Free Republic

By Troy Anderson , Staff Writer Up to half of Los Angeles County's foster children were needlessly placed in a system that is often more dangerous than their own homes because of financial incentives in state and federal laws, a two-year newspaper investigation has found. The county receives nearly $30,000 per year from federal and state governments for each child placed in the system money that goes to pay the stipends of foster parents, but also wages, benefits and overhead costs for child-welfare workers and executives. For some special-needs children, the county receives up to $150,000 annually. "Called the 'perverse...

The globalization of U.S. courts Nothing in the Constitution suggests that the court has any authority whatsoever to rely on the decisions of international courts in rendering its own decisions. If the highest court in the land can just fabricate bases upon which to decide cases, our entire legal system, the structural framework for our republic, is in grave jeopardy. How is it that such justices do not understand that when they rely on extra-constitutional authority, they are arrogating to themselves power not granted to them in the Constitution, but more importantly, divesting the American people of their sovereignty? --------------------------------------------------------------------------------...

YOU FOLKS HAD BETTER BE PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS I'm going to revisit the eminent domain issue again for a few minutes here so that I can share with you an incredible display of arrogance from an elected official. As you know, I've been talking about a situation in Alabaster, Alabama where the city council of this community of 24,000 is trying to seize the property of about ten homeowners so that a shopping center featuring a Wal-Mart can be built there. The politicians say that it is perfectly OK to condemn and seize this property for a privately owned...

<p>Over this past weekend yet another virus/Trojan/worm/whatnot attack culminated in a lot of panic. Apparently, far too many systems were infected with this latest disease, and the Net was once again choking on the aftereffects. Probably the blackout in New York and much of the Northeast saved us because it simply took machines offline.</p>

(Editor's Note: The following is the 85th of 100 stories regarding government regulation from the book Shattered Dreams, written by the National Center for Public Policy Research. CNSNews.com will publish an additional story each day.) John Thoburn owns a driving range for golfers in a Virginia suburb of Washington, D.C. To bring him into compliance with local zoning ordinances, Thoburn was ordered by Fairfax County officials to plant more than 700 trees on his driving range in 1994 at a cost of over $125,000. Before he planted the trees, Thoburn asked the official Fairfax County arborist to approve the location...

ECO - LOGIC After the Pilgrims... Park Service Rewrites History - and Law By "McCarthy Annie" Editor's note: This story is provided by the American Landrights Association, where you can find extensive coverage of the Pilgrim's plight. ALRA has established a Legal Defense Fund to help pay Pilgrim's attorney. Checks should be made payable to ALRA, with "Pilgrim Family" in the notation area. Here are a few more examples of how the Park Service and other federal agencies are driving people off their land: Bob LearzafDonald ScottDiane Luppi If you ever come to visit me in this rugged back corner...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. This week, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice released "Public Power, Private Gain," (PDF) the first nationwide report to chronicle publicly reported instances of the abuse of eminent domain -- singling out examples in which private property has been condemned and seized by government to benefit other private interests. The report lists more than 10,000 cases over the past five years in which condemnations have been either filed or threatened against private land owners for the purpose of enriching other private parties. If that's not bad enough, institute attorney and study...

The overwhelming media response to recent remarks by Senator Trent Lott shows that the nation remains incredibly sensitive about matters of race, despite the outward progress of the last 40 years. A nation that once prided itself on a sense of rugged individualism has become uncomfortably obsessed with racial group identities.In the aftermath of the Lott debacle, we must not allow the term "states’ rights" to be smeared and distorted into code words for segregationist policies or racism. States’ rights simply means the individual states should retain authority over all matters not expressly delegated to the federal government in Article...

<p>WASHINGTON — The FBI is conducting an "evidentiary" search on public land in Frederick, Md., that was the focus of the government's anthrax investigation earlier this year, Fox News has learned.</p> <p>Frederick, about 45 minutes north of Washington, D.C., was once the home of Steven Hatfill, a 48-year-old biochemist who is considered a "person of interest" in the anthrax case. Hatfill worked at the Fort Detrick Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases -- the primary custodian of the Ames strain of anthrax found in the letters last fall -- until 1999.</p>

DELRAY BEACH · A police officer is on paid administrative leave after being criminally charged with aiming his Taser weapon at a volunteer during last month's Garlic Festival. Delray Beach police filed charges of improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon against Officer Matthew E. Weiner, 25, who has been with the department more than two years. The charge is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail. Weiner has turned in his badge and gun and is the subject of an internal affairs investigation.

Article published Nov 15, 2002 'Ballistic fingerprinting' advocates follow emotion, not reason With the advent of the "Beltway Sniper" shootings, there has been the predictable hue and cry for more gun control, mostly in the form of a "ballistic fingerprinting database" for all firearms. Simply put, the idea is that bullets recovered from shootings could be matched to images stored in a computer, the owner of the weapon could then be determined and an arrest could be made. Sounds good, doesn't it? Unfortunately, in the real world, it doesn't work. The federal government has been working on such a system...

The Sawgrass Rebellion: Convoy members say "Let's Roll!"   Rural people know that you can't put out a grassfire by stomping on it; property-rights abusers are about to learn that you can't quell a rebellion by stomping on it.  The heard the government had tried! "Eyes turned expectantly in Bill Ransom's direction [convoy leader]. 'We promised we would go to Florida to help the farmers there,' he told the group in an even voice. 'We don't break promises. We are going to Florida.'"  For more inspiring news. Greetings from Sawgrass fans in Sacramento. October 12th Update:   I spoke with Grant Gerber tonight...

The War on Business by William L. Anderson[Posted September 06, 2002]With the recent guilty plea of former Enron executive Michael Kopper, it seems that the floodgates are now officially open in the government’s war against American business. Democrats are demanding something just short of summary executions, while Republicans and President George W. Bush are trying to outdo the Democrats in their anti-business rhetoric, and the mainstream news media outlets are playing the role of Joseph Goebbels in helping to stir the whole pot of hysteria.From Ted Rall and the New York Times on the left to Fox News, the Washington Times,...

Tales of the Garrison State During the period known as Reconstruction, when defeated Southern states were ruled by military dictatorships, President Andrew Johnson declared: "Whenever you hear a man prating about the Constitution, spot him as a traitor." In our current environment, those engaging in loose talk about the Constitution are likely to be branded as "terrorists."While boarding a recent flight out of the Traverse City, Michigan airport, James R. Otteson, a professor of philosophy at the University of Alabama, was threatened with arrest, detention, and being permanently banned from air travel within the United States. Otteson, a law-abiding U.S....

Defending the American DreamHow the Wealthy Defend Against Taxes, Tort and Terrorism July 4, 2002 John Gaver     As our elected representatives argue among themselves about how best to exert even more legislative control over citizens and corporations, in the name of "fighting terrorism", they fail to realize that just that sort of draconian legislation is actually brewing a virtually unseen crisis of terrifying proportions.  Combine that with the effects of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and more data that we have uncovered and what you have is a recipe for disaster.The wealthiest people in the United...

<p>The D.C. Department of Mental Health has not returned $1 million to the relatives of deceased patients and has mismanaged the accounts and care of hundreds of others, according to a report to be released today by the inspector general.</p>