Free Republic

The last surviving crewman of the Enola Gay, the B-29 that dropped the atomic bomb over Hiroshima, died overnight at his Stone Mountain home. Theodore “Dutch” Van Kirk, 93, was the navigator on the Aug. 6, 1945 flight that dropped the “Little Boy” atomic bomb. With the 2010 death of Morris Jeppson, Van Kirk became the only one of the dozen crew members left. For a number of years, he lived at a retirement community in Stone Mountain where by chance he found himself sharing the place with James Starnes, an Atlantan who had a front-row seat at history. Starnes...

Wish I could take credit for that headline but it’s Aaron Gardner’s. Here’s a nice scoop for Eliana Johnson, who somehow got hold of an early memo prepared by Michelle Nunn’s Senate campaign in Georgia after they stupidly posted it online briefly last winter. Of the many gems within, my second-favorite is the one emphasizing “rural” photo ops to show Georgians that Nunn is one of them. She’s a creature of the Beltway since birth, having grown up in Maryland while her dad Sam served in the Senate, but it’s important when trying to inherit a Senate seat as...

Wish I could take credit for that headline but it’s Aaron Gardner’s. Here’s a nice scoop for Eliana Johnson, who somehow got hold of an early memo prepared by Michelle Nunn’s Senate campaign in Georgia after they stupidly posted it online briefly last winter. Of the many gems within, my second-favorite is the one emphasizing “rural” photo ops to show Georgians that Nunn is one of them. She’s a creature of the Beltway since birth, having grown up in Maryland while her dad Sam served in the Senate, but it’s important when trying to inherit a Senate seat as part...

In the Georgia Republican runoff this week, David Perdue won the right to represent Republicans in the general election this fall. His win has placed the final piece of the puzzle for the political landscape this season in Georgia. With less than four months until the fall election, not a minute can be wasted by either side. The Senate race has become an oddity, with two CEOs (one business, one non-profit and both with politically recognizable family names) vying to become the next United States Senator from Georgia. David Perdue, (former Republican Dollar General CEO and cousin of former Georgia...

EPA will hold public hearings in four locations for the proposed Clean Power Plan the week of July 28, 2014. The hearings will provide interested parties the opportunity to present data, views or arguments concerning the proposed action. EPA is pleased by the tremendous public interest in the proposed Clean Power Plan. Already, we have received nearly 300,000 written comments on the proposal. We have found that there are some additional speaking slots still available in Pittsburgh on August 1st, and are reopening the registration for Pittsburgh ONLY. Register for the Pittsburgh hearing on August 1st. The other hearings in...

(Newser) – Businessman David Perdue has won the GOP nomination for a Senate race the party cannot afford to lose. Perdue, former CEO of Reebok and Dollar General, narrowly beat 11-term Rep. Jack Kingston in a runoff election in Georgia to become the party's Senate nominee, reports the New York Times. He will face Democrat Michelle Nunn, daughter of former Sen. Sam Nunn, in a race seen as key to control of the Senate for the last years of President Obama's term. Democrats see Georgia as their best chance of picking up another Senate seat this fall, while Republicans need...

First-time political candidate David Perdue won a surprise victory over favored Rep. Jack Kingston in the Republican runoff for the US Senate nomination in Georgia. Kingston, who had the backing of the US Chamber of Commerce as well as conservatives such as my Salem colleague Erick Erickson, had been leading in almost every poll as the runoff approached. In the end, Perdue’s outsider message may have won the day: Businessman David Perdue stunned Georgia’s Republican political establishment Tuesday by capturing the party’s U.S. Senate nomination in his first run for office.The former CEO of Reebok and Dollar General toppled 11-term...

Georgia Republicans will pick their nominee for Senate in a runoff Tuesday, ending Democratic nominee Michelle Nunn’s nine-week wait for an opponent in the open-seat contest. The Senate contest has reverberated around the Peach State, creating three open-seat House races with GOP runoffs that will also be decided Tuesday. In the statewide race, many Republicans said Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., has a small edge over former Dollar General and Reebok CEO David Perdue. Both of whom have spent millions on the anticipated low-turnout contest, and polls close at 7 p.m. In May, Perdue came in first in a seven-candidate Republican...

Overall Georgia Senate Primary Runoff Results

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has called for an end to the fighting and bombing in Gaza. “Both sides must distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, and Israel must ensure that its use of force is proportionate in accordance with international humanitarian law. More immediately, all combat operations must stop, and Israeli troops should withdraw from Gaza,” Carter said in a statement released Tuesday. So far, more than 600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in the fighting, according to reports. The Israeli death toll is estimated at 29, including two civilians. Humantarian groups have also called for an end to...

The number of Americans who see illegal immigration as the nation's most pressing problem has spiked from 3 per cent to 17 per cent since May, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday. That percentage now tops government corruption, the U.S. economy, jobs, health care and every other hot-button issue, driven by a flood of tens of thousands of illegal immigrant children pouring across the U.S.-Mexico border. 'We are all connected. We can't just build a wall or a fence and say no more,' Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis tweeted on Tuesday. 'This is America. Our doors are open.' The...

This week National Journal unveiled its “Against the Grain” awards, an evaluation of campaigns, candidates, and ads at what could be called the halfway point of the 2014 cycle. Finding her way into the mix was Michelle Nunn, the anointed Senate choice of Georgia Democrats. She drew an honorable mention for “most surprising candidate,” falling to Republican Joni Ernst in Iowa. All due respect, but Michelle Nunn has yet to actually be tested as a candidate. The pop quizzes she’s had thus far have largely been failed. What she has done well comes in the form of fundraising. Nunn again...

Last week, Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Michelle Nunn attended a fundraiser hosted by an ex-convict. No, I’m dead serious. The $2,600 a head Capitol Hill fundraiser for Ms. Nunn was co-hosted by Virtual Murrell; an early leader of the Black Panther Party who served some prison time for extorting businesses when he worked as an aide in city government in the 1990s (via National Review): Murrell was indicted in 1994 by a federal grand jury on charges that he solicited and received over $37,000 in bribes from businesses in San Francisco while serving as an aide to an Oakland city...

Pierre Mortemousque’s daughter apparently really wanted to attend UGA; he really didn’t want to pay for it — at least full price. That is what the University of Georgia police say they found after they got a tip the Virginia man was passing himself off as an in-state resident while his daughter was on Greek Row. Now the Lynchburg, Va., resident is facing four felony charges of theft — totaling nearly $40,000 — for the two years his daughter got her education subsidized by Georgia taxpayers, said UGA Chief Jimmy Williamson. Mortemousque has since paid his financial debt in the...

It wasn’t a friendly meeting between Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) and businessman David Perdue on Sunday evening as they faced off in the only debate of the Georgia GOP Senate runoff. Both used the lone opportunity ahead of next Tuesday’s vote to wage personal attacks against their opponent. Kingston targeted Perdue, a former Fortune 500 CEO, as an out of touch businessman only concerned with his own profit. Perdue fired back, accusing the congressman of being a "career politician" who has accomplished little in his 11 terms in office. Hosted by the Atlanta Press Club and televised on Georgia Public...

... Music teacher Flint Dollar has filed a lawsuit claiming Macon, Georgia, Catholic school Mount de Sales Academy discriminated against him based on gender, NPR reports. Dollar can't sue the school for bias against him based on sexual orientation because federal law does not bar such discrimination — and neither does the state of Georgia. Dollar's lawyer, Charles Cox, argues Dollar can use Title VII of the Civil Rights Act — which forbids discrimination based on gender — to sue the school because he was essentially penalized for not conforming to gender stereotypes. ...

ATLANTA, Ga. - A handful of undocumented children, among the thousands held in federal facilities around the country, were flown to Atlanta to reunite with their families at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport Wednesday. The teenagers were escorted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with several other children from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala, to reunite with their loved ones. Federal Health and Human Services workers are trying to link some of the thousands of undocumented children flooding into the country, with relatives legally here, ICE officials say.

Federal investigators are probing a whistleblower's allegations that applications for veterans seeking health care benefits may have been improperly purged from the VA's Health Eligibility Center in suburban Atlanta. Eligibility Center program specialist Scott Davis .. that health benefit applications for more than 10,000 veterans may have been improperly purged from ... Davis said the VA placed him on paid administrative leave after he filed the complaints

MARIETTA, GA. — A Georgia man who police say intentionally killed his toddler son by leaving the boy inside a hot SUV was exchanging nude photos with women the day his son died and had looked at websites that advocated against having children, a detective testified Thursday. Cobb County Police Detective Phil Stoddard testified at a hearing that evidence showed Justin Ross Harris was practically leading a double life and should not be granted bond. Stoddard described the evidence police have suggesting Harris, who is charged with murder, killed his 22-month-old son Cooper intentionally. Harris and his wife had two...

Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Christian Boone is in the courtroom for a hearing for Justin Ross Harris, who is accused of killing his 22-month-old son by leaving him inside an SUV.