Free Republic

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) - A lawyer for Asian students caught in a cheating scandal at Duke's business school says they were punished more severely than others. Durham lawyer Robert Ekstrand represents 16 students. He says most of those caught in the scandal didn't understand the honor code because they'd been in the country less than a year. Ekstrand has filed appeals for the students. He says students quickly wrote confessions after a faculty investigator pressured them to admit wrongdoing, even though some didn't understand the allegations. The scandal began when professors at Duke's Fuqua School of Business noticed similarities in...

I used to think we needed to leave the Constitution alone. That was before the Senate decided to extend citizenship to as many as 20 million lawbreakers whose sole purpose in breaking the law was to gain U.S. citizenship. Talk about making the punishment fit the crime! This punishment fits the crime exactly — they are identical! Forget about the billions of dollars it will cost the taxpayers of this country to give amnesty to illegal immigrants. Forget about the fact that it will forever change the nature of our country. Forget about the fact that if 9/11 terrorist Mohammed...

SALT LAKE CITY -- Radio relationship guru Laura Schlessinger, in Salt Lake City on Friday to speak to Army families at Fort Douglas, said she was tired of hearing the complaints of lonely and overwhelmed military wives whose husbands are deployed. "He could come back without arms, legs or eyeballs, and you're (whining)?" Schlessinger asked before taking the stage at the base theater to host her daily program on ethics, morals and values. "You're not dodging bullets, so I don't want to hear any whining -- that's my message to them." Schlessinger boasted that she once talked a young woman...

Language difficulties aren't going away anytime soon Saturday, May 12, 2007 3:40 AM Another tragedy happened recently. Four-year-old Jennifer Garcia, who lived at the Parkview Apartments on the Far West Side of Columbus, drowned. A life has been lost.The 911 call of this incident is disheartening to listen to. The frantic stepfather begins: "She fell in the water, I don't know how long maybe she stay in water. Rome-Hilliard, the apartments, the ParkView Apartments." He continues: "She drowned in the water, I don't know how long, she stay in the water maybe 15 - 20 minutes ago." This is followed...

NEW YORK -- Mayor Rudolph Giuliani says he will go back to Albany next week to push to keep rent controls on more than 1 million apartments, and to urge Republican leaders to come around to his position. ``I believe that we should continue rent stabilization and rent control,'' the mayor said. ``I will continue to oppose'' their elimination. The mayor is scheduled to spend much of Thursday at the Capitol, meeting with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, and other leaders. Giuliani is at odds over rent control with fellow Republican Gov. George Pataki and state Senate Majority...

DENVER -- One state lawmaker says he ate just one shrimp at a recent reception for fear of violating a strict new ethics law. Another says he sometimes has a bowl of cereal for dinner instead of the sandwiches and hors d'oeuvres he used to nibble at gatherings. There's no such thing as a free lunch at the Colorado Capitol since voters passed Amendment 41 last fall. Free breakfasts and evening receptions have vanished, too, in a cloud of confusion and jokes about exactly what is forbidden and what is allowed. The stakes are much more serious beyond the dome....

President George W. Bush said on Monday he did not intend to insult Democrats by failing to pronounce their party's full name in his State of the Union address. "I didn't know I did it," Bush told NPR in an interview. In his speech last Tuesday, Bush declared to a joint session of the U.S. Congress that "I congratulate the Democrat majority." Some Democrats were incensed he did not say "Democratic." The party's proper name is the Democratic Party. Republicans for years have dropped the last two letters of the name as a slight to the party. Bush's prepared text...

Things are goofy in California. I mean, goofier than usual. Republicans are afraid they've lost influence with the governor, which wouldn't be so strange if the governor wasn't also a Republican. What's even stranger is that -- in a true blue state such as California, where Democrats control the Legislature and most of the top offices in the executive branch -- Republicans haven't figured out most Californians no longer care what they think, and this includes the chief executive from their own party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in for a second term on Jan. 5 after coasting to re-election....

Last night Dallas, in the shaddow of their own goal line through a pass which was completed at about the one yard line. A Seattle player knocked the ball out of the receiver's hands towards and into the endzone. It was initially ruled that the ball was recovered by Seattle before it went out of bounds and so it was a Seattle Touchdown. Upon video review the refs (and everyone else) saw that the ball went out of bounds before it was recovered, and so it was ruled a Safety, two points for Seattle. Should this play have been rulled...

No sooner had Democrats captured one House, than President Bush began cleaning another. First on the presidential chopping block was Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who will now step aside in favor of former CIA director Robert Gates. The president’s new choice is a foreign policy “realist” who believes Iran “could play a potentially significant role in promoting a stable, pluralistic government in Baghdad.” Rumsfeld’s strong support for the war effort has made him enemy number one for Democrats – Nancy Pelosi, in her inaugural act as House speaker, demanded a “change in the civilian leadership of the Pentagon” – and...

The election is over, and the Republicans lost. I did not think the electorate was this foolish, and expected a large turnout to help Republicans. For the first time in recent history, that was not true. Many of the previous base of the Republicans voted the other way. My hopes of even gaining seats were dashed. Many wish to blame President Bush and the war in Iraq. The MSM certainly helped the Dems make it their center argument, and put a national face on local elections. However, both pro war and anti war Republicans lost. Being a critic didn't help...

According to a 1999 Gallup poll, 51 percent of Americans would not vote for an atheist in a presidential election. This is higher than the percentage who would not vote for a homosexual (41 percent). As a loud and proud atheist (I came out to my friends in preschool by proclaiming the non-existence of God), I find this to be very sad and demoralizing. Are we really worse than the homosexuals? I suppose the average God-fearing American reasons that at least gay people have souls, whereas atheists are actually possessed by the Devil. But before I go about lamenting how...

LOS ANGELES Proposed federal measures, including fee hikes and online filing requirements, threaten to hinder the ability of some legal immigrants to become U.S. citizens, immigrant rights groups warn. Last week, advocates sent a joint letter to the U.S. Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, expressing concern about application fee increases that could double to $800, a "digital barrier" of a mandatory online filing system, extensive new paperwork and a revised history and civics test they fear could be more difficult. The coalition of more than 230 religious, labor and immigrant rights groups said the rules would disproportionately hinder Mexican...

Latest email from Kerry, via the DCCC; From: "Senator John Kerry, DCCC" {dccc@dccc.org} Subject: Remember the Swift Boat Attacks? Date: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:40:44 -0400 Thanks to a special matching fund, your response to Republican "Swiftboat-style" attacks can have triple the impact. MAKE A MATCHING GIFT NOW! Dear Lewis, Like clockwork, here they come again. According to news reports, Bob Perry, the Texas millionaire who bankrolled the so-called "Swiftboat Veterans for Truth" is up to his old tricks. He's spending $5 million dollars under the radar screen to launch a new GOP attack group called the "Economic Freedom Fund."...

September 18, 2006 Yes, I know he is, but in this case, that is the title of an email just received with his name affixed, from the DCCC. In the email, he calls all of the Republican “attacks” as “ridiculous.” Attacks? “I'm not too sure what these Republicans are trying to accomplish with all their attacks: • The Republican Leader in the House says, "I listen to my Democrats friends, and I wonder if they are more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people. • Dick Cheney says on national television that anybody who questions him is...

<p>I didn't hear if anyone was planning for a live thread of the film tonight. Just in case anyone wants to start early. Some in Australia already have seen part 1.</p>

I am currently RVing in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia Canada. While driving I listen to CBC radio and some private 'talk/news' stations. I am amazed at the difference. The CBC is unabashadedly anti-Bush even to the anti-American line. The talk stations are more moderate and even conservative in their positions. As an example, the CBC station in NS had a host talking with an Inuit [sp?] lady who was obviously well educated and concerned with changing weather patterns in northern Canada. The CBC lady asked her on 5 different occasions if the 'global warming' from the US was the...

There is a four-letter word, deriving from the French, that is, quite possibly, the most offensive word known to womankind. And it was used on me just last night. The exact quote was “Can I see your license and proof of insurance, ma’am?” I was ma’am-ed. Not to be confused with maimed, there was no slashing involved, but in that tiny part of the brain where a woman’s insecurities lie most of us would rather be maimed than ma’am-ed. Being ma’am-ed is tantamount to having our self-esteem maimed. A woman can be dressed to the nines in Dior with Harry...

          > ALL TIME BOX OFFICE         WORLDWIDE GROSSES #1-100 - #101-200 - #201-300 - #301-302(in millions) Rank Title Studio Worldwide Domestic / % Overseas / % Year 21 The Da Vinci Code Sony $750.0 $217.3 29.0% $532.7 71.0% 2006 22 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe BV $744.8 $291.7 39.2% $453.1 60.8% 2005

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LONDON (Reuters) - Muslims criticised the government on Friday for publishing the names of 19 men who police sources say are under arrest for allegedly plotting to blow up passenger planes bound for the United States. The government instructed the Bank of England to publish the names on its Web site on Thursday, just hours after police arrested 24 people in connection with the suspected plot. Police have not named the 24 but a police source confirmed they include the 19 named by the central bank. Although the bank did not give the addresses of the 19, it listed their...

Christopher Columbus, the man credited with discovering the Americas, was a greedy and vindictive tyrant who saved some of his most violent punishments for his own followers, according to a document uncovered by Spanish historians... Columbus and his brothers were forced to travel back to Spain. Columbus was in chains but, although he never recovered his titles, he was set free and allowed to sail back to the Caribbean. "Columbus and his brothers come across in the text as tyrants," Ms Varela said. "Now one can understand why he was sacked and we can see that there were good reasons...

HARRISBURG - Six staffers on Sen. Rick Santorum's campaign - including an intern who tailed Democratic candidate Bob Casey Jr. in a duck costume - collected voter signatures to help place the Green Party on the fall ballot. The intern, petitions show, collected signatures from voters in five counties in one day. T.J. Rooney, the state Democratic Party chairman, and other Democrats disclosed details of the petition drive that they said offered further evidence of involvement from Santorum supporters to get Carl Romanelli, the Green Party's Senate candidate, on the ballot. Not only did Santorum aides help collect signatures for...

k.d. lang rips PM for skipping Outgames Jul. 28, 2006. 02:40 PM CANADIAN PRESS MONTREAL — Prime Minister Stephen Harper has chosen to ``support intolerance" by refusing to attend an international gathering of gay athletes, singer k.d. lang said Friday. lang was critical of her fellow Albertan for failing to support the World Outgames, which is expected to attract up to 13,000 gay, bisexual and transgendered athletes when it begins Saturday. "It's a sad statement that the national leader of a country that's one of the most progressive countries in the world chooses to support intolerance," she told a news...

In a July 3 article on Townhall, columnist Michael Barone laments the possibility that Congress may not pass any immigration “reform” legislation this year. However, he pins some hope on a proposal being advocated by Representative Mike Pence (R.-IN). Ostensibly, the Pence proposal would incorporate the “best” of both worlds, including provisions from both the Senate’s recently passed guest worker/amnesty bill, along with the House version that focuses on immigration enforcement and border security. Unfortunately, the Pence bill would ultimately constitute no less a “sellout” on immigration than that attempted by the Senate, albeit this effort would be spaced out...

Whiners: Find your own way out of Beirut After being rescued from war zone, a little gratitude would be nice The Edmonton Journal Fri 21 Jul 2006 Page: A18 Section: Opinion Byline: Lorne Gunter Aw, the boat ride was too long, was it? And you say it was too hot? There was no doctor on board, either? And the departure was delayed. And the port was chaotic. And too little food and water had been laid in. And some of you had to sleep on the floor!? Oh, the indignity of it. To listen to the whining and carping...

A Confederate heritage group says its free-speech rights were violated when a landowner removed a billboard promoting Southern history near the famed Darlington Raceway. The Sons of Confederate Veterans plans to demonstrate at the State House next month and buy radio advertisements to complain about losing its billboard on U.S. 52, about two miles from the racetrack. “This is the most chilling thing I’ve seen against freedom of speech,” spokesman Don Gordon said. The Sons of Confederate Veterans bought the billboard this spring in response to remarks by a NASCAR executive about the rebel flag. The billboard featured a Confederate...

Karl Rove on 'Fairness' "We need to work together, which will require making tough choices to get a bill that is not perfect, but is meaningful, and fair and comprehensive" ... Karl Rove, speaking to La Raza, 11 July, 2006 The definition of ‘fair,’ (always a dangerous concept when viewed from a political-power, bureaucracy-entrenched perspective), appears to have taken a sharp left, anti-sovereignty, extra-Constitutional turn as seen through the eyes of the Bush administration and the majority of American ‘leadership’ in Washington: Being ‘fair,’ according to Karl Rove and his powerful and growing ilk, appears to include: * Having the...

Just been listening to Karl Rove's address to La Raza ("The Race"), the far-Left white-hating Hispanic lobbying group. You can hear the address here . It's 23 minutes and change. It was pretty much WH boilerplate on immigration. "Hispanics, and all immigrants, are real Americans [So I guess illegal immigrants are 'real Americans'.] ... Mindful of the dignity and value of every human being... shared values... The President understands that immigration is a benefit for America... Current immigration system is broken [No it isn't. It just needs E-N-F-O-R-C-I-N-G]... Needs comprehensive solution... First, we must secure the borders [Five years after...

INDIANAPOLIS – Two inmates are suing the Indiana Department of Correction to overturn a new policy that bars magazines and other printed materials that depict nudity or sexual conduct. The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis seeks class-action status on behalf of more than 20,000 state prisoners and challenges a policy that went into effect July 1 barring adult magazines such as Playboy and Hustler and the motorcycle magazine Easyriders. The policy could prohibit sexually explicit letters and general circulation publications such as National Geographic magazine and daily newspapers, according to the complaint, which said the new...

The National Council of La Raza has posted its speaker line-up for the radical organization's convention in Los Angeles July 8-12. Top, but not necessarily surprising, inclusions: Bill Clinton, Villaraigosa, turncoats like Sam Brownback (who just wants to keep his state's blood-stained slaughterhouses running on cheap, disposable labor) and so on. But catch the featured speaker in Tuesday's finale: Karl Rove. Karl Rove!!? Karl Rove. I predict a seat at the big-boy table will soon be openly handed over to CAIR and their cohorts. Click the link to see all the illustrious, infamous names on NCLR's event calendar.

Bloomberg: New York City Will Collapse Without Illegal Immigrants PHILADELPHIA  — The economy of the country's largest city and the entire nation would collapse if illegal immigrants were deported en masse, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg told a Senate committee hearing Wednesday. New York City is home to more than 3 million immigrants, and a half-million of them came to this country illegally, Bloomberg testified. "Although they broke the law by illegally crossing our borders ... our city's economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported," he said. "The same holds...

But I'm Still Right About Pence's Plan by Mac Johnson Human Events Online First let me thank Mr. Brian Johnson (no relation) for thoroughly reading my earlier criticism of Rep. Mike Pence’s not-an-amnesty immigration proposal, and believing it was important enough to dedicate a response to it. Now let me respond to several of the points in Brian Johnson’s article. 1) I was wrong to reject Rep. Pence’s proposal so quickly, especially given his bona fides as a conservative legislator. As the debate over late-term abortion shows, it is sometimes important to kill things quickly, lest they take on...

I see so many people asking to be put on the 'ping list', what does that mean? I also see that you can be 'pinged' if something you are interested in is posted. Are you notified someway? Thanks

CAIRO, Egypt - Arab officials reacted with alarm to the escalation of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, with some countries condemning Israel's offensive in Gaza and others pressing Palestinian militants to free a kidnapped Israeli soldier. The head of an alliance of Gulf countries voiced the strongest condemnation of Israel's actions, calling them "barbaric acts of terrorism." Abdel Rahman Attiye, secretary general of the Gulf Coordinating Council, lamented the "international silence" on Israel's offensive. Bahrain and Yemen also criticized Israel, but other Arab countries refrained from condemning the offensive outright, reflecting the complexity of the crisis. Israeli warplanes, tanks and thousands of...

It is painful to watch Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni try to contend with the terrible outcome of the Palestinian terror strike against the IDF on Sunday morning. They use so many fancy and angry words. They sound so resolute. And yet, they have nothing useful to say. Two soldiers are dead, a third is now the prisoner of jihadist killers, seven are wounded, an IDF border post has been overrun, and a world view and a security doctrine have been blown to smithereens. Olmert and his associates have four general messages....

PHOENIX – The five men knew their two-day walk across the Arizona desert could end with the Border Patrol swiftly returning them to Mexico. But they never thought they would spend three months in a county jail under a novel interpretation of an Arizona immigrant smuggling law that calls for charging customers of human traffickers as conspirators to the crime. ..... ...Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, which favors limiting immigration. Mehlman said he was unmoved by the argument that immigrants are only trying to help their families financially. “The motivation for most crimes is economic,”...

HOW CAN YOU TELL WHEN a governing party is running out of steam? When it controls all branches of government yet abandons even the pretense of addressing an issue most members claim is a "crisis." That's what the GOP-led House did Tuesday in announcing that discussions over reconciling its enforcement-centric immigration bill with the Senate's legalization-focused version will be pushed back to September at the earliest, and only after completing more hearings. Instead of naming negotiators and attempting in good faith to bridge the chasm between the bills, House leaders are busy naming locations for "field meetings" that can deliver...

GOP leaders: No immigration bill this year By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent 33 minutes ago In a defeat for President Bush, Republican congressional leaders said Tuesday that broad immigration legislation is all but doomed for the year, a victim of election-year concerns in the House and conservatives' implacable opposition to citizenship for millions of illegal immigrants. "Our number one priority is to secure the border, and right now I haven't heard a lot of pressure to have a path to citizenship," said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., announcing plans for an unusual series of hearings to begin in August on...

Border security experts -- men and women who have actually fought against illegal immigration -- have repeatedly asserted that there are two major components to real "comprehensive" immigration program: First - Upgrade security at our borders using manpower, barriers, physical security measures (i.e., CCTV, drones), and no-nonsense penalties for violation of immigration laws. Second - Arrest and prosecute those who knowingly hire illegal aliens and those who harbor illegal alien workers. No more slaps on their wrists; give them some hard time in prison. You'll see how fast illegal alien employers become U.S. citizen employers almost overnight when CEOs and...

Campaigners demonstrated in east London over recent anti-terror raids, calling for a full police apology. Hundreds of people took to the streets near Forest Gate, east London, scene of a massive police raid on 2 June. Brothers Mohammed Abdul Kahar, 23, and Abul Koyair, 20, spent several days in custody following the raid. They were later released without charge. Muddassar Ahmad, a spokesman for the organisers, said: "We clearly, clearly want an apology - unqualified." Mr Kahar was shot in the shoulder during the raid. Mr Koyair helped lead the march, which ended with a rally in a local park....

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..

Two weeks ago when a judge struck down California's exit exam, 17-year-old Salvador Rodriguez thought he would be graduating from high school in June with his friends. But the state Supreme Court's decision Wednesday to reinstate the exit exam has thrown Salvador's diploma in limbo, again. The Richmond High School senior has taken the exam twice, but doesn't know if he passed his most recent try. "I'm anxious, nervous. There's a lot on my shoulders," said Salvador, who dreams of attending UC Berkeley. "In a way, it'd be cool to let us graduate, but that wouldn't be the honest answer....

BUSH SET FOR IMMIGRATION SPEECH WHITE HOUSE President Bush is getting set for a prime-time speech on immigration tomorrow night. Aides note the 8 p-m, Eastern Time, speech will be the president's first from the Oval Office that does not involve Iraq and the war on terrorism. And they say that reflects Bush's "passion" on immigration. He's speaking as the Senate is poised to clear a compromise measure including his idea for a guest worker program. However, a rival House bill is limited to a border crackdown, and meshing the two won't be easy. Stand Up For America !...

Seeking closure Seahawks air gripes over Super Bowl calls with NFL Posted: Monday May 22, 2006 8:19AM; Updated: Monday May 22, 2006 11:13AM Last Wednesday, exactly 100 days after the Seahawks fell to the Steelers in Super Bowl XL, NFL director of officiating Mike Pereira boarded a plane for Seattle. Truth be told, he was a little apprehensive. That's putting it mildly. "Oh, we're loaded up for Mike,'' Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said of Pereira's visit the day before he arrived. Pereira was going into the same kind of road venue North Carolina enters at Duke, the Red Sox walk...

On CBS’s "The Early Show" this morning, co-host Harry Smith reported from Baghdad. However, unlike Dave Price, the "Early Show weatherman who reported on high morale and security progress in Iraq-- Smith focused on the negative, and even complained that the security situation is so bad that he couldn’t go out and get ice cream. Harry Smith: "Now the one other example I can give you of what the security situation is like here, just around our hotel, it's very, very secure. But when I asked our folks if I could go down to the corner and out of the...

On Thursday, the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement proudly announced that they arrested one of the owners of a Mexican restaurant in Missouri following worksite enforcement operations at his Missouri and Iowa restaurants. Julio Zapala-Urbina, co-owner of Julio's Mexican Restaurants in St. Joseph, Mo., and Cedar Falls, Iowa, was arrested on criminal charges of knowingly hiring illegal aliens to work at his restaurants. His arrest followed the execution of a federal search warrant, and the administrative arrest of nine illegal aliens at his St. Joseph restaurant. ICE agents also executed a federal search warrant at Zapala-Urbina's Cedar...

The day after the 2004 election, five people on Daily Kos started talking about how to fight back. We talked about the power of corporations to fund political campaigns, overwhelming the contributions of citizens. We talked about the potential power of the netroots to inform quickly, to make community quickly, to establish working relationships quickly, to raise money quickly, to reach outward virally, to millions of readers – quickly. And we talked about the historically crucial moment in which we are living, the intent of the marketocracy to take over the world and destroy any pretense of democracy in the...