Free Republic

Right Side News reads from Douglas Hagmann's website about Mumbai and Minneapolis. The only difference between the two is the passage of TIME. Mumbai is headed here and sooner or later, we will be hit hard and fast by Islamic terrorists. What are we doing now to stop them? When will our government wake up and call these terrorists by name and stop banning the terms from their own dictionary? Policital correctness has the potential of killing hundreds and perhaps thousands of innocent Americans. The Third Jihad and other films all warn of the inevitable attacks in the US, such...

WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Al Franken has taken the unusual step of shutting down Sen. Joe Lieberman on the Senate floor. Lieberman, a Connecticut independent, currently is the target of liberal wrath over his opposition to a government-run insurance plan in the health care bill. Franken was presiding over the Senate Thursday afternoon as Lieberman spoke about amendments he planned to offer to the bill. Lieberman asked for an additional 30 seconds to finish — a routine request — but Franken refused to grant the time.

Crude cartoons intended to offend Muslims in St. Cloud were found posted on utility poles this week. The cartoons, reminiscent of those published in a Danish newspaper in 2005, "are clearly offensive to the Muslim community here, inappropriate and not wanted in our community," said police Sgt. Marty Sayre. Five pages of cartoons, posted on a pair of utility poles, depict the prophet Mohammed in derogatory ways, the Qur'an and a swastika. "We've had swastikas before, but I believe this is the first time we've seen" images specifically targeting Muslims, Sayre said. One of the posts was stapled to a...

  Bachmann Opposes Permanent Bailout Bill This week the U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on Barney Frank’s financial regulation reform bill, or as Democratic Congressman Brad Sherman called it, “TARP on Steroids.”  Instead of examining and addressing the root cause of the financial collapse so that we may ensure it never happens again, this bill codifies the bailout mindset. In addition to expanding the Fed’s power, it restricts consumer’s investment options, imposes fees on already struggling firms, and it even provides a $200 billion bailout fund. While the 1,300 page bill is quite complex, it can be...

A man was arrested for allegedly throwing two tomatoes at Sarah Palin from the second floor balcony during a book signing event at the Mall of America in Minnesota, MyFoxTwinCities.com. reported. Neither tomato came close hitting the former 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, but did hit a police officer in the face, the station reported. The unidentified man may face charges for assaulting a police officer, according to the station. Die-hard supporters treated the event like another Black Friday, lining up outside in freezing weather before the mall doors opened at 5 a.m. Emily Calhoon, a high school junior from...

Recently Jim Robinson posted two threads declaring Free Republic’s determination to see Conservatives elected and ousting Rino's from government. Jim and a great many Freepers believe that we need to take back control. But the RNC is not hearing us. Activism is called for NOW. 2010 is nearing and we need Conservative candidates to run. The time is ripe and people are ready for another 1994 type election. But we need to make the RNC hear us loud and clear. This is the Rino Free America Project. Get involved. Make them listen. Write a letter and MAIL it. Republican...

Senators have to find a balance between voting their conscience and voting as their constituents would like. If senators vote their conscience too heavily, constituents tend to get angry. When this happens, constituents may ask for a recall of their U.S. Senator. (The 5 steps are listed in detail) -- The 18 states allowing for recall are as follows: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington and Wisconsin.

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. -- No charges will be filed against a man who stabbed a teenager to death earlier this month in Minneapolis. The Hennepin County Attorney says the man acted in reasonable self defense. Timothy Jackson, 17, died in the early morning hours of November 7. Investigators say Jackson and another teenager tried to rob the man on the Midtown Greenway. The man stabbed Jackson Robbery charges were filed last week against the teenager who was with Jackson.

First Dupage Bank, Westmont, IL Riverview Community Bank, Otsego, MN Bank of Elmwood, Racine, WI Hillcrest Bank Florida, Naples, FL Flagship National Bank, Bradenton, FL American United Bank, Lawrenceville, GA Partners Bank, Naples, FL

In a sign of an expensive fight ahead for Minnesota's 6th Congressional District, the candidates' combined $1.2 million campaign stockpile is already much bigger than it was at this stage in the last election. Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann holds $617,000 of that money, giving her an early cash-on-hand lead over two Democrats vying to deny her a third term. But the combined $581,000 in the accounts of state Sen. Tarryl Clark and Dr. Maureen Reed far exceed what Bachmann's Democratic opponents mustered a year out from the 2008 election.

Pope Benedict / Bishop Sirba Duluth, Minn., Oct 15, 2009 / 10:34 am (CNA).- On Thursday morning, Pope Benedict named Msgr. Paul D. Sirba, currently vicar general and moderator of the curia in St. Paul and Minneapolis, as the ninth Bishop of Duluth, Minnesota, filling the position left vacant when Bishop Dennis M. Schnurr was appointed as coadjutor of Cincinnati, Ohio in October 2008.Two other bishop's appointments were also announced by the Vatican today: Fr. Fernando Isern as Bishop of Pueblo, Colorado and Msgr. Robert C. Evans as auxiliary of the Diocese of Providence, R.I.According to the Diocese of Duluth, Bishop-elect...

I wonder why the same poeple opposing voter ID are the same favoring IRV ? why are "progressives" often on this bandwagon?

MOMBASA, Kenya — The mother of a top al-Qaida fugitive who was killed in a U.S. raid in Somalia demanded today to see her son's body while a Somalia-based group claimed him as their leader and confirmed his death. Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, a 30-year-old Kenyan, was wanted for the 2002 car bombing of a beach resort in Kenya and a failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli airliner. Three senior U.S. officials familiar with Monday's commando raid confirmed he was killed. Aisha Abdallah told the Associated Press she wants "to see the body of my son before it is...

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) is the chief proponent of a public option "trigger," but she said Monday that she does not expect one in the Finance Committee bill. In fact, the trigger has barely come up in the Gang of Six talks. "It probably will be a straight co-op at this point," Snowe said. "We did not discuss the trigger to be part of the co-op, at least in the framework we have before us." She said she wasn't abandoning the idea, which Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) panned on the Sunday talk shows. "It may be something down the road,"...

The fight over global warming and Canadian oil is heating up, and Minnesota, which gets 80 percent of its oil from Canada, is sitting on the griddle. A group of oil companies and big industries launched a TV and radio ad campaign this week to try to snuff out rules that might raise the cost of piping Canadian tar-sands oil through the Dakotas to refineries in the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, environmentalists on Thursday appealed a federal decision that allows construction of another major pipeline across northern Minnesota to bring in even more tar-sands oil from Alberta.

Minnesota's Republican governor used to make soaring speeches about defusing climate change. Now he's making jokes, and some environmentalists are wondering whether his gone-missing support amounts to "bait and switch" politics. Gov. Tim Pawlenty is stoking frustration among Democratic state lawmakers and prominent climate thinkers for becoming "totally silent" on two major efforts to stem greenhouse gas emissions in Minnesota and in a strip of states stretching from Canada to Kansas. The turnaround is striking because it was the governor who powerfully promoted the initiatives. Now, chafed participants believe Pawlenty is abandoning climate action to mend his conservative credentials before...

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ― The National Weather Service has issued a tornado warning for the counties that include Minneapolis and St. Paul, and says it has received a report of a tornado just north of downtown. The weather services say it received reports of the tornado at 2:11 p.m. Wednesday. Radar shows the storm is moving north at about 20 mph. It reportedly damaged a downtown church. The tornado warning covers central Anoka County, northeastern Hennepin County and western Ramsey County. It remains in effect until 2:45 p.m. Electric Fetus reported on their Twitter page that their building sustained damage and...

Ask for Real Town Hall on Health Care! Remember, Republican Members need to hold town halls too. Far too many Republicans are ready to support a federal individual health insurance mandate (feds force everyone to buy health insurance). It seems innocuous, but this is all Congress needs to pass to get national health care into law...as noted so aptly by MN State Sen. Linda Berglin in Sunday's Minneapolis Star Tribune (8/16/09) - see para. 13. Sen. Amy Klobuchar - 612-727-5220 - ask for a REAL town hall, not her planned, no face-to-face tele-conference. Where's her courage? Sen. Al Franken -...

From his office: "Mankato, MN — Next Thursday [August 20] Congressman Walz will hold a town hall meeting to hear from southern Minnesotans about their ideas and concerns on health insurance reform. The general public, as well as members of the media are invited to the event. This August, Walz has held a series of discussions across southern Minnesota in his district offices, workplaces, and homes to hear directly from southern Minnesotans about our health care system.

In a sarcasm-laced letter, Gov. Tim Pawlenty on Tuesday brusquely rebuffed DFL legislative leaders' invitation to a summit meeting that would address the state's ongoing financial crisis. Late last month, Senate Majority Leader Larry Pogemiller and House Speaker Margaret Anderson Kelliher invited former governors, speakers and majority leaders to a "Minnesota Leadership Summit." In Tuesday's letter to Pogemiller and Kelliher, Pawlenty declined the invitation. "The state already has a 'Minnesota Leadership Summit,'" he wrote. "It's called the legislative session and it lasts approximately five months."

outspoken, conservative, media-friendly — and for many in the Democratic Party, a new public enemy No. 1. Now that former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is out of office, there are few Republican officials in the country Democrats would rather unseat in 2010 than Bachmann, a two-term congresswoman with a habit of pushing the buttons of liberals on everything from ACORN to global warming to even whether President Barack Obama is, as she once asked, "anti-American." "She's definitely somewhere up there," Bachmann chief of staff Michelle Martson said of where the Minnesota congresswoman sits on the Democratic campaign hit-list.

The Democrat Party, using networks of local blogger operatives, successfully bogged down the Alaska state government with a series of bogus "ethics" complaints and FOI requests, all designed to destroy former Gov. Sarah Palin. Now the party of Hope and Change is using the same strategy in Minnesota: "Three Minnesota bloggers filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Michele Bachmann this week, claiming the Republican violated House franking rules in an email to constituents."Sound familiar? In the early stages of using the strategy, Obama's goon squads seem to be concentrating on on states that have attractive, conservative women of faith in...

Al Franken is going to the Senate. From The Chicago Tribune: After a fierce legal battle and a vote recount that stretched on for seven months, the Minnesota Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that Democrat Al Franken should be certified as the winner in the state's U.S. Senate race. Norm Coleman has conceded. And here's the thing: Franken's victory gives the Democratic caucus 60 votes in the Senate, enough to overcome Republican filibuster attempts. There is a lesson here for detached/oblivious gun owners. Particularly since Franken won by a mere 312 vote margin. And especially because Coleman was rated "A"...

Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced plans Tuesday to whack $2.7 billion out of the budgets of nearly every governmental agency, program or subdivision that gets money from the state, including schools, health and social services, cities and counties, colleges and universities and state agencies.

The Vatican has designated the Cathedral of Saint Paul to be the first national shrine in honor of the Apostle Paul. This special distinction was granted by the Office of the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, following a request by The Most Rev. John C. Nienstedt, Archbishop of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.This will be the first national shrine in the State of Minnesota and the only national shrine in North America dedicated to honor Saint Paul.According to canon (church) law, “The term shrine signifies a church or other sacred place to which the faithful...

ATK subsidiary Federal Cartridge Co. in Anoka, MN received a $49.9 million firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract for 300 Winchester magnum ammunition. This ammunition will be used by U.S. forces engaged in combat, and by the US Navy in Match Team competition. Work will be performed in Anoka, MN will run until June 2014. Contract funds in the amount of $1.3 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured with multiple proposals solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website. One offer was received by The Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division in Crane,...

A Wisconsin judge dismissed homicide charges against Minneapolis firefighter Kyle Huggett because law enforcement authorities failed to preserve voice-mail messages that would have helped determine whether he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot an intruder. Burnett County Circuit Judge James Babbitt ruled that sheriff's detectives denied Huggett due process when they failed to thoroughly listen to and transcribe threatening messages left by John Peach, who broke into Huggett's home in rural Danbury, Wis., last year. "It is hard to imagine any evidence more compelling than threats from the decedent that the defendant heard approximately two hours before the decedent...

Minnesota's U.S. Senate showdown will center on the state Supreme Court today. In Courtroom 300 in St. Paul's Judicial Center, an attorney for Republican Norm Coleman will tell five justices why he believes the case must be sent back to the trial court. An attorney for Democrat Al Franken will tell the justices why he thinks the trial court's April 13 decision that Franken won the race was correct. For Coleman, there can be no outright win at this stage. His best hope is that the court's decision — which may be weeks away — will send the case back...

ST. PAUL, Minn.—A group of conservatives sued Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and 25 county election officials Thursday over allegedly incomplete voter records. Minnesota Majority president Jeff Davis said the counties failed to post voter history updates as required within six weeks of the November 2008 election. His lawsuit also alleges that Ritchie's office has yet to update voter records to reflect all those who voted. Davis said the lawsuit was filed Thursday with the Minnesota Supreme Court. Ritchie, a Democrat, said the attorney general's office will respond to the lawsuit.

St. Paul, Minn., May 27, 2009 / 01:59 pm (CNA).- The Catholics in Minneapolis and St. Paul received a gift from Pope Benedict today when the Vatican announced that the Pope has appointed Father Lee Piché as an auxiliary bishop for the more than 850,000 faithful in the area.Bishop-elect Piché replaces the Most Reverend Richard E. Pates, who was installed as the Bishop of the Diocese of Des Moines in May of 2008. The bishop-elect’s ordination will be on June 29, the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, in St. Paul Cathedral."I am honored and humbled by the Holy Father’s...

Gov. Tim Pawlenty's bold move to single-handedly fix the $2.7 billion hole in the state budget was an important policy decision. "It's not an option. It's a duty," he said Tuesday at a Capitol news conference. But it also was a risky gamble for his political future. He will be blamed if his budget cuts cause widespread pain and damage the state's financial health. But he will be credited as a strong leader if restraining state spending holds down taxes and restores fiscal stability. Pawlenty won't announce whether he'll run for a third term until later this year. And he...

Medtronic Inc. (MDT) will eliminate about 1,500 to 1,800 jobs from its global workforce by the end of June amid efforts to control costs and manage economic pressures.

Hi everyone. Here's my contribution to documenting a TEA Party! It's taken me a bit since April 14th... I found I had a dirty CCD AFTER taking the pictures so I've been cleaning them up! Oh yeah, this is also my written permission that these images may be used as displayed here on Free Republic only. Drop me a line if you see something you like! Enjoy Panoramic of the crowd when I got there: About 8,000. Panoramic from the left side of the speakers stand: At its hight, about 10,000, or so we where told. And now for some...

Republican Norm Coleman used a quick George Bush -esque move to dodge an egg thrown at him outside his Minnesota home. Coleman told police that he heard a thumping on his door Tuesday night and walked outside to investigate. Upon seeing Coleman, a man yelled “I [expletive] can't stand what you represent” and threw an egg at him. “He said something, some little obscenity, and then he threw another one,” Coleman told the St. Paul Pioneer Press . “I kind of ducked. A George Bush move.” “I ran after him, but I didn't get him.”

Hundreds of tea-bag-toting protesters staged a "tea party" at the state Capitol on Wednesday evening to express outrage over soaring federal government spending, bailouts and a sour economy. "Our message is simple," said Sue Jeffers, rally mistress of ceremonies. "Repeal the pork, cut the taxes, stop the out-of-control spending and get government out of lives."

Democrat Al Franken's lead in Minnesota's U.S. Senate race has grown to 312 votes now that hundreds of absentee ballots have been added to the counting. A three-judge panel ruled that the rejected absentee ballots should be opened and counted after hearing weeks of testimony in a lawsuit brought by Republican Norm Coleman. Franken led by 225 votes going into Tuesday's count of those absentee ballots. The judges allowed 351 absentees into the count and Franken picked up more of them than Coleman did. Other issues are still pending in Coleman's lawsuit, and he has said he will appeal to...

In the two days since a three judge state panel handed Norm Coleman a major setback in his election contest against entertainer Al Franken (D) the former Minnesota senator has made clear that he has no plans to declare defeat anytime soon. "Well, clearly it wasn't over," Coleman said during a radio interview yesterday, adding: "Every vote has to now be counted, and as I repeat again and again, counted with a uniform standard." Coleman's lead lawyer, Ben Ginsberg, has dismissed the court's ruling on Tuesday as an "April Fool's day" decision. The ruling "gives us no choice but to...

Lutherans sure love screwing with bulbs. Especially ones at St. Olaf College. The dynamic minds won the national Rube Goldberg competition. This is seriously the coolest science competition in the nation. All those years playing Mouse Trap don't compare to the video you are about to see. Watch the video on their website.

An important 19th century painting that languished in a church janitor's closet has a new home at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. The Rev. Steven Olson of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Dassel approached the museum back in 2007, looking for advice on how to preserve the painting of Jesus surrounded by the afflicted and the oppressed. It turns out the painting "Christus Consolator," was by the Dutch-born, French-trained artist Ary Scheffer, one of the pre-eminent Romantic painters in Paris of the first half of the 19th century. "Our own version of 'Antiques Roadshow,'" said museum director Kaywin Feldman. MIA painting...

A state law prevents new nuclear power plants from being built in Minnesota, and some say that means nuclear can't even be part of a discussion about the state's future energy needs. An effort to change that suffered a setback Thursday, when members of a House energy committee voted down a bill that would lift the ban. The 9-12 vote came after two days of hearings in which lawmakers heard testimony from more than two dozen people, including national experts, environmentalists, the nuclear industry and people who live near Minnesota's two existing nuclear plants. While the measure still could be...

As soon as this summer, shoplifters could pilfer $250 in merchandise and walk away with a fine. Same for those who buy or sell up to an ounce of marijuana or who fence stolen goods. Bad checks up to $125 would get similar treatment, as would credit fraud under $250. A Senate bill that would dramatically change the criminal justice system -- reducing sentences, changing misdemeanors to petty misdemeanors, vastly increasing fees -- is under serious consideration as a means of dealing with the state's gaping $4.6 billion budget deficit and relieving pressure on an overburdened court system.

The Minnesota Department of Health is fast-tracking a bill to eliminate our genetic privacy rights. State officials have been violating the 2006 Minnesota Genetic Privacy law for three years - collecting, storing, analyzing and sharing newborn DNA (and family bloodlines) without the consent or knowledge of parents. The State of Minnesota now owns and warehouses the DNA of more than 819,000 children. More than 52,000 children have been the subjects of genetic research without parent consent. On March 11th, nine families filed a law suit against the Department of Health. In response, health officials are pushing for the rapid passage...

A 16-year-old Rosemount student handed out $100 bills to fellow students Tuesday as if they were jelly beans. When asked where he got the money — he had given away about $11,000 — he first said it was his allowance. Later, when pressed by a teacher, he admitted he found it in a ditch.

Minnesotaâ's own Gun Owners Civil Rights Alliance is back on the job at the Capitol. This year, we are seeing a number of very dangerous bills proposed. Second Amendment rights, American liberties, are very much at risk. Metrocrats ( Urban Liberal anti gun democrats) control both the MN House and the MN Senate. They have done their best to stack committees to pass legislation that will harass law-abiding gun owners, sometimes turning them into criminals. So far we have two items to report to you. One needs your action this week. This Week Paymar's Gun Owners Criminalization Legislation This Friday...

Minnesota voters apparently will be able to go through at least one more election where they can vote without showing photo identification. A Minnesota House committee today rejected a bill that would have required voters to produce photo IDs before voting. The government operations committee vote was 11 to 8, with most Democrats voting no and Republicans voting yes. The bill's chief sponsor, Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, said the measure was needed to ensure the "integrity and legitimacy of our elections" by preventing voter fraud. Opponents said the legislation is unneeded. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, a Democrat, said he...

MINNEAPOLIS — David Guy McKay walked out of the federal courthouse, felt the sting of a 4-degree temperature and a wicked northwest wind and declared how great it felt. McKay, 23, of Austin, had reason to feel elated. He was getting his first taste of freedom an hour after a judge declared a mistrial when the jury deadlocked on charges that he made and possessed Molotov cocktails during last summer's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn.

You would think people would learn. The recount in the contest between Norm Coleman and Al Franken for a seat in the U.S. Senate isn't just embarrassing. It is unconstitutional.This is Florida 2000 all over again, but with colder weather. Like that fiasco, Minnesota's muck of a process violates the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Indeed, the controlling Supreme Court decision is none other than Bush v. Gore.Remember Florida? Local officials conducting recounts could not decide what counted as a legal vote. Hanging chads? Dimpled chads? Should "undervotes" count (where a machine failed to read an incompletely-punched card)?...

The New Year has just arrived and President-elect Barack Obama and the Democrat-controlled Congress have already begun constructing a plan to spend more of your money in 2009. They are calling it a stimulus, but it sounds a lot more like a combination of corporate handouts and government jobs programs. A few weeks ago, they said the package would be $500 billion. It has already grown to $850 billion in the first year and about $1 trillion over a few years. As the package grows, American families find themselves drowning deeper and deeper in debt. Since word of the stimulus,...

Alan Page, the former NFL star and Minnesota Supreme Court justice who will choose the panel of judges that will effectively determine the next senator of Minnesota, is a staunch critic of the controversial method used to decide which absentee ballots would be included in the recount – a major complaint of GOP Sen. Norm Coleman’s campaign. State law says the chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Paul Magnuson, should appoint the three-judge panel to hear Coleman’s appeal. Magnuson, however, served on the Canvassing Board that issued many of the rulings that the three-member panel will be asked to...

MINNEAPOLIS -- The state Canvassing Board was poised to certify the results of the recount in Minnesota's grueling Senate election in Al Franken's favor -- but that doesn't mean the race is definitely over. The board was to meet Monday and was expected to declare which candidate received the most overall votes from nearly 3 million ballots cast. The latest numbers showed Franken, a Democrat, with a 225-vote lead over Republican Sen. Norm Coleman. But after the announcement, there will be a seven-day waiting period before an election certificate is completed. If any lawsuits are filed during that waiting period,...