Free Republic

In early 1846, Pres. James K. Polk dispatched an expeditionary force to the border hoping to provoke hostilities. It worked. In April, Mexico declared war. The American Army won two back-to-back victories. The U.S. formally declared war in May, and – after a series of very bloody battles – Mexico was defeated in 1848. America's victory resulted in the vast acquisition of new U.S. territories stretching to the Pacific: A bone of contention for some Mexicans (and other Hispanics) in the current immigration reform debate.

Much has been made about what Donald J. Trump did and did not say in his second inaugural address. To be specific, President Trump highlighted a 180-year-old, history-laden idea of the United States – which for him, defines America. In his address, President Trump vowed, “We will pursue our Manifest Destiny into the stars,” promising to send astronauts to plant the “Stars and Stripes” on our planetary neighbor — Mars.

Teacher Eliva Espinoza, 46, was stabbed to death by her pre-med student son.. Police said Emmanuel Espinoza confessed he did it because she annoyed him .. A beloved Florida elementary school teacher was murdered by her pre-med student son because 'she got on his nerves,' police said. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said University of Florida pre-med student Emmanuel Espinoza, 21, was driving from Gainesville to Frostproof when he decided to kill his mother Saturday. Emmanuel was traveling to attend a family event and had asked his mother, 46-year-old Elvia Espinoza, if he could stay at her house for the...

When Pennsylvania’s Department of Human Services announced in 2019 that Polk and White Haven Centers, two large state-operated institutions for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, would close by November 2022—claiming that moving residents to “community-based settings” would better honor their “inherent worth and dignity”—it spelled the end of two campuses that had housed the intellectually and developmentally disabled for more than 50 years. It also sparked a political fight between disability-rights activists, who hailed the closures as a step toward full inclusion for people with disabilities, and many residents and their families, who feared losing what they considered their...

FLORIDA SHERIFF: "The people in Polk County like guns, they have guns, I encourage them to own guns. — And if you try to break into their homes to steal, to set fires, I'm highly recommending they blow you back out of the house with their guns."

LAKELAND -- Need to seek shelter and under a warrant? Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd says he's got a nice safe shelter at the jail.

A Polk County family says bullying may force them to pull their 14-year-old daughter out of school. Haines City Police said it has launched an investigation into the bullying, and the FBI is also looking into the complaint.Fourteen-year-old Zarah Habibulla says the bullying started last December when she began wearing a headscarf to school as part of her Muslim faith. Zarah said she is now scared to go to school after students have taunted her saying, “terrorist, yo we got some terrorists here we gotta run,” and “…I’m going to shoot you. I’m going to bomb you. You better watch...

James K. Polk was born in North Carolina in 1795 and was the 11th elected President. The author states he was the first natural born citizen elected President. Can any one locate this book? Google books does not allow full access. Perhaps the author gives an explanation.

As America debates whether to send tens of thousands more troops to Afghanistan, in the ninth year of a war for ends we cannot discern, a riveting new history recalls times when Americans fought for vital national interests. "A Country of Vast Designs: James K. Polk, the Mexican War, and the Conquest of the American Continent" is Robert Merry's brilliant biography and history of that time. Merry goes far toward righting the injustice done by historians who have denied this great man his place in the pantheon of presidents, because they believe "Jimmy Polk's War" to have been a war...

Queens Man Admits Supplying Social Security Numbers to Fraud Ring NEWARK—A Queens, N.Y. man pleaded guilty today to supplying Social Security numbers to members of an identity fraud ring, acting United States Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced. Yomi Jagunna, 44, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton to one count of conspiracy to commit identity theft. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 12. Jagunna, whose bail is set at $1 million, was returned to custody, where he has been since his arrest on a criminal Complaint in New York on Oct. 28. A one-count Indictment charging him in...

POLK COUNTY, Fla. -- A Polk County man caught two thieves on his property so he pulled out a gun and started shooting, killing one suspect. The homeowner, Jamie Jones, was working in his Winter Haven orange grove Tuesday morning when he heard a noise. Jones says he grabbed his gun and saw a man and woman trying to drive away in his SUV Land Cruiser. Jones yelled at them to stop, but the driver tried to run him over so he started shooting. The Polk County sheriff said Jones had a right to protect himself. "The word to the...

WINTER HAVEN, FL -- Police say a woman shot her husband multiple times after he threatened to kill family members. On Tuesday at about 4 a.m., Winter Haven police responded to the home of Troy and Dawn Christoff located at 1121 7th Street SW following a report of a shooting. Officers found 34-year-old Troy Christoff suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. He had been shot with a 9mm handgun. He was airlifted to Lakeland Regional Medical Center for treatment. The shooter was identified as his wife, 35-year-old Dawn Christoff. Witness statements and further investigation showed that Troy Christoff intended to shoot...

LAKELAND, Fla. - You can hear the girls yelling and threatening the 16-year-old as the punches are thrown. On March 30 Victoria Lindsay endured several beatings, girls hitting her over and over again in the head, knocking her unconscious, then attacking again as she comes to. Eight teenagers have been arrested after filming the beating and threatening to post the video on the Internet (video: MyFoxTampaBay), sheriff's officials said. "She just didn't deserve to be beat down like a dog," said Patrick Lindsay, the victim's father. "When you see your daughter, who's not striking back to defend herself, and someone...

Last Friday, Dick Cheney was in Saudi Arabia for high-level meetings with the Saudi king and his ministers. On Saturday, it was revealed that the Saudi Shura Council -- the elite group that implements the decisions of the autocratic inner circle -- is preparing "national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the kingdom following experts warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors," one of the kingdom's leading newspapers, Okaz, reports. The German-based dpa news service relayed the paper's story. Simple prudence -- or ominous timing? We noted here last week that...

Mass communication turns election campaigns into sound bite contests and makes millionaires of impudent paparazzi. But it also offers the press more opportunity to live up to the billing William Hazlitt gave the British journalist William Cobbett more than 175 years ago as "a kind of fourth estate." By unearthing myriad forms of scandal and deceit in the last half-century, reporters have assumed an increasingly vital role in alerting and, ultimately, protecting the public. Nowhere is this phenomenon more evident than in the list of winners of the George Polk Awards. Established by Long Island University in 1949 to memorialize...

FORT POLK, La., Oct. 30, 2006 – Members of the Afghan National Army have conducted training on American military equipment to prepare for upcoming missions at the Joint Readiness Training Center here. Forty-two Afghan soldiers and police officers arrived here Oct. 23 to train with 82nd Airborne Division soldiers preparing to deploy to Afghanistan. “We’ve been working to familiarize (the Afghan soldiers) with our .50 caliber (machine gun), M107 sniper rifle and night vision goggles,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Colin Cleek, a member of the scout and sniper platoon of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment....

10. John F. Kennedy's ambition. JFK displayed impressive Presidential leadership in three highly important yet previously unrelated areas. He enhanced American prestige as he inspired public support for space travel and exploration, despite steep risks, frequent failure, and high cost.

<p>The trashing of the idea of commemorating the great Marine Fighter Pilot, Greg "Pappy" Boyington, a Congressional Medal of Honor winner, by the student leadership of his alma mater, the University of Washington, is nasty and ignorant.</p> <p>A student leader proclaims she "didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce." Another complains "many monuments at UW already commemorate rich white men."</p>

MARTINEZ, Calif. (AP) - A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the murder case against a woman defended by prominent lawyer Daniel Horowitz, whose wife was slain over the weekend. Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Laurel F. Brady cited excessive news coverage of the homicide of Pamela Vitale when she dismissed jurors in the case of Susan Polk, who is accused of stabbing her therapist husband. "Ladies and gentlemen, it would have been hard to miss, despite my admonitions," Brady told the jury. "I have reached the conclusion at this juncture that it is not possible to continue the...

FORT POLK, La. (Army News Service, Sept. 8, 2005) -- Imagine returning from a war zone to find the home you left behind looking worse than where you just served. While only an unlikely nightmare for most, for some members of the 256th Brigade Combat Team, Louisiana Army National Guard, it is a harsh reality. With the devastation caused by recent Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans and surrounding communities, many Soldiers are returning home to find they have no home. However, like a good battle buddy watching their brethren’s back down range, the Fort Polk community has stepped up to...