Free Republic

Court Yard Hounds Not that many years ago, Emily Robison and Martie Maguire filled the Bradley as two thirds of the Dixie Chicks. But the Chicks have been on a long vacation, and to fill the time, Robison and Maguire started another group they call Court Yard Hounds. Wednesday night at the Uline Warehouse, the Hounds drew about enough people for a respectable family picnic. At the scheduled 10 p.m. start time, there were four people in the third row.

Should Gov. Scott Walker have pulled Portage native Scott Inglett's nomination as a student regent at the University of Wisconsin because Inglett signed a petition in 2011 to recall the Governor from office?

.....Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have spent six years expanding presidential powers at the expense of Congress and the judiciary, from authorizing domestic wiretapping to limiting habeas corpus and changing bills through signing statements. Democrats, in control of both chambers of Congress for the first time in 12 years, are determined to reclaim what they can. And the U.S. Attorneys case gives them powerful new ammunition.SNIP Hearings will be held, subpoenas issued, new investigations launched.

Gabrielle Giffords’ Husband Pulls Daughter’s Dog Off Sea Lion In Laguna Beach LAGUNA BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Gabrielle Giffords’ husband pulled his daughter’s dog off of a sea lion in Laguna Beach over the weekend. The incident, which was captured on video, happened around 1:40 p.m. Saturday at Goff Cove Beach by the Montage Laguna Beach. Retired astronaut Mark Kelly’s 18-year-old daughter, who was on vacation with her father and Giffords, was walking the American bulldog on a leash when the 65-pound dog saw the sea lion, ran off and attacked. Nathan, who declined to give his last name, happened to...

... While the law stipulates that I must surrender this money, I refuse to acknowledge this as a tax at all. This is not a tax. This is an asset seizure plain and simple. The term “retroactive tax” is a despicable euphemism. It is no different than when Hugo Chavez used the benign-sounding “nationalize” to describe his seizure of private property in Venezuela. Now before I go any further, let me tell you what I am not. I am not a Tea Party member. I am not even a Republican. Twice I have voted for Barack Obama, and I was...

(Stephen Chikhani and Nadia Lockyer made sex tape; cuckholded treasurer Bill Locker poses with his wife) California state Treasurer Bill Lockyer's differences with his estranged wife, former Alameda County Supervisor Nadia Lockyer, might not be so irreconcilable after all. The 71-year-old mainstay of state Democratic politics this week withdrew divorce papers he had filed last July against his 41-year-old wife, whose methamphetamine addiction and extramarital affair ended her political career and could have stained his. "He and Nadia have agreed to try and work things out, to try and reconcile," said Tom Dresslar, Bill Lockyer's spokesman. "He's proud of...

Economist and columnist Paul Krugman declared personal bankruptcy today following a failed attempt to spend his way out of debt. In a Chapter 13 filing to the United States Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York, lawyers for Krugman listed $7,346,000 in debts versus $33,000 in assets. The majority of his debts are related to mortgage financing on a $8.7 million apartment in lower Manhattan, but the list also includes $621,537 in credit card debt and $33,642 in store financing at famed jeweler Tiffanys and Co. The filing says that Krugman got into credit card trouble in 2004...

Sean Penn on the Death of Hugo Chavez: "I Lost a Friend" Despite his criticisms of the United States, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez did have supporters in Hollywood, including Sean Penn, who mourned Chavez's death Tuesday. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez dead at 58 "Today the people of the United States lost a friend it never knew it had," Penn said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. "And poor people around the world lost a champion. I lost a friend I was blessed to have. My thoughts are with the family of President Chavez and the people of Venezuela." Chavez,...

An already bad month is getting worse for NBC. For the first time in sweeps history, the network is projected to finish fifth in the key adults 18-49 demographic. That’s a crushing blow for NBC... snip... From the beginning of the February sweep on January 31 through February 19, NBC has averaged a 1.2 rating among adults 18-49. That’s below the 1.5 that Univision has been averaging so far over the 20 night of the sweep period. In fact, Univision has bested NBC every single night of the sweep so far among adults 18-49 and is poised to overtake NBC...

Sometimes, watching a Democrat learn something is wonderful, like seeing the family dog finally sit and stay at your command. With President Obama back in office and his life-saving “fiscal cliff” bill jammed through Congress, the new year has brought a surprising turn of events for his sycophantic supporters. “What happened that my Social Security withholding’s in my paycheck just went up?” a poster wrote on the liberal site DemocraticUnderground.com. “My paycheck just went down by an amount that I don’t feel comfortable with. I guarantee this decrease is gonna’ hurt me more than the increase in income taxes will...

School plans to layoff 25 faculty and staff members The University of the District of Columbia is asking the city for $4 million to pay for the severance packages of dozens of professors and staff members it wants to lay off. UDC plans to lay off 25 faculty and staff members, and eliminate seven departments and two dozen majors. School officials say it's expensive to eliminate positions because of a strong union presence. The school already eliminated 30 positions. A university spokesperson said the school expects the city to pay for the severance packages because the city ordered UDC to...

Since the election: (Updated 11/20/12 at 7:30 PM PST)Layoff numbers Organization # Laid off Running total Sector Notes AGC 70 70 Glass fabricator Plant closure Advanced Auto Parts 80 150 Automotive Airship Ventures 45 195 Entertainment Closure AMD 400 595 Electronics American Coal 54 649 Energy American Cotton Growers 110 759 Agriculture Ameridose 790 1549 Health Art Gallery of Windsor 12 1561 Art Gallery Canada Associated Milk Producers Inc 130 1691 Agriculture AT&T 71 1762 Telecommunications Operators ATI 172 1934 Education ATK Missile Products Div 50 1984 Defense RIF Atlantic Club 80 2064 Gaming Atlantic Lotto Corp 16 2080 Gaming...

Several news staffers at the Madison-based radio station WTDY have been laid off, including talk-show host John "Sly" Sylvester. A company memo says the layoffs included all but one member of the news, traffic and on-air staff at 1670 WTDY-AM and 106.7 WTDY-FM. The WTDY website has been replaced by a holiday message, and the station began airing Christmas music Wednesday. Station operations manager Randy Hawke says officials will announce the new format after the holidays. Sylvester tells WISC-TV ( http://bit.ly/UMT7Mh) he was surprised to hear he and six or seven others were being let go. He says his show...

Last week, when discussing the next steps for the company, and specifically the hope that mediation may resolve the epic animosity between management and workers, we stated that "What makes a mediation improbable is that the antagonism between the feuding sides has certainly hit a level of no return: "Several unions also objected to the company's plans, saying they made "a mockery" of laws protecting collective bargaining agreements in bankruptcy. The Teamsters, which represents 7,900 Hostess workers, said the company's plan would improperly cut the ability of remaining workers to use sick days and vacation." Sure enough, moments ago we...

GE Healthcare said Friday it is cutting 2 percent of its jobs in Wisconsin, where it has 6,500 employees, and 10 percent of its workforce in Vermont, where it employs about 500 people. The Waukesha-based medical equipment manufacturer said it needs to make "tough decisions in the current economic climate" and was looking for ways to streamline its operations and lower costs. "This will reduce complexity, speed up decision making and help us become more accessible to our customers," said GE spokesman Benjamin Fox. "It also addresses the continued economic challenges in Europe and the U.S., and it will position...

Sandeep “Sunny” Singh can hardly catch his breath, posing for pictures with a giant check for $30.5 million. Just two days ago, this newly minted millionaire was busy working two jobs to help his mom pay the bills. But he won’t be buying gifts for a girlfriend. She dumped him a couple weeks ago.

<p>Monica Lewinsky - Single, living with her mother and still struggling with her weight - but 'set to make $12m with a tell-all book about her affair with Clinton'</p> <p>Stepping into the pouring rain, her thick hair swept up underneath a cap and rather bizarrely wearing sunglasses despite the gloomy New York weather, the woman went about her business without attracting a single gaze from passers-by.</p>

Defense attorney Roy Kulcsar disbarred for using inmates to recruit new clients Attorney -- who defended terrorist Ramzi Yousef -- paid prisoners through commissary accounts Renowned defense attorney Roy Kulcsar didn’t chase ambulances — just inmates. And to make sure he caught them, he paid cash. Kulcsar funneled nearly $20,000 in illegal “retainers” to dozens of federal prisoners as compensation for steering fellow felons to his law practice, authorities said. The cash-for-clients deal operated between August 2004 and February 2010, with Kulcsar depositing funds into prison commissary accounts, a federal disciplinary committee reported last month. Kulcsar, who once represented 1993...

Report: Debbie Wasserman Schultz ‘getting booted’ as DNC chairwoman after November By Matthew Boyle - The Daily Caller 11:17 AM 06/25/2012 Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz may be “getting booted” from her chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee. Javiar Manjarres of the Shark Tank political blog reported Sunday that “Wasserman Schultz will not be back as DNC Chairwoman after the November elections.” “According to our source within the Democratic Party, who is also a close associate of Wasserman Schultz, the arrangements have already been made for her to leave DNC regardless if President Obama wins re-election or not,” Manjarres...

Request denied. A Limbaugh spokesman said that California mattress company Sleep Train asked to restart a “voiced endorsement” from Limbaugh that it had publicly cut off last week. The company said at the time that it “does not condone such negative comments toward any person.”…Sleep Train’s departure from the program had been billed by some observers as particularly significant because the mattress retailer had been with Limbaugh show for 25 years. Yet the tone of Sleep Train’s withdrawal statement last Friday hinted it might not be pulling out for the long run…Limbaugh spokesman Brian Glicklich on Thursday forwarded a copy...