Free Republic

The near-meltdown in the vote count for the New York Democratic primary featuring scandal-tarred congressman Charlie Rangel should serve as a warning siren about what could happen in this November’s national election. It’s not just voter fraud we have to worry about. Sometimes it’s hard to tell where the fraud ends and the incompetence begins. The Rangel fiasco reminds us that the United States has, as Walter Dean Burnham, the nation’s leading political scientist, put it, “the developed world’s sloppiest election systems.” And New York City is no unsophisticated backwater. The troubles in the Rangel race began on Election Night,...

A Stony Point resident hosting a family barbecue shot a black bear he deemed a threat to his guests when the bear would not leave his property Saturday afternoon. The incident took place at approximately 1 p.m. at 567 Willow Grove Road, Stony Point Police Sgt. John Wood told Patch. Guests, including children, were outside when the bear came onto the property and at the time of the shooting, but police did not know how many. "The bear came onto his property in close proximity to his guests and was not shooing away," said Sgt. Wood. "He took matters into...

Together with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Codes Committee Chair Joseph Lentol, we announced on June 20 passage of the Crime Gun Identification Act of 2012 that would require all new semiautomatic handguns sold in New York State, by 2014, to be microstamped with a unique code which is transferred to shell casings when the gun is fired. “Microstamping is a technological advancement that will not only help law enforcement officials investigate gun-related crimes, but will also act as a prevention tool to combat gun trafficking and reduce gun violence across New York,” said Silver. “Gun violence has caused great...

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday blasted the appeals judges who threw out the case against a 14-year-old punk nabbed with a loaded gun after a routine stop-and-frisk. “I can’t imagine what was going through these three judges’ heads,” Bloomberg fumed about Tuesday’s shocking decision overturning the Family Court conviction of Darryl Craig — whom cops caught carrying a .25-caliber pistol in The Bronx’s Tremont section in February 2010. He was stopped in a high-crime area in the wake of two recent gang shootings. “Here’s a case, as far as we can tell, [of] a police officer doing everything by the book trying...

Did any of you listen to the debate last Sunday, and forum by NewYorkFamilies.org on Thursday, featuring the three NY U.S. senatorial candidates? After listening I will definitely vote for Wendy Long at the primaries this Tuesday. Wendy Long is 100% pro-life, belonged to Americans United for life, pro-Constitution, worked for Justice Clarence Thomas, and much more. While all of the candidates are conservative, Maragos (sadly) has the exceptions on abortion, and according to the NY Post is tight with the NY GOP, which is too "moderate" imo. Turner is a very fine man, but is too open to the...

Gun grabbers need to be sneaky to accomplish their goals. Their latest trick is to convince anti-gun states to mandate that handguns be microstamp-ready. That means the weapon’s firing pin is redesigned to imprint a code on the primer so that, in theory, it will give law enforcement the ability to identify a specific gun from shell casings left at a crime scene. Like most left-wing endeavors, this one isn’t going to work. That didn’t stop the New York State Assembly on Tuesday from passing a microstamping bill backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Michael R....

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York hospital worker and her spouse have filed a lawsuit saying spousal health benefits were denied to the same-sex couple.The lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan sought past and future health care benefits and a declaration that the Westchester County couple is entitled to the benefits.The lawsuit's plaintiffs remained anonymous. Defendants included Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield and St. Joseph's Medical Center. Neither immediately responded to messages for comment. The lawsuit says one of the women works at St. Vincent's Westchester, a division of St. Joseph's. The women's attorney, Randolph McLaughlin, said...

A group of Obama Fool-Aid drinkers heckle kids singing a patriotic song in New York City.

Grand jury indicts illegal immigrant who allegedly tried to rape and kidnap a 67-year-old woman in Saratoga Springs BALLSTON SPA — A grand jury has indicted the man accused of trying to rape and kidnap an elderly woman last month in downtown Saratoga Springs, the county’s top prosecutor said Monday. Saratoga County District Attorney James A. Murphy III said Antonio Lopez-Bautista, 18, of South Federal Street in Saratoga Springs was in the country illegally when he allegedly pulled a 67-year-old woman from her car near Congress and South Franklin streets in the early morning hours of May 22 and began...

State police officers routinely scan license plates at toll booths to ensure emissions inspections are up-to-date. Portable cameras fine speeders practically everywhere in the state. In the name of safety, children of all heights and weights are now required to sit in a rear- facing car seat for their first two years, regardless of whether they fit in it. And legislators once again found new and creative ways to tax residents this year, in part by redefining rich. But, relax, the government doesn't control everything in this state ... yet. You can still freely sip sugary soft drinks of any...

He has completed the community service, and he has paid the fine. Because of the way that Clayton Baltzer sees the world, he believes this must be part of God’s plan. Still, the Grove City High School graduate now has a New York weapons charge on his record. Baltzer, 19, is a Bible-college student — a camping-ministry major — and took his pocketknife to New York City on a field trip. He did not know about New York’s strict knife laws. He now has some fame among knife-rights advocates because of what happened to him. “I have never been in...

GUILDERLAND - While he doesn't want to reveal his identity, a Guilderland homeowner wanted to send a message about self protection in the home, after an intruder reportedly pounded and yelled outside his door. "I keep replaying it over, why did I open that door?" he said. He wished he'd never opened the door just after four in the morning Sunday, to a man pounding and demanding money. "Starts yelling at him about how he wants money for two kegs of beer that he dropped off earlier that day. Individual knows nothing of this whatsoever. There was no party at...

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — The president of the University of Sioux Falls is suing Delta Airlines over an incident last fall that ended with him spending a night in a New York jail.

America really is fading away before our very eyes. A public school principal in New York City has banned kindergartners from singing "God Bless the USA" at their graduation, but according to the New York Post, is allowing them to perform Justin Bieber's "Baby":Her refusal to let students sing “God Bless the USA” at their graduation has sparked fireworks at a school filled with proud immigrants. Greta Hawkins, principal of PS 90, the Edna Cohen School, won’t allow kindergartners to belt out the beloved Lee Greenwood ballad, also known as “Proud to be an American,” at their moving-up ceremony. Five...

Today, the small business I work for received a new NY state MANDATORY tax payment order. We do our taxes quarterly and paid what is owed. We have received notice today since our "taxes" exceed $100,000 on a yearly basis, we are now FORCED to pay these taxes electronically & immediately. We have no choice. I guess NY just can't wait for the check and is therefore seizing it in a nano-second. I personally believe this is extortion. We pay our taxes, on time, always, never had a problem. Now NY state is FORCING us to pay them, electronically, immediately...

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The horse racing industry should be deeply shamed that extraordinary security measures had to be ordered to guard horses in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes from the doping abuses engulfing thoroughbred racing. The horses will be kept in an isolated barn with visitors limited, feed and hay bales checked for drugs, and veterinarians and trainers under daily watch to ensure there is no manipulation of food or medication. If anyone thinks this is an overreaction, they should take a look at the record of Doug O’Neill. He is the trainer of I’ll Have Another, the horse primed for the chance to...

TOMPKINS COUNTY, N.Y. -- He never denied shooting his father, but Matthew Taranto said he did it in self defense. And Thursday, more than a month-and-a-half after the bench trial wrapped up, Judge Judith A. Rositer found Taranto not guilty of the crime. The 29-year-old admitted to shooting his father, Sal, in November of 2010 in their Trumansburg basement. But the defense had claimed that Taranto, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome and OCD, feared for his life after his father threatened him with a knife and gun.

Falsely calling someone gay is no longer slander, according to a New York court decision, because it is not considered shameful to be homosexual. It is a ruling that has upset gay rights activists who fear that social hostility toward homosexuality remains in many parts of the country. The Appellate Division in Albany on Thursday wiped out decades of rulings, including its own, to say that society no longer treats false comments that someone is gay, lesbian or bisexual as defamation. Without defamation, there is no longer slander, the court ruled. The new case law was set after the court...

No more super-sized Cokes. Forget about 64-ounce stomach-busting sodas at KFC. Even 20-ounce Snapples are on Mayor Bloomberg’s latest heath-conscious hit list. In a dramatic move to reduce obesity, the city is going to become the first in the nation to impose a 16-ounce limit on the size of sweetened beverages sold in food establishments that receive letter grades from the Health Department, as well as mobile food carts. The list includes more than 20,000 restaurants, as well as movie theaters, stadiums and arenas. Bloomberg posed for a photo-op yesterday where he used sugar cubes as props to highlight how...