Free Republic

The third new offering of the weekend, Nicholas Sparks' film adaptation 'The Choice,' is also struggling; 'Kung Fu Panda 3' will beat all three to stay at No. 1. Ethan and Joel Coen's Hail, Caesar! grossed an underwhelming $4.3 million from 2,222 theaters Friday for a projected $11.6 million debut, the lowest nationwide start of the duo's directing career. The news is even more grim for mash-up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The movie may only debut to $5 million after earning $2 million on Friday from 2,931 theaters. That puts it behind the the third new movie daring to...

There's been another slashing on a New York City subway, and terrified riders are calling for protection. This, as Police Commissioner Bill Bratton insists the subways are safe. As CBS2's Alice Gainer reported, a 30-year-old man is recovering after being slashed with a knife while on a No. 3 train Monday around 12:40 p.m. "SNIP" "Every night I see a different slashing," one woman said. "It does concern me because I have to take it every day. So it's kind of scary," another woman said.

"They would rather Hillary Clinton, they would rather bankrupt our kids and grandkids, they'd rather lose the Supreme Court for a generation, they'd rather see our religious liberties stripped away, our Second Amendment taken away, they would rather see Islamic terrorism continue to rise and Israel continue to be under assault than actually have a true Reagan conservative in the White House who believes what he says. That shows just how messed up Washington is, but it also shows why frustration is volcanic."...

Europe, whose economic struggles have grown that much greater with recent problems in crucial markets like China and Russia, is rushing to do business with a newly accessible and eager, if still problematic, partner: Iran. With the lifting of sanctions after its nuclear deal with the West, Tehran has gone shopping this week, bringing its checkbook and a long list of items it had been unable to acquire for years. Despite lingering animosities and the United States' designation of Iran as a sponsor of terrorist groups, European governments and corporations have made it clear that economic opportunity is going to...

When a big corporation is charged with antitrust or regulatory violations, and fined billions of dollars, have you ever wondered where that money goes? You might assume that it is deposited in the United States Treasury, for general purposes, or that it goes to victims of the companies’ misconduct. In some cases, you’d be right, but it turns out an awful lot of that money is being funneled straight into progressive non-profits, at the express direction of the Department of Justice. According to an exposé in the Wall Street Journal, the DOJ often mandates as part of settlements that the...

Americans of all stripes love to debate which president was best or worst. This is a subject that is too important to rely on opinion polls, which are skewed by individual bias and political views. While It's difficult to rate how good or bad any president may have been in comparison to another, a careful look at the facts shows one president failed in virtually every aspect of the job to a degree unrivaled by any other. When you review the facts below and consider his impact on our economy, foreign policy, and domestic policy, by almost any standard, it’s...

This is in reference to the scene in The Dark Knight where (Heath Ledger's) Joker reveals he doesn't care about having money, and that Gotham City "deserves a better class of criminal." See that scene here, or the full version here.

Jeb Bush must be watching the Democratic primary with unadulterated envy. The Democratic debates have been comparatively civil -- and conveniently scheduled to reduce viewership and impact. Bush has to contend with Donald Trump -- and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida. The establishment Democrat, Hillary Clinton, has only one serious challenger, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. She doesn't have to calculate which rival -- or rivals -- to attack. In a small field, the more seasoned candidate has the advantage. And even though Clinton showed a more realistic understanding of what is doable in Washington...

Bernie Sanders is no one's idea of a camera-ready presidential candidate. He's a "democratic socialist" running against an icon of the Democratic establishment. (And as satisfying as anti-establishment sentiment may feel for some right now -- the establishment is still pretty damn important.) His white hair is kind of wild, he's awkward, doesn't smile much, he hunches over and waves his arms when he speaks. He campaigns in rolled-up shirtsleeves and has pens in his shirt pocket. When it comes down to it, his radical policy positions and general cranky-grandpa vibe don't exactly scream "President of the United States."

As polls tighten and self-described socialist Bernie Sanders looks more like a serious contender than a novelty candidate for president, the liberal media elite have suddenly stopped calling him socialist. He’s now cleaned-up as a “progressive” or “pragmatist.” But he’s not even a socialist. He’s a communist. Mainstreaming Sanders requires whitewashing his radical pro-Communist past. It won’t be easy to do. If Sanders were vying for a Cabinet post, he’d never pass an FBI background check. There’d be too many subversive red flags popping up in his file. He was a Communist collaborator during the height of the Cold War.

The Obama Administration is frantically working to make the president's gun control "executive orders" permanent. Knowing the next president can effectively "delete" the unconstitutional actions restricting gun rights, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said they're trying to "institutionalize" Obama's orders long after they're gone. "My goal is to position the [Department of Justice] where it will carry on in all of these issues long after myself and my team have moved on," she said. All GOP candidates have vowed to rescind the executive orders should they win in November, but Lynch and her cronies are setting the wheels in motion...

For all those who revel in the fact that there are 374 days until President Obama finally gets the hell out of the White House, a cautionary note: Obama and his colleagues are RIGGING THE BUREAUCRACY so that their unique brand of "hope and change" extends far beyond their tenure. The latest evidence: Attorney General Loretta Lynch SAID, "MY GOAL IS TO POSITION the [Department of Justice] WHERE IT WILL CARRY ON IN ALL OF THESE ISSUES LONG AFTER MYSELF AND MY TEAM HAVE MOVED ON." specifically to how she planned to prosecute gun sellers under Obama's new executive actions....

The Democratic Party is waging a "full-on rebellion" against Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, former Obama advisor and CNN contributor Van Jones insisted Wednesday, and he thinks Bernie Sanders will take both Iowa and New Hampshire. "There is a full-on rebellion at the grassroots level of the Democratic Party," Jones told CNN "New Day" co-host Alisyn Camerota, reports Mediaite. "MoveOn.org, o[u]r biggest progressive organization, endorsed Bernie Sanders last night. Overwhelmingly, 67 percent." But Jones is urging caution, pointing out that Bill Clinton also lost both New Hampshire and Iowa while running for president in 1992, but went on to win the...

In the segment, host Jake Tapper played an audio clip from a robocall making the rounds in Iowa from a white nationalist group that supports Trump but has no official connection to him. Tapper asked for comments, and Jones responded: “It will be denounced. It should be denounced. But this is troubling. If I were Trump, is it time to look in the mirror? Who am I inspiring? Who am I attracting? Why will horrible racist groups say the I’m the only candidate that speaks for them? My deep concern is that Donald Trump is beginning to legitimate some of...

President Barack Obama used communist China, which has very strict gun ownership laws, as an illustration for the benefits of enhanced gun control on a populace. Speaking at the White House on Tuesday, Obama acknowledged, “We know we can’t stop every act of violence, every act of evil in the world. But maybe we can try to stop one act of evil, one act of violence.” “Some of you may recall at the same time that Sandy Hook happened, a disturbed person in China took a knife and tried to kill, with a knife a bunch of children in China....

Bernie Sanders has entered a new stage of his campaign. The Vermont senator, who is running for president on a populist message and often speaks passionately about environmental issues, was for months regularly seen flying in coach class on commercial flights. **SNIP** Most recently, the campaign confirmed, a Gulfstream 200, took the Senator and some staff from Burlington, Vermont two days after Christmas and then from Las Vegas, Nevada to Moline, Illinois for campaign events in eastern Iowa this week. Days before the holiday, a private jet whisked the team from Omaha, Nebraska to Chicago, Illinois in order to fit...

In a move to increase visitors by 2020, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, has invited three of the world’s leading snowboarders to tour his country’s new Masikryong ski resort in January. Terje Haakonsen, Dan Liedahl—known as “Danimals”—and Mike Ravelson will visit the resort at the summit of the 4,460-foot Taehwa Peak near Wonson, a port city on North Korea’s east coast, according to a press release from Uri Tours, a New York-based company that describes itself as “facilitating travel to North Korea.” The tour is also open to members of the public, with a single ticket (for seven nights...

One of the most intriguing movies I've seen in a long time is The Big Short. It's about the housing bubble and what we now call the Great Recession, based on Michael Lewis's bestselling book "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine." The main characters are money managers who not only realized that the housing bubble was being supported by unsustainable subprime mortgages, but also found a way to make millions of dollars from the inevitable crash. Here are 10 things moviegoers need to know. Lesson 1: There will always be bubbles. Vernon Smith is an economist who won a...

Well, it’s official: Bernie Sanders did not get an Econ 101 textbook for Christmas (again): Bernie Sanders: You have families out there paying 6, 8, 10 percent on student debt but you can refinance your homes at 3 percent. What sense is that?

In his Christmas Eve homily Thursday, Pope Francis noted the simplicity of Jesus' birth as he rebuked what he called societies' intoxication with consumerism, pleasure, abundance and wealth.