Free Republic

Police are looking for as many as six or seven Somali men after two joggers were randomly attacked in Fridley. Authorities said two joggers were the victims of what are being labeled as random attacks on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. and 3:50 p.m. The joggers, both men, were on a path near East River Road and 37th Avenue NE when the attacks took place. Police said one man suffered a bloody nose in the attack and the other has a sore throat. Authorities said these attacks were not robbery attempts and that the suspects randomly approached them and assaulted them....

Pedro Ramirez, Fresno State's student body president, is an undocumented immigrant serving in the position without pay. Ramirez, 23, attends school on scholarships and pays in-state tuition. California is one of 10 states that permit undocumented immigrants to pay in-state tuition -- a position that was upheld by the state Supreme Court this week. After his election last June, he told the administration he would serve without pay -- a $9,000 stipend -- because he could not lie on employment papers. On Tuesday, an anonymous tip to the college newspaper forced Ramirez to go public.

February 9, 2010 We're Living In Broken Britain, Say Most Voters Peter Riddell Voters are deeply pessimistic about the state of Britain today, believing that society is broken and heading in the wrong direction, a Populus poll for The Times has found. Nearly three fifths of voters say that they hardly recognise the country they are living in, while 42 per cent say they would emigrate if they could. But worries over the pace of social change and dislocation are balanced by the belief that life will get better, according to the survey undertaken at the weekend. It suggests that...

At 7 months old, Kemberly Méndez doesn’t roll over or sit in a propped-up position. Her right thumb is flexed downward; her index finger is a nubbin and the rest of her right-hand fingers are webbed. Her short life has consisted of physical therapy sessions and visits to specialists who are treating her for Poland syndrome, a pattern of one-sided body malformations, usually on the right side, that are present at birth. But all the care Kemberly, a U.S. citizen, is receiving at Erlanger hospital and at the Shriners Hospital in Lexington, Ky., is in limbo because her mother is...

MATTAWA, WASH -- . -- Nearly everyone in this small farming community in eastern Washington speaks Spanish -- nearly everyone except those in city government and the Police Department, where English is spoken. And almost everyone who speaks one language does not speak the other. That language barrier has engulfed the community, which has grown over the last 20 years from 300 to about 3,200 year-round residents. Nine out of 10 Mattawa residents speak Spanish at home, and 8 out of 10 adults speak English "less than very well," according to the 2000 U.S. Census. The Columbia River basin community,...

At war with radical Islam National Post Mon 30 Oct 2006 Page: A13 Section: Issues & Ideas Byline: Lorne Gunter Social housing must be counted as one of the greatest failures -- and there are many -- of the "progressive" thinking of the 1960s and 1970s. Nearly everywhere large public housing projects have been built, they have become incubators for crime, drug dependence, fatherless families, unemployment and welfare. Rather than lifting minorities out of poverty, social housing has herded them together where they are easier prey for bad people and bad ideas. So, at least some of the troubles...

CLICHY-SOUS-BOIS, France - Marauding youths torched hundreds of vehicles overnight and on Saturday in renewed violence coinciding with the first anniversary of riots that exposed a deep schism between poor North African immigrants and mainstream France. A group of teenagers set one bus on fire Saturday in the southern French port city of Marseille, seriously wounding a passenger. Three others suffered from smoke inhalation, police said. Two other public buses and 277 vehicles around the country were burned overnight, police said. Six police were injured and 47 people were arrested, ministry officials said. Still the Interior Ministry described the night...

Britain is embroiled in a fierce debate over British Muslim women who wear a niqab--an opaque veil that covers a woman's entire face. Many British Muslims have expressed outrage that a public schoolteacher was ordered to remove her veil--while many other Britons have defended the school, criticized the wearing of niqabs, and called for the greater assimilation of Muslims into British society. "Britons are absolutely right to criticize the niqab," said Alex Epstein, junior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute. "It is a demeaning, barbaric article of clothing that inculcates shame in women, depriving them of individuality and femininity." "But...

The French housing estates hit by a wave of riots a year ago could once again descend into violence, an intelligence report has warned. The conditions that led to the 2005 unrest are still in place, it says. The warning comes just days before the anniversary of the first riots, following the death of two youths in an estate north-east of Paris. Recent weeks have seen a rise in clashes between police and youths in the capital's immigrant suburbs. The report by the intelligence agency of the interior ministry, dated 11 October, was leaked to the Figaro newspaper. The BBC's...

French police face 'permanent intifada' By JAMEY KEATEN, Associated Press Writer1 hour, 15 minutes ago On a routine call, three unwitting police officers fell into a trap. A car darted out to block their path, and dozens of hooded youths surged out of the darkness to attack them with stones, bats and tear gas before fleeing. One officer was hospitalized, and no arrests made. The recent ambush was emblematic of what some officers say has become a near-perpetual and increasingly violent conflict between police and gangs in tough, largely immigrant French neighborhoods that were the scene of a three-week paroxysm...

Legalization for aliens a 'must,' Bush announces President keeps status talks going while entrance laws remain unenforced Posted: October 11, 2006 © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com President Bush says that part of the solution to illegal immigration "must" include a way for those already in the United States but without legal authorization to be given that status. "We will conduct this debate on immigration in a way that is respectful to our heritage," he said at a recent White House event honoring Hispanic Heritage Month. "We are a nation of law, and we will enforce our law. "But at the same time,...

Reports of riots heavily exaggerated Riots and demolition. Smashed windows and devastated shopping centers. It turned out to be nothing less than hype. How could it happen? Malin Sahlström, secretary of press with the Västra Götaland Police Authority gives an explanation to the whole thing. - No official spokesperson was on duty. He left at 18.00 and afterwards, emergency call centre operators themselves took care of external relations like contact with the media and they’re not qualified for this responsibility. We’re supposed to be open towards the media, but according to what I’ve heard, the operators yesterday recieved equal numbers...

LGF reader Enlil from Gothenburg, Sweden, sent the following disturbing note: Tonight there were power shortages all over Sweden’s second largest city, Gothenburg. “Youth gangs” took the opportunity, spreading the European tradition of “Ramadan Riots.” Within an hour most schools and commercial centers in the north eastern suburbs were vandalized. - It’s complete chaos in north eastern Gothenburg. “We’ve sent all available police units but there’s no way we can stop the vandalisation,” police spokesman Frank Karlsson tells gp.se. - Several youth gangs are wandering about smashing windows and breaking into schools, malls, banks and a retirement center. Not a...

SHREVEPORT, La. - A Dallas roofer suspected of raping a newlywed woman after tying up her husband at their Shreveport apartment has been captured in Texas. Alfredo Rodriguez Gonzalez, 29, was arrested over the weekend in New Braunfels by a fugitive task force, authorities said. He was being held pending an extradition hearing on an aggravated rape charge. Authorities also said immigration authorities have placed a hold on Gonzalez because he is in the United States illegally. The alleged rape happened Sept. 9 at an apartment complex where Gonzalez had been working, investigators said. The attack took place after two...

SANTA ANA – At least one Orange County Sheriff's deputy is being investigated for reportedly turning over three women to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, potentially violating department policy and straining relations between Sheriff Mike Carona and immigration advocates. The women, who worked as housekeepers and were accused of theft, voluntarily returned to Mexico last week rather than face deportation. Dropped off in Tijuana, the women were divided from their families at a time when Carona is attempting to sell Latino activists on a plan to allow jailers and detectives to hand over serious felons in the U.S. illegally for...

Nearly half of those polled say they have become more skeptical about Islam as a religion after the global uproar around the Mohammed caricatures. The result comes from a survey carried out by InFact for Norway's best-selling newspaper VG. According to the survey, which was carried out on Tuesday, 47.8 percent of those asked said they were more skeptical about Islam, while 36.7 percent their opinion of the religion had not been affected by the caricature controversy. A small group of 6.5 percent said they were less skeptical about Islam after the turmoil. At the same time, 30.8 percent say...

Days after dozens of protesters rallied at a day laborer site in neighboring Glendale, Burbank officials are preparing to celebrate the grand opening of a Home Depot and an adjacent hiring center. They are also preparing for protests. The City Council took the unusual step of requiring Home Depot to construct the hiring hall as a condition of building the store, sparking a contentious public debate with some accusing the council of catering to illegal immigrants. The store and the center are scheduled to open Thursday. Protesters plan to attend the council's meeting tonight, when the panel is expected to...

By MIKE CORDER Associated Press Writer The Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia Authorities seeking to prevent more racial unrest in Sydney were keeping a close watch on places of worship, as Prime Minister John Howard acknowledged Wednesday this week's riots may have harmed Australia's image abroad. Police were investigating whether an early morning fire at a Protestant church in Sydney was related to the rioting that gripped the city's beachside suburbs Sunday and Monday. Another church in the neighborhood, which has a large Middle Eastern population, had its windows smashed overnight. "Incidents like this don't play well around the world," Howard...

House conservatives today announced plans to amend a Republican-sponsored immigration reform bill with language calling for the construction of a 2,000-mile fence along the U.S.-Mexico border and a provision that would deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. whose parents aren’t citizens. The legislation, sponsored by House Judiciary Chairman James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.), is expected to be voted on by the full House as early as next week. Sensenbrenner has worked closely with the White House to craft the bill (H.R. 4437) -- the reason conservatives cited for the exclusion of key enforcement tools. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.) organized Thursday’s...

FRANCE: INTERIOR MINISTER AIMS FOR 25,000 EXPULSIONS IN 2006 Paris, 30 Nov. (AKI) - France's interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy has indicated he intends in 2006 to deport some 25,000 foreigners without proper papers, continuing a policy of increasing the number of such expulsions each year. Addressing the French Senate's commission on illegal immigration, Sarkozy also announced a tightening of rules governing asylum seekers. In 2006, temporary accommodation will no longer automatically be provided to asylum seekers if they turn down the accommodation offered them, Sarkozy announced. And if their application for asylum is rejected, the asylum-seeker will now have 15...