Free Republic

NEW ORLEANS, LA—WAYNE G. CRESAP, an elected judge of the 34th Judicial District Court for the Parish of St. Bernard, and attorneys NUNZIO SALVADORE “Sal” CUSIMANO, JR and VICTOR J. (V.J.) DAUTERIVE, were charged jointly in a bill of information with conspiracy to deprive the citizens of St. Bernard Parish of their right to receive the honest services of Judge WAYNE G. CRESAP, announced U. S. Attorney Jim Letten and Special Agent in Charge David Welker, Federal Bureau of Investigation. According to the bill of information, CRESAP entered into an illegal agreement with lawyers CUSIMANO and DAUTERIVE, in which CRESAP...

It's a warm day here in Washington D.C. which means the sidewalk climatologists are out in force. The sidewalk claimatologists are easy to spot. They work in pairs, carry clipboards and smile as though they are excited to see you. They usually are about college age and have one other distinct charecteristic that they are unaware of. They are totally clueless about the climate and environment. But, they are out to get you to sign up, support and donate money to "save the planet." I tested a bunch today, and the result confirms that there is a crisis. It is...

Politico blew the whistle this morning on a money for access scheme set up by none other than the Washington Post:Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth said today she was canceling plans for an exclusive "salon" at her home where for as much as $250,000, the Post offered lobbyists and association executives off-the-record access to "those powerful few" — Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors. The astonishing offer was detailed in a flier circulated Wednesday to a health care lobbyist, who provided it to a reporter because the lobbyist said he felt it...

My name is Alex and I see how people are being manipulated and forced too support his oppressive, stealing agendas. God put this on my heart (one of many messages I have) please point me to where I can share these with people who feel how you all feel! God bless! It doesn't seem like Obama is on TV a lot, HE IS. He has been treated like a celebrity by the media. Which goes too show how this nation has been set up for an actor in chief? Tickling people ears, looking for every opportunity too be around a...

EXCLUSIVE: $25 Charge To Attend Michael Jackson Memorial Posted on Jul 02, 2009 @ 03:15PM Fans who wish to attend Michael Jackson's star-studded memorial service at Staples Center will have to shell out $25 to sit in the stands, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively. Family, friends and VIPS will have seats on the main floor for The Tuesday, July 7th Staples service, first reported by RadarOnline.com, while the general public will be plucking down $25 to sit in the stands. The memorial service will feel like a concert production featuring guest speakers, a lot of music and video screens inside and...

Merced Sun-Star Thursday, Jul. 02, 2009 Cost of bringing Michelle Obama to UC Merced? More than $1 million By DANIELLE GAINES Dgaines@mercedsun-star.com The total cost for last month’s commencement ceremony at UC Merced has finally been tallied: $1,047,338.82. Private contributions of more than $185,000 (including in-kind-gifts) added to $500,000 in unrestricted interest earnings on a private endowment fund, managed by the UC Office of the President, have helped offset the cost of the event. The balance will be covered by non-state dollars from campus sources and offset by any additional donations that may be made, according to a press release...

BIRMINGHAM, AL—Joyce White Vance, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Charles E. Regan, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Reginael McDaniel, Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, announce that a federal jury returned a verdict finding GREGORY JOHN KATOPODIS guilty on 97 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud and steal over $162,000 from Jefferson County and from Computer Help for Kids (CHK), a Jefferson County based charity. “This verdict is especially appropriate and just given the egregious nature of the defendant’s crimes....

"WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama is describing Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as someone who still has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new.""

TOPEKA, KS—Former Junction City Commissioner Michael R. “Mick” Wunder, 52, Junction City, Kan., is charged in a federal indictment unsealed today with bank fraud, perjury, conspiracy, and unlawful monetary transactions, U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch said today. The indictment, which has been under seal by court order since it was filed June 9, charges the former commissioner with 11 counts including: * One count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, violate the Hobbs Act and structure financial transactions to evade federal currency reporting requirements. * One count of structuring financial transactions to evade the Bank Secrecy Act requiring reports on transactions...

Over the eight years of George W. Bush's presidency, proponents of major global-warming legislation tried to spark action in Congress by focusing on the Senate.There, heavyweights like Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat-turned-independent Joe Lieberman of Connecticut helped raise awareness of the climate issue even though they never approached the 60 votes needed to pass a bill capping greenhouse gas emissions.But with President Obama in the White House, strategists shifted their attention to the House. And Friday, they scored a big win, a 219-212 vote in favor of a sweeping climate and energy bill.Now the focus shifts again...

COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Eric Robinson, age 19 and Joshua Stokes, age 23, both of North Charleston, were sentenced today in federal court for armed bank robbery and firearms charges. Chief United States District Judge David C. Norton of Charleston. sentenced Stokes to 97 months in federal prison, and Robinson to a term of 106 months. On September 16, 2008, at 3:20 p.m., Robinson and Stokes ran into the South Carolina Federal Credit Union at 82 Bridgetown Road in Goose Creek, wearing black ski masks and white gloves. Stokes brandished a silver revolver, while Robinson...

Just a few months before the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, a newly released Zogby poll shows that the American public overwhelmingly rejects Darwinian theory in favor of intelligent design. When asked if life developed “through an unguided process of random mutations and natural selection,” a standard definition of Darwinism, only 33 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement. But 52 percent agreed that “the development of life was guided by intelligent design.” zogby%20graph%206-30-09.bmp The poll results come from one of four questions commissioned by Discovery Institute for a national Zogby telephone survey conducted...

BALTIMORE, MD—After a twelve-person federal jury was unable to reach an unanimous verdict as to whether to impose the death penalty for Melvin Gilbert, age 34, and James Dinkins, a/k/a “Miami,” age 36, both of Baltimore, U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Gilbert to five consecutive mandatory life sentences, plus 40 years and sentenced Dinkins to four consecutive mandatory life sentences, plus 40 years, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. On June 11, 2009 the jury found Gilbert and Dinkins guilty of the murders of federal witness John Dowery and Shannon Jemmison, and...

Stimulus: More grim news — 467,000 jobs lost in June, with unemployment hitting a 26-year high of 9.5%. Some people are rightly starting to wonder: Where's that stimulus we were promised?The stock market's reaction on Thursday said it all — with the major indexes plunging 2.4% to 2.9% on the news of a continued job hemorrhage. Despite some economic green shoots here and there, no one's sure when jobs will start growing again. At this point in a normal downturn lasting 11 months, the economy should be booming — with big jumps in GDP and 300,000 new jobs each month...

St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson once saved Loome Theological Booksellers from the "out with the old, in with the new" spirit of Vatican II hardliners in the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis. Before he was Archbishop of St. Louis, before he was Bishop of Saginaw, before he was Bishop of Sioux Falls, and before he was the Auxiliary Bishop of St. Paul/Minneapolis, he was the Chancellor for the Archdiocese. Before Loome Theological Booksellers was the largest theological bookstore in the world, it was not. The following story was recounted to me by Dr. Loome just last week (some embellishments of suspense...

The King of Pop had a fan in the White House. President Barack Obama described himself as a longtime follower of Michael Jackson, the legendary performer who died June 25 at age 50. "I grew up on his music -- still have all his stuff on my iPod," Obama said in an AP interview Thursday, adding that Jackson "will go down in history as one of our greatest entertainers."

Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Christopher B. Dennis, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General, Miami Regional Office, announced that defendants Jose Luis Perez, of Golden Beach, FL, and Reinaldo Guerra, of Miami, FL, were indicted on June 30, 2009 on charges of conspiracy to commit Medicare fraud, Medicare fraud, and aggravated identity theft. According to the Indictment unsealed today, the fraud involved durable medical equipment (DME), which is...

Benjamin Netanyahu's second cabinet will complete its 100th day in power next week, ending what is known as its 'period of grace.' In a private discussions with his associates, the prime minister said that not only was he being denied a grace period, but that he had to deal with a 'media onslaught' that began hours into his term. This onslaught relented only after his address at Bar-Ilan University last month, when he said he accepted the prospect of a future Palestinian state, he said. In the same private discussion, the premier recounted what he considers his cabinet's achievements over...

ONE evening last week, almost every seat was occupied at Au Cinquième Péché, a bistro in the bustling neighborhood called the Plateau. And almost every table was sampling an appetizer plate that included a specialty of the restaurant’s French-born chef, Benoît Lenglet: a seared, rare loin, dark red in color, with a texture and taste akin to beef tenderloin. But the meat was not beef. It was seal. Across town, at Les Îles en Ville, Andrée Garcia, an owner and chef, has elevated seal from an occasional specialty to a regular feature. The most frequent preparation there, Ms. Garcia said,...

The following letter was written by the author in response to a column in The Covington News on May 6, 2009 (http://www.covnews.com/news/article/6961/) : Mr. Shipp, I believe you’re right. If Mr. [Rick] Perry and Mr. [John] Oxendine have explored the notion of seceding from the United States, they are rebels and traitors. And their names should become synonymous with others who are or were like-minded: Jefferson, Washington, Franklin, Adams. You used several names to demagogue those who have even suggested secession: “wacko,” “nuts,” “crazy,” “troublemakers,” and “haters.” Similar terms might have been used by more articulate Tory columnists about our...