Free Republic

“In my mind, it’s more important than ever that we present ourselves to the American people and describe where we want to take the country and where we want to take the economy,” said the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, Senator Barack Obama. The statement was given in response to Senator John McCain’s surprising announcement that he had suspended his campaign to focus on the looming financial crisis in America by returning to Washington to help craft and pass emergency legislation. McCain had invited his opponent to join him in returning to Washington to deal with the crisis. He also...

“America this week faces an historic crisis in our financial system. We must pass legislation to address this crisis. If we do not, credit will dry up, with devastating consequences for our economy. People will no longer be able to buy homes and their life savings will be at stake. Businesses will not have enough money to pay their employees. If we do not act, ever corner of our country will be impacted. We cannot allow this to happen. “Last Friday, I laid out my proposal and I have since discussed my priorities and concerns with the bill the Administration...

Trading in Fannie and Freddie suspended By Alistair Gray in New York Published: September 8 2008 13:52 | Last updated: September 8 2008 13:52 Wall Street stocks were poised for a rally on Monday after the US government bail-out of mortgage guarantors Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae raised hopes confidence would return to the financial system. Less than an hour before the opening bell, S&P 500 futures were up 35.2 points at 1276.3. Nasdaq futures were were up 37.2 points at 1807.2, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were up 253 points at 11480. Financials were set to...

Saving the Banana Boys by: Deborah Lambert, June 03, 2008 Some creative high-school seniors at Zion-Benton High school in Waukegan, Illinois recently thought up what they believed to be the perfect harmless prank. To inject some comic relief into the school day, one of them dressed up as a gorilla and chased his pals, dressed as giant bananas, through the school and out the back door. Maybe they should have kept going. The following day, they were all suspended, along with threats of further punishment that included being barred from attending their senior prom—and kept off the stage during graduation....

Trading Places by: Deborah Lambert, April 23, 2008 Trust the Brits to come up with a dandy educational plan to reduce school exposure to bad behavior addicts. According to Children's Secretary Ed Balls, the plan that calls for a "swap" of unruly kids with good ones has been labeled as "wicked," and prompted teachers to call for "snap strikes over disruptive behavior." To keep suspension numbers as low as possible, the teachers union says that unruly students are spread out over a number of schools. In a talk delivered at the union's annual conference, teachers' union member Susan Jones described...

Link to Video. See: Student suspended for answering call from dad in Iraq

UPDATE 1-Pardus $2 billion hedge fund suspends withdrawals Mon Mar 31, 2008 1:12pm EDT (Adds details, byline) By Dane Hamilton NEW YORK, March 31 (Reuters) - Pardus Capital Management, a global activist hedge fund with over $2 billion in assets, said on Monday it suspended investor withdrawals in the face of slumping values of some of its holdings and demands for capital return. Pardus -- which holds positions in both Delta Air Lines Inc (DAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and United Air Lines parent UAL Corp (UAUA.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and has urged the companies to merge -- said it suspended...

http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080310/NEWS/80310045 rules-link only----suspended for wearing shirt with gun on it.

A big protest is planned for Monday afternoon, ahead of the latest public hearing on the proposed statewide tollway. Lots of landowners are upset about the state’s plan to build a tollway from Mexico to northeast Texas. There have already been several town hall meetings about the Trans-Texas Corridor. Most of the people who have spoken out about the plan say it will put them out of business. But state officials argue the tollway is necessary to keep up with the growing population in Texas. Monday’s meeting is being held in Huntsville. It starts at 6:30 p.m. at the Walker...

GIG HARBOR, Wash. -- A Pierce County High School student is back in school after a three-day suspension for warning classmates about a sex offender on campus. Last week, Raydon Gilmore found a 16-year-old fellow student at Gig Harbor High School at the Washington State Sex Offender Information Center, a Web site that lists the state's level 2 and level 3 sex offenders. "Then it hit me that I was in P.E. freshman year, and this kid was there for a while and he was my neighbor at my locker," Gilmore told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. The 16-year-old was convicted...

A Minnesota college student was suspended and ordered to undergo "mental health evaluation" for his response to campuswide e-mails from school officials concerning the Virginia Tech massacre. The college, Hamline University, a private, liberal-arts institution affiliated with the Methodist Church, has a policy on "Freedom of Expression and Inquiry" that guarantees that Hamline students will be "free to examine and discuss all questions of interest to them and to express opinions publicly or privately." With such a strong guarantee on students' "freedom from censorship and control" by the university, student Troy Scheffler's e-mail must have been horrifically bad to warrant...

Dress violated school’s dress code, principal said. Most students in compliance. Austin Perkins, 17, thought he was going one step above what was required of him. Poll The Golden Gate High School senior wore a jacket and tie to school Wednesday and the act sent him to in-school suspension. His violation? He wasn’t following the dress code. “I thought it was better than a polo shirt,” he said. “So, my friend and I thought why not take the extra step? It says business dress. A coat and tie are business dress. Instead we were thrown in a room where we...

The NFL indefinitely suspended Michael Vick without pay Friday just hours after he acknowledged in court papers that he did, indeed, bankroll gambling on dogfighting and helped kill some dogs not worthy of the pit. Vick, however, insisted he placed no bets of his own nor took any winnings. In disciplining Vick, commissioner Roger Goodell said Vick’s admitted conduct was “not only illegal but also cruel and reprehensible” and regardless whether he personally placed bets, “your actions in funding the betting and your association with illegal gambling both violate the terms of your NFL player contract and expose you to...

Atlanta Falcons Quarterback To Plead Guilty To Lesser Charges (CBS News) RICHMOND, Va. The National Football league has suspended Michael Vick indefinitely after he pleaded guilty to charges related to dogfighting on Friday. Vick filed his plea agreement in federal court Friday admitting to conspiracy in a dogfighting ring and helping kill pit bulls. He denied ever betting on the fights, only bankrolling them. The Atlanta Falcons quarterback is scheduled to formally enter his plea Monday in U.S. District Court. He signed the plea agreement Thursday. "Most of the Bad Newz Kennels operation and gambling monies were provided by Vick,"...

In Arizona an eighth grader was suspended for 5 days from his government school. His crime ... drawing a picture of a gun on a piece of paper. No ... we are not kidding you. This is a government school .. you should know by now that this is what government schools do. The Chandler Unified School District in Arizona actually considered the gun "a threat." Craig Gilbert is the director of secondary education. He says that there is a range of punishments that administrators can give for "implied threats." Unfortunately, privacy laws prevent the public from accessing information including...

July 17th, 2007 - Washington, D.C. - The United Kingdom House of Commons Committee on Standards and Privileges has released a report today concerning MP George Galloway and his misconduct related to the Oil-for-Food Program. The Parliament report was highly critical of Galloway's activities related to the Program, ruling against Galloway on every charge. Finally, the Committee recommends that he be suspended from the House of Commons for eighteen working days – which is reportedly "one of the most severe [penalties] given to an MP" – and requests that he apologize for his misconduct. In arriving at its conclusions, the...

China suspends imports from major US meat processors after finding contamination By ANITA CHANG,Associated Press Writer AP - Saturday, July 14 BEIJING - China has suspended imports of chicken feet, pig ears and other animal products from seven U.S. companies _ including the world's largest meat processor _ in an apparent attempt to turn the tables on American complaints about tainted products from China. ADVERTISEMENT The meat was contaminated with salmonella, feed additives and veterinary drugs, according to a list posted on the Web site of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine late Friday. China's food and...

WACO, Texas — School administrators gave a 4-year-old student an in-school suspension for inappropriately touching a teacher's aide after the pre-kindergartner hugged the woman. A letter from La Vega school district administrators to the student's parents said that the boy was involved in "inappropriate physical behavior interpreted as sexual contact and/or sexual harassment" after he hugged the woman and he "rubbed his face in the chest of (the) female employee" on Nov. 10. DaMarcus Blackwell, the father of the boy who attends La Vega Primary School, said he filed a complaint with the district. He said that his son doesn't...

December 06, 2006 Student sues over 10-day suspension By Andrew Clevenger Staff writer Kids across America are warned to stay away from “nose candy” in anti-drug campaigns. But a Kanawha County student is fighting his suspension for pretending to put actual candy up his nose. According to a lawsuit filed in Kanawha Circuit Court Monday, a student-athlete at Sissonville High School was given Smarties candy as a reward for good academic performance. In front of his teacher and fellow classmates, the student pretended to put one of the small candy discs up his nose. Another student used his cell phone...

Student suspended over 'popper' By Paul Sloth RACINE - Five-year-old Quinn Lucier didn't know what he was getting himself into when he took the "popper" out of his older brother's drawer. It seemed innocent enough bringing what he figured was a toy to Jerstand-Agerholm Elementary School on Monday. When he pulled the strings on the popper - a pull-apart novelty firework - the ensuing loud pop startled his teacher and earned Lucier a trip to the principal's office and a four-day suspension. Quinn's parents were fuming Wednesday about their son's punishment, which they don't believe fits the crime. The school...