Free Republic

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Philadelphia officials next month plan to use more “stick” in a program that takes a carrot-and-stick approach to bad behavior by people in cars, on bicycles, and on foot. The program, dubbed “Give Respect, Get Respect,” was launched at the beginning of May, aimed at reining in bad behavior by motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians in Center City Since then, some tickets, but mostly warnings have been handed out. But Deputy Mayor Rina Cutler says starting in August, more citations will be issued. “After the first several months of doing that, we really need to pick up the...

8 Share Print Email “Did Fast & Furious violate the Arms Export Control Act?” attorney and author David T. Hardy asks on his Of Arms and the Law blog. He’s referring to the Arms Export Control Act that “authorizes the President to define defense articles and regulate their export.” There’s no exemption from the State Department permit requirement for “official use” since no one is admitting walked guns are part of approved U.S. foreign policy, so the bottom line seems to be: Any person who willfully violates these provisions "shall upon conviction be fined for each violation not more than...

Trouble for Tress? Yahoo Sports! article claims Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew Terrelle Pryor and others had sold merchandise months before the school was made aware of it By WTVN Sports Department Monday, March 7, 2011 A Yahoo! sports report, (link below) posted Monday night, claims that Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel knew of Terrelle Pryor and other players selling gear and awards last April---more than eight months before OSU director of Athletics Gene Smith said the school knew of it. http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ys-osuprobe030711 The Yahoo! story, authored by Dan Wetzel and Charles Robinson, reports that an anonymous source, says...

Two Central Valley biomass plants have agreed to pay more than $830,000 in fines for violating the Clean Air Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced yesterday. “Today’s enforcement actions are a victory for human health,” Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, said in a statement. The plants in Chowchilla and El Nido, both owned by Global Ampersand, LLC, of Boston, were fined $343,000 and $492,000, respectively. Company representatives did not respond to requests for comment. David Kim, assistant regional counsel for the EPA, said that the fines showed that even the renewable energy industry could run...

AUSTIN (KXAN) - KXAN Austin News has uncovered dozens of cases in which unpaid tolls have turned into bills as high as tens of thousands of dollars. Toll roads first came to Central Texas four years ago. There are now a total of five tollways, including Texas Toll 130 in East Travis and Williamson counties. The bottom line is the toll bills were not paid, and they ended up becoming criminal cases. Although drivers can pay with cash at most tolls, use their TxTag or Pay by Mail as the signs say, some drivers contend the last option poses a...

While the imam behind the planned mosque near Ground Zero was jetting around the globe touting his project, a pair of dilapidated apartment buildings he owns in New Jersey fell into such disrepair that cops have to stand watch in the event of a fire. The fire watch, at taxpayer expense, was revealed during a court hearing yesterday where Union City lawyers asked to have two buildings owned by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf placed into receivership so that rents could be used to fix dozens of violations, including inoperable alarms and sprinklers. Judge Thomas Olivieri gave Rauf's attorney, Tomas Espinosa,...

The University of Southern California football and basketball programs will learn whether they are guilty of NCAA violations on Friday, according to a report on ESPN.com. The NCAA infractions committee plans to release its findings following an investigation and February hearing in which USC officials, including former basketball coach Tim Floyd and current football coach Lane Kiffin, responded to allegations of impropriety.

President Obama's choice for the government's No. 2 housing job is embroiled in the largest fine in U.S. history for "blatant violations" of open records laws after the Washington State Supreme Court chastised his office for withholding documents detailing taxpayer costs for a new professional football stadium in Seattle.

The rule of distinction requires combatants to aim all their attacks at legitimate targets. Attacks deliberately aimed at civilians are war crimes. A corollary of the rule of distinction is a ban on the use of weapons that are incapable of being properly aimed. The rockets used by the Palestinian attackers cannot be aimed at specific targets and are launched at urban areas. This means that the very use of these weapons violates international law.

PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP — An Ohio Department of Agriculture agent seized food, electronic devices and documents from a Pittsfield Township organic and natural food cooperative believed to be unlicensed, according to a search warrant filed yesterday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court. Jacqueline and John Stowers, owners of the Manna Storehouse, 43565 SR 303, were inspected in November 2007 by the Lorain County General Health District, according to court records. On Monday, ODA enforcement agent William Lesho confiscated hundreds of pounds of processed beef and large amounts of lamb, turkey and other perishable products in addition to office files, a computer,...

Firms under scrutiny regarding certain bidding practices Antitrust and securities regulators are considering charges against a handful of large banks, bond insurers and some of their employees as part of an investigation into certain municipal-bond investments. Bank of America, UBS AG and bond insurer Financial Security Assurance Holdings Ltd. last month received notices from the Securities and Exchange Commission indicating civil enforcement action may be taken against them for potentially violating federal securities laws about bidding practices on contracts that manage municipal funds. The "Wells notices" sent by the SEC, which the companies disclosed in regulatory filings, also give the...

The FBI acknowledged Wednesday it improperly accessed Americans' telephone records, credit reports and Internet traffic in 2006, the fourth straight year of privacy abuses resulting from investigations aimed at tracking terrorists and spies. The breach occurred before the FBI enacted broad new reforms in March 2007 to prevent future lapses, FBI Director Robert Mueller said. And it was caused, in part, by banks, telecommunication companies and other private businesses giving the FBI more personal client data than was requested. Testifying at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Mueller raised the issue of the FBI's controversial use of so-called national security letters...

Iraqi Firings: Since 2000, Iraqi forces have fired on U.S. and British pilots 1,600 times. In 2002, Iraqi forces fired on U.S. and British pilots 406 times. Since September 18, just hours after Saddam promised to "allow the return of the United Nations inspectors without conditions" and expressed his desire "to remove any doubts that Iraq still possesses weapons of mass destruction," Iraqi forces have fired on U.S. and British pilots 67 times.

If Howard Dean, the Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, has any sense at all, he will spend as long as it takes to fix this mess. Not only should he put America’s biggest labor and union supporter, the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) on his speed dial, but he should park his butt on their front porch until they agree to see him. Because without their financial support and the votes of the ten million union members in America, Dean can forget about taking back the White House next year. See, for the last...

IRS wants all 2004 election year documents and e-mails it produced talking about political candidates (it's a major uberLIBERAL church). Because its FOX you'll have to go to the source to read the story.

DETROIT - Former Motown singing star and now-City Councilwoman Martha Reeves has been a strong advocate of stricter housing code enforcement, but a newspaper says it discovered multiple violations at her own properties. Inspectors found 25 code violations at one two-unit rental property, include two emergency infractions for lack of maintenance of fire doors, The Detroit News said Tuesday. Ten of Reeves' 15 vacant lots are deep in overgrown weeds, grass and trees, the newspaper said. It said three contained dumped electronic equipment, clothing, furniture and construction debris. In a written response, Reeves said she acquired most of the properties...

Eight workers at the city's Department of Water and Power have been arrested because they were unauthorized to work in the United States, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. The agency arrested five people Tuesday and had previously arrested three others as part of a yearlong review of the utility's employment records by the agency and the utility itself. The workers held both blue collar and management jobs, according to an ICE statement. All had been with the company for at least three years and one made more than $100,000 a year. The joint investigation was part of a...

The former top labor leader in Los Angeles County was sentenced to three years of probation Friday and temporarily barred from raising political money after pleading guilty to state charges of conspiracy and violating campaign laws. Martin Ludlow also was fined $15,000 but with court fees that figure will reach about $45,000, Deputy District Attorney Max Huntsman said. State and federal prosecutors charged Ludlow with conspiring with a former union official to illegally divert more than $36,000 in union funds to help finance his successful 2003 City Council campaign. He resigned from the council last year to become head of...

2/28/2006 - SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) -- A couple of Airmen sat in the base food court chatting about their return to the United States the next day. Excited to be going home, they compared flight times. Meanwhile, 3 feet away, a third-country national took mental notes. He knew someone who would pay for flight information. The aircraft takeoff time happened to be the last piece of information that an Al Qaeda terrorist needed to coordinate a deadly attack, killing hundreds of servicemembers on a flight home. The scenario presented by Capt. David Quinlan, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing plans officer, isn’t...

The state imposed a $140,000 penalty for what it called "willful, continuing, and egregious" violations of the price law... The Minnesota Commerce Department on Thursday announced plans to fine a gas station chain $140,000 for repeatedly selling gas below the state's legal minimum price. The fine against Midwest Oil of Minnesota is twice as large as any imposed on a company since 2001, when the state established a formula based on wholesale prices, fees and taxes to determine a daily floor for gas prices. Kevin Murphy, deputy commissioner of the department, called the violations "willful, continuing, and egregious and warrant...