Free Republic

Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. --Gov. Ed Rendell, despite pressure from gun dealers, decided Tuesday not to delay a database upgrade that will halt Pennsylvania firearms sales for three days. The Democratic governor said the shutdown to allow work on the criminal history database would last one day less than previously announced. The Pennsylvania Instant Check System will be down from 6 p.m. Sunday and return to operation at 6 p.m. Sept. 5. "It is clear that there will never be an ideal time to temporarily shut down the system so we can make changes necessary to ensure the system continues...

During an April raid of Vick's property in Virginia, authorities seized 66 dogs and equipment commonly used in dog fighting. The indictment handed down Tuesday against Falcons quarterback Michael Vick and three others describes in detail how they procured a property in Virginia for the purpose of staging dogfights, bought dogs and then fought them there, and in several other states, over a 6-year period. With at least three cooperating witnesses providing the details, federal authorities compiled a detailed case that traces the birth and rise of Bad Newz Kennels. But not a single line in the 18-page indictment will...

The 60th Cannes film festival, which wrapped up Sunday, awarded a Palme d'Or for lifetime achievement to veteran US actress and activist Jane Fonda over the weekend. The exceptional Golden Palm prize, awarded by festival chief Gilles Jacob, had only been awarded three times before since 1946, to French directors Alain Resnais and Gerard Oury and the French actress Jeanne Moreau.

Domestic Terrorists Anti-Government Groups Often associated with unorganized militias, the Anti-Government movement actually embraces a much larger variety of groups and causes. The extreme fringe believes that the U.S. government is either the enemy or has been subverted by the enemy and must be actively defended against. Anti-Government Issues and Beliefs Gun Control is a conspiracy to enslave us starting with the removal of our ability to either defend ourselves or forcefully change our government. The first ten amendments of The Constitution are God given and all others are temporary, invalid or outright fraudulent. All judicial authority resides with the...

“Silence is no longer an option.” That was Jane Fonda’s explanation for coming out of her supposed protest retirement and joining the anti-war radicals who converged on the nation’s capital last weekend. Fonda’s conscience had apparently been tormenting her about the U.S. trying to save Iraq from radical Islam -- and so she could stay quiet no longer. In her speech to the anti-war crowd, Fonda championed American defeat in Iraq and compared the war to Vietnam, condemning what she called America’s “blindness to realities on the ground.” Fonda, of course, exhibited tremendous perception of “realities on the ground” three...

A look at the Greenpeace activist cum L.A. Times military affairs columnist who's taking after Gen. Jerry Boykin. For starters, he is the scribbler who launched the assault on Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin a week ago by providing NBC with tapes of Boykin speaking in churches, and then followed with a Los Angeles Times op-ed that accused the general of being "an intolerant extremist" and a man "who believes in Christian 'jihad'" (Arkin later admitted on my radio program that Boykin never used the term "jihad"). Arkin also wrote that "Boykin has made it clear that he takes his orders...

Sen. John Kerry, the 2004 Democratic candidate for president, is at it again with another rude gaffe, this one providing an unintended glimpse of the way many contemporary cosmopolitan elites characterize their homeland when abroad. In the past, Kerry has said that our soldiers were "terrorizing" Iraqi civilians in their homes. He has also warned that uneducated Americans "get stuck in Iraq" -- a supposedly botched joke. Now, he assures an audience at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that the United States is a "sort of international pariah." Kerry, who appeared on stage in Davos this past weekend...

I finally found a link to Jihad Jane Fonda’s over the top remarks regarding the US withdrawal from Vietnam, and the ensuing massacre of South Vietnamese and Cambodians: ( BOR Talking points memo ) "What do you think about what happened to the three million Vietnamese and Cambodians who died after the U.S. troops left Vietnam?" FONDA: "It’s too bad that we caused it to happen by going in there in the first place. " The remembrances of the Cambodian killing fields are to many people reduced to photos of neatly stacked bones and skulls for the records of posterity....

VVAW distributes literature at an event that is used to collect intelligence on military tactics and methods in Vietnam. Considering the fact that the VVAW has meetings with the North Vietnam Communists and VVAW members travel to Moscow and Hanoi, this is a very serious matter. VVAW collects military intelligence concerning US tactics and methods in Vietnam War.

Available for sale or lease: Historic, 359-mile toll road. Guaranteed income. Heavily worn; needs TLC. Work force of thousands included. See Gov. Rendell for details. Yes, the Pennsylvania Turnpike is up for grabs. Scrounging for transportation funding amid the no-new-taxes atmosphere of Harrisburg, Rendell officially invited suitors yesterday to make an offer for the venerable tollway. "There is only one option that is not on the table - and that is doing nothing," Rendell said of Pennsylvania's quest to find almost $2 billion more each year to bolster its roads, bridges, and public transit system

The Washington Post recently published a harshly anti-Bush op-ed by Douglas Brinkley, who does not bother disclosing his John Kerry connections. Shortly after Thanksgiving I had dinner in California with Ronald Reagan's best biographer, Lou Cannon. Like many historians these days, we discussed whether George W. Bush is, conceivably, the worst U.S. president ever. Cannon bristled at the idea. Bush has two more years to leave his mark, he argued. What if there is a news flash that U.S. Special Forces have killed Osama bin Laden or that North Korea has renounced its nuclear program? What if a decade from...

John Kerry says he's "sorry people misunderstood him." Horsefeathers,John: we understood you loud and clear !

Just announced on the FNC.

After several days of criticism over his insulting and offensive remarks about what "unbelievable brightness and cheer," gambling brings to the, "very gray lives," of seniors, Ed Rendell yesterday sought to, uh, "clarify," his views on the positive role of gambling in their lives. "Congratulations on your clarification, Governor," said Swann Communications Director Leonardo Alcivar. "Pennsylvanians are now comforted by your belief that seniors losing $30 dollars a day is just fine." "The past two weeks of front page headlines on the Governor's abuse of the state plane, and now on his disgraceful views about the lives of our seniors,...

<p>Philadelphia - A special three-judge panel of the Third Circuit Court of Appeals convened Wednesday to hear arguments on whether a Federal Civil Rights suit may proceed against Gov. Ed Rendell and overturn a 2003 lower court ruling that there was insufficient evidence. Rendell is charged with conspiring to suppress the First Amendment rights of protesters by having Teamsters Local 115 beat them while they demonstrated outside Philadelphia's City Hall during a Democratic fundraiser featuring President Bill Clinton. Rendell, who was mayor of Philadelphia at the time, admitted in a deposition following the Oct. 2, 1998 beatings to personally inviting Teamsters Local 115 Secretary-Treasurer John Morris and instructing the union to "drown-out" the Clinton protesters. "I specifically said I didn't want any interaction with the demonstrators. I wanted this to be extremely peaceful and extremely positive," Rendell also claimed in the deposition, which was taken two years after the fact. Morris was caught on video by local media placing a fedora over protester Don Adams' head, signaling the Teamsters to knock him to the ground and assault him. Adams was treated at a nearby hospital for a concussion, lacerations and multiple bruises. His sister, Teri, sustained minor injuries. Testimony from Morris' chief of staff revealed that, after the beatings, Rendell called Morris about the Teamsters who participated in the attack and said, "nothing is going to happen to these guys," and "I know how these things go." He then suggested that Morris and the Teamsters file a criminal complaint against Adams, which they did two days later on Oct. 4, 1998, alleging that he struck a woman in their group. Even though there was no police reports supporting the Teamster's claim, the incident was caught on video, and the District Attorney's Office pursued trial against Adams, who filed suit against the Teamsters and Rendell several months later. At one point, the Teamsters offered to drop their charges against him if he dropped his case. During that time, they launched a media campaign and accused Adams of being a woman-beater. Adams rejected the deal and was found not guilty on July 8, 1999. Five teamsters then pled guilty to various charges of assault and were granted probation, and Morris died in 2001. Arguments surrounding Rendell's involvement center not on how convincing the evidence is, but whether his interaction with Morris after the fact - consoling the Teamsters and advising them to sue Adams - can be used as evidence to support the charge of conspiracy. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in United States vs. Smith in 2002 that concerted actions to conceal unlawful behavior are relevant to a finding of conspiracy. The Supreme Court reached a similar conclusion in United States vs. Brodie last year. However, Philadelphia Law Department attorney Jane Lovitch Istvan, who represents Rendell, argued in brief, "The alleged conversation in this case ... contained no evidence of attempted concealment, nor is there a pattern of other alleged attempts to conceal." "I think he might have a case," Circuit Judge Restani said during oral arguments surrounding Adams' claim. The three circuit judges were appointed to hear the case from outside the Third Circuit Court's jurisdiction after a motion asking the entire Circuit to recuse itself was granted. This recusal was issued due to the fact that Rendell's wife, Judge Marjorie Rendell, sits on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.</p>

I'm not sure when this started, but a crucifix cross* appears to have become a regular part of Hillary Clinton's wardrobe. She wore a gold one July 20, for a speech criticizing advertising directed at children. No picture available.) And she wore the diamond-studded one pictured above to the News last week. A Google Images search doesn't seem to turn up any others, though whenever you think you've noticed something new about Clinton, her aides usually produce rock-solid evidence that it has always been thus. Clinton's Christianity, while never exactly lapsed, has rarely been forefront; noticing the jewelry doesn't strike...

Corruption claimed in Harry Reid dealSenate Minority Leader hung up phone when queried about $1 million windfall Posted: October 11, 2006 3:02 p.m. Eastern © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid hung up the phone when questioned by the Associated Press about a $1.1 million windfall on land he had not owned for three years, the wire service is reporting. Reid collected on the Las Vegas land sale in a deal engineered by a longtime friend and former casino lawyer, Jay Brown, whose name has surfaced in organized crime investigations, the AP said. According to...

PHOENIX -- Charles Barkley insists he's serious about running for governor of Alabama, but he's got to move back there first. "I can't run until 2014," he said. "I have to live there for seven years, so I'm looking for a house there as we speak." And he said he is an independent, not a Democrat as previously reported. "The Republicans are full of it," Barkley said. "The Democrats are a little less full of it." Asked if he had ever been in the governor's office in Montgomery, Barkley said no. "They don't let many black people in the governor's...

SEATTLE (AP) — The Association of Trial Lawyers of America voted during its convention this week to change its name to the American Association for Justice. Spokeswoman Chris Mather said there was overwhelming support for the change, and that the new name "reflects whose side we're on in the fight for justice." The U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, a critic of the trial lawyers group, called it "an astounding admission of the unpopularity of trial lawyers in America." The 60-year-old association has 65,000 members.