Free Republic

I’m one of those masochists who signs up for daily email alerts from several news services just to keep tabs on the stories I might miss on cable news. I get a couple of them from the Washington Post, one of which is the “Five Minute Fix.” These breaking news alerts provide not only a quick glance at the news of the day, but frequently a good look at how reporters at one of the nation’s largest newspapers view the news and choose to project it to the public. Last night’s Fix was a great example of the latter...

Except, weirdly enough, those in Detroit city government I've held off on writing about the Flint water disaster here thus far (although I've dealt with it a couple of times in my Detroit News column) because it seems we learn more every day about what happened and why. Sadly but predictably, Michigan media have treated it mainly as a political story, with the early narrative being something along the lines of "Republicans stick Flint with toxic water to save money." That has prompted absurdities like Michael Moore (who grew up in Flint by the way) showing up and demanding that...

What we learned from Hurricane Katrina: No matter what happens, it's never the governor's fault. What we've learned from the contaminated drinking water in Flint, Mich.: It's always the governor's fault. A bit of background first. Flint has relatively high levels of lead in its drinking water, a cause for legitimate concern. This is a result not so much of the source of its drinking water, the Flint River, as of the city's failure to treat the water, which, without the proper additives, leaches lead and other contaminants from pipes. Prior to and separate from the current water crisis, Flint...

Big Guy visited Detroit yesterday to take another victory lap for having saved GM (and whacking bin Laden). BO visits a Detroit-based Shinola store proving he knows…well, you know.While he was in Motown BHO addressed the ongoing water crisis in Flint, Michigan which is 70 miles northwest of Detroit (not that it matters butt Flint is ranked the 10th most liberal city in America, just behind San Francisco). President Barack Obama, in Detroit on Wednesday for his first visit to the North American International Auto Show, weighed in on the Flint water crisis at the top of his speech to...

Saying the people of Flint deserve the truth about the city's water, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has released more than 250 pages of his emails that relate to the crisis. But the document dump Wednesday did little to ease the predicament he finds himself in. With each passing day, the chorus for him to step down has grown louder because the water debacle unfolded under his watch. "So far, all roads lead to Lansing when it comes to accountability," Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee, who represents the Flint area, said Wednesday. The emails help show, at least in part, how...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder apologized to the residents of Flint for a water crisis that has prompted outrage, federal scrutiny and lawsuits, vowing to seek long-term assistance for the city’s residents. In his State of the State address on Tuesday night, Snyder said he was asking state lawmakers for $28 million to help residents reeling after Flint’s drinking water became contaminated with dangerously high levels of lead. He also vowed to release his emails related to Flint from 2014 and 2015.

DETROIT -- Commenting for the first time on the lead contamination in the drinking water of Flint, Mich., President Obama said Wednesday that he "would be beside myself" if he were a parent in the city. Mr. Obama said that in a White House meeting on Tuesday with Flint's mayor, Karen Weaver, "I told her that we are going to have her back, and all of the people of Flint's back, as they work their way through this terrible tragedy." The long-running crisis, which has poisoned dozens of Flint residents, at least, and left tens of thousands of others unsure...

See if you can tell that I'm angry. Sean Penn is the dolt who fancies himself as a journalist while surrendering all editorial control to his subject, a drug lord and murderer. CBS This Morning has decided to enroll in the Sean Penn School of Journalism. The Hillary whores hosts at CBS This Morning spent an entire segment of the show painting Michigan Governor as the bad guy in the Flint Michigan tainted water scandal. They likened it to a "Katrina moment." The segment then turned entirely into a Hillary Clinton campaign commercial. Everything centered around what Hillary had to...

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder responded Monday to criticism from presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the Democratic debates for his handling of Flint's water emergency, saying Clinton is making it a political issue. During Sunday's debate, Clinton said "every single American should be outraged" by the water crisis, adding that "if the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would have been action." Following a speaking engagement at a Martin Luther King Day event in Flint, the Republican governor said her tactic doesn't help solve the problem. "We're going to...

FLINT - Filmmaker and Davison native Michael Moore spoke before a fired-up crowd in downtown Flint today about the water crisis. In his speech he asked that President Barack Obama visit Flint, when the president is at the North American International Auto Show next week. Moore said that Obama needs to come to Flint before it becomes the president's version of Katrina, conjuring images of when President Bush flew over, but initially did not go to, New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina stuck the city.

"You mentioned making the service better for our customers; but the American citizens aren't our customers--about 400 junk mailers are our customers.", said US Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe to Outbox founder Evan Baehr. The Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) top Midwest official knew about the Flint, Michigan drinking water crisis of 2015 months before telling the public, according to a Tuesday report by the The Detroit News. You can't judge the motives of individuals. But these government agencies and pandemic-mega-corporations aren't individuals. Therefore, it's fair to observe, that their behavior reveals their group motives, that "by their fruits you shall know...

~~~~This is how they'll gut American democracy: Scott Walker and the Kochs want to [expletive] America as bad as they did Wisconsin~~~ The third week in December brought two startling stories highlighting the ongoing Dixiefication of the Midwest, a key ingredient in how the GOP, with its aging white male demographic base, is nonetheless strategically outmaneuvering the Democratic Party on multiple fronts. They are sharp reminders of how our politics are being reshaped in state legislatures and on the ground-and how inattentive to basics the Democrats have become since the demise of the 50-state strategy.The story from Wisconsin concerns the...

Sana'a, Yemen- Special forces are closing in on one of the most ardent enemies of Christmas just outside the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a. The battle for Sana'a, which cost thousands of Yemeni lives, was declared a victory for pro-Christmas (PC) troops once soldiers raised a Christmas tree on the nation's highest mountain, Jabal an Nabi Shu'ayb. "Our troops really won an overwhelming victory today," explained Captain Jingle McSnowflake. "I mean here we are fighting in an environment that is very foreign to our men, but by the grace of Commerce, we were able to pulverize these heathens. They'll think...

FLINT, MI -- The Michigan chapter of Al Sharpton's National Action Network says the state needs to set up a special court to hear criminal cases against juveniles who may have been poisoned by lead contaminants in Flint water. "All juvenile offenders arrested, charged or incarcerated in Genesee County that may have consumed Flint water during the period of lead contamination should be tested for lead content in their blood," Sam Riddle, state political director of Michigan NAN, said in a news release.

In 2012 the Daily Caller Ran this article http://dailycaller.com/2012/04/11/america%E2%80%99s-most-dangerous-cities-are-run-by-democrats/ which showed that 8 out of 10 of the most dangerous cities in America were run by democrats. (other 2 independents) So I looked into and found the current ten cities with the highest murder rates. http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/top-lists/highest-murder-rate-cities/ And found the results are quite similar with at least 8 out of 10 of the most dangerous cities (ones with highest murder rates) still being run by democrats. 1 East St. Louis, IL (Emeka-Jackson Hicks,Democrat) 2 Camden, NJ (Donna Red, Democrat) 3 Gary, IN (Karen Freeman Wilson, Democrat) 4 Chester, PA (John A...

Michigan Officer Shells Out $35,000 For Open Carry Stop Posted by Bob Owens on July 30, 2015 at 2:03 pm ï‚‚ Somehow, I donÂ’t think Flint Township Police will be stopping people who open carry firearms any time soon unless they have a darn good reason. A man who claimed he was wrongfully arrested on Christmas Eve while legally open-carrying his pistol has reached a $35,000 settlement with the officer who stopped him, according to the manÂ’s attorney. John David McMorris reached the agreement Tuesday, July 28, after he sued Flint Township Police and Sgt. Russell Fries following his Dec....

We've been ranking America's most dangerous cities for several years, and there's one city that keeps making the top of the list — Flint, Michigan. Flint had 66 homicides in 2012, tying a record it hit two years ago. Forbes has also ranked Flint as one of most dangerous places for women. The most striking attack of 2012 occurred when an 87-year-old woman was raped outside her home in broad daylight. She decided to leave Flint. The city has probably changed a lot in that woman's lifetime. Flint hasn't always been this dangerous or depressing. Flint had a booming auto...

When the American flag is flown upside down, if you were not aware, it is a signal of dire distress. Can you imagine what it is like to suddenly have low-flying military helicopters, explosions, and gunfire rocking your home in the middle of the night? This message went out on Facebook around midnight last night from the official Lapeer County Police, EMS, and Fire Facebook page: "ATTENTION VIEWERS: PER FLINT POLICE OPERATIONS (FPO) THE US ARMY IS DOING TRAINING IN FLINT THIS WEEKEND AND YOU MAY HEAR HELCOPTERS, GUNFIRE, & EXPLOSIONS. PLEASE DO NOT BE ALARMED." That message was sent...

(INTELLIHUB) — A ten-day US Army urban military training exercise has begun in Flint, Michigan with explosions rocking neighborhoods and scaring residents who had no idea what was actually happening. With less than three hours between a city press release and the beginning of the exercise, residents were left in the dark about the urban military training until the last possible moment. Most had no idea what was happening as their homes shook from the force of the simulated explosions. “It was like a big huge explosion, it shook my whole house, it shook the ground.” (Watch video at link)...

FLINT, MI -- What started as a local attorney's way to draw attention to an unusual mayor's election has turned into an international phenomenon as Giggles the Pig makes headlines around the globe. News organizations from Russia and the Netherlands have picked up the story of the small porcine from Flint whose owner is attempting to enter into the mayor's race. Even CNN ran a story Friday, May 8, about Giggles' attempt to take on the Vehicle City's political establishment. Attorney Michael Ewing announced Giggles' campaign on Facebook on May 4 following news this week that no names would appear...