Free Republic

SEATTLE, May 24 — To build, or not to build, a border of walls? The debate in the United States has started some Mexicans thinking it is not such a bad idea. Nationalist outrage and accusations of hypocrisy over the prospect have filled airwaves and front pages in Mexico, as expected, fueled by presidential campaigns in which appeals to national pride are in no short supply. But, surprisingly, another view is gaining traction: that good fences can make good neighbors. The clamorous debate over a border wall has confronted President Vicente Fox of Mexico at every stop during a visit...

The court-authorized search of the Congressional office of Representative William Jefferson by federal agents was as unprecedented in the 217-year history of Congress as it was alarming to lawmakers of both parties. Critics instantly suggested that Congressman Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat suspected of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, should have been spared the raid under some broad interpretation of the Constitution's separation of executive and legislative powers. Fuming lawmakers claim that the Constitution's Speech and Debate Clause — which protects a lawmaker from politically motivated criminal harassment in the course of official business — should extend to...

In an unexpected twist in the Election Day tire slashing trial, four former Kerry-Edwards campaign staffers, including the sons of U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Milwaukee) and former Acting Mayor Marvin Pratt, have agreed to plead no contest to misdemeanors. The plea agreements came in the middle of jury deliberations after an eight-day trial on felony property damage charges that carried potential 3 1/2 year prison terms upon conviction. Michael Pratt, 33, Sowande Omokunde, 26, Lewis G. Caldwell, 29, and Lavelle Mohammad, 36, have all pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property. Omokunde is Moore's son. Prosecutors...

1. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 2. Thou shalt not eat Cream of Wheat and call it Grits; for this is blasphemy. 3. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's Grits. 4. Thou shalt only use Salt, Butter and Cheese as toppings for thy Grits. 5. Thou shalt not eat Instant Grits. 6. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 7. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 8. Thou shalt not put syrup on thy Grits. 9. Thou shalt not put sugar on thy Grits either. 10. Thou shalt not put sugar or syrup on...

A Division of Motor Vehicles counter clerk who reportedly told police he faked at least five state ID cards was charged Thursday with felony counts of bribery and misconduct in public office. The state Department of Transportation has suspended Alfredo Ramirez, 41, of the 6300 block of W. Adler St. from his job without pay while an internal investigation is carried out, said Gary Guenther, director of the division's Bureau of Field Services. Ramirez, a five-year DOT employee, is accused of working up a fake identification card for an undercover police officer who presented fake documents while Ramirez was working...

EDITORIAL he Bush administration jeopardized the most important education reform of the last 100 years when it failed to fully finance the No Child Left Behind Act, which requires states to improve scholastic achievement for poor and minority children in return for federal dollars. The shortfall in funds has not only made it more difficult for some states to comply, but has also provided a handy excuse for those who don't believe that the achievement gap between white and minority children can ever be closed - or don't want to make the effort to try. Right now, when the law...

Jacksonville, Fla. - President Bush proposed Friday an increase in the government Pell Grants that help lower-income students afford higher education but said he would shave the cost out of a federal student loan program that also provides college aid. "Pell Grants make it possible for people to go to school who otherwise won't go to school," Bush said in announcing his plans at Florida Community College. Sharing a stage with Pell Grant recipients, Bush pledged to seek a 12% increase in the awards over five years, which would cost $15 billion. That would allow the maximum grant to rise...

According to WTMJ-Am radio news, the hunter accused of killing six hunters is now claiming he was shot at first. He is saying he left property the first time he was asked and the other hunters followed him, surrounded him, called him racial and other names, and shot at him first.

To counter negative images many Americans have of Muslims, Milwaukee's Islamic Center is planning its first public open house since it was established in the early 1980s in a former public school building at 4707 S. 13th St. The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 4. "Although the Islamic Society of Milwaukee and other Muslim organizations have repeatedly condemned violence carried out by 'Muslim' extremists, the negative attitudes expressed by many Americans implies that our message and the message of legitimate Muslim organizations is either not being heard or is being drowned out by the...

With the presidential campaign heading into its final stretch, Wisconsin continues to pick up jobs more rapidly than most key battleground states. Employment figures released this week by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics paint a complex picture of the swing states, showing job growth since December but, in most cases, job losses over the course of the Bush presidency. That's true of Wisconsin, too, but the state has fared better than most of its tossup counterparts. Among 11 intensely contested swing states, only rapidly growing Nevada has added jobs at a faster rate this year than Wisconsin. And the...

Two men deputized by the City of Milwaukee to register voters are convicted felons who are on probation and are therefore not eligible to register people to vote, court records show. Both felons became so-called deputy registrars through Project Vote, whose voter registration activities are being investigated by the Racine County district attorney's office. Told Friday about the probation status of the two Milwaukee men, Milwaukee Election Commissioner Lisa Artison could not say how many voter registration applications they had submitted. But she said in an e-mail that a voter "cannot be disenfranchised" because of errors by election officials or...

Never mind Howard University. The administration of the Washington institution is apparently in a bit of a huff because Bill Cosby used its podium to criticize the failings of black America -- especially its underclass. Howard's leaders, who won't release a transcript of Cosby's speech, are still not prepared to have a public discussion of self-inflicted wounds. But much of black America, especially its middle class, is ready to have that conversation. In that sense, Cosby's speech was a watershed event -- a sign that black America is now comfortable enough with its accomplishments to discuss its shortcomings. "Perhaps Bill...

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) -- President Bush marked a half-century of school integration at the symbolic home of the movement Monday, saying "it changed America for the better, and forever." "Fifty years ago today, nine judges announced that they had looked at the Constitution and saw no justification for the segregation and humiliation of an entire race," Bush said at the opening of a national historic site at Monroe Elementary, a former all-black school in the heartland of the school desegregation effort. "Here on the corner of 15th and Monroe, and in schools like it across America, that was a day...

A single mother in Milwaukee who had spent years raising her son without the financial support of his father gasped when informed that she would be required to pay child support. News of the order came soon after the woman had agreed to allow the father to care for the son Mondays through Fridays and had forgiven him the thousands of dollars he owed her in child support. "Her response was, 'How can he do this to me?' " said Lisa Marks, deputy director of the Milwaukee County Department of Child Support Enforcement. A decade ago, it was unusual for...

Madison - State Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager said today that she was arrested for drunken driving in Dodge County while returning to her Fond du Lac home from the Capitol on Monday. Lautenschlager, 48, said in a statement that she had made a "terrible mistake" and added: "While driving home, I fell asleep and drove off the road, and was subsequently cited for operating a vehicle while intoxicated." In her statement, she promised to "accept the consequences of and will take responsibility for my actions." According to the Dodge County sheriff's report on the arrest, Lautenschlager refused to take a...

A promotion offering free hamburgers to people who vote in Tuesday's primary election does not violate state election laws, assistant Milwaukee County district attorney Michael Mahoney said Monday. The 89-cent hamburger offered by V&J Foods, which operates 14 Burger King restaurants in the Milwaukee area, does not constitute something of value being offered for a vote, Mahoney said. State election laws prohibit offering anything exceeding $1 in value as a voting incentive. The district attorney's office was asked to look into the matter after someone complained to the city Election Commission that a radio ad offered free Whoppers to people...

(12 who gained fraudulent access still in country, 7 can't be found, FBI says) The former director of a festival celebrating Arab culture used his position to help nearly two dozen Jordanians enter the country illegally from 2000 to 2002, federal authorities charged Tuesday. Fraud Charges Quotable We're aggressively trying to find these people. - David Mitchell, FBI agent, discussing Jordanians who may be in the U.S. illegally. Since we are the Arab festival and this will be in the paper, they're going to say that all the Arabs are the same. That's what we're concerned about. That people will...

The Dream Becomes a Business Ford Motor Company entered the business world on June 16, 1903, when Henry Ford and 11 business associates signed the company's articles of incorporation. With $28,000 in cash, the pioneering industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the world's largest corporations. Few companies are as closely identified with the history and development of industry and society throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company. As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company's beginnings were modest. The company had anxious moments in its infancy. The earliest record of a shipment is July 20,...

Berkeley Graduation Ceremony African Studies Department Commencement Address May 17, 2003 Toward a Just and Peaceful World Congratulations proud young graduates! You have accomplished an important milestone in your lives. Important for who you are and where you are. You are young, gifted, and black. And you are graduates of The University of California at Berkeley--America's campus--with a legacy of informed action and deliberate dissent. I want to ask each of you today to consider the current state of America. Under President Bush the US has turned its back on the United Nations and the entire international community and has...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Dave DeBusschere, the defensive cornerstone of two championship teams who also was the NBA's youngest coach and the last commissioner of the rival ABA, died Wednesday of a heart attack at age 62. DeBusschere collapsed on a Manhattan street and died at NYU Downtown Hospital, the NBA said. A two-sport star at the University of Detroit, DeBusschere went from the court to the front office to the Hall of Fame and was one of a handful of players to reach the major leagues in both baseball and basketball. He pitched for two seasons with the Chicago...