Free Republic

Hostess Brands is seeking to liquidate. Hostess Brands Inc., the maker of iconic treats such as Twinkies and traditional pantry staple Wonder Bread, said Friday it is shuttering its plants and firing about 18,000 workers as it seeks to liquidate the 82-year-old business. The company, which filed for Chapter 11 in January, said it has requested bankruptcy-court authorization to close the business and sell its assets. A victim of changing consumer tastes, high commodity costs and, most importantly, strained labor relations, Hostess ultimately was brought to its knees by a national strike orchestrated by its second-largest union. The work stoppage,...

A KPIX news cameraman was punched and robbed during a live broadcast outside an Oakland high school, the latest in a spate of holdups targeting the media, police said Thursday. Reporter Anne Makovec and cameraman Gregg Welk were on the air shortly after noon Wednesday outside Oakland Technical High School near the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway. They were at the school to do a story on the passage of Proposition 30, the tax measure preventing deep cuts to education. As Makovec was finishing her report, police said, five men rushed up and grabbed a $6,000 camera from the...

The wreckage created by the disastrous Obama economy has taken many forms. One of the most alarming is the move from long term unemployed to permanent Social Security Disability benefits. As a way of surviving many long term unemployed have signed up for SSI benefits which tend to become life long subsistence. A shocking report by Investors Business Daily reports that in April alone more than 225,000 workers applied for Social Security disability benefits, and nearly 90,000 were enrolled, according to new data from the Social Security Administration. Top economists note that the shrinking labor force has masked the true...

Today, the U-T launches a new tradition. Each Jan. 1, we will honor the Person of the Year, an individual or category of individuals with San Diego ties. We can think of no better way to begin this tradition than by selecting as our first winner the Marine. Since Sept. 11, 2001, America has relied on the Marine to keep us safe from terror at home and to take the fight to our enemies abroad, a task our Marines have handled with immense courage, professionalism and honor.

Scott Radetski, Karen Mendoza, Jon Gross and Shannon Book work to carry a 13-foot cross to the top of a mountain at Camp Pendleton on Nov. 10 to recognize those Marines who have fallen or been wounded in combat. The original cross was carried up by seven people, and three of those original seven were killed in combat in Iraq. Radetski was a chaplain during the battle for Fallujah, Mendoza's husband was killed in combat, and Gross and Book also served in Iraq during the battle for Fallujah. (RICK LOOMIS / Los Angeles Times ) A memorial cross atop...

When I grow weary of being a lonely conservative in Los Angeles, when I get frustrated at living in one of the bluest of cities in the bluest of states, when I begin to despair of being represented by a liberal at every last level of local, state, and federal government . . . I remind myself it could always be worse in San Francisco. And indeed it is worse. San Francisco is a city of abundant beauty and charm, but it is governed by people so far out on the left fringe that they make their counterparts in Los...

POSTED BY ANN BARNHARDT - JULY 7, AD 2011 10:34 AM MST Two big developments have emerged in Gunwalker. First, as I "tweeted" on June 24th, ATF Director Kenneth Melson has indeed spilled his guts and testified on July 4th before Congressional investigators. Gunwalker goes all the way to Eric Holder, Hillary Clinton and that walking manifestation of Incubus and Succubus, Barack Obama and Valerie Jarrett. Further, Mike Vanderboegh and David Codrea over at Sipsey Street Irregulars have broken news this morning that Holder/Clinton/Obama-Jarrett also were walking guns out of Florida into Honduras. Here's the money quote: "There are emails...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtxeCg6HpEE&feature=player_embedded

If you are more than 100 years old, you probably didn't get your February Social Security check! Yes, the federal government has decided to stop all Social Security Checks to those who are past the age of 100. They claim that identity theft is rampant for Social Security claims, so probably most of those for persons over 100 are fraudulent! They have stopped those checks and just sit back and wait for the phone to ring from those persons who didn't receive their payment. My neighbor has her mother living with her and this lady celebrated her 102nd birthday in...

A political unknown has thrown nearly $2.1 million of his own cash into his bid to become governor, a move that could change the landscape of the race. Owen Buz Mills, a member of the National Rifle Association board of directors, filed a report with the Secretary of State's Office this week detailing the funding. Templar: Gov. candidate pumping personal wealth into race Mills apparently was anxious to make his financing known. He submitted his campaign report on Saturday; it is not due until the end of the month. But Camilla Strongin, who is managing his campaign, said that wasn't...

In yet another stunning blow to 2nd amendment rights, the Massachusetts First Circuit Court has ruled in favor of a police officer who confiscated the weapon and concealed carry permit of attorney Greg Schubert. The Weekly Standard details this and two other cases involving Americans lawfully carrying firearms, practicing a basic freedom as citizens, and subsequently losing ground to do so in the future. Madison Conservative, a Hot Air Green Room contributer, wrote an excellent post on the topic. He includes a legal break down of the MA case, detailing the Police department’s initial response to the incident. Amazing: On...

Since 2001, airline passengers — regular people without weapons or training — have helped thwart terrorist attacks aboard at least five different commercial airplanes. It happened again on Christmas Day. And as we do each and every time, we miss the point. Consider the record: First, passengers on United Flight 93 prevented a further attack on Washington on 9/11. Then, three months later, American Airlines passengers wrestled a belligerent, biting Richard Reid to the ground, using their headset cords to restrain him. In 2007, almost a dozen passengers jumped on a gun-wielding hijacker aboard a plane in the Canary Islands....

Michelle Berry runs a private day-care service from her home on the outskirts of this city, the birthplace of General Motors. "The Berry Patch," as she calls the service, features overstuffed purple gorillas, giant cartoon murals, and a playroom covered in Astroturf. Her clients are mostly low-income parents who need child care to keep their jobs in a city that now has a 26% unemployment rate. Ms. Berry owns her own business—yet the Michigan Department of Human Services claims she is a government employee and union member. The agency thus withholds union dues from the child-care subsidies it sends to...

David Brooks / Union-Tribune Renee Ruff, a police officer who is the mounted unit’s lead trainer, visited some of her four-legged charges at the corral used by the city to house the horses. The mounted unit was used for everything from riot control to patrolling Balboa Park Junior is one of the highly-trained horses that make up the Police Department’s mounted unit, which is being disbanded. BALBOA PARK — In the 15 years that San Diego police Sgt. Bret Righthouse patrolled Balboa Park on horseback, he felt at times like a celebrity. People came up to him all the...

General Electric Co. and Comcast Corp. have settled on how to value NBC Universal, clearing a key obstacle to giving Comcast control of GE's television and movie company, said people familiar with the matter. After weeks of wrestling, both sides have agreed to value NBC Universal in the neighborhood of $30 billion, people close to the talks said. The agreement includes a mechanism that could reduce the cash Comcast would have to kick in when the deal closes, two of those people said. The two companies are now ironing out final details of a deal and an announcement could come...

A Nevada Democratic Party leader who pleaded guilty to hitting his teenage son and throwing him on the hood of a car has resigned, according to a letter received Friday by a newspaper. Paul Belt, the party chairman of Douglas County, said in a letter to the Record-Courier that he resigned his post after his "regrettable actions." He pleaded guilty on Wednesday to a misdemeanor count of domestic battery. He was sentenced to a suspended one-year jail term and ordered to attend counseling. Belt, 45, was accused of punching his 15-year-old son several times on Oct. 22 when he learned...

SAN FRANCISCO—San Francisco police are easing a policy that requires officers to impound the vehicles of drivers caught without a license—a move expected to help illegal immigrants. The revised policy, which takes effect next month, gives unlicensed drivers 20 minutes after they are pulled over to have a licensed and insured driver move their vehicle. If not, the vehicle can be towed, but only with the approval of a supervisory officer. "This is an attempt to try to enhance public safety," said San Francisco Police Chief George Gascon. Although Gascon said the policy change was not motivated by a desire...

When UBS Americas CEO Robert Wolf stepped out on the golf links at Martha's Vineyard this past summer as part of President Obama's foursome, his firm had plenty to celebrate. A few days earlier, the Swiss parent of his company had resolved a long-running dispute with the IRS over undeclared offshore accounts. The sticky legal case was one of several matters involving the financial giant where huge sums of money could hinge on the action taken by the federal government. But as they strolled the fairways, the topic never came up. Mr. Wolf, like many of the influential Americans who...

Arpaio for governor? New poll says he has the support Email: dbiscobing@abc15.com Arpaio for governor? Polls say he has the support PHOENIX - Sheriff Joe Arpaio rarely keeps a low profile. Never afraid of attention or controversy and always outspoken, he leaves little unsaid. And that includes a race for governor. "There's an old saying in politics: Never say never," Arpaio said. "I know I would make an excellent governor." Arpaio has not officially announced his candidacy, and he never may. But in recent weeks, he's teased and hinted. It's not the first time. "Twice I've looked into it and...

Angered by President Obama's lack of success in legalizing illegal immigrants, some Hispanic activists are urging all Hispanics to boycott the 2010 census as a sign of displeasure. Other groups have asked the federal government to suspend immigration raids while census takers are in the field, hoping that will make illegal immigrants more likely to respond to questions. It's just the latest trouble in what's turning into a rocky run-up to the census next year. During a congressional hearing last week, a Democratic senator told Census Bureau Director Robert M. Groves that the American Community Survey - a yearly survey...