Free Republic

In the last few months, I have received half a dozen e-mails inviting me to become a "friend" on Facebook. Some of these are from my beloved children, some from colleagues and former students, and others from people I barely know. In every case, I have politely declined, explaining that I detest the idea of Facebook and refuse to be emotionally blackmailed into joining it solely to avoid offending them. My first reason for opposing Facebook is the sheer phoniness of it. "Friends" are collected and displayed, like a stud's panty collection in a frat house. The very indiscriminateness of...

Thousands of Ohioans are getting asked some curious questions online and over the phone lately, such as: How old is your grandchild? What brand of car do you have? How long is your mortgage? Many of these people have a question of their own: What is this—some kind of scam? The answer: The quiz is legit, part of an effort by the state to thwart … scams. Specifically, the filing of phony tax returns. Under the new program, some Ohioans who have filed their taxes get letters in the mail from the state Department of Taxation directing them to take...

resident Obama is poised to show his "compassion" this week by granting work cards to an estimated five million illegal immigrants through an imperial executive order. As for the vast, untold number of law-abiding citizens whose identities have been stolen by foreign law-breakers, two words: Tough luck. Social Security card fraudsters have made out like bandits thanks to the White House. Their victims are about to get kicked in the teeth again. Two years ago, when Obama launched his first administrative amnesty known as "DACA" (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the White House gave aid and comfort to illegal alien...

The Internal Revenue Service issued $4 billion in fraudulent tax refunds last year to people using stolen identities, with some of the money going to addresses in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Ireland, according to an inspector general's report released Thursday. The IRS sent a total of 655 tax refunds to a single address in Lithuania, and 343 refunds went to a lone address in Shanghai. In the U.S., more fraudulent returns went to Miami than any other city. Other top destinations were Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta and Houston.

To enroll in a new ObamaCare health insurance plan on the federal marketplace, most consumers must first provide private personal information. But buried in that website's blueprint (known as "source code") lies an alarming warning first unearthed by the Weekly Standard. "You have no reasonable expectation of privacy regarding any communication or data transiting or stored on this information system," reads the disclaimer, which does not appear on the site's visible "Terms and Conditions" page. The disclaimer continues: "At any time, and for any lawful Government purpose, the government may monitor, intercept, and search and seize any communication or data...

BRIDGEPORT -- A Waterbury woman who worked as an examiner for state Department of Motor Vehicles has been convicted of participating in a scheme to sell hundreds of driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and felons. Janette Rodriguez-Roman, 34, of 56 Diane Terrace in Waterbury, collapsed into sobs as the verdict was announced Thursday in Bridgeport Superior Court. "Oh my God! Oh my God, my children, my children," she cried as marshals handcuffed her and led her away. Her lawyer said she has "four or five" children and was in process of adopting another. Rodriguez-Roman was convicted of 38 counts, including...

According to a Des Moines Register news story, "In a blunt and stinging letter, the governor and the top officer of the Iowa National Guard on Tuesday called federal immigration officials' actions in the Swift raids "completely unacceptable," saying agents undermined the public's trust in government, potentially jeopardized the safety of law enforcement personnel in Iowa and could have compromised undercover operations." For the full story, see here.

The immigration raids on meatpacking plants in six states were the largest sweep of their kind against a single company and resulted in the arrests of 1,282 suspected illegal immigrants, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said yesterday. The raids early Tuesday of facilities owned by meatpacking giant Swift & Co., based in Greeley, Colo., were followed by immigration charges against 18 percent of the 7,250 workers scheduled to work the morning shift, Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials said. More than 100 people were charged with crimes that included identity theft, Chertoff said, and that number is expected to grow. Federal...