Free Republic

PHOENIX - The new top immigration enforcement official in Arizona promised Monday to do more to cut down on the number of people working illegally in this country. Alonzo Peña said he plans to start bringing criminal charges against firms that provide false papers to undocumented workers. Peña said it is not enough simply to seek civil sanctions. But Peña, who took over about two months ago as the special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said he also wants to work cooperatively with employers who are trying to comply with the law. Peña's comments came after a...

As Democrats refuse to let up on former Rep. Mark Foley, some Republicans are returning fire. But they'll have to do a lot more fighting back if they want to win on Election Day. Time and again Democrats prove themselves to be ferocious street fighters, especially in campaign season. When they get hit, they instinctively hit right back. For instance, it was more than 15 years ago that Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., was reprimanded for violating House rules to help his "roommate" Stephen Gobie, who was running a male prostitution service out of Frank's Washington apartment. Democrats didn't make Frank...

A group of House Republicans called Wednesday for a congressional investigation into the improper handling of classified documents by President Clinton's national security adviser, Sandy Berger. Berger admitted last year that he deliberately took classified documents out of the National Archives in 2003 and destroyed some of them at his office. He pleaded guilty in federal court to one charge of unauthorized removal and retention of classified material and was fined $50,000.

Lenders must consider borrowers' ability to pay the full cost of the loan WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Cracking down on exotic mortgages that have exploded in popularity in recent years, U.S. regulators told banks Friday that they've got to make sure that borrowers can actually pay back the full amount of the mortgage. Exotic products, such as interest-only or payment option adjustable rate mortgages, allow borrowers to trade lower initial payments for higher payments later. But such products have raised red flags at the Federal Reserve and other banking regulators as more institutions offer them and they become available to a...

LONDON - The militant Shiite group Hezbollah committed war crimes in its deliberate targeting of civilians in the recent conflict with Israel, Amnesty International said in a report on Thursday. The London-based human rights group said the guerrillas fired nearly 4,000 rockets into northern Israel, killing 43 civilians, seriously injuring 33 others and forcing hundreds of thousands to take refuge or flee. About a quarter of all rockets — some packed with thousands of metal ball bearings — were fired directly into urban areas, it added in a document called “Under fire — Hezbollah’s attacks on northern Israel”. It was...

Islam teaches peace, they told anyone who would listen in news conferences, at interfaith services and, most famously, standing in a mosque with President Bush. But five years later, the target audience for their pleas has shifted. Now the faith's American leaders are starting to warn fellow Muslims about a threat from within. The 2005 subway attacks in London that investigators say were committed by British-born and -raised Muslims, and the relentless Muslim-engineered sectarian assaults on Iraqi civilians, are among the events that have convinced some U.S. Muslims to change focus. "This sentiment of denial, that sort of came as...

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1701 Friday evening, calling for a cessation of hostilities between Hizbullah and Israel. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will recommend to the cabinet that it accept the UNSC resolution at its weekly meeting Sunday. The resolution authorizes the deployment of 15,000 UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon in support of Lebanese army forces, which are to move into the region and replace Hizbullah in parallel with a withdrawal of Israeli forces. Israel is not required to withdraw until the deployment of UN and Lebanese forces begins. The new UN peacekeeping force, still under the...

LONDON - Syria is telling Lebanon’s Hizbollah movement to stop firing rockets at Israel in a conflict sparked by the capture of two Israeli soldiers, Syria’s ambassador to London said on Friday. Hizbollah, an Islamist group represented in the Lebanese government, wants to trade the captives for prisoners held in Israel. In an attempt to increase domestic pressure on Hizbollah, Israeli planes have attacked Beirut and southern Lebanon, killing at least 60 people. When asked whether Syria was telling Hizbollah to stop firing rockets at Israel, the ambassador, Sami Khiyami, told the BBC: “Of course.” “This is a movement that...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. Senate panel advanced a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage on Thursday as the committee chairman shouted "good riddance" to a Democrat who walked out of the tense session."If you want to leave, good riddance," The Senate Judiciary Chairman, Republican Arlen Specter, told Wisconsin Democratic Sen. Russell Feingold, who refused to participate because, he said, the meeting was not sufficiently open to the public."I've enjoyed your lecture too. See you later, Mr. Chairman," Feingold told the Pennsylvania senator before storming out of the private room where the meeting took place. The testy exchange highlighted tensions over...

Washington – With a federal grand jury considering whether to charge her with assault, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia went on the House floor Thursday and apologized for her role in a scuffle with a Capitol Police officer last week. "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said. 'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,' Rep. McKinney had said on WETA-FM in suburban Washington Wednesday. "I am sorry this misunderstanding happened at all and I regret its escalation and I apologize," McKinney said, drawing applause from...

PHILADELPHIA -- A man pleaded guilty to weapons of mass destruction charges for sending a mail bomb to a Chicago surgeon he said botched his penile enlargement surgery, though his attorney questioned whether the charges fit the offense. Brett R. Steidler, 25, of Reamstown, Pa., mailed the explosive device in February 2005 because he was "extremely unhappy with the results" of the $8,000 surgery, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams said in court filings. Reamstown is in Lancaster County. But Steidler alerted authorities before the bomb arrived and it was retrieved from the mail and disarmed. His attorney, Luis A....

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (Reuters) - Everyone in New Orleans must evacuate the low-lying city the next time a hurricane threatens and no shelters will be offered for those who stay, officials said on Tuesday. Hoping to avoid a repeat of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when thousands struggled to survive after ignoring evacuation orders, they said planes, trains and buses would be used to move people out and the Superdome football stadium would not be open for refuge. "Today the population stands around 200,000 to 225,000 people in New Orleans," said Orleans Parish Homeland Security Advisor Terry Ebbert. "Our goal...

Clarification: Katrina-Video story ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) _ In a March 1 story, The Associated Press reported that federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees in New Orleans, citing confidential video footage of an Aug. 28 briefing among U.S. officials. The Army Corps of Engineers considers a breach a hole developing in a levee rather than an overrun. The story should have made clear that Bush was warned about floodwaters overrunning the levees, rather than the levees breaking. The day before the storm hit, Bush was...

LONDON - The United States and other permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed Tuesday that Iran should be hauled before that powerful body over its disputed nuclear program. China and Russia, longtime allies and trading partners of Iran, signed on to a statement that calls on the U.N. nuclear watchdog to transfer the Iran dossier to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions or take other harsh action. Foreign ministers from those nations, plus the United States, Britain and France, also said the Security Council should wait until March to take up the Iran case, after a formal...

DETROIT (AP) -- The disappointing Detroit Lions fired coach Steve Mariucci and some of his assistants on Monday, a team official told The Associated Press.

President Bush today will call for a crackdown on illegal immigration, a move aimed at further rallying conservatives who recently cheered Mr. Bush's tough talk on Iraq and the Supreme Court. But the president will also renew his call for a program to allow Mexicans who have already entered the U.S. illegally to remain here for up to six years. That initiative has long angered conservatives who equate it with amnesty.

GOVERNOR Kathleen Blanco declared a state of emergency in western Louisiana today and urged people to evacuate parts of the state due to the new threat of Hurricane Rita. "I have put the state on alert. We've declared another emergency ... for southwest Louisiana," Ms Blanco said. "We're urging people to evacuate," she said as Rita barrelled near southernmost Florida, gaining strength and heading west on a track that could take it close to the devastated Louisiana city. Emergency services have already begun evacuating residents of New Orleans, which is still a disaster area following Hurricane Katrina's August 29 hit,...

Vatican, Sep. 19 (CWNews.com) - Pope Benedict XVI has given his approval to a new Vatican policy document indicating that men with homosexual tendencies should not be ordained as Catholic priests. The new document-- which was prepared by the Congregation for Catholic Education, in response to a request made by the late Pope John Paul II in 1994-- will be published soon. It will take the form of an "Instruction," signed by the prefect and secretary of the Congregation: Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski and Archbishop Michael Miller. The text, which was approved by Pope Benedict at the end of August, says...

NEW YORK -- President Bush yesterday implored the United Nations to rid itself of corruption and scolded the global body for squandering the world's respect and making a mockery of human rights. "When this great institution's member states choose notorious abusers of human rights to sit on the U.N. Human Rights Commission, they discredit a noble effort and undermine the credibility of the whole organization," Mr. Bush told the U.N. General Assembly. In past years, Libya and Sudan have served on the commission. "If member countries want the United Nations to be respected and effective, they should begin by making...

Sunday, Sept. 11, 2005 12:39 a.m. EDT Ray Nagin: Flooded School Buses Not My Fault New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin said Friday that it wasn't his fault city school buses weren't mobilized to facilitate the Hurricane Katrina evacuation he ordered. Appearing on NBC's "Dateline," Nagin was asked by host Stone Phillips: "What was mobilized? I mean were national guard troops in position. Were helicopters standing by? Were buses ready to take people away?" "No. None of that," the Big Easy mayor replied. "Why is that?" an incredulous Phillips asked. Nagin replied: "I dont know. That is question for somebody else."...