Free Republic

Jermalle Brown and Douglas Bufford were gang members hired to combat violence on the South Side through a program hatched by Gov. Pat Quinn’s administration. Paid with taxpayer funds to hand out anti-violence pamphlets, the teens were part-time foot soldiers in the governor’s $54.5 million Neighborhood Recovery Initiative, a program described as “a comprehensive and concerted effort to keep our young people safe, off the streets and in school.” Quinn launched that program a month before his 2010 election as an answer to gun carnage in the city — even though murders that year dipped to a nearly 50-year low....

In 2008, California voters endorsed Proposition 2 which banned the confinement of animals. California egg producers had to ensure that chickens had enough room to move around which negated so-called “factory farming� and would end up raising the price of eggs by 20%.Obviously this was a problem for California agriculture which would have trouble competing on price with free agriculture. And there’s only so much of a market for fair-trade free-range organic chickens lovingly raised in a Quaker school by social justice experts on a strict diet of granola and NPR broadcasts.And so California’s reds decided to instead raise the...

A robust campaign to tell the truth about Crimea is needed to counter Moscow’s lies 'Russian television news is reporting…” Nowadays, when I hear those words pronounced on the BBC or ITN, I can’t help but wince. Over the past 10 days, Russian television news has reported, among other things, that 675,000 Ukrainian refugees have flooded over the Russian border; that extremists and neo-Nazi militants have illegally taken over the Ukrainian government in Kiev; and that Crimean “self-defence forces” or “pro-Russian forces” have spontaneously gathered in front of the Crimean parliament in order to defend it from those same Nazis....

WASHINGTON — Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who leaked a trove of documents revealing the agency’s surveillance operations, said he raised his concerns to more than 10 officials, “none of whom took any action to address them,” before he decided to give the documents to journalists. Mr. Snowden’s comments, in written answers to questions by members of the European Parliament that were released on Friday, amplified previous assertions that he initially tried to raise concerns internally about surveillance collection he believed went too far. An N.S.A. spokeswoman declined to comment, but the agency has previously said...

Dawn and Nick LaPolla of Fair Oaks are solidly middle class, and they aren’t uninsured. Yet their required switch to a new health insurance plan under federal changes puts them at a financial crossroads. If they earn less than $94,200 a year, the family of four’s preferred plan through the California health exchange would cost about $750 a month. But if they make even slightly more, they’ll pay about $1,040. That’s because they would exceed the threshold to qualify for federal subsidies. Their current high-deductible plan, which expires in two months, costs $573 a month. Unlike wealthier state residents who...

If former CIA Director David Petraeus and his ex-deputy Michael Morell are recalled to testify on Benghazi, they can expect hard questions about the mortar attack on the CIA annex which killed two former Navy SEALs. Republican Mike Rogers, chairman of the powerful House Intelligence Committee, is weighing whether to recall one or both of those officials over their Benghazi congressional testimony. Rogers said the evidence suggests a highly skilled team carried out the mortar strike. Fox News has confirmed five rounds were fired in under a minute, with three hitting the annex roof -- a target roughly the size...

I, BARACK OBAMA, President of the United States of America, find that the actions and policies of persons -- including persons who have asserted governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine -- that undermine democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine; threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity; and contribute to the misappropriation of its assets, constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and I hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat. I hereby order: Section 1. (a) All...

"When Aretha first told us what R-S-P-E-C-T meant to her," he began, causing the crowd to laugh.....

“Barack Obama’s agenda has been awful for the American Family… and Senator Landrieu supports that agenda 97% of the time,” Congressman Bill Cassidy (LA 06) told Lincoln Parish News Online (LPNO) in an interview earlier today in Ruston. That remark was in response to the question of why he is running for for the U. S. Senate, and against incumbent Mary Landrieu. Cassidy said that agenda has hurt Americans because it has “taken (away) their choice of healthcare,” and is “hurting their ability to get a good job with good benefits.” He added, “If she wins, the Senate continues to...

Russia raised the stakes in its conflict with Crimea Friday, reportedly seizing a Ukrainian military base on the peninsula and beginning large-scale air defense drills. Witnesses say Russian troops broke through the gate of a missile defense base with a military vehicle, trying to break into a command post, but no shots were fired, Interfax Ukraine reported Friday. Initial Reuters reports said the truck had pushed through the gates of a post in the city of Sevastopol, but there were no signs of damage. There was conflicting information about the circumstances of the raid. A Ukrainian military official, Vladislav Seleznyov,...

At least 28 Senate Democrats plan to spend hours Monday night and early Tuesday speaking on the Senate floor in a push for congressional action on climate change. It's a strategy that's been in the works for several months, organized by Sens. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), who've been seeking to raise awareness about their concerns on and off the Senate floor. Adopting a strategy used in the past year by some Senate Republicans, the Democrats will begin speaking Monday night after a series of votes and continue until about 9 a.m. Tuesday, according to...

SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine — Crimea's parliament voted on Thursday to join Russia, and its Moscow-backed government set a referendum in 10 days, in a dramatic escalation of the crisis over the Ukrainian region that drew a sharp riposte from U.S. President Barack Obama. Obama ordered sanctions on those responsible for Moscow's military intervention in Ukraine, including bans on travel to the United States and freezing of their U.S. assets. He echoed European Union leaders and the pro-Western government in Ukraine in declaring that the proposed referendum would violate international law. .....

Russia has reportedly begun large-scale air defense drills as tensions with the West continue escalating over the fate of Crimea. Roughly 3,500 troops and more than 1,000 units of military hardware will be hosted for about a month in Kapustin Yar, some 280 miles east of the Ukrainian border. The exercise by Russia’s Western Military District, according to a report from RIA Novosti, will culminate with live-firing drills and deployment of air defense systems. “It is for the first time that all air defense units from the district, including coastal defenses of the Northern Fleet, have gathered in one place,”...

ussia's parliament gave its defiant support Friday to Crimean lawmakers who want to see their region split from Ukraine and join Russia, saying no sanctions imposed by the United States or Europe will change its mind...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has rebuffed a warning from U.S. President Barack Obama over Moscow's military intervention in Crimea, saying on Friday that Russia could not ignore calls for help from Russian speakers in Ukraine.

Immaculate Heart of Mary's iconic float in Boston's St. Patrick's Day Parade Co-authored with Patrick Craine BOSTON, March 6, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The organizers of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade have rescinded their controversial invitation to a homosexual advocacy group, saying they believe the group’s application was a “ploy� made under “false pretenses.� The news comes days after a Catholic school said it would withdraw its iconic float and school band from the March 16 celebration because of the decision. "In the footsteps of St. Patrick, [Immaculate Heart of Mary School] does not condone and will not appear to condone...

(Reuters) - A Japanese American man thought to be the reclusive multi-millionaire father of Bitcoin emerged from a modest Southern California home and denied involvement with the digital currency before leading reporters on a freeway car chase to the local headquarters of the Associated Press. Satoshi Nakamoto, a name known to legions of bitcoin traders, practitioners and boosters around the world, appeared to lose his anonymity on Thursday after Newsweek published a story that said he lived in Temple City, California, just east of Los Angeles.

RUSSIA has scuttled a decommisioned vessel in waters off the Crimean town of Myrnyi, effectively blocking access for five Ukrainian Naval ships harboured there. In the early hours of Thursday Russian naval personnel scuttled the decommissioned ship, Ochakov, blockading access for five Ukrainian Naval vessels now trapped inside the Southern Naval Headquarters. Russian war vessels continue to patrol the coast. The move by Russia’s navy comes amid reports that Ukrainian military in Crimea appear to be abandoning their bases. In an extraordinary development to the crisis now politically engulfing most of Europe, the Crimean regional government declared Ukrainian soldiers to...

Uprising began at the end of November 2013 when president failed to sign European Union Association Agreement. There were few hundred pro-EU protesters on the streets and police moved on them. In a next few days many students and journalists were beaten up and all country learned about police beating peaceful protesters. Thanks God we have freedom of speech in Ukraine which we won 9 years ago at Orange Revolution

Spoiler alert: He’ll let us down. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell promised a ballroom full of activists Thursday that he would fight “tooth and nail” for a conservative agenda if he takes the helm of a Republican majority next year…“If I’m given the opportunity to lead the United States Senate next year, I won’t let you down,” McConnell said. “I will lead with integrity, we will fight tooth and nail for conservative reforms that put this country back on track, we will debate our ideas openly, we will vote without fear, and we will govern with the understanding that the...

BOSTON (AP) — Lawyers for Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev say a remark he made to his sister during a prison visit was meant to be funny and wasn't incriminating, as prosecutors have suggested. In court documents filed Wednesday, Tsarnaev's lawyers responded to a claim by prosecutors that Tsarnaev made a remark "to his detriment" while his sister was visiting him. The remark was overheard by an FBI agent who was in the room monitoring the visit because of special prison restrictions placed on Tsarnaev. Neither side has revealed what Tsarnaev said, but are arguing over whether to lift...

The Tampa Bay Times newspaper will begin offering buyouts to current workers in advance of a round of layoffs, according to company memos posted online. This comes as the St. Petersburg-based newspaper faces increasing financial strain and works with business consultants to “improve the company’s financial results.” Employees will have between March 10 and 24 to consider the packages, which could include up to 13 weeks of severance, plus two extra weeks, according to a memo sent to employees by Human Resources Director Sebastian Dortch that was posted on the website of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, which owns...

CPAC 2014 kicks off this morning at 9 AM, with comments by Ted Cruz. I didn't see a thread, nor have I been able to find any links to a live stream of the event. If not, why not? If there are, please post the link. Lots of fascinating speakers..link to the list below..

ladimir Putin has put President Barack Obama’s vacation plans on hold. Obama’s headed to Coral Reef High School in the southern part of the city for an event about education and the economy Friday, which first lady Michelle Obama had been expected to attend as well. What hadn’t been known was that Obama’s daughters were planning to come with them, and that the four were going to extend the trip for a brief family getaway. Now the White House tells POLITICO that he’s reconsidering. “The president had planned to stay in South Florida with his family for the remainder of...

WASHINGTON — The CIA Inspector General’s Office has asked the Justice Department to investigate allegations of malfeasance at the spy agency in connection with a yet-to-be released Senate Intelligence Committee report into the CIA’s secret detention and interrogation program, McClatchy has learned. The criminal referral may be related to what several knowledgeable people said was CIA monitoring of computers used by Senate aides to prepare the study. The monitoring may have violated an agreement between the committee and the agency. The development marks an unprecedented breakdown in relations between the CIA and its congressional overseers amid an extraordinary closed-door battle...

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News Wednesday his House committee could move as early as next week to consider holding former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt. Lerner refused earlier in the day to testify on her role in the agency’s targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups. Her decision to plead the Fifth Amendment marked the second time in 10 months that she asserted her constitutional right not to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said of her refusal, “at some point Lerner must testify” or be...

Pope Francis reaffirmed the Catholic Church's opposition to gay marriage on Wednesday, but suggested in a newspaper interview that it could support some types of civil unions. The Pope reiterated the church's longstanding teaching that "marriage is between a man and a woman." However, he said, "We have to look at different cases and evaluate them in their variety." States, for instance, justify civil unions as a way to provide economic security to cohabitating couples, the Pope said in a wide-ranging interview published Wednesday in Corriere della Sera, an Italian daily. State-sanctioned unions are thus driven by the need to...

President Barack Obama's choice to head the Justice Department's civil rights division has failed a Senate test vote and his confirmation is in jeopardy. The vote was 47-52, short of the needed majority. Eight Democrats joined Republicans to block the nominee, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who voted "no" so he would be able to bring up the nomination again in the future. The controversy over Debo Adegbile stems from legal representation of a man who is currently imprisoned for the murder of a Philadelphia policeman decades ago. It was unclear what the next step will be for...

A top Russian lawmaker has revealed he is working on a bill that would freeze the assets of European and American companies operating in Russia in reply to Western economic sanctions. The chairman of the upper house committee for constitutional law, Andrey Klishas, is sure that Russia must have an enough leverage to deal with the threat of sanctions coming from foreign countries.A team of lawyers are currently preparing a separate federal bill that would allow the Russian president and government to confiscate foreign owned property in Russia, including assets belonging to private companies, the senator told the RIA Novosti...

California Rep. Darrell Issa adjourned a divisive House Oversight hearing Wednesday after IRS official Lois Lerner pleaded the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer his questions. “Seeking the truth is the obligation of this committee,” Issa said before announcing that he had no expectation that Lerner would answer his questions and adjourning the hearing. Lerner invoked the Fifth Amendment on each question Issa asked about the agency’s targeting of conservative groups. The hearing lasted approximately fifteen minutes before Issa released Lerner. Issa began the hearing by explaining that Lerner previously waived her Fifth Amendment rights in a May 2013 hearing...

(Reuters) - The Israeli navy seized a ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria and intended for Palestinian guerrillas in the Gaza Strip, the military said. The disclosure came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United States to press his case for tougher international action against Iran over its disputed nuclear program and support for Islamist guerrilla groups. The Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel Klos C was boarded in international waters without resistance from its 17-strong crew in a "complex, covert operation", military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner told...

President Obama's latest budget proposal paints a troubling picture of America's fiscal future. Here's a startling snapshot: -- By 2024, the total national debt would rise from $17.4 trillion to nearly $25 trillion. -- By 2020, U.S. taxpayers would be paying more in interest on the debt than they would on the entire Defense budget. -- By 2017, those interest payments would be bigger than the budget for Medicaid. Despite Democratic claims that President Obama has tackled the deficit, the numbers give a sense of what fiscal hawks -- who have not given up their fight despite an election-year aversion...

House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said that he wants to get amnesty legislation done this year even as he insisted that the immigration reform he and President Barack Obama discussed in their White House meeting was not "amnesty." Boehner recently said that he and Obama agreed the most on immigration during their recent one-on-one meeting and both want legislation this year, which amnesty advocates believe may be the last chance to pass significant immigration reform. Obama said he would not sign a bill that does not have a pathway to citizenship in it or that creates two classes of people...

An Iranian parliamentary team has embarked on a six-day trip to Cuba and Venezuela despite attempts by the US to disrupt the visits by denying its airspace to the Russian plane carrying the lawmakers.

Russian troop presence in Crimea compared to what Germans did in Sudetenland in 1938 Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has compared Russia's troop presence in Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula to Hitler's invasion of Sudetenland, a part of the former Czechoslovakia, in 1938. Baird, speaking to host Evan Solomon on CBC News Network's Power & Politics, accused Russia of invading and occupying Crimea, a part of Ukraine. "If it's not war, it's akin to war," he said. At first, Baird said the situation was "right out of the Cold War." When Solomon pointed out Putin claims he is protecting Russian rights in...

Opening a door to hedge his political bets, Sen. Rand Paul has asked the leader of the Kentucky Senate for legislation to ensure that Mr. Paul can run both for the White House and for re-election to the U.S. Senate in 2016, The Washington Times has learned. “Yes, I am working on clarifying an ambiguous state law that Rand Paul believes is unconstitutional if it is interpreted to bar running for re-election to the Senate and for president at the same time,” Kentucky Senate Majority Leader Damon Thayer told The Times on Monday. “The purpose of the bill will be...

I was hoping one of the Texas FReepers would start a thread, but didn't see one. The Texas primary is today..several interesting races, but the BIG ONE involves Cornyn. When you vote...let us know what you heard/saw? What's the weather like down there?

The Obama administration is set to announce another major delay in implementing the Affordable Care Act, easing election pressure on Democrats. As early as this week, according to two sources, the White House will announce a new directive allowing insurers to continue offering health plans that do not meet ObamaCare’s minimum coverage requirements. Prolonging the “keep your plan” fix will avoid another wave of health policy cancellations otherwise expected this fall. The cancellations would have created a firestorm for Democratic candidates in the last, crucial weeks before Election Day. The White House is intent on protecting its allies in the...

Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine's border to return to their bases as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was on his way to Kyiv. Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow fired warning shots at protesting Ukrainian soldiers. It was not clear if Putin's move was an attempt to heed the West's call to de-escalate the crisis that has put Ukraine's future on the line. It came as Kerry was on his way to Kyiv to meet with the new Ukrainian leadership...

For a second time, a Texas judge sentenced Ethan Couch to 10 years' probation for a wreck that killed four people. The ruling in Fort Worth on Wednesday was the same previously made by the judge. Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence the 16-year-old to 20 years in state custody. FORT WORTH, Texas — A judge on Wednesday ordered a Texas teenager who was sentenced to 10 years’ probation in a drunken-driving crash that killed four people to go to a rehabilitation facility paid for by his parents. Wynn and prosecutor Richard Alpert would not identify the facility where...

Barack Obama’s National Security Team met at the White House Saturday to discuss the deepening crisis in Ukraine, which now includes Russian troops entering Crimea and occupying government buildings. Those in attendance were: Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey, and CIA Director John Brennan. Those not in attendance were: Barack Obama. Unbelievable? Yes, but not to worry, as White House reporter Zeke Miller tweeted: Briefed by Susan Rice. Susan Rice. Is the irony not lost here? The same Susan Rice who not only went on five...

Sarah Palin’s prescient assertion in 2008 that electing Barack Obama would embolden Russia to take on sovereign countries like Ukraine certainly seems to have been on the mark. Ironically, Tina Fey’s parody on "Saturday Night Live", taken for the truth about Palin exclaiming that she can see Russia from her house may also come true. I just hope we don't all wind up seeing Russia from our window. After the events in Ukraine this past week followed by President Obama’s lackadaisical response at a press conference Saturday and Palin’s original remark that Russia can be seen from “land here in...

FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces.

Yanukovych written request to use the Russian armed forces to protect the population of Ukraine , told the UN Security Council , Vitaly Churkin, Russia's permanent representative . "Today, I have been authorized to report as follows . President of Russia received following an appeal by President Viktor Yanukovych . I quote . Statement by the President of Ukraine. As the legitimately elected president of Ukraine declare that events on the Maidan, illegal seizure of power in Kiev led to the fact that Ukraine was on the verge civil War. The country there is chaos and anarchy . Life and...

The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Russia’s parliament, Mikhail Margelov, said on Monday that his country expects all economic sanctions against Iran to be removed immediately, Israeli daily Ma’ariv reported. “There have been important developments. President Hassan Rouhani has openly declared that Iran has no intention to develop an atomic bomb,” Margelov said. ”Furthermore, Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, has issued a decree that prohibits the building of a bomb, calling it ‘a sin.’ ” As a result of these public statements, Marglov concluded, “The conditions have now been met to justify the full lifting of sanctions on...

Some Americans caught in the weak job market are lining up for federal student aid, not for education that boosts their employment prospects but for the chance to take out low-cost loans, sometimes with little intention of getting a degree. ... A number of factors are behind the growth in student debt. The soft jobs recovery and the emphasis on education have driven people to attain more schooling. But borrowing thousands in low-rate student loans—which cover tuition, textbooks and a vague category known as living expenses, a figure determined by each individual school—also can be easier than getting a bank...

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel is reported to have become “really annoyed” about Russian President Vladimir Putin and has questioned whether he “was still in touch with reality.” The German mass circulation Bild newspaper wrote on Monday that during a telephone conversation she held with US President Barack Obama to discuss the growing crisis in Ukraine she complained that Mr Putin was “living in another world.” “She appears to have become really annoyed,” Bild remarked. The paper said it had gained inside information on the telephone exchange between the US and German leaders from American sources. The two leaders roundly criticised...

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com: •Russia declares the Autonomous Republic of Crimea •Strategic consequences of Russia's conquest of Crimea •North Korea fires short-range missiles into the sea Russia declares the Autonomous Republic of Crimea It appears that Russia has taken control of Crimea without firing a shot and is referring to it as the "Autonomous Republic of Crimea," presumably with the intention of making it a puppet state of Moscow. Ukraine's government in Kiev is only a few days old and seems to be in disarray. So far, it's avoiding any strong military overreaction that would provide Russia with...

More than 1,000 opposition demonstrators in Venezuela have marched through the streets of Caracas in new protests against the government. At the end of the march, activists clashed with police in the wealthy neighbourhoods of Callao and Altamira. President Nicolas Maduro extended the traditional carnival holidays until the end of this week and asked Venezuelans to rest and celebrate peace. At least 17 people have been killed in more than three weeks of unrest. Opposition leaders have asked people to ignore the carnival season, when many Venezuelans traditionally go to the seaside. They are demanding the release of dozens of...

Ukraine mobilised for war yesterday after Russian president Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade, creating the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. “This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country,” said Ukraine’s prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovych fled last week. Putin obtained permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine. Russian forces have already seized Crimea — an isolated Black Sea peninsula where Moscow has...