Free Republic

Two elections supervisors are taking action after an NBC2 investigation uncovers flawed record keeping and human error allowing people who are not citizens of the United States to vote. No one knows how widespread this problem is, because county election supervisors have no way to track non-citizens who live here. So NBC2 did something election officials never thought to do, and found them on our own. "I vote every year," Hinako Dennett told NBC2. The Cape Coral resident is not a US citizen, yet she's registered to vote. NBC2 found Dennett after reviewing her jury excusal form. She told the...

Hm. For some unexplained reason the Chicago Tribune web site seems to have the text of the review cut off. But I manually copied some of the text out of my newspaper this morning. The review is of a movie about someone running for office. The following is a description of one of the movie's characters named Hammond who was elected President and his actions:“He doesn’t believe in the American democratic process at all, in fact, though the movie doesn’t seem to realize what it’s even espousing half the time.Hammond goes to work, declaring martial law; lining up gangsters for...

Please forgive the vanity post, but I'm in an RKBA discussion and need a little support. The premise I've been presented with is "the purpose of guns is to kill people". I want to counter with "'x' rounds of ammunition are produced each year. 'y' rounds are expended to kill people. The rest are used for hunting and target/skeet shooting. 99.999+% of rounds are expended for hunting and recreation purposes. That is the main purpose people use guns for." Crime statistics should give me "Y", but I can't find a source for "X", how many rounds are manufactured in the...

EL PASO — Fernando Espinosa always thought of his Boy Scout experience as a way to learn about leadership and helping others. But he never expected his 10 years of scouting to help him become a hero. On Jan. 22, without thinking twice, Espinosa pushed teacher Glenda Tanner, 47, out of the way of a car at a crosswalk in front of Franklin High School. The car struck Espinosa, who received a head injury from the windshield and hurt his left knee. ... For his bravery, Espinosa, 17, will be awarded the Honor Medal with Crossed Palms on Friday at...

Administrators cite safety concerns; parents say move sounds like a protest Reveling in its first conference championship in 26 years, the Highland Park High School girls varsity basketball team has been selling cookies for months to raise funds for a tournament in Arizona. But those hoop dreams were dashed when players learned they couldn't go because of that state's new crackdown on illegal immigrants. Safety concerns partly fueled the decision, but the trip also "would not be aligned with our beliefs and values," said District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson. That explanation, though, smacks of political protest to parents upset...

Excerpted quotes: ... we fiddled with the door and it was jammed. I thought, well, maybe the door’s latched. So I walked back to the kitchen porch, unlocked the door and came into the house. And I unlatched the door, but it was still jammed. ... It looked like someone’s footprint was there. So it’s possible that the door had been jimmied, that someone had tried to get in while I was in China. But for whatever reason, the lock was damaged. My driver hit the door with his shoulder and the door popped open. But the lock was permanently...

The superstars at Harvard defied markets for years-- until now. Here's the inside story of how they finally tripped up.Stocks were tumbling last fall as the new school year began, but at Harvard University it was as if the boom had never ended. Workers were digging across the river from Harvard's Cambridge, Mass. home, the start of a grand expansion that was to eventually almost double the size of the university. Budgets were plump, and students from middle-class families were getting big tuition breaks under an ambitious new financial aid program. The lavish spending was made possible by the earnings...

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly: Section 5. The State Finance Act is amended by adding Section 5.675 as follows: (30 ILCS 105/5.675 new) Sec. 5.675. The Boy Scout and Girl Scout Fund. Section 10. The Illinois Vehicle Code is amended by adding Section 3-664 as follows: (625 ILCS 5/3-664 new) Sec. 3-664. Boy Scout and Girl Scout license plates. (a) The Secretary, upon receipt of an application made in the form prescribed by the Secretary, may issue special registration plates designated to be Boy Scout and Girl Scout plates....

"SOME people have their midlife crisis in reverse, like Ronald Boyer, who for most of his professional life has been better known as a star of pornographic films, Rod Fontana.After 30 years of sowing the wildest of oats, Mr. Boyer, 54, has searched his soul and chosen, to the surprise of family and colleagues, to seek a priesthood in the Episcopal Church."It’s all here …but hold it just a minute there, folks. Haven't we heard this trope before? About a guy named McGreevey? And remember how that ended--much ado about nothing?Well, it turns out that's what we've got here: some...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - MIT edged out host and defending champion U.S. Military Academy by seven points (6,372-6,365) to secure the pistol program's fifth NRA Intercollegiate National Championship and second in three years. Despite falling to the Black Knights in free pistol by a margin of 26 points, the Engineers overcame the deficit with advantages of 25 and eight points in standard (second place) and air pistol (first place). In the open individual aggregate category, Daipan Lee placed third (1,614) while Eddie Huo finished four points behind him. On the women's side, the squad placed third (2,690) as Diana Nee earned...

ENGLEWOOD, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Data393, a provider of managed IT infrastructure, colocation and hosting solutions, announced today it donated servers to continue operation of more than 20 Scouting-related websites managed by the U.S. Scouting Service Project, Inc. (USSSP), a not-for-profit organization serving tens of thousands of youth members, their parents, program volunteers and employees belonging to multiple Scouting organizations across more than 70 countries. Data393 provides USSSP a managed Windows dedicated hosting environment for its primary website, www.usscouts.org, and for ancillary websites supporting the Scouting movement worldwide. The USSSP is an internet-based Missouri corporation with board members in eight states, including one...

“The primates of the Anglican Communion have utterly failed to recognize the faith, relationships, and vocations of the gay and lesbian baptized,” said Integrity President Susan Russell, responding to the communiqué released today from Dar Es Salaam. “Let us pray it doesn't take another hundred years for yet-unborn primates to gather for a service of repentance for what the church has done to its gay and lesbian members today, as they repented in Zanzibar yesterday for what it did to those the church failed to embrace as full members of the Body of Christ.” The Rev. Michael Hopkins, immediate past...

Actually, the article is from the 95th anniversary of the Boy Scouts of America. But I just wanted to note that today is the 97th birthday of the Boy Scouts of America.

The Pacific Legal Foundation announced Tuesday that it will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a decision by the California Supreme Court that affirmed the city of Berkeley's right to deny the Berkeley Sea Scouts free berthing privileges at its marina. The city revoked the scouts' berthing privileges in 1998 because the group is affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America, which bans atheists and gays. The city said the ban violates Berkeley's anti-discrimination ordinance. The scouts, who had berthed for free for more than 60 years, appealed to the courts, calling the city's policy a violation of the...

The Green Bay Press Gazette is reporting that their local United Way has changed their non-discrimination policy to simply require that all agencies must conform to all non-discrimination laws. Since the BSA's right to do what they do has been upheld in the Supreme Court, the local Council can now apply for funds. See this link for details.

This is the text of the "Support our Scouts Act".SEC. 8173. SUPPORT FOR YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS- (a) Short Title- This Act may be cited as the `Support Our Scouts Act of 2005'.(b) Support for Youth Organizations- (1) DEFINITIONS- In this subsection--(A) the term `Federal agency' means each department, agency, instrumentality, or other entity of the United States Government; and(B) the term `youth organization'--(i) means any organization that is designated by the President as an organization that is primarily intended to--(I) serve individuals under the age of 21 years;(II) provide training in citizenship, leadership, physical fitness, service to community, and teamwork; and(III)...

As someone who lived in France for nearly a decade, and who has visited those suburban ghettos, where the violence started, on reporting trips any number of times, I have not been surprised by this tsunami of inchoate youth rebellion that is engulfing France. It is the result of thirty years of government neglect: of the failure of the French political classes -- of both right and left -- to make any serious effort to integrate its Muslim and black populations into the larger French economy and culture; and of the deep-seated, searing, soul-destroying racism that the unemployed and profoundly...

Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and Bible study groups are free to hold meetings at San Diego public schools without paying fees. The San Diego Unified School District has revoked an unpopular policy implemented in August to charge Scouting groups user fees. It also agreed to stop charging an elementary school Bible study group, the Good News Club, and similar youth organizations. The reversals are part of an effort by the district to settle a federal lawsuit filed by Child Evangelism Fellowship in June. The organization, which sponsors the Good News Club, alleged discrimination because it had to pay to meet...

A new television series being broadcast around the Middle East tells the story of Arabs living in residential compounds in Saudi Arabia and the militant Islamists who want to blow them up so they can collect their rewards in heaven - 72 beautiful virgins. The show's message: terrorism is giving Islam a bad name, and Muslims are suffering because of the actions of a few. The programs, which began last Tuesday on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, have come under a blistering attack on the Internet in Arabic language chat rooms. The critics are...

Who is John Roberts? America Needs to Know. The following is the complete petition and 30 questions that Lambda Legal will deliver to the senators before John Roberts’s confirmation hearings begin on September 6, 2005. Sign our petition today and help put pressure on the Senate to ask these important questions. Dear Senator __________: As a civil rights organization that litigates on behalf of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and those with HIV, Lambda Legal has serious concerns about John Roberts’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court. His record raises troubling questions about his judicial philosophy, specifically in...