Free Republic

Hey sweetie, are you bitter? Pittsburgh Tribune-Review By Salena Zito Perfect Sen. John McCain bumper sticker: Hey sweetie, are you bitter?

What about Al? There is a rumor among those close to the Obama camp that this weekend will bring a big endorsement for the Illinois Senator. We can scratch John Edwards off that list, he is yesterday's news. Probably the only thing 'bigger' than Edwards would be former Vice-President Al Gore -- who will be in Pittsburgh this Sunday (May 18) to give the commencement speech at Carnegie Mellon University. Gore, after his unsuccessful run for president in 2000, took an environmental path, rather than political, and has become a cult-like figure among the left and environmentally correct.

Four white students at Central York Middle School were charged with harrassing and using racial slurs against a black student on a school bus Friday. The 13 year-old boys were charged Wednesday with harrassment, ethnic intimidation and disorderly conduct by Springettsbury Township Police. One of the boys was also charged with terroristic threats and open lewdness, police said. The boy simulated an inappropriate gesture involving his genitals and made vulgar comments, Lt. Scott Laird said. The boys "verbally and physically harrassed and intimidated" the 13 year-old victim on the ride home, police said. Laird declined to discuss specifics because the...

DICKSON CITY — A Friday evening police incident spilled over into a Borough Council meeting Tuesday, with gun-rights advocates alleging harassment by two police officers. The regular monthly meeting erupted into a full-blown debate on the Second Amendment, with more than 20 Pennsylvania Firearm Owners Association members — many of whom were openly armed — arguing their right to carry a weapon in public. Police have yet to release a report of the incident in which a group of customers at Old Country Buffet were questioned about openly carrying handguns in public. At least one of those customers, Rich Banks,...

Four white teenagers from Central York Middle School allegedly used racial slurs while verbally and physcially harrassing a black student Friday. Springettsbury Township police officers were called at about 9 a.m. Monday to the 1950 North Hills Road middle school to receive a report of the incident, according to a department news release. School officials said the incident happened while the students were riding home from school on a bus Friday, according to police. The four white 13-year old male students who verbally and physically harrassed and intimidated the 13-year old black male student will soon be facing charges, police...

FBI Monitoring 'Incident' At Ridley Township Plant RIDLEY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS3/AP) ― Boeing Rotorcraft Systems temporarily shut down a production line for several hours Tuesday at its suburban Philadelphia plant because of possible irregularities discovered in two military helicopters. The company disclosed few specifics about why the shutdown of the H-47 Chinook helicopter line at the plant in Ridley Township, Pa., occurred. It said an investigation was under way and it was working with the Defense Contract Management Agency, which oversees military suppliers. Boeing officials said they discovered "irregularities" in two of the aircrafts that were being assembled at the...

HARRISBURG -- Now that the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Indiana's law requiring voters to present photo identification, state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe wants to enact the same kind of law in Pennsylvania. The Cranberry Republican has introduced House Bill 2519, which would require anyone wishing to vote to show one of several forms of photo ID when arriving at a polling place: a valid driver's license issued by PennDOT; a valid state or federal government employee ID; a valid employee ID card issued by an employer; a valid U.S. passport, student ID or armed forces ID; a voter ID card...

If this seems familiar to some it is because I included this in my novel A Sense of Duty. http://www.thebulletin.us/site/index.cfm?newsid=19683247&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=576361&rfi=8

Police said four white students at Central York Middle School used racial slurs and harrassed a black student while they rode home on a school bus Friday afternoon. Springettsbury Township Police were called to the school Monday morning to investigate a report of harrassment on the bus. The 13-year old white boys "verbally and physically harrassed and intimidated" a 13-year old black boy, using racial slurs as the bus took the students home, police said. Julie Randall Romig, spokeswoman for the Central York School District, said the district was notified of the harrassment. She declined to discuss details of what...

McGinnis was no stranger to combat. The Middle East edition of Stars and Stripes for Nov. 30, 2006, has a picture of McGinnis on its cover. His unit had been involved in a fierce firefight on Nov. 5 and had killed 38 attackers. His superiors were quick to recognize the special nature of McGinnis’ actions. He was awarded a posthumous Silver Star, America’s third-highest award for valor in combat, and nominated for the Medal of Honor. Eighteen months later, McGinnis will receive his medal. Speaking anonymously, sources at the Department of Defense have confirmed this with reporters from the Army...

'Flag Guy' walks to spark patriotism By Maria Sciullo Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMay 11, 2008

Anger at 1-Day notice School Gave ParentsA Pennsylvania elementary school has confirmed its membership in the "Brave New Liberal Schools" club by holding counseling sessions with 100 3rd-grade students to announce that one of the boys would soon start showing up at school in girls' clothing and taking a female name. Counselors will ask the 3rd-graders to accept the boy as a girl and not to make childish remarks that may be unkind. The exercise in "social transition" was initiated by the boy's parents who approached the administration at Chatham Park Elementary School in Haverford Township asking that the school...

A Pennsylvania elementary school has angered parents by giving them one-day's notice of planned counseling sessions with 100 third-grade students to explain that one of their male classmates would soon begin wearing girls' clothing and taking a female name and to ask that they accept him as a girl and not make unkind remarks. The exercise in "social transition" was initiated by the boy's parents who approached the administration at Chatham Park Elementary School in Haverford Township asking that the school help in having their child's female identity find acceptance among his peers. After consulting experts on transgender children, the...

http://www.philly.com/philly/polls/18765614.html One week ago Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was shot at least 5 times with an AK-47 by a trio of bank robbers fleeing the scene of their crime. One of the three was later killed by Police gunfire; the other two have been apprehended. Sgt. Liczbinski was laid to rest yesterday. http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20080509_Sgt__Liczbinski_mourned_at_Cathedral.html

A move to reinstate a federal ban on assault weapons now has a new co-sponsor on Capitol Hill, and he says last week’s murder of Philadelphia police officer Stephen Liczbinski is what prompted him to act. Suburban US congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) admits that the plan has been in the pipeline for months, and concedes that its chances for passage this term are slim. But Sestak (in file photo above) insists that the Liczbinski slaying merely prompted him to act on a measure he’s always supported: "There’s no need to have our law enforcement officers having to feel like they’re...

Hundreds of mourners lined up in the pouring rain outside a cathedral Friday to pay their respects to a Philadelphia police officer killed in the line of duty. Liczbinski, 39, a 12-year veteran of the police force, was fatally shot on Saturday as he responded a robbery at a bank inside a supermarket. One of three suspects in the holdup was killed shortly afterward by police. A second man was taken into custody on Sunday and a third suspect was captured late Wednesday night. Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey, speaking to pews packed with officers and loved ones, said Liczbinski's death...

Professors Against the War on Terror by: Bethany Stotts, May 09, 2008 The complaint that the Iraq War is the result of a neoconservative conspiracy to unduly expanded U.S. interests abroad has become popular among professors and antiwar activists, as is the assertion that the War on Terror has undermined American civil liberties and destroyed America’s reputation abroad. A new policy report by Politics professor Ian Lustick, published by the Independent Institute, is no different. However, the University of Pennsylvania professor’s report is unique in that he derives most of his inflammatory material from news outlets, including ABC News, the...

It's on TV, so obviously there's no article to quote, ehh ?

Anyone who has observed politics for long sees that too many politicians believe nothing positive would happen unless they pass a law requiring it. They think that the American people are dependent on them for their wealth, safety, and happiness. This ''nanny state'' mentality has always been with us, but the nannyists in Harrisburg are working overtime to intrude into our lives. For example, many lawmakers are pushing to ban smoking in all places of business. The bill would criminalize restaurant, bar, and other business owners who choose to allow smoking in their privately owned facilities. Supporters of the smoking...

Obama trolls House, but Altmire remains neutral TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito Rep. Jason Altmire said his baseline for a decision to endorse Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Barack Obama would be if Clinton managed to reach somewhere close to a delegate tie with him when the primaries were over. "She earned her right to continue the campaign when she won in Pennsylvania and won my district," he said. Altmire said even after her loss in North Carolina and slim win in Indiana, she still has that right. "It's a long shot, I understand that, but I still want to give...

The leadership of the Germantown Masjid has refused to conduct funeral services for Howard Cain, the bank robber who killed Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski with a Chinese-made semi-automatic rifle. "No, we will not bury him at Germantown Masjid," said Tariq El Shabazz, managing director of the mosque. "We don't want one slight scintilla hinting that we condone his behavior."

It was particularly memorable, Craig Williams said, the night he almost died.Williams, 44, is a Concord resident, and, among many other accomplishments, is a former federal prosecutor and the endorsed Republican candidate for the 7th Congressional seat, U.S. Congress, House of Representatives. The year of his near death was 1991, it was the dead of winter and he was flying across the icy North Atlantic with his squadron, the VMFA(AW)-121 Green Knights. He was a first lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps, flying as a Weapons and Sensor Officer in the back seat of a two-seater F/A-18D Hornet, on...

About 90 percent of the people shot in the city last year were African-American. While figures are unavailable, it is assumed by most that close to 100 percent of the perpetrators of these shootings were African-American. Almost all the firearms used in these shootings were obtained, possessed and carried illegally by those who perpetrated the shootings. If, as is constantly claimed, we MUST DO SOMETHING to stop this violence, then why not ban African-American residents of the city from owning handguns? The answer is that that is patently unfair and discriminatory. To judge an entire group as a problem and...

Once again, a Philadelphia police officer has been shot and killed by a criminal who should have been in prison instead of free to commit more mayhem and destruction. Over the last two years, I've written more than a dozen columns about the murders committed by repeat offenders already convicted of a violent felony (sometimes murder) who spent little or no time in prison. These columns always ask why those in the criminal system - judges, police, lawyers, probation officers, parole boards, prison officials and elected politicians - aren't held responsible for permitting such people to roam free. Unfortunately, nothing...

PHILADELPHIA (May 7) - Fifteen police officers were taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked, punched and beaten after they were pulled out of a car during a traffic stop. "At a glance it does appear to be a bit beyond the pale," Doug Oliver, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter, said Wednesday. "Officers are not allowed to operate outside of the law." The police department identified the 15 officers who were involved in Monday night's arrests in the city's Hunting Park section, where police had been investigating a triple shooting, Oliver said....

That's the ticket. by Fred Barnes 05/07/2008 The NOTION THAT BARACK Obama should pick Hillary Clinton as his vice presidential running mate is crazy. She passes the first test of a veep selection: she's a plausible president. But she fails the second. She doesn't qualify as a partner on the Democratic ticket (and possibly in the White House) that Obama would be comfortable with--far from it. But there is someone who does meet these two requirements, plus a third one and maybe a fourth. That person is Democratic Governor Edward Rendell of Pennsylvania. Yes, Rendell was the leading supporter of...

Philadelphia police, in shock over Saturday's murder of one of their own, are facing a probe over the violent beating of three shooting suspects by up to 15 officers - an arrest captured on video by a news helicopter hovering overhead. The beating, Monday night in North Philadelphia, is seen on roughly one minute of an 11-minute video that Fox29 broadcast early yesterday and streamed over its Web site. The three men beaten were suspects in a shooting unrelated to Saturday's murder of Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski. Mayor Nutter and Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey yesterday promised a full investigation of...

PHILADELPHIA - Fifteen Philadelphia police officers have been taken off the street as authorities investigate a video showing three suspects being kicked and beaten by city police. A spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter says the mayor stands behind the police department but his first glance of the video does appear to show the officers overstepping their authority. The video was shot Monday night by WTXF-TV. It shows three police cars stopping a car on the side of a road. The tape shows about a dozen officers gathering around the vehicle and pulling three men out. About a half-dozen officers hold...

A Knoxville man shot and killed a Pittsburgh police dog Tuesday before the canine's handler returned fire, killing the man in what city police Chief Nate Harper called "an unfortunate" but justifiable action. The shooting outraged and angered the family of the 19-year-old man, Justin Jackson. He was pronounced dead by a passing paramedic almost immediately after the shooting that occurred at 6:53 p.m. in front of the UPMC facility on Arlington Avenue on the border of Knoxville and Mt. Oliver. Harper said the dog's handler ordered the canine -- a 6-year-old German shepherd named Aulf -- to attack after...

Philadelphia Congressman Among 17 Veterans Co-Sponsoring Repeal Legislation WASHINGTON, May 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Congressman Joe Sestak (D-PA), the highest ranking military veteran in Congress, on Saturday urged fellow lawmakers to join him in repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law banning lesbian, gay and bisexual personnel from serving openly in the military. Sestak, who had served as a three-star Admiral and who spent thirty-one years in the Navy is one of seventeen veterans in Congress who are co-sponsors of legislation to lift the ban on openly gay service. Sestak's remarks came before a panel discussion hosted by Equality Forum on...

Inquirer Staff Writers Howard Cain had a history of fighting with and fleeing police. He had served 9 years for robbery. The man who police said killed Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski was under parole supervision for a 1996 Philadelphia robbery after serving the minimum of a 9- to 18-year prison sentence, according to state officials. Howard Cain, 33, is alleged to have fired five shots from a high-powered Chinese SKS rifle at Liczbinski in a confrontation in Port Richmond after a bank robbery Saturday. Liczbinski, 39, died at Temple University Hospital from multiple gunshot wounds. Cain, whose last known residence was...

As the reward for the third suspect in the weekend slaying of Philadelphia Police Sgt. Stephen Liczbinski grew yesterday to more than $123,000, authorities intensified their wide-reaching dragnet for a man they called "armed and dangerous." Police pursued leads from Lancaster, Pa., to Newark, N.J., in search of 33-year-old Eric DeShann Floyd, who they say was the "muscle" in a trio that on Saturday robbed a Port Richmond bank and then killed the pursuing sergeant. But investigators believed Floyd, a convicted armed robber who in February escaped from a Reading halfway house, most likely was still hiding in Philadelphia. Police...

ABOUT 90 percent of the people shot in the city last year were African-American. While figures are unavailable, it is assumed by most that close to 100 percent of the perpetrators of these shootings were African-American. Almost all the firearms used in these shootings were obtained, possessed and carried illegally by those who perpetrated the shootings. If, as is constantly claimed, we MUST DO SOMETHING to stop this violence, then why not ban African-American residents of the city from owning handguns? The answer is that that is patently unfair and discriminatory. To judge an entire group as a problem and...

Philadelphia keeps trying the same old failed liberal solutions for its violent crime problem. Here is the link: http://www.thebulletin.us/site/news.cfm?newsid=19664156&BRD=2737&PAG=461&dept_id=580169&rfi=6

Three protesters, a half-dozen signs and a missing petition. "People walk past and say, 'I'm glad you're doing something,' " said Marty O'Malley, a Forest Hills council member who has attended more than 100 anti-Iraq war events, as he stood in front of Democratic U.S. Rep. Mike Doyle's Downtown office last week with the small gathering of activists. "I want to shake them and say, 'Why aren't you doing something!?' " After $500 billion in spending and 4,000 military deaths, this was supposed to be an election year dominated by the war.

For school officials in Haverford Township, the challenge was daunting: What do you do when a 9-year-old student, with the full support of his parents, decides that he is no longer a boy and instead is a girl? Parents of a third-grade student at Chatham Park Elementary School approached the administration on April 16 to ask for help in making a "social transition" for their child. (Excerpt) Full story: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/pa/chester/20080503_School_challenge__Transgender_student_is_age_9.html The Haverford School District consulted experts on transgender children, then sent letters to parents advising them that the guidance counselor would meet with the school's 100 third-grade students to explain...

Kahlua was a sweet pony who gently carried children on his back and was always the first in his pasture to trot up to and greet visitors. On Wednesday his owner was horrified to find the blind pony dead in his pasture in Shenango Township, Mercer County. Large pieces of skin were missing from both back legs, and a bone in one hind leg was broken.

A Philadelphia police officer was shot and killed with a military assault rifle late this morning when he confronted at least two robbers who had just held up an Bank of America branch at a Shoprite supermarket in Port Richmond. --snip--- a police spokesman, described one as a man wearing “Muslim garb” and carrying a shoulder bag. He said that a second, who might have been a woman, was wearing “light brown Muslim garb.” A third possible robber, a man, was described as having worn a “dreadlock wig” and a “construction mask.” He had on blue jeans and a flannel...

Indianapolis Colts wide receiver Marvin Harrison is under investigation in his hometown of Philadelphia in a shooting that took place earlier this week, a source close to the investigation told Anthony Gargano of Philadelphia's WIP Radio. Harrison was interviewed by police about the shooting near his North Philadelphia bar this week. Lt. Frank Vanore said the investigation of Tuesday's shooting was continuing. Harrison has not been arrested or charged. "He was interviewed," Vanore said Friday. "Why he was interviewed, that is all part of the investigation. No one is a suspect." After the first day of their rookie minicamp, Colts...

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Police say a straight-A business student at Penn State-Altoona told them he has been selling cocaine to finance his college education. Twenty-year-old Michael Conforti, of Hackettstown, N.J., was charged in the aftermath of a sweep last month by the Blair County Drug Task Force and Logan Township police. He was originally charged with three drug deals involving a confidential informant but yesterday authorities added charges of possession with intent to deliver cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Police based those charges on drugs, nearly $3,500 in cash and other items they say they found at Mr. Conforti's...

Who’s too old now, Jack? The Tribune-Democrat Fri, May 02 2008 — Visitors to The Tribune-Democrat’s Web site were asked in a poll last week: “Is John McCain, 71, too old to serve as president of the United States, as Congressman John Murtha says?” With 556 votes cast during two days, the results were: No, 64.6 percent; Yes, 34.7 percent; and I don’t know: 0.7 percent.Murtha wasn’t the first person to weigh in on the John McCain age issue. He won’t be the last. But we wonder whether one day he’ll wish he hadn’t.“This one guy running is about...

First of all the originaly thread can be found HERE. Secondly, THANKS to ALL who have helped address and resolve this situation. I believe quite a few FReepers contacted the company as I did, and I'm sure that helped. In addition I have to say the corpporate management addressed the situation in a timely, professional manner. Here is the update with some comments I posted in the original thread. I haven't been online since yesterday, so I haven't been able to update, but here is how things developed. Around 9:15AM Eastern MAy 1st I spoke with a rep over the...

Congressman Jim Ramstad (R-MN) gave a House speech this month, supporting Mr. Burnett's opposition to the crescent design. The speech is entered in the Congressional Record here, along with supporting statements from Tom Burnett Sr. (father of murdered Flight 93 hero Tom Burnett Jr.). That makes two Congressmen now who have come out publicly against the crescent memorial. (Tom Tancredo took the lead last November, asking the Park Service to choose a completely new design.) News coverage revs up confrontation at this Saturday’s public meetingRamstad's speech, and our ongoing petition drive, netted a full width banner headline on the...

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A state senator told a black pastor testifying at a committee hearing that, given the chance to cast secret ballots, his fellow legislators would vote to legalize slavery. Sen. Vincent J. Fumo, D-Philadelphia, made the comments Tuesday during a hearing on a Republican-sponsored bill to amend the state Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriages and civil unions, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on its Web site Wednesday. “What you are advocating here is that we take away the rights of a minority. And I don’t think that’s right,” Fumo, a staunch defender of gay rights, told the witness,...

LOS ANGELES - A city outside California has for the first time been named the sootiest in the nation, one of the categories the American Lung Association uses to determine the most polluted cities in the country. Los Angeles still took the all-around pollution title, though. Pittsburgh overtook Los Angeles in the category that measures short-term particle pollution or soot. Los Angeles, the country's longtime soot and smog leader, has enacted aggressive measures to tackle sources of pollution, resulting in a substantial drop in particle pollution levels, said Janice Nolen, the association's assistant vice president of national policy and advocacy....

Apologizing for the vanity and also not sure exactly where to post this. Gee, ya think that after all these years I'd have the hang of posting. As some of you here might know I work overnights. After I leave work I take my wife and another woman to work. I usually get home around 8-9am, grab a bite to eat and try to catch a couple of hours sleep. On Wednesday this week I had a rough day at work, got home slept about and hour and a half, got up and started chores and going about my day....

A tradition in the politics of American presidential campaigns is the increase in disingenuous rhetoric, often with minimal regard for recognizing the realities of the day. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton fight to emulate the ''real deal'' as presidential candidates who will ''end the war'' in Iraq. It's as if the outcome in Iraq has no consequence to the future of the human political rights in the Middle East, or anywhere else on the globe. Oddly, Jimmy Carter rises from the ash heap of presidential politics past, proclaiming that Hamas is ready to ''accept Israel as its neighbor.'' Might America...

What a difference two weeks of intense campaigning can make. The final two weeks of campaigning in the Pennsylvania Primary may not have changed the outcome of the Democratic race, but it helped John McCain in the Keystone State. Two weeks ago, in Pennsylvania, Hillary Clinton enjoyed a nine-point lead over McCain and Barack Obama had an eight-point edge over the Republican hopeful. Now, however, Clinton’s lead is down to five points and Obama trails McCain by a point. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Pennsylvania finds McCain with a statistically insignificant 44% to 43% advantage over Obama. Clinton...

President Bush is expected to award a Clarion County soldier the Medal of Honor in June, which would make Spc. Ross A. McGinnis the fifth soldier who served in Afghanistan or Iraq to receive the nation's highest honor. McGinnis, 19, of Knox died Dec. 4, 2006, from wounds he suffered when he threw himself on a grenade to save the lives of four other soldiers in his Humvee. Citing anonymous sources, the Army Times on Monday said the president has approved the award. Maj. Nathan Banks, a Pentagon spokesman, said the Defense Department can't comment on the matter until the...

Republican congressional challenger Lou Barletta took exception Tuesday to his opponent’s motives in announcing his proposal to tax windfall profits of oil companies. Republican congressional challenger Lou Barletta took exception Tuesday to his opponent’s motives in announcing his proposal to tax windfall profits of oil companies. Barletta says it’s a meaningless move and won’t lower gas prices. He also wonders why U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski – a 23-year incumbent – couldn’t muster any co-sponsors for House Resolution 5800. “On Monday, U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski touted a bill he readily admits will do nothing to reduce the price of gasoline for...