Free Republic

The Michigan Republican Party announced Monday that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) will join the lineup for its biennial conference on Mackinac Island. The confab is scheduled for Sept. 24 to 26. “Lindsey Graham has been an outspoken advocate for conservative principles and is a dedicated problem-solver,” said Michigan GOP Chair Ron Weiser. “We are excited to have him join the great line up of conference speakers.” Also slated to speak are former Vice President Mike Pence, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, all of whom are considered to be 2024 presidential contenders. Pence...

MACKINAC ISLAND, MI — Rand Paul won the presidential preference straw poll this weekend at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, a biennial gather of more than 2,000 Michigan Republicans. With 785 attendees voting, the U.S. Senator from Kentucky received 22 percent of the vote in the MIRS/Detroit News straw poll. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina finished second at 15 percent. Each of the top five vote-getters spoke at the island event, including Ohio Gov. John Kasich (13.7 percent), Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas (13 percent) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (9.7 percent). John Yob, national political director and Michigan...

An Island in Michigan has kept Victorian-era charm thanks to its ban on motor vehicles and has become a huge tourist draw for its quaint ways. Motor vehicles have been banned on the island since the start of the 20th century after an automobile frightened some of the horses. These days, people still travel by horse-drawn carriage, as well as by bike and by foot. Mackinac Island, located off the Straits of Mackinac separating Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, was an important outpost in the region's fur trade, but that gave way to fishing and eventually tourism. Among the main...

As it gets ready to celebrates its 125th birthday on Tuesday these stunning pictures show the elegant Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Michigan. Since July 10 1887 the 385-room hotel has welcomed guests to stay in its magnificent rooms. In honor of the landmark anniversary rooms will be available for $125 per person, including breakfast and a cocktail reception followed by a five-course feast for dinner.

The bodies of two people have been pulled from the water in northern Lake Michigan after a sailboat participating in the Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac capsized in a storm near Fox Island early Monday morning. Six were rescued. The names of the two were not released by the Coast Guard. Officials could not recall any previous drowning deaths during past races. The Coast Guard was notified at 11:40 p.m. CDT Sunday by radio by crew members from the sailing vessel Sociable, that the 35-foot sailing vessel WingNuts had capsized, sending eight people into the water. Crew aboard the...

The barren economy of this rustbelt state is weakening the labor movement, but well-connected unions continue to shape Michigan's politics. So it's not surprising that some are willing to take extraordinary measures to help repopulate union ranks--even to the extent of making the state an accessory to a scheme to shanghai more than 40,000 home-based day care entrepreneurs and providers into a government-employee union. This development was first brought to the attention of the Mackinac -Center for Public Policy, where we work, in early 2009, when the center was approached by Sherry Loar, owner of Baby Steps Childcare Center in...

Duncan Hunter takes a few minutes to answer some questions on the porch of the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Addressing the Republican Leadership Conference at the Mackinac Island Grand Hotel, United States Congressman Duncan Hunter has made trade a major issue in his candidacy for President. Hunter contends that China is illegally devaluing their currency by 40 per cent. This devaluation, according to Hunter, undercuts American production in markets around the world. According to Hunter's figures, America has lost approximately 1.8 million jobs nationwide, the Michigan state losses exceed 54,000 jobs. Hunter appears to be the only Republican candidate who is not a "free trader." He has called the loss of American manufacturing jobs a national security concern. "Our...

Attendees of the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, MI over the weekend were billing Fred Thompson's much anticipated speech on Saturday as an important first impression. But from the outset, Thompson was suffering from an organizational disadvantage caused mostly by the absence of a fulltime Michigan staff, which caused the campaign to have virtually no physical presence on the island, including relatively few Thompson '08 signs and only a handful of volunteers. This stacked up poorly with Romney’s better-organized operation. The Romney camp provided buses, hotel accommodations and ferry tickets for well over 60...

Fred Thompson's new campaign manager, Bill Lacy, forces out communications director Linda Rozett and suddenly we have a date for Fred's announcement: Sources tell numerous outlets that Thompson will announce his campaign September 4th, and that he will participate in his first debate on September 27 at Morgan State University in Baltimore. His first major appearance at a GOP event will be at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference in Michigan around a week earlier. Read on...

Renee Crays hunched forward in the rear seat of her pickup. One hand clutched the headrest of the seat before her so tightly that her knuckles turned white. The Mackinac Bridge's vertical suspension cables flowed past her window as the truck climbed the gentle slope toward the center span on a recent sunny, beautiful day. Gulls soared about the bridge towers. A freighter lumbered in the distance. But Crays showed no interest in the panoramic view. She didn't glance out the side windows at all, only straight ahead, tense. "I'm scared to death of this bridge," she said. "It makes...

BAY CITY -- Lawyers for three Texas men once accused of plotting to blow up the Mackinac Bridge claim the government is bailing out an overzealous prosecutor by bringing unprecedented charges. Until Wednesday, even the FBI said the business of buying and altering cell phones -- as the men claim was their only motive -- was a legal enterprise, and that the only issue was whether proceeds end up in terrorist coffers. But now, the FBI and U.S. attorneys in Bay City say the entrepreneurial behavior of three Americans of Palestinian descent amounts to fraud, not terrorism. <excerpted>

MARIETTA, Ohio - Prosecutors dropped the terrorism charges against two men arrested after buying large numbers of cell phones, saying Tuesday that they couldn't prove a terrorism link. The dismissal, in a one-page court document, came the day after Washington County Prosecutor James Schneider said he didn't have enough evidence to present the felony charges to a grand jury. Ali Houssaiky and Osama Sabhi Abulhassan, both of Dearborn, Mich., left prison after paying a reduced bond on their remaining misdemeanor counts of falsification. "We know it was just a matter of time. We were just hoping it wouldn't be forever,"...

CARO, Mich. - The FBI said Monday it had no information to indicate that the three Texas men arrested with about 1,000 cell phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist groups. Authorities had increased patrols on Michigan's 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge after local prosecutors said investigators believed the men were targeting the span. Local authorities didn't say what they believed the men intended to do with the phones, most of which were prepaid TracFones, but Caro's police chief noted that cell phones can be untraceable and used as detonators. The FBI issued a news release Monday saying...

(TV5) -- It was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. In response to the announcement by the Tuscola County Prosecutor the U.S. Coast Guard is increasing its patrols of the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge security had already been increased for several months due to elevated terror alert levels. Cameras on the bridge are monitored so that any suspicious packages or activity will be responded to by authorities. There is growing speculation as to why the Might Mac was the alleged target of these three Palestinian-American men. Tuscola...

by Mark Finkelstein August 14, 2006 Maruan Awad Muhareb. Adham Abdelhamid Othman. Louai Abdelhamied Othman. Now you know the names of the three suspects arrested over the weekend, suspected in a plot to blow up the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. You wouldn't have known either their names or backgrounds had you relied on the Today show this morning for the information. According to the wife of one of the suspects, the men's families come from Jerusalem. According to NBC reporter Janet Shamlian, who narrated a segment on the situation, those facing terrorism charges are "three...

By now, you've probably read the news that the three Palestinians caught in Caro, Michigan with 1,000 TracFone cellphones are involved in a plot to blow up Michigan's Mackinac Bridge (it connects both Michigan peninsulas). Mackinac Bridge site here. But here's what you didn't read: Sources tell DebbieSchlussel.com that the men are from Palestinian Islamic Jihad, the group that works in concert with HAMAS in performing homicide bombings in Israel. The group once even considered merging with HAMAS, at the time that it was headed by University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, a founder of the group. Maybe now...

(AP) DALLAS -- The wife of one of three Texas men arraigned on terrorism-related charges in Michigan says her husband and his relatives are not terrorists, but are simply trying to make money by reselling cell phones. "They're locked up in jail for something that they didn't do," 20-year-old Lina Odeh told The Associated Press on Saturday. Her husband, Louai Abdelhamied Othman of Mesquite, along with his brother, Adham Abdelhamid Othman of Dallas, and their cousin Maruan Awad Muhareb of Mesquite, are charged with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes....

Mackinac Bridge; Alleged Target Of Terror Aug 13, 2006 10:47 AM EDT (TV5) -- We are following breaking news today after it was revealed that the goal of an alleged terror plot, uncovered in Mid-Michigan, was apparently to hit the Mackinac Bridge. The suspects are 21 year old Adham Abdelhamid Othman, 18 year old Maruan Awad Muhareb, and 23 year old Louai Abdelhamied Othman; all are apparently from Texas. All have been charged with one count each of collecting and providing material support for terrorism; and one count of surveillance of a vulnerable target (that target allegedly being the Mackinac...

U.S. arrests 3 men suspected of targeting Michigan bridge for terrorist attack (AP) Link coming...