Free Republic

With its jobless benefits fund sapped by high unemployment, Georgia will be forced to seek a federal loan to make next week’s payout, the state’s labor commissioner says. The state has paid $1.6 billion to laid-off Georgians this year, an average of $33 million a week. Checks are cut on Tuesdays, and as of Wednesday the trust fund for unemployment benefits had about $25 million left, Thurmond said. “As commissioner of labor it is my primary responsibility to ensure that all jobless Georgians eligible to receive benefits receive those benefits,” he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Georgia will join more than...

I am ashamed to say that I am 30 years old and do not own a gun. I grew up in a house without guns and never really thought about it until recently (as I started a drastic shift from being politically agnostic to a staunch conservative Constitutionalist) and now I am a new homeowner and new father and every day I think about needing to get multiple firearms. I need to start somewhere but, other than getting recommendations from a few friends I respect, I am a bit lost, having never fired a handgun before (I've shot several rifles...

Northern District of Georgia federal judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. ruled today that carrying a firearm on MARTA justifies forcible detention by the police, in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed over the half hour long detention and disarmament of GeorgiaCarry.Org member Christopher Raissi. Christopher Raissi holds a Georgia firearms license and frequently carries a handgun concealed. On October 14, 2008, he was carrying concealed on MARTA. He did not know that a MARTA police officer observing the parking lot had seen him holstering and concealing his firearm while still at his car. Therefore, he was surprised when he was...

<p>The White House is once again explaining how uninvited guests wound up shaking hands with President Barack Obama.</p> <p>This time, a Georgia couple hoping to tour the White House ended up at an invitation-only Veterans Day breakfast.</p>

* One year anniversary of HB 89 arrives without dire consequences Violent crime lower following law permitting legalized carry of firearms on mass transit. Today the Atlanta Gun Rights Examiner brings you a story you are not going to see anywhere else. The Georgia General Assembly passed HB 89 in 2008, which made criminal prohibitions on carrying firearms on public transportation, in restaurants that serve alcohol, in state parks, and in wildlife management areas inapplicable to Georgians possessing a firearms license. HB 89 took effect on July 1, 2008, and many predicted mass bloodshed as a result. Nowhere was the...

Drivers with a heavy foot could soon face heavy fines across Georgia. When the new 'Super Speeders' law takes effect January 1, 2010, motorists caught driving over 75 mph or more on 2 lane roads, and 85 mph or more on any multiple lane roads in the state, will get slapped with a $200 state-issued fine, in addition to local fines.Georgia state patrol trooper Jim Lewis says he thinks the new fines will deter some speeders, but not all. He says he responds to high-speed crashes regularly, and knows the dangers. "Speeding on narrow roads, you're not only putting yourself...

There are high crime rates surrounding college campuses in Georgia. Just this morning, a college student was stabbed inside the school safety zone surrounding Georgia Tech during a successful robbery. In spite of the usual advice to submit and "give the armed criminal what he wants," the robber stabbed the student after he handed over his money. Two Georgia Tech students were robbed at gunpoint over the weekend. A female Georgia State University student was carjacked on Sunday. The AJC reports that she "suffered a severe head injury" in the attack. This was one of three attacks on college students...

ATLANTA, Ga. -- Questions are being raised about the son of Atlanta’s interim Police Chief George Turner. Atlanta police are investigating a Nov. 18 incident that happened at the home of Officer Tim Turner, between him and his wife. According to police reports, Officer Turner admitted to saying he accidentally threatened to kill his wife during an argument. The reports show Officer Turner’s wife called 911 after Turner said, "If we can't be married, I'm going to have to kill you." The report goes on to say Turner told the responding officer that during "the heat of the moment, he...

NEWARK, N.J. — Prosecutors don't understand how a fugitive wanted in New Jersey worked for the Homeland Security Department in Georgia despite a nationwide alert for her arrest. Tahaya Buchanan was sought on a 2007 indictment on charges of staging the theft of her Range Rover.

A Cobb County judge used a rare procedure to rule that a former Marietta High teacher was not guilty of sexual assault charges stemming from an affair with a 17-year-old student. Judge Robert Flournoy by-passed the jury and issued a directed verdict Wednesday afternoon in the case against 36-year-old Christopher King, who admitted to having a sexual relationship with the girl. "It's gross, it's awful, but it ain't illegal," said Flournoy. "This was a consensual relationship." The judge's decision followed Wednesday morning testimony from the girl, who as a state witness testified the affair was consensual. Asked by defense attorney...

Jason Carter Will Run For DeKalb Seat. The Atlanta lawyer and Democrat says he will run for a seat representing part of DeKalb County. The District 42 post is currently held by David Adelman, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama to be ambassador to Singapore. If Adelman is confirmed in January, a special election will be held March 16.

An elderly Clayton County, GA man reportedly used his handgun to fend off a pair of criminals who tried to rob him at gunpoint in his own home. Police say that the elderly resident sells firewood from his home. A pair of robbers is said to have posed as firewood buyers, with one of the criminals first buying some firewood then asking to enter the man's home to wash his hands. After washing his hands, the robber is said to have pointed a gun at the elderly homeowner, while the pair of criminals searched the home for valuables. At this...

James Groce said he and many others across American believe government is spending too much, taxing too much and borrowing too much. “We expect our government to show fiscal responsibility. A lot of our politicians aren’t doing the job we elect them to do,” Groce said. Many of those people, including Groce, have come together in Tea Party organizations to speak out against big government. “We have groups started in Dade County, Walker County, Catoosa County, Gordon County and Gilmer County. We are trying to get them started in all the 9th Congressional District counties. We lack Whitfield and Murray,...

One piece of legislation coming from members of the Georgia House of Representatives could have bearing on students' right to bear arms. State Rep. Tim Bearden (R-Villa Rica), has been working on a piece of legislation that could affect students' ability to carry a concealed weapon on campus. If passed, House Bill 615 would legalize the carrying of concealed weapons in all areas of the state - including college campuses - with the exception of courtrooms, jails and prisons. "It's not like we want it to be like the Old West, with everyone wearing guns on their hips," said bill...

The current treatment of young-age creationists in the scientific community and society at large is unfair and unwise. Scientists and philosophers of science, including old-age creationists and naturalists, should respect youngage creationists as legitimate contributors to science. Young-age creationists offer to the current origins science establishment a competing rational viewpoint that will augment fruitful scientific investigation through increased accountability for scientists, introduction of original hypotheses and general epistemic improvement...

LAWRENCEVILLE — Azadeh Shahshahani roused a crowd to chanting anti-racist slogans in the gymnasium of Saint Lawrence Catholic Church on Saturday, an interpreter at her side. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia leader blasted racial profiling against all races. She called the 287(g) program, initiated three weeks ago in Gwinnett, a means for police to seize and unjustly boot illegal immigrants from the United States. Click here to find out more! Hers is a sentiment frequently echoed by 287(g) detractors — and hotly contested by its supporters. “We are here to stand up for social justice because we don’t...

An Atlanta, Georgia liquor store owner shot an armed robber who had just murdered an employee. Police say that an armed robber walked in to the Moreland Package Store, demanded money, and shot a clerk multiple times. Although mortally wounded from robber's shots, the clerk was reportedly able to yell for help, which prompted the store owner to grab his own gun and rush to the clerk's aid. The store owner is said to have shot the robber twice, in the arm and the leg. Police have reportedly taken a suspect into custody, and the store owner was unharmed. This...

Many people in Baldwin and Wilkinson Counties say they felt a tremor Sunday. The U.S. Geological Survey's website confirmed an earthquake with a 3.2 magnitude in southern Baldwin County just before 7:30 p.m. The website says the quake was about 7 miles west of Deepstep in Washington County and 12 miles east-southeast of Milledgeville. Linda Webster from Milledgeville called the 13WMAZ newsroom and said she felt the tremble. "It was like a big truck rumbling," she said. Dwayne Hancock, who lives between Milledgeville and Gordon, said he felt the quake around 7: 25 p.m. He said it shook the glass...

The Fulton County Board of Elections has certified election results that make former state Sen. Kasim Reed Atlanta's mayor-elect. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the board certified Tuesday's election result at about 12:25 p.m. Saturday, officially declaring Reed the winner. With 84,383 votes cast, Reed beat city councilwoman Mary Norwood by 715 votes, or 0.84 percent. State law says a candidate who loses by less than 1 percent of the vote can request a recount.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- AmTrust Bank, which opened with one office on Valentine's Day 120 years ago and grew to one of the nation's 100 largest banks, was seized by federal regulators Friday and bought by New York Community Bank of Westbury, N.Y. AmTrust is the first Northeast Ohio bank to fail since TransOhio Federal Savings Bank of Cleveland was seized 17 years ago. AmTrust, the latest calamity in the nation's 2-year-old banking crisis, became the 128th bank to fail this year, and the second in Ohio. Six banks in all failed Friday, bringing the year's total to 130. With assets...

On November 17, an incident took place aboard AirTran Flight 297 scheduled to fly from Atlanta Hartsfield Airport to Houston that the media does not want to cover and everyone from the airline to the TSA and other government agencies want to keep very quiet.

More than the majority of eligible Macon police voters opted to form a bargaining union with Teamster Law Enforcement League. The final ballot was counted around 8 p.m. on Friday. Teamsters Law Enforcement League Representative Jim Romar says 162 voted in favor of a union and two voted against forming a union. Romar says 220 Macon police, those who who rank as sergeants and below, were eligible to vote. The polling booth was located at the Electrical Workers Union Hall in Macon on both Thursday and Friday. Romar said they agreed to count all the ballots after the poll closed...

ATLANTA - Although the inevitable recount is still in the future, it is now clear that State Senator Kasim Reed is Atlanta's mayor-elect. See Atlanta City Hall Examiner Minoo Hosseini, Reed Declares Victory over Norwood. What does this mean for the right to bear arms in Atlanta? As an initial matter, it must be remembered that Atlanta is Georgia's largest city and commercial hub. The city therefore carrries a lot of influence with the General Assembly and its policies. Atlanta has lobbied against your right to bear arms in the past, when HB 89, decriminalizing the carry of weapons on...

Natural selection and change, yes; Evolution, no --snip-- Summary 1.This episode talks much about change and natural selection, but fails to give any evidence that these produce evolution, other than for the various professors who assert that it does. 2.Darwin’s theory promoted the idea that man is “a beast with animal lusts and no morality”, and this has been gleefully accepted by much of modern society. 3.We might well ask: Why would any sane professor adopt and propagate a theory for which there is such paltry scientific evidence, which is an expression of hatred of God, and which demotes man...

Evolutionists retreating from the arena of science --snip-- Today, the Darwinian scientific consensus persists within almost every large university and governmental institution. But around the middle of the 20th century an interesting new trend emerged and has since become increasingly established. Evolutionary theorists have been forced, step by step, to steadily retreat from the evidence in the field. Some of the evidences mentioned earlier in this article were demonstrated to be frauds and hoaxes. Other discoveries have been a blow to the straightforward expectations and predictions of evolutionists. Increasingly, they have been forced to tack ad hoc mechanisms onto Darwin’s...

A reader called me, then sent me an email Wednesday morning about an incident that occurred Nov. 17 on an AirTran Airways flight. According to an Atlanta Journal Constitution story, the flight was delayed two and a half hours after a confrontation between some passengers and the flight crew. The AJC story quoted a passenger sitting toward the back of the airplane who recounted what she saw. That passenger thought it was just a problem with miscommunication. But there's an email circulating, apparently going viral, from a Texan on the flight, who describes what appeared to him to be a...

A race for mayor of Atlanta headed for a recount on Wednesday after a knife-edge election that exposed a racial fault line running through the biggest city in the U.S. Southeast. Former state Senator Kasim Reed declared victory overnight when official results from the runoff vote showed him beating city councilwoman Mary Norwood by 758 votes out of 83,000 cast. But Norwood declined to concede defeat and is almost certain to demand a recount under rules that permit one when less than 1 percent of votes cast separates the candidates. Norwood, who led an initial round of voting November 3,...

ATLANTA – Former state Sen. Kasim Reed appears to have edged out Councilwoman Mary Norwood in a hotly-contested race for Atlanta mayor. But, Norwood did not concede and could still call for a recount as Reed appears to have won by 758 votes. According to the Fulton County elections Web site, Reed garnered 41,901 votes to Norwood’s 41,143 votes. Reed and Norwood faced off in Tuesday’s runoff election after neither candidate received 50 percent of the vote during the Nov. 3 election.

ATLANTA (AP) | Just a few weeks ago, some suggested Atlanta was about to name its first white mayor in a generation. Instead, the Nov. 3 election set up a hard-fought runoff battle that's expected to break down largely along racial lines when voters return to the polls Tuesday. Mary Norwood, the white candidate, and former state Sen. Kasim Reed, a black man, are vying for a critical mass of racial crossover votes, with victory likely hinging on black-versus-white turnout. "What it comes down to is if she gets more black votes than he gets white votes," said political strategist...

Former Congresswoman and U.S. Presidential Candidate (Green Party 2008), Cynthia McKinney, known for speaking truth to power, has again written to President Obama, this time with the subject headed: Please Bring Our Troops Home Now! (below) Ray Songree of Kauia Truth and the Paul Revere Email Campaign wrote to his email list: "Cynthia McKinney is one of the greatest heroines of our times. Very few elected officials have EVER spoke truth to power. That is all she does. There are many women on this email list. It really is your time to stand up and be heard, not as wannabe...

The sudden death of beloved Georgia mascot Uga VII to an apparent heart attack last week opened the floodgates to an outpouring of goodwill for one of the shorter-lived (and least successful, frankly, in terms of the team's on-field performance) reigns in Uga history, including a private memorial service and burial in Sanford Stadium before last Saturday's sobering loss to Kentucky. It also opened up a window for the capable opportunists at PETA, who suggested the Bulldogs forego the eighth in a line of mascots from a family of English bulldogs and turn instead to our old friend, technology, in...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMonday, November 23, 2009 Arrests Made in Case Involving Conspiracy to Procure Weapons, Including Anti-Aircraft Missiles Arrests were made today in a case involving a conspiracy to procure weapons, including anti-aircraft missiles. A criminal complaint, unsealed today, charged Dani Nemr Tarraf with conspiring to acquire anti-aircraft missiles (FIM-92 Stingers) and conspiring to possess machine guns (approximately 10,000 Colt M4 Carbines). In addition, Tarraf and other defendants — including Douri Nemr Tarraf, Hassan Mohamad Komeiha, and Hussein Ali Asfour — were charged with conspiring to...

Downtown Savannah and Broughton Street will transform into a winter wonderland Friday, complete with holiday movies, cookies and milk with Santa Claus, a skating rink and snow. Savannah Holly Days is a two-day event that offers both visitors and locals a chance to enjoy the city and all of its beauty and offerings during the holidays. "When you think about what makes a great city, it's when the locals and visitors can come together and enjoy the same thing," said Joseph Marinelli, president of the Savannah Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

ATLANTA — After a 92-year-old grandmother was cut down in a hail of police bullets during a botched raid three years ago, her community seemed to trust officers about as much as the drug dealers who roam the blighted streets. . . . The community is still shaken over the death of Johnston, who was killed on Nov. 21, 2006, after plainclothes narcotics officers burst into her home using a special "no-knock" warrant to search for drugs. She fired a single bullet at the invaders, and they responded with 39 bullets through her wooden door. Investigators originally said they had...

The FBI says a Centerville man is charged with buying and shipping about 7,000 stolen cell phones in connection with an international ring trafficking weapons and stolen goods. According to the FBI, Hussein Ali Asfour of Centerville is charged with conspiracy to transport stolen property and faces up to five years in prison. A criminal complaint in the case listed his address as 100 Cross Link Trail. USA Today reports that Asfour was charged along with four other men, including three accused of trying to buy Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and machine guns destined for Syria or Iran. USA Today describes...

Today, November 24, it is exactly 150 years since Charles Darwin published his On the Origin of Species. The world has been gearing up for this “second echelon” of celebrations for this international “Year of Darwin”, following on from the 200th anniversary of his birth this last February. Atheists and humanist groups in particular have seemed to be relishing the thought of giving further prominence to the ideas of their patron saint. Their adulation is heightened by their knowledge that...

City council members in Marietta, Ga., will consider changing the oath of office that the city's police officers take so that recruits can swear to uphold the law without saying the phrase "so help me God." But a police spokeswoman says that to her knowledge, nobody has ever objected to saying those words, and the city's mayor promises he'll veto any change to the oath that removes them. Det. Gwen Lewis, a police spokeswoman, said no complaints have been received recently regarding the five-sentence oath the Marietta Police Department last adopted in August 2001. To her knowledge, she said, no...

ATLANTA – A riding lawn mower may have four wheels, a powerful engine and can cost as much as a used car. If it's stolen, however, the Georgia Supreme Court concluded Monday that it's not a motor vehicle. The 4-3 decision overturned the conviction of Franklin Lloyd Harris, who was convicted of felony motor vehicle theft after he loaded a Toro riding mower in 2006 from a Home Depot in Dalton into his van and sped away. Because Harris was a repeat offender, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Public defender Michael McCarthy told the justices that while...

An Illinois woman is charged with a hate crime for berating a Muslim woman about the Fort Hood shooting and then pulling at her headscarf. The charge could lead to three years in prison: justice or prosecutorial overkill? In the days after the Ft. Hood shooting, mosques around the country bolstered their security in anticipation of a backlash from Americans angry about a Muslim man alleged to have killed American soldiers on their own turf. Since then, only one alleged hate crime against Muslims has been directly tied to the Fort Hood rampage. Two days after the rampage by an...

The new attorney handling Georgia's appeal in the long-running legal battle with Alabama and Florida over water rights will be paid $855 an hour. Governor Sonny Perdue's office said Friday that Seth Waxman's hourly rate is a 10 percent discount off his normal rate of $950 an hour. Waxman is a former U.S. solicitor general who was tapped this week to replace Paul Clement after he had to withdraw because of a possible conflict of interest. Waxman is leading the state's appeal of a federal judge's ruling in July that concluded it was illegal for Atlanta to draw drinking water...

After a local government council voted unanimously to DISAPPROVE a zoning change request for a mosque to be located in suburban Atlanta, one of the locals was harassed and scared by a group of "Middle Eastern" men. "A Lilburn woman said her family was threatened and harassed as they traveled home from a City Council meeting about a controversial mosque. Janie Hood, whose family once farmed the area where the mosque was proposed, said “Middle Eastern” men who seemed to be associated with the congregation “boxed” her daughter’s car in as they traveled down U.S. Highway 29 on Wednesday night."

Creationists are ‘liars' (?): Geologist Donald Prothero doesn’t like the fact that we don’t agree with his ideas on evolution. I love the attitude some evolutionists have toward professional, scientific debate. Because creationist scientists do not agree with their biased, subjective and unsubstantiated ideas they spit the dummy and call us liars. The latest tirade from geologist Donald Prothero is in an opinion piece in NewScientist entitled ‘Evolution: What missing link?’1 I like that title. His article was picked up by the Telegraph newspaper in the UK which reported, ‘Creationists “peddle lies about the fossil record�.’2 Lies? Are creationists really...

<p>Contact your Senators and let them know what you think!</p> <p>U.S. veterans or subsidies for United Nations (U.N.) bureaucracy.</p>

Congressman running for governor calls on president to produce birth certificate. It's the question that keeps poking its head up through piles of debunking documents: Is Barack Obama eligible to be president? U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal says Obama can dispel it with a birth certificate showing he's a U.S. native and therefore qualified for the White House. Deal, a Republican running for governor in 2010, called on Obama on Tuesday to "put the matter to rest ... and provide the documentary evidence." But two independent fact-checking groups and the state of Hawaii say he already has. Their conclusion: Obama was...

ATLANTA -- In the waning days of the Great Recession, the federal government is still jumpstarting the economy and propping up financial markets. It is also trying to sell Dresden Heights, a failed condo development on a noisy freeway ramp next to a Motel 6, a Waffle House and a Do-It-Yourself Pest Control. For more than a year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has been seeking a buyer for 36 partially built condos it inherited from a high-flying, short-lived Atlanta bank. The agency has been fending off vandals, haggling with architects and uncovering the developer's blunders, all in a bid...

According to Thomas Bouchard, a US psychologist famous for his research on twins raised apart,[1] even scientists with good reason to believe that the majority are wrong can be silenced. The reason is...

Monday night Macon Police set a date for when they will decide whether to unionize. Jim Romar, teamster representative from the Law Enforcement League, says officers will vote on December 3rd and 4th. He says a location for voting has not been set yet. The union vote needs 50% plus one to

Knockout strategies have demonstrated that the function of many genes cannot be studied by disrupting them in model organisms because the inactivation of these genes does not lead to a phenotypic effect. For living systems, this peculiar phenomenon of genetic redundancy seems to be the rule rather than the exception. Genetic redundancy is now defined as the situation in which the disruption of a gene is selectively neutral. Biology shows us that 1) two or more genes in an organism can often substitute for each other, 2) some genes are just there in a silent state. Inactivation of such redundant...

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. -- Police said a love letter on the social networking web site Facebook sparked an on-campus, profanity-laced fight between two teachers at Rex Hill Middle School in Rex. The altercation allegedly got so out of hand, an officer ended up arresting both instructors. Channel 2 Action News reporter Tom Jones spent the day in Clayton County and was able to obtain the police report that detailed the love triangle that erupted into fighting and cursing in front of students. The school district didn’t have much to say about the altercation, but parents did. Police: Teachers Fight Over...

Billy Carter's Old Gas Station: A National Monument? Legislation calls for the National Park Service to take over the storied building, making it part of the Jimmy Carter Historic Site. Some say that's not the best use of taxpayer money right now. Billy Carter's gas station would become part of a proposed Jimmy Carter National HIstorical Park under legislation before Congress. (Mark Davis) By Richard Fausset November 15, 2009 In the age of the $787-billion stimulus package, it is, perhaps, a modest question: Should the American taxpayer foot the bill to enshrine the gas station run by the late Billy...