Free Republic

Former New York Gov. George Pataki (R) is calling his supporters in New Hampshire to tell him he intends to drop out of the 2016 presidential race, The Boston Globe's James Pindell reported via Twitter. Since entering the race, Pataki, who is 70, has remained in the lower tier of the polls. The moderate Republican was New York governor for three terms after being elected in 1994. Before embarking on his 2016 campaign, there was speculation he would run in previous presidential cycles. His reported decision to drop out comes weeks before Feb. 1's Iowa caucus and Feb. 9's New...

BE HERE, OR BE NOWHERE!

Democratic senators, filing in for their weekly caucus lunch yesterday, looked as if they'd seen a ghost. "I haven't read it," demurred Barack Obama (Ill.). "I just don't have enough information," protested Ben Nelson (Neb.). "I really can't right now," John Kerry (Mass.) said as he hurried past a knot of reporters -- an excuse that fell apart when Kerry was forced into an awkward wait as Capitol Police stopped an aide at the magnetometer. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) brushed past the press pack, shaking her head and waving her hand over her shoulder. When an errant food cart blocked...

In the latest attempt to juice up prime time, CNN is expected to name broadcast news veterans as executive producers on two of its news programs. David Doss, who has been executive producer for ABC's news magazine, Prime Time Thursday, and the NBC Nightly News, will take over Anderson Cooper's 7 p.m. show, Anderson Cooper 360, replacing Terry Baker, also a former ABC producer who worked on Nightline. Another ABC veteran, Victor Neufeld, will be the new executive producer of CNN's 8 p.m. show, Paula Zahn Now. Neufeld most recently was no. 2 at the CBS Early Show and had...

New York police are searching for the owner of a severed human hand that dropped from the sky on to the deck of a boat. The incident happened near the Lawrence Village Marina, on Long Island, where parties were taking place on a number of craft. Police said the human hand mysteriously dropped out of the sky and hit the deck of one of the boats, says the New York Post. Nassau Detective Sgt. John Azzata, said: "One owner was in the cabin when he heard a noise, goes out to check and finds the hand on the rear deck...