Free Republic

Almost $10 million in union contributions went to the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN), and its affiliates according to U.S. Department of Labor financial disclosure forms called LM-2’s. The bulk of the donations came from the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which contributed $7.4 million between 2005 and 2008 to the national organization, state chapters and allied groups. SEIU’s single largest donation of $1.5 million went to the ACORN Community Labor Organizing Center (ACLOC) in 2006. SEIU also made a $1.3 million donation to ACORN International in 2005.

We wonder what Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has to hide. Her confirmation hearing starts Monday, but the White House refuses to turn over boxes of documents for review about her past. Republican senators requested board meeting minutes of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, where Ms. Sotomayor served on the board of directors from 1980 to 1992. White House Counsel Greg Craig contends that all documents deemed "responsive" already were sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Contrary to White House dodging, these board meetings may be important in evaluating Ms. Sotomayor's legal and policy reasoning because the...

Thank goodness for the Chinese. Together with India, China helped guarantee that this week's G-8 meeting failed to reach any agreement on limiting carbon-dioxide emissions. Ironically, the actions of the People's Republic should help America avoid going further down the road of over-regulation. The refusal of China and India to go along with the carbon-dioxide limits should be the death knell for the Cap and Trade bill currently being considered by the Senate. The legislation is a pretty hard sell. Even advocates admit restrictions would only have a small effect -- only a fraction of 1 degree Celsius, a virtually...

The Wall Street Journal has an excellent story today on the return of Lance Armstrong to the Tour de France, cycling’s most prestigious race. At this moment he is in second place, only a fraction of a second behind. At 37, ancient by cycling standards... The story is about the French warming up to him. It’s about time!... "[M]any of the locals saw him as cold, arrogant and overly competitive." If they watched him race, they couldn't feel that way. When Lance's arch rival, Jan Uhlrich, took a spill on a hill climb, Lance doubled back to wait for him...

Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie today said he will not invite former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin to campaign for him in New Jersey. Christie said he hopes to welcome former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani -- who campaigned with him during the GOP primary -- back to the Garden State this fall, but he believes the race is about him, not high-profile national Republicans. "This is about New Jersey issues and New Jersey, and I don't think having Governor Palin here would do me, or frankly the state, a whole lot of good in the sense that we need to...

Deficit may trigger anti-illegal immigration ballot measure To save money, activists may try to cut aid for U.S.-born children of undocumented immigrants. Anna Gorman and Teresa Watanabe July 9, 2009 As California lawmakers struggle with a budget gap now grown to $26.3 billion, one of the hottest topics for many taxpayers is the cost to the state of illegal immigrants. The question of whether taxpayers should provide services to illegal residents became a major political issue in California's last deep recession, culminating in the ballot fight over Proposition 187 in 1994. That history could repeat itself in the current downturn,...

Tallahassee Naturally is one of more than 100 locations trying to set a new record. The Guinness Book of World Records established a category of the most people skinny-dipping at one time. The record will be set at 3 pm Saturday, July 11th, all across the country. "It's fun, it's wholesome. For a lot of people it's almost a spiritual experience, being a natural part of nature," said Paul LeValley, the treasurer for Tallahassee Naturally. Organizers say they're hosting an open house Saturday *AND* Sunday. Saturday's dress code is clothing from 10am-11am, clothing optional from 11am to 1pm, then nude...

LISTEN TO THE REAL REVEREND JESSE ON THE INTERNET OR A RADIO STATION IN YOUR AREA......BOND Action, Inc...Educating, Motivating and Rallying Americans! The Jesse Lee Peterson Radio Show Streamed live online from 6-9 a.m. PST / 9-12 a.m. EST. Call in the same times usually. For Live Questions or Comments Call 1-888-77-JESSE(5-3773) You can email comments and questions to radio@bondaction.org For more information on getting The Jesse Lee Peterson Show picked up on a station in your local area call Ermias Alemayehu at 1-877-WE ACT77 (932-2877)

DAYTON — City Manager Rashad Young said that if the city’s police union agreed to accept a proposed wage freeze and four furlough days, 11 officers slated for layoff on Aug. 3 would keep their jobs. “They will not be laid off,” Young said. Young and Police Chief Richard Biehl held a press conference Wednesday, July 8, to announce the layoff plans. Earlier in the day, the 11 officers and union leadership learned of the cuts. The officers, who have a little less than a year of experience, were trained in the Dayton Police Academy and are “pretty devastated” by...

Michael Jackson rebuilt his nose before his death because extensive plastic surgery had left him with breathing problems, his doctor has disclosed. Arnold Klein, Jackson’s dermatologist, said that he stopped him from going to a plastic surgeon and began rebuilding his nose and cheeks using fillers last year. “I thought he had a nice-looking nose . . . but it got to the point where it was far too thin. It didn’t look natural to me,” Dr Klein told the CNN programme Larry King Live. “I rebuilt it, using fillers. He was beginning to look like the nose was normal...

The bustle of business and the roar of traffic returned to Urumqi yesterday as columns of troops miles long filled the streets in a show of might designed to reassure Han Chinese after Sunday’s riots. Throughout the day, lorries filled with paramilitaries and soldiers paraded slowly down city centre streets. Armoured personnel carriers, water cannon vehicles and vans equipped to fire teargas followed. Some vehicles were emblazoned with slogans such as “Smash the separatists” and “Bring peace to the city”. The Times counted a column of police that took 40 minutes to pass by. One witness counted 60 sets of...

Panetta orders internal probe of secret spy program after some members of Congress say CIA misled them. ### CIA Director Leon Panetta has ordered an internal inquiry into the agency's handling of a contentious and still highly classified intelligence program that has caused a heated dispute between the CIA and Democrats on the House intelligence committee. The move by Panetta appears to be an implicit acknowledgment by the agency that it should have disclosed information about the post-9/11 secret program to Congress much earlier than it did. *snip* CIA and congressional officials have refused to describe the nature of the...

Soldiers 'dying because of cuts': Brown starved forces of cash, says ex-defence chief MATTHEW HICKLEY 10th July 2009 Attack: Lord Guthrie said the lives of British troops in Afghanistan were endangered because of cash shortages A former head of the armed forces yesterday accused Gordon Brown of endangering the lives of British troops in Afghanistan by starving the military of funds. In a devastating personal attack, Lord Guthrie said that under Mr Brown the Treasury had spent 'the minimum they could get away with' on defence. The resulting shortage of helicopters in Afghanistan has led to more British soldiers being...

Friday Fun Poll: Yes, No, or Maybe? (that's the question, and those are the answers) A Daily Poll.

The waters were still and the gates locked at the Valley Swim Club Thursday. Board members decided to close the private Huntington Valley, Pa. club for the day as it combats accusations of racism for booting 65 mostly minority day campers from its grounds without explanation late last month. Creative Steps Day Camp paid The Valley Swim Club more than $1900 for one day of swimming a week, but after the first day, the money was quickly refunded and the campers were told not to return. Several campers said they heard pool members making racial remarks during their time inside...

WASHINGTON — The glow is off the rose. The euphoria is gone. The thrilled, awe-inspired crowds are no longer there. No, that's not a reflection on the recent Michael Jackson media madness. Instead, it's a summary of the Obama family outing to Russia, Italy and Africa. Other than a week's respite from the deepening U.S. financial crisis, the collapse of constitutional government in Honduras, and staged photo ops, the trip yielded little to give the American people hope that the O-Team comprehends the dangers we face in this world — or what to do about them. The trip to Chad...

Obama's down 13 points in approval survey in Ohio so he has sent Biden packing to Ohio to rally the faithful. "Everything is out of...uh, I mean under control!" Read the full text at http://www.edistojoe.com

After translating Italian web pages from the G-8, I found out who she was...

CARY — A Big Mac with a jolt of juice is on the menu at a new Raleigh-area McDonald's that will be the first in the nation to feature electric car charging stations. The new McDonald's opens Tuesday with two battery charging units for patrons of the restaurant or the nearby shopping center to use free of charge.

North Korea has not yet sent two convicted U.S. journalists to a prison labor camp in a possible attempt to seek talks with Washington on their release, a scholar who visited the North said in an interview published Friday. Laura Ling and Euna lee, who work for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's California-based Current TV media group, are being kept at guest house in the North Korean capital and have not yet been sent to a prison camp as called for in their sentences, University of Georgia political scientist Han Park said. "I heard from North Korean officials that...