Free Republic

A stronger blast, a little less luck, and the horse that Marine Sgt. Michael Blair is riding down an Arlington County trail could easily be pulling his coffin. "It's an honor riding these horses, knowing what they do," he said. The horses that Blair rides in a rehabilitation program for wounded service members also pull the caissons that carry fallen troops for burial at Arlington National Cemetery. At times, Blair rides them along the same road, turning and heading back to the barn before reaching the cemetery. ~snip~ [photo gallery at link]

RICHMOND | Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine said Wednesday that a 1 percentage point increase in the state's income tax that he has proposed in his final weeks in office is the most responsible way to make up a nearly $2 billion shortfall in the state's finances. "I think the only other alternatives are draconian cuts that would squander Virginia's leadership position or kind of gimmicky 'Let's take a bunch of money out of the retirement fund' or 'Let's pull out the credit card and borrow a bunch of money.' But I think that would threaten our AAA bond rating," Mr....

Hundreds of Islamic centers in the United States have become a hot-bed of extremist activity; they promote violence, terrorism and hatred against America. “Our initial investigation has concluded there are between 400 to 500 radical Islamic centers in the U.S.,” said David Gaubatz, the director of counterintelligence and counterterrorism for the Society of Americans for National Existence. “In those places, they preach an extreme version of Islam that says America and the West is the enemy. They espouse violence, hatred and the need for terrorism.” Gaubatz is a former senior U.S. intelligence official, who now works for the Mapping Shari’a...

A man suspected of taking hostages in a post office in the US state of Virginia has been arrested after a stand-off lasting several hours, police say. Authorities in Wytheville persuaded Warren Taylor to give himself up and release three people he was holding. Mr Taylor was reported to have entered the post office pushing a wheelchair and claiming to be carrying explosives. He initially fired shots from the building but no-one was reported to have been injured.

(snip) Unlike McKeon and Shuster, Cantor endorsed Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the 2008 presidential primary. Cantor's PAC transferred $5,000 to Romney's PAC in January -- about five months before the two Republicans participated in a forum for the National Council for New America in May. The report also indicated that Cantor's campaign committee also received $5,000 from Romney's PAC in May -- a donation that Romney spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom chalked up to mutual admiration between the two.(snip)

The text that is in quotes are excerpts from Warner's canned response back to my first letter asking him to not support the bill! “...As the debate in Congress continues, it is of utmost importance to recognize that our current health care system is financially unsustainable. ..." Only the government run systems are unsustainable! All current US State run systems (Ca, Mass, Tenn, others) are in the red and don’t even come close to living up toward the extravagant promises made by the state politicians that insisted on them. In fact these systems sole recourse is to pass costs to...

Wytheville, Virginia Mayor Trent Crewe says a disabled man entered the post office around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. The man fired one shot. He’s holding 3 postal workers and 2 customers hostage. Crewe said there are unconfirmed reports that man may have a device on him. The man’s car outside the post office also appears to be equipped with some type of device. No one has been injured, and police are negotiating with the man.

<p>The man entered the Wytheville, Virginia, post office about 2:30 p.m. and fired a shot, Mayor Trent Crewe said. No one has been hurt, but three postal workers and two customers are being held hostage, he said.</p> <p>There also are reports that the man has a "device" and it appears the man's car, parked outside the office, is equipped with some type of device, Crewe said. He did not elaborate on what the device could be.</p>

WYTHEVILLE, Va. - Authorities in Wytheville are dealing with a hostage situation at the town's post office. Mayor Trent Crewe says five hostages are inside the building, including three employees and two customers. Shots have been fired, but Crewe says no injuries have been reported. The situation began at about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The suspect has not been identified.

All details and information, including info on buses and hotels, will be found on the primary planning hub at http://www.TaxDayTeaParty.com

An American Airlines plane crashed and broke in two after landing at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston shortly after 10 p.m. Tuesday, according to local reports. There were no immediate reports of casualties. Details were not immediately available, however, passengers on the plane told local media that flight 331 had just arrived from Miami in pouring rain when the accident occurred. The flight apparently originated in Washington, D.C.

Newly energized by last month's landslide victories in state elections, Virginia Republicans are laying the groundwork to mount aggressive challenges against four Democratic congressmen next year. Republican leaders think that they can reclaim at least two of the three seats they lost last year, when President Obama became the first Democrat in 44 years to win Virginia. They also think that the political climate has changed so decisively that they can unseat U.S. Rep. Rick C. Boucher, a 28-year incumbent from the far southwestern part of the state, where antipathy toward Obama and national Democratic policies run strong. And they...

Hackers have demanded $10 million in ransom after hijacking nearly 8.3 million patient records. The data was stolen from an a government website used to track drug prescriptions in the American state of Virginia. Health officials called in the FBI after receiving a ransom demand which was posted on the Virginia Prescription Monitoring Program's website Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1178276/Hackers-demand--10m-ransom-hijacking-millions-medical-records.html#ixzz0aRMtmyP9

Sen. Mark R. Warner, D-Virginia, said that he voted in favor of the health-care overhaul because he thinks it will lower health-care costs...Warner and Virginia's senior senator, Jim Webb, also a Democrat, recorded their votes to advance the legislation. In the end, the Senate's 58 Democrats and two independents voted to prevent a filibuster and move the bill toward likely passage before Christmas... Webb said the debate "often overwhelmed the substance" of fixing the problem. Warner and Webb said they thought that late changes in the Senate bill improved it. Warner cited the dropping of the public option. But Warner,...

Mother won't be charged in newborn baby's death

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Washington Times says it will publish its last Sunday edition this weekend. The newspaper made the announcement Monday, saying it will produce Monday through Friday editions that focus on its "distinctive news and opinion content." The new print edition will be sold for $1 at retail outlets and newspaper boxes in the Washington area. The current weekday edition is 50 cents and Sunday's paper costs $1.

The Lost City, The Lost Patrol and now the Lost Walter Reed Rallies. With the BIG 9/11Walter Reed Rally and the HUGH Tea Party 9/12 March closely following these two weeks at Walter Reed, the After Action Reports were lost. They have been recovered from our archives for your pleasure. WEEK 226, August 14 Patriots attending this week include Lurker Bill, BufordP, Cindy_True_Supporter, Fraxinus, GunsAreOK, Jimmy Valentines Brother, Sensei Ern, [Mrs] Trooprally and me. BELOW LEFT: BufordP before the banners and flags showed up, with cigar in hand listening to Mark Levin. Cindy_True_Supporter on her way to help. BELOW RIGHT:...

Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling sent a strongly worded letter to Sens. Jim Webb and Mark Warner Monday expressing outrage over special concessions given to certain states to obtain support for federal health care legislation from their Senators and asking them to oppose this legislation, which Bolling called “misguided.” “As you know, one of our major concerns with this legislation is the potential impact it could have on the cost of Medicaid for Virginia’s state government,” wrote Bolling. “Many reports have suggested that this legislation could result in much higher Medicaid costs for state governments across the nation, costs that state...

This Saturday, to all those who have attended Olney’s Support the Troops Rally, YOU WERE OUT ON OLNEY’s CORNER “IN SPIRIT”. And those who have read the Olney AARs as we come up to our 4 Year Anniversary on January 2,2010, Thank You for your support. BELOW LEFT: Distant view of our red banner from Friday night thru Monday morning. BELOW RIGHT: Close up of banner, dah. That explanation is for any moonbats who are reading this AAR. BELOW LEFT: Saturday AM at the Olney Bunker. “Hey [Mrs] T - think we can make it up the hill?”. BELOW RIGHT:...

“Arrested Americans show no remorse about their terror plans” PTI Monday, December 21, 2009 14:44 IST SNIPPET: “Lahore: Five American Muslim youth arrested by Pakistani authorities on suspicion of terror links have shown no remorse about their plans to commit terrorist acts and one has even said they should be hanged so that they could become martyrs, a senior police official said today.” SNIPPET: “Zamzam, Waqar Hussain Khan, 22, Ahmed Abdullah Minni, 20, Iman Hasan Yemer, 17 and Omar Farooq, 24, were arrested in Sargodha, located 200km from Islamabad, on charges of planning terror attacks in Pakistan and abroad.” SNIPPET:...

By MARTHA IRVINE and NAFEESA SYEED (AP) – 1 hour ago ALEXANDRIA, Va. — There was a book left in a Pakistani hotel room where several young men from Virginia suspected of trying to join Taliban forces stayed. Called "The Pact," that book tells the true story of three boys from a rough neighborhood and broken homes who bond and eventually help one another through medical and dental school. "This is a story about the power of friendship. Of joining forces and beating the odds," reads one snippet on the back of the book. It is also a story with...

Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) announced Sunday evening he will support Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-Nev.) $871 billion health care reform package but warned that he could withhold his backing for the final bill as negotiated in the House-Senate conference committee if he is unhappy with any changes made to the legislation.

SUFFOLK An indiscreet tire change may have been a burglar’s undoing Friday night, according to police. At first, it looked like he’d make a clean getaway. An attempt to burglarize Butler’s Store, on Godwin Boulevard, had been unsuccessful. The store’s owner, John Butler, said he heard an intruder try to kick in the door and had chased him away, but the intruder managed to drive off and, better yet, escape unharmed. “I coulda dropped him,” said Butler, who’d come running out of his store with a 9 mm in his hands. He and his wife live in an apartment in...

FAIRFAX, Va. - As Erick Williamson sees it, being naked is liberating, and if passers-by get an eyeful while he's standing in front of a picture window, that's not his problem. A Fairfax County judge saw it differently Friday, convicting Williamson, 29, of indecent exposure in a case that raised questions about what's OK when you're in your own home. Two women said they saw much more of Williamson than they cared to in October, even though he never left his home. He received neither jail time nor a fine but is appealing anyway, saying a larger principle is at...

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC, area are CLOSED.

I went back to our GOP Senate source to ask if the Democratic victory lap over the status of Obmacare in the Senate might be premature. He comments: It feels to me it's nothing short of journalistic malpractice that no one has talked to Jim Webb. He hasn't said a word over the last two days, yet he wrote an op-ed earlier this week saying he was undecided and his spokeswoman told the Washington Post the same thing on Thursday. And no one has asked him anything. One thing I'll say in terms of what Republicans will do over the...

A blizzard-like storm rocked the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Saturday, crippling travel across the region and causing hundreds of thousands of power outages. Those who did venture out were treated to nearly desolate stores on what is usually one of the busiest shopping days of the year. There were virtually no lines to get a picture with a mall Santa on the last weekend before Christmas. The National Guard used Humvees to rescue stranded motorists in Virginia and some 500 people had sought warmth and refuge in emergency shelters. At least one person was killed in a traffic accident in...

In Congress’s upper chamber, a Virginia fox may be the one to deliver the knock-out uppercut to Obamacare. Quiet, cunning, and independent, Sen. Jim Webb (D., Va.) has been on the sidelines for much of the Senate’s health-care debate. Instead of ranting, like Bernie Sanders, Webb has been mulling legislative language in his office for weeks. Neighboring Senate staffers whisper that Team Webb is having a real tough time shuffling the senator out of the office to make appearances on the glad-handing circuit. It seems the man just wants to sit, study, read, and think — strange priorities in the...

A major winter storm was moving up the Atlantic Coast on Friday night, with forecasters expecting accumulations of one to two feet of snow in some areas by Saturday night, according to the National Weather Service. President Obama returned from Copenhagen early Saturday, landing at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland amid a major winter storm. Winter storm warnings were in effect from Tennessee and North Carolina to the southern New England states, and the storm was expected to affect Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and other cities. A blizzard warning was in effect for Long Island. The National Weather Service said...

NORFOLK Construction of Norfolk's starter light-rail line is running as much as 41 percent over its original budget, and that has angry local leaders demanding an explanation from Hampton Roads Transit, which manages the project. HRT officials said this week they need $38 million to $40 million more to finish the 7.4-mile transit system, which is just over 50 percent complete. When construction started in October 2007, the budget was $232 million. That figure escalated to $288 million in December 2008. The latest cost estimate is $326 million to $328 million, HRT President Michael Townes said. Officials said the complexities...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 AM EST SUNDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. * PRECIP TYPE... SNOW. * ACCUMULATIONS... HEAVY SNOW WITH ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES THROUGH SUNSET SATURDAY. LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE... MAINLY IN OR NEAR SOUTHERN MARYLAND. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS EXPECTED SATURDAY NIGHT. * TIMING... SNOW WILL BEGIN LATE FRIDAY NIGHT AND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. * TEMPERATURES... UPPER 20S TO LOWER 30S THROUGH THE EVENT IN THE BALTIMORE WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA......

A spokeswoman for Webb told the Washington Post said that the first-term Democratic senator is deliberating how to vote on the Senate's bill but is yet undecided. "It is not surprising that he is being lobbied by interests on both sides of the aisle. Senator Webb has a reputation for being very deliberative and independent-minded," spokeswoman Jessica Smith said in a statement to the Post's Virginia Politics blog. "The fact that he has said he is undecided about this bill is not extraordinary."

1:54 a.m. The Wythe County Sheriff’s Office says Interstate 77 between Wytheville and West Virginia has been shut down due to the weather, and accidents blocking the highway. All other traffic on I-81 and I-77 is moving slowly with only one lane of traffic open. National Weather Service says Roanoke has received a foot of snow. Blacksburg at 11.2 inches. VDOT says multiple sections of Interstate 81 are not moving, on both the northbound and the southbound side from Rockbridge County through Wythe County .

A US man has been charged with indecent exposure for being naked in his own home. Erick Williamson, 29 was observed without clothes through a doorway and a window, by a seven-year-old boy and his mother who were walking by. Williamson argued that it was his home, and therefore he could choose to go nude. But a judge found against him, saying that he intended to make himself visible to passers-by. The Virginia man said he will appeal the decision. "I think that being tried and found guilty of something like this is outrageous," Williamson said after he was convicted...

A major storm was expected to bury the Washington region Saturday with what forecasters said could be the largest snowfall to hit the area in six years and the greatest December accumulation in more than 70 years. Accumulations of 15 inches or more in the city and up to 24 inches in parts of the Blue Ridge Mountains were possible, according to the National Weather Service. The snow was expected to cause significant disruptions for shoppers, travelers and revelers on the last weekend -- and biggest shopping day -- before Christmas. Especially large amounts of snow could accumulate southeast of...

Despite talk about easing burdens on businesses to encourage them to create jobs, companies in Virginia will be paying more in taxes come Jan. 1. The state unemployment tax that businesses pay on each employee will be going up, from an average of $95 per employee per year to an average of $171 a year in 2010, $234 in 2011 and $263 in 2012. The tax goes into the fund the state uses to pay unemployment benefits... When the unemployment fund gets low, it triggers an automatic increase in the tax. The increase is determined by a formula. Virginia Employment...

This may be the worst story of the year, at least in reference to domestic policy and crime. How bad is it? When Matt of Creative Minority Report tipped me to it this morning, I had to track it down to make sure it was on the level. A woman in Campbell County, Virginia smothered her newborn infant, and police are powerless to do anything about it: CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR VIDEO The caller said a woman in her early 20s was in labor. When deputies arrived, they discovered the baby had actually been born around 1:00a.m., about ten hours...

Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine (D) proposed Friday replacing the local car tax by increasing income tax $1.9 billion a year. But Republicans in the General Assembly and Gov.-elect Robert F. McDonnell (R) have said they are opposed to any tax hikes. The outgoing governor also proposed about $2.3 billion in budget cuts to help make up for a nearly $4.2 billion shortfall by 2012. ... Kaine recommended eliminating 1,879 jobs as well as 664 layoffs, many of them in the departments of transportation, corrections, juvenile justice and at the University of Virginia. In public education, he would cap the number...

As shown in Weeks 203 & 204's AAR, we had the Navy flag up this Saturday. And it looks as good this AAR as in yesterday's AAR. BELOW: Our NEW Navy flag. Before the Air Force and Coasties complain, we would be more than pleased to put up your branch’s flag. Just FRmail me for our address. With the new traffic light configuration we’ll have more traffic poles to attach your flag to it. With our group mainly being associated with the Marines and Army, their flags got the prime space. We didn’t want to put your flags on the...

WEEK 202: NOV. 21,2009 The MAC is BACK, the iMacMan that is. iMacMan is someone I consider a “cold weather FReeper”. His retirement keeps him away from Olney during the warmer months. While iMacMan didn’t bring his cameras today, he takes some of the best pictures of our passing supporters that I know of. And then the edits he does are great. To those who know cameras, I do not, he sets his cameras on wide lens and then with one push of the button, gets 6 frames shot. BELOW: Several of iMacMan’s neat pictures. Did I forget to mention...

Dear xxxxx, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia is pleased to announce that our 'Trust Women, Respect Choice' license plate is now available for pre-order. The funds generated from the sale of these plates will go directly to Planned Parenthood affiliates across the state to provide critical prevention services. Absolutely no revenue will go towards abortion-related care. Instead, the money will be used to provide annual gynecological exams, sexually transmitted infection testing, and follow-up care for underinsured and uninsured patients. Click here to learn more about Planned Parenthood's services. When the Virginia General Assembly convenes on January 13, 2010, Planned Parenthood...

Rob Wittman was 40 minutes late to his town hall meeting in Montross on Dec. 8, where he received less than the hometown treatment from TEA Party members. Held at Washington and Lee High School, the town hall meeting, sponsored by the Westmoreland County Citizens Association, was the public's opportunity to question Wittman on everything the actions of Congress and federal government. While many questions posed to Wittman, first congressional district representative, dealt with health care and the economy, the show was quickly stolen by TEA Party members. Catherine Crabill, former Republican candidate for the 99th district seat in Virginia's...

NORFOLK Jurors decided Wednesday that Philip Harvey should get $13,000 for being bitten by the police dog of Gordon Barry, who mistakenly shot and killed a fellow police officer during a disturbance in Young Terrace. Harvey sued Barry, saying the officer acted recklessly when he loosed his police dog in a crowded courtyard on the 400 block of Nicholson Street in May 2006. Barry testified that he believed his actions would save the life of Harvey’s brother, Denardo, who was in a confrontation with an armed man. The armed man turned out to be Officer Seneca Darden, who had responded...

A loophole in state law is preventing Campbell County investigators from charging a woman they say killed her newborn baby. Deputies were called to a home in the 1200 block of Lone Jack Road in Rustburg about 11 a.m. Friday. The caller said a woman in her early 20s was in labor. When deputies arrived, they discovered the baby had actually been born around 1 a.m., about 10 hours earlier. Investigators said the baby was already dead when deputies got there. Investigators told WSLS the baby’s airway was blocked. They said the baby was under bedding and had been suffocated...

Senate Republicans say they want to “smoke out” Democratic senators who could help them bring down the health care bill, and so far, they think they’ve found one in Sen. Jim Webb. With all the attention focused on four other fence-sitting moderates, Webb has voted with Republicans six times on the first series of amendments on the Senate floor — giving GOP leaders some hope that the unpredictable Virginian could buck his party in the end and block the bill. South Dakota Sen. John Thune, No. 4 in GOP leadership, said Webb’s votes “came as a bit of a surprise”...

Dear Ms. Daniel: Knowing of your interest in the ongoing debate in Congress over health care reform, I wanted to update you on a number of votes and positions that I have taken during the process. Together with 60 of my colleagues, I voted in favor of proceeding to debate the proposed health care reform legislation. I have yet to decide whether I will support final passage of the bill. I have stated on several occasions my concerns that the Obama administration should have begun the health care process with a clear, detailed proposal, from which legislation could then be...

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Vietnam's defence minister, making a rare visit to the United States, met Tuesday with a key US Senator who called ties between the two former war foes "very important." General Phung Quang Thanh met with Democratic Senator Jim Webb, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, and was to meet with Senator John McCain, the Senate Armed Services Committee's top Republican. "It is vitally important that the United States engage with Southeast Asia at all levels," Webb, a former Marine who served in the Vietnam war and visited Hanoi in August, said after his...

Dear Friend, We thought you might be interested in the following column by Senator Webb published in today's Winchester Star. http://www.winchesterstar.com/pages/view/still.html Webb cites concerns, amendments, votes on health care Sen. Jim Webb Like all of my colleagues in the Democratic Party, I voted in favor of proceeding to debate the proposed health-care reform legislation. I have yet to decide whether I will support final passage of the bill. I have stated on several occasions my concerns that the Obama administration should have begun the health-care process with a clear, detailed proposal, from which legislation could then be put into place....

It’s final. Republican Ron Villanueva is the winner of the 21st House District seat after a recount Monday. Villanueva, a city councilman, increased his margin of victory over incumbent Democrat Bobby Mathieson by two votes after all the ballots were rechecked. In the end, Villanueva received 7,674 votes, and Mathieson got 7,658. “I feel elated,” Villanueva said Monday night. “It was exciting to see the process in action.” Mathieson, who asked for the recount, said his camp was aware going in that a different outcome was unlikely with so many ballots cast electronically and the chances of finding mistakes minimal....