Free Republic

The United States suggested Thursday it was open to a “new arrangement” with Iran for peacefully resolving disputes such as Tehran’s recent ballistic missile tests, while America’s Sunni allies in the Persian Gulf said Iran must stop sending forces to Syria and weapons to Yemen if it wants to normalize ties with its neighbors. Setting the stage for President Barack Obama’s summit with regional leaders in Saudi Arabia later this month, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with the foreign ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council to advance a series of proposals aimed at easing Arabs’ concerns about...

The Obama administration is now advising foreign banks on how to bypass existing U.S. sanctions when dealing with Iran, according to the State Department, which disclosed that officials are offering guidance on how to grant the Islamic Republic access to billions of dollars in frozen assets.However, the administration would not comment when pressed by reporters on whether foreign banks would be permitted to conduct monetary transactions with Iran using American dollars.State Department Deputy Spokesman Mark Toner told reporters that the U.S. is committed to helping Iran access billions of dollars in frozen assets that are currently stored in banks across...

(Video) Thursday at the University of Chicago Law School during a town hall meeting, President Barack Obama mocked the criticism that his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Merrick Garland, did not add diversity to the bench. Obama said, “The way I thought about diversity is not to think about any single seat as, oh, I’ve got to fill this slot with this demographic but, rather, if I’ve got a broad set of nominees to make — and this is true across the board — how do I make sure that I’m intentional throughout that process? So that the talent of every

I feel confident that I could persuade a millionaire on a Friday to subsidize a revolution on Saturday out of which he would make a huge profit on Sunday even though he was certain to be executed on Monday.” — Saul D. Alinsky. ... born in 1909 to Jewish Russian immigrants in a Chicago ghetto. .. Saul’s father instilled in his son a distrust of capitalism and minimized the connection between hard work and economic reward. ... Alinsky .. achieved entrée into Al Capone’s inner circle: ... Frank Nitti, known as the Enforcer, Capone’s number-two man, and actually in de...

For months, federal authorities have hinted at the motive behind the hush-money payments former U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert has admitted to making: the sexual abuse of a teenage boy when Hastert was still a suburban high school teacher and wrestling coach. But now, a Tribune investigation has uncovered new details of the case — at least four people have made what law enforcement sources say are credible allegations of sexual abuse against Hastert. The Tribune has determined the identities of three of them, all men, whose allegations stretch over a decade when they were teenagers and Hastert was their...

Millionaires are leaving Chicago more than any other city in the United States on a net basis, according to a new report.About 3,000 individuals with net assets of $1 million or more, not including their primary residence, moved from the city last year, with many citing rising racial tensions and worries about crime as factors in the decision, according to research firm New World Wealth. That represented about 2 percent of the city's high net worth individuals.Cities in the United States that saw a net inflow of millionaires included Seattle and San Francisco.Chicago was among four cities worldwide with the...

No excerpt allowed from USA Today, story here.

The rich have the means to vote with their feet and Chicago's millionaires are apparently not shy about expressing their preferences. A report by the research company New World Wealth, about 2% of Chicago residents woth a million dollars or more (not including their primary residence) fled the city citing racial tensions and the high crime rate. That's more than 3,000 individuals how decided to get while the going is good. Chicago Tribune: Chicago was among four cities worldwide with the biggest flight of millionaires. Paris saw the largest exodus. The French city lost 7,000, or 6 percent, of...

New Top Cop's Fiancee Under Investigation For Alleged Police Exam Cheating By Mark Konkol and Heather Cherone Updated April 5, 2016 THE LOOP — Mayor Rahm Emanuel's newly appointed top cop Eddie Johnson's fiancee is a Chicago Police lieutenant named in an ongoing investigation into alleged cheating on the department's lieutenant's exam, DNAinfo Chicago has learned. It's the same cheating probe that sources said helped derail Deputy Chief Eugene Williams' chances of being promoted to police superintendent. Now the allegations are part of a separate probe, this one by Chicago Inspector General Joe Ferguson, sources said. Williams, one of the...

Beginning in 1478, the Spanish Inquisition systematically silenced any citizen who held views that did not align with the king’s. Using the powerful arm of the government, the grand inquisitor, Tomas de Torquemada, and his henchmen sought out all those who held religious, scientific, or moral views that conflicted with the monarch’s, punishing the “heretics” with jail sentences, property confiscation, fines, and in severe cases, torture, and execution. One of the lasting results of the Spanish Inquisition was a stifling of speech, thought, and scientific debate throughout Spain. By treating one set of scientific views as absolute, infallible, and above...

Senator Sherman Takes Aim at the Supposed Radicalism of Administration(Note: Full Headline Title is not entirely visible) The Oklahoma Leader (Oklahoma City, Okla.), Vol. 5, No. 14, Ed. 1 Thursday, September 26, 1918Incidentally He Says Taking Over Industries Was Political, Not Governmental Control, But Concludes With Hidden Plea to Leave Packers Unmolested to Combine Activities and Profits. THE LEADER'S WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON - Poor old Senator Sherman of Illinois has broken out again in an attack on the supposedly liberal elements in the Wilson administration. Sherman has in the past year given a good deal of his attention to these...

Prominent ‘Black Lives Matter’ activist and rapper Tef Poe has a message for “white people”: If Donald Trump wins the presidency, “niggas” will ‘incite riots everywhere’. “Dear white people if Trump wins young niggas such as myself are fully hell bent on inciting riots everywhere we go. Just so you know,” Poe tweeted today.

California and New York — where almost 1 in 5 Americans live — are on their way to raising their minimum wage to $15 an hour, and the activists who spearheaded those efforts are now setting their sights on other similarly liberal, Democratic-led states. Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington are among the states with active “Fight for $15” efforts, and even economic experts who oppose the increased rate see it gaining momentum. “There is lots of pressure to do this,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a former Congressional Budget Office director who is now president of...

President Barack Obama heads to law school next week to push his nomination of Judge Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court. Obama adviser Brian Deese said Friday that Obama will return Thursday to the University of Chicago Law School to argue for Senate consideration of the appeals judge’s nomination. Obama taught constitutional law at the university for several years before he entered politics. …

CHICAGO — Video posted to social media appears to show a brazen shooting in Chicago that left a man in critical condition. The 31-year-old victim was taking part in a "Facebook Live" video — recording himself and streaming the video to Facebook. He was standing outside a store at 55th and Hoyne in Chicago's West Englewood neighborhood when the shooting happened.

Police are now investigating reports of a bomb found in a package carried by an unidentified woman entering the Peoria International Airport Thursday morning. The bomb was discovered while the woman was trying to check the package at the American Airlines counter, prompting the airport to partially evacuate the premises and enter lock-down. The package contained dynamite, a timer and bottles of fluid, which were found during a routine scan by TSA officials . . .

WEEK News 25 in Peoria reports that the Peoria International Airport was partially evacuated due to a bomb threat, and officials have a woman in custody. TSA officials say a woman attempted to check a package at the American Airlines counter at about 6:30 p.m.. Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy told 1470 WMBD that the package contained dynamite, a timer and bottles of fluid, which were found during a routine scan by TSA officials. The scan was confirmed when authorities opened the package using a robot. The woman is being questioned by authorities. Flights were delayed at the airport for...

As the first quarter of 2016 nears an end, violence in Chicago has reached levels unseen in years, putting the city on course to top 500 homicides for only the second time since 2008. As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, homicides totaled 135, a 71 percent jump over the 79 killings in the same year-earlier period, official Police Department statistics show. That represented the worst first quarter of a year since 136 homicides in 1999, according to the data. Shootings have jumped by comparable numbers as well. As of Wednesday, at least 727 people had been shot in Chicago so far...

Thanks to the candidacy of Donald Trump the financial intersection of money and political opinion, as guided by the monetary motives therein, has brought some amazing revelations to the surface. These financial/media relationships have largely, and historically, remained hidden. They have damned sure never been publicly, clearly, and regularly stated so the consuming audience would know the presentation was fraught with financial conflict.

Thanks to the candidacy of Donald Trump the financial intersection of money and political opinion, as guided by the monetary motives therein, has brought some amazing revelations to the surface. These financial/media relationships have largely, and historically, remained hidden. They have damned sure never been publicly, clearly, and regularly stated so the consuming audience would know the presentation was fraught with financial conflict. So it perhaps shouldn’t come as a surprise to find out that Eric Errickson’s media venture “The Resurgent“, is taking Super-PAC money from the (formerly Scott Walker advocates and financial backers) Ricketts family of Wisconsin who fund...