Free Republic

It's no secret that the Central American immigrant community walk the length of Herman Melville Boulevard as they travel to and from the fish houses where they work. They walk because they find it difficult to obtain driver's licenses as they are undocumented. Adrian Ventura said the Registry of Motor Vehicles could help if it would loosen requirements to obtain a driver's license. It is difficult for many to obtain a license because they do not have legal status, he said. The largest immigrant advocacy group in the country, the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition (MIRA) has proposed legislation...

The two biggest US cable companies are joining forces in a $45bn (£27bn) deal, creating an entertainment giant with some 32 million TV subscribers. Comcast's merger with Time Warner Cable was confirmed at the start of trading on Thursday. Its offer, which is subject to regulatory approval, is about 17% higher than the company's closing share price on Wednesday. The takeover bid trumps an earlier $38bn (£23bn) offer from Charter Communications, which appeared to concede defeat by announcing: "We've always maintained our greatest opportunity to create value for shareholders is by executing our current business plan. "We'll continue to be...

On January 15th, Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence supporter and Massachusetts state representative Carlos Henriquez (D-5th Suffolk Dist.) was sentenced to six months in jail for punching a woman who refused to have sex with him.

ANDY INKSTER, a transgender man, had always wanted biological children. So when he embarked on the transition from female to male at age 18 — changing his name, taking testosterone and eventually undergoing surgery to remove his breasts — he left his female reproductive organs intact. In his mid-20s, he decided it was time. He stopped taking testosterone and started trying to get pregnant. Eventually, in 2009, after beginning graduate school at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, he sought fertility treatment at Baystate Reproductive Medicine. Baystate was one of the few clinics in the country with an anti-discrimination policy...

The lesbian "rock opera" Jesus Has Two Mommies will show this Christmas season at the Somerville Theatre near Boston, MA. Jesus Has Two Mommies dares to distort the sacred mysteries of Christmas, showing Jesus born to two lesbians, Mary and Josephine. Among blasphemous mockeries of God, the virgin birth, and the Holy Family, Jesus Has Two Mommies portrays Mary and Josephine's affair at a lesbian bar, the "real Christmas story."According to press reports: "Luckily the trio is up to the challenge. The trio consisted of God... Jesus and the angel Gay-briel. ...Blessing Faith [Faith Soloway, the author] with a Psalm...

The zone of state toll systems that are part of E-ZPass now stretches far beyond the New York metropolitan area where it began. Now you can use your E-ZPass in toll-zapping booths in 14 states, a vast road-trip zone stretching from Virginia to Illinois to Maine. It’s all a compatible system, but different states set their own fees to issue the transponders and maintain your account. What not all consumers know is that you don’t have to buy your pass from the state where you live, and you can save money by ordering from across the border. Whether this is...

FBI: Terror suspect plotted fuel attackAl-Marabh planned to blow up tunnelJail informant reported `martyr' bid JOHN SOLOMONASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - Nabil al-Marabh, who ran a print shop with his uncle in Toronto, plotted to steal a fuel tanker truck and blow it up in one of the heavily travelled tunnels between New Jersey and Manhattan, FBI documents allege. Al-Marabh, 36, was arrested Sept. 19, 2001, in Chicago in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. His arrest prompted an RCMP raid of his uncle's copy shop on Charles St. in Toronto. The U.S. deported him...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK) JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO: Juan, fasten your seat belt. The federal government should stay within the confines of the constitution. The constitution does not authorize the federal government to have anything whatsoever to do with healthcare. So, Obamacare should be abolished along with Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, but the people who are on those programs should be grandfathered in because they paid money to be in there and they've ordered their lives to stay there. The states should regulate healthcare because the states retain that power under the constitution. So, if you want if you want mandatory healthcare, go...

“Will we ever be able to have a constructive conversation on the [gun] issue?” Joanna Weiss asked Sunday in her “Gun Debate Hate” column in The Boston Globe. She was referring to reports from the week before about a Swamspcott selectman seeking authority for police to enforce Massachusetts state law requiring gun owners to keep firearms in their homes locked up. “Here’s a summary of what happened, as far as I can gather, at last week’s meeting of the Swampscott Board of Selectmen,” Weiss wrote, decrying “the Internet Instant Outrage Machine [that] rained down on Barry Greenfield, the selectman who...

Note: The following text is a quote: Three Chinese Nationals and Two Corporations Charged with Illegally Exporting Defense Articles and Commerce Controlled Electronics Components to China and Conspiring to Violate U.S. Export Laws BOSTON, MA—Three nationals of the People’s Republic of China and two corporations were charged on October 1, 2009 in federal court with conspiring over a period of 10 years to illegally export defense articles, designated on the United States Munitions List, and Commerce controlled electronics components to end-users in China, including several Chinese military entities. Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks; John J. McKenna, Special Agent...

BOSTON — The state's top political leaders called on Congress Wednesday to pass stricter background checks for gun buyers.U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren joined fellow Sen. Edward Markey, Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and the families of gun violence victims at a rally at Faneuil Hall to press for tougher national gun laws. Warren and others are hoping Congress will again take up a bill that would expand background checks to include gun shows and online sales. She said other sensible measures would include better mental health care and putting limits on high capacity magazines and assault weapons.

From Firearms Records Bureau v. Simkin (Mass. Aug. 8, 2013): Simkin is a New Hampshire resident and a federally licensed firearms dealer who is engaged in the “buying and selling [of] firearms in the region, from private parties, at gun shows, and at auctions.” Since 2002, he has held a temporary nonresident Class A unrestricted license to carry firearms in Massachusetts. In February, 2009, Simkin applied to the bureau for a renewal of his license, stating as his purpose for requesting the renewal that he traveled in and through Massachusetts for business purposes, carrying firearms, ammunition, and cash, and...

An estimated 8.5 million Americans will receive rebates from their health insurers this summer thanks to the Affordable Care Act, which says companies that fail to spend at least 80 percent of premiums on health care must refund the difference to consumers. Obama today touted the benefit as part of his mid-summer push ... The amount of the individual rebates varies widely by state and insurance company, depending on whether a consumer's insurer was in compliance with the law. The largest average rebates will be seen in Washington state, where 3,007 consumers will receive an average $512 this summer. In...

BOSTON -- Showing continued concern over a deportation program, advocates on Tuesday pressed their case to a legislative committee for a law limiting state and local law enforcement's cooperation with the program. Gov. Deval Patrick resisted implementation of Secure Communities in Massachusetts, but his protestations did not stop Immigration and Customs Enforcement from commencing the program in May 2012, and Patrick said then that he would "uphold the law." There was lengthy debate over whether Massachusetts should join the program, but it has generated little debate on Beacon Hill since last May. Activists and lawmakers are now seeking to change...

<p>And we're off. With 21% of the precinct vote in, Republican Gomez leads Democrat Markey 52.7% to 46.9%.</p>

Revere Police said two teenage brothers are being held by immigration officials after each was charged this week with sexually assaulting and attempting to rape a 6-year-old relative. A 14-year-old juvenile male was arrested and charged with indecent assault-and-battery on a child under 14; and assault to rape a child; at 6 p.m. Tuesday. A 16-year-old juvenile male was arrested and charged with the same offenses on Wednesday. O’Hara said the alleged victim was a 6-year-old female. O’Hara said the charges were a result of “an observation a family member made.” She said bail was also set for each brother,...

LAWRENCE, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) – A 69-year-old liquor store owner allegedly thwarted an attempted armed robbery of McCann's Liquors on South Union Street Sunday night. Arturo Taveras, owner of McCann's Liquors, has been robbed before and he was not about to be victimized again.Taveras told police a masked man walked into his store at about 10:30 p.m., pulled a gun on him, and demanded all his money; however, instead of emptying his register, Taveras removed his gun from his waistband and pointed it at the suspect, reports The Eagle Tribune. When the suspect saw Taveras' gun, he fled the store heading...

Sometimes when people on the Left talk about dog whistles, it seems far too forced. However, there are occasional times when you can see a clear subliminal message underlying the overt one. Take the contested Massachusetts Senate race that pits 38 year veteran of Congress Ed Markey against former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez. Gomez rejects many of the gun control arguments, including the ban on high capacity magazines.

Seven foreigners from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Singapore were arrested for trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir on Tuesday. The Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts is one of the country’s largest man-made water supplies. (VIDEO-AT-LINK) CBS Local reported, via Free Republic: Shortly after midnight Tuesday, seven people were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir. State Police say the five men and two women are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, and “cited their education and career interests” for being in the area. The men told police they were chemical engineers and recent college graduates....

Federal education officials today told UMass Dartmouth they cannot release academic and financial records of alleged Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, according to a letter received by the Herald. "From the limited information you provided, it appears that the academic and financial records that have been requested would be protected by FERPA, and that the University may not release them without the consent of the student," wrote Dale King, director of the Family Policy Compliance Office for the U.S. Department of Education.