Free Republic

Sheriff's deputies are asking for the public's help to find two children taken from their grandmother's home Wednesday morning. Authorities say Joshua Hakken came into Patricia Hauser's home, on the 14000 block of Shady Shores Drive, tied her up and took her two grandchildren. Hakken fled the home in Hauser's 2009 silver Toyota Camry. Authorities are looking for the children, 2-year old Chase and 4-year old Cole Hakken, who could possibly be in a black 2006 GMC pickup with Florida tag BHNV-86 registered to Joshua Hakken. Deputies believe Sharyn Hakken may be with them as well. Chase Hakken is 3...

ST. PETERSBURG — If the safety of those you love was threatened, how would you respond? Many people contemplate this question with commingled curiosity and fear. For Jeremy Reed and Anna Soto, the answer came early Sunday when a pair of violent men burst into the bedroom where they slept with their 7-day-old daughter. -------------------------------cut------------------------ By then, one of them had grabbed the keys to Soto's Mazda 6. They barreled out the front door and into the car. Reed ran back to the bedroom and emerged with a .22 rifle belonging to Soto. He stepped outside and pointed the gun...

Documents obtained by CBS News show that the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) discussed using their covert operation "Fast and Furious" to argue for controversial new rules about gun sales. PICTURES: ATF "Gunwalking" scandal timeline In Fast and Furious, ATF secretly encouraged gun dealers to sell to suspected traffickers for Mexican drug cartels to go after the "big fish." But ATF whistleblowers told CBS News and Congress it was a dangerous practice called "gunwalking," and it put thousands of weapons on the street. Many were used in violent crimes in Mexico. Two were found at the murder...

WASHINGTON (AP) — An Obama administration official says a Tampa Bay socialite whose emails triggered the eventual downfall of CIA director David Petraeus visited the White House three times this year with her sister, twice eating in the Executive Mansion mess.

Tickets are still available for President Barack Obama's campaign appearance in Tampa on Thursday, campaign officials said today.

SNIPPET: "New York City is the center of a public uproar as Internet blogger Pamela Gellar rises with an “anti-jihad” ad campaign." SNIPPET: "Gellar and her group are protesting the Jihad, which in definition is the religious duty of Muslims. According to the Dictionary of Islam, jihad is defined as “A religious war with those who are unbelievers in the mission of Muhammad . . . enjoined especially for the purpose of advancing Islam and repelling evil from Muslims.” The literal meaning of jihad, according to the British Broadcasting Network, “is struggle or effort, and it means much more than...

Tampa FL, Adamo Drive & U.S. 301 - Obama bows to the Saudi King - Flanked by gasoline prices on Obama's first day in office and today. Awesome photo in "Comments."

More than 300 Social Security checks that should have gone to Tampa Bay residents earlier this month have been stolen, officials have confirmed. "Apparently this is fairly widespread," said U.S. Rep. C.W. Bill Young, who has received calls from several distraught residents. "It's hundreds and mainly in Pinellas County." Young said he was told by investigators that the theft appeared to be an inside job carried out by one or two people, though he declined to divulge for which agencies the suspects work. "They have a target," he said of the investigators. "They know who it is."

Tampa, Fla., was like the Republican National Convention delegation -- older, more experienced, less excitable. Tampa has hosted the Super Bowl; the city had lots of space and nothing to prove. There was a been there/done that feel to the entire affair. Tampa Bay is used to welcoming visitors and has plenty of nice hotels to host them. You say a hurricane is coming? No worries. They laid out some sandbags, closed up for a night and started up a day later. No need to rush a convention. People don't come to Florida to be in a hurry. Charlotte, N.C.,...

Tonight, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is addressing the Republican National Convention. Why is he being given that honor, you say? That is a good question, since he is at great odds with both the party's nominee, the party's platform, and the American people on the issue of immigration, and continues to insult us on a weekly basis to pimp his pro-amnesty views that we have consistently rejected. At a forum on immigration, Bush said Republicans aren’t going to close the gap with Hispanic voters until they “stop acting stupid” by being too "tough" on "immigrants" (the usual code for illegal...

Some of you will want to read portions of Romney’s speech before he delivers it; some will not. For those that do, the excerpts that have been released by the Romney campaign are below: I wish President Obama had succeeded because I want America to succeed. But his promises gave way to disappointment and division.  This isn’t something we have to accept. Now is the moment when we CAN do something. With your help we will do something. Now is the moment when we can stand up and say, “I’m an American. I make my destiny. And we deserve better!...

The radical pro-abortion group Code Pink has been doing its best to rain on the Republican convention parade in Tampa.Two members unsuccessfully attempted to disrupt pro-life vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan’s speech on Wednesday night, while the rest of the “vagina dancing” and costume-wearing crew has been relegated to the official protest areas outside the Republican convention. Below are pictures (courtesy Jill Stanek), a video and commentary about these radical activists.“Yesterday Code Pink activists were featured at the Planned Parenthood bus stop in Tampa, dressed in full frontal feminist regalia. These vulgar women represent mainstream American women?” Stanek writes, “At...

Pro-abortion activist Sandra Fluke and pro-abortion Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chair and Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Shultz crashed the Republican convention on Thursday afternoon.Leading up to the nomination acceptance speech from Mitt Romney, Fluke and Wasserman Schultz somehow made it through security and into the convention center to speak to members of the press. Reporters surrounded Schultz to get her take on the GOP convention. She made a brief statement to the press and walked to the Google-sponsored bloggers lounge where press members also are found.Although Democrats have set up an office near the GOP convention center, this was the...

It was a truce of sorts, delivered between two slices of bread. Food: from Tampa police officers to hungry protesters camping out at Romneyville, the unofficial headquarters of the many activists who gathered to protest the Republican National Convention this week. "I give them the most props of any police agency we've seen," said 28-year-old Brendan Hunt of Occupy Wall Street. The boxed lunches — sandwiches, fruit and ice cold bottled water — came after police heard that protesters were getting low on provisions. It didn't help that the big blue school bus-turned-kitchen that had been parked at Romneyville all...

Paul Ryan’s speech brought more than just cheers to the convention hall Wednesday night, it picked a fight. The VP candidate’s speech had RNC delegates at a fever pitch from the beginning. It brought a packed convention arena to its feet with over a dozen standing ovations. By many reports and reactions, Paul Ryan can count his keynote a resounding success. And while the speech was filled with conservative buzzwords, what really hat had the faithful cheering were the well timed one-liners about President Obama and his record. Convention delegate and lifelong Republican Mark Mitchell told TheBlaze, “That speech is...

TAMPA, Fla. — Here in the middle of the biggest gathering of Republicans in the world, you’d think the Occupiers and anarchists and liberals would be everywhere. But that hasn’t been the case. Maybe it’s the oppressive humidity, or threat of storms, or armies of police, but the protests have petered out on the streets of Tampa. The one place where hundreds of protesters were supposed to gather was dubbed “Romneyville,” a vacant lot next to an Army Navy store. But just a few dozen were there when the Truth Squad stopped by, and they weren’t doing any protesting —...

The result of the RNC new rules will be to centralize power in the hands of the Republican Establishment in Washington at the expense of the grass roots. It will also have the effect of making a primary challenge to Romney from the right in 2016 (if he wins) more difficult, given that he will control the party apparatus to an unprecedented degree given his new rules. Mark Levin stated that John Boehner ignored the “nos” which were at least as loud, if not louder than the “ayes” so that he could give Romney surrogate John Sununu, standing right next to...

Two RNC Attendees Threw Nuts At A Black CNN Employee And Said, 'This Is How We Feed Animals' Brett LoGiurato Aug. 29, 2012, 9:32 AM Two spectators at the Republican National Convention were kicked out Tuesday after allegedly throwing nuts at a black CNN employee and saying, "This is how we feed animals," according to a CNN report this morning. CNN did not have any further official comment beyond its short report. The convention released this statement this morning: “Two attendees tonight exhibited deplorable behavior. Their conduct was inexcusable and unacceptable. This kind of behavior will not be tolerated." The...

Robert Gibbs: ‘Angry’ night ‘full of insults’ By: Kevin Cirilli August 29, 2012 12:06 AM EDT In Tampa to lead the pushback for President Barack Obama’s campaign, top adviser Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that the first night of the Republican National Convention was “angry” and “strange” and “full of insults.” “I’m kind of flabbergasted at the whole night,” Gibbs said on MSNBC after Gov. Chris Christie’s keynote speech. “It seemed first and foremost like this was a very angry convention tonight full of insults.” He said that the night’s speakers, including House Speaker John Boehner, did not capture the struggles...

Code Pink Shakes Tampa Daily Beast - ‎6 hours ago‎ Spunky Code Pink cofounder Medea Benjamin dishes to Lynn Waddell on the Republican National Convention protest scene in Tampa—and why her antiwar group started wearing vagina costumes. Print; Email; Comments. Political activist Medea Benjamin ...   Read My Lips! Vaginas Protest Republican National Convention (VIDEO) Global Grind - ‎1 hour ago‎ Republicans need to read the lips of Code Pink activists who have been protesting outside the Republican National Convention against the GOP's war on women. STORY: A No-Show! Rep. Todd Akin Absent From Piers Morgan Interview. Dressed up as ......