Free Republic

Sean Combs, the 18-year-old Troy High School senior who was arrested by Birmingham Police last month while walking through downtown Birmingham with a rifle slung over his shoulder, is set to attend an evidentiary hearing in three weeks after attending a pre-trial hearing Tuesday afternoon in front of Judge Marc Barron in 48th District Court in Bloomfield Hills. Combs pleaded not guilty May 1 on charges of brandishing a firearm, disorderly conduct and obstructing an officer – all misdemeanor offenses that each carry a maximum 93-day sentence and $500 fine. Combs' attorney, Jim Makowski, said he plans to file a...

DNC head: ‘Awesome’ that many voters see pro-gay marriage stance as political winner By Geneva Sands - 05/15/12 11:50 AM ET Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (Fla.) called it "awesome" Tuesday that favoring same-sex marriage could be viewed as politically expedient, saying it shows advancement in people's perspective on the issue. "As someone that represents one of the largest LGBT communities in the country, I think it's actually awesome that we've come so far in advancing the rights of the LGBT community that people would question that it's a good thing politically for the president of the United...

A man in his 20s was shot in the buttocks by a neighbor after a dispute over squatting in a vacant home. The incident happened about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday night in the 3100 block of South 144th Street in SeaTac. The neighbor, 66, heard noises next door in the vacant house and went to investigate. “One of the doors looked like it was forced open,” Sgt. Cindi West said. “He found a guy in his 20s.” That man refused to leave and the neighbor went back to his house and armed himself with a shotgun, then returned to again tell...

BRYAN COUNTY, OK -- Come November, Oklahomans with a permit will be able to carry their guns out in the open in most places. Governor Mary Fallin signed the open carry measure into law Tuesday. The open carry law not only allows people to have their guns out in plain sight, but it also allows property owners without a permit to carry openly on their lawn for self defense. We talked to several people who all had strong and very different opinions about open carry. Raymond Coats has his concealed weapon's license and says he is excited about the new...

An Iranian newspaper tied to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei recently boasted that United States has “rejected” Israel within recent months. “It can be said that within the last 60 years, this is the first time that the Zionist regime, since its illegal inception, has had to endure rejection by the West over its vision and interest in the region,” wrote Sadollah Zarei, according to a translation by Reza Kahlili. The author writes that the only “obstacle” remaining is the Saudi Royal Family and once it falls, Israel can be destroyed. “With diminishing support for Israel and with the (upcoming) collapse...

House Speaker John A. Boehner on Tuesday set the stage for an end-of-year debt showdown, saying he will once again insist any increase in the federal borrowing limit be matched dollar-for-dollar with spending cuts elsewhere. The last time he made that vow — ahead of last August’s debt deadline — the government teetered on the brink of a partial shutdown before he and President Obama agreed to a deal that matched an immediate debt boost to possible future spending cuts. Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said he considers that deal a precedent, and from now on every request for more debt...

Carlos Fuentes, Mexico’s elegant public intellectual and grand man of letters, whose panoramic novels captured the complicated essence of his country’s history for readers around the world, died on Tuesday in Mexico City. He was 83. His death was confirmed by Julio Ortega, his biographer and a professor of Hispanic studies at Brown University, where Mr. Fuentes taught for several years. He died at the Angeles del Pedregal hospital after his doctor, Arturo Ballesteros, found him in shock in his Mexico City home, The Associated Press reported. The doctor told reporters that Mr. Fuentes had had an internal hemorrhage. Mr....

The Yuma Police Department confirms two people who were shot Friday night have died. It happened at 10:20 p.m. on the 2600 block of Donna Avenue. According to YPD Jason Snelling, 27, and Glenn Curry, 26, were shot and killed after a confrontation with another man. YPD has now released the identity of the shooter as Daniel Dillman, 23. The initial information suggests that Dillman's life had been threatened by Snelling and Curry immediately before the shooting. Curry was armed with a knife which had been utilized to break out windows on the vehicle that Dillman was seated in at...

t was May 10, 1970, in Se San, Cambodia. Spc. Leslie H. Sabo Jr. and his platoon were ambushed by a large enemy force. The 22-year-old riflemen from Ellwood City, Pa., charged the enemy position, killing several soldiers, and then attacked an enemy flanking force, drawing fire away from his comrades. As the enemy retreated, a grenade landed near Sabo and a wounded American soldier. Sabo picked it up and threw it, while shielding his comrade with his own body. The grenade blast badly injured Sabo, but he continued to charge the bunker. Crawling towards the enemy stronghold he was...

The NBC Investigative Unit has raised questions about two grants totaling nearly $1.5 million dollars distributed to the University of California San Francisco. The money was part of the federal stimulus program and went to studies into the erectile dysfunction of overweight middle aged men and the accurate reporting of someone's sexual history. This is part of our ongoing series of investigations by the NBC Bay Area Investigative Unit into who got federal stimulus dollars, and why some projects did not break ground more than two years after receiving the grant. The Investigative Unit looked closely at the federal government's...

A medical report compiled by the family physician of accused Trayvon Martin murderer George Zimmerman and obtained exclusively by ABC News found that Zimmerman was diagnosed with a "closed fracture" of his nose, a pair of black eyes, two lacerations to the back of his head and a minor back injury the day after he fatally shot Martin during an alleged altercation.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal criticized President Obama‘s experience before he became president in an interview Tuesday, and defended Mitt Romney, who has recently come under attack by Obama’s campaign for his record at Bain Capital. “President Obama hasn’t run anything before he was elected President of the United States. Never ran a state, never ran a business, never ran a lemonade stand. This job’s too important for on the job training,” Jindal said during an interview on FOX News’ “America’s Newsroom” Tuesday. Jindal contrasted Romney’s experience with Obama’s record, arguing that, “In contrast, Mitt Romney’s been a successful governor, a...

After months of trading blame and criticism from afar, President Obama and GOPcongressional leaders will meet Wednesday to discuss the economy — and, presumably, trade blame and criticism in person, more politely. The bipartisan gathering at the White House, the first since late February, is billed as a discussion of legislative solutions to the sluggish economy. The White House says President Obama will push House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to embrace his congressional to-do list, a short list of relatively small initiatives the president has said will spur growth. Obama unveiled the...

Kay Allen had just started work, and everything seemed quiet at the Cornerstone Care community health clinic in Burgettstown, Pa. But things didn't stay quiet for long. "All the girls, they were yelling at me in the back, 'You gotta come out here quick. You gotta come out here quick,' " said Allen, 59, a nurse from Weirton, W.Va. Allen rushed out front and knew right away what all the yelling was about. The whole place reeked — like someone had spilled a giant bottle of nail polish remover. "I told everybody to get outside and get fresh air. So...

Dem: House will ride on healthcareBy Mike Lillis and Bob Cusack - 05/16/12 05:00 AM ET A senior Democrat said Tuesday that the key to winning back the House in 2012 is selling the party’s signature healthcare reform law. In an interview with The Hill, Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) said Democrats have “a fighting chance” of grabbing control of the lower chamber. He added, however, that Democrats “can’t run from [healthcare reform]. You have to go out and say, ‘This is what we did and this is why we did it.’ And I think that you win like that.” Democrats...

The Franciscan University of Steubenville has announced it will drop health insurance coverage for students because the cost of the plan is expected to double under Obamacare. [...]The plan currently costs approximately $600 per year. However, Hernon said their health care provider informed them that under Obamacare, the policy would double in price to $1,200 and the following year it would triple. “We couldn’t believe the price (increase),” he told Fox News. “We had them go back and reconfirm it. They said it was dictated by coverage limits that were released by the Obama administration.” “At the end of the...

Before yunz head dahntahn to work, or start to red up the house n‘at, join us every morning for coffee (or whatever gets yinz started) and maybe some serious discussion of the issues (or not!) Listen to the Quinn & Rose Morning Show at: www.wpgb.com (104.7 Pittsburgh, Pa) http://wysl1040.com/ (Rochester, NY) http://www.640whlo.com/main.html (Akron, OH) (airs later from 9-12) http://www.wncoam.com/main.html (Ashland, OH) http://www.talkradio560.com/ (Frostburg, MD) http://wicofm.com/ (Salisbury/Ocean City, MD WOBX - Outer banks NC http://tunein.com/radio/The-War-Room-with-Quinn--Rose-p34761/ for archived shows And now on 166 XM

Kayla Allen, the 10-year-old who was the lone survivor of the April 12 shooting at the Cracker Barrel restaurant in Brooklyn, died Tuesday afternoon at her home in Strongsville. Jane Van Bergen, spokeswoman for Hospice of the Western Reserve, said Kayla died in the arms of an aunt at 3:40 p.m. surrounded by her family and friends. In a statement released Tuesday, the family said, "(We are) appreciative and grateful for the support and prayers of so many during this journey. Kayla has died peacefully at home. She has been surrounded by family and friends for the past few days,...

The New York Times believes the most interesting data coming out of the latest CBS News/New York Times poll is that the vast majority of Americans think President Obama’s endorsement of gay marriage last week was a cynical ploy to gain a political advantage. That’s the lede in their story about the poll. Considering that the mainstream media — including the Times — gave the statement laudatory coverage, it is surprising to learn that 67 percent of Americans think he did it “mostly for political reasons” rather than believing his story about him evolving and doing what was right. But...

Russia and the United States will begin their controversial first joint anti-terror military exercises on American soil shortly at Ft. Carson in Colorado. A special unit of Russian paratroopers departed for the United States over the weekend and will be working alongside American land forces as part of the war games. The Russian and U.S. special units will engage in joint gun practice as well as ... The drills are scheduled to end on May 31

*snip* As recently as a week ago, Deb Fischer was dismissed by the establishment. Why? Because she is not part of the good old boys’ permanent political class. The message from the people of Nebraska is simple and powerful: America is looking for real change in Washington, and commonsense conservatives like Deb Fischer represent that change. I applaud Moms like Deb Fischer who are bold enough to step up and run on a conservative platform to restore America and protect our children’s future. Congratulations to the people of Nebraska. As the Huskers’ fight song goes: “The eyes of the land,...

For well more than a decade, Korea experts who specialize in international media have been examining the impact of foreign broadcasts and DVDs on users in North Korea. They have done so through a combination of in-country surveys and debriefings of defectors from North Korea, refugees and travelers abroad. In annual reports, Freedom House and Reporters Without Borders invariably have ranked that country as having the “least free” media in the world. Yet the curtain of near total silence appears to be opening as never before in North Korea. In a landmark study released May 11, “A Quiet Opening,” Nat...

May 16, 2012 Obamacare's Patient-Dumping, Privacy-Meddling Scheme Michelle Malkin The stench of Chicago cronyism over the White House just got fouler. Inhale this: A shadowy $10 billion Obamacare agency with zero oversight just awarded first lady Michelle Obama's pet patient-dumping scheme at the University of Chicago Medical Center a $5.9 million taxpayer-funded grant. It will enable Mrs. Obama's cronies to build a government-sponsored electronic medical record-sharing system. The Chicago program, known as the Urban Health Initiative, is run by one of President Obama's closest golfing buddies, scandal magnet Eric Whitaker, who has been entangled with Illinois corruption celebrities Rod Blagojevich...

Despite the slow pace of introducing new or modernized weapons and equipment into the table of organization and equipment (TOE) in Russia’s Armed Forces, there are signs that progress is more sporadic and prioritizes one strategic direction. The South Military District (SMD) is receiving new combat hardware and weapons systems at a much faster rate than other military districts. In some areas of the TOE, the share of modern equipment has now surpassed more than 70 percent (Interfax, May 4). Russian T-90 tank (Source: freerepublic.com) According to the press service of the SMD, the district will receive over 40 new...

May 15, 2012 Beijing Pledges to ‘Clean Out’ Illegal Foreigners Beijing has launched a 100-day campaign to “clean out” foreigners living or working illegally in the city amid a fervent online debate over the behavior, both good and bad, of outsiders inChina. The campaign, which kicked off on Tuesday and will run through the end of August, was announced in state media as well as on Peaceful Beijing, the official Beijing Public Security Bureau account on popular Twitter-like microblogging site Sina Weibo. A screenshot shows the announcement of a 100-day illegal foreigner “clean up” campaign posted to the official account...

Foreign holders of €422bn of Greek debt were warned to brace themselves for "killer losses" as coalition talks in Athens collapsed, threatening Greece's future in the eurozone. The euro tumbled to a four-month low and European stock markets dropped as political leaders and economists warned that the next round of elections called in Athens amounted to a vote on Greek membership of the euro “What’s at stake isn’t just the next Greek government,” said Guido Westerwelle, Germany’s foreign minister. “What’s at stake is the Greek people’s commitment to Europe and the euro.” “A second vote means Greece is edging closer...

*snip* There are five crucial reasons for this: 1. Twitter is an equalizer in an eco-system where MSM types are no longer insulated in their bubble. We can now use Twitter to reach out to the media in order to challenge their biases, facts, lies, spin, and hypocrisy. The media is now accountable to their customers and you can bet this has an effect. Even the corrupt media types (which is most of them) are aware that these challenges posed on Twitter are potentially being tweeted and re-tweeted to thousands of readers. That's hard to ignore. 2. More and more...

Update, 8:30 p.m.: Pacquiao is "not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future." Full statement at the bottom. ==================================== Update, 6:50 p.m.: "We're canceling the event," says Grove spokesman Bill Reich. "Manny Pacquiao is not coming to the Grove." And thus the backlash begins. ==================================== Professional boxer Manny Pacquiao and "Extra" host Mario Lopez were blowing up Twitter today about their 3/3:30 p.m. interview at the Grove on Wednesday. But mall executives tell LA Weekly that the event may be called off. Pacquiao told the National Conservative Examiner over the weekend that...

Complete Title: The Soros Summit - Free Beacon exclusive: Inside the secret Miami meeting of George Soros’s liberal conspiracy ### A secretive network of left-wing billionaires and their political operatives descended on the luxurious Biltmore Hotel in Miami over the weekend to discuss strategy for the coming elections. The location of the conference had been kept a closely guarded secret by the members and guests of Democracy Alliance (DA), a collection of ultra-wealthy liberal donors formed in 2005, and is reported here in a Washington Free Beacon exclusive. Attendees roamed the grounds at the 150-acre tropical resort on their way...

IT MAY ALREADY be too late to prevent Greece from defaulting on its debts and leaving the euro, Europe’s common currency. But there still may be time to prevent Greece’s woes from dragging down the rest of Europe, and the world. For that to happen, though, Europe’s leaders must think clearly about the issues before them, especially the great “austerity vs. growth” debate. When European and, indeed, U.S. critics condemn austerity, what they usually have in mind is the combination of tax hikes, spending cuts and structural reforms that Germany and other surplus-earning countries in the northern half of the...

OMAHA, Neb. - The Associated Press has projected Deb Fischer as the winner of the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. Most of the evening, Jon Bruning maintained a lead over Fischer; however, during the 9 p.m. hour, the lead switched in favor of Fischer. Just under 6,000 votes separated the top two candidates when the Associated Press called the race.

The cover of this week’s GLOBE reveals that "Bill and Hillary – The Final Split." Globe has the shocking details of how Hillary is moving in with a woman. Over the past several years there have been rumours that the Clinton marriage was in name only and in fact they were essentially leading separate lives. In detail, GLOBE claims that Hillary, 64, who was recently in South America for the Sixth Summit of the Americas, made the most of the country’s nightlife at Café Havana. She was at the salsa hotspot, and Hilary was seen dancing with her hands in...

The All-Important Question, Are Major Economies in Recovery? Economics / Global Economy May 15, 2012 - 04:58 PM By: David Galland David Galland, Casey Research writes: For pretty much everyone, no matter where they are located in the economic strata, few if any questions are more germane to making plans for the future than whether the US and other major global economies are in recovery. Getting the answer to that question right is of special importance to investors and businesses. Stating the obvious, if the broader economy really is in recovery, then investors would be well served by investing in...

Minnesota nonprofit that's on the front lines of a growing debate over student-loan debt. Bloomberg Businessweek profiles Educational Credit Management Corp., one of the 32 “guaranty agencies" that oversee student loans for the U.S. Department of Education and try to recover money. Its bill collectors can be highly rewarded. ECMC's top collector took home $454,000 in just one year, twice as much as the U.S. secretary of education. The CEO of the group made $1.1 million in 2010. The company moved from downtown St. Paul to Oakdale a few years ago.

As search-and-rescue (SAR) teams continue to airlift the bodies of passengers of the ill-fated Sukhoi Superjet 100 from Mt. Salak, West Java, on Sunday, more clues have been found indicating that its pilot pushed the aircraft to show its capacity to potential buyers. Confirming Russian Vice President Dmitry Rogozin’s statement that human error may have been to blame for the crash, an official with the Indonesia National Air Carrier Association (INACA) who was on the first demonstration flight of the Superjet on Wednesday morning said that the pilot performed extreme maneuvers to test the capability of the aircraft. INACA secretary-general...

<p>Lady Gaga might have to cancel her sold-out show in Indonesia because Islamic hard-liners and conservative lawmakers objected.</p> <p>National police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar said the permit was denied for the June 3 "Born This Way" concert that was to be the biggest show on her Asian tour.</p>

It clearly does not bother Speaker John Boehner that he pushed the United States to the brink of default last year. It does not matter that the deep spending cuts in the resolution he demanded to end that crisis will hurt economic growth. It does not even matter that the House he leads is determined now to break that agreement with even deeper cuts in vital programs.

The Obama administration has launched a new battle over water rights that threatens not only the the economies of arid Western states, which largely voted against him in the 2008 election, but their very existence. WND reported last month that the federal government was creating obstacles for Tombstone, Ariz., to restore its water supplies following last year’s forest fire and monsoon-triggered floods in the nearby mountains. The federal government said crews could not use machinery to rebuild pipelines and spring-water collection systems. Now, a letter contradicting longstanding federal practice asserts a claim to water in arid Western states, such as...

Perhaps Mitt Romney played it right when he was meek and contrite in response to the Washington Post's front-page allegations that he bullied a kid half a century ago in high school. Romney no doubt feels embarrassed by the charges, even if most of us struggle to understand their relevance or gauge their veracity. But the time is coming for Romney to get angry, very angry, with what is increasingly, quaintly called "the mainstream media." The Post's decision to play up the story as if it were major news - front page, thousands of drably dull self-serious words piled high...

ST. PAUL, May 15, 2012 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After 15 years of taxpayer-funded abortions, Minnesotans have funded more than 58,000 abortions at a cost of over $18 million, according to a just-released report from the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). Nearly all of these abortions have been elective. Since its successful 1995 challenge to Minnesota’s law that prohibited funding of most abortions, the state’s abortion industry has steadily increased its procedure numbers and revenue by marketing taxpayer-funded abortions to low-income women. Taxpayers now pay for 32.7 percent of all abortions performed in the state — the highest percentage ever. ......

The LAUSD Superintendent is calling on Calif. voters to approve new taxes on the November ballot to safeguard education spending. How do you plan to vote? Yes No Don't know Vote

The United States is leading what it described as the "largest military exercises in the Middle East in 10 years" in Jordan on Tuesday. Eager Lion 2012 “is the largest exercise held in the region in the past ten years,” Major General Ken Tovo, head of the US Special Operations Forces, told reporters in Amman. “Yesterday we began to apply the skills that we have developed over the last weeks in an irregular warfare scenario … They will last for approximately the coming two weeks,” he added. “The message that I want to send through this exercise is that we...

<p>Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who moved to the United States at age 13 in order to escape being kidnapped by Brazilian gangs, has been in the news this week for renouncing his American citizenship in order to dodge taxes on his Facebook stock. He’s headed to Singapore to keep being rich in a place where he’s (a) safe, (b) can speak English, and (c) doesn’t have to pay a capital gains tax.</p>

JACKSONVILLE, N.C. (CBS Charlotte) — An investigation conducted by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service finds that Marines stationed at Camp Lejeune sold $2 million in stolen combat equipment online to gangs in the U.S. and other foreign countries, including China and Russia. The Jacksonville Daily News reports that the two-year undercover investigation implicated nearly 60 people.

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Bob Corker, a Republican who serves on the Senate Banking Committee, has called for a hearing on the $2-billion trading loss by JPMorgan Chase & Co., saying that "policies are going to be derived out of what’s happened." Corker, who was a key participant in the debate over the 2010 financial reform law, said it was important for policymakers to get the facts about the situation and whether pending regulations would have prevented it.

President Barack Obama welcomed the L.A. Galaxy, the 2011 Major League Soccer champions, to the White House on Tuesday. Here is the text of his remarks. 2:12 P.M. EDT THE PRESIDENT: Thank you. (Applause.) Everybody, please have a seat. Have a seat. Well, welcome to the White House, everybody. And congratulations to the L.A. Galaxy on your third MLS Cup. (Applause.) Number three. I’m not going to flatter myself by assuming these cameras are for me. (Laughter.) I want to thank the Galaxy for letting me share in the spotlight. (Laughter.) The truth is, in America, most professional soccer players...

GRAND RAPIDS – Roy Schmidt’s filing deadline switch to the Republican party has been immediately embraced by GOP colleagues who credited the now-former Democrat from Grand Rapids with aligning for the people he represents and not a party platform. Schmidt, who served for 16 years on the nonpartisan Grand Rapids City Commission, said in a statement that his ideals and priorities remain the same. “I am a moderate dedicated as ever to representing the people of Grand Rapids, and will always fight for improving education, public safety and protecting children,” Schmidt said. He was not available for interviews on the...

Weekend Oz apologises for slur MAY 11, 2012 NATIONAL, NEWS · TAGGED: ADAM KAMIEN, EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN JEWRY, JOHN LYONS, NICK CATER, PETER WERTHEIM, WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN EDITOR of the Weekend Australian Nick Cater has apologised for an inflammatory headline that ran in the magazine last week, sparking outrage from Jewish readers. http://www.jewishnews.net.au/weekend-oz-apologises-for-slur/26072

A city in Kansas, divided over a proposed ordinance that would bar organizations, including churches, from discriminating against same-sex couples, has backers saying gays deserve the protection as critics warn against the government going too far. The Hutchinson City Council voted 3-2 to add sexual orientation to the city's anti-discrimination ordinance, which covers churches, as well as employers, restaurants and other local businesses. However, the measure was scaled back in an effort to win enough votes for passage. The revisions to the ordinance will only prohibit firings or evictions based on their sexual orientation, while a provision was cut that...