Free Republic

For Michael Powell, a 53-year-old ex-convict, his tent off the highway in Camden, N.J., is what he has called home for nearly a decade. But on Tuesday, he and dozens of others living in homeless encampments known as “tent cities” throughout Camden were forced out—leaving many of them homeless all over again. The eviction was conducted by the state of New Jersey, as well as Camden county and city, for health and safety reasons. […] Amid the commotion on Tuesday, Gino Lewis, director of housing at the Camden County Improvement Authority, assured people that the county would work to find...

San Francisco spends $165 million a year on services for homeless people, but all that money hasn't made a dent in the homeless population in at least nine years. And in fact, the city's homeless tally may have long been underestimated. In addition to the 6,436 homeless adults counted during one night last year, a separate daytime count specifically of homeless youth found 914 children and young adults living in San Francisco without parents or guardians and without a roof over their heads. These findings are part of a new report by Harvey Rose, the budget and legislative analyst for...

Jesse Wachter's neighbors knew him as a "down-to-earth" guy who retired to hang out with his little white dog and tool around in his golf cart and Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Now they've learned that the 63-year-old resident of the Mid Florida Lakes mobile-home park, who hadn't been seen in weeks, is dead — buried in a grave covered with bags of mulch outside his home.... ....Several years ago, Wachter helped abduct his son's children from their mother in a violent confrontation near Orlando, court records show. His son, Jesse Jr., and the children's mother, Jessica Thigpen, remain held in the Lake...

The number of drug users in Afghanistan is estimated to be as high as 1.6 million, or about 5.3 percent of the population, among the highest rates in the world. Nationwide, 1 in 10 urban households has at least one drug user, according to a recent report from the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs. In the city of Herat, it is 1 in 5. From 2005 to 2009, the use of opiates doubled, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, putting Afghanistan on par with Russia and Iran, and the number of heroin users jumped...

Price increases, health concerns and restrictions on where people can light up lead to a 8.1% drop in sales in the most recent fiscal year. Taking a puff in California is getting to be a drag, with health concerns and high prices pushing cigarette sales in the most recent fiscal year to their steepest plunge in a decade.Californians bought 8.1% fewer cigarettes in fiscal 2009 — which ended June 30 — than a year earlier, according to a report Tuesday from the California State Board of Equalization. Since peaking in fiscal 1980 with 2.8 billion packs, cigarette sales has tumbled...

Ron Paul just threw Israel under the bus on Imus.

Joining Judge Napolitano for his Freedom Watch television debut will be a few more stellar guests. Earlier it was announced that Ron Paul and Sarah Palin would be joining the show. Now weÂ’ve received word that the following guests are also scheduled to appear: â– Dr. Rand Paul â– Senator Jim DeMint â– Rep. Michelle Bachman â– Dick Armey Tune in this Saturday at 10am Eastern to Fox Business Channel for the debut.

Everybody takes sides. When the chips are down on important issues, everybody can eventually be found on a side of their choosing. Those that claim to be neutral on the important issues of life are either ignorant of the reality of where they truly stand or are attempting to deceive someone.

been waiting for this for a long time

A famously-rude Kiwi politician has proposed a new solution to the country's dire child abuse problem - sterilise the "underclass". Michael Laws - who stirred up contempt by calling the late Tongan King a "bloated brown slug" - has again hit headlines for the wrong reasons. The regional mayor claimed that the children of social security beneficiaries, drug addicts and criminals had little chance in life and were prime targets for child abuse. Sterilising their parents was the best solution, he brazenly suggested. "If we gave $10,000 to certain people and said 'we'll voluntarily sterilise you' then all of society...

While Al “Globull Fraud” Gore continues to make the following public statement: "Washington needs a breath of fresh air. Al Franken is a great man, a great activist, and will be a great leader in the U.S. Senate" … it is important to remember the real Al Franken. The fact is Franken has been an unsuccessful hack his entire life. His only “accomplishment” in life was video taping sex with Arianna “The Greek Leona Helmsley” Huffington. Now Franken, and the Democrats-Soros Shadow Party, wants America to believe that “the new Al” is fit to be a U.S. Senator of...

Drug addicts in the town of Drammen say they were offered money or free kebabs to vote for the Labour Party in the local election last week. Bent Sandberg was offered NOK 50 (about USD 9) to vote for the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) in the local election last week. He declined the bribe.

Former vice president says his youngest child's arrest in O.C. after pot and pills allegedly are found in his car is 'a private matter.' Former Vice President Al Gore said Thursday that he was glad his son was safe and getting treatment a day after the 24-year-old was arrested in Orange County on suspicion of illegally possessing marijuana and prescription drugs. "We love him very much," Gore told NBC's "Today" show, adding, "We are going to leave it as a private matter." Gore, who appeared on NBC to publicize this weekend's Live Earth concerts, also briefly discussed politics. He called...

T.O. announces campaign to attract gay tourists toronto.ctv.ca Tourism Toronto said Friday that it plans to launch an advertising campaign aimed at making the city a top destination for gay travellers from the U.S. The campaign will focus on four major cities - New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. It will include ads in gay restaurants, bars and local publications, as well as event sponsorships and other promotional activities. "Toronto has things to offer all year round--we've got a number of festivals outside of Pride that we can market," said Bruce MacDonald of the Canadian Gay & Lesbian...

At a recent backyard barbecue in Miami's Upper Eastside, a group of middle-age, middle-class folks tamely sipped berry cocktails and beers. Among them: a couple of lawyers, a couple of city administrators and an arts administrator. Somewhere between the skirt steak and the apple pie, somebody lit a joint and passed it around. Nobody blinked. Even in mainstream, white-collar settings, smoking marijuana can be commonplace and unremarkable, like having a little wine with dinner. Once a stamp of the arty, the marginal and the counterculture, today marijuana's popularity cuts across social boundaries. Yet several high-profile marijuana arrests have recently made...

Posted on Fri, Feb. 02, 2007 Reid son admits taking heroin Garrett Reid told police he'd used heroin before his accident in Montco. By Mari A. Schaefer and Larry King Inquirer Staff Writers The eldest son of Eagles coach Andy Reid admitted using heroin before causing a traffic accident this week in Montgomery County, court documents show. Garrett Reid, 23, "acknowledged using heroin... on Tuesday," according to a search-warrant affidavit released yesterday. He made the admission in a written statement he gave police after the accident. "Reid also acknowledged possessing drug paraphernalia including hypodermic syringes," the affidavit said. Police obtained...

New Jersey has the fifth highest number of AIDS cases in America, and yesterday became the last state to allow intravenous drug users to get clean needles, hoping it will slow the spread of the deadly virus. Gov. Jon Corzine ended a 13-year stalemate by signing a law to permit six communities to host needle exchange sites, where clean syringes and referrals to drug treatment will be available. The bill includes $10 million for drug treatment and counseling programs. "This is an historic day for public health," Corzine said, calling the law "a potential bridge to hope for addicts." After...

They weren’t mellow or takin’ it easy when Gov. Bill Owens talked on the Capitol steps Friday morning in opposition to a statewide ballot measure seeking to legalize marijuana possession. About 50 people of all ages shouted him down as he and Attorney General John Suthers cited statistics declaring pot dangerous. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is a sad day for Colorado," Owens said. And then he had to repeat what he said over the chant, "What do we want? Safer drugs. When do we want them? Now." Suthers couldn’t even be heard much of the time he spoke. For about...

The Philadelphia School District has received about 120 complaints - including one from a parent who said she would keep her child out of school for the entire month of October - because the district recognized Gay and Lesbian History Month on its school calendars. Gay and Lesbian History Month was added for the first time this year in an effort to be more inclusive and follow a long-standing district policy requiring equity for all races and minority groups, said Cecilia Cummings, the district's senior vice president for communications and community relations. It is one of four special history months...

Jobs are being eliminated by special interest activist organizations Now that air quality test results by the likes of the American Cancer Society are proving that the secondhand smoke kills argument is completely fabricated. http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html It's time for lawmakers to investigate why this fallacy has permeated the local government debate.....and specifically who is funding and spreading that false information. http://www.rwjf.org/about/founder.jhtml The "who" is in large part the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. And since RWJF is an affiliate of the Johnson & Johnson Company (the manufacturer of competing nicotine product interests Nicoderm & Nicoderm CQ), it stands to reason that the...