Free Republic

HAMMOND | Former Lake County Clerk Thomas Philpot was sentenced to 18 months in prison Thursday for stealing thousands of dollars in public child support incentive funds over which he had control. Philpot, who also served as Lake County coroner, was ordered to surrender April 3 to a federal correctional camp in Pekin, Ill. Federal defendants usually serve at least 85 percent of their sentence, which means Philpot likely will spend at least 15 months in prison. Senior U.S. District Court Judge James Moody asked himself out loud, why did Philpot, an intelligent, well-trained man familiar with the proper workings...

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Certainly the militia is the people, for what else could it possibly be? Here’s the definitive quote from one of our founding fathers: ”I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for a few public officials.” — George Mason, in Debates in the Virginia Convention. Consider the question: Does combining the right of free speech with the right to assemble diminish either? Of course not. And the same is true when you combine the right to assemble with the right to be armed. Meeting with rifles in hand for the purpose of training in their...

Additional clips of a United States Department of Agriculture sensitivity training class feature USDA employees being told to recite, “If we work for a federal agency, we’ve discriminated in the past.” The clips, released by the conservative government accountability group Judicial Watch Thursday evening, are the second installation of revealing footage obtained by a Freedom of Information Act (FIOA) request the organization made last May. According to Judicial Watch, the documents reveal the sensitivity training was delivered to USDA employees at least 16 times last year in an attempt to boost employees’ “emotional intelligence.”

SALT LAKE CITY — The issue of gun safety has been on the minds of Americans recently as lawmakers around the country voice their opinion about gun control legislation. The American Academy of Pediatrics, however, is drawing criticism for encouraging pediatricians to talk to their young patients about gun safety. While not a new policy, the AAP is re-emphasizing their position that states should pass the "strongest possible firearm regulations" and are encouraging pediatricians to act as a "powerful" line of defense when talking about firearm safety with their young patients and family. Following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — As their mother lay dead in the middle of the night, a 4-year-old Oregon girl dragged her seriously injured younger sister from a crashed car and the two huddled under a blanket — and waited. [...] The girls finally got help after two commercial fishermen spotted what appeared from a distance to be a basketball-sized gash in an alder tree along State Highway 401 between Astoria, Ore., and Naselle, Wash. Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/news/crime/article/On-a-hunch-fishermen-find-crash-site-2-sisters-4298227.php#ixzz2Lay8rQ3U

A new NRA ad that highlights comments made by President Obama and former President Bill Clinton reminds politicians that they do not "rule" Americans, nor "give" Americans rights, The Blaze reported Wednesday. "In a recent closed-door speech to donors, politicians and media, Bill Clinton spoke about American gun owners: 'A lot of these people … all they’ve got is their hunting and their fishing,'" the ad says. "And we all remember Barack Obama’s 2008 comments to a room of San Francisco elites: 'It’s not surprising then they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion,'" the ad continues. "The arrogance...

It wasn't surprising that Big Labor Democrats would choose a labor union lawyer to present the White House talking points to justify his unconstitutional appointments of National Labor Relations Board members. However, when the labor concluded her opening remarks saying that congress having hearing regarding unconstitutional appointments made them shills for the 1%, she lost a lot of credibility. If she any credibility left after her opening statements, it was soon to be destroyed as were the White House talking points that she was shilling. Elizabeth Reynolds the lawyer from Allison, Slutsky & Kennedy was questioned by South Carolina Congressman...

Parents at a South Windsor school are expressing outrage after teachers led graduating students to believe they were heading to Disney World for a year-end trip - only to reveal the next day that the kids were the butt of an elaborate joke. One of the teachers recorded the scene on an iPad and it was later shown to another class so they too could join in the teachers' merriment. "I have a lot of respect for teachers and what they do, but this was really stupid judgment," said parent Peter To-polovec.

Who in his right mind would ever buy The Boston Globe? Maybe the physical plant of the “newspaper” on Morrissey Boulevard, but the actual product? Let me put it another way: When was the last time you bought an actual copy of The Boston Globe? Why would you, it only encourages them. Has ever a publication fallen so far, so fast? It’s the Carnival Triumph of the newspaper business. It’s the Patriots in the second half against the Ravens. It’s Tim Murray in his jammies, flooring his state Crown Vic as the stone wall looms up ahead. [Snip] Everybody at...

--snip-- The ever-growing U.S. government has an edgy social, ethical, and political character. It is distasteful to a majority of persons who vote Republican and to independent voters, as well as to perhaps one fifth of those who vote Democrat. The Republican leadership’s kinship with the socio-political class that runs modern government is deep. Country class Americans have but to glance at the Media to hear themselves insulted from on high as greedy, racist, violent, ignorant extremists. Yet far has it been from the Republican leadership to defend them. Whenever possible, the Republican Establishment has chosen candidates for office –...

Iran has begun installing advanced centrifuges at its main uranium enrichment plant, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, a defiant step that will worry Western powers ahead of a resumption of talks with Tehran next week. In a confidential report, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said 180 so-called IR-2m centrifuges and empty centrifuge casings had been put in place at the facility near the central town of Natanz. They were not yet operating. If launched successfully, such machines could enable Iran to speed up significantly its accumulation of material that the West fears could be used to devise...

I’m trying to imagine Amanpour giving an equally non-judgmental and upbeat birthday tribute to, say, John Boehner. Amanpour tweeted birthday wishes for the 89-year-old Zimbabwe leader along with this online video, which is one dash news report but mostly sounds like a toast at someone’s 33 Years of Brutal Power-Mongering Party. Amanpour’s intro encompasses the tone pretty well: “Imagine a world leader four years older than the Pope who’s been in power for 33 years and shows no sign of calling it quits,” Amanpour said. “Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, is 89 today, and celebrated modestly by his standards — with...

The Obama administration is refusing to hand over full details of its targeted killing programme in order to ensure John Brennan takes up his post as head of the CIA, according to a report. The White House is said to be considering handing over details of the Benghazi scandal to Republicans rather than give up the secrets of its drone strikes. The move is infuriating Democrats who have long called for full disclosure of classified legal memos in relation to targeted killings. nstead President Obama seems content to risk their wrath to win more support for Mr Brennan.

ATLANTA (AP) — It turns out this year's flu shot is doing a startlingly dismal job of protecting older people, the most vulnerable age group. The vaccine is proving only 9 percent effective in those 65 and older against the harsh strain of the flu that is predominant this season, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Health officials are baffled as to why this is so. But the findings help explain why so many older people have been hospitalized with the flu this year.

Although every holiday may seem like Obama Day to Chris Matthews, the MSNBC host used the date often devoted to Lincoln and Washington as an excuse to wonder if the current President is headed to Mount Rushmore. On President's Day, Matthews thrilled, "Is Barack Obama going for it? Is he set on becoming one of the great presidents in history?" [See video below. MP3 audio here.] The cable anchor, who famously declared that Obama caused a "thrill going up my leg," first declared, "I'm not talking about Mt. Rushmore but perhaps the level right below it." He later went back...

AFP - Another person suffering from a SARS-like virus has died in Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organization said Thursday, bringing the worldwide number of fatalities from the mystery illness to seven. The Saudi health ministry had informed the UN's health body that the patient had been hospitalised on January 29 and had died on February 10, WHO said in a statement. A laboratory had confirmed on February 18 that the person had died from the so-called novel coronavirus, or NCoV, it added. This brings to 13 the number of cases of the virus that have so far been reported...

The argument in favor of using unmanned aerial vehicle strikes is, therefore, that the act of killing the individual is a military necessity dictated by the enemy's strategy and that it is carried out with the understanding that both intelligence and precision might fail, no matter how much care is taken. This means not only that civilians might be killed in a particular strike but also that the strike might hit the wrong target. The fact that a specific known individual is being targeted does not change the issue from a military matter to a judicial one. It would seem...

SALT LAKE CITY — Permits wouldn't be necessary for most people to carry concealed weapons in Utah if a state lawmaker gets his way. Rep. John Mathis, R-Vernal, is sponsoring H.B. 76, which allows essentially any law-abiding citizen over the age of 21 in the state to carry a gun, openly or concealed. Utah would effectively become a "constitutional carry" state if the measure is approved. That term refers to a state where carrying a concealed weapon isn't restricted by law. It's unclear whether the bill can clear the Utah Legislature.

In a mistake that probably wasn’t a mistake, a Washington state bill sponsored by liberal Democrats contained a little-noticed provision that would have called for the police to have the right to search private citizens’ home once per year if they own certain types of guns. According to Senate Bill 5737: In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing shall ... safely and securely store the assault weapon. The sheriff of the county may, no more than once per year, conduct an inspection to ensure...