Free Republic

**SNIP** Although applications cannot be submitted until Monday morning, the city put the site up Friday so people can prepare to file, said Tom Alexander, a spokesman for the mayor. The deadline to apply is 5 p.m. Jan. 25. In addition to the power and influence, the job comes with a $115,000 annual salary, a $73,280 expense account to set up a ward office and control over $176,484 in staff salaries. Jackson told supporters this week she would like her chief of staff, Keiana Barrett, or local Pastor Scott Onque, to be appointed to replace her. But sources said the...

National Review columnist Mark Steyn wants the United States to be more aggressive in its efforts to rescue to Islamist-held hostages in Algeria. As of Friday, at least one American had died in a hostage standoff near the Algerian border with Libyan border amid growing speculation that the United States may attempt a rescue operation. And according to National Review columnist Mark Steyn, it’s time the United States got more aggressive in its efforts.On Hugh Hewitt’s radio show on Thursday night, Steyn, the author of “After America: Get Ready for Armageddon,” scoffed at the idea of Algerian forces conducting the...

Fewer young men in the US want to get married than ever, while the desire for marriage is rising among young women, according to the Pew Research Center.Pew recently found that the number of women 18-34 saying that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things rose from 28 percent to 37 percent since 1997. The number of young adult men saying the same thing dropped from 35 percent to 29 percent in the same time.Pew’s findings have caught the attention of one US writer who maintains that feminism, deeply entrenched in every segment of the culture,...

A man hoping to make a good impression with his date was charged with petit theft for allegedly stealing beer, wine and steaks from Walmart, according to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office. About 5 p.m. Monday, James Flenniken, 48, was observed by a loss prevention officer taking the items worth $79.30 at Walmart, 8498 Lockwood Ridge Road. Without being questioned, Flenniken said he took the items in order to "impress a lady," according to the sheriff's office. Flenniken, charged with petit theft-shoplifting, is being held without bond at the Manatee County jail.

NEW JERSEY (MYFOXNY.COM) - The Hudson County town of West New York is considering a widespread sign regulation that could include banning American flags from being flown. The Board of Commissioners have a draft ordinance for "General Sign Regulations". Among the prohibited signs under the proposal would be "Flags, banners and pennants." This has opponents upset. Read more: http://www.myfoxny.com/story/20621844/nj-town-proposes-flag-ban#ixzz2IMnDG2Gt

President Obama is entering his second term with many of the nation’s voters still pessimistic or unsure about their economic prospects, a new poll for The Hill has found. The president was reelected for another four years by a relatively comfortable margin, but 39 percent of likely voters say his first four years were worse than expected, compared to just 18 percent who say he exceeded expectations. Forty-one percent of those polled said his first term went as expected. The president assumed office in the midst of one of the worst financial meltdowns in U.S. history, and those polled are...

Now, the White House has posted videos of the children reading their letters.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday that she underscored to Algerian Prime Minister Abdul-Malik Salal that "the utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life" in the unfolding hostage crisis. “The U.S. extends our condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones in this brutal assault," she said. "We remain deeply concerned about those who remain in danger. "I spoke with the Algerian prime minister again this morning to get an update on this very difficult situation, and to underscore, again, that the utmost care must be taken to preserve innocent life."

Chris Christie is immensely popular and is a huge favorite for reelection in New Jersey this year, with voters from across the political spectrum giving him the thumbs up. When it comes to the national conservative base, though, the governor is at risk of earning a different one-finger salute. Christie is already on probation with some conservatives for his praise of President Obama’s work on Hurricane Sandy in the closing days of the 2012 election — something a few critics have even suggested put the president over the top. Now the potential 2016 presidential contender has lashed out at the...

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.(Genesis 6:5-6) We have been looking at the universal conditions that led directly to the flood , in the “days of Noah”, because Jesus told us that this same state of affairs will be duplicated in some way at the time of the Parousia, and the final judgment of this world. “As in the...

Missouri conservatives proposed a bill that will punish feds violating the Second Amendment with jail time. The Tenth Amendment Center reported: Introduced by Missouri State Representative Casey Guernsey, with 61 co-sponsors, is the Missouri 2nd Amendment Preservation Act. House Bill 170 (HB170) would nullify any and all federal acts, orders, laws, statutes, rules, or regulations of the federal government on personal firearms, firearm accessories, and ammunition. The bill states, in part: “Any official, agent, or employee of the federal government who enforces or attempts to enforce any act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the federal government upon a...

For gun appreciation day (1/19), the following sign will hit 2 birds with 1 stone - BACKGROUND CHECK OBAMA! How dare he demand background-check on us when his background was NEVER checked! They don't want to background-check obama, then they cannot background check We the people! In 1 sign we We challenge obama's legitimacy and his illegal moves to take away our right to bear arms!

It has happened again. An apparently random, unprovoked subway attack, ending with a woman thrown to the tracks. You see it right there. Thankfully, she survived. And abc's john muller has the details.

“I happened to be literally — probably, it turned out, to be a quarter of a mile [away] at an outing when I heard gunshots in the woods,” Mr. Biden recounted. “We didn’t know … we thought they were hunters.” But a search of maps of the area in Lancaster County, Pa., shows the nearest golf course to the site of the shooting, Moccasin Run Golf Club, is about five miles away. Rodney King, the golf pro at Moccasin Run, said Friday he was working at the course on the day of the shooting and never saw Mr. Biden, who...

It feels strange visiting a country like Morocco and listening to people extol the virtues of a political system my country waged a revolution against. Morocco has a king, and he’s a real one too, not some kind of a figurehead. But I went there, I listened, and after almost ten years of visiting Middle Eastern countries wracked by tyranny, terrorism, botched revolutions, and wars, I was perhaps a bit more willing to hear what they had to say than I might have been a decade ago. A monarchy is a tough sell for Americans. The founders of our country...

As emergency rooms fill with energy drink guzzlers and the sales of those drinks skyrocket, one Chicago politician wants to put a stop to it all. According to the Chicago Tribune, Alderman Ed Burke — the city's most powerful Council member — proposed a law Thursday that would ban the sale and distribution of highly caffeinated beverages to all consumers, not just minors. Burke, in his proposal, cited an increase in emergency room visits for teenagers and young adults who consume energy drinks and also the rising popularity of those beverages. His ordinance states, “No person shall sell, give away,...

According to Lena Dunham, HBO’s “Girls” television show needs a third season to explore new sex positions. Writer and actress Lena Dunham appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Thursday to discuss her recent Golden Globe awards earned from her work with “Girls.” After Stewart questioned Dunham about the latest season of “Girls,” Dunham admitted she hopes for a new third season: “I’m already kind of like trying to conceive of some new demented ideas – some sexual positions we haven’t yet covered.” Stewart replied, “Well, I’m 50 so don’t tell me what they are.” Read more: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/katie-yoder/2013/01/18/dunham-needs-third-girls-season-air-new-sex-positions#ixzz2IMaJ605o

The Air Force today said it found 32,216 instances of inappropriate or offensive material at bases around the world — including explicit magazines at its Air Education and Training Command headquarters in San Antonio — during inspections late last year. The service found 631 instances of pornography in the health and welfare inspections at more than 100 installations worldwide. It also reported finding 27,598 instances of “inappropriate material,” ranging from posters and calendars to graffiti. At the AETC headquarters on Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, 40 explicit magazines were uncovered. The items there and elsewhere were documented or destroyed, the Air...

Just heard it on the radio. He deserves it.

Robert Fowler was kidnapped by Mokhtar Belmokhtar's not-so-merry band of terrorists in 2008 and published a book about the experience, "A Season In Hell: My 130 Days in the Sahara with Al Qaeda." From the excerpts I've read, the title accurately sums up Fowler's experience. Belmokhtar's group is, of course, responsible for the recent assault on a natural gas field in eastern Algeria and the subsequent hostage crisis. Fowler, a Canadian diplomat who was serving the United Nations when he was kidnapped, has had some interesting things to say about Belmokhtar and his henchmen. ABC News reports: "I was...