Free Republic

A state lawmaker and a group of Democratic political donors with ties to Gov. Beverly Perdue are poised to sell land at a handsome profit for a tire plant that's being lured with $100 million in state and local incentives, according to public records reviewed by The Associated Press. As North Carolina's chief executive, the governor is a key decision maker in large incentives deals involving state money. She also helps appoint the board members of a foundation that's been asked to provide part of the tire plant's package. Perdue's campaign has received more than $52,000 from five men with...

Obama says Republicans holding recovery hostage By Caren Bohan and Alister Bull WASHINGTON | Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:07pm EDT WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama accused Republicans on Friday of holding the middle class hostage and defended his efforts to stimulate the sluggish economy as he tries to reverse grim election prospects for his fellow Democrats in November. With opinion polls showing more Americans questioning his economic leadership, Obama used a rare news conference at the White House to hammer home a campaign-style message painting Republicans as obstructionist and the party for the rich. Obama has been on the...

LAS VEGAS -- During a year-long gambling binge at the Caesars Palace and Rio casinos in 2007, Terrance Watanabe managed to lose nearly $127 million. The run is believed to be one of the biggest losing streaks by an individual in Las Vegas history. It devoured much of Mr. Watanabe's personal fortune, he says, which he built up over more than two decades running his family's party-favor import business in Omaha, Neb. It also benefitted the two casinos' parent company, Harrah's Entertainment Inc., which derived about 5.6% of its Las Vegas gambling revenue from Mr. Watanabe that year.Today, Mr. Watanabe...

MARLBOROUGH, MA — A city man was arrested Thursday night after police say he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl after driving her and several friends to a McDonald's restaurant. Angel DeLeon, 26, of 35 McGee St., refused the girls' request to drive them home and instead pulled over on McGee Street, authorities said. "At one point in time, the defendant stops, with the windows up and doors locked, and attempted to kiss (the girl)," Assistant District Attorney Erin Bell said during DeLeon's arraignment in Marlborough District Court. "The alleged victim pushed him off, and he continued." DeLeon then tried to...

A WOMAN who beat a four-year-old girl with a brick before slitting her throat and leaving her for dead in a laneway more than 30 years ago has been honoured for her work with troubled youths. Just weeks after presenting Lynda Saville with a statewide internal award, the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice last night launched an urgent investigation into revelations about her past. Donna Lee Skeiner still suffers more than three decades after Lynda Saville kidnapped and assaulted her before slitting her throat with a broken glass. In 1973 the then child staggered back to the Moonee Ponds Hotel...

We have ample reason to be concerned. The situation of Muslims in Western societies has, for the last twenty years, been fraught with difficulty. If anything, this situation has worsened over the last five years. The “war against terror” launched after the events of September 11, 2001, along with repeated terrorist attacks throughout the world, increased tensions arising from social problems or from immigration have combined to portray Islam-and Muslims in general-as a threat to the societies of the West. Fear, and its accompanying emotional and often irrational reactions, has become a part of the public mindset. Such reactions, while...

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005 12:39 a.m. EDT Ray Nagin: Flooded School Buses Not My Fault New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that it wasn't his fault city school buses weren't mobilized to facilitate the Hurricane Katrina evacuation he ordered. Appearing on NBC's "Dateline," Nagin was asked by host Stone Phillips: "What was mobilized? I mean were national guard troops in position. Were helicopters standing by? Were buses ready to take people away?" "No. None of that," the Big Easy mayor replied. "Why is that?" an incredulous Phillips asked. Nagin replied: "I dont know. That is question for somebody else."...

BOSTON - John Kerry bounced the ceremonial first pitch during last night's Red Sox-Yankees game at Fenway Park, but he said he was just going easy on the National Guard soldier and Iraq war veteran standing in as catcher. "I held back," Mr. Kerry told reporters early this morning, on the plane ride after the game. "He was very nervous. I tried to lob it gently."

When he became a Christian in 1996, three-time convicted felon John Reneer promised God he'd "never again lay a hand on another person." On Oct. 29, he kept that promise in the face of confrontation.Reneer, who now works to close sexually oriented businesses, was protesting outside Pure Pleasure Megacenter, 3299 Fern Valley Road, when an employee of the business began spraying him with a water hose. Reneer kept his cool. "With God's help, I'm learning to turn the other cheek," said the 57-year-old who has served time for armed robbery, first-degree sodomy and murder. "I can look behind me and...