Free Republic

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A jury has convicted Lee Farkas, the former chairman and majority shareholder of Ocala's Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage Corp., on 14 counts of bank, wire and securities fraud for his role in a $1.9 billion fraud scheme that toppled the mortgage company and a major bank.According to Peter Carr, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virgina, the verdict was returned 5 p.m. Tuesday, after a full day and a half of deliberations that began Monday afternoon at the conclusion of a 10-day trial at the federal courthouse here.A sentencing date...

'History Written in Lightning' -- Woodrow Wilson. On TCM tonight at 8PM for more than 3 hours.

Seems like a good idea. Two Hours Left.

Monday 7 February, Wellington – Production company, 3Foot7 Ltd, is pleased to announce that the first day of principal photography for THE HOBBIT will be Monday 21 March, 2011.This date has been chosen following practical considerations of the filming schedule requirements, actor availability and the NZ seasons. Shooting will take place at Stone Street Studios in Miramar and on location around New Zealand.Confirmed cast include: Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Ken Stott, Graham McTavish, William Kircher, James Nesbitt, Stephen Hunter, Rob Kazinsky, Aidan Turner, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Jed Brophy, Mark Hadlow, Adam Brown, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Mikael...

Cate Blanchett, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy and Mikael Persbrandt and have joined the cast of Peter Jackson’s highly anticipated adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic “The Hobbit.” Also joining them are Ryan Gage, Jed Brophy and William Kircher. The films, which are scheduled to commence principal photography in February 2011, mark Jackson’s return to Middle-earth following his Oscar-winning “Lord of the Rings” trilogy. The announcement was made jointly today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. Jackson, who directed...

On tonight's Geraldo Rivera show, he had on a couple of people purporting that 9/11 was an inside job because 'Fire Can't Melt Steel'. At least one was from 9/11 families (I do not know if it was one of the handful of anti-war 9/11 famil;ies or not). Has Roger Ailes gone crazy!

Last Tuesday’s elections gave conservatives a virtual lock on power in Florida government. It remains unclear, however, how far Gov.-elect Rick Scott and the Legislature will move the state to the right. Tallahassee Bureau correspondent Gary Fineout assesses the chances some of the biggest and most debated issues will be approved by the time the Legislature closes next spring’s session:Tax cuts: Scott wants to cut property taxes 19 percent and phase out the corporate income tax. . . . Expect fierce opposition from law enforcement over cutting half the state prison budget and from state workers, who will see jobs...

OSCAR WINNER PETER JACKSON TO DIRECT “THE HOBBIT” IN TWO INSTALLMENTS Peter Jackson Set to Direct J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” In a Two-Part 3D Production of Extraordinary Scope(Los Angeles, October 15, 2010) The two films based on “The Hobbit” are now greenlit and will begin principal photography in February 2011, under the direction of Peter Jackson, it was jointly announced today by Toby Emmerich, President and Chief Operating Officer, New Line Cinema, Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros. and Steve Cooper, co-Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.. “Exploring Tolkien’s Middle-earth goes way beyond a normal film-making experience”...

'Seven people were shot -- two of whom have died -- in an apparent random shooting spree that began about 4 p.m. Monday in southeast Gainesville. The suspect, identified by relatives as Clifford L. Miller Jr., 24, was found in a truck at 2306 S.E. 46th Terrace dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office and relatives. Sheriff’s deputies responded to reports of shots heard and found the suspect dead in a red Chevrolet pickup. Miller had a police record and a history of mental illness, according to Alachua County court records. “We believe...

A Chihuahua breeder and at least 44 of her short- and long-hair dogs died late Sunday in a fire that ripped through a doublewide mobile home in Northeast Ocala.At 8:45 p.m., Marion County Fire Rescue firefighters arrived at 4475 N.E. 38th Terrace, the home of Sigreid Dottie Bigos, 75. Half the home and the entire garage were ablaze.Firefighters kicked in the front door, which was blocked by numerous dog cages, and found Bigos lying about 8 feet inside. It remains unclear whether the cages were stored there or she was trying to get them out of the burning home.Firefighters kicked...

Archeologists have discovereed an ancient Roman canal, theme of the Romans, connecting the town of Portus, on the mouth of the Tiber River, to the river town of Ostia. According to the Telegraph: "Scholars discovered the 100-yard-wide (90-metre-wide) canal at Portus, the ancient maritime port through which goods from all over the Empire were shipped to Rome for more than 400 years.

Opposes same-sex marriage, plays Rush Limbaugh’s wedding, refuses to boycott Israel, and now this. Does Elton John’s free-thinking apostasy know no bounds? Today’s Arizona Daily Star: Elton John didn’t mince words in slamming his fellow musicians for boycotting Arizona over the controversial SB 1070 immigration law. From the stage at his sold-out Tucson Arena concert Thursday night, John savored a few choice, not-so-family-friendly words:“We are all very pleased to be playing in Arizona. I have read that some of the artists won’t come here. They are (expletive)wits! Let’s face it: I still play in California, and as a gay man...

James Gammon, the gravelly voiced Hollywood actor who owned a thoroughbred farm in Marion County, died Friday morning at age 70. Gammon died in Costa Mesa, Calif., where he and his wife, Nancy, lived part-time with one of their daughters and her family. Nancy said he had been diagnosed with cancer several years ago, but they thought he had beat it. Then, about a month ago, he ended up in the hospital where they found cancer in his adrenal gland and liver.At his age, surgery and chemo were out of the question, she said. He chose to come home and...

The Florida black bear that got stranded up trees in near the intersection of State Road 200 and Interstate 75 - one of the busiest parts of Ocala - found its bearings Friday night and headed home to the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway.At about 12:30 a.m. Saturday, the bear came down from one tree, ran to another and climbed about 12 feet up that one, according to the Ocala Police Department. It stayed there a few minutes.Then it came down again and traveled - with some encouragement from wildlife officers - through dark areas behind the well-lit Berkshire...

The tegu is 4 feet long with an appetite that could possibly tip the ecological applecart. OCALA NATIONAL FOREST - As if the latest reports of Burmese pythons, monitor lizards and Cuban tree frogs crawling around Florida are not enough to creep you out, there's a scary new invader in town.It's an exotic lizard called a tegu, a 4-foot-long reptile from Argentina with sharp claws and a voracious appetite for meat that could possibly tip the ecological applecart. One was spotted last week in Ocala National Forest, a place teeming with campers, swimmers and hikers.Forest officials said the black-and-white critter...

Two highly placed and independent sources, speaking strictly on background, tell me that Gov. Charlie Crist is preparing to leave the Republican Party and run as an independent in the race for the U.S. Senate.With Crist trailing Marco Rubio by 18 points in the latest polls, the Crist campaign has been in panic mode, launching attack after attack on the conservative Rubio. Yesterday, the attacks reached a crescendo with the Crist campaign, and/or his disgraced Republican Party of Florida thug bootlickers, leaking Rubio's credit card expenses from his time as speaker of the Florida House. According to published reports, the...

Old Western ManThe travellers trotted on, and as the sun began to sink towards the White Downs far away on the western horizon they came to Bywater by its wide pool, and there they had their first really painful shock. This was Frodo and Sam's own country, and they found out now that they cared about it more than any other place in the world. Many of the houses that they had known were missing. Some seemed to have been burned down. The pleasant row of old hobbit-holes in the bank in the north side of the Pool were deserted,...

Well, I think I’ve been fairly calm and forgiving of Law and Order for about fifteen years. Living outside of the U.S. has certainly helped in more ways than one. Out of sight, out of mind. Law and Order has, for years, been just a press of the remote away from non-existence.owever, recent events have Law and Order just begging for my reassessment. I hardly expected my old television series to be the clown act that leads the American viewing audience into an increasingly predictable pile of hard left propaganda. Why?Dick WolfDick Wolf is basically a follower of usually high-level...

University of Florida quarterback Tim Tebow didn't take home an award from the The Home Depot ESPNU College Football Awards Thursday night, but he made national news from the red carpet with his date, the young woman he brought on his arm.She was Kelly Faughnan, 20, whom he met the day before. Faughnan had been diagnosed with a brain tumor just before Thanksgiving last year. Before surgery last year, her wish was to go to Disney World during the awards show to get a glimpse of Tebow. Faughnan is from Clifton, Va., according to several news reports.Fox News reported that...

State Rep. Kurt Kelly says he would "seriously consider" challenging U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the controversial Orlando Democrat who has lit a fire under liberals and conservatives alike for his provocative rhetoric on health care reform, the wars in the Middle East and even Fox News.Kelly, an Ocala Republican, said in an interview Wednesday that he's waiting to see how the GOP search for a candidate in Grayson's 8th District shakes out before deciding to enter the race.Kelly admitted he is conflicted about the decision. Victory would mean leaving a job he loves - representing Ocala in the state Legislature.Yet...