Free Republic

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- A police lieutenant in Daytona Beach was fired over accusations that he threatened slower emergency response times if he was not given complimentary specialty Starbucks coffee drinks. An internal police investigation found that Daytona Lt. Major Garvin received free coffee for about two years from a city Starbucks coffee store. However, when recently denied free coffee from new management, Garvin allegedly told managers that he could change the police department's response time if they refuse to give him complimentary drinks. Garvin is accused of saying, "If something happens, either we can respond really fast or we...

The government is to sponsor a theological board of leading imams and Muslim women in an attempt to refute the ideology of violent extremists. The committee, to be announced this week, will issue pronouncements on areas such as wearing the hijab and the treatment of wives and is part of a government strategy to counter radicalism. It will rule on interpretation of the Koran and promote the moderate strain of Islam practised by most British Muslims. It will also comment on controversial issues affecting Muslims living in Britain, including whether or not they should serve in the armed forces. Its...

New federal legislation says universities must agree to provide not just deterrents but also "alternatives" to peer-to-peer piracy, such as paying monthly subscription fees to the music industry for their students, on penalty of losing all financial aid for their students. The U.S. House of Representatives bill, which was introduced late Friday by top Democratic politicians, could give the movie and music industries a new revenue stream by pressuring schools into signing up for monthly subscription services such as Ruckus and Napster. Ruckus is advertising-supported, and Napster charges a monthly fee per student. The Motion Picture Association of America applauded...

"I got elected. You may not criticize me." OK, the incumbents don't put it that way. They say: "There's too much money in politics! We need campaign finance reform." And they get it. "Reform" sounds good. McCain-Feingold and a host of state laws would protect us from the evil influence of big money. But that's nonsense. When our behemoth government has the power to spend more than $2 trillion every year, big money will find a way to try to influence it. It's the little guys, who aren't in office, who are silenced by "reform." McCain-Feingold makes it illegal for...

It's probably not the first time that record company executives have been likened to Al Capone, but this time a judge might have to agree or disagree. A New Jersey woman, one of the hundreds of people sued for alleged music-swapping by the Recording Industry Association of America, has countersued the big record labels, charging them with extortion and violations of the federal anti-racketeering act. Through her attorneys, Michele Scimeca contends that by suing file-swappers for copyright infringement, and then offering to settle instead of pursuing a case where liability could reach into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, the...

I honestly believe that the threat of lawsuits against individual downloaders was and is bogus. I have not seen one shred of evidence to the contrary. I've downloaded tons of songs beginning back with Napster. It never hurt the recording industry one ounce. What hurts them is when there is no interest. Luckily for them, Napster and Kazza kept the interest alive. When Napster first came out everyone loved it and there was no talk of lawsuits. The recording industry was booming. Sales were up and I remember news pundits and other talking heads say that the reason sales of...

Sharpton: I Want Clinton, Kennedy Scandal Protection Citing the media's reluctance to confront Senators Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy about scandal skeletons in their closet, Democratic presidential candidate Rev. Al Sharpton demanded Monday that the press give him the same pass on ethical questions about his past. "The next time anybody wants to know about Tawana Brawley, I'm going to ask them, 'Do you ask Teddy Kennedy about Chappaquiddick? Do you ask Hillary Clinton about her husband?'" the firebrand reverend complained to Newsday columnist Jimmy Breslin, while he was preparing for his Martin Luther King Day commemoration. During an appearance...

Jesse Jackson biographer Kenneth R. Timmerman said Tuesday night that there's "a strong possibility" the celebrated civil rights leader could soon find himself under indictment for illegally funneling tax-exempt money into Democratic Party political campaigns. "Jesse Jackson has been using nonprofit dollars for political campaigns, especially during campaign 2000 and campaign 1996. That's just flatly illegal," Timmerman told Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly. When asked whether the financial wrongdoing could lead to a Jackson indictment, Timmerman contended, "I think there's a strong possibility. The evidence is against him." Timmerman's book, "Shakedown: Exposing the Real Jesse Jackson," is the first investigative...