Free Republic

Last Saturday evening, I arrived at the Haitian Community Help and Support Center here on S. Yellow Springs Street, drawn by former President Donald Trump’s explosive claim in the presidential debate days earlier that migrants from Haiti are “eating the dogs, they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the pets of the people who live there.” But in just 72 hours, I uncovered something sinister that is the real story in this town of about 58,000 locals and an estimated 15,000 migrant workers—a long-standing, hidden human trafficking network that has upended the lives of both the Haitian migrants and local residents....

Homeless Man Can Keep $77,000 He Found Along River The Bastrop City Council decided it’s finder’s keepers. The council has voted to allow a homeless man, Timothy Yost, to keep $77,000 in cash and gold coins that he found along the banks of the Colorado River, KVUE-TV is reporting. Yost found the money Jan. 18 when he went to the river to wash his feet, the Austin station says. The city has had possession of the treasure while officials worked unsuccessfully to find the owner. It will still be a while before Yost can spend any of his windfall. KVUE...

Blacksburg, VA, April 11 – Long time New River Valley native Joseph Yost announces his candidacy for the Republican nomination to Virginia‟s 12th District House of Delegates seat. Yost is a dedicated Republican and has been an active member of the Montgomery County Republican Party since 2009. During that time, he has served in various leadership positions including secretary of the Party, precinct captain during the last two election cycles, and Parliamentarian. He also serves as Chair of the Roanoke/New River Valley Young Republicans. When asked what issues he sees as the forefront of his campaign, Yost said, “the needs...

3rd District <snip> In the Republican primary, Dean Black demonstrates far more knowledge and thoughtfulness on the issues than Chris Nwasike and Mike Yost. As conservative as Ms. Brown is liberal, Mr. Black, a businessman, shows some willingness to work with Democrats. Financial adviser Chris Nwasike is strong on concepts — like a balanced budget — but short of specifics, like how to do it. Auto-technician Mike Yost is so antigovernment he doesn't think national parks should exist. Thanks, but we think the Everglades is worth preserving. We endorse Dean Black. 5th District The story behind Richard Nugent, the Hernando...

Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald is raising the possibility that records sought in the CIA leak investigation could be missing because of an e-mail archiving problem at the White House. The prosecutor in the criminal case against Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff said in a Jan. 23 letter that not all e-mail was archived in 2003, (((GET THIS: ***the year the Bush administration exposed the identity of undercover CIA officer Valerie Plame.***)))) (They aren't even faking journalistic integrity in leaving out the word "allegedly.") Lawyers for defendant I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby this week accused prosecutors of withholding evidence...

The quality of the reporting on the Valerie Plame/Judith Miller matter has been abysmal. Here are two examples. This Associated Press article is by Pete Yost. For the most part, it is a straightforward account of Judith Miller's appearance in court today. But note Yost's account of the Plame affair that forms the background of the subpoena on Miller: Plame's name was disclosed in a column by Robert Novak days after her husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, questioned part of President Bush's justification for invading Iraq. Wilson was sent to Africa by the Bush administration to investigate an intelligence claim...

Growing up in my part of New York, you went to one of two barbers. Mr. McDougal was the old guy who gave you a slick crew cut when you were 7, parted on the side, and sent you out the door with a lollypop and a pat on the butt. When you got older, if you were cool, you went to Tony Palermo. He was a hip young neighborhood guy who picked up hair-cutting who knows where. Even though we were only 11 or 12, he'd let us look at his Playboys while he cut hair in his living...

If anyone still believes that the current legislative session will be one of comity, look no further than Thursday's Minnesota Senate debate on a simple resolution from Republican Sen. Michele Bachmann to honor Ronald Reagan's birthday. What should have been a mere formality devolved into a truly embarrassing 45-minute debate. Feel-good resolutions are nothing new in this august body. So far this session, the solons of the Senate have recognized the Minnetonka High School girls cross-country team, the Pierz High School football team, the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Eagle Scouts, the Elk River Area School District and the accounting firm...

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush never was disciplined while serving in the Texas Air National Guard, never failed a physical and never asked his father or family friends for help to get him into the guard during the Vietnam War, the White House said Wednesday. The White House answers came in response to a dozen questions submitted by The Associated Press in light of new records detailing Bush's Guard service and allegations that have surfaced this election season. The Texas Air National Guard stripped Bush of his pilot status in August 1972 for failing to take the annual medical exam...

Yankees superfan Rudy Giuliani has a warning for John Kerry, who's been touting his love of the Red Sox as he campaigns for the presidency: Get your facts straight. Kerry got mixed up recently when he told ESPN his favorite Red Sox slugger was "Manny Ortez," apparently confusing Manny Ramirez with David Ortiz. The Democratic contender also said Eddie Yost, who never played for Boston, topped his list of all-time Red Sox greats. "He played for the [Washington] Senators," said an incredulous Rudy, rightly pointing out that Yost never took the field for the Sawx as a player, although he...

CRAWFORD, Texas -- A volunteer for John Kerry said Friday he picked up a flier in Bush-Cheney headquarters in Gainesville, Fla., promoting Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, a group the Bush campaign has insisted for weeks it has no connection to. The Kerry campaign e-mailed the flier to news organizations Friday, declaring that the Bush-Cheney campaign was "busted" for coordinating "in their smear campaign against John Kerry." At Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters outside Washington, spokesman Steve Schmidt said: "The Bush-Cheney campaign has nothing to do with that piece of paper. ... I don't know how it showed up at the campaign...

I have been making business calls (yes, I actually do work) but caught something on Hannity that was intriguing. I think Sean was talking about an interview John Kerry had with a sports guy. Kerry was talking about being a big Boston Red Sox fan and goes back to the days of Eddie Yost. The problem is that Eddie Yost never played for the BOSOX. Here is his MAJOR LEAGUE RECORDCan someone find a source for this?

CRAWFORD, Texas - On the defensive, President Bush said Monday there was no warning in a pre-Sept. 11 intelligence memo that "something is about to happen in America" before the nation's worst terrorism attack. He said U.S. intelligence services may be due for reforms. "There was nothing in there that said, you know, `There is an imminent attack,'" Bush told reporters. "That wasn't what the report said. The report was kind of a history of Osama's (bin Laden's) intentions." Democrats have suggested there was more to the memo, the center of an election-year skirmish over the president's anti-terrorism policies before...