Free Republic

SEATTLE - The suspect in the shooting death of a Seattle police officer was "a lone domestic terrorist" whose apartment was a virtual arsenal of bomb-making materials and weaponry. (snip) There also is evidence that the suspect, Christopher M. Monfort, 41, of Tukwila may have been planning to escalate his activities in the coming days if he had not been caught. (snip) In addition, there have been reports of loud explosions in the area around Monfort's apartment complex in the past three months. Those blasts may have been experiments by Monfort and may indicate that he planned a larger-scale terrorist...

Some votes critical in determining the Seattle mayoral race may not get counted until next Tuesday. Vandals tried to get at a ballot drop box in Tukwila in the early morning hours after the election. "The metal cover plate that we seal the ballot drop box with at 8pm on Election night was ripped off," said Kim Van Ekstrom, with King County Elections. Ekstrom said the ballots themselves weren't tampered with because the box's design doesn't allow access unless you have the keys. The question is whether anything was slipped in that shouldn't have been. "They were in the process...

While a massive memorial service for slain Officer Timothy Brenton neared its finish at KeyArena on Friday afternoon, fellow officers with the Seattle Police Department shot a man they believe to be responsible for Brenton's death. [...] A note threatening to kill police officers was left at the bombing site [...] Butler has argued that such {jury} nullification may be particularly appropriate in cases where black defendants are charged with nonviolent crimes. "It is the moral responsibility of black jurors to emancipate some guilty black outlaws," Butler wrote in a 1995 Yale Law Journal article, adding: "My goal is the...

Michael G. Cahill was a dedicated physician's assistant, voracious reader and history buff who remembered the smallest details about the most remote places. "The night before he died, we sat and watched the Mark Twain awards," said his wife, Joleen Cahill of Cameron, Tex. "And we just sat there laughing." Cahill, 62, was among the 13 people killed in a shooting rampage Thursday at Fort Hood. He is survived by his wife; daughter Keely and son-in-law Lee; daughter Kerry; son James; and grandson Brody. Michael G. Cahill had been a physician's assistant for 22 years. A retired chief warrant officer...

Washington state voters have approved Referendum 71, ending months of contentious battles over a state law that expands benefits for registered same-sex and some senior domestic partners. That means the law could be enacted in about a month, once the election is certified. Along with other marriagelike state benefits, it will allow registered couples to use sick leave to care for one another or to claim one another's death benefits. The tally late Thursday afternoon saw the vote to approve Referendum 71 leading about 52 percent to 48 percent. That lead now appears insurmountable. The Secretary of State's Office estimates...

While roaming the grounds of the US Capitol yesterday, Kristinn Taylor obtained a list of possible democrat defectors of the now infamous “Healthcare” bill. Kristinn was asked to post this list of wobbly democrats on FreeRepublic in an effort to mobilize our forces and overwhelm these members with phone calls and e-mails asking them to vote NO on the socialization of our healthcare. We also learned that Nancy Pelosi had just scheduled the vote for tomorrow; Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 6:00 PM. For all those who were unable to answer the call to surround the Capitol yesterday, here is...

Note: Audio included at link. SEATTLE -- As the second trial of Jewish Federation shooter Naveed Haq continued, jurors heard Haq describe the violent rampage in a series of phone calls. In court Wednesday, jurors listened to 10 different recorded calls Haq made from jail to his parents in the Tri-cities in the days after the shootings. During the calls, Haq bragged of being a celebrity and said he was motivated by a desire to be a Muslim martyr, something that seemed to surprise his parents. Mother: I'm just afraid to tell you, you are not feeling well -- your...

“Junk” DNA Discovered to Have Both Cellular and Microevolutionary Functions Evolutionists have long sought mechanisms for the origin of reproductive barriers between populations, mechanisms which are thought to be key to the formation of new species. A recent article in ScienceDaily finds that “Junk DNA” might be the “mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing.” Basically, so-called “junk”-DNA is involved in helping to package chromosomes in the cell. If two species have different “junk” DNA, then this prevents the proteins in the egg from properly packaging the chromosomes donated by the sperm. The organism does not develop properly. As the...

'Everything But Marriage' Backers Smelling Victory Supporters of Referendum 71 were energized by first-day returns showing the measure leading by a narrow margin in what would be the nation's... By Lornet Turnbull, Janet I. Tu and Susan Kelleher Supporters of Referendum 71 were energized by first-day returns showing the measure leading by a narrow margin in what would be the nation's first statewide voter approval of a gay-rights measure. The referendum to expand the state's domestic-partnership law was winning approval by nearly 3-to-1 in King County, where about 30 percent of the state's voters reside, and was also passing in...

Somewhere in the Pacific Northwest there are several bodies missing their feet. Yet another sneaker-clad foot has washed ashore in British Columbia -- the eighth foot in two years, stumping authorities in both Canada and the United States. Seven of the feet, including the most recent foot, have been found in the waters of British Columbia. The other foot found off the coast of Port Angeles, Wash. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Annie Linteau told ABCNews.com today that on all of the feet there is "no evidence of being severed or artificially removed." While Canadian authorities seem to be leaning...

In Washington State, another referendum on gay couples' equality was also a squeaker. But in this one, gay couples won. The state's domestic partnership law grants gay couples all the rights of married couples at a state level. The usual forces tried to reverse it, as they tried in Maine. But in Washington, the gay side won by 51.1 to 48.9 percent. Again, it's such a slender margin, it's stupid to draw any vast conclusions. But I do want to point out that, from the perspective of just a decade ago, to have an even split on this question in...

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - Washington state voters on Tuesday were narrowly approving the state's new "everything but marriage" law that marks a significant expansion of rights for gay couples. With about 50 percent of the expected vote counted, Referendum 71 was leading 51 percent to 49 percent. The measure asked voters to approve or reject the final expansion to the state's domestic partnership law, which grants registered domestic partners additional state-granted rights currently given only to married couples.

Referendum Measure 71 concerning rights and responsibilities of state-registered domestic partners Approved 165,340 44.89 % Rejected 202,954 55.11 % Total Votes 368,294 100.00%

Almost 20% of West Virginians eligible to vote are either dead or have moved. Five States with the Most Dead People Eligible to Vote: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming. FUN TIME IN ACORN TOWN: DEAD PEOPLE RULE! Are you lonely when you go to the polling place? Want some company? Perhaps, you'd like to take along a dead "friend" to vote with you. That's a scenario that's becoming more possible across the United States. A combination of old voter registration lists that still contain the names of dead voters and voters who have moved, new "Motor Voter" legislation,...

Freight forwarder and logistics company Expeditors International of Washington Inc. said on Tuesday that its third-quarter profit dropped 33 percent as freight haulers raised prices even as demand remained weak. The company said it was hurt by freight carriers who cut capacity and imposed "very aggressive price increases." "Market conditions required that we absorb these increases for several weeks as we worked with customers to raise rates in a commercially acceptable manner," said Chairman and CEO Peter J. Rose. He said year-over-year declines in freight volumes in September dropped less than in previous months, with airfreight tonnage down 6 percent,...

For Washington go to http://protectmarriagewa.com/ and and for Maine http://www.standformarriagemaine.com/index.php?home=1 If you know anyone in these states that can go vote to protect marriage or can donate, get other people to the polls let them know

SEATTLE — Conservatives here, a droll minority, say that under this city's quota system, when a conservative enters the city, one already here is required to leave. They also say Washington is actually two states: There's what you see from atop this city's Space Needle — meaning, this liberal city — and there's everything else, extending to the Oregon, Idaho and Canadian borders. On Tuesday, Washington residents will vote in a referendum that has national significance because of a controversy about disclosing names and addresses of those who signed petitions to trigger the referendum. This threatens the right to privacy,...

Boeing's decision to build a new airplane-assembly plant in Charleston, S.C., will change the shape of the company and dramatically alter how both the state of Washington and the Machinists union approach Boeing. Washington state must accept a future where it competes for every new Boeing airplane program, with low-wage South Carolina as a certain rival. The Machinists must accept that if Boeing doesn't like their demands, it can direct future work to its nonunion Charleston plants. A defining moment could come about 2015, when Boeing will choose where to build the successor plane to either the Renton-built 737 or...

SEATTLE Conservatives here, a droll minority, say that under this city's quota system, when a conservative enters the city, one already here is required to leave. They also say that Washington is actually two states: There is what you can see from atop this city's Space Needle -- meaning, this liberal city -- and there is everything else, extending to the Oregon, Idaho and Canadian borders. On Tuesday, Washington residents will vote in a referendum that has national significance because of a controversy about disclosing the names and addresses of those who signed petitions to trigger the referendum. Disclosure threatens...

SEATTLE -- Conservatives here, a droll minority, say that under this city's quota system, when a conservative enters the city, one already here is required to leave. They also say Washington is actually two states: There is what you can see from atop this city's Space Needle -- meaning, this liberal city -- and there is everything else, extending to the Oregon, Idaho and Canadian borders. On Tuesday, Washington residents will vote in a referendum that has national significance because of a controversy about disclosing the names and addresses of those who signed petitions to trigger the referendum. Disclosure threatens...

Michele Anderson, who says she killed six members of her family on Christmas Eve 2007, railed against her attorneys in court Thursday, calling them dishonest and unqualified, and asked a judge to appoint new legal counsel. At the same time, Anderson urged King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Konat to drop charges against her former boyfriend and co-defendant Joseph McEnroe, saying she alone was responsible for the slayings of her parents, her brother and his wife and their two young children. She also asked that Konat charge her with kidnapping for forcing McEnroe to participate in the killings at her...

A Seattle police officer was shot to death and another officer was wounded late Saturday night while conducting a traffic stop in the city's Central District neighborhood. The officer who died was a veteran of the department, and the woman who was wounded is a student officer in training, Assistant Chief Jim Pugel said

The Tea Party Express II rolled into Spokane, WA. today. It was a beautiful day for patriots from all over the Inland Empire to gather and listen to the uplifting speeches and music!

EVERETT, Wash. - A 61-year-old man accused of beating his brother to death in Lynnwood told Snohomish County sheriff's detectives it was an honor killing to avenge an insulting remark. Mehdi M. Matin says more than 20 years ago his brother uttered words about his bride-to-be so terrible the wedding was called off. Both men are from Afghanistan. Matin was visiting his brother Monday when he repeated the remark.

 TEA PARTY EXPRESS II ROLLS INTO WASHINGTON STATE! RALLIES TO BE HELD IN PUYALLUP ON FRIDAY,KENNEWICK & SPOKANE ON SATURDAY. (FROM THE ROAD IN CENTRAL OREGON) - The national, cross-country tour titled, Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day (www.TeaPartyExpress.org)  is rolling into Washington State to host Tea Parties in Puyallup (Friday 6:00 PM), Kennewick (Saturday 9:00 AM), and Spokane (Saturday 2:00 PM). The Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day will hold rallies that seek to educate, entertain, and encourage patriotic Americans who are concerned about the quasi-socialistic policies being pushed by the Obama/Pelosi/Reid administration. Momentum has grown for the tour, as word of...

Supporters of Darwin’s theory continue to distinguish themselves on America’s college campuses—not for their reason and logic, but for their incredible ill manners and an almost pathological inability to engage in civil discussion. Last week, a factually-challenged attack on intelligent design was published in The Nevada Sagebrush, the student newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno. Nothing new in that; I see ill-informed articles on intelligent design all the time. But after my colleague Rob Crowther posted a short comment suggesting that readers might actually want to hear from intelligent design proponents themselves (imagine that!), the Darwinist thought-police came out...

LATEST RALLY DRAWS OVER 1,000+ IN LIBERAL SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA (ON THE ROAD IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA) - Crowds continue to build as the Tea Party Express II: Countdown to Judgment Day (www.TeaPartyExpress.org) gains momentum! Yesterday in the very liberal San Francisco Bay Area, more than 1,000 people turned out to show their support for smaller government, less deficit-spending, and opposition to government-run healthcare. The rally held particular importance as a Special Election for Congress takes place on November 3rd in California's 10th Congressional District. Conservative candidate for Congress, David Harmer, spoke at the event. The Tea Party Express II...

·11250 Waples Mill Road ·   Fairfax, Virginia 22030    ·800-392-8683 NRA Sues Seattle Over Illegal Gun Ban Wednesday, October 28, 2009 Fairfax, Va. - Today, the National Rifle Association filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Washington State against the City of Seattle, asking the court to enjoin and declare invalid a recently enacted parks and recreation administrative policy that prohibits firearms in parks, community centers and other city-owned buildings. Other plaintiffs in the case include state correctional officers and private citizens. “NRA members are outraged that the City of Seattle has ignored and defied state law and an opinion of...

Dow Jones)--Boeing Co. on Wednesday announced it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011.

The More They Know Darwin, The Less They Want Darwin-Only Indoctrination According to an international poll released by the British Council, the majority of Americans — 60% — support teaching alternatives to evolution in the science classroom. The percentage is the same for Britons, despite the fact that both countries have been inundated with pro-Darwin media coverage in this super-mega Darwin Year. Of course, the British media reporting this are chagrined. Britain is the birthplace of Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution, and the official-sounding British Council, the UK group behind the “Darwin Now” campaign that commissioned the Ipsos...

CHICAGO—Boeing Co. said it would build a second final assembly line for its troubled 787 Dreamliner jet in South Carolina, a move that spurns the powerful aircraft machinists' union that had been negotiating with Boeing to locate the work at the current factory near Seattle. Boeing has been laying the groundwork for a new factory in South Carolina for months and could begin construction at a facility it owns in North Charleston, S.C., as early as Nov. 2. The factory is expected to be operational by July 2011. Boeing's decision comes after a flurry of lobbying by officials in both...

Just announced KING5 news, waiting for link...

So Boeing is threatening to jilt us (again). To run out on our nine decades of marriage with someone smarter? Better? More reliable? Nope. With someone cheaper. Take away the heat, all the union-bashing or management second-guessing as Boeing now appears ready to move a major piece of its plane-building operations to South Carolina. At the core of this breakup drama is a cold statistic: 14. As in $14. Per hour. That's the average pay of the local line workers who are building the fuselage of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner in a Charleston, S.C., plant. Average pay of a Boeing Machinist...

Discussions between the Machinists union and Boeing over the second 787 production line for Everett are effectively dead, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Boeing now appears close to choosing Charleston, S.C., as the location of the second line. The person close to the negotiations said an announcement could come within days. Boeing management has turned down further talks over the potential 10-year no-strike agreement the company had sought, the person said. "The union wants to continue talking," said this source, who is not aligned with the union. "The Boeing Co. does not want to talk any further....

The Boeing board of directors met Monday in Chicago without reaching a decision on siting a second 787 production line, as efforts continued to resolve an impasse in the high-stakes talks between the Machinists union and the company. If the Machinists and Boeing can't agree on a 10-year no-strike deal that would land the second production line in Everett, the company is threatening to put it in Charleston, S.C. The company released no information on the board's discussion about the second 787 line, but sources confirmed there was no decision. In phone calls over the weekend, Gov. Christine Gregoire and...

The Demise of Another Evolutionary Link: Archaeopteryx Falls From Its Perch A few days ago we saw Ida fall from her overhyped status as an ancestor of humans. Now some scientists are claiming that Archaeopteryx should lose its status as an ancestor of modern birds. Calling Archaeopteryx an “icon of evolution,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) borrows a term from Jonathan Wells while reporting that “[t]he feathered creature called archaeopteryx, easily the world's most famous fossil remains, had been considered the first bird since Charles Darwin's day. When researchers put its celebrity bones under the microscope recently, though, they discovered...

A year ago Saturday, Tacoma garage-rock legends, The Sonics, showed us they still had it with a fierce, swaggering set at Seattle's Paramount Theatre, their first local performance since the Nixon administration. And as this Halloween approaches there's more Sonics news that's so good it's scary. Lead howler Jerry Roslie tells me his band is close to finishing four new songs with Seattle super-producer Jack Endino. The new song titles are "Bad Attitude," "Vampire Kiss," "Cheap Shades" and "Don't Back Down," Roslie told me this afternoon. And though he's not sure exactly how they will be released at this point,...

Here is a video, released today by the Washington State DOT, of a computer simulation of what is expected to happen if a magnitude 7.0 quake hits the area near downtown Seattle..... YouTube video This video focuses on the effects such a quake would have on the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the seawall on the waterfront. Make no mistake about it...this video is designed to scare the heck out of anyone who uses the viaduct. Why release it? According the the WSDOT, a private citizen, name withheld, made a public disclosure request through the FOIA.

A few months ago, “Ida” was sitting on top of the world. She’d been lauded as the “eighth wonder of the world” whose “impact on the world of palaeontology” would be like “an asteroid falling down to Earth.” Falling, indeed. On October 21, Nature published an article announcing that “[a] 37-million-year-old fossil primate from Egypt, described today in Nature, moves a controversial German fossil known as Ida out of the human lineage.” Wired also published a story, noting that, “[f]ar from spawning the ancestors of humans, the 47 million-year-old Darwinius seems merely to have gone extinct, leaving no descendants,” further..."...

Following on the heels of his last bestseller, The God Delusion, Darwinian biologist and atheist Richard Dawkins has scored another publishing triumph. The No. 5 bestseller in the country, according to the New York Times, is Dawkins’s The Great Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. You might think his success would give him the courage to face critics of his ideas in open debate. But you would be wrong. As one of the architects of the theory of intelligent design, I have formally challenged Dawkins to debate our contrasting views of evolution before the public, but his representatives have...

The attacks were sharper. The barbs more focused. But in the end, the underlying message was the same in the latest King County executive's debate. Dow Constantine and Susan Hutchison upped the rhetoric and the slings and arrows had a little more punch, but the two kept coming back to this: Constantine is responsible for the King County budget mess. Hutchison is a Republican in moderate's clothes with no experience. When the two did get to issues, Hutchison announced that she believes light rail over Lake Washington should go on a new 520 Bridge, not I-90 as voters approved. Constantine...

[V]oters in two liberal states on opposite ends of the country will also take up measures to limit spending. The outcomes will give us a clear sense of the public mood toward runaway spending. ... The voter-initiated measures on next month's ballot are modeled after Colorado's 1992 Taxpayer Bill of Rights (Tabor). They prohibit state spending from increasing faster than the growth of state population plus inflation in any given year. Extra revenue would be rebated back to the taxpayers, and if officials wanted to raise taxes beyond the limit they would have to seek a public referendum. Tabor worked...

Shortly before Super Bowl XXII, Clint Didier had a dream that his team, the Washington Redskins would be down, but come back to win, and that he would catch a touchdown pass. That dream came true. Later that year, Didier dreamed that he would no longer be with the the Redskins and watch from afar as they played in another Super Bowl. That dream also came true. Now, Clint dreams of going back to Washington, D.C., this time as a U.S. Senator, to rein in what he sees as a government out of countrol. Disgusted at the confirmation of Obama...

Oct 20, 2009 — Every once in awhile it’s fun to look at what biochemists and biophysicists are discovering about the cell. Since you have several trillion of cells in your body, think about some of these cool cell tricks going on inside of you right now...

Seattle (AP) -- A man accused of advising straight immigrants to claim homosexuality — and potential persecution in their home countries — when they applied for asylum has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. Steven Mahoney touted himself as an expert in immigration affairs and ran Mahoney and Associates in Kent, which advised immigrants on how to stay in the U.S.

CHARLESTON, S.C. — Behind closed doors, business and local government leaders in South Carolina are working to deliver an electrifying jolt to the economy of this genteel city — at the expense of Washington state. Already the site of side-by-side factories that produce two thirds of the fuselage for Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, Charleston is in a tight race with Everett to be the location of a second final-assembly line for the new jet. "It's a huge deal," said Pat Barber, a well-connected Charleston businessman who owns a trucking company that specializes in oversize loads and could win a lot of...

Boeing and the Machinists union are far apart in secret negotiations over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C.Secret talks have been going on for weeks in Washington, D.C., and Chicago between Boeing and the Machinists union, with top leaders negotiating over a proposed no-strike agreement that would ensure a second 787 final-assembly line goes to Everett instead of Charleston, S.C. But less than a week ahead of a Boeing board meeting to discuss the choice, the labor talks are deadlocked and hindered by distrust on each...

The New Untouchables By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN October 20, 2009 Last summer I attended a talk by Michelle Rhee, the dynamic chancellor of public schools in Washington. Just before the session began, a man came up, introduced himself as Todd Martin and whispered to me that what Rhee was about to speak about — our struggling public schools — was actually a critical, but unspoken, reason for the Great Recession. There’s something to that. While the subprime mortgage mess involved a huge ethical breakdown on Wall Street, it coincided with an education breakdown on Main Street — precisely when technology...

Boeing will decide in the next two weeks whether to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line in Everett or in Charleston, S.C.Boeing has narrowed its decision on where to put a second 787 Dreamliner final assembly line to Everett and Charleston S.C., and will make a choice within the next two weeks. The outcome could have a profound impact on where future Boeing airplanes are built, and the key question appears to be whether the Machinists union will accede to management's demand for a long-term no-strike agreement. In a conference call with the press this morning, chief executive...

Bat researcher Russel Barsh knows his way around old barns. It's up where sunlight leaks through the walls, and cobwebs rule the corners that Barsh feels right at home. "I am kneeling in about half an inch of bat poop," he said with a chuckle. With his signature laugh and an absolute absence of fear, Barsh picks up anything that might be a clue. "This is the remains of a little bat," he said. Barsh has found and identified thousands of bats, but nothing prepared him for what he recently discovered during one of his lofty investigations. "We were stunned,...