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WASHINGTON, DC, November 19, 2009 — The Mississippi Court of Appeals has granted a retrial for Covington & Burling LLP client Cory Maye, who was convicted and sentenced to death for the 2001 shooting of a police officer that occurred during a narcotics task force search of Mr. Maye’s home. In its opinion of November 17, the Court of Appeals found that Mr. Maye had been denied the right to be tried in the county where the offense occurred, and that the trial court had improperly rejected Mr. Maye’s attempt to withdraw a prior motion to transfer venue. The shooting...

"Venezuela's Central Bank announced on Tuesday that the country's economy fell into a recession in the third quarter, with the gross domestic product (GDP) tumbling 4.5% from the same period last year. But not to worry. Venezuela's genius dictator, Lieut. Col. Hugo Chávez Frías, got the country out of the recession in just one day!..."

Brad Humphreys spends a lot of time studying the economics of professional sports. It's his specialty, and the University of Alberta economics professor says there's a good reason why there is no NFL team in Los Angeles. "Leverage," he said. Since the Raiders and Rams left in 1995, Los Angeles has been the NFL's boogeyman, an illusory threat to markets that don't sell enough tickets, or won't subsidize a new stadium — illusory because Los Angeles has traditionally had the same problems that plague other troubled markets. Suddenly, however, the boogeyman is real, and the Minnesota Vikings are in his...

Freshman Magali Flores, and ethnic studies major, was locked arm-in-arm with other students outside Wheeler, one day after she'd returned from protests at UCLA, where the regents met this week. "It's horrible, how could they possibly do this?" she said of the fee increases. Flores acknowledged the increase would not affect her because her family earns less than $70,000, and tuition remains free. However, she said that she's already in debt from cost of living, registration fees, and books, totaling $10,000.

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art saw its investment portfolio lose nearly a quarter of its value during its 2008-09 fiscal year, which coincided with the worst worldwide financial debacle since the Great Depression. The $254.7-million pile of cash and investments shrank to $196 million, a 23% drop, according to figures in the audited financial statements that LACMA recently posted on its website. The most worrisome development for LACMA -- as for many nonprofits -- has been the recession's effect on fundraising. In 2007-08, it raked in gifts and pledges totaling $129.7 million, most of it for the museum's...

Here is video of Arianna Huffington telling Keith Olbermann that Glenn Beck should be exempted from free speech. Huffington said about Glenn Beck, "there is a good reason why we have an exemption to the free speech protected by the first amendment, when we say that you can't shout fire in a crowded theater, and he's doing that every night, he's basically using images of violence every night." Huffington said Glenn Beck and Fox News are "morally liable" if "any violence ensues from what he says." Read more...

(China Daily/Agencies) – Mattel Inc, the world’s biggest toymaker, lowered the sales target for its Barbie store in Shanghai by at least 30 percent after deciding the original marketing concept didn’t work. “The initial sales targets were astronomical,” said Dann Murphy, who took over as general manager as his predecessor left eight months after the store opened. Targets for the six-story outlet’s restaurant and “retail experience”, which includes designing personalized Barbie dolls, have been revised down three times since its opening in March. Mattel chose Shanghai for its first dedicated Barbie store as consumer demand slumped in the United...

British forces will pull out of Germany for good, nearly 70 years after the Allied victory in World War Two, as part of a Tory defence "revolution". The Shadow Defence Secretary told The Daily Telegraph that ending Britain’s 25,000 strong military presence on the Rhine would be part of a fundamental reorganisation of Nato forces designed to free troops for military operations outside Europe. The decision would close one of the unfinished chapters of the last war that saw the British military go from occupying force in the ruins of Nazi Germany in 1945 to guarantor of German security against...

Publisher HarperCollins said Friday that Sarah Palin's memoir sold 300,000 copies its first day, among the best openings ever for a nonfiction book.

Bay Area Not Maverick Enough To Read Palin Book Steve Rubenstein November 19, 2009 It might as well have cooties. Hardly anyone wants to touch the thing, or even get close to it. The new autobiography by moose hunter and failed vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is harder to find in the Bay Area than a hockey mom. Some bookstores figure it's one of those grit-your-teeth First Amendment deals that principled booksellers must put up with from time to time. But many nonchain bookstores won't handle it. "Our customers are thinking people," said Nathan Embretson, a bookseller at Pendragon Books...

More than 150 Christian leaders are issuing a “call of conscience” to America-- urging them reaffirm their opposition to abortion, stem cell research and same-sex marriage. “The Manhattan Declaration” stresses the need to protect religious freedom in in the U.S. It’s signed by seminary leaders, pastors, professors and the heads of ministries. The Christian leaders have come together across denominational lines to call on believers everywhere to radically commit to fight for the sanctity of life, marriage and religious liberty. “And in all three of these areas we see threats in the culture and in our politics.” Robert George, one...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Campbell announced today he's passed the $1 million mark in fundraising, nearly doubling what he had raised by the end of June. The former congressman has largely been seen as an experienced but poorly funded challenger to his two GOP opponents, wealthy former Silicon Valley CEOs Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner, who are spending much of their own wealth on their candidacies. Whitman has already given $19 million to her own campaign.

I always thought that when Sarah Palin finally resurfaced, she would quickly show whether she was going for the money or planning to run for president. If she's decided to spend her life pursuing riches, I felt she would speak out boldly and truthfully in an unvarnished way that would whip liberal miscreants into a hysterical frenzy. On the other hand, I was concerned that if she had presidential ambitions, she might make the mistake of spinning, tip-toeing and dancing around tough questions in an effort to appear mainstream. I'm happy for Sarah Palin that she's going to make millions...

A UKIP petition demanding a referendum on Britain's membership of the EU has been launched in the biggest-ever call to arms on the right to have a say over Europe. People will be given the chance to sign up to the petition online, by post or in the street at UKIP stalls run by party supporters. UKIP Leader Nigel Farage said: "This is a real chance for the people of Great Britain to show whoever forms the next Government that they are sick of being lied to and that they want a say over our continuing membership of the European...

Senate Democratic leaders, having negotiated critical last-minute commitments, Friday stood on the verge of achieving the 60 votes they need to begin consideration of the most expansive healthcare legislation to go before the Senate in nearly half a century. Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson, who was among three Democratic holdouts, announced that he would back an all-important procedural vote set for Saturday that will allow the chamber to take up the wide-ranging bill unveiled this week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). And Democratic leaders expect Sens. Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas and Mary Landrieu of Louisiana to support a cloture...

SNIPPET: "ONTARIO, Calif. -- State lawmakers are holding a hearing today in Ontario to discuss the rise in the number of criminal gangs using networking sites like Twitter and Facebook. Officials say the hearing entitled "Gangs 2.0: The Emerging Threat of Cyberthugs" will explore the use of social networking tools in gang recruitment and gang-related crime. Assembly majority leader Alberto Torrico, and attorney general candidate, says gang members both in and out of prison are making more use of technology."

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Rutland resident Allan Edward Patrick, 58, was sentenced on November 18, 2009 to 151 months in federal prison after his guilty plea to charges that he produced child pornography at his residence, located at 21 Royce Street in Rutland. Because he used his residence to facilitate his criminal conduct, the District Court ordered the defendant to forfeit that residence to the United States. The property is now in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. Judge Murtha also ordered the defendant to pay his four minor...

Al Gore, who famously claimed to have invented the Internet, now denies –in the face of powerful evidence to the contrary— that he is in a position to make an immense fortune from global warming-mitigation efforts. Ian Wilhelm, a Chronicle of Philanthropy reporter, asked the private equity firm Generation Investment Management LLP (GIM) to respond to my latest post, The Media Ignore Al Gore's Planned Global Warming Profiteering.  In the post, I noted that Gore’s nonprofit Alliance for Climate Protection plans to spend $300 million on an advertising campaign aimed at convincing the American public that they urgently need to...

The FBI and local law enforcement agencies are seeking the public’s assistance to identify an unknown male bank robber who has been named the “Geezer Bandit.” The “Geezer Bandit” is believed responsible for robbing five banks in San Diego County. Three different rewards, totaling $16,000 are being offered for information leading the arrest and conviction of the “Geezer Bandit.” The most recent robbery in this series is believed to have occurred yesterday, Monday, November 16, 2009, with the robbery of the Bank of America, located at 7680 Girard Avenue, La Jolla, California. On Monday, November 16, 2009, at approximately 5:57...

Holiday Message to our Troops! Sign the Card With Your Message (Fox News Radio) A GroupCard for Our Troops! Started By: FOX News Radio Delivery Date: Monday, Dec 7 - 3pm Eastern This GroupCard can be signed and viewed by many people. Pass this card around: Message from FOX News Radio: FOX News Radio would like to send our troops a big THANK YOU from all our loyal listeners and friends. Please take a moment to send your note of thanks. Include a photo, or a sticker if you would like. More Message from FOX News Radio: Sign This Card...

FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. (Nov. 20, 2009) — A Missouri National Guardsman in training to become a military truck driver faces charges of making a terrorist threat in a school near Whiteman Air Force Base. According to court records, the trainee, Pfc. Michael John Frederick, 19, went into a Sedalia high school during a Saturday evening event and told the superintendent that the Army had told him to warn area schools that escaped prisoners might be trying to kidnap students. Frederick was wearing his military uniform when he made his warning about escaped inmates. However, there were no escaped inmates...

November 21, 2009 Rabbi Baruch Chalomish: I Snorted Cocaine To Forget Wife's Death Russell Jenkins Rabbi Baruch Chalomish [Pic in URL] A rabbi who was arrested after a five-day binge of cocaine and prostitutes said that he took drugs to alleviate the loneliness he felt after his wife died. Baruch Chalomish, 55, told a court that he began snorting the drug because he felt lonely after his wife died, insisting: “I wanted to stop feeling depressed, to feel normal.” The Israeli-born father of three, who was once an eminent Jewish academic, has in recent years built a £7 million fortune...

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is an "unworthy partner" who does not deserve a big boost either in U.S. troops or civilian aid, U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi, a skeptic on sending more troops to Afghanistan, also said in an interview with National Public Radio aired on Friday that there was not strong support among her fellow Democrats in Congress for "any big ramp-up of troops" to oppose resurgent Taliban forces. She told NPR she had asked fellow Democrats to give President Barack Obama room to decide his Afghan strategy, which is expected to be announced in...

Why all the silence from the MSM on the US Senate healthcare bill? Other then for the alternate news media, who has been holding the torch in discussion of this major issue it has been nothing BUT SILENCE, PERIOD. This summer, I’ve spent my fair share of time reading complicated legislation that frequently does not make sense. There are thousands of pages with details about tax, regulation and service changes that will impact health care service, quality and cost. I challenge the media to tell us what’s in the bills.

Will mammograms sink the Health Care Bill in the Senate? The 16-member U.S. Preventative Services Task Force released its new recommendations on mammograms a few days ago. Talk about some outrage by its recommendations! It said they wanted to change the standard of once a year screenings for women over 40 every other year. Boy did the stuff hit the fan! Please allow me give you some quotes to aid in your evaluation of the situation; Dr. Daniel Kopans, head of breast imaging at Massachusetts General, “I think it is outrageous to reduce costs by taking away a test that...

SNIPPET: "RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Increasing numbers of English-language Web sites are spreading al-Qaida's message to Muslims in the West. They translate writings and sermons once largely out of reach of English readers and often feature charismatic clerics like Anwar al-Awlaki, who exchanged dozens of e-mails with the Army psychiatrist accused of the Fort Hood shootings. The U.S.-born al-Awlaki has been an inspiration to several militants arrested in the United States and Canada in recent years, with his Web-based sermons often turning up on their computers."

Glenn Beck, the controversial Fox News television host, is planning on becoming more active in the populist conservative movement he spawned, according to sources familiar with his thinking. At a rally Saturday at a massive retirement community in central Florida, Beck is planning to unveil what he has billed as a “big plan” for 2010, which is expected to involve the 9.12 Project, the group he started earlier this year and named for the day after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when he says the nation was unified. “Coming this January, my whole approach changes on this program,” he...

Hundreds of private e-mails and documents hacked from a computer server at a British university are causing a stir among global warming skeptics, who say they show that climate scientists conspired to overstate the case for a human influence on climate change.

 Obama's Forty Third Week in OfficeLatest Additions to "The List""The List" for 11/20/20 Obama administration moves to block restitution from Iran for Beirut Marine barracks bombingFull list of taxes in Senate Obamacare billVIDEO: The National Football League has become an arm of the Obama administration with its partnership with Obama's "United We Serve" program.A video posted by the Obama administration to YouTube this week that is planned to air during broadcasts of the NFL's Thanksgiving Day games shows Barack Obama playing football on the White House lawnSenate Obamacare raises taxes on families with special needs childrenACORN got 200K worth of...

U.S. Economy Is A Geriatric On Viagra Economics / US Economy Nov 20, 2009 - 02:35 AM By: Brian_Bloom A retired friend, an academic in a field unrelated to the subject of economics or finance, recently asked me to tell him what I thought was happening in these (to him) surreal worlds. Why are some people so bearish that they were effectively anticipating the end of the world whilst others are insisting that a bull market is upon us? To answer him I had to provide some context, as follows. The table below shows a list of the top 14...

The response on this book tour has been overwhelming. We are truly humbled, and I thank you. I've been told that yesterday there were supporters in Noblesville who stood in long lines for hours in the cold and rain, and the book signing event ended without a chance to say hello to everyone who showed up. I am so sorry. We are working on a solution for those who were left behind. I apologize. - Sarah Palin

In his new book The Audacity to Win, Obama for America campaign manager David Plouffe recalls that Sen. John McCain's selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate was a fundraising boon -- for the Obama campaign. "We had taken in millions of dollars in the three hours since Palin had started speaking," Plouffe recalls. "We hadn't even asked for most of it; we had sent out just a single unplanned fund-raising email highlighting her attacks on community organizers, but it was just starting to hit people's in-boxes as I checked the numbers. So the big response from...

With Sarah Palin in the spotlight as she continues her nationwide media and book tour, the Democratic National Committee is suggesting to its supporters that the former GOP vice presidential candidate could pose a real threat to the Democratic agenda. In a fundraising e-mail sent out Friday, Organizing for America -- the community organizing component of the DNC founded in the wake of Barack Obama’s inauguration -- said it is aiming to raise $500,000 in the next week "to help push back against Sarah Palin and her allies."

The Associated Press "fact check" of Sarah Palin's new book wasn't enough. Now the left is just coming out and claiming Palin is a flat out liar. That was the argument made by Bella DePaulo in a Psychology Today blog entitled "Sarah Palin's Lies." DePaulo, who has a Harvard Ph.D. in psychology and experience in analyzing lying, claims Palin excels at it. "From my post as an outside observer, it seems to me that Sarah Palin doesn't care much about the truth. In that way, she is a very special liar," she wrote in the Nov. 19 "Living Single" blog.

GLOBAL WARMING JUNK SCIENCE PROVEN A CONSPIRACY—- ManBearPig Is Finally Dead! I’m serial! Recently “discovered” classified emails and files prove that the junk scientists behind the global warming movement knowingly perpetrated a fraud on the global community. The files were posted on the internet– HERE. The Telegraph reported: If you own any shares in alternative energy companies I should start dumping them NOW. The conspiracy behind the Anthropogenic Global Warming myth (aka AGW; aka ManBearPig) has been suddenly, brutally and quite deliciously exposed after a hacker broke into the computers at the University of East Anglia’s Climate Research Unit (aka...

A healthcare policy expert says there are details in the Senate healthcare bill that will frighten everyone. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) has unveiled his more than 2,000-page healthcare bill with an estimated price tag of $849 billion. However, as Grace Marie Turner of the Galen Institute points out, one of the reasons the bill was scored under President Obama's $900 billion cost goal is because no one gets any benefit from the program until 2014. "So they start collecting taxes and fees now, and...the first ten years of full implementation of this bill is $2.5 trillion, and that's...

Judging from the way his critics have been going on, I would say that Tunku Varadarajan was on to something in his Forbes column "Going Muslim." The reaction to his important and well-reasoned article ironically confirms and further underlines his central point; namely, that out of political correctness we refuse to see and act on the obvious--the implication of Islamist ideology in violent acts such as the murders perpetrated by Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. Instead of addressing the substance of Mr. Varadarajan's arguments, the self-appointed spokespersons for Islam turn the whole discussion around and present Muslims as the victims of...

Over ONE MILLION copies sold! On the NYTimes Bestseller List for 19 weeks, 12 weeks at #1!Buy it… read it… live it!“Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

A GOP congressional report accuses the White House of doing favors for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and prominent ally of President Barack Obama. The report was spearheaded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The investigation also found evidence that D.C. schools chief Michelle Rhee handled “damage control” after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct against Johnson, her now-fiance. The probe was launched after an AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin, was abruptly fired in...

Durbin walks back comments about Lincoln's vote A few moments ago, Sen. Dick Durbin walked back a statement he made earlier today that Sen. Blanche Lincoln told Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid how she is going to vote tomorrow. Lincoln and Sen. Mary Landrieu are the only two Democrats who have not yet publicly stated their intentions. Lincoln has been careful not to tip her hand and Durbin's comments essentially outed her as a yes vote. And when you're running as an independent voice from a party that's not well liked in your state, it's not helpful to have the...

Just called my Senators, Lemieux and Bill Nelson Re: healthcare. Lemieux will vote no and Nelson's office says he has not decided. Keep calling.

Cops: Girl Raped, Killed On Day She Was Taken 29-year-old man faces sexual assault, murder charges in 5-year-old’s death Police say Shaniya Davis was raped and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mom reported her missing from the trailer park. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. - A 5-year-old North Carolina girl was raped and killed the same day she was taken from her home, according to an arrest warrant released Friday. Shaniya Davis was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated Nov. 10, the day her mother reported her missing from the trailer park where she was staying, according to the warrant. Authorities embarked on a...

US Legislators want new tax to pay for war in Afghanistan By Andrew Moran. Nov 20, 2009 Appropriations Committee Chairman Wisconsin Congressman Dave Obey, Defense Appropriations Subcommittee John Murtha of Pennsylvania and Connecticut Democratic Caucus Chairman John Larsen issued a statement on Thursday proposing a new tax, “Share The Sacrifice Act of 2010,” that would directly pay for the war in Afghanistan, according to AFP. The trio believes the new tax would pay for the wars without deficit spending. (snip) If this bill would be passed then it would affect anyone who makes an annual salary as little as $22,000...

Headline only. Can't post per FR rules.

One of the BEST ways to stop vote fraud is to volunteer as an Election Judge, Clerk, or Poll Watcher. I need help in Clear Lake, Texas for the Houston Mayoral Runoff Election on December 12, 2009. You MUST be a registered voter who lives within the city limits of Houston to qualify. This election is for practice. When you have the training, you can go on to become an Election Judge, Alternate Judge, or Poll Watcher in a precinct where fraud is expected. There are over 50 precincts just in the Houston area where fraud has been a problem....

In a fast-paced world, life can sometimes be daunting. Fortunately, the state of Michigan has online advice for almost every aspect of life, from shopping to gardening, eating to driving. Sure, some of it may be painfully obvious, nitpicky or bizarre, but just remember: The state knows what's best for you.

The Obama Justice Department is having problems prosecuting terrorist cases because top department attorneys have conflicts of interest. According to documents obtained exclusively by The Washington Times, Associate Attorney General Thomas J. Perrelli, No. 3 official in the Justice Department, had to recuse himself on at least 13 active detainee cases and at least 26 cases listed as either closed or mooted....

David Farr, CEO of Emerson Electric Co., said federal governmental policies are hurting U.S. manufacturing. He cited cap and trade, health care reform and labor rules as undermining the industry and its ability to expand and grow jobs domestically. He said that his company will continue to focus on growth overseas. Emerson, the maker of electrical equipment and InSinkErator garbage disposals with $20.9 billion in sales for the year ended September, will keep expanding in emerging markets, which represented 32 percent of revenue in 2009. About 36 percent of manufacturing is now in “best-cost countries” up from 21 percent in...

If you are dyslexic or know someone who is,,,best selling author Vince Flynn will be discussing growing up with dyslexia. STAND UP AMERICA, GET OUT OF THE FETAL POSITION AND MAKE YOUR VOICES HEARD. Welcome to the GLENN BECK television thread...Shake the cobwebs out of your brain...We are another day closer to the REVOLUTION that will change the 2010 elections. All comrades, infidels, sick twisted freaks and lurkers are welcome and are encouraged to participate in the thread. Join us won't you!