Free Republic

A St. Bernard Parish constable serving an eviction notice was puzzled by the boy who opened the mobile home door at a rural trailer park Wednesday afternoon. Daniel Ballard has been booked with cruelty to a juvenile. It was midday, but the 14-year-old boy wasn't at school. And the boy could barely stand up straight, propping himself up against the RV door because of a bruised, swollen foot. Constable Tony Guerra quickly called the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff's Office. Now sheriff's detectives are unraveling the mystery of an injured, malnourished boy, weighing only 60 pounds, who had not attended school...

Three decades ago, young stars of constitutional law like Larry Tribe were advocating a constitutional right to welfare. For reasons that are probably obvious, the idea has faded from sight over the past 20 years. A right to welfare sounds out of place in a world in which a Democratic president has successfully campaigned to "end welfare as we know it." Admittedly, advocates of constitutional welfare rights did not merely; or even primarily, mean the right of single unemployed mothers to receive government stipends; they had in mind a broader set of rights to protect basic "welfare" in the general...

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, for every witness called against me I pray cancer in their lives, lupus, brain tumor, pancreatic cancer,” McGill intoned at his counsel table prior to the start of the hearing. McGill, the self-proclaimed pastor of New Hope Outreach Center in Jensen Beach, and his wife, Shalonda were convicted in July on nine counts each of obtaining mortgages by false representation, first-degree grand theft and racketeering. The state alleged the McGills, individually, and through several of their organizations

It was the furies of the Arab world, not Afghanistan, that struck America eight years ago today. ArticleThe road that led to 9/11 was never a defining concern of President Barack Obama. But he returned to 9/11 as he sought to explain and defend the war in Afghanistan in a speech to the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Phoenix, Ariz., on Aug. 17. "The insurgency in Afghanistan didn't just happen overnight and we won't defeat it overnight, but we must never forget: This is not a war of choice; it is a war of necessity. Those who attacked America on...

SNIP Al Qaeda thug Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and former No. 2 henchman of Osama bin Laden, looks oddly like his monstrous mentor after six years of captivity. SNIP But, KSM, as he's known in intelligence circles, doesn't look any worse for wear in photographs taken in July during a visit by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Guantanamo Bay. A healthy-looking Mohammed has grown a long bin Laden-like beard, while sporting a red-checkered turban. The last the world saw of him six years ago, he was disheveled, paunchy, in a stretched T-shirt...

How German leftists turned into terroristsBy James Verniere Friday, September 11, 2009 - Updated 10h ago THE BAADER MEINHOF COMPLEX: A- What is the nexus of nudism and left-wing terrorism? Apparently, one exists, since director Uli Edel refers to it twice, beginning with opening beach scenes, in “The Baader Meinhof Complex,” his depiction of the gestation, birth and growth of the 1970s West German terrorist organization, one of the most notorious homegrown groups in Western Europe. Later on, the young members of the “gang,” including founder-journalist Ulrike Meinhof (Martina Gedeck of “The Lives of Others”), go to a terrorist training...

The son of a Queens pizzeria owner was shot and killed as he tried to defend his cancer-stricken dad from two robbers last night, police said. The victim, Gerardo Antoniello, 29, was shot in the back of the head as he wrestled with the two men who had attacked his father Romeo as he came home around 10 p.m. after closing his shop in Howard Beach, police sources said. Minutes before the attack, police said a young woman had rung the bell at the family’s home on North Conduit Avenue in South Ozone Park, and had asked Gerardo for directions....

COMMENTARY, by Sam Webb, Chair, Communist Party U.S.A. (10 September 2009) President Obama’s speech to Congress last night reset the debate and struggle for real health care reform. No one thought that the reform of our nation’s health care system would be easy to begin with, but what transpired recently – the fierce counter attack by the right-wing extremists, the letting loose of the demagogues of hatred, fear, racism, and division, and the digging in of private insurance companies and other sections of corporate America – proved to be a sobering reminder that the political terrain and initiative can...

During his speech, President Obama told two heartwrenching stories of medical patients who had had their health insurance unfairly ripped away from them with devastating consequences. The first is as follows: One man from Illinois lost his coverage in the middle of chemotherapy because his insurer found that he hadn't reported gallstones that he didn't even know about. They delayed his treatment, and he died because of it. This is infuriating, if true. But is it? Unless Obama is talking about a case other than that of Otto Raddatz, whose sister Peggy testified before Congress on his behalf, then, no....

I have a classmate that I re-met through our recent 40th year High School reunion that supports Obama on every Facebook poll ever published. Today, I Commented on her supportive post: "I'm constantly amazed why anyone would think that Government can solve the "problems" of the poor. Please explain this line of thinking. I would Love to know. Seriously. Maybe i'm wrong. Thanks for reply." Any ideas on what Her reply might be? I cannot imagine.

El Marco - 9/11 remembrance photo essay http://www.lookingattheleft.com/2009/08/911-never-forget-never-give-in/ Photographed over three decades, El Marco's 9/11 memorial photo essay offers a moving tribute to the workers and rescuers who perished 8 years ago in New York City. Previously unpublished photos of the Twin Towers, and scenes after 9/11 provide a unique insight into America's loss and strength.

General Motors is hoping to jump-start its revival by guaranteeing car buyers that if they don't like their new Chevrolet, GMAC, Buick or Cadillac, they have 60 days to bring it back for a full refund. The marketing effort that starts Monday is called "May the Best Car Win" and aims to win back customers leery of GM since it filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year. The nation's largest automaker needs to improve sales so it can repay billions in government loans and stay in business. ((snip)) GM must show that its cars and trucks are better than competitors'...

<p>Though we live in an era when all undesirable facts are often blindly labeled "conspiracy theories" by political operatives with an agenda at risk, a very real conspiracy unfolds every now and then.</p> <p>While it is indeed true that not all theories are actual conspiracies, like when Hillary Clinton developed an imaginary "right-wing conspiracy" out to get her husband, when in fact, the semen stained dress provided all the necessary (but unfriendly) facts and a perfectly logical explanation for all of those nasty rumors - it is also true that some conspiracies are much more than just crackpot theory.</p>

Video

Pakistan's army has detained a top Taliban spokesman and 4 other militant leaders in the Swat Valley in the first major arrests of top-level insurgents from the troubled region, military officials said Friday. Army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas did not give any details of the capture, including when it took place, saying only that it came after a successful operation in Swat. However, a local newspaper reported in Friday's editions that some of the men had been engaged in secret peace talks with the military. Pakistan has waged a four-month-old offensive in Swat, a one-time tourist haven that fell...

Tonight (September 10th), Bill O’Reilly interviewed Ann Coulter about ObamaCare and other related topics. This is a heated debate with O’Reilly moderately supporting Obama. Video: Bill O’Reilly Inverviews Ann Coulter about ObamaCare

The Jihadi attacks against New York and Washington created an unforgettable date in the collective psyche of Americans: this nation was bled by men indoctrinated by an ideology that, both in its texts and in its actions, knows no mercy for free societies. The terrifying three numbers and a hyphen 9-11 took their place in the country's national identity, alongside Pearl Harbor in the high drama of American history.  But 9-11 became also a benchmark to other nations and regions of the world. In Europe, Russia, and India, civil societies began identifying the date 9/11with their own subsequent traumas. Madrid...

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner offered a spirited defense of the government's efforts to forestall another Great Depression but cautioned that the recovery would be slow and painful. "We understood how bad this was—how damaging this was—and we did things that people were incredibly critical of because we knew that this was getting away from us," Geithner told a special CNBC town hall meeting Thursday. In the wide-ranging session, which took place nearly a year to the day after the failure of Lehman Brothers and the implosion of the nation's financial system, Geithner said the country needs not only to fix...

When Drudge first mentioned the "You Lie" story he had a great photo of Joe Wilson. I can not find that photo on the internet anywhere. Does anyone have it? I have been looking for quite some time today.

Please join us in Studio City to commemorate those lost on September 11, 2001. Let us never forget! SE corner of Ventura Blvd at Laurel Canyon Blvd in front of First Republic Bank. 6:30 pm - Parking in the lot or behind CVS. If you park in lot, please make a purchase at either Coffee Bean & Tea, or the yogurt shop. We have flags and candles, but feel free to bring yours. Dinner to follow.