Free Republic

The state Senate on Tuesday approved a hotly debated measure that would allow many immigrants in the state illegally to sign up for special healthcare programs that would offer the same benefits as Medi-Cal. The action comes just days after lawmakers significantly scaled back the plan, which originally would have offered state-subsidized Medi-Cal to people in the country without authorization. State Sen. Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) said his proposal provides “what we can realistically achieve now” for the estimated 2 million people in the state illegally. We are talking about our friends. We are talking about our neighbors and our...

"What is the Islamic State? Where did it come from, and what are its intentions? The simplicity of these questions can be deceiving, and few Western leaders seem to know the answers. In December, The New York Times published confidential comments by Major General Michael K. Nagata, the Special Operations commander for the United States in the Middle East, admitting that he had hardly begun figuring out the Islamic State’s appeal. “We have not defeated the idea,” he said. “We do not even understand the idea.” In the past year, President Obama has referred to the Islamic State, variously, as...

The president’s plan to make community college free for everyone is the best news for the middle class in a long time. President Obama this month gave the best State of the Union address of his presidency but it was largely written in disappearing ink. Like the vast majority of presidential speeches, little of it lingers. But one proposal in the speech could prove historic. While Obama’s $60 billion plan for two free years of community college is dead-on-arrival in the Republican Congress, it is very much alive in American politics, where progressives now have an aspirational, easy-to-understand issue to...

It’s the terminus point of modern feminism: make the deeply personal very publicly political, and get someone else to pay for it! If one man is keeping you in the style to which you’re accustomed, you’re a kept woman – perhaps even [shudder] a stay-at-home mom. But if your sugar is funneled from thousands of hapless tax payers through a legion of faceless bureaucrats, you’re a tower of feminist self-determination. Fight the power, sisters! Demand government tampons! “This is less an issue of costliness than it is of principle,” she later admitted, because “menstrual care is health care.” To back...

Get free stuff—just for being born! These restaurants, retailers and more offer special discounts and freebies on your birthday.

<p>Hurricane Sandy brought out the worst yesterday in some sleazy New Yorkers, who looted stores and homes across the city.</p> <p>Some posed as Con Ed workers to dupe their victims.</p> <p>Police arrested more than a dozen looters in the Rockaways and Coney Island, which had been evacuated, and stood guard outside ravaged stores at the South Street Seaport. “This morning when they told us the water receded, I walked back to the house to feed [my pets],” said Eric Martine, 33, a cabby who lives in Brooklyn’s Gerritsen Beach. “Guys were looting, pretending they were Con Ed and holding people up. It was sick.” Residents said police warned them to beware of crooks pretending to be utility workers...</p>

The pantry served about 200 families per month in 2010. Now, that number is up to 500 families due to the bad economy and recent wildfires. "I have never seen it this bad," said Sue Kennedy, the pantry's executive director. Items needed include: •Canned corn •Canned green beans •Canned black eyed peas •Water •Instant potatoes •Canned chili •Diapers •Cake Mixes

A woman protester at the Occupy Philadelphia encampment at City Hall was raped in a tent, allegedly by a man who had traveled from out of state to join the protest, police said.

Remember the story of Hansel and Gretel? How the witch of the woods lured them into her edible candy hut and gave them piles and piles of free food—just so she could fatten them up and turn them into stew? Well, think about that old fairy tale the next time a waiter drops a plate of “free” food on your table...

<p>It's . . . it's perfect," she said, sitting on her new couch in her new D.C. apartment, letting out a sigh....</p>

When Eugene Jenkins showed up at St. Paul AME Church at 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, he didn’t know he would be one of the last people to get a ticket for assistance with his heating bill. He waited in line until 7 a.m., when officials started to hand out the tickets, then went home for a few hours before returning at 10 a.m. By the time he had finished up his paperwork, it was 1:15 p.m., making for a long day.

At the heart of the current controversy involving free tickets at Los Angeles City Hall, one question stands out: If Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended big-time entertainment events because he was conducting city business, why did he not keep better records of those public duties? For weeks, Villaraigosa has argued that he appeared in an official capacity at dozens of concerts, sporting events and awards shows since 2005, from sitting in box seats at Dodger Stadium to attending a 2007 performance by R&B singer Mary J. Blige at L.A. Live. Those duties, he said, exempted him from the law that would...

LOS ANGELES, - A lawyer for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa says his honor has received free passes to 81 concerts and sporting events since 2005. Attorney Brian Currey told the Los Angeles Times that city hall was still trying to round up documentation on who provided the ducats, but no formal records were kept. "There were no logs kept," Currey said. "There's just not much documentation.'' City law allows the mayor to accept freebies as long as his attendance is part of his official duties. The Times said Saturday that the details of the official nature of the appearances...

What boycott? Close to 9 in 10 Hispanics say they intend to participate in the 2010 census, with immigrants more likely to say the government count is good for their community and that personal information will be kept confidential, according to a new poll. The Pew Hispanic Center survey, being released Thursday, appears largely to put aside concerns that Hispanic discontent with the government's slow progress on immigration reform will curtail participation in the high-stakes count now underway. The National Coalition of Latino Clergy and Christian Leaders has suggested a Hispanic boycott of the census to protest the lack of...

15 Must-Have Web Apps for Students June 28, 2009 in Tips and Tools Welcome! If this is your first time here, you may want to subscribe to get updates in your RSS feed reader. Thanks for visiting! This is a guest post from Karen Schweitzer. For more from Karen, check out her blog about Online College Courses, or follow her on Twitter. College students are increasingly reliant on computers – and, for many of us, that means spending tons of money software that we’d rather not use anyway. The reality, though, is that there are a ton of great, free...

Senate Democrats re-laid the ground work for so-called comprehensive immigration reform. The plan would include amnesty for 12 to 20 million illegal aliens. President Obama has made this issue a priority - despite the struggling economy and millions of Americans out of work. Once amnestied, by the process of never-ending chain migration, those former illegal aliens and their newly arrived relatives would bring untold millions more into America. Lisa Sylvester reports...

Congressmen Howard Berman (D-CA) and Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-FL), announced the reintroduction today of the DREAM Act in the U.S. House of Representatives. This legislation will restore the States’ rights to determine residency requirements for higher education benefits - giving states the option to provide in-state tuition. The American DREAM Act seeks to facilitate access to postsecondary educational opportunities for immigrant students...who currently face barriers in pursuing a college education. It also provides a path to U.S. legal residency for students, and military personnel. Pero I have also been critical of the legislation for it’s inclusion of a military path to...

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Every public school sixth-grader in the city is guaranteed a spot at San Francisco State University under a program launched today by Mayor Gavin Newsom. "Guaranteed" might be a bit of a strong word here, since the students still have to meet basic eligibility requirements in order to get into the university. But the idea is to provide enough resources at every public school that all 3,500 current sixth-graders will meet those requirements by the time they graduate in 2015. Which would mean, by the way, that the school district aims to get every single sixth grader's GPA up to...

Americans will pick a new leader for the country today - and will be able to pick up free coffee, ice cream and other goodies too. Starbucks Corp. is offering a free cup of brewed coffee to anyone who asks today, while Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is giving away star-shaped doughnuts. Ice cream maker Ben and Jerry’s is offering a free scoop as part of a celebration of the election. Seattle-based Starbucks had originally planned to give away the “tall” brewed coffees to anyone who reported that they voted, saying in an ad: “If you care enough to vote, we...