Free Republic

Mel Gibson, under investigation for domestic violence, admits to hitting Oksana Grigorieva and TWICE threatens to kill her in an explosive new audio tape obtained and released exclusively by RadarOnline.com. The enraged actor tells the mother of his eight-month old daughter Lucia “you deserved it” after she says that he hit her and broke her teeth. Mel’s stunning admission could be a powerful piece of evidence against him in the criminal investigation that is headed for the district attorney’s office and right now being conducted by the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department. The new tape features a ranting, out-of-control, Mel who...

PAHRUMP, Nev.—Like a scene from a Western movie, the two top lawmen here are settling their scores in public. In May, a Nye County sheriff's deputy arrested the district attorney. The sheriff, Tony De Meo, alleges that the D.A., Robert Beckett, was misusing public funds. According to Mr. De Meo, public money had gone to supporting the local cheerleading squad, led by the D.A.'s wife, and to make a family friend's car payments. No charges have been filed, in part because Mr. Beckett, the D.A., refuses to charge himself. Meanwhile, Mr. Beckett appointed a special prosecutor to investigate possible abuses...

The Progressives (a.k.a. Democrats) are up to their old tricks. On the eve of the eve of the Fourth of July Weekend, counting on little attention being given to their actions in the House due to celebration preparations, they are discussing and voting on HR 4899 Additional FY2010 and Disaster Spending. Now who could be against providing more funds to assist our boys in uniform, especially right before the Fourth of July, right? That is the Progressive Strategy and that is why they have attached numerous ‘expenditures’ which have nothing to do with funding the War in Afghanistan. This bill...

SACRAMENTO -- The county district attorney says Republican state Sen. Roy Ashburn's blood-alcohol level was .14 percent when he was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving after leaving Faces, a gay bar and nightclub. Ashburn has voted against every gay rights measure the senate has voted upon, according to Project Vote Smart. The California Highway Patrol says the Bakersfield lawmaker was arrested early Wednesday after he was spotted driving erratically. Ashburn was taken to the Sacramento County Jail, booked and then released. Ashburn, the married father of four, was reportedly driving with a male passenger who was not identified. A...

The news is only available at Detroit News, which can't be linked. Looking for another source to add. Basically his brother Atty Geoffrey Fieger has confirmed. He had been suffering from lung and brain cancer.

TUCSON - Arizona Governor Jan Brewer says the state is facing some of the worst financial days ever. On Monday, she met with lawmakers in an emergency meeting. She said even after the legislature approved a budget bill over the weekend, Arizona still faces a $1.5 billion dollar deficit this year, and a projected $3.4 billion dollar shortfall next fiscal year. The bill contained $193 million in funding cuts to reduce state services and state salaries. So, on top of cutting employee pay by up to 5 percent, Brewer says Arizona could make up millions by taking non-violent illegal immigrants...

LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE — Two storms appeared to be on course Friday to hit Southern California next week with potentially heavy rainfall that could unleash floods of mud and debris-laden water from wildfire burn areas into adjacent communities. The National Weather Service said the exact tracks of the storms and rainfall amounts were still uncertain, but it was likely that rain would fall over the region on Monday and possibly through the week until Friday. There was a possibility showers could arrive as early as Sunday night, the NWS said. A major area of concern is the string of Los...

Vietnam devalued its currency by 5.4 per cent against the dollar yesterday and raised interest rates by a full percentage point in an effort to cut inflation and underpin the beleaguered dong. The dong has come under pressure recently as inflation started climbing and domestic demand, driven by the country's $8bn stimulus programme, drove the current account deficit to close to $2bn a month. It was trading on the grey market at 19,800 to the dollar on Tuesday but came back to 19,500 after the government move. Analysts, however, questioned whether financial markets would believe the latest move had put...

OTTAWA (Dow Jones)--Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Thursday G20 countries have to coordinate planning stimulus exit strategies."That's important so that one country's banking system isn't advantaged over another country's banking system as we exit from this period of stimulus, which isn't going to happen for a while," Flaherty told reporters. He expects G20 finance ministers and central bank governors to discuss exit strategies at their weekend meeting in St. Andrews, U.K. He cautioned, "Not that it's time to implement exit strategies but that we coordinate our planning in terms of exit strategies." Regarding moral hazard when some banks are...

...Milk dumped on roads and farmland to protest drastically lower prices... European milk farmers have dumped three million litres of fresh milk onto pastures and roads in a massive, organized protest against lowered dairy prices. In Belgium, farmers spread milk across roads near the southern town of Ciney. Elsewhere, about 300 tractors dragged milk containers through plowed fields in southern Belgium, dumping a day's worth of milk production in that region. "It is a scandal to dump this, but we have to realize what the situation is," said Belgian farm leader Erwin Schoepges. "We need a farm revolt." Milk farmers...

Barbra Streisand has been left baffled after fans accused her of rigging a "cute pet" competition so her friend could win a prize to watch her in concert. The veteran singer is due to play at notorious jazz venue Village Vanguard in New York on Sept. 26 - 48 years after she appeared there to open for legendary musician Miles Davis. Two tickets for the gig were put up as top prize in a dog contest - which Streisand's friend Marilyn Smart's pooch Dina won on Monday. Smart boasted about her win on her online blog, telling readers she scooped...

NEW YORK, Aug 25 (Reuters) - The U.S. attorney in New York on Tuesday charged a New York investor and major Democratic fund-raiser with a $74 million scheme to defraud Citigroup Inc (C.N). Hassan Nemazee, 59, was charged with one count of bank fraud, and faces up to 30 years in prison plus a fine. His lawyer Marc Mukasey, a former federal prosecutor, did not immediately return a call seeking comment. Nemazee was a national finance chair of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, and a supporter of John Kerry's run for the White House in 2004....

More than 150 publicly traded U.S. lenders own nonperforming loans that equal 5 percent or more of their holdings, a level that former regulators say can wipe out a bank’s equity and threaten its survival. The number of banks exceeding the threshold more than doubled in the year through June, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as real estate and credit-card defaults surged. Almost 300 reported 3 percent or more of their loans were nonperforming, a term for commercial and consumer debt that has stopped collecting interest or will no longer be paid in full. ... At a 3 percent...

ELKHART COUNTY — Dairy farmers across the country are being milked dry by rising production costs and falling prices. On Friday, the federal government unveiled a new plan aimed at providing "immediate relief." But, will it work? And, what will it mean for you at the grocery store? The U.S. Department of Agriculture plan will raise the price paid at commodity markets for milk and cheddar cheese. Administrators call it a "dairy price support program." Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says it will help the dairy industry weather "one of it's worst crises in decades." The price paid by dairy...

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (KABC) -- Most public officials like red light cameras, but many motorists do not. The city of Los Angeles is concerned it could lose these high-tech "speed catchers" because of one company's financial woes. The red light cameras are scattered at intersections all over Southern California, but the company that runs them is also in the red. "For this particular company, our information is they're $33 million in debt. That's a major problem," said L.A. Councilman Dennis Zine. The company, Nestor Traffic Systems out of Rhode Island, filed for receivership in June.

Revenue shortfalls lead to new budget gaps only three weeks into the new fiscal year. States are forced to make more painful budget cuts.NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The bad news about state budgets just keeps getting worse. Only three weeks into the new fiscal year, gaps are already opening up. And the shortfalls are only expected to grow. "If you think legislators are breathing a sigh of relief because their budgets are passed, think again," said William Pound, executive director of the National Conference of State Legislatures. State legislators and governors had to contend with deficits totaling $142.6 billion as...

LLOYDS Banking Group is set to reveal £13 billion worth of write-offs on bad debts when it releases results for the first six months of 2009, it was reported yesterday. When group chief executive Eric Daniels unveils the interim results in August, the bank will report another huge hit on its commercial property, business and mortgage loans, despite suggestions that the worst of the recession is over. Analysts at UBS calculated the bank will see pre-tax losses of more than £6bn for the first half of the year alone. Total write-offs at Lloyds – 43 per cent owned by the...

PALMDALE - A day after Michael Jackson's sudden death, paparazzi and entertainment news photographers converged Friday on the Palmdale home of Jackson's ex-wife Debbie Rowe, who gave birth more than 10 years ago to two of the pop star's children. Rowe, who married Jackson in 1996, lives in a single-story ranch-style home, surrounded by pepper trees, pines and other trees, with two dozen horses and stables in the rear. The couple divorced in 1999. Rowe's home on Friday was barricaded by four cars - two at each opening to her semicircular driveway, with a "No Trespassing" sign on a wooden...

38, 39, 40. First National Bank of Anthony, Kansas Southern Community bank of Fayetteville, Georgia Cooperative Bank in Wilmington, North Carolina

Trend forecaster Gerald Celente has been getting a lot of attention lately. He has a pretty good track record, having predicted the crash of '87, the rise of Starbucks, the bail out frenzy, among others. Now he's forecasting a super-depression come 2012. I first came across Mr. Celente's doomsday predictions a few months back. In November I did a post that challenged his predictions. I agreed that we had serious problems, but I was much more confident that we would recognize and reverse the situation before it got ridiculous. Now, I'm beginning to think Mr. Celente's predictions of total financial...