Free Republic

**SNIP** “He doesn’t have to be convicted, he doesn’t have to be indicted, there doesn’t have to be witnesses coming forward. It’s the standard defined by the public. The public says either we like him or we don’t – its that simple.” San Diego Democratic Party released a statement saying they were unable to reach a consensus and will not ask for the mayor’s resignation. Democratic Chairman Francine Busby strongly condemns sexual harassment, of which the mayor is accused, saying “we abhor the actions he is alleged to have taken 
against women.” Supporters of the recall must gather slightly more...

PITTSBURGH — Wednesday night the 14th, 15th and 16th bomb threats were reported at different buildings on the University of Pittsburgh campus. School officials sent out the following alert to students and staff just after 5 p.m., "A general bomb threat has been received for the Cathedral of Learning, Posvar Hall and Litchfield Tower C. Please evacuate these buildings. If safe to do so please tell others of this message." Wedneday morning a 13th bomb threat was reported at a building on the University of Pittsburgh's campus. The threat was reported at Thackeray Hall around 10:30 a.m. University officials increased...

Post-Fukushima 'anti-radiation' pills condemned by scientists George Monbiot and Justin McCurry in Tokyo guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 November 2011 16.59 GMT Article history Green party distances itself from Dr Christopher Busby, a former spokesman promoting products following Japanese nuclear disaster The Green party's former science and technology spokesman is promoting anti-radiation pills to people in Japan affected by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, that leading scientists have condemned as "useless". Dr Christopher Busby, a visiting professor at the University of Ulster, is championing a series of expensive products and services which, he claims, will protect people in Japan from the effects of...

"In the first place God made idiots. This was for practice. Then he made school boards." In 1897 Mark Twain wrote that and it came to mind last week as I read former Cardiff School Board member, Francine Busby's editorial criticizing Rep. Brian Bilbray for supporting an effort to hold public schools in California accountable for the progress, or lack thereof, made by students with learning disabilities. She said, "One of the most-needed changes (is the need to) waive the requirement that test scores for students with learning disabilities … be included in determining the overall performance of a school."...

FORUM: Representatives need to support schools By: FRANCINE BUSBY In "Some schools excel, fail simultaneously" (Oct. 4), reporter Stacy Brandt exposed the no-win situation that our public schools have faced since the inception of "No Child Left Behind." ...thus allowing some schools to succeed under state standards, while they fail under the federal provisions of "No Child Left Behind." Every public school in the US is guaranteed to fail under "No Child Left Behind" because of the impossible goal of having every child performing at grade level by 2014. 20 high-performing schools in North County have already been classified as...

ENCINITAS — A fundraiser for Francine Busby, who is running for U.S. Congress, ended in chaos Friday night when sheriff's deputies responded to noise complaints and the party's hostess was arrested. Shari Barman, 60, was booked into Vista jail on suspicion of obstructing a peace officer and battery on a peace officer. She later was released. A court appearance has been set for Aug. 11 in Vista Superior Court. Busby, who spoke at the private reception, said the event was “no different” from hundreds of parties and fundraisers that she has attended. “This incident is regrettable because it was...

Here Are The Results of SurveyUSA Election Poll #10639 Geography Surveyed: CA 50th CD Data Collected: 11/01/2006 - 11/03/2006 Release Date: 11/04/2006 11:25 AM ET Sponsor: KGTV-TV San Diego Never Mind; Busby Fades at the Finish & Bilbray Holds CA50 for Republicans: Polling exclusively for KGTV-TV San Diego, SurveyUSA wrote on 9/13/06 that CA50 was "safe" for the GOP. Republican Brian Bilbray at that time had a 14 point lead, and appeared to be out of reach. Then, on 10/16/06, in the middle of the media coverage of Mark Foley, Democrat Francine Busby closed to within 2 points in SurveyUSA...

Just over three months ago, the special election to fill the vacancy left by congressman-turned-inmate Randy “Duke” Cunningham was a political rock concert. It was national news, big money poured in from both parties and Washington pundits touted it as a barometer of the national mood. That was then. 50TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT BY THE NUMBERSVoter registration: 44 percent: Republican 30 percent: Democratic 22 percent: Decline to state Republican Brian Bilbray won that June contest, defeating Democrat Francine Busby by slightly more than 4.5 percentage points. A comfortable margin, but not commanding, considering the Republican Party spent $5 million on Bilbray's...

Speaker of the House Nullified San Diego Congressional Race It appears the US media overlooked one of the great political stories of the year. In what is becoming something of a pattern, here’s a brief chronology: On June 6, 2006 Republican Brian Bilbray allegedly slightly outpolled Democrat Francine Busby in the special election for California’s 50th Congressional District, despite Busby’s lead in the polls going into the election. There were immediate cries of foul following the election due to major irregularities, including electronic voting machines sent out to the homes and cars of volunteers for up to 12 days prior...

Late Wednesday afternoon, a "Manual Hand Count Request under the Election Recount Provision" was filed at the San Diego County Registrar of Voters office by CA-50 voter Barbara Gail Jacobson. The request is for a full manual hand count of all paper ballots and paper trails in the recent June 6th Busby/Bilbray special U.S. House election in which programmed, election-ready Diebold voting machines were sent home with poll workers for days prior to the election in apparent violation of new laws and provisions by both state and federal authorities. As California state election code requires that a candidate be named...

Brad Friedman Added to homepage Sun 18th Jun 2006, 09:43 AM No Confidence in the Busby/Bilbray Election I don't know how else to put it, but every voting machine used in last week's special election run-off for the U.S. House seat vacated by the disgraced Randy "Duke" Cunningham in California's 50th congressional district was illegal. By federal standards, rules and provisions and by California state rules, laws and provisions. And now, by the San Diego County Registrar of Voters own admission. More Discuss this topic (22 comments) · Posted by Wilms

When is a loss really a win? It's a common practice, trying to spin a political defeat into a victory. But in the case of the race to fill Randy "Duke" Cunningham's seat in the House of Representatives, the silver lining might not be that hard to find. snip NOW PAC organizers worked on the Busby campaign, reaching out to voters across the county. The NOW PAC put Hays in San Diego prior to the April 11 Special Election, and sent her and another organizer Monely Soltani there again in late May to work on the run-off vote, held concurrently...

This was one of the more politically significant weeks in recent history. A recap of the winners and losers: Click here

After a Republican victory in the hotly contested House runoff election, political analysts are pointing to a single sentence in a campaign ad as a key factor in the final days of the race. Democrat Francine Busby, accused during the campaign of taking a soft line on illegal immigration, was told by a man at a largely Hispanic rally that he wanted to help her campaign but didn't have voting papers. The man spoke in Spanish through an interpreter. Busby responded in English: "Everybody can help. You can all help. You don't need papers for voting, you don't need to...

Stop measuring for drapes, Nancy. If Democrats can’t win a special election for a seat left open by the guilty plea of a senior Republican congressman for bribery in a political environment that can politely be described as more sour than milk left on the counter for a week, how can they expect to win back control of the House of Representatives, handing the speakership to Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)? Democrats are claiming the fact that the Republican Party had to spend $5 million to assure victory for former Rep. Brian Bilbray in California’s GOP-friendly 50th congressional district is a sign...

The results from California's 50th district are now in - and Republican Brian Bilbray has defeated Democrat Francine Busby in the contest to complete the tenure of Duke Cunningham. This was Busby's third try at seizing the seat. She is now 0-for-3. The two will face off again in November, but it seems highly likely that the GOP will hold the seat.Pundits and partisans across the land have examined the returns to divine some kind of meaning from them. What did the voters tell us? Many answers have been offered - not all of them valid. Many people have seen...

A Republican won a special congressional election in Southern California yesterday – so why does the Times make it sound as if the Republicans got beat? Chief political reporter Adam Nagourney’s online filing Wednesday morning on last night's electoral victory by Republican Brian Bilbray begins: “A Republican former congressman slipped to victory in a special election here Tuesday, staving off what would have been a highly embarrassing Democratic victory in a solidly Republican district. National Republicans poured in nearly $5 million and dozens of campaign workers to help hold the seat for their party.”

SAN DIEGO -- U.S. Rep.-elect Brian Bilbray's reward for a hard-fought victory is a House seat for seven months — and another campaign against the same Democrat he vanquished in a special election to fill the seat vacated by disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham. While the candidates, and probably the issues, will be the same in November, there will be one major difference: Bilbray will be running as an incumbent. And that makes it even more of an uphill battle for school board member Francine Busby. Whether the race for a two-year term is as close as this week's...

The Democrats lost in San Diego last night in a special election many thought they would win. After all, the race was to fill a seat left vacant by a Republican congressman who had to resign when he pled guilty of corruption. President Bush’s approval rating in a California Field Poll this week is around 28% percent (the lowest in that poll’s history since just before President Nixon resigned in 1974). And in the first round of voting, the Democrat, Francine Busby got 44% of the vote and the Republican Brian Bilbray, a former congressman, led a big field of...

'Culture of Corruption' Failed Democrats in House Race by Robert Novak Posted Jun 07, 2006 For all the hype and the money spent on the race between former Rep. Brian Bilbray (R) and Francine Busby (D), Busby, in her loss to Bilbray, failed to exceed significantly the percentage won here by John Kerry in 2004. This is significant, because although she will have another shot at Bilbray in November, the turnout should have favored her yesterday, since Republicans had no other races to drive their turnout and Democrats had a gubernatorial primary. The outcome proves that even with corrupt former...