Free Republic

SPRING BRANCH, Texas -- The third suspect wanted in the murder of a prominent Houston doctor is in custody. Authorities say Misael Santollo was arrested around 8 p.m. Tuesday by the Gulf Coast Violent Offenders Task Force and the Texas Rangers. Police have been looking for the 18-year-old ever since they arrested Cristobal Galvan Cerna and Moises Galvan Cerna for allegedly murdering Dr. Jorge Mario Gonzalez at his Bellville ranch in Austin County. Cristobal Cerna and Moises Cerna are the brothers of the doctor's ranch hand, who was also shot. Santollo is their cousin. According to Texas Rangers, Gonzalez and...

When I first started writing my upcoming book Organic Manifesto a year ago, I fully expected to have lots of information about how organic foods are healthier for you because they are more nutritious. The more research I did, the more I realized that nutrition is the least of our worries. Aside from the fact that the nutritional content of just about ALL of our food has declined over the past 50 years, we are, as a rule, overfed. And good nutrition is available from many sources in our diet. So I wasn’t surprised in the least when a report...

Listen Live: Sound Off Connecticut with Jim Vicevich 9 a.m. to noon ET (Daily Thread)Sound Off Connecticut is a popular conservative/libertarian call in talk show hosted by Jim Vicevich weekday mornings from 9 a.m. to noon ET. Although based in Connecticut, the show welcomes callers from all over the United States! This is your chance to sound off America! Call into the show toll free (800) 966-9842! Listen to the LIVE AUDIO STREAM at http://wtic.com - it's free and NO registration is required! If you're in southern New England listen over the air to WTIC 1080 AM, the 50,000 watt...

Two frequent political rivals are joining forces to pursue radical changes to the nation's voter-registration system, a bid aimed in part at eliminating massive voter drives by groups such as ACORN that last year saw people fraudulently registering under the names of cartoon characters and sports figures. The two prominent election lawyers - who advised Sens. John Kerry and John McCain during their respective presidential campaigns - want states to place the name of every eligible citizen on the voter rolls, rather than having people affirmatively register to vote, as they do now.

WASHINGTON (AP) - Trumpeting economic progress to a skeptical nation, Vice President Joe Biden says the massive government program intended to stimulate and reshape the economy is reaching and exceeding goals. Nearly 200 days into the effort, Biden says it is more effective "than we had hoped." Biden's upbeat report card, to be delivered Thursday in a speech at the Brookings Institution, comes as economists say the country is slowly breaking free of the most crippling recession in decades. Yet public angst is also deepening about the cost of government intervention, and millions of people remain out of work. At...

Before leaving for his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, Barack Obama said the next big item on his legislative agenda -- well, after health care and cap-and-trade and maybe labor's bill to effectively abolish secret ballots in union elections -- was immigration reform. What he has in mind, apparently, is something like the comprehensive immigration bills that foundered in the House in 2006 and in the Senate in 2007. These featured guest-worker and enforcement provisions, as well as a path to legalization.

As the administrator of this site, I hereby declare the second Thursday in September as Hostile Work Environment Day. This year, it will fall on September 10th. Progressives have us all wound so tight; we can't say this, we have to make sure that isn't taken the wrong way. But when you go to extremes, we all see just how stupid some rules can indeed be. Because of the actions of a few, we all have to endure seminars in political correctness and learn how not to offend. I say, let's offend everyone for a day! Men, tell a female...

The agony of the San Joaquin Valley farmers continues. They’re losing their homes and life savings because the lunatics in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and a heartless judge care more about a fish than human beings. The EPA has dammed off 90% of the Valley’s water supply because they want to protect the Delta Smelt. The Obama Administration simply doesn’t give a damn that they are killing these people. This can end today if California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger stops wimping out, man’s up and acts decisively. If Schwarzenegger shows the fighting spirit that made him a champion body builder...

Rep. Louise Slaughter: "I'm not doing town meetings; I'm not going to give those people a forum. I went through it with the Clinton health care bill, with the John Birch Society, where we had to have police around, and people hysterically crying…"

Petroleum firm BP announced Wednesday that it has made a “giant” discovery in the Gulf of Mexico. “BP announced today a giant oil discovery at its Tiber Prospect (well) in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico,” the firm said in a statement. "The Tiber well was drilled to a total depth of approximately 35,055 feet making it one of the deepest wells ever drilled by the oil and gas industry." The well is located in Keathley Canyon block 102, about 250 miles south east of Houston. "Tiber represents BP's second material discovery in the emerging Lower Tertiary play in the Gulf...

Store owner and his nephew track down Lexington robbery suspect By Jennifer Hewlett - jhewlett@herald-leader.com A man robbed a Lexington grocery store at gunpoint Wednesday morning and was arrested several hours later — after the store's owner and his nephew tracked him down and tried to force him into their Lexus, according to Lexington police and the nephew, Zach Reifinger. Before the day was out, Deerie Harris, 19, had confessed to the crime and was helping police find the gun he had thrown away, police Lt. Richard Bottoms said. Harris was charged with first degree-robbery, trafficking in a controlled substance...

IF a Union soldier had entered a time warp in the Battle of Scary Creek and arrived in 21st century West Virginia, he would ask himself what all the fuss is about. We have prospered after that long-ago Civil War. People today enjoy longer lives, greater comforts, and not only have the slaves been freed, but a man who would not have been allowed to vote is now president. And yet, the nation is divided again, this time over perhaps a larger question: Are we citizens or are we subjects? It's a civil war of sorts. The British people are...

SEATTLE -- Washington state parks and Stan Johnson have something in common -- both are on financial life support. "All my people are laid off, just trying to hang on to survive," Johnson said. These days, every penny counts for Johnson, and no dollar goes unnoticed. "$5 means a lot," said Johnson. So Johnson grew suspicious when $5 disappeared from his bank account, then reappeared on his vehicle registration receipt. It stated he had donated the amount to state parks. Johnson said no one asked whether he wanted to donate. "You don't want to be tricked by your own state...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week, but the prior period's figure was revised up, according to a government report on Thursday that highlighted the fragility of the labor market. Initial claims for state unemployment insurance benefits fell 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 570,000 in the week ended August 29 from an upwardly revised 574,000 the prior week, the Labor Department said.

First it was Gov. Paterson. Now the dean of New York's congressional delegation has played the race card -- and just as the governor did, he's using President Obama to do it, the New York Post reported. Rep. Charles Rangel said Tuesday that "bias" and "prejudice" toward Obama are fueling opposition to health-care reform. Those incendiary comments came on the heels of Paterson's controversial comments about race that also mentioned the nation's first black president. "Some Americans have not gotten over the fact that Obama is president of the United States. They go to sleep wondering, 'How did this happen?'...

Karl Rove was on Hannity last night and he did his bit "By the Numbers" and I found it very telling to see that Obama has had a press conference 50% of his days in office. If anyone has a link to these numbers, I would appreciate it, and Thanks!

For Good or Else? Christian Houses in Turkey markedGates of Vienna 02 September 2009 Our Austrian correspondent ESW has translated a report from Die Presse about ominous new developments in Istanbul that bode ill for Turkey’s few remaining Christians: Strangers “marking” Christian buildings in IstanbulBuildings inhabited by Christians have been marked with insignias in several districts of Istanbul. The labeling of the buildings are clearly done in concert with increasing harassment of the Christian inhabitants.Some buildings in the traditionally Christian districts of Feriköy and Kurtulus have recently been labeled with green and red signs. Apparently they were affixed to point...

Who needs scare-mongering tactics when debating socialized medicine? All you have to do is read the true stories: Socialized Medicine: Handing Out Premature Death Sentences 84rules September 3, 2009

(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority has voted to allocate one million shekels – more than $250,000 – for presents for terrorists imprisoned in Israel. The money will be distributed in honor of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The gifts were announced at a time when PA leaders say they are facing a severe budget crisis, and have turned to international backers to provide funds. The PA gets billions of dollars a year in international aid, primarily from the United States and the European Union. The Ramadan gifts will be an addition to the normal monthly PA aid to prisoners serving...

One of Israel’s highest priorities in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA) is recognition by the PA and Arab states as a “Jewish state.” The purpose of this demand is to ensure a lasting peace with Israel as it exists rather than some formal declaration which would thereafter be subverted in every possible way. [For Israel's peace plan go here; for a summary of the two sides' negotiating positions, go here] Remember, after all, that the Middle East is full of countries which, when you recognize them, you accept their self-definition. Here are some of the names of countries which...