Free Republic

A new Quinnipiac University poll found that Hillary Clinton would trounce any of the top three Republican 2016 contenders, but Vice President Joe Biden would lose to Christie, struggle against Ryan, and defeat Rubio. If the election were held today, former Sec. of State Clinton would have an easy time against either Chris Christie, Marco Rubio, or Paul Ryan. Clinton would defeat Sen. Marco Rubio 50%-34%. She would also win by double digits over Rep. Paul Ryan 50%-38. The Republican that would give her the most trouble is the one that the conservative base likes the least. Clinton would defeat...

One question hovering over the voting rights case now before the Supreme Court is whether there should have been a special counsel appointed to represent New York. The case involves the question of whether... --snip-- It used the power when, in 1965, it enacted what is, in the Voting Rights Act, one of the most glorious laws ever entered into the United States Code. It admitted African Americans to the political process and spelled the end of the Jim Crow era. Section 5 of the law, however, has been much fought over. It deals with certain states or jurisdictions that...

It’s an education bombshell. Nearly 80 percent of New York City high school graduates need to relearn basic skills before they can enter the City University’s community college system. The number of kids behind the 8-ball is the highest in years, CBS 2′s Marcia Kramer reported Thursday. When they graduated from city high schools, students in a special remedial program at the Borough of Manhattan Community College couldn’t make the grade. They had to re-learn basic skills — reading, writing and math — first before they could begin college courses.

<p>Mayor Bloomberg - who has already cracked down on smoking, trans fats, salt and super-sized drinks - is embarking on a new crusade: preventing New Yorkers from going deaf.</p> <p>Hizzoner's health officials are planning a social-media campaign to warn young people about the risk of losing their hearing from listening to music at high volume on personal MP3 players, The Post has learned.</p>

A man from Long Island, New York, is facing up to 30 days in jail and a $500 fine after a neighbor complained to police he was laughing too loudly. Police issued Robert Schiavelli, 41, two tickets for disturbing the peace for laughing out the window of his home in Rockville Centre on Long Island at about 6 pm on Feb. 12 and Feb. 13, his lawyer said. …

Current TV's $500 million sale to Al Jazeera has prompted a lawsuit that claims co-founder Al Gore originally was opposed to the deal but had a "change of heart" on selling his cable network to oil-rich Qataris. The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court by John Terenzio, who presents himself as a highly regarded media consultant, executive and TV producer who conceived the idea for the distribution of an American version of Al Jazeera. Now, Terenzio claims that he has been cut out of the lucrative deal.

NEW YORK (AP) — A man suspected of fleeing the scene of a grisly New York crash that killed a pregnant woman and her husband was arrested at a Pennsylvania convenience store on Wednesday after a friend arranged his surrender, and he was ordered held without bail. -snip- Acevedo is accused of speeding down a Brooklyn street at 60 mph early Sunday and crashing into a car carrying Nachman and Raizy Glauber. The Glaubers, both 21 years old, died Sunday, and their premature son, delivered by cesarean section, died Monday.

Just a quick, cranky reminder: Despite what you may have read, the Dow Jones industrial average did not hit a new high today in any meaningful sense. After adjusting for inflation, the Dow was higher in 2000 than it is today. It was also higher in 2007. It would need to rise another 10 percent or so to hit an all time high in real (i.e., inflation-adjusted) terms. … There are other, less arbitrary indexes of the U.S. stock market, such as the S&P 500, which tracks 500 (rather than just 30) big U.S. companies. The S&P 500, for what...

A possible drone sighting near JFK Airport has led to a federal investigation after a pilot spotted the unknown flying object as he landed a commercial jet yesterday. The Alitalia pilot was in his final approach into JFK over Brooklyn, New York, just after 1pm when he saw something hovering about 200 feet away. Sources told the New York Post that the 'drone' was black in color, and had helicopter rotors on its corners. The FAA said that all flights landed without incident, and the agency is currently investigating. The Post reported that the Joint Terrorism Task Force is also...

Barack Obama on Monday nominated Gina McCarthy to replace Lisa Jackson as Environmental Protection Agency administrator. McCarthy, who currently heads the EPA's air and radiation office, has vowed "not to sit around and wait for congressional action" when issuing environmental regulations. On May 1, 2010, in the keynote address for the Green Education Celebration at University of Massachusetts in Boston, McCarthy said she did not go to Washington to wait for congressional action and she said she did not intend to do so in the future.

Northrop Grumman Corp. said Monday that it will move 850 jobs off Long Island by next year, leaving just 550 workers out of a workforce that exceeded 25,000 in the 1980s. The jobs are going to Florida and California in the latest cost-saving consolidation of functions by the aerospace company. It's acting in the face of steadily declining Pentagon budgets, including those in the current automatic spending cuts known as the sequestration. An unknown number of the 850 workers will be offered transfers, company spokesman Randy Belote said. The consolidation is expected to be completed sometime next year.

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) -- Hundreds of people lined up in Syracuse to call for a repeal of New York’s SAFE Act on Monday. A majority of counties across the state have already passed resolutions opposing the new gun laws. Before legislators in Onondaga County vote, they opened up the floor for comment and plenty of gun owners had a lot to say. “Why was it passed so quickly? Why was it passed so fast without any input by constituents?” asked one person. After two hours, in standing room only, all but one person in the crowd pushed local legislators to join...

<p>Even in red-state Texas, educators are indoctrinating kids into the Islamic faith. At Lumberton High School, a geography class was recently told to dress up in Islamic garb — including burqas — and refer to the 9/11 hijackers not as terrorists but as "freedom fighters."</p>

ALBANY, N.Y. - A group of 1,200 New Yorkers has forced a court review of whether New York's new gun controls were rushed into law in violation of the state constitution. Robert Schulz, of Warren County, calls Gov. Andrew Cuomo a "king" for pushing through the nation's toughest gun law by suspending the three-day review usually required before votes on bills. It's been 6 weeks since New York's SAFE Act was signed into law, banning defined assault weapons and high capacity magazines. Since then, thousands of people have rallied, and Friday, a court order forcing a review of whether the...

The premature baby who initially survived after its parents were struck by a car and killed while they were on their way to a New York hospital has died, a family neighbor said. Isaac Abraham, a community leader in Brooklyn and a neighbor of the dead couple, confirmed the death of the baby this morning. The baby died from injuries overnight at New York's Bellevue Hospital. The baby, who was about 3 pounds, sustained brain and other internal injuries, Abraham said. Nachman and Raizy Glauber, both 21, were killed early Sunday morning in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a tight-knit neighborhood made up...

It’s one thing for President Obama to attack Wall Street as the place fat cats roam free as proof, a class warrior justifying all the mainly useless banking regulations he’s imposed since the 2008 financial crisis. It’s quite another thing for New York’s elected officials to let him get away with the big lie that’s costing New Yorkers jobs and squeezing our finances. In other words, where’s Chuck Schumer when you need him? MIA, it turns out. Ditto for our other senator, Kirsten Gillibrand, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo. As new banking regs continue to take effect, Wall Street keeps shrinking,...

Mayor Bloomberg was booed yesterday as he walked in the annual St. Patrick’s Parade in the hurricane-ravaged Rockaways. The jeers grew so loud toward the end of the Queens parade that mayoral candidate and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn appeared to break away from the mayor to march separately. A spokesman for Quinn later said she always intended to walk separately from the mayor. Locals didn’t spare their ire over the area’s slow recovery, hoisting signs reading, “Mr. Mayor, we need jetties” and “Listen to the Rockaways.” “We’ve been dying down here, up to our ears in muck trying to...

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has urged New York State to adopt his ban on large sugary drinks. The city has jurisdiction over restaurants, movie theaters, fast food restaurants and street carts, but not supermarkets or convenience stores that do not serve prepared foods. “The state should do exactly the same thing in stores,” Bloomberg told reporters including WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb. …

<p>Only you're probably not going to like his advice for losing weight -- just eat less.</p> <p>"If you eat less than 2,000 calories you'll lose weight," the mayor said on his weekly WOR radio show today. "If you eat more than 2,000 calories, you'll gain weight. Now some things metabolize more quickly than others. And everyone says I should go on this kind of diet or that kind of diet. Don't eat and you'll lose weight."</p>

A neatly dressed tourist taking pictures in Times Square was caught off guard when a visibly agitated woman blocked her path and then attacked her. The 34-year-old long-haired blonde woman was walking with a friend and photographing their surroundings with a point-and-shoot camera when the aggravated passer-by confronted her and stood in her way. The confrontation at West 46th Street and Broadway, across the street from a Forever 21, led to a verbal exchange which quickly turned into a scuffle.