http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/shakedown/ en-us Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:14:26 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417738/posts While this may be a vanity, I believe it is another chapter in a growing trend of government to prey on its citizen subjects to add to their coffers.Yesterday, while returning home from a Christmas visit to relatives, my daughter was picked up on I-77 just north of the Big Walker Mountain Tunnel.She is 24, a cautious driver and never had a speeding ticket before. I'm 54 and have had only one, when I was slightly younger than she is now.The circumstances of the ticket are suspect. She was passing a semi-trailer going in the 50's on a steep downhill... Speedtraps.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2417738/posts#comment Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:14:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413256/posts State officials and advocates for the rights of the disabled are hailing a $1.1 billion settlement of a suit regarding access to sidewalks and facilities owned or maintained by the state's Department of Transportation. "This settlement is a win-win," said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in a statement released by Caltrans today. . . . Sacramento Bee http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2413256/posts#comment Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:41:13 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410203/posts Just in time for Obama to announce it, and it only cost the USA 100 billion dollars. Thanks Hillary. Climate draft deal agreed December 18, 2009 – 1:30PM Leaders and ministers from 28 countries including Australia have outlined a draft accord to fight global warming. The details of the draft are not known yet but the move came hours before some 130 world leaders were set to convene in the dying hours of the climate summit at Copenhagen. Representatives from key blocs, covering both rich and developing countries, embarked on late-night negotiations in a desperate bid to hammer out a... Watts Up With That http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2410203/posts#comment Fri, 18 Dec 2009 07:02:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409442/posts India's environment minister accused rich countries of planning a "propaganda campaign" to blame developing nations for any breakdown in negotiations. Developing economies are expected to add almost all future growth in carbon emissions. "We are in the end game," said Jairam Ramesh. "It's only a matter of time before the blame game starts. Already some developed countries are accusing the G77 [developing nation group], Africa. This is completely, incomprehensively wrong." European environment ministers said talks were in danger. "We've got a serious situation," German environment minister Norbert Roettgen told Reuters. The Copenhagen summit is meant to agree a global climate... National Post [Canada] http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409442/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 13:01:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409428/posts Hillary Clinton has given US backing to proposals for a $100 billion-a-year international fund to tackle global warming in developing countries in a boost for deadlocked talks at the climate change summit in Copenhagen. The US Secretary of State said the science for climate change is now “undeniable” and the world must agree a deal in the next 48 hours. In a move that will widely be seen as a grand gesture to force developing countries to sign up to a deal, she said the US would be willing to pay into a global fund of $100 billion (£60bn) per... Telegraph (U.K.) http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2409428/posts#comment Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:44:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407436/posts Africa's frustration at the UN climate summit boiled over on Monday as delegates walked out of key talks and continental giant Nigeria warned the negotiations were now on red alert. Sources at the marathon talks said Africa led a five-hour boycott of working groups, with the backing of the Group of 77 developing nations, and only returned after securing guarantees that the summit would not sideline talks about the future of the Kyoto Protocol. The Kyoto Protocol ties rich countries - but not developing countries - that have ratified it to legally binding emissions curbs. It also has an important... Nine News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2407436/posts#comment Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:59:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403762/posts Alistair Darling today gambled Labour's future on a highly-political Pre-Budget Report that targets the better-off to help reduce Britain's collossal debt. In what the Tories branded his 'pre-election report', the Chancellor slapped a £560million 50% 'super tax' on bankers' bonuses, affecting any payouts over £25,000. And he sought to draw up the battle lines of the next general election by announcing thousands more high earners would be clobbered by the new top tax rate of 50% which comes in next year. It was due to hit people earning more than £150,000 when it comes into force next April but today... Daily Mail http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2403762/posts#comment Wed, 9 Dec 2009 16:16:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401841/posts LONDON (Reuters) – Humanity faces a profound emergency and unless we combine to take decisive action, climate change will ravage our planet, a joint editorial published in newspapers in 45 countries said on Monday. The 56 newspapers said they were taking the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice to implore world leaders to "make the right choice" at U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen. "The politicians in Copenhagen have the power to shape history's judgment on this generation: one that saw a challenge and rose to it, or one so stupid that we saw a calamity coming but did not... Reuters on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2401841/posts#comment Mon, 7 Dec 2009 04:31:00 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2363322/posts Rep. Michele Bachmann is all over radio presenting information on the corruption of congress, banking and ACORN. And NO, they're not going to let her on mainstream TV news! She explained that the CRA required banks to lend to unsound applicants OR they could instead contribute to.....ACORN. It's even worse than Bachmann presents it. We found this article from the year 2000, there were others as well...we were ASLEEP! This is just a few snips, long, worth the read. And remember, Clinton started misusing the law passed by congress - the Community Reinvestment Act, but for 8 years after the... TheTownCrier http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2363322/posts#comment Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:20:50 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372053/posts Congressional Democrats are set to announce Tuesday legislation aimed at squeezing more information from foreign banks and U.S. citizens with offshore accounts to ferret out tax evaders. The bill from Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.), and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.), includes some of President Barack Obama's proposals to fight offshore tax cheating. According to a summary of the bill obtained by Dow Jones Newswires, it is expected to raise $8.5 billion for the U.S. government over 10 years. Foreign banks with U.S. customers would face a 30% withholding tax on income from... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2372053/posts#comment Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:17:09 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369268/posts KENSINGTON, Md. - Public parks are usually the places where children go to have fun. But the town of Kensington just passed a new rule that bans kids over five years old from playgrounds during the daytime...The girls at Kensington's Brookewood School are banned from using a public park right across the street for recess. "I don't think it's really fair because we're part of the community too and we want to play in the park," said Jill Collins, a fifth-grade student. The town council unanimously passed a resolution this week saying only caretakers with children five years old and... ABC 7 News http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2369268/posts#comment Fri, 23 Oct 2009 15:25:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362977/posts The 1977 Community Reinvestment Act, enacted under President Jimmy Carter, was intended to end "redlining," a practice in which banks supposedly ruled off many inner-city neighborhoods on their maps, refusing to issue mortgages within their boundaries. The immediate result was that -- to please regulators who have the power to shut down private banks -- bankers started reducing their financial standards, issuing loans to low-income or low-net-worth customers who might not previously have qualified. These lowered standards led, in part, to the housing market meltdown. But the Community Reinvestment Act did something a lot more troubling than that. It allowed... Las Vegas Review-Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2362977/posts#comment Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:01:41 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2352070/posts WHEN government of ficials play the Olympic lottery, tax payers lose. That has been the disastrous experience of host cities around the world. So, why are President Obama and his White House entourage headed to Copenhagen, Denmark, this week to push a fiscally doomed Chicago 2016 bid? Political payback. Bringing the games to the Windy City is Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley's "vision." The entrenched Democratic powerbroker -- in office since 1989 -- would like to cap off his tenure with a glorious $4 billion bread-and-circuses production. The influential Daley machine backed Barack Obama in the presidential primaries. Obama lavished... NY Post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2352070/posts#comment Thu, 1 Oct 2009 00:39:25 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2349586/posts As various charges and complaints have materialized over the years, it seems that ACORN uses the communities in which they are located as staging grounds for national power grabs. With multiple states and entities receiving federal funds, ACORN plays to win. Aiding ACORN are groups like DEMO’s, the Democracy Alliance, Soros Open Society Institute, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). The Washington Examiner has covered ACORN’s: “Muscle for the Money” program: Big Government http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2349586/posts#comment Sun, 27 Sep 2009 19:00:23 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2349386/posts SEIU endorses Obama *Aiding ACORN are groups like DEMO’s, the Democracy Alliance, Soros Open Society Institute, and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). *“ACORN’s so-called ‘muscle for money’ strategy extorts ‘donations’ from targeted government and corporate officials by offering them Mafia-like protection from protests by the group’s own paid thugs, ..” *..their 2007-2008 ventures with SEIU against the Carlyle Group that deserve a closer inspection. .. *“...SEIU .. staged a protest outside the Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters of The Carlyle Group as part of the union’s bid to organize Manor Care, the Toledo-based nursing home giant Carlyle is buying for... Big Government http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2349386/posts#comment Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:59:02 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2302636/posts Evil exists—evil people, I mean. Take Barbara Hall. She’s “Chief Commissioner” of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (HRC). That’s a place where someone can go and tattle on his fellow Canadians when he feels his “human rights” have been violated. The beautiful thing is, he gets to decide what those rights are and how they have been violated. No complaint is too frivolous! And there cannot be too many of them. In fact, Hall doesn’t think enough Canadians are ratting each other out because she wants the number of complaints to “spike”: she desires to boldly seek out “known and... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2302636/posts#comment Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:01:03 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2280876/posts "LOS ANGELES – Michael Jackson's family wants a private autopsy of the pop icon because of unanswered questions about how he died and the doctor who was with him, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said Saturday. "It's abnormal. He couldn't be found," he told The Associated Press from Chicago a day after visiting the Jackson family. "We don't know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed."" Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2280876/posts#comment Sat, 27 Jun 2009 21:58:17 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270884/posts "My grandfather paid for Carlisle Chevrolet from his labors. My father paid my grandmother for Carlisle Chevrolet through his efforts. It took me nearly 20 years to pay my parents for Carlisle Chevrolet. It took GM and Chrysler a mere 24 hours to take Carlisle Chevrolet from me." BREITBART http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2270884/posts#comment Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:52:10 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2257497/posts Democrats not shy about chasing cash Despite recession, lobbyists note increase in requests for campaign contributions Sunday, May 24, 2009 3:38 AM By Jim Siegel Ohio House Democrats returned to power in January after 14 years in the minority and brought with them an aggressive fundraising style that some lobbyists wish they had left behind. More than a half-dozen lobbyists, some independent and some representing influential trade groups, say House Speaker Armond Budish and his team are asking for "outrageous" amounts of campaign cash -- setting unprecedented goals and telling some groups they need to give House Democrats as much... The Columbus Dispatch http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2257497/posts#comment Sun, 24 May 2009 22:58:32 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2246780/posts SNIPPET: "Forget the "60 Minutes" angle against an alleged big, bad American polluter. This looks like an Ecuadoran shakedown of millions of American small investors who have a stake in Chevron. Now that is a story worth investigating." (WASHINGTON TIMES Editorial) via FRONTPAGE MAGAZINE.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2246780/posts#comment Fri, 8 May 2009 10:59:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2224371/posts While Shakedown is most certainly a cautionary tale that will educate unsuspecting Canadians of the ever-present threat to their freedom of speech, it should be required reading for Americans who see their liberty and freedom under attack from the forces of political-correctness, and to an increasing degree, the current Obama administration and their policy of appeasement. The Moderate Separatist http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2224371/posts#comment Tue, 7 Apr 2009 21:51:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2224305/posts NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. civil rights activist Al Sharpton weighed into a fight over an Arizona sheriff's immigration sweeps on Tuesday, accusing him of racially profiling Hispanics and urging him to step down. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio has dispatched deputies into Hispanic communities in the Phoenix area, where they stop people and arrest anyone who cannot prove he or she is a legal U.S. resident. Under a deal allowing them to enforce federal immigration laws, the deputies have arrested more than 1,500 people who they determined were in Arizona illegally, triggering street protests and condemnation from Latino activists... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2224305/posts#comment Tue, 7 Apr 2009 19:57:20 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2216484/posts The next shoe is dropping in an effort to end what is described as decades of persistent and systemic bias at the agencies that create, buy and place television commercials and other forms of media advertising. The N.A.A.C.P. is calling on the nation’s 25 biggest advertisers — on TV and in other media — to require that their agencies use racially diverse teams of employees in creative and account-management posts. The first letter in the initiative is to be sent to Procter & Gamble, the No. 1 advertiser in the United States with ad spending last year, according to the... NY Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2216484/posts#comment Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:55:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2204331/posts WASHINGTON – A day after his White House meeting with President Barack Obama, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the United States a "deadbeat" donor to the world body while making the made the rounds on Capitol Hill. Ban's criticism Wednesday of the U.N.'s single biggest backer irked some members of the House Foreign Relations Committee. They were generally supportive of his leadership but voiced concern about U.N. efforts in areas from Sudan to Somalia. "He used the word 'deadbeat' when it came to characterizing the United States. I take great umbrage (over) that," Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the panel's senior Republican, said... AP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2204331/posts#comment Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:21:46 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2198980/posts American Vision received a phone call from an NPR station yesterday (3.3.2009) asking me to appear on one of their shows to answer the charge by the Southern Poverty Law Center that our organization is a “hate group.” (For the record, I don’t do interviews with media outlets that are subsidized by tax dollars.) The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) has listed American Vision as a “hate group” under the “other” category on their website because we are “anti-gay.’[1] I guess the majority of people in California who voted to outlaw homosexual marriage are also “haters.” Of course they are.... American Vision http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2198980/posts#comment Wed, 4 Mar 2009 15:45:04 GMT