Free Republic

TAMPA -- Former University of South Florida student Ahmed Mohamed got a 15-year sentence today for providing material support to terrorism. "I still wonder why this young man in front of me at his age, at his intelligence, how he has become committed to this path," said U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday, who gave Mohamed, 27, the harshest penalty allowed by law

The Democratic leaders in Congress, the speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, and the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, have declined to call a lame-duck session for next week, as they had hoped, without assurance that Bush would support a stimulus package.

Highway workers early Monday morning discovered hundreds of election-related questionnaires on the shoulder of the westbound I-4 ramp just before the entrance to southbound I-275 in Tampa. About 4:15 a.m., documents scattered along the shoulder carried an alphabetical listing of Tampa residents, their party affiliations, age, sex, home address and sometimes phone numbers. Each entry includes check boxes to mark whether each person supports John McCain or Barack Obama, whether they voted and whether they need a ride to the polls on Election Day

Raise the Minimum Wage to $9.50 an Hour by 2011: Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe that people who work full time should not live in poverty. Even though the minimum wage will rise to $7.25 an hour by 2009, the minimum wage's real purchasing power will still be below what it was in 1968. As president, Obama will further raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour by 2011, index it to inflation and increase the Earned Income Tax Credit...Expand Paid Sick Days: Today, three-out-of-four low-wage workers have no paid sick days. Obama and Biden support guaranteeing workers seven...

I just had a call from some friends who are stuck in the crowd outside the Asheville venue for tonight's rally. They've been in the same place (there's no line, just a mob, LOL) outside, but nothing seems to be happening, no movement to get in...they're only about 20 feet from the door. Does anyone know if the venue is packed out already. Doors opened at 4 and you were supposed to be inside by 6...but they've been stuck in the crowd outside for quite awhile now, waiting on word of what's happening. If anyone has any info, could you...

One out in the ninth, and 40,000 people screaming in your ear. The American League pennant is at stake, and your 4-year-old daughter's lips have turned blue because her trachea is clogged. Tell me, are you more impressed with David Price on the mound or Pari Miller in Section 106? Because while Price was getting the final two outs for the Rays in the American League Championship Series' Game 7 on Sunday night at Tropicana Field, Miller was busy saving her daughter's life.

Social Security benefits for 50 million people are expected to go up next year by the largest amount in more than a quarter-century. The new cost-of-living increase, to be announced Thursday by the Social Security Administration, is expected to be above 5.5 percent. That would make it the largest increase since a 7.4 percent jump in 1982. The increase for 2008 was 2.3 percent.

I just tuned in, and evidently the guy he's interviewing (I didn't catch his name) is talking about Ayers ghostwriting Obama's book. Does anybody know who he's interviewing?

In a surprise move to resurrect President Bush's $700 billion Wall Street rescue plan, Senate leaders slated a vote on the measure for Wednesday - but added a tax cut plan already rejected by the House. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky unveiled the plan Tuesday. The Senate plan would also raise federal deposit insurance limits to $250,000 from $100,000, as called for by the two presidential nominees only hours earlier. The move to add a tax legislation - including a set of popular business tax breaks - risked a backlash from House Democrats...

Bill Heard Enterprises, which was the 11th largest automotive dealership group in the country in 2007, will close the doors of all its locations today. Thirteen Chevy dealerships in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, Tennessee and Texas will close today... The company — which dubbed itself “Mr. Big Volume” — points to credit problems and the down economy for the closings. After clearing more than $2 billion in revenues in 2007, the group’s CEO, Bill Heard Jr., pointed to customers’ inability to secure loans.

Five weeks ago, the St. Petersburg Times convened a group of Tampa Bay voters who were undecided about the presidential election. Their strong distrust of Barack Obama suggested it was a group ripe for John McCain to win over. Not anymore. The group has swung dramatically, if unenthusiastically, toward Democrat Obama. Most of them this week cited the same reason: Sarah Palin.

Of all the mysteries in this confounding presidential election, this may be the most significant question of all: How many voters will ultimately decide they can't vote for an African-American?