Free Republic

PINGING THE COMRADES and SICK TWISTED FREAKS and those of THE ILK! SPECIAL UNAUTHORIZED BYOB THREAD, celebrating a GREAT YEAR of (((GB)))!!!

UPDATED: ACORN, calling the actions of some of its employees "indefensible," has suspended advising new clients as part of its service programs and is setting up an independent review to see what happened.

The parent companies of all the major broadcast networks, along with several media buying agencies and advertisers announced Thursday the creation of a new all-encompassing TV ratings measurement system: The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM). The group includes 14 companies (full list below) joining together to from a new data system and has been rumored for weeks. The news has been viewed as a challenge to Nielsen Media Research as the most trusted source of advertiser data that determines the popularity of content, though CIMM executives bill the service as more of a compliment to Nielsen's ratings. CIMM intends...

..snip.. In an unusual outburst from the Republican side of the House chamber, Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted out "You lie" when the president said illegal immigrants would not benefit from his proposals. ..snip..

The Register-Guardhttp://www.registerguard.com/ Transmitter failure takes KPNW off the airSome of the conservative talk radio station’s listeners suspect a liberal conspiracy By Whitney MalkinThe Register-Guard Posted to Web: Monday, Jul 6, 2009 11:36PM Appeared in print: Tuesday, Jul 7, 2009, page A4 Local conservative talk radio station KPNW AM 1120 has been off the air since Friday, and while station managers are blaming sizzling weekend temperatures, some listeners have other ideas.Since the station’s transmitter failed early Friday morning, Program Director Bill Lundun says, the phone lines have been jammed with concerned callers. Some are conspiracy theorists, convinced that the Obama...

I have been a licenced Ham operator since 1978. I have had a Technician Class license since 1982 - this was back in the days when you had to go to an FCC office to take the tests, which at the time for me was about 200 miles from home. Since US Ham Rado went No Code in 2007, I have been qualified to upgrade to General Class by simply going to a test session and filling out some paperwork. The reason for the "free" upgrade is the exam elements I passed back in '82 are the same as for...

By DEBORAH HASTINGS, AP -They had more in common than unleashing carnage — nearly every gunman in this monthlong series of mass killings was legally entitled to fire his weapons. ...

Police said a 24-year-old man shot and killed himself early this morning during a movie screening at a Eugene theater. About 10 people were seated in the Regal Cinema theater at Valley River Center when the man used a handgun to commit suicide midway through a showing of the film “Watchmen,” Eugene police spokeswoman Jenna LaBounty said. The closest patrons were seated two rows in front of the man, who was a Eugene resident. LaBounty said police were called to the theater just after midnight, after patrons reportedly heard a loud “popping sound” behind them. Investigators determined that the man...

Okay I'm getting the heck out of a blue spot and looking at the Hobbs NM / Seminole TX area. I have sort of scoped out real estate and there is a job - so I'm looking to compare the best state in which to reside. I'm looking for other FReepers' input on taxes, utility costs, culture, gun laws, etc in those neighborhoods, anything good or bad I ought to know.

Massachusetts officially decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana yesterday, but many police departments across the state were essentially ignoring the voter-passed law, saying they would not even bother to ticket people they see smoking marijuana. "We're just basically not enforcing it right now," said Mark R. Laverdure, chief of police in Clinton...

Authorities arrested a suspect in the Salem area Sunday evening in the Woodburn bank bombing that killed two police explosives experts and injured the town's police chief and a bank employee. The name of the suspect, address of the arrest or any details about the investigation were not released "to protect the integrity of the investigation and the safety of officers continuing to investigate this crime," a news release from the Marion County Sheriff's Office said. "The arrest was the result of an intensive round-the-clock investigation by an interagency task force comprised of federal, state, county, and city public safety...

ABC News' Joel Siegel reports: The scope of Bernie Madoff's $50 billion Ponzi scheme is becoming clearer, and it's enormous. Newspapers and Web sites from around the world today are filled with stories about new victims. In South Korea, institutional investors may have lost $100 million. French bank BNP Paribas, Tokyo-based Nomura Holdings and Zurich's Neue Privat Bank also suffered losses. Spanish newspapers reported that a fund run by leading bank Santander was heavily exposed and that investors in Spain risk losing about $3 billion. And Swiss bankers face losses of up to $5 billion. Among the boldface names who...

WhitewashVictims' attorneys blast city report on officer sex scandalBY ALAN PITTMANWhen Roger Magaña worked at the Eugene Police Department (EPD), women complained over and over that he was using his badge to force sex, but Eugene police did nothing. After Magaña was finally caught after six years and sent to prison for abusing a dozen women, substantial evidence emerged that other police officers had failed in the investigation, supervision and hiring of the criminal. But the police again did nothing.What the police and city did do is select a former cop who wrote a report that agreed with their inaction....

Change begins at the top Oregon voters should elect Republican Ron Saxton to replace Ted Kulongoski as the state's governor Sunday, October 15, 2006 The Oregonian Ron Saxton opens many of his campaign appearances with a question: Are you satisfied with Oregon and its state government? We're not. This state has slipped and fallen. School funding is below the national average. Oregon is near the bottom in public support of universities. The number of troopers patrolling highways is only half of what the state mustered 30 years ago. Oregon's system of public finance is a mess, and Oregon, virtually...

Former lawmaker Charles Porter dies By Jim Feehan and Diana Elliott The Register-Guard Published: Tuesday, January 3, 2006 Charles O. Porter, a firebrand activist and former congressman who fought and won a 33-year battle to have a Christian cross removed from Skinner Butte, died Sunday night at age 86 from complications of Alzheimer's disease. Porter, a courtly man who opposed the Vietnam War - and had stood for a host of liberal causes since - was remembered as a champion of the little guy. "He was willing to take on the power structure - whether it be big business or...

(09-22) 18:19 PDT SALEM, Ore. (AP) -- Ralph Nader will not appear on Oregon's general election ballot, the state Supreme Court said Wednesday, overturning a lower court decision. The high court unanimously upheld a ruling by Secretary of State Bill Bradbury, who determined that flawed petitions sheets left Nader 218 signatures short of the 15,306 needed to put him on the Nov. 2 ballot. Marion County Judge Paul Lipscomb faulted Bradbury, a Democrat, for using unwritten rules to decide the validity of the petitions. The high court, however, said Bradbury acted within his authority. < snip >

SOURCE: MSNBC PREPARES CLINTON OBIT [JUST IN CASE] Mon Sept 6 2004 12:30:31 ET As Bill Clinton hit the operating table at 6:45 a.m. at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia in upper Manhattan, MSNBC almost simultaneously was preparing a video package of the former president's obituary -- just in case. An internal email sent from NBC tape producer Peter Hitchins to NBC staff just 20 minutes before the operation describes a contingency video prep if the former president died from complications from heart surgery. From: Hitchins, Charles (NBC Universal, MSNBC) Sent: Monday, September 06, 2004 6:25 AM To: @MSNBC Newsforce Staff...

www.registerguard.com | © The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon May 11, 2004 Inmate claims beating at hands of four deputies By Bill BishopThe Register-Guard A 19-year-old Eugene man who says he was beaten by four deputies in front of dozens of witnesses Friday night at the Lane County Jail is preparing to sue the county over an eye injury, bruises and other wounds. Dustin Raymond Robert Stewart said the attack was unprovoked and began about 10 p.m. as he was sleeping in the jail's holding cell - a large room where inmates wait to be booked into the main jail. Attempts...

Statement from Neil Goldschmidt Thursday, May 6, 2004 Text of the statement Neil Goldschmidt made to The Oregonian on Thursday: Beginning in 1975, while I was mayor, I had an affair with a high school student for nearly a year. In 1994, I funded a conservatorship in her behalf, believing I was partly responsible for her difficulties coping with her life. For almost thirty years, I have lived with enormous guilt and shame about this relationship. I have also been afraid that it would be exposed to my family, friends and the public whose respect I have sought to...

www.registerguard.com | © The Register-Guard, Eugene, Oregon April 15, 2004 Poll shows Bush ahead in Oregon By Jeff WrightThe Register-Guard Strong anti-tax sentiment in Oregon could give President Bush the leverage he needs to claim the state's seven electoral votes in the presidential race, a new statewide poll conducted by the University of Oregon suggests. The survey of 444 registered voters shows Oregonians favoring President Bush over presumptive Democratic Party nominee John Kerry 47 percent to 45 percent - well within the poll's margin of error of 4.7 percent. Only 1 percent favored independent candidate Ralph Nader and 6...