Free Republic

Water Island is a small Island on the south side of St. Thomas, in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The island has its own source of fresh water and so has been relatively strategic since the pirate days. The island has mostly remained out of the news for most of its existence until relatively recently. However, in a Politico article published January 28, 2020, author Ben Schreckinger revisited a possibly “less-than-arms-length” deal between Joe Biden’s brother James Biden, and lobbyist Scott Green. As the Politco article details, “In 2005, Joe Biden’s brother bought an acre of land with excellent ocean views...

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is the top pick of Utah voters in the GOP presidential race but is closely followed by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, according to a new poll released Monday. The national front-runner for the Republican nomination, business mogul and reality TV star Donald Trump, trails behind Cruz, Rubio and "don't know" in the UtahPolicy.com poll.The poll comes the same day as Trump supporters in Utah were scheduled to announce the formation of the Trump for President–Utah organization in a news conference on the steps of the state Capitol.Trump backers in the Legislature announced Monday were Senate Majority...

NDP Leader Jack Layton has enlisted one of his predecessors to sound out former prime minister Jean Chretien on the possibility of a Liberal-New Democrat coalition government. A senior NDP official told The Canadian Press that Ed Broadbent spoke to Chretien at least four times after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered an economic update that threatened to bankrupt the opposition parties. ...The opposition parties all say Flaherty's mini-budget, which strictly limits federal spending, bans public-sector strikes through 2011, and denies federal parties $30 million in annual funding, is ideologically driven and offers no stimulus package to deal with the economic...

No phony businesses or great train escapes in this one, alas, but on the upside it’s much easier to follow the money. One HillRaiser suspected of laundering contributions through frontmen is a fluke; two is a pattern. When Hillary Rodham Clinton held an intimate fund-raising event at her Washington home in late March, Pamela Layton donated $4,600, the maximum allowed by law, to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign. But the 37-year-old Ms. Layton says she and her husband were reimbursed by her husband’s boss for the donations. “It wasn’t personal money. It was all corporate money,” Mrs. Layton said outside her...

Troops acting 'like terrorists?' Draft resolution to go before NDP committee John Ivison National Post Wednesday, September 06, 2006 OTTAWA - Canada's troops in Afghanistan have been "acting like terrorists, destroying communities, killing and maiming innocent people", according to a resolution that will be voted on by New Democrats at the party's convention in Quebec City this weekend. The resolution is one of 104 proposals on international affairs from local riding associations that will be presented at the convention. Others suggest Canada withdraw from the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), the World Trade Organization and the North American...

Love the soldiers? Love the soldiering CHRISTIE BLATCHFORD Toronto Globe and Mail Monday, September 4, 2006 I covered Jack Layton during the last federal election. I like him. I know him not to be a stupid man, and he's certainly fun. We exchanged iPods on the campaign plane one day. I used to joke and call myself his unofficial publicist, so shamelessly affectionate were the pieces I filed from my time on his tour. I saw him on CBC Newsworld yesterday afternoon and if I could have, I would have reached into my television set and grabbed him by...

OTTAWA—The election campaign has taken a dramatic turn, with the opposition Conservatives jumping into their first real lead over the governing Liberals, a new poll shows. The survey, conducted by EKOS Research Associates for the Star and La Presse, found that 36.2 per cent of decided voters say they will support the Conservatives, while 30.4 per cent favoured the Liberals. The NDP is supported by 17.9 per cent of voters, while the Bloc is at 10.4 per cent nationally and the Green party is at 4.7 per cent. If the numbers hold up, it would mean a Tory minority government....

VANCOUVER, TORONTO — Industry Minister David Emerson said yesterday he would not apologize for comparing NDP Leader Jack Layton to a boiled dog's head because he didn't mean the remark to be insulting. Mr. Emerson was quoted on a Liberal blog in December using the translated Cantonese phrase saap suk gau tau in reference to Mr. Layton. The phrase means a boiled dog's head and can imply someone is grinning insincerely.

NDP Leader Jack Layton is promising to cut greenhouse gas emissions by one-quarter over the next 15 years as part of his plan for the environment introduced Tuesday. Layton slammed the Liberals' environmental record while speaking to reporters outside an international climate change conference in Montreal. "It is a disgrace that our emissions, after we have been promised by Mr. Martin that they would be reduced by 20 per cent, are up by 24 per cent – worst in the developed world," Layton said while campaigning for the Jan. 23 election. Layton's plan includes the creation of a new clean...

Toronto Sun December 6, 2005 BAUBLE-HEAD SVEND By MARK BONOKOSKI The cesspool of political "entitlement" and "corruption" in which the federal Liberals are trying not to electorally drown is no longer a one-party domain now that a jewel thief has been acclaimed as Jack Layton's NDP candidate in the riding of Vancouver Centre. No longer can Jack call the kettle black. No longer can Jack talk ethics. How can Jack Layton accuse the Liberals of "helping themselves" in the sponsorship scandal, for example, when he has given his blessing to Sunday's endorsement of Svend Robinson, a politician who helped himself...

Federal MPs have passed an NDP motion that calls on Prime Minister Paul Martin to dissolve Parliament in January for a Feb. 13 election. But the minority Liberals immediately said they would ignore the non-binding motion, clearing the way for a no-confidence motion expected to take down the government next week. The motion – which was introduced by NDP Leader Jack Layton and supported by the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois – passed by a vote of 167-129 on Monday night. After the vote, Layton said he hoped it would spur a change of heart from Martin, who has repeatedly rejected...

Tories dismiss 'flake' Layton's talk of a plot 'The accusations are ridiculous. There's nothing to add': Bloc Anne Dawson and Bill Curry CanWest News Service Thursday, October 07, 2004 OTTAWA - Jack Layton yesterday alleged the Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois were scheming to vote down the Throne Speech and install Stephen Harper as prime minister, but members of the opposition parties immediately dismissed the NDP leader's accusations as "ridiculous" and "embarrassing." Mr. Layton was angered to learn Mr. Harper had presented amendments to the Throne Speech that the NDP leader had proposed himself when he was negotiating with Mr. Harper...

NDP leader Jack Layton is a man of great energy and high purpose. To him, Canada is a nation without enemies, a nation whose security is threatened only by climate change, global disparities, abuses of human rights -- and the United States government of George W. Bush. Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) -- or Star Wars, as Layton inaccurately describes it -- threatens Canada's independence, will never work, and will cost Canada millions and millions. Worse, as Layton said in a large newspaper advertisement on Jan. 22, "Star Wars is un-Canadian," undermining "Canada's proud tradition of peacekeeping." Layton's advertisement listed six...

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8 — As the health officer of Alameda County, Dr. Anthony Iton is prepared to make tough choices if SARS re-emerges this winter or spring, as many infectious disease experts fear. The county, just across the bay from here, has identified two large buildings where, if voluntary steps to quell an epidemic were to fail, the authorities could sequester not just people who were sick but also people who might have been exposed to the SARS virus, Dr. Iton said. The buildings, he said, could house up to 100 people and could be guarded to keep anyone...

Keys town fights border station Locals fear loss of their identity BY JENNIFER BABSON jbabson@herald.com The tiniest city in the Florida Keys -- population 186 in the high season -- is taking on U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft in a battle that locals say is intended to preserve their patch of paradise. Angry residents of Layton filed suit after the U.S. Border Patrol announced plans to open a new station, including an interim migrant processing center, in the mile-long municipality between Islamorada and Marathon. 'The mood in Layton is, `Hey, whatever it takes,' '' said Hal Halenza, 72, a city...