Free Republic

More than six months after government officials seized his rare vintage military aircraft, Claude Hendrickson said he is still in the dark about why the airplane was confiscated and when and if it will be returned to him. Until the 1952 airplane -- believed to be one of only a handful of Douglas AD-4N Skyraiders in the U.S. -- is released from federal custody, Hendrickson said the aircraft will slowly deteriorate because he can't maintain it. ---- Virginia Dabbs, spokeswoman for Customs and Border Patrol, said she could not comment on Hendrickson's claims. "We don't harass people," Dabbs said.

BATON ROUGE, La. -- LSU's governing board has agreed to the expropriation of property to build a new public teaching hospital in New Orleans and a nearby new veterans hospital. Without objection Friday, the LSU Board of Supervisors approved the use of expropriation. The resolution allows state officials working on the projects to seek a court order to seize private property if the owners refuse to sell. A judge would decide the purchase price the state must pay. More than 450 separately-owned parcels of land are located in the footprint of the planned U.S. Veterans Affairs' hospital and the $1.2...

Hezbollah will underscore its case against Tehran in the international community, observers said Thursday. "Officials in Jerusalem had not dared even to dream of better timing for the capture of the vessel carrying so much arms and ammunition bound for Hezbollah," an editorial in Israel's Maariv newspaper said. "The capture of the ship was, for Israel, like a gift from heaven." The Israeli navy on Wednesday seized a ship carrying what it described as "hundreds of tonnes" of weapons, including rockets, grenades and ammunition, that it said was sent from Iran to the Lebanese Hezbollah militia. A UN Security Council...

The “innocent until proven guilty” concept is at the very heart of our legal system. Government ought not be able to exact punishment for a crime until proof has been established, beyond a reasonable doubt, by a jury of one’s peers.But this foundational principle of justice has been tossed out the window in recent years, at least in one realm, that of civil or asset forfeiture. Civil forfeiture allows police to seize more than $1 billion worth of property each year — cash, cars, boats, etc. — that is alleged to have been used in the furtherance of a crime.The...

CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director U.S. Congress Washington, DC 20515 July 22, 2009 Honorable Steny M. Hoyer Majority Leader U.S. House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Dear Mr. Leader: This letter responds to your request that we review an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 2920, the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2009 (the amendment), provided to CBO on July 21, 2009. On July 14, 2009, CBO provided an analysis of the version of H.R. 2920 that was introduced on June 17, 2009, which would establish new statutory pay-asyou- go (PAYGO) requirements and authorize the Administration...

The plan would give the government new powers to seize key companies whose failure jeopardizes the financial system, as well as creation of a watchdog agency to look out for consumers' interests. Reporting from Washington -- The Obama administration this week will propose the most significant new regulation of the financial industry since the Great Depression, including a new watchdog agency to look out for consumers' interests. But critics say the easing of the financial crisis that gripped the country last year appears to have reduced the momentum for some of the most far-reaching proposals, such as merging several banking...

Feds seize Madoff's mansion, yacht, small boat By BRIAN SKOLOFF and By TAMARA LUSH, Associated Press Writers 1 hr 1 min ago PALM BEACH, Fla. – Federal authorities seized disgraced financier Bernard Madoff's Palm Beach mansion, his vintage yacht and a smaller boat Wednesday, part of an effort to recoup assets to pay back investors he swindled. Barry Golden, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, said about five marshals arrived at the 8,753-square-foot, five-bedroom mansion late Wednesday afternoon, hours after the boats were seized.

I cant' escape it. No matter where I turn I see news that makes no sense and has only a minimal attachment to reality - at least my reality. By that I mean the reality that I grew up with. The reality where America - the place I was born and raised - was a constitutional republic with a capitalist economic system. That's where I came from. That's my comfort zone. But now I'm not even sure we still have a constitution. If we do it must be in tatters. Today I read that my President is about to hand...

U.S. goes after Madoffs homes, boats, piano By Grant McCool NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors want swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife Ruth to forfeit more than $100 million worth of homes, cars, boats, securities, silverware and a piano following his March 12 guilty plea, according to court papers. Homes in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Florida, Cap d'Antibes, France and on New York's Long Island, valued at a total of $22 million, $17 million in a bank account and at least $45 million in COHMAD Securities Corp, a brokerage part-owned by Bernard Madoff, are on the government's list seen on...

Mohamed Shommo, an engineer for Cisco Systems Inc., travels overseas several times a year for work, so he is accustomed to opening his bags for border inspections upon returning to the U.S. But in recent years, these inspections have gone much deeper than his luggage. Border agents have scrutinized family pictures on Shommo's digital camera, examined Koranic verses and other audio files on his iPod and even looked up Google keyword searches he had typed into his company laptop. "They literally searched everywhere and every device they could," said Shommo, who now minimizes what he takes on international trips and...

RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration. Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly. The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for...

Nicholas May Soon Fly on Gulfstream G-IV In a decision which could have wide-ranging implications for US law enforcement at all levels, US District Judge Cormac Carney told prosecutors pursuing drug and investment charges against Broadcom executive Henry T Nichols III that they went too far in seizing his Gulfstream G-IV and threatening to impound it indefinitely.As ANN reported last week, the California businessman asked the court's permission for his family to continue flying the bizjet...The 1993 Gulfstream, registry N2107Z, was seized in a July 16 raid at John Wayne Airport. The FBI asserts Nicholas "...distributed ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine and...

/begin my translation Kim Jong-il Experiencing Intermittent Irregular Seizure from Stroke Chinese Intelligence, "Will have long-term effect on his rule" Park Seung-joon, Beijing N. Korean leader Kim Jong-il, who is said to be recovering from stroke, is experiencing intermittent and irregular seizure, which is why he could not attend the 60th anniversary celebration of N. Korean state's founding on Sept. 9, a reliable diplomatic source on N. Korea in Beijing said on Sept. 11. The source said that a senior Chinese official visited Pyongyang a few days before the anniversary and did meet Kim Jong-il, and he reported (his findings)...

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho -- A University of Idaho graduate student who is under investigation for suspected terrorism ties obtained unauthorized access to a campus lab containing radioactive material, court documents allege. Sami Omar Al-Hussayen, a Saudi national working on his computer science doctoral degree, quietly moved his student office from the Computer Science Department into the school's engineering isotope lab, apparently without his adviser's knowledge, according to the documents. "The investigation of Sami Al-Hussayen has, from its outset, been focused on suspected material support to terrorism, particularly to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network," FBI agent Michael Gnecknow said in the...

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Today, at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), U.S. Marshals seized various animal food products stored under unsanitary conditions at the PETCO Animal Supplies Distribution Center located in Joliet, Ill., pursuant to a warrant issued by the United States District Court in Chicago. U.S. Marshals seized all FDA-regulated animal food susceptible to rodent and pest contamination. The seized products violate the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act because it was alleged in a case filed by the United States Attorney that they were being held under unsanitary conditions. (The Act uses the term "insanitary" to describe...

World's biggest drug seizure in Afghanistan By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor Last Updated: 12:38AM BST 12/06/2008 Afghanistan's police claim to have made the largest drugs seizure in history after they discovered hashish worth at least £200 million. Afghan counter narcotics officials uncovered 260 tons of hashish hidden in 6-foot-deep trenches in southern Afghanistan About 260 tons of narcotics were found in trenches and bunkers in Kandahar province in southern Afghanistan. No previous haul comes close to matching this find, which weighed roughly the same as 30 double-decker buses. The previous record was set by Colombia's security forces when they uncovered...

BOSTON (AP) — Sen. Edward M. Kennedy's hospitalization after a seizure stretched to a third day Monday, raising questions about the severity of his illness. The senator's office announced that he is not expected to return to Washington this week, and a spokeswoman said the Massachusetts Democrat had not been available to take a call from President Bush earlier in the day. "Take care of my friend," the president told Vicki Kennedy, who answered the call from the White House to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to Kennedy spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. There was no word on how long Kennedy, 76, would...

‘Blake is having a seizure, and they’re hurting him’Blake Dwyer remembers pain: The agonizing burn of electrical shock. And shouting. And fear. “I thought a swarm of wasps was after me,” the 17-year-old Guyer High School athlete said. “I was trying to fight them off.” He doesn’t remember the epileptic seizure he suffered July 18, 2007, when he was 16. He doesn’t remember fighting to keep from being tied to a stretcher or hitting a paramedic. His brother, Travis Baker, 17, remembers all of it. He recalls screaming at Corinth police to stop shocking Blake with a Taser. His mother,...

BOSTON - A spokeswoman for Sen. Edward Kennedy says he is conscious and talking to family after he suffered a seizure in his Cape Cod home and was flown to a Boston hospital. The 76-year-old Massachusetts Democrat fell ill at his home Saturday morning and was rushed to a local hospital. He later was flown to Massachusetts General Hospital to determine the cause of the seizure. Spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said he is "conscious, talking, joking with family." His wife, children and niece Caroline Kennedy are among those with him at the hospital. The second longest serving member of the Senate...

Computer attacks typically don't inflict physical pain on their victims. ADVERTISEMENT But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images. The breach triggered severe migraines and near-seizure reactions in some site visitors who viewed the images. People with photosensitive epilepsy can get seizures when they're exposed to flickering images, a response also caused by some video games and cartoons. The attack happened when hackers exploited a security hole in the foundation's publishing software that...

Computer attacks typically don't inflict physical pain on their victims. But in a rare example of an attack apparently motivated by malice rather than money, hackers recently bombarded the Epilepsy Foundation's Web site with hundreds of pictures and links to pages with rapidly flashing images.

EL PASO — Customs agents found nearly $1.9 million hidden in the doors of a sport utility vehicle at an El Paso port of entry, U.S. Customs and Border Protection announced on Tuesday. Agents found the cash, wrapped in bundles and hidden in the doors of a 1992 Ford Expedition, after using a density meter to inspect the vehicle Monday morning, CBP spokesman Roger Maier said. "The driver was a little bit nervous, a little bit shaky," Maier said. "So the agents used ... a density meter. It registered higher than normal, consistent with contraband. They started looking closer at...

LIMA — Two robbers who broke into Luther Ricks Sr.’s house this summer may have not gotten his life savings he had in a safe, but after the FBI confiscated it he may not get it back. Ricks has tried to get an attorney to fight for the $402,767 but he has no money. Lima Police Department officers originally took the money from his house but the FBI stepped in and took it from the Police Department. Ricks has not been charged with a crime and was cleared in a fatal shooting of one of the robbers but still the...

Zimbabwe's farm seizure blocked The land reform programme has been accompanied by violence A southern African regional court has ordered Zimbabwe not to proceed with the seizure of a white farmer's land. The Namibia-based Southern African Development Community (Sadc) tribunal ruled in favour of Mike Campbell, who argued that the seizure was racist. The outcome is seen as a blow to President Robert Mugabe's programme to transfer land to the black majority. The ruling should allow Mr Campbell to remain on his farm until Zimbabwe's Supreme Court hears a group challenge. Mr Campbell had asked the Sadc tribunal to overturn...

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - A Moscow court has given the green light for the seizure of 100 pct of the shares of the Russian oil group Russneft, Russian news agencies reported, citing a Russian interior ministry statement. 'A Moscow court has approved the seizure of 100 pct of the shares of the company. Russneft shares have now been seized,' the statement said. The ministerial press office was unavailable for comment. The seizure follows a judicial procedure launched in January by the interior ministry's committee responsible for tax arrears. Another Moscow court had found in favour of the Russian fiscal authorities...

Jefferson linked to BR sugar companyBy GERARD SHIELDS Advocate Washington bureau Published: Jul 3, 2007 - Page: 1A WASHINGTON — Baton Rouge-based Arkel Sugar was the subject of two 2001 meetings between federal Export-Import Bank officials and U.S. Rep. William Jefferson or one of his aides about a sugar plant in Nigeria, bank officials have confirmed. Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat, was indicted June 4 on a wide range of public corruption charges, including that he solicited bribes from companies wanting to do business in Nigeria. Jefferson has pleaded innocent to the 16 counts. The indictment accuses him of trying...

BRANFORD – A federal appeals court has upheld a decision that a former Branford High School teacher has to forfeit interest in his local home to the government, but decided that his wife shouldn't have to because she wasn't actively involved in her husband's marijuana cultivation. Harold Von Hofe and his wife, Kathleen, were charged in 2001 after police raided their 32 Medley Lane home and found 65 marijuana plants, glass smoking pipes and other items associated with the cultivation of marijuana in the house's basement. The Von Hofes ultimately resolved their criminal cases in state Superior Court. Harold Von...

The "Shadow Wolves" lead a 2½ ton pot bust on the Tohono O'odham Nation, worth an estimated $2 million. The Native American trackers spotted vehicle tracks leading off a road. The found two trucks concealed by tarps.

South Africa to step up land seizure By Bill Corcoran in Johannesburg and Mike Pflanz Last Updated: 2:29am GMT 02/03/2007 White farmers in South Africa who refuse to sell their property to the government under a land redistribution scheme were told yesterday that their property would be seized. Under an election promise made in 1994, the ruling African National Congress said it would return all land taken during colonisation or apartheid back to black South Africans by 2008. Many of the deals have gone through under a "willing buyer, willing seller" scheme, but farmers still holding out for a better...

Next big test of power to seize property? The US Supreme Court will examine whether a private company can demand payment in exchange for not seizing private property. By Warren Richey | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor Bart Didden wanted to put a CVS pharmacy on his property in Port Chester, N.Y. He even obtained approvals from the local planning board. But because a portion of the CVS site was in a blighted redevelopment zone, Mr. Didden was told that planning board approval wasn't enough. He'd have to reach an understanding with a private company that had been...

They are meant to reduce crime by helping police spot problems. By the end of the year, 40 cameras will cover 31 locations in the area. It's part of a plan first announced in January by Dallas Police. Grant money will cover the 840-thousand dollar price tag for the cameras. Police will monitor the cameras from their headquarters and City Hall. Some residents feel apprehensive about the surveillance, seeing it as an invasion of privacy. But others say the cameras could help curb petty crime and random violence.

(New Haven-WTNH, Sept. 19, 2006 10:45 PM) _ A student's refusal to walk through a safety detector earns him a trip home. For some the installation of metal detectors in schools is to better protect those inside. One New Haven student is refusing to walk the walk, questioning whether his rights are being violated. The district says it is like the right to enter a courtroom or get on a plane. It's new policy to keep young people safe. For this New Haven student it's all about his fourth amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures. Nick...

In New Jersey, one's home is not one's castle after all. The real castle, it turns out, is the car. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 4-3 yesterday that police do not need a reason to ask permission to search someone's home. The same court four years ago issued rules saying police must have a good reason before asking motorists if they can search their cars. Yesterday the court said the rules for cars -- which prohibit police from asking motorists if they can conduct a search unless they have "a reasonable and articulable suspicion" of criminal activity -- are...

This is story that would have made the front pages in ordinary times;but,happening as it did - on the 5th anniversary of 9/11 weekend - it went unremarked. Owing to the circumstances, Hugo Chavez might have been rather unhappy-and this might account for some of his snarky remarks this week !

AUBURN -- The man behind the wheel of the speeding vehicle thrashed in the throes of a grand mal seizure, but it seemed that only Jill Crowell recognized that fact. Early-morning traffic rolled en masse in both directions along the four lanes of Center Street as drivers scurried to their jobs, but the 2000 Chevrolet Blazer never slowed. Drivers pounded horns and wrestled with their steering wheels as the runaway vehicle tore into the roadway from a McDonald's parking lot. Crowell, one car back from the scene, heard the horns and saw the brake lights. But what she saw inside...

"Police blotter" is a weekly CNET News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law. What: A business traveler protests the warrantless search and seizure of his laptop by Homeland Security at the U.S.-Canada border. When: 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on July 24. Outcome: Three-judge panel unanimously says that border police may conduct random searches of laptops without search warrants or probable cause. These searches can include seizing the laptop and subjecting it to extensive forensic analysis. What happened, according to court documents: In January 2004, Stuart Romm traveled to Las Vegas to attend a training seminar...

It's not been a bad week for the pro-firearms side of the ideological battle for America. On Monday, a California judge struck down San Francisco's ban on handgun possession by city residents. Proposition H was struck down after Superior Court Judge James Warren found that this latest attempt at handgun banning in San Franciso exceeded the powers of the local government; intruding into areas of law that were the sole purview of the State of California. Hence, Proposition H was tossed. Still no word on an appeal, but having had the same type of law struck down twice since the...

In some countries the use of eminent domain can be a life or death issue. Last June, in the small village of Shengyou, China, six people were killed and 50 injured in a bloody clash between farmers and hundreds of armed thugs sent by government operatives to seize their land. This was just one of thousands of disputes over land appropriation that take place each year in China Fueling these conflicts is the ambiguous nature of property ownership in China. The rights of farmers who hold land collectively are not made clear under Chinese law. Although farmers can acquire property...

WASHINGTON - When the US Supreme Court ruled in June that private homes may be seized to make room for commercial development projects, the decision ignited a firestorm of criticism. Outraged property-rights activists said the 5-to-4 opinion in Kelo v. New London would render homes and businesses nationwide vulnerable to government land-grabs to foster economic revitalization. Some ranked it among the high court's worst decisions, calling it this generation's Dred Scott. Now, six months later, the debate over property rights is still raging, but it is about to enter a new, more deliberative phase as state legislatures prepare to open...

  Dear Friend of the ACU:Kiss your civil liberties and right to privacy goodbye! Do you believe that you should be compelled to carry a National ID Card that is imprinted with your fingerprint or your DNA imprint or other highly personal and private information?Do you believe that you should be required to produce this ID card on demand -- when you go to the grocery store or cross state lines or pay your taxes or at the whim of some petty government bureaucrat?This is not science fiction folks -- nor is it a scene out of a futuristic "B-movie"...

DETROIT -- Red Wings defenseman Jiri Fischer had a seizure on the Detroit bench late in the first period of Monday night's game against the Nashville Predators and was listed in stable condition at a hospital. Fischer was given CPR at the bench by team physician Dr. Tony Colucci before the 25-year-old native of the Czech Republic was removed on a stretcher. The game was called off with no makeup date immediately announced. "His heart was stopped," Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "They hooked up the auto defibrillator and shocked him." Team spokesman John Hahn said Fischer was taken...

For the past few years, we've been hearing from the liberals about how the Patriot Act is trampling our constitutional rights. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, not one American citizen has lost his/her rights because of the Patriot Act. Now, with no declaration of martial law, the 2nd Amendment is being illegally and openly violated by the New Orleans Police Department. Yet there is not one whimper from the liberals about the Constitution being trampled.

A few months ago, this ranch was known as Camp Thunderbird, the headquarters of a paramilitary group that promised to use force to keep illegal immigrants from sneaking across the border with Mexico. Now, the 70-acre property about two miles from the border is being given to two immigrants whom the group caught trying to enter the United States illegally. The land transfer is being made to satisfy judgments in a lawsuit in which the immigrants had said that Casey Nethercott, the owner of the ranch and a former leader of the vigilante group Ranch Rescue, had harmed them. "Certainly...

SACRAMENTO – Government's historic power to take land has been exercised to clear out slumlords and revitalize decaying downtowns, as well as manipulated to uproot homeowners and mom and pop stores to make way for mega-malls and high-rises. Hit with scattered horror stories but convinced from her experiences on the San Diego City Council that eminent domain can be a valuable tool for progress, state Sen. Christine Kehoe says it's time to rethink how local governments use – and sometimes abuse – their broad powers of condemnation. The San Diego Democrat has introduced legislation that includes an immediate two-year moratorium...

Critical Areas Ordinance foes register name, taking it from less vocal property rights group Just who is the ``real'' Rural Majority?Ron Ewart of Fall City and Preston Drew of Carnation think it's rural folks like them. Foes of government, they oppose any regulation they figure tramples on their property rights. On their side are roughly 18,000 residents who signed petitions to do away with the county's controversial Critical Areas Ordinance and two other pieces of environmental regulation.What they didn't have was a catchy name that, as a bonus, carried great symbolic weight.They've got one now -- at the expense of...

The Homeowner & Property Protection Act A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by amending Section 19 of Article I thereof, relating to eminent domain. WHEREAS, This measure shall be known and may be cited as “The Homeowner and Property Protection Act”; and WHEREAS, Eminent domain has been subject to widespread abuse in California, whereby local governmental entities have condemned property and transferred it, by sale, lease, or otherwise, to the control, management, or exploitation of private entities for private use and profit on the theory that...

A critic of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that governments may seize private property for economic development is suggesting the process be used to replace Justice David Souter's New Hampshire home with a hotel. "The justification for such an eminent domain action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest as it will bring in economic development and higher tax revenue to Weare," Logan Darrow Clements wrote in a fax to town officials in Weare Tuesday. [. . .] Clements is CEO of Los Angeles-based Freestar Media, which fights "abusive" government. "This is not a prank," he said...

Legalized Theft Mark Jurries II @ 8:11 pm Y'all have no doubt heard about the Supreme Court's decision to allow local governments to seize homes if it's proven to be in the public's interest. This is, as Thomas Fleming and Joseph Farah have pointed out, a trampling on a vital right, the right to land ownership. Essentially, this ruling takes the view that the government owns the land in practice, and can boot tenants out as it sees fit. While I generally don’t get all worked up over greedy businesses and what have you, it’s nonetheless obvious that unscrupulous...

Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker said Thursday’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling on private property rights will not affect state homeowners because of protections in the state constitution. Baker, in a statement released to media, said the Georgia Constitution and more than 100 years of state court precedent prevent condemnation for private purposes. "Fortunately for Georgians, our state constitution and state judiciary have consistently held that condemnation for private purposes is not acceptable under state law, a position that will be unaffected by today’s federal court ruling," Baker wrote.