Free Republic

Hopefully, you all got what you wanted from Santa this year. But even if you didn’t, you can take some comfort that there are 21 people in New York State who certainly did. Their presents weren’t dropped off by a jolly old elf coming down their chimney, however. Governor Andrew Cuomo decided to play Santa on Christmas eve and handed out nearly two dozen pardons and sentence commutations. He put the announcement on the official New York Governor’s website, along with explanations of each person’s crimes and what impact these gifts would have on them.

To celebrate the New Year, the Russian government gave hundreds of high-ranking officials a special gift: a 400-page book of “prophetic” quotes by President Vladimir Putin. The book, titled Words That Change the World, includes 19 of the most important speeches and interviews Putin has given during the last 12 years. Hundreds of short, tweetable passages are bolded in the text. Anton Volodin, who spearheaded the book’s publication, said Putin’s words are valuable to Russian leaders largely because they tend to be prophetic: “We noticed that everything Putin says, to varying degrees, comes true,” he said. “In this book, we...

A tape apparently recorded by murdered Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko a year before he was poisoned has revealed he was digging up links between Vladimir Putin and one of the world’s most dangerous terrorists. A Telegraph investigation uncovered the audio recording, in which the dissident claims from beyond the grave that Russia’s president had a “good relationship” with Semion Mogilevich - a Ukrainian crime boss who was on the FBI's most wanted list and whom Mr Litvinenko believed was selling weapons to al-Qaeda. The apparent recording of Mr Litvinenko is published for the first time ahead of a public inquiry...

In another hilariously feeble attempt to move their agenda forward, the DNC has introduced a new meme based on their favorite President, Barack Obama. The meme is simply a blue picture of the President with large words next to his face reading, in all caps, "LIKE A BOSS:" No context is given as to how Obama is exactly acting "like a boss." Unsurprisingly, the meme has been mocked by most people who have come in contact with it. ...The DNC eventually, feebly responded to the derision with this almost humorously terrible retort and the hashtag "deal with it:"

Jean King, Bobby Riggs an 'elaborate mob setup' Tennis star Bobby Riggs, top, and Billie Jean King are shown in action during the "Battle of the Sexes" match in the Astrodome in Houston, on Sept. 20, 1973. The ultimate “Battle of the Sexes” — a 1973 match between the No. 2 -ranked woman tennis player and a retired male Wimbledon champion — was rigged so Mafia bosses could cash in on the betting, a new report claims. The incredible claims have been lobbed at the reputation of the late hard-court hustler Bobby Riggs, by one of his former country club...

Mayor Richard Daley proposed a whopping $293 million increase in taxes, fees and fines today, including a 15 percent jump in Chicago's property-tax levy, believed to be the biggest in the city's history. Daley, who delivered his proposed $5.9 billion budget at a special City Council meeting, expressed regret for the need to seek more from residents. But he insisted that the issue boiled down to a choice of higher taxes or stagnation for a city that has made great strides. "I know that many Chicagoans are struggling to make ends meet and facing economic uncertainty, which made developing this...

Released : May 10, 2006 11:34 AM BERLIN-A man sought by the U.N. administration in Kosovo on charges of illegally imprisoning and abusing fellow ethnic Albanians in 1998 has been arrested in Germany, prosecutors said Wednesday. Frankfurt prosecutors said the man was sought for on suspicion of genocide and was a member of the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army, which fought against the Serbian security troops in Kosovo. He was arrested Monday evening in the German town of Seeheim-Jugenheim, south of Frankfurt, and was being held pending extradition. The suspect is alleged to have run a camp in 1998 in Drenovac,...

"Teflon Don" John Gotti, who received a massive funeral send-off from New York City crowds on Saturday, once told his brother that prosecutors had given President Clinton a pass, complaining that if the Sexgate perjurer had been Italian, "they would have electrocuted him." Gotti, it turns out, became an avid news junkie while in prison, where he followed the Monica Lewinsky scandal intently. Just days after news of Clinton's affair with Lewinsky exploded, Gotti caught a broadcast of Gennifer Flowers' famous audiotape in which Clinton urges her to lie about their affair during an employment discrimination hearing. According to Gotti's...