Free Republic

DARWIN, Australia - An Australian man has been fined after buckling in a case of beer with a seat belt but leaving a 5-year-old child to sit on the car's floor, police said Tuesday. Constable Wayne Burnett said he was "shocked and appalled" when he pulled over the unregistered car Friday in the central Australian town of Alice Springs. The 30-can beer case was strapped in between two adults sitting in the back seat of the car. The child was also in back, but on the car's floor. "The child was sitting in the lump in the center, unrestrained," Burnett...

Detroit City Council Votes to Begin Removal Process of Mayor Kilpatrick. In a 5 to 4 vote, however one Council Women thinks the Mayor may be making overtures in regards to resigning

MSA Still At Large by: Malcolm A. Kline, May 13, 2008 Although they portray themselves as more religious and fraternal than political, the Muslim Students Association (MSA) is frequently so politicized that in days of yore it might be called subversive. “As revealed in documents seized by the FBI and entered as evidence in a Texas court, the Muslim Students Association is a legacy project of the Muslim Brotherhood,” the Terrorism Awareness Project reports. “The Brotherhood is an organization formed by a Hitler-admiring Muslim named Hasam al-Bannain Egypt in 1928.” “It was designed to function as the spearpoint of the...

Law: Attorneys suing a gun dealer on behalf of the city of New York want any references to the Second Amendment barred from the trial. Has our judicial system fallen down a rabbit hole and landed in Wonderland? It is a statement that, outside of fiction, we thought we'd never see: "Any references by counsel to the Second Amendment or analogous state constitutional provisions are likewise irrelevant." The line is from a legal brief filed by attorneys for New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ahead of a May 27 federal trial in which they will try to prove that Adventure Outdoors,...

Just a few hours after I explained on Jihad Watch what was wrong with Michael Totten’s pro-Albanian-supremacist post on Commentary magazine’s website, the following item was posted on the site. It concerns an article that came out in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle last week on the one-year anniversary of the Ft. Dix arrests of four Albanians, the significance of which becomes clear if you notice that the woman’s name is Albanian. Introductory comment by JW director Robert Spencer: "She says she’s just being singled out because she is a Muslim. And I’m sure that’s true. I’m sure there are...

The Detroit City Council has taken the first step toward removing Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick over a scandal involving explicit text messages to his former aide. The council's 5-4 vote Tuesday begins a process aimed at removing Kilpatrick. Council members also voted to ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm to remove the mayor and voted to publicly censure him. . . . The mayor's office has said the council's actions are politically motivated. . . . Prosecutors have charged the two with perjury and obstruction of justice.

NEW YORK -- Remy Ma's wedding plans are up in the air. But a judge has made definite plans for the Grammy-nominated rapper: eight years in prison for shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub. The state Supreme Court sentence was handed Tuesday to the 26-year-old rapper, whose real name is Remy Smith, for assault, weapon possession and attempted coercion. The defendant, who could have faced up to 25 years in prison, was teary-eyed as she heard the sentence. She says the shooting last summer was an accident; an appeal is planned. After the sentencing, a man identified by court...

PHOENIX: A human smuggler who caused the death of 10 illegal immigrants when he crashed a sport utility vehicle while fleeing from U.S. Border Patrol agents has been sentenced to life in federal prison. Adan Pineda Doval, 22, a Mexican citizen, was convicted by a Phoenix jury in October of 10 counts of transporting illegal immigrants causing death and two lesser charges. Pineda was driving a Chevrolet Suburban packed with 20 illegal immigrants outside Yuma, Arizona, on Aug. 7, 2006 when Border Patrol agents spotted him. He fled, ignoring pleas of the passengers to stop, then swerved to avoid a...

Link Only: David Burnett: Disarming citizens emboldens criminals - The Pro Guns on Campus ArgumentEven though I wrote the darn thing, I still have to link to it.

In the threadbare border towns of South Texas, one of the country’s poorest regions, enterprising locals like Candelaria Espinoza have long been paid to round up votes for candidates on Election Day. There is even a name for these electoral soldiers of fortune: politiqueras. So when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign arrived in South Texas in February seeking an edge in its uphill battle against Senator Barack Obama, Ms. Espinoza was happy to oblige, for a price. The campaign paid her and seven other members of her family $100 to $200 each to knock on doors, deliver fliers and...

Stumbled over this chart last weekend. I checked the numbers and... he's right. There are approximately 6 sex-offense arrests of "non-sex offenders" for every sex-offense arrest of a sex offender. Another table on the same page shows that there are approximately 5 child-sex-offense arrests of "non-sex offenders" for every sex-offense arrest of a child molesters. Perhaps the Megan's Law registries need to be expanded...? U.S. Dep't of Justice Recidivism Statistics: Sex offenders compared to non-sex offenders Who will commit more new sex offenses within 3-years of being paroled, sex offenders -OR- non-sex offenders? Non sex offenders commit more new sex...

May 9 The local governments of Tijuana and Mexicali, Baja California state, asked the federal police to send a special anti-kidnapping task force to the cities in order to combat the increasing incidence of extortion-related abductions there. A former political leader in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas state, was abducted by a group of armed men. Some reports indicate that a current government official who was with him at the time was wounded during the kidnapping. Police in Navolato, Sinaloa state, reported the discovery of seven bodies with signs of torture. At least one of the victims was a police officer. A...

Hillary Rodham Clinton's Rose Law Firm billing records, found in the White House residence in January 1996 two years after they had been subpoenaed by government regulators, disappeared shortly after the first lady was warned that the firm's billing problems were "very serious" and the then-ongoing Whitewater investigation could result in criminal charges, newly obtained records show. More than 1,100 pages of grand jury testimony, investigative reports, memos, charging documents, chronologies, narratives and draft indictments, previously undisclosed but now being "processed" at the Library of Congress, say Mrs. Clinton knew considerably more about the firm's billing problems and their potential...

Five young men from the affluent beachfront town of La Jolla, Calif., could be facing life in prison for the murder of pro surfer Emery Kauanui Jr., if a judge decides they acted as a gang. Prosecutors say the men, calling themselves the Bird Rock Bandits, have been terrorizing members of the community for years. Their defense lawyers argued last week in a preliminary hearing that Kauanui's death was an accident after a one-on-one confrontation. That distinction will determine if the men will face much stiffer penalties under California's anti-gang laws or face lesser charges such as involuntary manslaughter. Seth...

Relentless wildfires burned Tuesday morning across Florida's Atlantic coast, taxing firefighters and overwhelming residents trying to save their homes with garden hoses. Firefighters in Brevard County were working for a third day trying to stop flames that have destroyed four homes and damaged about 70. The state's largest blaze has charred about 3,800 acres, or nearly 6 square miles, in the neighboring towns of Palm Bay and Malabar. "Every time I turn around another house is on fire. We don't have enough resources on our own to do a job like this," said Palm Bay spokeswoman Yvonne Martinez. Officials expressed...

DEMING, N.M. (AP) - Governor Richardson says he's concerned about violence along New Mexico's border with Mexico. Authorities say seven men have been killed in the Mexican border town of Palomas in a turf war among drug cartels. The Luna County Sheriff's Department says 162 gun shells were found where five men were killed Sunday in Palomas, across the border from Columbus, New Mexico. Another 67 casings were found where a man and his son were fatally shot Friday. A spokesman for Richardson says the governor has directed New Mexico public safety officials to be vigilant to ensure the problems...

May 13, 2008, 0:30 a.m. McCain’s Assault on ReasonAnother Al Gore for president. By Roy Spencer John McCain’s global-warming speech on Monday made it clear that there will be no presidential candidate this year willing to question the assertion that global warming (a.k.a. “climate change�) is manmade, or the assertion that we can fix global warming by passing a few laws. Along with Clinton and Obama, McCain’s proposal to attack global warming now gives voters three choices for a car color — as long as it is black. Like Clinton and Obama, McCain’s proposal involves a “cap and trade�...

SAN ANGELO, TX -- Although Texas officials have taken some criticism for removing hundreds of children from a religious compound, the Baptist agency caring for them has earned praise from the most important people: the children themselves. Baptist Child and Family Services, an agency affiliated with the Baptist General Convention of Texas, was charged with caring for hundreds of children removed from the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints compound near Eldorado, Texas, in April. They coordinated the children’s care in nearby San Angelo for three weeks, after which 75 moved to the BCFS Youth Ranch near Luling. "You’re nice," a 6-year-old girl...

As man is stabbed to death on Oxford St, knife-carrying thugs will escape with a fine Last updated at 15:04pm on 13th May 2008Thugs found carrying knives should not be jailed under new proposals announced on the day a man died after his throat was slit on London's Oxford Street. Britain's most senior judge, Lord Chief Justice Phillips, says people found with knives for the first time should escape with a community order. The sentence could even be lowered to a fine if there were mitigating circumstances, according to his advice which has been issued to magistrates' courts by the...

Many cyclone victims are getting spoiled food from Myanmar's junta instead of the high-quality supplies being delivered by foreign governments and charities, victims and aid workers said Tuesday. A longtime foreign resident of Myanmar's biggest city, Yangon, told The Associated Press in Bangkok by telephone that angry government officials have complained to him about the military misappropriating aid. He said the officials told him that quantities of the high-energy biscuits rushed in on the World Food Program's first flights were sent to a military warehouse. They were exchanged by what the officials said were "tasteless and low-quality" biscuits produced by...

MARGARETVILLE _ Seven second-graders at Margaretville Central School were arrested last week for allegedly plotting an attack on one of their classmates. The boys aged 7 to 9 were charged by state police as juveniles with fifth-degree conspiracy, a misdemeanor. A parent of the student allegedly targeted by the children learned about the plot Wednesday and informed school officials Thursday that the child felt threatened, Margaretville Superintendent John Riedl said Monday. State police in Margaretville were contacted at about 1 p.m. and seven arrests were made by 1:30 p.m., according to troopers. In a letter sent home to parents the...

As a state senator, Gov. Paterson spent $4,500 in campaign money on a woman who bills herself as a "life coach." Sandra Tate, who calls herself a "life coach" and is sometimes known as "Reclaimurlife Diva," got the money in 2006. Paterson aides said she did campaign work; her Web site version is a little more vague. Tate's site says she talks with people who are stressed and - for a fee - gets them to "find out what is holding you back." She describes her sessions like this: "You will get cozy and comfortable, perhaps with a cup of...

Two men raped a mentally retarded teenager in the bathroom at the Brooklyn Public Library's Central branch on Grand Army Plaza on April 14, cops said. According to police, the victim, who suffers from Down Syndrome and cannot communicate verbally, did not indicate to her family that something had happened to her, but her relatives figured out that she was in pain and took her to the hospital. Once there, doctors discovered trauma and other evidence that she had been sexually assaulted, cops said. A spokeswoman for the library said it was unaware of the incident. She said the library...

In the threadbare border towns of South Texas, one of the country’s poorest regions, enterprising locals like Candelaria Espinoza have long been paid to round up votes for candidates on Election Day. There is even a name for these electoral soldiers of fortune: politiqueras. So when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign arrived in South Texas in February seeking an edge in its uphill battle against Senator Barack Obama, Ms. Espinoza was happy to oblige, for a price. The campaign paid her and seven other members of her family $100 to $200 each to knock on doors, deliver fliers and...

DETROIT - The Detroit City Council has spent weeks debating what to do with scandal-plagued Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick: force his ouster or slap him on the wrist. That talk could lead to action Tuesday when the nine-member group votes on three resolutions that may ultimately remove a defiant Kilpatrick from the office he's held for six years. Council members are to consider three possibilities: Remove Kilpatrick from office themselves, ask Gov. Jennifer Granholm to do it, or publicly censure the mayor. The relationship between the Council and the mayor's office was strained even before revelations earlier this year that he...

Plea Expected in Ring Tied to SpitzerBy WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM and IAN URBINA Published: May 13, 2008 The woman accused of being the primary booker for the prostitution ring patronized by Eliot Spitzer is expected to plead guilty this week to charges related to her role in the ring, people involved in the matter said Monday. The woman, Temeka Rachelle Lewis, 32, is expected to plead guilty in federal District Court in Manhattan to charges of money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit interstate travel in aid of racketeering, one of the people said. She would be the first of...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) ― In a flash, a police officer draws a handgun from its holster. Less than two seconds later, a red laser and bright light shine at whatever is in the gun barrel's path while a mini-camera records it all. That's how mini-cams on police handguns would work under a proposal gaining support in New York, which would be the first state in the nation to require the technology. State police were briefed on the technology and are reviewing it for a possible pilot program, said Michael Balboni, the state's deputy secretary for public safety. The device could...

MIDI - COUNTRY ROADS

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his U.S. military defense lawyer said Monday. Mohammed al-Qahtani was one of six men charged by the military in February with murder and war crimes for their alleged roles in the 2001 attacks. Authorities say al-Qahtani missed out on taking part in the attacks because he was denied entry to the U.S. by an immigration agent. But in reviewing the case, the convening authority for military commissions, Susan Crawford,...

The Next Court Day for Pedro Espinoza is http://www.lasd.org/inmate-information.html May 15, 2008 210 W. TEMPLE STREET Los Angeles, CA 90012 8:00 AM This is in Downtown Los Angeles. Be prepared to pay for parking The Media and the Family enter through the rear entrance. I will be at rear entrance at 7:00 a.m. The courthouse opens at 7:00 am and the courtroom opens at 8:00 am, but the proceeding may start later. If you arrive late, go to the second floor. Posted on the doors are the location of the various court proceedings that day. The Shaws are a wonderful...

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- A Jacksonville high school student was recently beaten and battered at school by three students he said he didn't even know. Witnesses to the attack told police Forrest High School sophomore Karl Koch Jr. was targeted because of the color of his skin. "They started closing in, and all I remember is getting hit," Koch said. Koch's wrist was shattered and six screws and a plate now hold it together. He also has nine stitches above his right eye. Two 15-year-old students and one 17-year-old student were taken into police custody and charged with aggravated battery in...

Dear Civil Law and Procedure Committee, Re: SB543 On Legislative Continuances Please reject SB543 by Quinn.* This proposed legislation will undermine the Jindal ethics reforms and it will cause serious public embarrassment to the legislature in the near term future. 1) Legislative continuances have a financial value to all legislative-attorneys. Please make sure that all attorneys are in compliance with the ethics rules of this state. 2) The expansion of the legislative continuances perk is hidden because they chose to erase all existing legislation and rewrite it. It takes close scrutiny to see the key changes that expand this policy....

Bill and Hillary Clinton have always believed that they’re very different than the rest of us. Over their more than 30 years in politics together, they’ve learned one important and consistent lesson: that rules don’t matter. Rules don’t apply to them. Rules are for other people. Rules can be bent, changed, manipulated. And that philosophy has worked very well for them. So it’s particularly ironic that they are now turning to the Democratic Party Rules Committee to try and steal the presidential nomination that Hillary has already definitively lost to Barack Obama in the popular vote, the delegate count, and...

City wants charges dropped against Kecia Powell, who's back on the job Culver Police Chief Kecia Powell, the city's only officer, is back to patroling the streets and writing tickets in the small Jefferson County community. But she's hoping Jefferson County District Attorney Peter Deuel will honor a request to drop the official misconduct charges against her. Powell and her lawyer said Wednesday they plan to file a motion to dismiss the case because of civil compromise. She's accused of paying the bill on her work/personal cell phone with a Culver city credit card. It allegedly happened in February, when...

Professor Martin Gross had the story nailed in 1994 with THE GREAT WHITEWATER FIASCO. It is a shame that Americans didn't get it and investigators and prosecutors didn't do their jobs. I spoke with Gross when the book was released. It is amazing how the Clintons, with Hillary's orchestration, got away with the crimes. Yes, it was very convenient for Vince and McDougal to die. McDougal was the last remaining witness who could have done them harm. Denying heart medication in prison was the obvious move for the Clinton crime syndicate. Here is a repost. Hopefully, this is a little...

WICHITA, Kansas, May 12, 2008 – Multiple sources confirm Jim Collins was shot and then run over Monday morning in the middle of a downtown Wichita street. Police believe around 8 a.m. Monday morning, Jim Collins was alone at this car dealership, Marquee Motors, when after some sort of initial confrontation, he was kidnapped and forced into a client’s black Hummer.

I was pretty disturbed eight years ago when Hillary Clinton up and announced she was running for a New York seat in the US Senate. Say what? She didn't even live here after she quit Arkansas. Why didn't she run for the single non-voting District of Columbia House of Representatives seat (in a primary against Eleanor Holmes Norton)? Why? Because Hillary is a monster of ambition. So, Hillary and Bill bought a piece of real estate in Westchester County, NY, and that theoretically qualified her to run for that senate seat. Of course, her move was a huge slap in...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Monday it was shocked at escalating attacks on police officers in Mexico, adding organized crime posed a "serious threat" to democratic institutions there. "We're shocked by the escalating violence against Mexican law enforcement officials," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in a statement read out at the daily press briefing. "The recent murders of three high-level police officials by criminal syndicates and drug trafficking cartels are a brutal reaction to President (Felipe) Calderon's determination to fight organized crime," he said. "They illustrate the serious threat these organizations pose to democratic institutions in Mexico,"...

Prosecutor To Rezko Jury: "He Did It For Money"May 12, 2008 6:19 pm US/Central CHICAGO (CBS) ― Political fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko's defense attorney ripped into the government's star witness against his client Monday, describing him as an admitted lifelong liar and swindler whose brain was all but rendered useless by three decades of abusing powerful narcotics. "He said he is a felon, he admitted he is a liar many times over, he said he is a thief, and I don't know if he said he was a drug addict, but he was a drug abuser," Joseph J. Duffy said...

DEMING -- Authorities in southern New Mexico are worried American students living in Palomas, New Mexico may get caught in the crossfire of drug cartel-related shootings. "You feel in danger," said a student who crosses the border everyday to go to school in Deming. Monday, was the first day students went back to school since seven people were killed in drug-related shootings over the weekend. District officials in Deming say more than 400 students walk across the border from Palomas into Columbus, where they load into buses and go to schools in Deming. District school buses then return the students...

Cardinal Newman High School officials said Friday they were surprised to hear that former KGO Radio talk show host Bernie Ward allegedly had sexual contact with two Ursuline High School students while he was a priest teaching at the schools.Ward, who pleaded guilty Thursday to distributing child pornography over the Internet, was the subject of a KGO-TV, ABC Channel 7, report Thursday.

What makes the governor’s actions and advocacy for legalized abortion, throughout her public career, even more painful for me is that she is Catholic. Sadly, Governor Sebelius is not unique in being a Catholic politician supporting legalized abortion. Since becoming archbishop, I have met with Governor Sebelius several times over many months to discuss with her the grave spiritual and moral consequences of her public actions by which she has cooperated in the procurement of abortions performed in Kansas. My concern has been, as a pastor, both for the spiritual well-being of the governor but also for those who have...

A long-time friend and fundraiser of presidential hopeful Barack Obama was accused by prosecutors Monday of using his political clout to demand kickbacks, win government contracts and place associates in key state jobs.While Obama is not accused of any wrongdoing and has subsequently donated all the money raised by alleged influence-peddler Antoin "Tony" Rezko to charity, prosecutors have said that some of the kickbacks ended up in the Illinois Democratic senator's campaign coffers.Obama is also under fire for entering a land deal with Rezko in 2005 when it was widely known that the real estate developer was under federal scrutiny,...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE KALSU — More than 15 judges and court administrators from Babil, Najaf and Diwaniyah Provinces received new laptops and a judicial software program here May 7 from Soldiers in the Judge Advocate Section, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. The 4th BCT computer distribution is a continuation of efforts begun by Multi-National Division – Center's Rule of Law team to distribute state-of-the-art laptops to Iraqi judges. "We provided laptops to … judges from different provinces south of here in order to help them with the administration of their particular court,” said Maj. Thomas Hurley, 4th BCT...

The BBC kept more than £100,000 viewers had pledged to charity for itself. Staff knowingly withheld money that should have gone to causes including Children in Need and Comic Relief. In another hammer blow to TV's reputation, the corporation has been ordered by its own ruling body, the BBC Trust, to apologise for the scandal on air. Last night it also faced accusations from charities that its behaviour was immoral and disgraceful. News of the racket came 24 hours after ITV was fined £5.7million for conning £8million from telephone voters to top-rated shows. It also emerged that a British Comedy...

Bitter enemies on the street were playing basketball furiously in the Hillhouse High School gym. Newhallville, Dixwell, Dwight-Kensington and the Hill. They may all have been there. Young men, who might otherwise have been exchanging gunfire, were on the court snagging rebounds, passing, sinking long shots, driving for lay ups, and occasionally fouling each other. Some of the most notorious trouble-makers in New Haven, as selected by the New Haven Police Department, are in the early stages of learning how to settle beefs in a civilized way and get along in society. Organizers hope that a New Haven basketball tournament...

John McCain kicks off his “climate change tour” in Portland today. The Associated Press regurgitates the McCain emphasis on how he will push “free-market principles” to reduce global warming, which he is convinced is real and primarily man-made. (Update: Allahpundit’s got the new accompanying campaign ad.) Take this with a gi-normous grain of salt, my friends: In remarks prepared for delivery Monday at a Portland, Ore., wind turbine manufacturer, the presidential contender says expanded nuclear power must be considered to reduce carbon-fuel emissions. He also sets a goal that by 2050, the country will reduce carbon emissions to a level...

The vehicle theft suspect was shot and killed by a homeowner as the suspect drove his vehicle at him Thursday morning. Cody Geneha, 22, told police he was inside his home, near 31st and Glendale avenues, when he heard his truck being started at around 12:30 a.m. Geneha picked up a gun and went outside where he saw a man driving away in his truck. The vehicle thief made a U-turn and accelerated toward the homeowner, who was standing on the sidwalk, according to police. The homeowner fired several shots at the man in the truck.

With her campaign falling ever deeper into debt, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton spent a rainy Mother's Day seeking votes ahead of Tuesday's primary here, turning a deaf ear to calls for her to leave a Democratic presidential contest she has little hope of winning. Clinton aides continued to insist that she will remain in the race even while confirming that she is $20 million in debt. "The voters are going to decide this," senior adviser Howard Wolfson said on "Fox News Sunday," acknowledging the $20 million figure. "There is no reason for her not to continue this process." Wolfson said...

The May 9 edition of the New York Post carries a short article by an Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis student named Keith John Sampson. He tells a story of how he was charged with "racial harassment" simply because he was "caught" reading an anti-Ku Klux Klan book. I'm not kidding.  Sampson tells his story: The book was Todd Tucker's 'Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan'; I was reading it on break from my campus job as a janitor. The same book is in the university library . . . . But that didn't...