Free Republic

Among the feats many Michael Brown protesters pulled off as they stormed Seattle’s Westlake Mall on Black Friday was targeting a children’s choir set to sing Christmas carols, KING-TV reported as part of a video segment. A journalist with KING, Mark Wright, wrote this on his Facebook page: Some of you may know that tonight’s tree lighting at Westlake Center was cut short by protesters. I feel really bad for a group of children from the 5th Avenue Theater. They came tonight, excited to sing. When the protesters overtook the balcony, the children were absolutely terrified. I helped usher them...

Bellingham Boy Fighting Flesh-Eating Bacteria SEATTLE, Wash. -- What started as a 'fat lip' from a fall, now has a local 6 year old Jake Finkbonner fighting to survive. The boy has necrotizing faciitis, a bacteria that is attacking his face. His family says the bacteria was consuming him before their eyes. The infection is so aggressive, antibiotics aren't enough. He’s had three surgeries so far to try to save his life. Jake’s father, Donny, (says)......all of us are praying for him, and we’re just in God’s hands.” Jake’s mother, Elsa says, “he didn’t have any facial features that were...

Chanting “hands up, don’t shoot,” marchers walked under a police escort, pausing in intersections for bullhorn-amplified speeches as they wound their way through Capitol Hill and into downtown Seattle, ending at the U.S. District Courthouse at Seventh Avenue and Stewart Street. Organizers, including representatives of the Seattle King County NAACP and United Black Christian Clergy, said the march was to demand a federal criminal indictment of Darren Wilson, the officer who shot and killed 18-year-old Michael Brown on Aug. 9. While the march was peaceful, the rhetoric was fiery, as demonstrators carried signs declaring “Jail Killer Cops” and “America Hates...

Seattle, Washington, one of the strongest remaining bastions of liberal philosophy left in the country, passed a phased-in $15 minimum wage law earlier this year. The highest minimum wage in the country. The vote was unanimous and the throng outside cheered, but for many this is a loss from which they will never recover. It is a blow to the profitability of business that they just can't take.

SEATTLE -- Try as we might, we simply just can't outdo Seattle Police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee's apt description of what happened Wednesday in Leschi Park, when officer Vanessa Flick, "was forced to put herself between a crowd of bystanders and the razor-sharp talons of two erotically-entwined eagles... after the birds crash-landed in a park." (snip) A witness told Flick the birds "appeared to spiral in mid air" together before falling to the ground. Flick said the birds weren't fighting and didn't have any signs of trauma. The plot thickened. Police say a second man, who told Flick he was knowledgeable...

Often it seems as though there is no end to the left’s hypocrisy. And, the farther the left, the more apparent the hypocrisy. Such is the case with the Freedom Socialist Party, a national party. The Freedom Socialist Party has strong ties to Seattle. According to the party’s website, it actively campaigned for Kshama Sawant in her race for Seattle City Council. It “helped secure union endorsements and donations, and near support from the King County Labor Council…” The Freedom Socialist Party does differ from Sawant in one respect. You see, for this particular socialist party, a $15 minimum wage...

A student with a "blank stare" opened fire in the cafeteria of a high school north of Seattle on Friday, killing one person and wounding at least three others before fatally shooting himself, police and witnesses said. A hospital official said three patients were in "very critical condition" after the 10:30 a.m. PDT shooting at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. A 14-year-old boy was in serious condition at another hospital with a jaw wound.

Apparently asking $15 an hour for fast food workers isn’t enough so unappreciated socialists in Seattle are demanding the minimum wage be raised to a “paltry” $20 an hour. There are skilled and educated professionals who don’t command such a wage, not to mention soldiers facing death daily on the front lines of tyranny, but these hypocrites who religiously shell out $5 for a cup of Joe are demanding social justice because they feel slighted by more accomplished Americans? If radical leftists ever succeed in enacting such a law, and I believe it’s only a matter of time before they...

A socialist party that wants to raise the federal minimum wage to $20 per hour is currently advertising a job for an experienced web developer paying $13 per

It's sometimes said that if some people didn't have double standards, they'd have no standards at all. That applies to the Freedom Socialist Party. In 2012, their official website was pushing for a drastic increase in the minimum wage. In fact, they pushed for a full $20 per hour minimum wage, even for the most basic jobs: Well, if you are a socialist, I have good news: the Freedom Socialist Party is hiring! They must have competitive wages for a web developer, right? Not exactly. The people who want people who flip hamburgers for a living to earn $20 an...

Less than a year ago, Mark Driscoll, an evangelical pastor, was flying high. His hometown Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl, and the brash pastor scored a big, faith-fueled interview with five of the team's top players, including quarterback Russell Wilson. But in a remarkably fast fall from grace, Driscoll resigned Tuesday as pastor of Mars Hill Church, a congregation he founded 18 years ago and turned into a force in the mostly secular Pacific Northwest. In a statement, Mars Hills' board of overseers said Driscoll hadn't committed any acts of "immorality, illegality or heresy" -- sins that have...

<p>Going to school these days isn’t what it used to be. Kids are marched through metal detectors on the way to a disappointing lunch of arugula with a side of alfalfa sprouts. Now they’re ruining recess. Swings in Seattle are now forbidden.</p>

If the people of Seattle hate Christopher Columbus so much, they should take steps to reverse his “crimes,” starting with their own city. Last Monday the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution declaring the second Monday of October Indigenous People’s Day.... Socialist councilmember Kshama Sawant, indigenous to Pune, India, was more forthcoming about the measure’s explicitly anti-Columbus content. She said they pressed for having Indigenous People’s Day on the same day as Columbus Day to draw attention to the fact that the Genoan explorer “played such a pivotal role in the worst genocide humankind has ever known.” She scoffed...

The Seattle City Council has voted unanimously to celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” on the same day as Columbus Day, the federally recognized holiday, reports the Associated Press (AP). According to the AP report, the resolution that passed on Monday declares “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” the second Monday of October and intends to honor the contributions and culture of Native Americans and the indigenous community in Seattle. Supporters of the action said it will recognize the rich history of people who have inhabited the area for hundreds of years. "This action will allow us to bring into current present day our valuable...

Tomorrow used to be called Columbus Day, but no more. Thanks to Seattle, it’s now “Indigenous Peoples’ Day!” Sound stupid? That’s only because it is. This week the city council of Seattle voted unanimously to rename the day—within the city only; Columbus Day as we know it is a federal holiday—because, like with everything these days, some whiny people found a way to be offended by something that doesn’t really affect them at all and demand their grievance be addressed. Progressive governments such as Seattle’s eagerly cave if the crying crowd has a non-white face in front of it. In...

Airmen from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., are among the U.S. service members joining efforts to stem the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, the Air Force said Wednesday. Aircrew and maintenance personnel from JBLM’s 62nd Airlift Wing have been involved with the humanitarian assistance mission, said a spokesman for the active-duty wing. They are not in direct contact with Ebola patients, but they have been delivering supplies and troops to support the humanitarian mission in Liberia and Senegal. At this stage, military personnel in Liberia are building 18 Ebola treatment facilities and preparing infrastructure for the arrival of American troops and...

SEATTLE -- The Seattle City Council is scheduled to vote Monday on a resolution to change the name of Columbus to "Indigenous People's Day." "It's really irritating to me, because of what Columbus stands for. He represents what many of our Native Americans believe when the genocide started," says Millie Kennedy, who identifies herself as a member of the Raven Clan in the Tsimshian tribe. However, not all people feel the same way, including Seattleites who share Italian heritage with Christopher Columbus. "It's become a symbol of honoring Italian Americans and the legacy that our parents and grandparents left us...

Columbus Day will now be known as Indigenous Peoples’ Day in Seattle. The Seattle City Council on Monday unanimously approved the re-designation, which acknowledges that Native Americans were living in North America well before Christopher Columbus “discovered America” in the 15th century, Reuters reports. The change, which will go into effect before the Oct. 13 holiday this year, marks the second major city in the U.S. to officially re-designate the day, after Minneapolis’ vote in April.

The City of Seattle just passed a new trash ordinance that would fine residents and businesses for throwing away too much food.

The Seattle City Council passed a new ordinance Monday that could mean $1 fines for people who toss too many table scraps into the trash. Under current Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) rules, people living in single-family homes are encouraged but not required to dispose of food waste and compostable paper products in compost bins. Apartment buildings must have compost bins available, but residents of apartment buildings aren’t required to use them. And businesses aren’t subject to any composting requirements. Under the new rules, collectors can take a cursory look each time they dump trash into a garbage truck. If they...