Free Republic

Senate Overrides Guns In Bars Veto By Kleinheider Posted on June 4, 2009 at 11:25 am The state Senate has joined the state House today in overriding the governor veto on HB0962, the so called “guns-in-restaurants” bill. The vote was 21 to 9 for the override. The original vote for the bill in the Senate was 24-7.

Desmond Hatchett, a Tennessee man, has fathered 21 children by 11 different women at the age of 29, an American court has heard. Details of Desmond Hatchett's remarkable family emerged when he was taken to court by the authorities in Knoxville, Tennessee, for failing to keep up with maintenance payments. He had four children in a single year – twice. Mr Hatchett, who works in a minimum wage job, said that he was not trying to break a record and has no plans to have any more children. He insists that he knows all of their names, ages and birthdays....

NASHVILLE — Over the weekend, Republican National Chairman Michael Steele ventured into Tennessee House Speaker Kent Williams’ backyard in upper East Tennessee and pledged to oust Williams next year. The Kingsport Times-News quoted Steele as saying: “I got a bull’s eye right on his back and we’re taking him out.” Williams is the second-term legislator and Elizabethton restaurateur who stunned fellow Tennessee Republicans when he joined the House’s 49 Democrats in voting for himself for speaker Jan. 13 to defeat his own Republican Caucus’ nominee. For that, the Tennessee Republican Party declared he was no longer a member of the...

To All Shelby County, TN Freepers, please refer to the following URL (http://agendapub.shelbycountytn.gov/sirepub/view.aspx?cabinet=PUBLISHED_MEETINGS&fileid=55753. This document represents and amendment to Chapter 12 of the Shelby County Code of Ordinances. This amendment contains in part what is listed below. This is scheduled to be voted on this Wednesday, 5/27 by the Shelby County Commission. This is another attempt to justify and promote immoral sexual behavior. Ultimately, this amendment will allow homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals, transvestites, etc.. to enter our schools as teachers with no means to stop it. Please call your Shelby County commissioner immediately and tell them to vote NO on this...

...Burmese refugee Cho Aye traveled 60 miles from Nashville ...to take a place at the head of the line outside Shelbyville's state employment office. The next day, the office was to take applications for $9.35-an-hour jobs processing chicken at the local Tyson Foods plant. Directly behind Ms. Aye...were 16 more Burmese refugees... Farther back in the line, marked by orange tape and monitored by police, locals like David Curtis seethed. "This is the worst job I have ever applied for," said the 31-year-old welder... Eyeing those ahead of him, he added: "I'm very annoyed foreigners are taking jobs that Americans...

Chief of staff, committee chair feel obligated to defend record of current chair amid burgeoning whisper campaignWhile not yet rising to the level of controversy reached by Tennessee Democrats in their campaign for chairman earlier this year, recent days have shown that the race for TNGOP chair is not completely lacking in sparks. In an e-mail sent Wednesday to the state party's executive committee, TNGOP Chief of Staff Mark Winslow defends his boss, Chairman Robin Smith, against accusations by an undisclosed member of the committee. After expressing concern for the "developing tone and direction" of the race for chairman, Winslow...

The text messages contained death threats, but prosecutors say that didn't justify deadly force. Nile LaRue says he had no choice. "If this case isn't self-defense, we're all in trouble, because then there is no such thing as self-defense," said his lawyer, Gregory P. Isaacs. Testimony began Monday in the trial of LaRue, 22, charged with second-degree murder. Prosecution and defense agree LaRue's 12-gauge shotgun fired the blast that killed John Jay Harrold, 31, during a fight over a woman June 18, 2007, around 2 a.m. in front of LaRue's condominium on Graham Way in Fountain City. That's where the...

The Bible-belt state of Tennessee is not known to have been targeted by Al-Qaeda or any other radical Islamic terrorist group, but the Volunteer State may be becoming a hotbed for the growth of extremism. Reports from Nashville, Shelbyville, and Dover indicate that Tennessee has gradually become a stronghold for radical Islamic forces that are transforming parts of the state. On May 13, I reported on the discovery of extremism at the Al-Farooq Mosque in Nashville by award-winning counter-terrorism expert Dave Gaubatz, an individual that once held top-secret security clearance as an agent for the Air Force’s Office of Special...

Tennessee Joins 8 other states in reclaiming state sovereignty Tennessee joined eight other states this year in moving forward with resolutions to declare sovereignty under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. This week, House Joint Resolution 108 cleared the committee system, and will now be scheduled for a vote on the House floor. The Ninth Amendment reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.” The Tenth Amendment specifically provides, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited...

Tomorrow, the legislature will vote on the Tennessee Firearms Freedom Act. This proposed law is very similar to the law exempting firearms manufactured and kept within the state from federal regulation that was recently enacted in Montana. Barrett firearms are big guns manufactured in Tennessee and are among the guns in the Congress sights in HR 1022 to be banned. http://www.barrettrifles.com/ Now you have one more reason to move to Nashville. It appears this bill has enough support to pass. For more on this story: http://www.wztv.com/newsroom/top_stories/wztv_vid_5694.shtml

A counter-terrorism expert researching extremism at U.S. mosques claims authorities in Nashville, Tenn., ignored his report of child abuse by teachers at a local mosque due to fear of retribution from Muslim organizations such at the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Dave Gaubatz, a former Air Force special agent, told WND he informed the local prosecutor, the FBI and Sgt. Brooks Harris of the Metropolitan Police Department in Nashville of a 7-year-old girl who says teachers at the Al-Farooq mosque "hit the children" during Shariah, or Islamic law, lessons. Harris insists he was not initially given enough information to pursue the...

A NewsChannel 5 investigation uncovers what could become a major ticket-fixing scandal in the city of Nashville.And it raises new questions about whether there's one set of laws for those with connections -- and another for the rest of us.But unlike a ticket-fixing problem exposed by NewsChannel 5 Investigates three years ago, it's not the city's elected judges who are dismissing the tickets.So who is it?Our chief investigative reporter Phil Williams has an investigation more than six months in the making.***When you're out on the highway, the radar detector doesn't know who you are.But when deputy juvenile court clerk Matt Drury got ticketed for...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - State health authorities call it the first probable case of the Swine Flu in Tennessee. Governor Phil Bredesen said he expected to make this kind of announcement at some point. State health leaders said Wednesday night they are 95 percent sure that the child, who is a student at Harding Academy in Belle Meade will be a confirmed Swine Flu case. The child's identity is being withheld under privacy laws and this is being called a mild case of the virus. Harding Academy leaders closed the school for seven days, under guidelines specified by the Centers For...

The Alliance Defense Fund has filed a lawsuit on behalf of students and parents against the Wilson County School Board in Tennessee. Lakeview Elementary School students wanted to display posters that referenced God and prayer, but school officials said they had to cover up those references before the posters could be displayed. The posters were hand-drawn by students and announced voluntary activities such as the "See You at the Pole" prayer event. Nate Kellum is with the Alliance Defense Fund. "Well, Christian students shouldn't be censored just for expressing their beliefs. They do not check their constitutional rights upon stepping...

It's been said that conservatism has different meanings for different people. It may not be textbook, but without a whole lot of navel gazing, here's what it means to me and what Free Republic is all about: In a word, Freedom! In two words, Preserving Freedom. In a handful of words as stated by our Founding Fathers, to secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our posterity! America was founded on the proposition that all men are created equal by God and that our unalienable rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness are granted directly by God...

Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009. It has already started: 'Ammunition Accountability' Legislation. Remember how Obama said that he wasn't going to take your guns? Well, it seems that his allies in the anti-gun world have no problem with taking your ammo! The bill that is being pushed in 18 states (including Illinois and Indiana) requires all ammunition to be encoded by the manufacturer, a data base of all ammunition sales. So, they will know how much you buy and what calibers. Nobody can sell any ammunition after June 30, 2009 unless the ammunition is coded. Any...

Do not believe the nattering nabobs of negativity. The Nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt was a huge success!! What we need now is MORE and LOUDER!! Obama has no clue. Being confronted by millions of fed-up citizens is new to him. He never expected the otherwise docile American people to rise up against his wannabe Marxist/fascist totalitarian regime. He's now lashing out at us through the Dept of Homeland Security as if We the People are his enemy. Well, we are! And he now knows it. And he's scared witless!! And the media has been reduced to the speechless,...

Congratulations FReepers and Patriots! According to Henchster's ongoing tallies, we've surpassed 750,000 participants in our nationwide Tax Day TEA Party/Tax Revolt! Woo hoo!! All 50 states fully engaged! Over 600 cities represented and reports still coming in! Huge turnout, huge SUCCESS!! Elected officials take note: DO NOT TREAD ON ME!! Tyranny, usurpation, corruption, overreaching, big spending, high taxing will no longer be tolerated! We the people are FED-UP and we're not going to take it anymore! Ignore us at your own peril! All Congressional seats, all elected offices throughout the land at risk! Revolution is in the air!!

If the Obama administration has taken flak for suggesting that conservative groups might be home to domestic terrorists, it looks like some House Democrat leaders are willing to go even further: But in an interview on Fox TV in San Francisco, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) chalked up the GOP grass-roots effort as “AstroTurf.” “This initiative is funded by the high end; we call it AstroTurf, it's not really a grass-roots movement. It's AstroTurf by some of the wealthiest people in America to keep the focus on tax cuts for the rich instead of for the great middle class,” Pelosi said....

A search turned up no posts for the Chattanooga, TN, Tea Party yesterday. This link has numerous photos. I'd say the crowd was more like 1500, though.

About 2500 people braved the cold, cloudy evening and horrible traffic to attend the Tax Day Tea Party held at Charlie Daniels Park in Mount Juliet, Tennessee. Signs were varied but all conveyed the message that the people are sick of politicians who spend as if there is no end to our money. Speakers included TN state Rep Susan Lynn, TN state Senator Mae Beavers, Bibbie Patray from The Eagle Forum, Gen. David Evans (ret) whi is running against long time house representative Bart Gordon, and several others. Gen. Evans fired up the crowd with his speech about returning the...

After the 2010 census has been held, the number of seats held by each state in the U.S. House of Representatives will change. The National Conference of State Legislatures recently estimated what the 2010 reapportionment will mean for each state. Eight states are expected to lose one seat each, in the U.S. House and in the Electoral College. They are Iowa, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. States that will gain will be Texas (3 seats), and one each for Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nevada and Utah. If the bill now pending in Congress to expand the...

SHELBYVILLE, Tenn. - It has been nearly 20 years since Somalia last had a functioning government. Islamic jihadists now control most of the country-and sharia is the law of the land. Tens of thousands of Somali refugees have resettled in America in recent years to escape the chaos of their homeland, which is located in the Horn of Africa. But the transition isn't going smoothly in one small town. At first glance, Shelbyville is your typical sleepy southern hamlet. It's nestled in middle Tennessee, where the walking horse is king. There's Main St., the local sheriff, a movie theatre. It's...

We cheer the reddest. We corn the hardest. And, apparently, we grin the widest. Because Nebraska is the happiest state in the U.S., a new study says. The survey — conducted by personal finance Web site MainStreet.com — ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia from fiscally happiest to saddest based on a few factors of economic well-being. These included foreclosure numbers, unemployment rates and the ratio of average debt to average annual income. “It reflects the attitude of this state,” said Gov. Dave Heineman. “We are a positive people with a can-do attitude who are focused on...

Federal agents searched three money-transfer businesses in Minneapolis on Wednesday, carrying away boxes of documents and copying computer hard drives in a quest for details of financial transactions between the U.S. and several African nations. Agents searched Mustaqbal Express, also known as North American Money Transfer Inc.; Quran Express; and Aaran Financial. FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson confirmed the searches but wouldn't elaborate on the reason.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Metro detectives said on Saturday that a father shot his son in self-defense at a home on Fourteenth Avenue North, near Metro Center. Police said John Culp Jr. was threatening his father, John Culp Sr., and grandmother with a box cutter. The son was in critical condition Saturday night at a hospital. When he's released, he'll be arrested on charges that he went after his grandmother with a box cutter, police siad. Police said they did not believe the father would be charged but that would have to be determined by the district attorney's office.

Trevor Hill owns what was once a blighted, rundown building in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hill has upgraded and repaired the building and built a restaurant there that he’s christened The Hill restaurant. It’s a full service restaurant and that means it is to serve alcohol. And that last fact seems to be causing a conflict with the folks that own the neighboring building: the Anoor mosque. Apparently one of the mosque board members, Nadeem Sidiqqi, is upset that an American property owner could possibly serve alcohol in his own business. Sidiqqi thinks he should be able to tell the owner of...

Trevor Hill owns what was once a blighted, rundown building in Knoxville, Tennessee. Hill has upgraded and repaired the building and built a restaurant there that he's christened The Hill restaurant. It's a full service restaurant and that means it is to serve alcohol. And that last fact seems to be causing a conflict with the folks that own the neighboring building: the Anoor mosque. Apparently one of the mosque board members, Nadeem Sidiqqi, is upset that an American property owner could possibly serve alcohol in his own business. Sidiqqi thinks he should be able to tell the owner of...

Are you ready for a FReepathon!!? Well, it's a new quarter and a new president and he's everything we knew he would be. In less than 90 days he's managed to take an economic downturn and turn it into an unmitigated disaster for good old American capitalism. Never let a good crisis go to waste! The government is now printing money as fast as they can run the presses. Our federal budget is doubling and tripling and the Fed is running with no controls or oversight whatsoever from the congress, pumping trillions more into the "economy." The government now spends...

Hunker down Southeast FReepers, it's supposed to be a bad one..

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/March/09-crm-260.html MS-13 Member Sentenced to 25 Years in Prison for Involvement in Rico Conspiracy WASHINGTON – A member of La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, was sentenced today to 25 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his participation in a racketeering enterprise, Acting Assistant Attorney General Rita M. Glavin of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Edward M. Yarbrough of the Middle District of Tennessee announced. Manuel Marquez, a/k/a "Morro," was sentenced in Nashville, Tenn., by Chief Judge Todd J. Campbell of the Middle District of Tennessee. At his plea...

My wife just received a text message from MTSU indicating a man was seen with a gun on the campus of MTSU (Middle Tennessee State University). This is all I know as of right now.

No. 10: Michigan Michigan is home to two of the most dangerous cities in America, according to the 2008 CQ Press city rankings. Detroit ranks third and Flint ranks sixth. No. 9: Maryland Hugging the nation's high-crime capital, struggling to revitalize Baltimore and growing its gambling industry, Maryland has the second-highest murder and robbery rate. No. 8: Arizona Things are looking brighter in Arizona! Last year it made the top five most dangerous states, now it's down a few notches at No. 8. No. 7: Alaska Alaska is plagued with having the highest number of rape cases. There could be...

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dave Gaubatz, the first U.S. civilian (1811) Federal Agent deployed to Iraq in 2003. He is currently the Director of the Mapping Sharia Project and the Owner of DG Counter-terrorism Publishing (dgaubatz.blogspot.com). He can be contacted at davegaubatz@gmail.com. FP: Dave Gaubatz, welcome to Frontpage Interview. You have been conducting some Counter-Terrorism (CT) field research during the last month. Tell us the results. Gaubatz: I want to thank FPM for the opportunity to bring an issue to the attention of the American public. In early Feb 2009, I went to a prayer and lecture at a...

The Hijacking Of A Cause Filed under: BCR, Tea Party — BCR at 11:47 pm on Saturday, March 21, 2009 A few weeks ago, a wonderful grassroots movement began when regular citizens began to band together to form local tea party protests. It was government activism in its truest form, and I for one had great hopes for true reform from the grassroots level. When the call went out for a national tea party in July in Chicago, I was excited and launched a website devoted to the cause locally. I started getting emails from folks excited and wanting to...

Yet again, a Saturday Wall Street Journal "Remembrances" column is filled with another interesting American personality, who isn't well known, but his story is entertaining. Apparently and sadly, Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton recently committed suicide rather than serve his second sentence in the federal pen for moonshining. I don't know about you, but this Appalachian legend producing moonshine without a license wasn't harming me, and it smacks more of big brother at work and big government over-regulating Americans literally to death than it does a crime that harmed society. There is no justice when this harmless 62-year-old hillbilly was about to...

Yesterday Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) re-introduced the Fair Copyright in Research Works Act.  This year it's H.R. 801 (last year it was H.R. 6845), and co-sponsored by Steve Cohen (D-TN), Trent Franks (R-AZ), Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Robert Wexler (D-FL).  The language has not changed.  The Fair Copyright Act is to fair copyright what the Patriot Act was to patriotism.  It would repeal the OA policy at the NIH and prevent similar OA policies at any federal agency.  The bill has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee, where Conyers is Chairman, and where he has consolidated his power...

Somalis in U.S. draw FBI attention War at home seen as lure The FBI is expanding contacts with Somali immigrant communities in the U.S., especially in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, fearing that terrorists are recruiting young men for suicide missions in their homeland. FBI Special Agent E.K. Wilson, spokesman for the Twin Cities FBI field office, described the effort as community outreach. Many members of the Somali community are concerned over disappearances, he said.

See, the thing that makes crazy people, well... crazy, is that they don't do things like normal people. Laws, rules, even simple human kindness is meaningless to such unbalanced people. The same can be said of criminals. See the thing that makes them criminals is that they don't obey laws. But the Memphis Commercial Appeal's Rich Locker seems to think making a law will magically make a wacko suddenly heed reason. On top of that, to illustrate his allusion he conflates the criminal actions of a man in Alabama to laws in Tennessee in order to justify his anti-gun sentiment...

CA's latest swipe at the right to carry.

FRANKFURT (AFP) — Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on Monday its 2008 profit rose 15 percent and it expected to gain market share during the current global automotive sector crisis. A VW statement said 2008 net profit came to 4.75 billion euros (6.0 billion dollars) as sales rose 4.5 percent to a record 113.8 billion euros, with operating profit up 3.0 percent to 6.3 billion euros. The 2008 dividend was increased seven percent to 1.93 euros per share. "We met our target and surpassed our record results for 2007 even though conditions were tougher," chairman Martin Winterkorn said. VW...

For all I have written about the Democrats and how they seem to have very little understanding about economics, it seems as though the Governor of Tennessee is showing a glimmer of hope. According to the Hill, Phil Bredesen is considering refusing some of the stimulus money earmarked for his state, under the same grounds previously articulated by Bobby Jindal, Mark Sanford and other Republican governors. He is reportedly considering sending $141 million in state employment benefits back to DC, with a note that says that he is not interested in making changes to state law that are not in...

My good friend, Ken Marrero over at Blue Collar Muse, did some interesting research into where the money from Tennessee's share of the so-called stimulus payoff ends up going. Ken notes that there is a lot of money floating around but little of it goes to stimulate the economy. In fact, it seems that the lion's share goes to government and its grasping needs as opposed to the economy. According to Marrero, The Volunteer State stands to have a windfall of $3,779,708,000 thanks to the pork-laden bill passed by Congress and President Obama. The list of payouts is impressive, but...

An encouraging movement is afloat to right the balance of power between the state and federal levels, as prescribed by 0ur founding documents. Kudos to Rep. Susan Lynn. HJR 108 State Sovereignty

Gary Dvorchak notes earlier today that the state of Tennessee is effectively blocking bank start ups due to lack of time to address their applications. Unfortunately, even if the entrepreneurs get past the Tennessee red tape, they are very likely to get blocked by Sheila Bair and the FDIC. I've been sitting on a copy of the January 12 American Banker for weeks with a post half-tapped out on just this matter. In that issue is a front-page article noting how the FDIC officially has an unofficial policy of not approving new bank start ups for deposit insurance. Featured in...

Islamic subversion alleged by speaker Tuesday, February 17, 2009 By Brian Mosely John Guandolo (T-G Photo by Brian Mosely) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo] A former FBI special agent told law enforcement and Homeland Security personnel that a network of Islamic organizations are working to incrementally implement Islamic law in the United States. During a presentation at the Bedford County Emergency Management Agency, former FBI agent John Guandolo briefed members about groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, which he claims is working with other Islamic groups to slowly implement Shariah, also known as Islamic law, which encompasses all areas...

Horse meat, sagging pants and cooks' beards are among the odd topics of interest this year in bills filed by state legislators. Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, has moved to relax the rules for selling horse meat in Tennessee, contending that some animals are now being hauled to Mexico under inhumane conditions for slaughter. Current law requires that horse meat be packaged and labeled prior to sale and, combined with federal laws, effectively bans the sale of horse meat, he said. His bill (HB1361) eliminates the packaging and labeling requirements. "We need to have humane slaughter," Niceley said, himself an...

Misunderstandings with people who carry guns can turn ugly. This past week it has been ugly at the newspaper, after passionate gun owners latched onto three very wrong ideas about why The Commercial Appeal's Web site now lists all those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. -- Wrong idea No. 1: The newspaper is against the Second Amendment that gives Americans the right to keep and bear arms. -- Wrong idea No. 2: The newspaper is invading people's privacy by posting the permit-to-carry-guns list on its Web site. -- Wrong idea No. 3: Posting the...

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — An out-of-work truck driver smiled Monday as he pleaded guilty to killing two people and wounding six others at a Tennessee church last summer because he considered the liberal church "a den of un-American vipers." ">snip<"

Tennessee bills focus on gun ownersWant to open location access, privatize listBy Richard Locker (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal Friday, February 13, 2009 NASHVILLE -- Tennessee legislators have filed a rash of new bills to allow guns in state and local parks, restaurants serving alcohol and even schools and also limiting public access to lists of gun-carry permit holders. Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, who is sponsoring two of the gun bills, said Thursday he believes the measures stand a much better chance of passing this year as a result of the new GOP majority in the legislature. Supported by...