Free Republic

There is a probe taking place in Washington right now about how Obama took a Defense contract away from a business , who had professionally handled these contracts for years. Obama and the Deep State pulled the rug out from under a company called IOMAX, run by an Army aviation disabled veteran and a crew of Army special forces all working together to create the most advanced aircraft being used in the various roles in the Middle East and even in the drug wars at our borders. IOMAX had perfected the unusual design and had just introducted its latest magnificent...

Gerald Walpin, the inspector general who was at the center of controversy in 2009 when he was fired by the White House amid an investigation of an Obama friend, died today. He was 84. Walpin's son-in-law, Allan Tananbaum, said Walpin was struck by a car while crossing a street in Manhattan. Walpin was fired in June 2009 for his investigation of the misuse of money in AmeriCorps, the service organization that was part of the Corporation for National and Community Service, where Walpin served as inspector general. The investigation focused on Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who became mayor...

.... Di-Natale provided coverage of the [Osama bin Laden] raid's aftermath, including an exclusive interview with Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped U.S. agents verify Bin Laden's presence, and who remains imprisoned in Pakistan to this day. Di-Natale notably reported from Osama bin Laden's Pakistan compound in the aftermath of the US raid, and is known for chiseling out a brick from the compound: Call me a conspiracy theorist, but when I heard about Di-Natale's death, the first thing that popped into my mind was this: Who killed him? It isn't that far-fetched to suspect foul play when a journalist...

Los Angeles, CA—It was just after midnight when Christopher Lasseter was walking his little dog in Brentwood. He watched a man he now knows to be Andrew Breitbart crossing Barrington from The Brentwood. Beritbart was walking without apparent distress in the direction of the Starbucks across the well-lit street. Once Breitbart stepped up on the curb, as Lasseter put it, “He fell hard like a sack of Potatoes.” A man unknown to Lasseter called 911. The 911 operator told them to begin chest compressions on Beritbart until the police and paramedics arrived. The very top photo shows where Breitbart died...

"First, let’s nail down the difference between a conspiracy theorist and a broad-minded person. A conspiracy theorist says, “Of course, Andrew Breitbart was assassinated. Look how many people benefit from his absence. He told CPAC he had videos that could doom Obama’s re-election chances. He told Sinclair News three weeks before he died, ‘Wait till March 1st!’ He died on March 1st. You’re a blind, cowardly idiot if you can’t see he was murdered.”

A private investigator has been unable to find the only eyewitness to the sudden death of media innovator and conservative activist Andrew Breitbart. The apparent disappearance of Christopher Lasseter, who says he saw Breitbart drop to the sidewalk in front of a restaurant, adds to the mystery surrounding Breitbart’s March 1 death. On the day the Los Angeles County coroner released Breitbart’s autopsy report, a photographic technician at the coroner’s office died suddenly of suspicious causes. In addition, at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., just three weeks before Breitbart’s death – where he promised to unveil “damning”...

As Joan Rivers’ prognosis grows more dire each day, RadarOnline.com has learned that medical investigators are growing ever closer to uncovering the real reason the healthy 81-year-old was sent spiraling into a coma after a standard medical procedure. And according to insiders, they believe the culprit could be a fatal dose of Propofol — the same drug that killed Michael Jackson after he was administered a lethal dose. “Certainly, they suspect the anesthesia was the issue, based on conversations between the staff and city medics,” a source close to the investigation told Radar.

It is quite clear that the deceptively-named “Affordable Care Act” (aka Obamacare), was NOT supported by “We the People” when it was crammed down our throats three years ago so we could “see what’s in it”. Its popularity has plummeted since then as we’ve found out. Support has dwindled in recent months among the middle and lower classes whose very jobs are threatened by it as employers cut work hours to avoid it, and traditional Democratic “bases” like unions realize they’ve been deceived. Even arch-O’supporter Warren Buffet is now on record against it. One response by the administration—arguably illegal—is to...

This is a distasteful subject to write about. But Los Angeles talk radio is obsessed with the death of Michael Hastings and the insinuations that somehow he was killed by unknown forces attempting to silence him. Yesterday afternoon, I drove to the scene of the car crash. Several bouquets of flowers ringed a tree. I saw candles and notes. It's very sad. Trutherism (the catch-all term for instant conspiracies based on extreme mistrust and/or unfounded supposition) makes me angry. I would much rather have Hastings' life work be the subject of discussion and criticism than to hear L.A. radio jocks...

On Friday, January 4, the owner of Noveske Rifleworks, 36-year-old John Noveske, was killed in a single-vehicle accident on Highway 260 in Oregon. ... Only a day earlier, the lifeless body of 32-year-old Keith Ratliff was found at FPS Industries in Franklin County, Ga., just outside of Carnesville. He had been shot once in the head, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. Ratliff was well known for a series of videos he produced

I know we're rife with vanities right now. This is "news" because it is an eyewitness account. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, who is in one of the SAFEST districts in the nation for Demon-rats, is out campaigning at local precincts today. NO JOKE. Saw her hope out of an SUV today (didn't look like it was a hybrid, either)...and, with my "anti-Obama" sign, I told her it was nice seeing her having to get out and campaign. She is in a contest with a lady named Karen Harrington, whose signs are ALL OVER this part of Broward. Debbie says to me...

Embattled Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano, under investigation by his own agency for financial issues, threw himself in front of a Metra train this morning and was killed, sources said. It happened in an unincorporated area near Crystal Lake just after 8 a.m.

In the last few weeks, I have found myself debating on radio and TV programs whether various financial instruments have any social utility -- any "real world" purpose other than "speculation or gambling." (Disclosure: I give professional advice to a number of financial organizations.) My first instinct was to defend various derivatives as serving useful purposes: to hedge against various risks -- such as currency fluctuation or aviation-fuel price rises, to promote innovation, competition, efficiency and liquidity (paraphrasing Lawrence H. Summers, Alan Greenspan, Arthur Levitt and William J. Rainer from a 1999 Clinton administration report.) I pointed out that creating...

Before a Nigerian man allegedly attempted blow up a U.S. airliner on Christmas Day, President Obama had not dedicated a lot of time to speaking publicly about homeland security. He didn't mention the term "homeland security" once when he addressed Congress last February, nor did it come up much in other major speeches or press conferences. During his presidential campaign, Obama criticized the approach of the George W. Bush administration, which created the Department of Homeland Security as a reaction to the Sept. 11 attacks, as efforts "to scare Americans without telling them what to be scared of, or what...

Why not? What do they have to lose? They’ve already pissed away independents and re-energized conservatives thanks to ObamaCare. Might as well use next year to check as many boxes left on their agenda as they can before they take their beating. Amnesty, cap-and-trade, transferring Gitmo detainees to the U.S.: Pour it on and hope that progressives and Latinos will react by turning out in numbers just high enough to keep the House in Democratic hands. Even if it backfires, how bad can the damage be? They lose 35 seats instead of 30? In fact, this may help them pass...

The scriptures refer to reaping the whirlwind. That certainly describes Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson after the first state-wide poll since the controversial deal he cut in exchange for his deciding vote on the Senate health care bill. A new Rasmussen Reports poll shows that if he were running for re-election today, Mr. Nelson would lose to Nebraska's GOP Governor David Heineman by a stunning 61% to 30%. Only three years ago, Mr. Nelson won his current term with a solid 64% of the vote. Clearly, the senator's fall in public esteem is a direct reaction to his having voted for...

Country Club Hills mayor Dwight Welch said today that the girlfriend of Christopher Kelly has "lawyered up" and is no longer talking to police investigating the Saturday death of the former top Rod Blagojevich adviser. Meanwhile, the Cook County medical examiner's office said this afternoon following an autopsy that a determination of cause and manner of Kelly's death was "pending further studies," meaning officials need to conduct additional investigations to officially rule whether Kelly committed suicide. At a morning press conference, Welch also said police are searching for a man who went to Oak Forest Hospital while Kelly was being...

A key figure in ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's federal corruption case died Saturday of an apparent "aspirin overdose," a law enforcement source told the Chicago Sun-Times. Christopher Kelly, 51, was Blagojevich's former chief fundraiser, and was described by the newspaper as "go-to" guy in the ex-governor's administration.

Kelly’s death comes just four days after he pleaded guilty to a scheme involving $8.5 million in fraud at O’Hare Airport. It was the second conviction this year -- he still faced trial along with the ex-governor, in June. Kelly had been indicted three times since 2007 but refused to become a cooperating witness. When he pleaded guilty to the O’Hare scheme Tuesday, Kelly spoke of feeling intense pressure by prosecutors to abandon his loyalty to Blagojevich and cooperate with the feds. Chicago police are investigating Kelly’s death. A source familiar with the investigation told the Chicago

Christopher Kelly, a key figure in the federal corruption probe into former Gov. Rod Blagojevich, is dead. The Cook County medical examiner’s office today confirmed that Christopher Kelly of Burr Ridge was pronounced dead at Stroger Hospital at 10:46 a.m. The office said Kelly died of salicylate intoxication. According to medical reference guides, salicylates are used in anti-inflammatory and pain relief medications. An autopsy is scheduled for Sunday. *snip* Kelly is a former confidant and top fundraiser for Blagojevich, who was accused of using his office to leverage campaign donations and benefits for himself and his family. *snip* Kelly’s attorney,...