Free Republic

May this horrible act of terrorism be the begining of the end of "political correctness". Today’s interview with Col. Ralph Peters is below the fold. The colonel has always been a voice of reason when it comes to military matters, Iraq and Afghanistan. A noted soldier, author and columnist, I asked for clarity on the Fort Hood massacre when we set this up and he certainly gives it.

Law enforcement officials suspect a home invasion in Leon County is connected to a serial rapist who has been terrorizing elderly women in rural areas of Texas for months. On Saturday, police say a man broke into the home of an 81-year-old woman. The woman had a handgun and managed to fire several shots, scaring the man away. The burglar got away with some cash and other items, but the woman was not hurt. Investigators believe this incident may be connected to a series of sexual assaults on elderly women across four Central Texas counties, including Bell County. At least...

At Saint Mary the Virgin Catholic Church, the 75-year-old priest is married, members sing from an Episcopalian hymnal and parishioners kneel at the altar to receive Communion. Years ago, the Texas parish and a handful of other conservative Episcopal churches in the U.S. decided to become Roman Catholic. Though they were confirmed by the Vatican, they were still allowed to practice some of their Anglican traditions, including having married priests. Now, these churches may have helped pave the way for Anglicans worldwide, or Episcopalians as they are known in the U.S., to become Catholic under a new Vatican plan created...

A man San Marcos police said was shot after breaking into a home on Oscar Smith Drive armed with a BB gun, is in stable condition today at University Medical Center Brackenridge, police Commander Penny Dunn said. Police released no names involved in the shooting as they continued their investigation, Dunn said. No charges have been filed in the case, she said. Officers were first called at 9:50 p.m. Wednesday from someone reporting a break-in in progress at the back door of a home in the 700 block of Oscar Smith Drive, Dunn said. One of three people in the...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with U.S. Bank, NA, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, to assume all of the deposits and essentially all of the assets of nine failed banks. The nine banks were closed this evening by federal and state bank regulators, which appointed the FDIC as receiver. The nine banks involved in today's transaction are: Bank USA, National Association, Phoenix, Arizona; California National Bank, Los Angeles, California; San Diego National Bank, San Diego, California; Pacific National Bank, San Francisco, California; Park National Bank, Chicago, Illinois; Community...

ShotSpotter sensors were slated to be installed on electrical poles in a one-square-mile area in a north Oak Cliff neighborhood. The sensors work by picking up the sonic waves emitted by gunshots, triangulating the location of the gunfire and notifying 911 operators to send police.

McALLEN — With the forecast calling for another freezing cold night, Richard and Vickie Burton packed the car and fled south for the blistering heat of the Rio Grande Valley. After a chilly summer in Missouri and with fall quickly covering the Midwest in cold, the Burton family drove more than 16 hours last Saturday, joining hundreds of other Winter Texans who returned early to their winter homes. "(The snow) was coming down and they took flight just like we did," he said. "It’s probably ahead of time. They don’t get this kind of weather until sometime in November and...

Forget what you've heard about a glut of new houses on the market. For three years, Dallas-Fort Worth builders have sold more homes than they have constructed. So the inventory of finished new houses has fallen so low that homebuyers may encounter a shortage when next year's market kicks off.

The Texas Department of Transportation is pulling the last plug on the Trans-Texas Corridor, Gov. Rick Perry's embattled plan to build a toll-road network across the state. The agency said earlier this year it was scaling down the project and dropping the name "Trans-Texas Corridor." Now, transportation officials say it's fully dead. Transportation Commissioner Bill Meadows told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram of the decision in a report posted online Tuesday. The news comes a day after Perry's Republican primary opponent, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, secured the coveted endorsement of the powerful Texas Farm Bureau — a vocal opponent of the...

Further proof that the Church is alive and thriving in the South: word that a new Benedictine monastery is being established in the Lone Star State. From the Dallas Morning News: Here in cow country about 70 miles southeast of Dallas, amid scattered pecan trees and sloping fields of milkweed, six monks have come to live and pray. They came from a monastery in New Mexico and, before that, from Vietnam. "It's Buddhist, isn't it?" said 65-year-old Charlie Jock, who lives several miles away, making him one of the new monastery's closest neighbors. He'd heard of it, but hadn't gone...

This year's legislative session made several changes regarding concealed handgun licenses. House Bill 2730 and House Bill 2664 concern CHL policies and the authority of DPS to enforce those policies. As of today, defaulting on a student loan no longer disqualifies a concealed handgun applicant and a Justice of the Peace can no longer confiscate your conceal-and-carry permit if you refuse to display it while you are not in possession of the weapon. And the eyes of the law are a little more tolerant concerning carrying a firearm in public places. Previously, carrying a firearm into a business that derives...

San Marcos: Two Teens Dead, One Hurt in Shooting Newsroom 9/4/2009 Two Luling teenagers are dead and a third seriously wounded after they were shot by a resident in an attempted home invasion early Friday in San Marcos. The shootings happened shortly before 2 a.m. on Chestnut Street on the west side of San Marcos. One 16-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene and a second 16-year old died at Central Texas Medical Center. A third teen, also 16, was transported to Brackenridge Hospital in Austin with serious wounds. Police are withholding the identities of the teenagers as the investigation...

Truth is treason in the empire of lies. Ron Paul's inspiring "what if" speech to Congress on 2nd Feb 2009 setting out his vision of US foreign policy. [Click Here]

Who has the best chance to hold the Senate seat for the GOP? I don’t think it is any of the announced candidates. It’s a member of the Texas congressional delegation, whose members are worried about whether any of the wannabes can hold the seat against a Democrat. –This candidate has a large, enthusiastic constituency that goes beyond the boundaries of his district and his state. –This candidate won’t have to spend a nickel on name ID. –This candidate has $2,742,426 cash on hand. –This candidate is totally in touch with the GOP base, as it evolves further and further...

No charges have been filed against a 21-year-old man who police say was trying to protect his mother when he fatally stabbed the woman's boyfriend during a fight. Houston police said the woman's son stabbed Bruce Simmons, 49, about 9:20 p.m. on Friday in the 6300 block of Skyline Drive. Simmons was taken to Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The case will be referred to a Harris County Grand Jury without charges. The woman's son, whose name has not been released because no charges have been filed against him, was trying to defend his mother while...

Gun control organizations claim that shall-issue concealed carry laws are a menace to society. For example, in License to Kill IV: More Guns, More Crime, Violence Policy Center (VPC) cited Texas Concealed Handgun Licensee (CHL) arrest data to insinuate that CHLs were violent criminals, and that these laws are a failure. However, such reports ignore the fact that our justice system is based upon the principle of “innocent until proven guilty,” because arrests do not prove that a crime was committed. Also, the VPC report made no attempt to compare CHL arrest rates to corresponding rates for the non-CHL population....

“It is in all of our best interest that we have a Republican Party that’s worthy of governing in Texas and also having the message go out to American that the biggest state that is still reliably Republican is a state that has enlightened Republicans in leadership.”

The Texas Public Policy Foundation released findings from a recent study which shows how the health care reforms pending in Congress would affect Texas.

Video of Angie Cox, founder of Burleson Tea Party, confronting Chet Edwards yesterday at the Burleson Chamber of Commerce http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhDgPoeDiPo

HOUSTON—Life can change in a second. It can also end. Cell phone store owner, Javid Iqbal saw both on Wednesday afternoon, in just 17 seconds. “It is a part of my life that I will have to remember all of the time,” Iqbal recalls. It was amazingly fast. Security video released to 11 News showed Iqbal behind the elevated counter, when the would-be robbers rush the store. Two men with bandanas covering their faces, the leader gun in hand, vaulted over the case. But in the five seconds that it took, Iqbal was already around the corner in the back,...

Beaumont police are looking for a man witnesses say has a gunshot wound to the arm after he robbed the Gulf Street Liquor Store in Beaumont. Beaumont Police Officer Crystal Holmes tells KBMT 12 news around 10:30 a.m. Friday patrolmen were called to the 3000 block of Gulf Street in Beaumont where a 9-1-1 caller reported an armed robbery. The store owner told police a man with wearing a black cap, long sleeve black shirt, black baggy jeans and an orange bandanna used a large-caliber handgun in the robbery. As the robber started to leave the clerk grabbed his own...

A man from Kosovo wanted in a New York City slaying awaits extradition from South Texas. The Border Patrol said Wednesday that Arber Mustafaj, 35, was detained with two other men from the former Yugoslavia, including his brother, just before midnight Monday.....

An 18-year-old man was fatally shot early Sunday morning at a far West Side home, authorities said. The man, who has not yet been identified, was shot once in the head around 4:30 a.m. at a home in the 5800 block of Cliff Path, said Sgt. Barry Smith with the San Antonio Police Department. Smith said the man and several others had been fighting near the home when another man, who officers said owns the home, came outside. He began to fight with the others, Smith said, and then is believed to have shot the victim on his front porch...

HOUSTON—Kobie Diallo Willaims, 36, convicted of conspiring to unlawfully possess firearms by an alien and supporting the Taliban, has been sentenced to prison, United States Attorney Tim Johnson, FBI Houston Division Special Agent in Charge Richard C. Powers and David Kris, Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department's National Security Division, announced today. At a hearing today before U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr., Williams, a U.S. citizen and resident of Houston, was sentenced to 54 months imprisonment without parole and fined $5,000. Williams pleaded guilty in November 2006 to conspiring with several foreign nationals, some of whom had entered...

AUSTIN, TX (AP) - A website for U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison contained hidden phrases including "rick perry gay." Hutchison's campaign officials said they bought a tool that generates phrases to find out the most frequent web searches using Hutchison's and Gov. Rick Perry's names. Hutchison spokesman Jeff Sadosky said Hutchison's campaign was not condoning those words and did not know thousands of people would be searching for them. He said they would be removed from the site. Perry's campaign is accusing the Hutchison team of being slanderous and of setting a negative and divisive tone. The two Republicans are...

Rick Perry said Thursday that Kay Bailey's Hutchison's statements that he should leave the governor's race were "bizarre."

A southwest Houston man who told police he shot a knife-wielding carjacker Thursday morning is a getting a strong show of support from some of his neighbors. “He was protecting us,“ said Jaime Zaldivar, who has lived next door to August Peters, 74, for several years on Carona near Wilcrest. Peters pulled in front of the home about 6:30 a.m. when he noticed another car drive past and park along the curb across the street, police said. Soon after Peters got out of his car, Martin Baltazar, 18, came up to him and jammed a knife against his throat, Houston...

The U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, is warning Americans to be aware of a “new spike in cartel-related violence” around the border state of Chihuahua and recommended travelers avoid the northwestern portion in particular. “Drug cartels and associated criminal elements have retaliated violently against individuals who speak out against them or who they otherwise view to be a threat to their organization, regardless of the individuals' citizenship. The U.S. Consulate General urges all Americans to exercise a high degree of caution when traveling to Ciudad Juarez and within the state Chihuahua,” read the text of the message issued July...

HOUSTON—Houston homicide detectives are investigating a shooting in Southeast Houston involving an uncle and a nephew. Police arrived at the scene in the 6000 block of Doulton Drive around 2 a.m. Tuesday. When they got there, officers said they found a 40-year-old man in the middle of the street with a shot to the chest. That man was transported to Ben Taub in critical condition and later died. The man’s uncle said he called police after shooting his nephew. In an interview with police, the 50-year-old uncle told investigators that it all started late Monday night when he asked his...

Driving and using cell phones - we all know the dangers. But now, new evidence suggests it's not only dangerous, but deadly. Federal officials have long had the evidence that shows drivers on the roads, who are talking on a cell phone, hands free or not, are running the risk of getting involved in a deadly accident. Officials recommend talking on a cell phone while driving should only be done in an emergency. However, this evidence never saw the light of day. A long-term study the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration suggested to fully assess the threat was never done....

Ok fellow Freepers, here it is: Sen Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-TX, will vote 'YES' in favor of confirming Sotomayor to the SCOTUS. I believe she is ready to toss Republicans overboard in favor of the 20% hispanic vote.I hope everyone that reads this is able to come back and say I was wrong.

Local newsy sings off late night anchor duty in tearful "goodbye;" professes love for fellow anchor. It's a demotion in cost cutting move, but he tries to put a happy face on it. Oh, and he'll still work with her on the 6pm broadcast daily, so how self-indulgent is this? Here's the vid and you'll need to catch the last 60 seconds or so for the really cheesy stuff. Not for weak stomachs.

A man shot and wounded an intruder at his apartment Wednesday in Sugar Land, police said. The shooting happened at the Fairmont Apartments in the 2300 block of Long Reach about 12:15 p.m. An apartment resident said he feared for his life when a strange man rushed him in is apartment, said Doug Adolph, Sugar Land Police Department spokesman. The resident fired his gun and shot the man, Adolph said No charges have been filed against the resident. The case is under investigation.. "At this point it appears to be self-defense," Adolph said. Adolph said the resident, who has not...

When Ed Jordan hung two flags from his front porch – one for his country and one for the Marine Corps he once served in – he thought no one could take issue with his gesture to honor the troops during the Fourth of July. He never imagined he would return to his Far North Dallas home from an errand Monday morning to find the flags burned....

The debate over U.S. immigration policies has become personal for a Longview family. Linda Bischoff said Americans have forgotten the engraving on the Statue of Liberty: "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free ..." She also said federal laws and lack of knowledge by the public have forced people seeking refuge to enter the United States illegally. "I used to think, 'Why don't they just get a visa and come here legally?' " Bischoff said of illegal immigrants. "Now, after going through the endless process of paperwork and extreme cost and still not being...

HOUSTON—Surgeons at Houston’s Methodist Hospital are using technology from video games to prepare for delicate operations. In a low-light room they liken to a cave, doctors use an Xbox controller to manipulate video images of patients’ livers, colons, even brains, looking for the best ways to do life-and-death procedures. . See video at website...

There are still lots of FReepers who have not chosen to fly their flag. You don't have to provide any additional information, although lots of FReepers have provide pictures, e-mail addresses, and the like, you don't have to! It would be nice if you would at least "fly your flag".This allows other FReepers in your state to FReepmail you to let you know about local FR events - rallies, chapter meetings, and other activist events. Even if you don't plan to participate, it'll keep you informed of what is happening in your state. Now, FLY YOUR FLAGS! Even if you...

A 17-year old boy is dead after he was fatally shot by a homeowner for refusing to leave his property. 69-year old Dwayne Austgen confronted the teenager when he noticed the boy in his front yard of his Harris County home and told him to leave. After the teen left, Austgen found a crack cocaine pipe that the boy had left and took it home with him. A short time later, the 17-year-old Vidal Herrera came back and asked about the crack pipe. Austgen ordered the teen to leave again but instead of leaving, Herrera walked towards the man. Austgen...

(Brownsville, TX) -- Nearly two-thousand rounds of ammunition was seized from a southbound motorist at the Texas-Mexico border this week. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers and Border Patrol agents working outbound enforcement operations in Brownsville, Texas discovered the undeclared ammunition hidden in boxes of detergent. The driver of the southbound pickup truck was referred for a secondary examination on Tuesday, and discrepancies were discovered in two boxes of detergent found in the truck bed. CBP officers discovered the five-point-56 caliber ammunition in large plastic bags, commingled with the powder detergent. Authorities arrested 41-year-old Brownsville resident Mario Salinas on federal...

Deputy Constables: Teen Claimed They Were 'Victims' SPRING, Texas -- A woman opened fire when two robbery suspects broke into her Spring home on Sunday, KPRC Local 2 reported. Harris County Precinct 4 deputy constables said the 34-year-old was alone inside the home in the Timberlane subdivision on Briarcreek Boulevard near Cades Cove Drive at about 6 a.m. Investigators said the woman opened fire when the attackers burst through her bedroom door. "She's in her bedroom, locked in her bedroom. And she could hear them rustling through the rooms about the house. She grabbed her weapon and you know, held...

"But after that, certainly I was very pro-Reagan," Hutchison said last week. "Loved Ronald Reagan. Supported him, was chairman of his Women for Reagan committee in Texas [in 1980]. I've got a lot of Reagan supporters supporting me for governor right now.

An alleged carjacker was shot and killed in north Houston Saturday morning, police said. At about 6:15 a.m., witnesses pulled Darryl Milton Franklin Jr., 37, out of a car that he was reportedly breaking into in the 1100 block of Langwick Drive. As they waited for police to arrive, witnesses saw him attempt to break into other vehicles and even try to commit a carjacking, authorities said. Franklin attacked a man who approached him. The man, who was carrying a permitted concealed weapon, shot Franklin, said Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties. The shooting is being investigated by the District Attorney’s...

"Because I speak in civil tones, some want to try to label me a moderate," she said. "My voting record is one of the most conservative in the U.S. Senate. ... We can't expect to remain the majority party in Texas if we drive out voters that support Republican principles but might not agree on every single issue."

TEXAS CITY — A 77-year-old Korean War veteran fired one round Monday, wounding one of two masked men suspected in the robbery of a game room on the outskirts of the city, authorities said. There were about 12 patrons inside Players Paradise, 4801 state Highway 146 Suite B, when a frequent guest knocked on the door, Capt. Brian Goetschius of Texas City police said. The game room, which was robbed at 12:44 a.m., was open only to members, Goetschius said. “They looked through the monitors and recognized him as being there before,” Goetschius said. “They ordered everyone to the ground,...

FORT WORTH — Police said a homeowner in far south Fort Worth shot and killed an apparent intruder shortly after midnight Saturday. According to a preliminary investigation, a resident in the 8100 block of Camelot Road told police he had heard someone in his backyard and grabbed a shotgun. The 37-year-old man told police he fired approximately five times at the suspect and then went back inside the house to protect his children. The 24-year-old man who was shot stumbled to the front yard, where he was found dead. He was identified by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's office as...

PITTSBURGH (AP) - Colleges nationwide have unconstitutionally barred students from handing out literature, protesting and gathering in support of the right to carry weapons on campus, students and an advocacy group say. Christine Brashier, a freshman at the Community College of Allegheny County near Pittsburgh, said a dean recently told her she had to stop distributing fliers for the group Students for Concealed Carry on Campus, which has chapters at many colleges, and destroy the pamphlets she had designed. "I won't be forced into silence. I just wanted to start a student organization. I didn't think it was going to...

Just before walking into Babcock Square Pharmacy, the gunman lurked suspiciously around the parking lot Wednesday morning — even moving his car several times before making his move. Carole Ann Aguirre, manager of the neighboring Martha's Mexican Restaurant, said the white Honda lingered enough that her grandson, Christopher, mistook it as that of a relative's and walked up to it. “He opened the car door and thought it was his uncle,” Aguirre said. “But he saw the man had a bandana around his face and was wearing rubber gloves, so he came back in and told us what happened.” Aguirre's...

AUSTIN - The Texas Senate passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 54 by State Senator Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) to express opposition to federal legislation infringing on the individual right to keep and bear arms. “I filed this resolution to reassert our constitutional right to keep and bear arms,” said Estes. “The Second Amendment is fundamental to the founding of our republic and a cornerstone to our personal freedoms.” The resolution reasserts our “right to keep and bear arms to protect oneself, one’s family, and one’s possessions from either the lawlessness of other persons or the tyranny of the government.” Senate Concurrent...

KVUE reported that on Tuesday, police found “assorted parts from assault rifles and thousands of rounds of ammunition” in a dumpster in north Austin. However, the Statesman reported that police found “eight upper receivers for an AR-15 rifle” and “about 2,000 rifle rounds.” KXAN reported that while “AR-15 receivers” were found, there were no parts with serial numbers. The straight scoop Mark Wilson, Acting Resident Agent in charge of the Austin branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) said they found 8 upper receivers with barrels for AR-15 semi-automatic rifles. When an AR-15 is fired by...