Free Republic

Democrats seized on Friday's report that the nation's unemployment rate has reached a 26-year high of 10.2 percent to call for further tax and spending measures to bolster the economy. House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) said the unemployment news was confirmation that the $787 billion fiscal stimulus signed into law in February WAS NOT BIG ENOUGH.“The bottom line is that additional action is required," Obey said. "An effective short term boost would mean a stronger economy, less unemployment and ultimately lower deficits.”Liberal Democrats, including Obey, have said for months additional stimulus efforts are needed. President Barack Obama...

Stepdad Guilty of Killing 'Baby Grace' Published: Nov. 7, 2009 GALVESTON, Texas, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A Texas man has been convicted of killing his 2-year-old stepdaughter, whose body was found by a fisherman washed up on a Galveston Bay beach. Royce Clyde Zeigler II, 26, received an automatic sentence of life with no possibility of parole Friday, the Houston Chronicle reported. Jurors deliberated for just over four hours before finding him guilty. The body of Riley Ann Sawyers was packed in a blue plastic box when it was discovered on Oct. 29, 2007. Investigators nicknamed the child "Baby Grace"...

After meeting with the FBI and the Defense Department about their investigation into the Fort Hood shooting, President Barack Obama used his weekly radio address on Saturday to again offer his condolences to the families and friends of those killed and injured. On Thursday Maj. Malik Nadal Hasan opened fire on soldiers at a medical processing center on the Fort Hood, Texas military base killing 13 and wounding at least 38 others. Hasan was shot four times by security personnel at the base and was still alive as of Saturday. Obama said that while the “crime against our nation” exemplified...

From: DGiannotti@eth.state.ma.us FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 6, 2009 Contact: David Giannotti, Communications Division Chief 617-371-9505 Ethics Commission's Enforcement Division Alleges that Town of Harvard School Superintendent and a Former School Committee Chairman Violated the Conflict of Interest Law Allegedly Used Official Positions to Secure Reimbursement of Private School Tuition by Harvard Public Schools The State Ethics Commission's Enforcement Division, in two Orders to Show Cause ("OTSC"), alleged that Harvard Superintendent of Public Schools Thomas Jefferson ("Jefferson") and former Harvard School Committee Chairman Paul Wormser ("Wormser") violated G.L.c. 268A, the conflict of interest law, by using Jefferson's official position as Superintendent,...

NEW ORLEANS – State investigators raided ACORN offices on Friday, taking away computer hard drives and documents as part of a probe into alleged embezzlement and tax fraud when the organization's national headquarters was based in New Orleans."This is an investigation of everything — ACORN, the national organization, the local organization and all of its affiliated entities, specifically as it relates to any potential violations of Louisiana law," Assistant Attorney General David Caldwell said.ACORN staff on the scene declined to comment, but an attorney for the group said in a statement the raid was prompted by allegations that former ACORN...

A civil war is threatening to erupt within the Democratic Party as liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org looks to punish moderate Democrats opposed to the sweeping health care overhaul proposed by party leaders. MoveOn has reportedly raised more than $3.5 million in contributions to fund primary challenges against "any Democratic senator who blocks an up-or-down vote on health care reform with a public option," according to an e-mail sent to group members on Thursday. The e-mail warned that any Democratic House member who joins Republicans to filibuster the health care reform measure will "face an enormous backlash from the grassroots." The...

Note: This is satire designed to show the ludicrous nature of the media coverage on the Ft. Hood issue. It is not designed to trivialize a terrible event but to make people understand better what happened and how the event is being dangerously distorted.] By Barry Rubin When John Wilkes Booth opened fire on President Abraham Lincoln in Ford’s Theatre in April 1865, the media was puzzled. “True, the actor was outspoken in his Confederate sympathies and viewed himself as a Southerner,” said someone who knew him, “but that was no reason he might want Lincoln to be dead.” The...

Scotland - Britain called for consideration of a global tax on financial transactions to insure against another crisis, and urged world finance officials meeting on Saturday in Scotland to agree on bearing the cost of fighting climate change. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told finance ministers from the Group of 20 rich and developing countries it was time to consider a global financial levy, such as a tax on transactions

FORT HOOD, Texas -- There was the classroom presentation that justified suicide bombings. Comments to colleagues about a climate of persecution faced by Muslims in the military. Conversations with a mosque leader that became incoherent. As a student, some who knew Nidal Malik Hasan said they saw clear signs the young Army psychiatrist - who authorities say went on a shooting spree at Fort Hood that left 13 dead and 29 others wounded - had no place in the military. After arriving at Fort Hood, he was conflicted about what to tell fellow Muslim soldiers about the fighting in Iraq...

WASHINGTON — When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be — ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors. Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. "Our goal is to create a vision that not only will...

Billionaire gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman gave away just $125,000 of her charitable foundation's $46 million in assets in its first year of operation — and tax records show the bulk of the money went to a surprising place. The Griffith R. Harsh IV and Margaret C. Whitman Charitable Foundation in 2007 contributed $100,000 to the Environmental Defense Fund, which is now at odds with Whitman over water policy. The foundation also invested $3 million in hedge funds based in the Cayman Islands — a Caribbean tax haven that's been the subject of political controversy. ... But it's the $100,000 to...

If you want to know what's wrong with Sacramento, you need look no further than Orange County. That's where Republican Party insiders have cast aside one of the GOP's most principled members in its drive to fill the 72nd Assembly District seat vacated by disgraced Assemblyman Mike Duvall, who resigned after being caught on tape bragging in lurid detail to another assemblyman about his sexual exploits with lobbyists. The first major candidate to announce his intention to replace Duvall was Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby. If the local GOP were serious about the limited-government rhetoric it constantly preaches, Norby would...

HARTFORD — - The woman who landed a temporary job in the office of the registrars of voters after being fined $10,000 by the state for ballot fraud four years ago owes the city $3,500 in back taxes. Prenzina Holloway is the mother of city council Democratic Majority Leader rJo Winch and a longtime member of the city's Democratic Party. In 2005, state officials said Holloway voted on behalf of, and forged the signature of, at least one voter during a 2004 Democratic primary, among other violations of state law. The state fined her $10,000. But because she demonstrated financial...

*snip* Yes, and a resounding, fervent promise by the newly elected President Obama: "My administration will bring a new transparency in our governance." That sounded so good, didn't it? *snip* Our president informed the Muslim world that "America is no longer a Christian nation," and that because of the number of Muslims in our borders that we might be considered "a Muslim nation." These and other similar comments amazed the over 80 percent of Americans who still identify themselves as Christian. *snip* But the issue that makes his notorious promise of "transparency" seem so hollow – and false – is...

Britain will face a serious energy crisis unless plans to build new nuclear power plants are speeded through without having obstacles placed in their way, the Government will warn next week. Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will give the go-ahead for a new generation of power stations and explain how new planning guidelines will speed up the time it takes for them to come into operation. In a major series of policy statements on Monday Mr Miliband will say that “saying no” to nuclear is no longer an option.The move is certain to arouse opposition in Labour...

Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas, attended the controversial Dar al-Hijrah mosque in Great Falls, Virginia, in 2001 at the same time as two of the September 11 terrorists, The Sunday Telegraph has learnt. His mother's funeral was held there in May that year. The preacher at the time was Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Yemeni scholar who was banned from addressing a meeting in London by video link in August because he is accused of supporting attacks on British troops and backing terrorist organisations.

A senior police chief spoke out tonight about the worrying rise in gang rapes, as disturbing figures showed almost 100 attacks in the capital within the last year. Meanwhile the age of victims has fallen, with 64 per cent aged 19 or younger in the last financial year compared with 48 per cent in 1998-9. The Metropolitan Police has commissioned research from Dr Miranda Horvath, a lecturer in forensic psychology at the University of Surrey. She is focusing on the 'cultural context' of gang rape and speaking to officers from forces across Britain and the United States. Jennette Arnold, who...

     Almost a month ago, I pointed out that Mayor Bloomberg's gun show "sting" operation may itself have broken federal gun trafficking laws.At the time, I urged readers to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) to inquire as to whether or not Mayor Bloomberg's "investigation" was itself being investigated for possible  criminal activity, and to request that such an investigation be initiated.Yesterday, I received a response, of sorts: Thank you for your e-mail inquiry to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). We are sorry for the delay in responding.  Please go to the...

Fort Hood shooting: Texas army killer linked to September 11 terrorists Major Nidal Malik Hasan worshipped at a mosque led by a radical imam said to be a "spiritual adviser" to three of the hijackers who attacked America on Sept 11, 2001. By Philip Sherwell and Alex Spillius Published: 8:17PM GMT 07 Nov 2009 Major Nidal Malik Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers in Texas Photo: GETTY Imam Anwar al-Awlaki The radical Imam Anwar al-Awlaki, accused of supporting attacks on British troops Hasan, the sole suspect in the massacre of 13 fellow US soldiers...

FORT HOOD (November 7, 2009)--A Muslim leader in Killeen says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the Army psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood, asked him for advice on what he should tell soldiers who had concerns about going to fight Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osman Danquah, who is a co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen, said he had a bad feeling about Hasan after the two talked twice in late summer. He told The Associated Press Saturday that Hasan regularly attended services at the mosque in his uniform. Danquah said Hasan never...

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A heavily pregnant woman and her fiance have gone on the run after social workers threatened to take away their baby at birth. Kerry Robertson, 17, and Mark McDougall, 25, had been told that she was not bright enough to raise their child and that they would have to give him up. It was another blow for the couple, whose wedding this year was halted just 48 hours before the ceremony in a row over whether Miss Robertson was intelligent enough to marry.   Miss Robertson, who is 29 weeks pregnant, has since been told the couple will be...

Oh, how the tables have turned.Nervous Democrats are on defense and emboldened Republicans sense opportunity heading into 2010 and the midterm elections. It was just three years ago that the GOP lost the House and Senate as well as governors' races in a cross-country Democratic wave.Now, with most states under their control and comfortable majorities in Congress, Democrats must protect far more seats than Republicans: 19 governors' mansions, 17 Senate seats and as many as 60 House districts in moderate-to-conservative regions and swing-voting areas.At this point, Democrats must do it in a more troubling political environment than in 2006 and...

his morning at about 6:00 am, I drove by the day labor center and the Lake Forest Home Depot. All was quiet. I returned at 9:00 and there were four people at Home Depot. I forgot the phone numbers Lake Forest Bob gave us, so I got the manager and politely reminded him that when Home Depot moved to Lake Forest, they agreed not to allow day laborers to loiter on the property. He confirmed this and called the police and the four were told to leave the Property. I then returned to the street site and stood among the...

“That doesn't qualify as a terrorist attack,” said Carl Tobias, a professor of law at University of Richmond who analyzes terrorist investigations across the country. Understanding the Ft. Hood Attack: America’s the Bad Guy This I Know, Because My TV Told Me So By Barry Rubin thelastcrusade.org My teenage daughter watches the “Bones” series and described the latest program to me. An American soldier who had served in Iraq is found dead in the United States. FBI agents discover he was in a battle where U.S. soldiers had stormed a house and one of his friends was killed by...

When the US Constitution was first adopted there was no Federal Income Tax. The Federal government was fortunately limited in the amount of taxes it could take in. One form of taxation was a tax on goods called an excise tax which is still in existence. Another was the Poll tax which is a direct tax on individuals. The Federal Income Tax was added to the US Constitution in 1913. Everyone reading this who has ever had a job knows how it works so I won’t elaborate. For you younger readers, it basically works this way. The Federal government lets...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he is not flip-flopping when it comes to support of the federal stimulus package championed by Democrats, saying his comments earlier this week to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer were more about the actual stimulus legislation passed by Congress, and not the effort itself. “I think the question posed to me was, ‘Did you endorse this specific bill?’” Crist told reporters Friday after speaking to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices policy institute in Tampa. “And I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ but the concept I thought, and still believe, was important, necessary and it helped...

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon is about to put her political future in the hands of a jury. Dixon goes on trial Monday on theft charges. She's accused of hitting up her wealthy developer pals to donate thousands of dollars' worth of gift cards to needy families. Prosecutors say she used those gift cards for her personal shopping instead.

While a massive memorial service for slain Officer Timothy Brenton neared its finish at KeyArena on Friday afternoon, fellow officers with the Seattle Police Department shot a man they believe to be responsible for Brenton's death. [...] A note threatening to kill police officers was left at the bombing site [...] Butler has argued that such {jury} nullification may be particularly appropriate in cases where black defendants are charged with nonviolent crimes. "It is the moral responsibility of black jurors to emancipate some guilty black outlaws," Butler wrote in a 1995 Yale Law Journal article, adding: "My goal is the...

House Democratic leaders say President Barack Obama, who made a quick trip to Capitol Hill, inspired their party to pass health care legislation.Obama met with the Democrats behind closed doors on Saturday morning.A vote was planned for Saturday evening, and the president is courting fellow Democrats because Republicans intend to oppose the health care bill.House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after the meeting that she couldn't help think of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., who died of brain cancer last summer. Kennedy championed health care reform, and Kennedy said before he died that Obama would inspire a new generation...

I have long been mystified as to why Americans and Canadians do not understand Islam. It is very simple. While most Christians and Jews pay only lip service to their bibles the Muslims believe in the koran with every part of their being. They rise before dawn to pray and they pray five times a day. They mean business in their worship of the false god allah. They believe in every verse of the koran and the Hadith. But Americns have never read the koran so they are shocked by such carnage as was caused at Fort Hood. So let...

Some moderate Democrats still are “really anguished” over voting for the energy bill, Rep. Jason Altmire told Fox News, and they “would be reluctant now to vote for health care and take a second vote that might be unpopular in their district.”With Republicans raising the volume of their protests and House Democratic leaders uncertain if they have enough rank-and-file support, some moderate Democrats sense that passing a health care reform bill will be as difficult as the House’s energy bill, which was approved by a slim margin June. That has caused quite a bit of hand-wringing among the Democrats. Some...

They were soldiers preparing to go to war, sometimes for the second or third time. They were also sons, daughters, fathers and a mother-to-be. They were 21-year-old Jason Dean Hunt, who his sister said was proudest behind the wheel of his Bradley Armored Vehicle, from rural Oklahoma; Francheska Velez, 21, who was looking forward to the birth of her first child, from Chicago; and Amy Krueger, 29, a sports and outdoors enthusiast, from tiny Kiel, Wis. These were three of the 13 people -- a dozen soldiers and a civilian Defense Department police officer -- killed Thursday when an Army...

Texas Gov. Rick Perry comments on the Ft. Hood shooting, noting that “there were three shooters”.

Survivors of the Fort Hood massacre described today how Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly gunned down unarmed soldiers, and then shot them again as they lay wounded on the floor. Investigators believe more than 100 shots were fired from Hasan's gun in a matter of minutes. He was described as calm and methodical in his attack, pausing only to reload. Soldier Keara Bono survived the onslaught although she was wounded slightly in the back and grazed in the head. Bono told "Good Morning America" today that she initially thought the scene of Hasan standing up, praising Allah and starting to...

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama has made a last-minute personal appeal to Democrats to pass landmark health care legislation. His appeal came during a visit to Capitol Hill on Saturday as the House began debating a bill to expand coverage to millions who lack it. Obama made his trip to the Capitol complex as abortion rights lawmakers voiced anger at a last-minute concession granted to foes of the procedure. WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama's landmark health care overhaul moved toward a vote in the House Saturday after anti-abortion lawmakers won a chance to knock out language that would let...

PELOSI: Buy a $15,000 Policy or Go to Jail JCT Confirms Failure to Comply with Democrats’ Mandate Can Lead to 5 Years in Jail Friday, November 06, 2009 Today, Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee Dave Camp (R-MI) released a letter from the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) confirming that the failure to comply with the individual mandate to buy health insurance contained in the Pelosi health care bill (H.R. 3962, as amended) could land people in jail. The JCT letter makes clear that Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose...

Sgt. Kimberly Munley, 34, a civilian Department of Defense police officer at the base, is credited with stopping the firing rampage of U.S. Army Major Nidal Hasan at the Soldier Readiness Center within a few minutes after he launched his attack. Munley, described by neighbor Brooke Beato, as "very petite, with long blonde hair and a strong personality," was credited by base officials with preventing further carnage by aggressively engaging Hasan as he shot at her. She rounded a corner, took aim at Hasan and brought him down, officials said. "It was an amazing and an aggressive performance by this...

Add another conservative activist to the ranks of people blaming the Ft. Hood massacre on Islam. Here’s Gary Bauer, in his end-of-day email sent to supporters, arguing that while some Muslims are all well and good, “there are also ’sleeper cells’ or ’sleeper individuals’ who are jihadist ticking time bombs inside our own ranks.” Whole letter after the jump. Jihad at Fort Hood Every American this morning should be outraged not only about the murderous rampage against U.S. soldiers in Ft. Hood, Texas, by Major Nidal M. Hasan, but also by the sickening effort of Big Media, and even some...

A Muslim leader says the Army psychiatrist suspected of going on a shooting rampage at Fort Hood asked him for advice on what he should tell soldiers who had concerns about going to fight Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan. Osman Danquah is the co-founder of the Islamic Community of Greater Killeen. He says he had a bad feeling about Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan after the two talked twice in late summer. Danquah says Hasan never mentioned any anger toward the Army or indicated any plans for violence but seemed incoherent during their second conversation. Danquah says he told Hasan that...

Fort Hood Shootings: Gunman Used 'Cop Killer' Weapon In Massacre At US Army Base The US Army major who carried out the Fort Hood massacre sprayed more than 100 rounds at his comrades using a gun nicknamed the "cop killer." Nick Allen 07 Nov Major Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, used an FN Five-Seven, a semi-automatic pistol popular with SWAT teams, that can fire armour-piercing bullets. A total of 13 people died in the bloodbath at the Texas military base and 38 were wounded. Hasan had bought the weapon legally at a gun store close to Fort Hood in August and...

Forgotten Proof of Islamic Evil on U.S. Soil byPaul L. Williams, Ph.D. thelastcrusade.org Violent crimes committed by Muslim extremists on U.S. soil were not confined to the events of 9/11, the Beltway sniper killings, and the murderous rampage of Major Nidal Maik Hasan at Fort Hood.One of the most horrific incidents of Islamic rage has escaped the attention of the mainstream media and the American people.The mayhem was conducted in the name of Allah and resulted in the deaths of over 280 white Christians.And it occurred in California. The killings began on October 19, 1973 when members of an...

BUCKHORN, Mo. (Nov. 7, 2009) — A Halloween alternative party at Grace Covenant Church of Buckhorn, near Fort Leonard Wood, has raised $2,300 for bullet-resistant vests and other equipment in the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff J.B. King, who is a Southern Baptist, said he and his deputies greatly appreciate the help from the independent charismatic church. “It’s been a godsend,” King said. “During the past four years, this has amounted to a very healthy amount of money. We placed this donation into our equipment fund and it has helped us buy all kinds of equipment for our vehicles; for...

A cousin of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan said that he began a stricter practice of Islam after his mother died nine years ago, observing the five daily prayers and taking other aspects of the faith more seriously after a loss that affected him deeply. "He became religious after the death of his mother. Before that he was more secular," said Mohammed Mounif Hasan. But "the idea that because he was a Muslim and there was pressure on him and because of the harassment, I don't think that is enough of an excuse," for what happened, Hasan said. "People are deeply...

"..They are Americans of every race, faith, and station. They are Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus and nonbelievers. They are descendents of immigrants and immigrants themselves. They reflect the diversity that makes this America. But what they share is a patriotism like no other. What they share is a commitment to country that has been tested and proved worthy. What they share is the same unflinching courage, unblinking compassion, and uncommon camaraderie that the soldiers and civilians of Ft. Hood showed America and showed the world..." I’d like to speak with you for a few minutes today about the...

Often when there is a mass shooting, people who knew the gunman find themselves wondering what warning signs they might have missed. So it is in the case of Maj. Nidal Hasan, a 12-year veteran in the U.S. Army, a native-born American, a trained and practicing psychiatrist — and the man authorities say opened fire on fellow soldiers at Fort Hood. Those who look for a ready explanation for the murderous rampage at Fort Hood can choose between two broad narratives: Maybe it had to do with the travails of an Army psychiatrist, dealing with soldiers who had been traumatized,...

How bad is it?

AL-BIREH, West Bank, Nov 7 (Reuters) - The grandfather of a U.S. Army psychiatrist accused of shooting dead 13 people and wounding 30 others at a base in Texas said on Saturday he found it impossible to believe his grandson had committed the act. "He is a doctor and loves the U.S." Ismail Mustafa Hamad told Reuters in an interview at his home in the Palestinian town of al-Bireh. "America made him what he is." "Whether he became angry or something else, I don't know... What I do know is that it is impossible that he would do something like...

The uncle says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was a sensitive man haunted by the wartime disabilities of soldiers he treated. The Army psychiatrist was not political, his relatives in the West Bank say. Hamad described his nephew as a gentle soul who once, as a young adult, mourned for three months after rolling over during a nap and crushing his pet parakeet. During medical school, the uncle said, Hasan switched his major to psychiatry after fainting at the sight of blood while delivering a baby. The young man became more religious after the death of his parents, who were Muslims...

What would you not want to happen if you were pushing legal-marijuana legislation? Oh I don’t know, maybe you wouldn’t want the fact that you were present when your boyfriend was arrested for possession of marijuana come out? That’s exactly what Rep. Barney Frank is going through right now; Frank is pushing the passage of legalized medical marijuana and now it comes out that Barney Frank was at his boyfriend’s house in 2007 when the man was arrested for possession. According to a report out of Boston, Barney Frank was present when his boyfriend, James Ready was arrested for marijuana...