the '500 wealthiest people' in China. Among them is the 8th richest figure, a young woman named 'Liu Fang,' whom Chinese have never heard of. Liu fang is the owner of Yuan-xin-hang Investment Co. which has 6.13%...

Grounded: Millionaire John Gilmore stays close to home while making a point about privacy He's unable to travel because he refuses to present a government-approved ID Sunday, February 27, 2005By Dennis Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette SAN FRANCISCO -- John Gilmore's splendid isolation began July 4, 2002, when, with defiance aforethought, he strolled to the Southwest Airlines counter at Oakland Airport and presented his ticket. Dennis Roddy, Post-GazetteJohn Gilmore, beside a graffiti-covered wall, has his morning coffee at a shop that's one block from his San Francisco home. The Bradford native doesn't drive and has other travel restrictions, thanks to his challenge...

That's what I want to know. Their featured advertisement today reads "Secrets Of Millionaire Conservatives Revealed", so I decided to take a peek out of curiosity. It turns out to be Mike Litman promoting some new book that claims to change lazy procrastinators into overnight (or 30-day) successes by giving them the "secrets" of the rich. Notable quotables: "just reading of the table of contents would be enough to shake the laziest person alive from their deepest slumber." "Look, no one knows more than me that some people hate to read. I hear you. So what I’ve done is give...

SACRAMENTO - He's used his millions to benefit exotic show horses, a home for retired chimpanzees - and California's actor-governor. William Armsted Robinson has quietly become one of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's top donors, periodically trading off the pinnacle with San Diego Chargers owner Alex Spanos and Spanish language television entrepreneur Jerry Perenchio. Stockton real estate developer Spanos and Univision owner Perenchio are high-profile businessmen with long-term interests in California. But Robinson is an elusive, reclusive man whose first major foray into influencing politics is the $650,000 he has given Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger fund-raiser Marty Wilson describes Robinson as a "very private,...

Are you ready to play, WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE, the 2004 Election Edition For $100, How many laws that get passed are “permissive” (giving people freedom to do something if they wish) and how many are “restrictive” (requiring performance or forbidding it)? A. Most laws are permissive, because America is the Land of the Free B. Most laws are restrictive, because government is only interested in making us behave, speak, and believe as they want us to C. It’s about 50-50 D. Most laws are permissive, because after 200 years of passing restrictive laws in 50 states and...

Teresa Heinz Kerry, through a network of investments in blue-chip corporations, venture capital funds and municipal bonds, controls a family fortune worth an estimated $1 billion, an analysis of public records shows. The $1 billion figure is double the estimates of her wealth that are widely cited in news stories about her husband, Sen. John F. Kerry, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The couple would rank as the wealthiest to occupy the White House, far surpassing such storied presidential fortunes as the Kennedys'. Their assets are so vast and far-reaching that they mirror the U.S. economy and will probably...

This should be a great protest rally, folks. We are joining with other groups, and people are coming from as far away as West Virginia and DC.Join Vietnam Veterans Against John Kerry, Vietnamese-Americans Against John Kerry, and several other groups from around town.Date: Saturday, February 28Time: 12 noonPlace: Across from John Kerry's NYC headquarters, 373 Park Avenue South, between 26th and 27th Streets, NYCHere's the first thread on this protest.The weather is supposed to be absolutely fantastic.Use this thread for hitching rides, discussing sign ideas, and any other input on the protest.I will be scouting the area for a good...

After the New Hampshire primary, Dennis Kucinich's new slogan is: ".001 Percent of America Can't Be Wrong!" John Edwards' new slogan is: "Vote for Me or We'll See You in Court." Joe Lieberman's new slogan is: "Sixth Place Is Not an Option." (Bumper sticker version: "Ask Me About My Delegate.") Al Sharpton's new slogan is "Hello? Room Service?" Wesley Clark's new slogan is: "Leading America's War on Fetuses." Howard Dean's new slogan is: "I Want to Be Your President ... And So Do I!" That leaves John Kerry (new slogan: "Nous Sommes Nombre Un!"), who is winning Democratic voters in...

January 26, 2004 Prime-Time 'Millionaire' Returning to ABCBy BILL CARTER ho Wants to Be a Millionaire," the most successful game show in the history of prime-time television until ABC burned through its popularity by overexposing it, will return next month, complete with Regis Philbin, the hot seat, the lifelines and the steady progression of cash prizes. ABC is expected to announce today the comeback of "Millionaire," not as a weekly series but as a one-week burst of one-hour shows in the last week of February. This time the show will be called "Super Millionaire," and to distinguish itself from the...

The superstar trial lawyer accomplishments of John Edwards, which allowed this son of a truck driver to amass a personal fortune, finance his successful U.S. Senate run in 1998 and catapult himself into the 2004 race for president, may have been partially built on "junk science," according to legal and medical experts who spoke with CNSNews.com . Edwards, who with a late surge finished second in Monday's Iowa Caucuses, continues to cite one of his most lucrative legal victories as an example of how he would stand up for "the little guy" if elected president. Edwards became one of America's...

DNC chairman’s school visit sparks anger among Portsmouth city officials By PAT McGOWAN Democrat Staff Writer PORTSMOUTH — Several city officials are furious over the Democratic National Committee chairman’s recent visit to Portsmouth High School, who they feel turned a social studies lesson into a one-sided bashing of President Bush. After requesting to visit the school, Terry McAuliffe was allowed by Principal Forrest Ransdell to come to teach what the principal believed to be social studies classes on democracy and the political process. However, several city officials are livid over what they say turned into a biased Democratic view of...

HOUSTON (AP) - A businessman who used his millions to help bankroll a first-time run for political office easily beat out a former city councilman Saturday in a runoff election to become Houston's next mayor. With 74 percent of the precincts reporting, Bill White had 113,583 votes to 68,720 for Orlando Sanchez, or 62 percent to 38 percent. White, 49, a former chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, spent some $2.2 million of his own fortune as part of a record $8.6 million effort in the race against Cuban-born Sanchez, a Republican making a second bid to become Houston's first...

Face it, you'll never be rich Why do Americans still believe in the rags-to-riches fairy tale? In this final extract from his explosive new book, Michael Moore explains why the corporate bosses will never let the American dream become a reality Tuesday October 7, 2003 The Guardian Buy Dude, Where's My Country? at Amazon.co.uk Perhaps the biggest success in the war on terror has been its ability to distract the nation from the corporate war on us. In the two years since the attacks of 9/11, American businesses have been on a punch-drunk rampage that has left millions of average...

Huffington Paid Little Income TaxThe candidate for governor has criticized 'fat cats' for avoiding taxes. She denies taking advantage of loopholes and unfair deductions. By Rich Connell and Robert J. Lopez Times Staff Writers August 14, 2003 MTV commentator and author Arianna Huffington, who launched her campaign for governor with criticism of "fat cats" who fail to shoulder a fair share of taxes, paid no individual state income tax and just $771 in federal taxes during the last two years, her tax returns show. Huffington, who released her tax returns for the last two years to The Times, lives in...

Bryant Takes Important Shot "He kept shaking his head, licking his lips, and working his jaw muscles against the grain of the moment. Kobe Bryant did not have the ball. He had the world's attention, but not the ball, when he measured his racing heart, his burning lungs and his leaking eyes before taking the biggest shot of his life. "I'm innocent," Bryant said Friday night. He said it four times. Bryant adjusted the news conference mike, faced the cameras, and swore he was only guilty of being a man. A weak, flawed, adulterous man. He stitched Hester Prynne's scarlet...

ABC Radio News just reported that Buddy Ebsen passed away. He was one of the stars of the Beverly Hillbillies.

When You Run Out of Ideas... by Doc Farmer I've been racking my brain for the past hour, trying to come up with ideas for my next column. I know I'll have to create something funny, pithy, humorous, and witty because that's what my editor wants. And from what I've been able to gather, that seems to be what the readers want as well. Man, the pressure! It's hard to come up with new stuff all the time, so those of you who think that writing is an easy gig can think again. Sometimes it's really simple--something interesting (or annoying)...