Free Republic

For months, only the most progressive Democrats would dare express their reservations about Hillary Clinton in mixed company. Though polls routinely showed that Democrats wanted to see Clinton face a serious primary challenge — the latest via Bloomberg Politics indicating that 72 percent of self-identified Democrats and independents hope Clinton doesn’t benefit from a coronation – only a handful of Democrats would explain why they hoped she should have to fight for the nomination. That changed earlier this year as prominent liberal politicians began to echo their party’s activist base. Increasingly, Democratic celebrity politicians are openly expressing their fear...

New York City council is currently drafting legislation that would allow all legal residents, regardless of US citizenship, the right to vote in city elections New York City is routinely described as a “global hub”, a place so thoroughly penetrated by international capital and migration that it seems at once within and without the United States. It is the centre of American commerce and media, but its politics, demographics and worldly outlook make the Big Apple an outlier. New York may be about to become even more distinct. The left-leaning New York City council is currently drafting legislation that would...

Pic - Mayor Bill de Blasio, at Gracie Mansion with First Lady Chirlane McCray, activist Van Jones, and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy, plans to dip his toe into presidential politics with the launch of a push for income inequality to become a central issue of the 2016 national elections. "All of this is focused on the notion that we are not having a discussion on income inequality in this country and we are not having that discussion at our peril." GRACIE MANSION — Mayor Bill de Blasio, who supporters describe as a "national hero" among progressives, has dipped his his...

A new Quinnipiac poll has Rand Paul tied for 5th. That’s eight different polls since November showing Paul in 4th place or worse. There was a moment in 2013 when political realignment was within our grasp– a once-in-a-generation opportunity to unite conservatives and progressives under the banner of classic Jeffersonian liberalism. That window is closed– squandered by the mind-boggling incompetence of senior adviser Doug Stafford. I know what you’re thinking: It’s still early! Polls don’t matter until [some arbitrary future date]. (SNIP) Rand could meet with Al Sharpton again. Because that went over so well the first time. Rand could...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) is the only major Republican likely 2016 presidential candidate who hasn't weighed in on the controversy over Indiana's "religious freedom" law that erupted this week — and his explanation for avoiding the issue is questionable.

Two women living in Queens have been charged with planning to build a bomb that they wanted to detonate in the United States. The women, Noelle Velentzas, 28, and Asia Siddiqui, 31, who until recently were roommates, were named in a complaint unsealed on Thursday in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, and were expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon. Ms. Velentzas and Ms. Siddiqui, who are American citizens, appeared to be interested in jihad, according to the complaint, which said that they had been communicating with Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and had been viewing violent videos...

n the opening segment of MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation,” host and notorious tax-evader Al Sharpton compared the newly-enacted Indiana Religious Freedom Restoration Act to Jim Crow and slavery. “This is a key moment for the country,” he said. “Too often in our history, we’ve seen religion used to justify attacks on other people’s rights, from slavery, to Jim Crow, to women’s right to vote.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio excoriated a controversial Indiana religious freedom law, telling reporters today that it is “deeply disturbing” and “doomed to failure.” Following the lead of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Mr. de Blasio also said he would ban non-essential city travel to the Hoosier State. “It’s a deeply disturbing reality right now in Indiana and I hope before it’s too late, they turn back,” Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, said at an unrelated press conference in Brooklyn. He promised that the law, which critics say will allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, will backfire on the...

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – New York City public schools have added two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced Wednesday. Schools will now close for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, making New York City the largest school district in the nation to recognize the two holidays on the official school calendar. “We are committed to having a school calendar that reflects and honors the extraordinary diversity of our students,” said Farina.

In the bad old days of New York City, the mob would decide the price of erecting a building regardless of who was planning to do it. Years after the construction of One Police Plaza, the City’s Police Headquarters, when the ceiling of the main floor started to fall down an investigation found that the mob had sold the city substandard concrete. They didn’t care who they ripped off. Hard work led by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani broke the grip of the mob on New York’s construction industry and for years afterward construction boomed because of the reduced costs of...

..New York has nine specialised high schools, of which eight admit students using the city’s Specialist High Schools Admissions Test (SHSAT). The education they offer rivals that of private schools that charge $40,000 a year. The high schools are free. The most popular, Stuyvesant, sends roughly 25% of its graduates to the Ivy League or other top colleges. The school’s unofficial mantra is “Sleep, study, socialise: pick two.” It admits 4% of test-takers, pickier than Harvard.New York’s Democratic mayor, Bill de Blasio thinks the SHSAT favours parents who can afford tutors. He wants to “broaden” (ie, relax) the admissions criteria,...

Maybe it is her short, spiky hair, or the cigarettes, which she gives to the men repairing the wiring in her Brooklyn apartment. Maybe it is because she swears. For whatever reason, the Rev. Ann Kansfield does not fit the stereotype of a minister. Not that she is worried about meeting anyone’s expectations for what a clergywoman should say or do. “We shouldn’t have to hide ourselves or worry about being judged,” Ms. Kansfield, who ministers at the Greenpoint Reformed Church, said. In her newest ministry, that self-assuredness is likely to serve her well. Ms. Kansfield, 39, is to...

Submitted by Thomas Miller via Oilprice.com,One could argue America was conceived from intense frustration that ultimately led to separation. Fed up with what they perceived as excessive control by the Crown, colonists to the “New England”, in essence, seceded in 1776, and thus the United States was born.Now, there is a renewed and growing secession conversation brewing in the New England region, this time fueled by a commodity: Natural gas. Infuriated by Governor Andrew Cuomo’s December decision to permanently instill a ban against hydraulic fracture stimulation, or fracking, residents in 15 communities in the Southern Tier of New York...

.....Hillary Clinton may not be their candidate....but Dems agree: It won’t be Gov. Cuomo. “People in the party all hate him. There’s an ABC factor at work....‘Anybody but Cuomo’.’’ Cuomo was described as detached and aloof from his party’s activities, without a significant party following.....a series of press interviews were remarkable for their hostility toward Cuomo....investigations into the governor’s closing of the Moreland panel on corruption, and his disappointing showing in last year’s primary cut into his standing. A Quinnipiac poll last week found Clinton backed by 56%, 14% for Sen Warren. Cuomo received 4% last fall, but received no...

Kill Stop and Frisk, attack police for doing their jobs and promote the grievances of criminals… and strangely enough more shootings happen. The murder rate in New York City has spiked an alarming 20% in the first two months of the year, prompting NYPD brass to rethink strategy to curb the deadly trend.Since Jan. 1, 54 murders have been recorded in the city, up nine from the same period a year ago, according to the grim stats released Monday.Shootings have also climbed 20% — with 149 so far in 2015 compared with 126 in the first two months of 2014....

New York City public schools have added two Muslim holidays to the school calendar, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina announced Wednesday. Schools will now close for Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, making New York City the largest school district in the nation to recognize the two holidays on the official school calendar. “We are committed to having a school calendar that reflects and honors the extraordinary diversity of our students,” said Farina. De Blasio said the change means that Muslim families won’t be forced to choose between observing the holidays and sending their kids to school....

Three men living in Brooklyn were arrested and charged on Wednesday with providing material support to the Islamic State, a terrorist organization that controls large parts of Iraq and Syria and has been actively recruiting Westerners to its fight. One of the men was arrested early Wednesday morning at Kennedy International Airport, where he was attempting to board a flight to Istanbul and then planned to travel to Syria, according to the authorities. The men were identified as Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, Akhror Saidakhmetov, and Abror Habibov. ... (Excerpted per guidelines)

Trying to explain his controversial comments that President Obama doesn’t love America, Rudy Giuliani said Friday that he believes the President has been influenced by communism and socialism. “Look, this man was brought up basically in a white family, so whatever he learned or didn’t learn, I attribute this more to the influence of communism and socialism” than to his race, Giuliani told the Daily News. “I don’t (see) this President as being particularly a product of African-American society or something like that. He isn’t,” the former mayor added. “Logically, think about his background. . . The ideas that are...

Something striking on today's Morning Joe. On the one hand, there was complete consensus that—as a matter of politics—Rudy Giuliani made a huge mistake in claiming that President Obama doesn't love America. Panelists called his comments "stupid," "crazy," "tone deaf," even "racist." But remarkably, there was one thing that no one said: that as a matter of substance Rudy was wrong. No one made the case that President Obama really does love America in the way most Americans do.

Megyn Kelly really grilled Rudy Giuliani on his comments where he said Obama doesn’t love this country. But Giuliani wouldn’t fold, standing firm, even doubling down on why he believes Obama doesn’t love this country.