Free Republic

London (AFP) - Birmingham launched a probe Monday into an alleged hardline Muslim plot to take control of schools. The city council said it had appointed a chief adviser to examine at least 200 complaints as the investigation widened to 25 schools from an initial four. Concerns about how some of the 430 schools in the city were being run first emerged last year in a leaked anonymous letter which outlined how to implement what it called Operation Trojan Horse. The letter, which credited the alleged plot with forcing a change of leadership at four schools, gave instructions on ousting...

CBS) Advocates of medical marijuana say pot has all sorts of health benefits. Maybe so, but a new study from Australia suggests that smoking pot can drive some people crazy - or at least make them go crazy sooner than they would have if they had never picked up the pipe. The study, published online in "Archives of General Psychiatry," shows that potheads develop severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia about 2.7 years earlier than people who don't use marijuana.

A condemned Ohio inmate who weighs at least 480 pounds wants his upcoming execution delayed, saying his weight could lead to a 'torturous and lingering death.' Ronald Post, who shot and killed a hotel clerk in northern Ohio almost 30 years ago, said his weight, vein access, scar tissue and other medical problems raise the likelihood his executioners would encounter severe problems. He's also so big that the execution gurney might not hold him, lawyers for Post said in federal court papers filed on Friday. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2204690/Ronald-Post-Ohio-inmate-weighs-480-pounds-seeks-execution-delay-claiming-hes-HEAVY-injection.html#ixzz26uIA2Yat

A federal judge on Tuesday ordered state prison officials to provide taxpayer-funded sex-reassignment surgery to a transgender inmate serving life in prison for murder. Michelle Kosilek was born male but has received hormone treatments and now lives as a woman in an all-male prison. Robert Kosilek was convicted of murder in the killing of his wife in 1990. Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/04/massachusetts-judge-approves-taxpayer-funded-sex-change-for-inmate/#ixzz25XYtfbEb

During the past few months, top California State University administrators, who oversee 23 campuses with 420,000 students, were spending a good deal of time wrestling with upcoming draconian state budget cuts and protesting students, yet they set aside some time to consider whether the largest four-year college system in the United States should restart its study abroad program in Israel. CSU shut down the program in 2002, during the height of the Second Intifada, citing U.S. State Department warnings against travel to Israel. But now, with relative quiet in Israel, and under considerable pressure from Jewish organizations, student groups, legislators...

A few lawmakers have suggested in recent months that despite a $174,000 annual salary, generous health care and pensions, and perks for things like travel and mail, being one of the elite 435 ain't always what it's cracked up to be. And when you calculate the hours they put in, the pay isn't stellar either, they say. This talk probably won't help Congress' approval rating. The federal government is the worst-rated industry in the country, viewed favorably by only 17 percent of Americans, according to a new Gallup survey.

A new report out of Brown University estimates that the U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq--together with the counterinsurgency efforts in Pakistan--will, all told, cost $4 trillion and leave 225,000 dead, both civilians and soldiers. The Congressional Budget Office, meanwhile, has assessed the federal price tag for the wars at $1.8 trillion through 2021. The report says that is a gross underestimate, predicting that the government has already paid $2.3 trillion to $2.7 trillion. Perhaps the most sobering conclusion of the researchers is that it's unclear whether the human and economic costs are worth it. Saddam Hussein and Osama bin...

Amid ongoing frustration over a failure to reach a compromise on the debt limit, President Obama on Wednesday sharply scolded Congress, suggesting his daughters do a better job of getting things done ahead of time. "Malia and Sasha generally finish their homework a day ahead of time," Obama said during a press conference--his first major solo conference since March. "Malia's 13, Sasha's 10 … They don't wait until the night before. They're not pulling all nighters. Congress can do the same thing." The president has been overseeing the negotiation of a compromise between the White House and lawmakers that would...

The superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District says he wants to stop offering chocolate- and strawberry-flavored milk to students as part of an attempt to curb childhood obesity. Superintendent John Deasy appeared with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on Tuesday's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and said he will recommend the ban to the board of education by July.

"We are on track to achieve our goals," Obama said from the White House. Yet he added that progress has not come fast enough in neighboring Pakistan, where terrorists continue to find safe haven. And the president warned that the gains over the past year — which have come at the cost of more U.S. troop deaths than at any previous time during the war — are fragile and reversible. Put together, Obama's words and the report's findings underscore that his war plan is here to stay. The goal is for the U.S.-led coalition of nations to turn over control...

<p>One central Florida airport stands alone in the fight for American values and strict constitutionalism: Orlando Sanford International Airport has decided to opt out of the TSA plan and go with a private screening firm instead. Kudos to Larry Dale, director of Sanford Airport, for having the cojones to stand up for our 4th Amendment rights, especially with all the "but it keeps us safe" sheeple commenting on that site.</p>

Apparently there are more sheeple out there than we think. The latest AP report shows 2/3 Americans support the new TSA scanners. No word yet on the political orientation of the poll respondents but liberals who were out in force protesting the unconstitutionality of the Patriot Act seem to be keeping mum about this far more blatant and intrusive "security procedure", proving once again how that magic "D" after a politician's name works wonders when it comes to stifling dissent. Many Freepers have cited George Orwell in their struggle against the TSA tyranny. But, speaking as a new FR member...

In the latest news from my home state, aka La-La Land of the Loony Left, last week's polls showed that the initially high support for Prop 19, which would legalize recreational marijuana, have dropped below 50% .