Free Republic

Rapper King Louie survived being shot in the head in Chicago on Wednesday afternoon. The “Chiraq” rapper was shot in the left side of his head while riding in a car in Chicago’s Ashburn neighborhood at about 3:30 p.m.on Wednesday, Chicago police said.

GOP front-runner Donald Trump is the “weakest” of the still-bulging Republican presidential field — according 
to 1988’s unsuccessful Democratic nominee Michael Duk-
akis, who said his party should welcome a shot to run against the brash business tycoon. “I think Hillary is probably going to win the nomination. But it’s going to be a very tough fight in the final,” said the former Massachusetts governor. “If I were the Democratic nominee, I would want to have Trump. I think he’s the weakest. But what do I know?” said Dukakis, who lost to George 
H.W. Bush.

A restaurant chain in Houston warns customers the store is "politically incorrect." At least, according to the sign outside the door. It greets guests at five Berryhill owned restaurants in the area. "We say Merry Christmas and salute our flag. Oh, wow!" They first appeared about two weeks ago. "Yeah, I guess the political correctness has gone overboard sometimes."

LANCASTER, Pa. (WHTM) – Charges have been filed against five people, including three teens, in connection to a group of fights that escalated into a stabbing over the weekend at the Park City Mall. Police say the violence resulted in a 14-year-old girl’s face being slashed, a 20-year-old man cut in the chest, and a 15-year-old girl’s wrist split.

An ad for Nesquik hot chocolate featuring a cartoon rabbit has been banned for claiming it gave children a “great start to the day” when in fact it was high in added sugar. Nestlé UK ran an ad on Asda’s own-brand milk labels featuring the character stirring a cup of the drink underneath the strapline “For a great start to the day!” The Children’s Food Campaign complained to the Advertising Standards Authority that the promotion, particularly the use of the bunny character and the “great start” claim, encouraged poor nutritional habits in children.

Even when compared to Ebenezer Scrooge, the Puritans who ruled the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1600s were downright Grinchian. Not only were the Puritans contemptuous of Christmas, they outlawed public celebration of the Yuletide holiday for an entire generation. The pious Puritans who sailed from England in 1630 to found the Massachusetts Bay Colony brought with them something that might seem surprising for a group of devout Christians—contempt for Christmas. In a reversal of modern practices, the Puritans kept their shops and schools open and churches closed on Christmas, a holiday that some disparaged as “Foolstide.”

Police say several juveniles and young adults will be charged in connection with melees that left two stabbed at Lancaster's Park City Center shopping mall over the weekend. In a release provided to Pennlive Monday, Lancaster police say officers responded to the mall at 7:04 p.m. Saturday, for reports of a "fight / stabbing." Officers reportedly discovered that as many as three fights had taken place there that evening, all believed to have involved two groups of people.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis man who's charged with tweeting threats against FBI agents and a judge after his friend was arrested on a terrorism charge will remain jailed without bail pending further proceedings, a federal magistrate judge ordered Monday. U.S. Magistrate Judge Franklin Noel found the government had met its burden of proof for keeping Khaalid Adam Abdulkadir, 19, in custody, but said it was "an awfully close question."

Miami-Dade Police are investigating a shooting on the 21000 block of SW 120th Avenue in Southwest Miami-Dade. Officers discovered five people shot at the scene. According to officials, all five of the victims were in the parking lot of a grocery store, when a newer model silver vehicle began shooting. The vehicle is described as possibly a Chrysler 200 with dark tinted windows and the passenger side mirror missing.

Knicks forward Derrick Williams was robbed of $750,000 in jewelry at his Tribeca apartment early Saturday — and he’s blaming two women he took home from a Meatpacking District club earlier in the evening. The women pillaged a Louis Vuitton jewelry case holding a small fortune in basketballer bling, law-enforcement sources said. “I don’t want to talk about it,” Williams said after the Knicks’ game at Madison Square Garden Saturday night. “It’s still up in the air.”

MIAMI (WSVN) -- Gunfire erupted in a Miami neighborhood, Saturday afternoon, sending a teenage boy to the hospital with seven gunshot wounds, the latest in a string of shootings involving local students. Miami Police said 30 to 40 rounds were fired at 16-year-old Jamal Pieze in the area of Northwest 39th Street and 17th Avenue in Miami, at around 2:45 p.m. Investigators said the victim was walking down the street when the shots rang out. "Suddenly, two other black males approached and started shooting at him," said Miami Police Officer Rene Pimentel. "The victim ran."

An upstate New York pizza shop owner admitted Thursday he tried to recruit fighters for the Islamic State group in Syria. Mufid Elfgeeh, 31, a naturalized U.S. citizen, helped arrange travel and funding and put one recruit in touch with an English-speaking Islamic State contact in Iraq via Facebook, authorities said. Elfgeeh pleaded guilty in federal court to two counts of attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization under a plea agreement that recommends a sentence of just under 22 ½ years in prison.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The two main suspects in the Amanda Blackburn case are facing more charges. Marion County Prosecutor announced Friday that they will be charged in a Nov. 3 burglary and sexual assault of a woman in a west side apartment.

LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police say a woman attempting to rob a doctor's office was fatally shot by a worker there.

LAKELAND, Fla., Dec. 15 (UPI) -- A Florida man dressed in a French maid costume and a dog collar was one of 95 people arrested in a prostitution sting, police said. The Polk County Sheriff's Office said an investigation dubbed Operation Naughty Not Nice resulted in the arrests of 95 people between the ages of 15 and 68 during the week-long sting.

COTTONWOOD-- Cottonwood Police have identified the man killed Friday night in what is being called a home invasion robbery. The man who was killed was one of the Phoenix-area men who reportedly attacked two Cottonwood men. Gus Terrell Finklea, 27, of Goodyear, was shot by one of two victims with a handgun from the South 2nd Street home, according to the police report.

Sanity — and Santa — have been restored at a Brooklyn public elementary school where St. Nick was banned, the Pledge of Allegiance was dropped and Thanksgiving was replaced with a “harvest festival.” The good news arrived at PS 169 in Sunset Park on Monday morning, a day after The Post exposed the bizarre PC extremism of Principal Eujin Jaela Kim.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to authorize a strike. CTU says 88 percent of its members voted in favor of the action if necessary. State law requires 75 percent approval to authorize a strike. But a strike cannot take place until 105 days after the fact-finding phase begins. The CTU has called for that phase to begin immediately, but CPS does not want to start fact finding until mid-February. The union has filed an unfair labor practice charge with the Illinois Educational Relations Board, which is scheduled dto meet at the end of January. If it...

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (WSVN) -- A disturbing photo that may be of a teen accused of killing a rabbi from New York in 2014 was uncovered Monday, by 7News. Law enforcement sources believe it shows Deandre Charles holding a semi-automatic weapon. The photo was obtained from a Facebook page under the name of Papito L. Franklins, which law enforcement sources believe, is a social media nickname used by Charles. The photo and page were both deleted hours after his arrest last week.

“What I am about to show you will make you mad,” Tung said. According to Tung’s report, just 22.1 percent of black males and 24.9 percent of Latino males in Boston scored proficient or higher on the English MCAS exams in elementary school, compared with 56.9 percent for white males and 48.5 percent for Asian males in the city.