Free Republic

May 9, 2008 By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer NEW YORK (AP) - Big corporations give him money. Presidential candidates seek his endorsement. He has influential friends in Congress and the governor's mansion. The Rev. Al Sharpton has emerged over the past decade as perhaps the nation's most prominent civil rights leader, a status that was demonstrated again this week when he led protests against police brutality that briefly shut down six of Manhattan's major bridges and tunnels. But he still carries baggage from his early days as a fire-breathing agitator: Government records obtained by The Associated Press indicate...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Bernie Ward, a prominent radio talk show host and reporter in the Bay Area for more than two decades, admitted today to distributing child pornography in a plea deal that will send him to federal prison for at least five years. Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker was prepared to accept Ward's guilty plea at a hearing in San Francisco to one count of distributing child pornography, but agreed to hold off at the request of Ward's attorney, Doron Weinberg. Had the guilty plea been officially submitted today, Ward could have been sent to prison immediately. Instead,...

The lack of logic from this guy stating that abortion is a right, and that you don’t have a right to challenge it is astounding. Obviously the right to free speech is trumped by the right to kill babies in this idiot’s mind. Typical liberal thinking... See video here.

Jefferson trial venue questions renewedLatest request cites Supreme Court case Wednesday, May 07, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, asked a federal judge Tuesday to reconsider his ruling against a change of venue in the corruption case against the congressman. They had argued that the case should be tried in Washington, D.C., and that the government chose suburban Virginia because there is a smaller pool of African-American jurors to consider the charges against Jefferson, who is black. Their latest request to Virginia District Court Judge T.S. Ellis III was based in part on...

Franken owes $70,000 in back taxes in 17 states By PATRICIA LOPEZ, Star Tribune April 29, 2008 DFL U.S. Senate candidate Al Franken, frontrunner in the race to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, owes $70,000 in back taxes in 17 states, where he earned income going back to 2003. Franken on Tuesday told the Associated Press that he never intended to avoid paying taxes and that on the advice of his accountant, had paid taxes to the city and state where he lived. Franken has been under fire since early March, when a Republican operative revealed that Franken had...

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Senate candidate Al Franken says he will pay about $70,000 in back income taxes in 17 states going back to 2003. The Minnesota Democrat has been under attack by Republicans for failing to file tax returns in California for several years when the comedian-turned-candidate earned money there. Franken tells The Associated Press he never intended to avoid paying taxes. He says during the years in question, he paid his entire income tax bill to the city and state where he lived. Franken says he did this on the advice of his accountant, but that he...

man heckling First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna outside the 92nd Street Y was arrested after he punched a wheelchair-bound girl whose parents had told him to shut up, authorities said Wednesday. German Talis, 22, was shouting obscenities at the Bushes, who were leaving the building Tuesday, when he crossed paths with Wendy and John Lovetro and their daughter Maureen, 18, who has cerebral palsy.

Representative Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.), son of Senator Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), boasted that his personal struggles with alcoholism, substance abuse and mental illness have made him a better member of Congress. “Look, the majority who elected me to serve as their representative obviously have mental problems of their own,” Kennedy admitted. “Drunks, addicts and the deranged deserve to be represented by someone they can more easily identify with. I’m their man.”

McALLEN - A federal jury on Monday convicted former Hidalgo County commissioner Guadalupe Garces and his wife Araceli of using their ambulance company to defraud Medicare and Medicaid of millions of dollars. The Garceses were found guilty in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas of conspiracy to commit health care fraud and several counts of health care fraud while operating A-Stat Ambulance Inc. The couple submitted more than $14 million in fraudulent claims to Medicare and Medicaid from 2001-2006, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. The ambulance company would pick up dialysis patients who were able...

NOTE: Hillary may have a problem using Barack Obama's connection to William Ayers and the Weather Underground.In 1985, former Weather Underground members Susan Rosenberg (who also was implicated in the Nyack robbery) and Linda Evans were apprehended while transporting 740 pounds of explosives which they both acknowledged were slated for use in additional bombings. Rosenberg was sentenced to 58 years in prison, Evans 40; President Bill Clinton pardoned both women in January 2001. ==================================================================== WEATHERMAN * Declared "war on Amerikkka"at its Flint War Council in 1969 * Responsible for the deaths of police officers and the wanton destruction of public...

CHICAGO, (AP) -- The government's star witness at the fraud trial of Antoin "Tony" Rezko testified Monday that Sen. Barack Obama and his wife attended a party four years ago at the home of the indicted political fundraiser. Stuart Levine said the party took place in April 2004 and was held to honor Iraqi-born Nadhmi Auchi, a London-based billionaire who was visiting the United States at the time. Rezko, 52, was a major fundraiser for Obama and Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and the trial has been closely watched because of Obama's presidential campaign. But very little has been said about the...

State Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, was indicted today on two counts of deadly conduct stemming from a night of alleged bizarre behavior last December. The class A misdemeanor carries a punishment range up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. A warrant was issued today for his arrest with the bond set at $1,000, Harris County Sheriff's officials said. Miles is accused of going to a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, confronting guests, displaying a pistol and forcibly kissing another's man's wife. Miles, who represents District 146, is the subject of a lawsuit related to his behavior. Miles...

Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, was indicted on two counts of misdemeanor deadly conduct in Harris County Monday. The charges stem from an alleged December incident in which Mr. Miles is accused of attending a holiday party uninvited, waving a gun and forcibly kissing a woman at the party.

State Rep. Borris Miles, D-Houston, was indicted today on two counts of deadly conduct stemming from a night of alleged bizarre behavior last December. The class A misdemeanor carries a punishment range up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. A warrant was issued today for his arrest with the bond set at $1,000, Harris County Sheriff's officials said. Miles is accused of going to a St. Regis Hotel ballroom uninvited, confronting guests, displaying a pistol and forcibly kissing another's man's wife. Miles, who represents District 146, is the subject of a lawsuit related to his behavior. Miles...

By the time Ald. Michael McGee's term ends Monday, city taxpayers will have paid him more than $67,000 while he has been sitting in jail, city records show. That includes a car allowance of more than $3,000 - even though McGee hasn't been able to drive in jail and couldn't legally drive before his arrest. And when he turns 60, McGee also will be eligible for a small city pension, based on his elected service and a previous job with the Milwaukee Public Schools. McGee, 38, was arrested last Memorial Day and has been charged with shaking down business owners...

As Hillary Clinton came under increasing scrutiny for her story about facing sniper fire in Bosnia, one question that arose was whether she has engaged in a pattern of lying. The now-retired general counsel and chief of staff of the House Judiciary Committee, who supervised Hillary when she worked on the Watergate investigation, says Hillary’s history of lies and unethical behavior goes back farther – and goes much deeper – than anyone realizes. Jerry Zeifman, a lifelong Democrat, supervised the work of 27-year-old Hillary Rodham on the committee. Hillary got a job working on the investigation at the behest of...

For nearly seven years, the nation has turned its terror focus on Al Qaeda and the hunt for Usama bin Laden. But there is a domestic terror threat that federal officials still consider priority No. 1 — eco-terrorism. The torching of luxury homes in the swank Seattle suburb of Woodinville earlier this month served as a reminder that the decades-long war with militant environmentalists on American soil has not ended. "It remains what we would probably consider the No. 1 domestic terrorism threat, because they have successfully continued to conduct different types of attacks in and around the country," said...

A radical environmentalist was sentenced Thursday to one year and one day in federal prison for speaking publicly about how to make a homemade Molotov cocktail. Rodney Coronado apologized for his past use of violent tactics in the name of animal rights and the environment, and said he had cut his ties to groups, including the Earth Liberation Front. "I have done things in my past that I now regret," Coronado told U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey Miller. He said he wanted to serve his sentence and then get on with his life in Tucson, Ariz. The 41-year-old activist pleaded...

State records seem to conflict with Governor Paterson's claim that a busy schedule as lieutenant governor required him on more than a dozen occasions to spend the night at expensive hotels in Albany on the taxpayer's dime rather than at his home in the suburbs. A copy of Mr. Paterson's 2007 official schedule obtained by The New York Sun shows that sometimes Mr. Paterson opted to stay at a hotel the night before a day that was free of official morning activities. Records suggest that many times Mr. Paterson's day did not begin until 9 a.m. On one occasion, he...

DETROIT - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide have pleaded not guilty to charges they lied under oath about having an affair. The mayor and former Chief of Staff Christine Beatty were arraigned Tuesday. Not guilty pleas were entered for them on charges of perjury, conspiracy, obstruction of justice and misconduct in office. Both are accused of lying under oath about an affair and their roles in the firing of a top police official. Steamy text messages first reported by the Detroit Free Press revealed a flirty, sometimes explicit, dialogue between the two. Attorneys for both say...

NY Gov. Paterson says he used cocaine Mon Mar 24, 9:23 PM ET NEW YORK - Gov. David Paterson said Monday he used cocaine in his 20s and smoked marijuana when he was younger. In reference to cocaine, Paterson, 53, said in a television interview that he "tried it a couple of times" when he was "about 22 or 23." "And marijuana probably when I was about 20," he said on the NY1 cable news station. "I don't think I touched marijuana since the '70s." He said "more Americans have tried a lot more during that period of time and...

ALBANY - Gov. Paterson, who confessed to repeated infidelities last week, admitted tonight that he used cocaine and marijuana when he was in his 20s. Paterson, 53, the former lieutenant governor who succeeded disgraced Gov. Spitzer last week, claimed on NY1 that he had only used cocaine "a couple of times" when he was "22 or 23" years of age. He said he had only used marijuana "probably when I was about 20," adding, "I don't think I've touched marijuana since the late 70s."

California corrections authorities on Monday began investigating the premature release of former Symbionese Liberation Army member Sara Jane Olson, who was imprisoned for a murder committed by the radical group and attempted bombings of police cars in the 1970s. State Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman Terry Thornton said the probe was being handled by the department's internal affairs division. Olson, 61, was released March 17, a year early. She was intercepted at Los Angeles International Airport Friday night and returned to prison on Saturday. In 2001, Olson pleaded guilty to attempted bombings of Los Angeles police cars in the...

DETROIT - A prosecutor poised to reveal the results of her probe into whether Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former top aide committed perjury or other crimes insists her own re-election bid did not affect the investigation. On Monday, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy will put an end to two months of speculation when she announces what she found in her independent review of a text-messaging sex scandal that has consumed the city. "We're not the ones that created this scenario," Worthy said Friday. "We are the ones who simply want to do the right thing and do a thorough...

February 28, 2005 Two women who say they were raped by the Assembly's former chief counsel Michael Boxley (an aide to Speaker Silver) have sent an unprecedented "open letter" to 212 state lawmakers, urging an end to the "victimization" of female employees.........in the wake of Senate Minority Leader David Paterson's decision to fire his receptionist, Neysha Williams, who complained of harassment — and a nonsexual violent assault — at the hands of Sen. Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn). "Rather than acting against the perpetrator, Sen. Paterson decided to transfer her Williams to another office after she complained," says the letter, a copy...

As a resident of New York City, I just wanted to remark that this really 'smells' of a Revolutionary-Left type action. Some leftist schmuck possibly inspired by the recent publicity given to Obama associate, and former leader of the communist terrorist group, The Weather Underground, William 'Bill' Ayers. --LC (Eye On The Left) Fri, Mar 7, 2008. This short message/warning? right below appeared on a blog on the NY Daily News website this morning, Friday, March 7, 2008: blogger: JahLuv Mar 7, 2008 6:00:23 AM: "I do not believe this was the work of a foreigner or some foreign national....

WOODINVILLE -- Explosive devices were found inside multimillion-dollar show homes that burned in a suburb north of Seattle Monday, fire officials said. Authorities also found a spray-painted sign purportedly left by a radical environmental group at the scene. The spray-painted sign, a white sheet that had the initials of the Earth Liberation Front in scraggly red letters, mocked claims that the homes were environmentally friendly, according to video images of the sign aired by KING-TV. "Built Green? Nope black!" the sign said.

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Fugitive environmental activist Tre Arrow is back in Portland to stand trial today in federal court on conspiracy and arson charges. The 34-year-old militant sought asylum in Canada in 2004, claiming he was a victim of political persecution. He fought extradition. But a recent 14-count federal grand jury indictment has charged Arrow with conspiracy, arson, attempted arson, and use of destructive devices. He is accused of taking part in the destruction of several concrete-mixing trucks at Ross Island Sand and Gravel Company in Portland in April 2001. He's also blamed with destroying logging trucks in June 2001....

Opening paragraph from the New York Times article on the eco-terrorists who burned three new homes north of Seattle today [emphasis added]: For people who are anti-sprawl activists — or have baser motives — a new-built house sitting empty in a previously rural area evidently makes a ripe target for an attack by fire. Consider also the article's headline "House Fires With a Message in the Northwest." Yes, think of it as a bonus. Not just a housefire . . . a housefire with a message!

Woman recalls confrontations with witnessesTACOMA -- A 32-year-old violin teacher and mother accused of conspiring with members of an Earth Liberation Front eco-terrorist cell took the stand in her own defense Wednesday and flatly denied any involvement in the 2001 firebombing of a University of Washington research center. Briana Waters and her attorneys sought to portray the main witnesses against her -- convicted eco-terrorists -- as liars, motivated by a desire to cut decades off their sentences and by sexually triggered anger. Waters, of Oakland, Calif., wore a white blouse with long blond hair tumbling down to her shoulders. "Did...

Santa Cruz, Calif. (AP) -- The FBI is investigating possible links between animal-rights activists in Southern California and a weekend attack on the home of a University of California, Santa Cruz researcher. Patti Hanson, an FBI spokeswoman, said the bureau was looking into possible connections to "domestic terrorism." A demonstration by six masked protesters in front of the UCSC scientist's Westside home Sunday afternoon turned violent when the group pounded on the door and were confronted by the researcher's husband, police reported. The incident invited comparison to recent attacks on UCLA researchers that were linked to animal-rights groups. No one...

Walter Cronkite’s remarks at the end of his February 27, 1968 evening news broadcast, four decades ago today, were a watershed in the history of the MSM’s credibility. Unless you’re at least 55 years old, you probably don’t remember that CBS broadcast 40 years ago. The most trusted man in America had recently returned from Vietnam where he hosted a documentary on the VC/NVA TET (New Year) offensive that began January 31, 1968. Back in NYC, he closed his program that night by introducing “an analysis that must be speculative, personal, [and] subjective.” Among his comments were these: Who won...

La. Rep. Jefferson appeals judge's ruling; trial to be delayedAssociated Press - February 20, 2008 6:24 PM ET McLEAN, Va. (AP) - The trial of Louisiana Congressman William Jefferson, who's charged with bribery, will be delayed so an appellate court can hear arguments on whether his status as a congressman protects him from prosecution. Jefferson's trial was scheduled to start Monday. Defense lawyers filed their appeal today in federal court in Alexandria. The appeal had been expected since earlier this month, when U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis the Third rejected the argument that the 16-count indictment should be tossed because...

Oklahoma City police recently caught a woman suspected of trafficking drugs. Officers were a bit surprised by who they arrested. The woman has been identified as 41-year-old Susan Freeman, an employee at the North Carolina Attorney General's office.

Casey Sheehan Died for This?   By Ben JohnsonFrontPageMagazine.com | Monday, February 18, 2008 Of the many outrages Cindy Sheehan has perpetrated since using her heroic son’s coffin as a pole-vault into national stardom, none has gotten less laudatory press than her recent intervention on behalf of 40 imprisoned members of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood. A typical headline adorning the Associated Press story declared, “Cindy Sheehan in Egypt for Islamists.” Yet none of this coverage – which has changed toned markedly since she decided to run against the Democratic Speaker of the House – has exposed the Brotherhood’s extremist ideology,...

Jefferson strategies may be incompatible One defense Rep. William Jefferson has mounted to contest federal bribery charges against him might be undermining another defense he has raised. Jefferson contends he shouldn't be charged with public bribery because he never performed "official acts," such as voting or introducing legislation, to promote business ventures in Africa. He also has tried to get the bribery charges thrown out by saying the grand jury that indicted him in June heard details of his legislative activities in violation of the Constitution's "speech or debate" clause. But in a written ruling last week, U.S. District Judge...

DETROIT -- A member of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's staff filed a police report claiming Detroit City Council Pro Tem Monica Conyers threatened him with a gun at a board meeting on Wednesday. Conyers' chief of staff, Sam Riddle, told Local 4 that Conyers never threatened him with a real gun and what she said was that she had a bigger gun than Milton, and the gun was her husband. Riddle said she was referring to a political gun. Conyers is the wife of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Detroit. Milton also reported that Conyers said, "I am going to have my...

DETROIT -- A member of Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's staff filed a police report claiming Detroit City Council Pro Tem Monica Conyers threatened him with a gun at a board meeting on Wednesday. A general retirement system board meeting turned into a profane shouting match when Conyers asked the board to pay a firm to conduct a study about a potential investment. Pension board member DeDan Milton told Conyers the board could not afford to fund the study. Witnesses said the argument quickly escalated and profane language was used.

~EXCERPT~ Homeland Security: In a new court filing, federal prosecutors describe the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a supporter of terrorists. So why are Democrats still supporting the organization?CAIR's boosters on the Hill, where it's headquartered just three blocks from the Capitol, have known for some time that several people in positions of power within the group have been directly connected to terrorism and have either been prosecuted or thrown out of the country. Yet lawmakers have gone right on singing CAIR's praises and doing its bidding. That agenda includes suing John Doe witnesses, censoring critics of Islamism and denying...

"...A top official in Gov. Deval Patrick's administration is accused of sexually assaulting a boy in the steam room of a Florida resort and has been placed on unpaid leave....Carl Stanley McGee, the assistant secretary for policy and planning, was arrested Dec. 28 after the suspected assault at the Gasparilla Inn and Club in Boca Grande, according to the Lee County Sheriff's Office. ...McGee, 38, met the boy, who police said is between 12 and 16 years old, in a bathroom at the resort a day earlier where they engaged in small talk, according to the police report..."

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick went on the radio Friday to lash out at the Detroit Free Press for the sex-text scandal -- and tell Detroiters that he's on a mission from God.

By Karen Dandurant kdandurant@seacoastonline.com February 08, 2008 6:00 AM PORTSMOUTH — Rochester physician Terry Bennett said he rented a city building to people who worked for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign — and skipped town without paying the bill. Making matters worse, Bennett said, the 3,000-square-foot building at 236 Union St. was left trashed. Campaign signs were left lying all over the place, he said. Interactive Map Loading... Landlord: Clinton staff stiffed me on rent 5 km 3 miData ©Navteq,TeleAtlas©2006 Yahoo! Inc.Related Stories Clinton doesn’t pay, others say CLINTON PHOTOS Photo galleries of Hillary Clinton's visits to the Seacoast, N.H....

The New Mexico Democratic Party caucus may be tainted by three ballot boxes that spent the night in the home of the Rio Arriba County party chair or the homes of other local election officials instead of being reported to the state party. Those ballots still haven’t been counted, but they have been retrieved by the state party. Several sources told me the ballot boxes spent the night at the home of Rio Arriba County Democratic Party Chair Theresa Martinez, whose state-lawmaker husband, Sen. Richard Martinez, endorsed Hillary Clinton. But Richard Martinez told Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Kate Nash...

Judge refuses to toss out indictment against La. congressman2/6/2008, 6:07 p.m. CST The Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge has refused to toss out an indictment against a Louisiana congressman accused of taking bribes, rejecting the argument that the indictment unconstitutionally infringed on his privileges as a congressman. The ruling Wednesday could prompt a delay in the trial of Rep. William Jefferson, D-Louisiana, who faces up to 235 years in prison on bribery and other charges. According to court papers, defense lawyers have indicated they will likely appeal the ruling. Normally defendants are only allowed to appeal such...

The home of a primate researcher was firebombed on Tuesday, marking the second attack at the same residence in the past four months, authorities said. An incendiary device charred the front door of the home of Edythe London, who is a professor of psychiatry and molecular and medical pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles. No one was at home when the attack occurred, FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack, but animal rights activists are suspected of carrying out previous efforts at the homes of UCLA scientists who use animals in their research....

Jefferson nickname will be left out of trialProsecution won't call him 'Dollar Bill' Friday, February 01, 2008 By Bruce Alpert WASHINGTON -- The lead prosecutor in the government's corruption case against Rep. William Jefferson, D-New Orleans, says the government doesn't intend to mention the congressman's "Dollar Bill" nickname, used by his political enemies, unless the defense claims he is the "victim of entrapment or outrageous government conduct." The stipulation is in a letter from prosecutor Mark Lytle to Jefferson's lead attorney, Robert Trout, released Thursday by the Virginia federal court where Jefferson will face 16 bribery-related charges in a trial...

A Clinton campaign adviser will skip arraignment on an aggravated driving while intoxicated charge and is scheduled to stand trial next month, Nashua District Court records show. Sidney Blumenthal, 59, of Washington, D.C., was arrested after midnight Jan. 7, a day before the New Hampshire primary. Sgt. Michael Masella said he spotted Blumenthal’s rented Buick heading north on Concord Street in the area of Greeley Park, allegedly at about 70 miles an hour.

NIAGARA FALLS, Ontario - Danny Glover has been convicted in Niagara Falls, Ontario, for trespassing in a hotel during a union rally in 2006. Glover, who wasn't in court, was convicted Thursday along with UNITE HERE union representative Alex Dagg and Ontario Federation of Labour President Wayne Samuelson. Canadian Niagara Hotels charged the three with trespassing at their Sheraton on the Falls property during a Sept. 16, 2006, protest. The 60-year-old actor took part in the protest as part of a larger campaign that aims to increase salaries and improve working conditions for hotel workers in the U.S. and Canada....

Schools Paying Students To Boost Test Scores Incentives Part Of $6M Plan To Boost Student PerformancePOSTED: 10:31 am EST January 24, 2008 UPDATED: 2:22 pm EST January 24, 2008 BALTIMORE -- Students in Baltimore's high schools will get a cash incentive to boost their scores on the state graduation exams. The school system plans to spend nearly $1 million on the incentives. Do You Think Students Should Be Paid? Students who have failed at least one exam under Maryland's High School Assessments will earn $25 for improving test performance by 5 percent. If they improve an additional 15 percent, they...

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick bristled in the witness chair last year when asked whether he had an affair with a top aide. No, the mayor confidently told jurors, the two were never romantically involved. But a trove of 14,000 text messages that emerged this week tell a different story: The mayor and his chief of staff carried on a flirty, sometimes sexually explicit dialogue about where to meet and how to conceal their numerous trysts. Now the mayor's indiscretion has landed him in a Clinton-style scandal that could cost him his job and his law license and even bring perjury charges....