Free Republic

On Sunday, President Obama gave a commencement address at Morehouse College in Atlanta. “Keep setting an example for what it means to be a man,” he told the graduates. “Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner, or father to your children that you can be.” That’s what Obama said, according to the New York Times, USA Today, Politico, and dozens of other news organizations. But Obama never uttered those words. Here’s what he actually said: “Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner.” That’s not a small difference in wording....

A hot microphone caught Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) coordinating which way members of the “Gang of Eight” who serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee would vote on immigration bill amendments, Breitbart News has learned. “Do our Republicans have a pass on this one if they want?” the microphone caught Schumer saying.

There's poop in public pools, according to a new report. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found genetic material from E. coli bacteria in 58 percent of public pools they tested during the summer of 2012. This shows that "swimmers frequently introduced fecal material into pools," which could spread germs to other people, the researchers wrote in their report. E. coli bacteria are normally found in the human gut and feces. They also found genetic material from bacteria called Pseudomonas aeruginosa, whichcan cause skin rashes and ear infections, in 59 percent of pools. The fecal material...

ATLANTA - A federal grand jury has indicted state Rep. Tyrone Brooks (D-Atlanta) on charges that he misappropriated almost $1 million in charitable funds. Brooks, 67, was charged by a federal grand jury in a 30-count indictment that includes charges of mail, wire and tax fraud. The indictment charges that Brooks misappropriated charitable funds from Universal Humanities, a charity he founded in 1990, and the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, according to a release from U.S. attorney Sally Yates. "Mr. Brooks exploited two charitable organizations for his own personal financial gain which came at the expense of the intended...

Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) will not run for Senate in 2014. “[O]ur assessment at this point is the House is the battleground for politics in this country right now,” Price told the Marietta Daily Journal. “[T]hat’s where we’ll be offering for reelection in 2014.” His decision to stay out of the race suggests that Karen Handel, the former secretary of state and an ally of Price, will launch a campaign. Reps. Jack Kingston, Paul Broun and Phil Gingrey are all already in the race.

"Superficial" "A source close to the Senate negotiations [says] that two senators who voted against the background check bill would vote for it after minor, superficial changes." - Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, May 6, 2013ACTION: Senators who voted pro-gun last month are under intense pressure - by Senate Democrats and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s hit ads - to switch their votes.  We need to keep applying the heat and let them know that gun owners are ready to help in any Senate campaign, no matter which state, to defeat ANY SENATOR who votes for gun control.LEGISLATIVE UPDATE FROM WASHINGTON, DC. It’s...

A Riverdale man pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Atlanta to a $400,000 food stamp scheme. Herbert Dix, 49, admitted to defrauding the U.S. Department of Agriculture and possessing forged Women, Infant and Children (WIC) vouchers while running a store in Griffin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. “Many people rely on government assistance to feed their families and children,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in the news release. “This conviction demonstrates our commitment to prosecute those who defraud the USDA of funds meant for the neediest families.” Dix was indicted last July on 18 counts of WIC fraud...

U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss is joining President Barack Obama for a round of golf today, with Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Udall, D-Colo., rounding out the foursome.

SAVANNAH, Ga. May 5, 2013 (AP) Less than two months after British forces captured Savannah in December 1778, patriot militiamen scored a rare Revolutionary War victory in Georgia after a short but violent gunbattle forced British loyalists to abandon a small fort built on a frontiersman's cattle farm. More than 234 years later, archaeologists say they've pinpointed the location of Carr's Fort in northeastern Georgia after a search with metal detectors covering more than 4 square miles turned up musket balls and rifle parts as well as horse shoes and old frying pans. The February 1779 shootout at Carr's Fort...

Police are investigating after a CNN anchor says she was robbed of her iPhone in midtown. Atlanta police said Carol Costello was talking on her cellphone while walking south in the 1100 block of Piedmont Avenue Thursday around 4:30 p.m.

When a black mob attacked two reporters in Norfolk, Va., last year, the editor of the Virginian-Pilot newspaper said it was just a “street altercation” and he had no proof of racial motivation. But even the most diehard denier of the epidemic of black mob violence around the country will find this case difficult to explain away: Three white men in Georgia were allegedly robbed and assaulted and almost killed in April by a group of black people, all because of the color of their skin. At least that is what the victims told the local sheriff. Most examples of...

A teenager had the scare of his life when an off duty police sergeant pulled a gun on him for holding up the drive through line at McDonald's. DeKalb County, Georgia Police sergeant Scott Biumi, 48, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated assault after allegedly pulling a gun on a customer at the drive-through line at McDonald’s.

“Like previous campaigns criticizing other Confederate Memorials, he sees the petition to remove the carving of Jefferson, Lee and Jackson as an attack on the truth.”

ATLANTA (AP/WAOK) – The University of Georgia will ban backpacks in the school’s football stadium during its commencement ceremony on May 10.

WOODSTOCK, Ga. — A Cobb County family says they’re having a hard time sleeping after someone left a burning cross and bloody deer meat on their front lawn. ... Sunday night around midnight, Louis and his brothers were at their home when they noticed something glowing outside. They were shocked by what they found outside. “We just see a flaming cross right there on the ground and we’re just shocked, like, what?” Louis said. Louis said he was primarily concerned about the safety of his brother’s four children and his pregnant girlfriend inside the home.

CHATSWORTH, GA (WRCB) - Hundreds of people in one north Georgia town are not allowed to drink their water. The water treatment plant in Ramhurst is temporarily shut down after someone broke in and changed the chemical settings. It's affecting about 400 Murray County residents. Local, state and federal officials are investigating who's to blame. Officials with Chatsworth Water Works say the source of the problems is at the Carter's Lake Water Treatment Plant in the Ramhurst area. Saturday workers noticed someone had changed some chemical settings. First, officials issued a "boil advisory" but the Environmental Protection Department bumped it...

A major flooring company is considering building a new factory – and hiring more than 2,000 workers – in northwest Georgia, an area hit hard by layoffs after the housing bust. Two people with direct knowledge of the potential plan told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution a deal to bring the factory to Georgia is pending. They declined to name the manufacturer, but a third person familiar with the plans said the company is Engineered Floors, founded by former Shaw Industries chief Bob Shaw. The jobs announcement, which could come in the next two weeks, would be larger than the Baxter International...

VICTORY: Georgia Gov. Signs Expansion of Illegal Alien Crackdown (SB160) By John Hill on April 26, 2013 Way to go, Peach State! Gov. Nathan Deal yesterday signed S.B. 160 – a tough expansion of Georgia’s H.B. 87, the Arizona-style law cracking down on illegal aliens, which passed in 2011. The La Raza lobby was left stunned and upset, believing Deal would bend to the prevailing GOP pressure for immigration appeasement in Washington, and veto it. They were sadly mistaken. Passed in the final hours of the General Assembly’s 40-day session – and despite fierce lobbying against it by ethnic...

The suspects accused of raping and molesting a 13-year-old mentally disabled girl videotaped part of the crime, authorities said. District Attorney Pat Head would not say what the videotape revealed, but said he did not plan to show it to the grand jury. Up to 25 males — ages 12 to 25 — raped and molested the girl for 12 hours after luring her off of a bicycle and into an apartment building, police said Wednesday. Eight suspects have been arrested and warrants were issued for three others sought in the Oct. 13-14 attack, Cobb County police spokesman Dana Pierce...

Speaking on the House floor yesterday, Representative Hank Johnson (D., Ga.) stood up for some of the most important victims of congressional gridlock: children’s birthday parties and comedians trying to make their voices high-pitched.

The new owners of Hostess are starting up production again. But there's no mention of labor unions. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs was involved in a crippling labor dispute last year, ultimately leading to the company shutting down and selling its assets. Roughly 15,000 of 18,500 employees lost their jobs.

April 23, 2013 New Congressional Quest: End Prison Phone Call Price Gouging Bridget Johnson The Congressional Black Caucus Working Group on Prison Telecomm Reform is protesting high call costs for phone-homers behind bars. The CBC group will hold a press conference with former inmates and family members “to expose the often exorbitant rates that prisoners and their families are being charged for telephone calls and to announce the CBC response to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) to resolve the issue after more than a decade of delay,” according to D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton’s (D)...

There’s something sick about an administration which is so pro-Islamic that it can’t even tell the truth about the people who are trying to kill us,” Mr. Gingrich said ... Mr. Gingrich accused the White House of being unwilling to discuss threats from some Muslims. And he slammed President Barack Obama for mounting a “war” on the Catholic Church over contraception but apologize to Afghan President Hamid Karzai over the burning of Qurans.

... Forsyth County investigators say 48-year-old Scott Biumi, a sergeant with the DeKalb County Police Department, got upset with 18-year-old Ryan Mash, who is a senior at Lambert High School. They say Biumi got out of his car and the two exchanged words before Biumi drew his weapon and pointed it at Mash. "I'm just like, 'I don't want to die. I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean for any of this to happen,'" Mash recalled. ... Mash said Biumi told him, "You don't want to mess with me," before putting his hand on Mash's shoulder and pulling out his gun....

During a hearing into the constitutionality of voter identification laws enacted across the country, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) tore into claims by the Department of Justice that those laws were racially discriminatory. In the space of five minutes, Gowdy knocked down the claims, one by one, that a voter ID law passed in South Carolina in 2011 discriminated against African-Americans or was dissimilar to laws the Justice Department had cleared in a variety of other states. Gowdy began by noting that, when the Palmetto State’s voter identification law was passed, a third of the state’s congressional delegation were African-American; former...

On Saturday, I gave a speech to a local Tea Party group that posed the question of whether or not America can still be considered the land of the free. I have come to the conclusion in recent days that America is in fact no longer the land of the free. I have decided that the title is something that we gave up long ago. We live in a nation of constantly expanding state power. Whether it be modern examples like the Patriot Act and the NDAA or historic examples like Japanese internment and the Alien and Sedition Acts, the...

Alexander Ayotte Burr Chambliss Coburn Collins Corker Flake Graham Hoeven Isakson Kirk McCain Toomey Wicker

The man shot while driving on Interstate 20 in DeKalb county during rush hour has died. He was driving a Maybach -- a rare luxury car that sells for upward of $400,000. Now, police are working to figure out who he was and find the person witnesses saw fire at him from a white SUV. "It sounded like a bazooka,” an unidentified witness said about the shooting. ... An off-duty Atlanta firefighter pulled over at the sight of the stopped sedan and found a man inside shot multiple times. He was taken to Grady Memorial Hospital in critical condition, but...

The Republican plan to block debate on Senate Bill 649, which requires background checks on almost all gun purchases and transfers, failed spectacularly Thursday morning when sixteen Republican Senators joined almost all of the Democrats to vote in favor opening debate on the bill. Among those voting to defeat the filibuster were 9 Democrats with “A” ratings from the National Rifle Association, and 12 A-rated Republicans (out of 16 Republican “ayes”). Two Democrats, Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK), joined the majority of Republican Senators who tried to prevent debate, much less a vote, on the bill....

BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- The defense for the teen accused of killing a Brunswick baby wants evidence released that may connect another local woman to the crime. Action News uncovered startling new details in the death of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. According to police, 17-year-old De'Marquis Elkins murdered the Brunswick baby nearly two weeks ago. Now his attorney, Kevin Gough, claims someone else may have plotted to have the baby killed and used Elkins as the trigger man. Action News isn't releasing the woman's name because she hasn't been charged with a crime. "I know she hasn't been involved in anything. I...

A gunman was barricaded in a home in Georgia on Wednesday with four firefighters he took as hostages after they responded to what appeared to be a medical emergency call, officials said. The man initially held a fifth firefighter captive in the home, in Suwanee, about 35 miles northeast of Atlanta, but let that person leave to move a fire truck, police and fire officials said. Officials were not releasing details about what happened inside the house or a possible motive but said the hostages did not appear to have been harmed.

A barricaded gunman is holding five Gwinnett County firefighters hostage Wednesday, police said. A SWAT unit has responded to the scene in the 2400 block of Walnut Grove Way in Suwanee. The fire department apparently went to the scene for a medical call, police said. No other information was immediately available.

This is a northeast suburb of Atlanta in Gwinnett County SUWANEE — Five Gwinnett County firefighters are being held hostage at home in Suwanee. Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Edwin Ritter said that, as of 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, a gunman was holding the handful of firefighters hostage at a home at 2440 Walnut Grove Way, not far from the intersection of Collins Hill and Taylor roads. "It appears that the fire department responded to this residence for some type of medical call," Ritter said. "I have very little information on the motive at this time." The police department's SWAT team...

WASHINGTON --U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson will vote to begin debate on gun control legislation, not siding with some of the Senate's staunchest conservatives who have lined up to filibuster any gun bill. That's not to say Isakson will eventually support stronger background checks or anything else in the bill, but as he told CBS This Morning: "I think it deserves a vote up or down."

Above: Georgia's House passes the SB 160 crackdown on illegal aliens in the furious last half-hour of the 2013 session. - by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Way to go, Peach State! Georgia’s Legislature has approved a tough expansion of the state’s 2011 Arizona-style crackdown on illegal aliens, and it now awaits the Governor's signature (please contact him to do so - contact info below after the article). Passed in the final hours of the General Assembly’s 40-day session - and despite fierce lobbying against it by La Raza groups, the Chamber of Commerce, ACLU and...

Dear Speaker Boehner, I am writing to you about Immigration Reform. As of late last year, the total estimated number of illegals in America exceeds nearly 20 million people at a cost of $118 Billion dollars annually. That is twice the population of many States and very nearly the population of Texas. It exceeds the entire State Budget of Georgia by 600% for 2013. As Speaker of the House, I expect you to follow the law as it exists today. It is the duty and the law of our nation that our borders be defended by the United States government....

De’Marquise Elkins, the 17-year-old defendant in a child's death, was denied bail Friday after District Attorney Jackie Johnson linked him to gang activity. Superior Court Judge Stephen Kelley ruled that Elkins poses a flight risk and is a danger to the community. “Defense has not met the burden of proof” needed to ensure Elkins would show up for trial later this year and would not commit any other crimes, Kelley said. *snip* Nohilly also linked Elkins to a local gang called Moneyville that he said carries out an illegal drug trade in the McIntyre Court public housing complex. Elkins was...

Almost 60 years after the Supreme Court ruled that segregated schools were unconstitutional, students at Wilcox County High School in Rochelle, Ga., are attempting to tear down one of the last remaining vestiges of that time: segregated proms.

A judge said Friday he wants a trial before the end of the year for a teenager charged with fatally shooting a 13-month-old baby in the face during a street robbery two weeks ago. *snip* The judge denied Elkins' request for bond, saying he was concerned the suspect might flee if he was released. Elkins faces life in prison if convicted of malice murder in the March 21 slaying of Antonio Santiago. *snip* The suspect's 78-year-old great grandfather, McKinley Elkins Jr., took the witness stand and promised the judge he would personally look after his great grandson if he was...

Former 'Superintendent Of The Year' Could Go To Prison For 45 Years Rebecca Baird-RembaApril 2, 2013, 6:13 PM Dr. Beverly Hall arrives for her last school board meeting in 2011. Thirty-five Atlanta educators were indicted last week for allegedly participating in a cheating conspiracy involving one of America's most storied school superintendents. Retired Atlanta schools chief Beverly Hall was named "National Superintendent of the Year" in 2009 and had previously headed troubled school districts in New York and Newark. She was credited with rescuing the struggling Atlanta school system and helping it meet testing standards set by the Bush-era No...

A Georgia town has passed a law requiring its citizens to own a gun and ammunition — a measure one councilman says is similar to putting a security sign in your front yard to deter criminals. The ordinance in the town of Nelson, population 1,300, contains no penalties, has exemptions for felons and the mentally ill and allows anyone to opt out. Town leaders said they wanted to make a point about gun rights. The law requires the head of every household to own a gun and ammo to “provide for the emergency management of the city” and “provide for...

A question with a more obvious answer might yet be asked on national TV this morning, but someone's going to have to try very hard . . . On today's Morning Joe, during a segment on the Atlanta school-test scandal, Mike Barnicle actually wondered out loud why more top college grads take jobs with high-tech firms like Google, or in the financial-services sector, instead of teaching. Barnicle had earlier declared that standardized tests don't teach kids how to think. Might Mike have taken one such test too many in his day? When Willie Geist gently pointed out the obvious to...

Gov. Nathan Deal hasn’t done anything really bad, says Dalton Mayor David Pennington. “The problem is that he hasn’t done anything really good at a time when the Georgia economy has struggled much more than the national economy has,” Pennington said. Pennington says he is mulling a Republican primary challenge next year to Deal and will decide on whether to run in the next 60 days. “I’ve been called by quite a few people from across the state,” Pennington said. Pennington campaigned vigorously last year across Georgia against referendums that would have created 10-year, 1 percent regional Special Purpose Local...

(Reuters) - A small Georgia town on Monday passed a law requiring the head of each household to own a gun as a way to keep crime down.

Braves call on Southern Pride to perform on opening night Georgia Southern’s Marching Band to play at Turner Field Text Size: Small Large Medium Braves call on Southern Pride to perform on opening nightThe Georgia Southern marching band, Southern Pride, performs their signature scramble before kickoff during a game against Jacksonsville on Sept. 1, 2012.1 of 1 View Larger Georgia Southern AMR Georgia Southern University’s Southern Pride Marching Band has been invited to be part of opening night with the Atlanta Braves. The band will march onto Turner Field and perform on Monday, April 1 at 7 p.m. as the...

Former Georgia Rep. Bob Barr, an outspoken conservative who lost his seat more than a decade ago, thinks the time is right for a new run at political office. He announced a campaign for the congressional seat being vacated by Rep. Phil Gingrey, who’s running for Senate. Roll Call reports that Mr. Barr has already established a campaign team and has reached out to Capitol Hill politicians — including House leadership — for support.

<p>ATLANTA (AP) — Juwanna Guffie was sitting in her fifth-grade classroom taking a standardized test when, authorities say, the teacher came around offering information and asking the students to rewrite their answers. Juwanna rejected the help.</p> <p>"I don't want your answers, I want to take my own test," Juwanna told her teacher, according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard.</p>

Atlanta (CNN) -- In what has been described as one of the largest cheating scandals to hit the nation's public education system, 35 Atlanta Public Schools educators and administrators were indicted Friday on charges of racketeering and corruption. The indictment is the bookend to a story that was once touted as a model for the nation's school districts after the district's test scores dramatically improved in some of its toughest urban schools. Among those indicted by a Fulton County, Georgia, grand jury was Beverly Hall, the former schools superintendent who gained national recognition in 2009 for turning around Atlanta's school...

City Commissioner James Henry Brooks Sr. has been charged with influencing a witness and obstructing the investigation of the fatal shooting of a baby and wounding of his mother March 21. Brooks, also charged with racketeering in unrelated cases in Camden County, was booked into the Glynn County jail. He was at the Glynn County Courthouse Monday when the mother of murder defendant De'Marquise Elkins left the courthouse after her son's initial court appearance. As Karimah Elkins and another woman walked from the courthouse, a county police investigator tried to speak with her. Brooks stepped between them and prevented the...

FPSRussia is one of the most well known Youtube channels on Youtube. Georgia native Kyle Myers speaks with a Russian accent and demonstrates using some of rarest and most entertaining weapons on the planet. Myers business partner was found murdered in his office back in January. Police would not say if a 40+ officer raid on the actor’s home was in connection to that murder. Authorities said the search was for illegal explosives. Myers often blows up cars, refrigerators, and other objects in his Youtube videos. According to onlineathens.com, Federal agents, accompanied by Georgia Bureau of Investigation agents and deputies...