Free Republic

November 12, 2007 -- The mother of rapper Kanye West died Saturday night in Los Angeles, his spokesman said yesterday. The cause of death was not released. Donda West, 58, served as chief executive of West Brands LLC, the parent company of her son's business, according to the Web site of the Kanye West Foundation, which she chaired.

One of two Border Patrol agents sentenced to a decade in federal prison for the shooting of a Mexican drug smuggler in Texas was beaten by five fellow inmates at a medium-security prison in Yazoo City, Miss., lawmakers and his relatives said Tuesday. The inmates surrounded Ignacio Ramos on Saturday night and punched him and kicked him with their work boots, said his father-in-law, Joe Loya of El Paso. Relatives learned of the attack Monday when they reached Ramos by phone on his 38th birthday, Loya said. Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., one of a group of lawmakers seeking presidential pardons...

"ORGAN PIPE CACTUS NATIONAL MONUMENT, Ariz. - Drug smugglers fleeing Mexican police crossed into this desert park and fatally shot a ranger four years ago, prompting That steel-and-concrete wall stops most cars from speeding in from Mexico. But drug and human traffickers have switched to rural entryways into Arizona. Thousands of people now cross on foot. They leave piles of trash, build fires, damage the park's famous cacti and create countless trails through the fragile desert vegetation." "Park workers spend most of their time backing up Border Patrol officers and dealing with border issues. " "But superintendents say the costs...

Social Security Number Verification Verify Social Security Numbers Over the Internet Overview There are two Internet verification options you can use to verify that your employee names and Social Security numbers match Social Security's records. You can: Verify up to 10 names and SSNs (per screen) online and receive immediate results. This option is ideal to verify new hires. OR Upload batch files of up to 250,000 names and SSNs and usually receive results the next government business day. This option is ideal if you want to verify an entire payroll data base or if you hire a large number...

I have been watching the news for the last two days and I am getting totally steamed about what the 911 Commission did and did not do. Let me enumerated what the so-called Commission did. • Put the very person that had most to hide on the Commission, so that she could bamboozle the rest of the Commissioners • Started the proceedings by bashing the Bush Administration, by saying that if the Bush people had been on the ball. 911 would not have happened. • Got two of the most ardent Bush haters to tell how they were not listened...

Issuing yet the latest warning of the threat of nuclear terrorism in the U.S., Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said there are far worse security problems facing the country than bombings of mass-transit systems. In comments during a visit to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California this week, Chertoff said the foremost concern for the nation's security now is the threat of a larger chemical, biological or nuclear attack. Chertoff joins the growing list of public officials – including President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Chertoff's predecessor at Homeland Security, Tom Ridge – who have strongly hinted that nuclear terrorism...

NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Sunday morning in this small Hudson Valley city, more than 1,000 parishioners, most from Mexico, pack Spanish-language Masses at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Afterward, many families flock to El Azteca for its authentic tacos. If somebody needs a ride home, there are at least a dozen local taxi companies catering to newcomers born in the Mexican states of Puebla and Jalisco. New residents from Mexico have, in the past four years, opened dozens of businesses that have begun to reinvigorate the ailing downtown district; they are the region's fastest growing community. It's the same story elsewhere in...

An illegal Mexican immigrant in North Carolina was charged with drunken driving at least five times before a July 16 wreck that killed a Gaston County teacher. Ramiro Gallegos' driving record is far worse than authorities realized -- five impaired driving charges in five years, including one previous head-on collision. On Friday, N.C. authorities remained unaware of two out-of-state convictions until informed by an Observer reporter. Gallegos' history reveals glaring failures in communication, record keeping and enforcement among police, courts and immigration officials. If the system had worked, Gallegos would likely have been sent back to Mexico in 2002, or...