Free Republic

The key subplot to Rubio's immigration push, of course, is how much of a headache it'll be for him with conservatives in the 2016 primaries. The talk-radio charm offensive is mainly designed to get grassroots opinion-shapers like Rush to at least wait and see what the bill looks like before lobbying against it, but more broadly it's designed to move the Overton window on what positions are acceptable for a good conservative to hold. Rubio can afford to have immigration reform fail; he can't afford to be RINO-ized over it. Like I said yesterday, whether or not a bill ends...

Bulk of Timbuktu manuscripts survived occupation DAKAR (Reuters) - The majority of Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts appear to be safe and undamaged after the Saharan city's 10-month occupation by Islamist rebel fighters, experts said on Wednesday, rejecting some media reports of their widespread destruction. Denying accounts that told of tens of thousands of priceless papers being burned or stolen by the fleeing rebels, they said the bulk of the Timbuktu texts had been safely hidden well before the city's liberation by French forces on Sunday. Brittle, written in ornate calligraphy, and ranging from scholarly treatises to old commercial invoices, the Timbuktu...

It is a nation racked by poverty, where 13 million people survive on less than £1 a day, and two million have no access to a toilet. Yet as his people struggle in squalor, South African president Jacob Zuma has sparked outrage by spending £17.5 million to upgrade his rural family home.

Pundit power couple James Carville and Mary Matalin will not be continuing their contracts with CNN, according to FishbowlDC sources. In addition, Bill Bennett and Maria Cardona are also parting ways with the network, although CNN Espanol will keep Cardona on board. In other news, RedState‘s Erick Erickson will be foregoing his CNN contract and sources say he will be heading to Fox News. As reported by TVNewser, CNN Executive VP and Managing Editor Mark Whitaker has resigned. Read all about it.

It’s getting easier to get away with shooting people in Chicago. Last year, gunmen who shot and wounded someone got away without criminal charges 94 percent of the time, according to a DNAinfo.com Chicago analysis of police data. That’s even worse than 2011, when 91.5 percent of shooters escaped charges, according to the data. Chicago’s top cop said the “no-snitch” code of silence on the street is the biggest contributor in his department’s struggle to charge shooters. (My emphasis)

Just days after the November presidential and congressional elections which gave President Barack Obama a non-mandate of 50.6% of the popular vote and the demonstrated supported of less than 27% of all U.S. adults, NBC’s Brian Williams actually told viewers: With the election now over, it is once again safe to talk about the economy and jobs. Now that it is not a campaign issue, it’s back to reality. Still in Democrat-supportive campaign mode, Williams then introduced a report by correspondent Harry Smith about how “the idea that manufacturing in America is dead … is an outright falsehood.” Mary Andringa,...

A French family were ordered to leave one of Paris's most popular museums because their body odour was annoying other visitors. The couple and a young child were on a free trip to the Musee d'Orsay with a charity that supports hard-up families. As the group browsed a room with paintings by Van Gogh, security guards told them they had to leave the building because people were "complaining about their smell". The worker with the Act for Dignity charity said: "I argued with the security man, telling him the family were all decent and properly dressed. "Not a single other...

I have been observing over the past months that various indices have been nosing down. Now we have confirmation from the BEA that GDP fell by -0.1% in Q4 of 2012. Here is CNBC’s Rick Santelli’s take on the numbers. This is a big swing and a miss to expectations of +1.1% and a BIG drop from Q3′s print of +3.1%. At least Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) added 1.52% before the Fiscal Cliff surrender. Notes that PCE has been consistently lower after 2007 than before. This isn’t your father’s Oldsmobile … or recovery. On the other hand, defense spending fell...

The fuel industry's American Petroleum Institute tested the 15 percent ethanol gas approved in 2010 and found it gums up fuel systems, prompts "check engine" lights to come on, and messes with fuel gauge readings. "Failure of these components could result in breakdowns that leave consumers stranded on busy roads and highways," said the industry report. Worse: API said the fuel problems--not found in E5 or E10 blends--aren't always covered by auto warranties. The industry prefers pure fuel to an ethanol mix, but the report isn't likely to slow the administrations green push

The Chinese banking system is insolvent. Of course, the entire global banking system is insolvent, but today's spotlight is on China. Please consider China averts local government defaults. Chinese banks have rolled over at least three-quarters of all loans to local governments that were due to mature by the end of 2012, an indication of the immense challenge facing China in working down its debt load. Local governments borrowed heavily from banks to fuel China’s stimulus programme during the global financial crisis and are now struggling to generate the revenue to pay them back, a shortfall that could cast a...

County Executive Abele called Sheriff Clarke “immature” for his public safety ad during an interview with Fox 6. Two observations: It is apparent that the left has developed a set of talking points that they are all repeating. Second, Abele is a subject matter expert on immaturity. Getting arrested for drunk driving and not paying the ticket for seven years, parking his car wherever he felt like it and accumulating 92 parking tickets that went over-due, and throwing lighted fireworks into the yard of a neighbor that he didn't get along with are all great feats of maturity on his...

Wyoming state representative Kendell Kroeker, along with reps Hunt and Miller, and Senator Case, have introduced a bill that declares the indefinite detention provisions of the 2012 NDAA to be unconstitutional, prohibiting enforcement of the federal act. On Tuesday, January 29, 2013, HB114 passed out of committee with a 6-3 vote. According to Kroeker, “This bill will preserve our constitutionally protected rights by not allowing the federal government to arrest and detain our citizens without trial or charges being brought against them. The federal government gave themselves this power, which completely shreds the bill of rights, with the passage of...

Texas Railroad Commissioner David Porter said Wednesday the state’s rapidly increasing oil production was posing “a very difficult economic question” for drillers faced with curbing oil production or flaring natural gas produced along with the oil. Natural gas is selling at only a fraction of the fuel content price of oil. And oil wells are being completed before natural gas pipeline connections can catch up. As a result, the Texas Railroad Commission issued 1,963 flaring permits last year, more than six times as many as it did in 2010. ... Texas oil production has increased rapidly in the last two...

<p>Give the administration credit for its creativity. The theatrical show President Obama and Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. are putting on in their effort to foist gun control on the public disguises a more subtle push to disarm America in the name of protecting cops. On Monday, Mr. Obama invited police chiefs from towns that have had mass shootings to the White House for a discussion on firearms and, more importantly, a photo opportunity.</p>

Earlier this month Oprah Winfrey grabbed headlines with her blockbuster interview with serial doper and international pariah Lance Armstrong. Now, an animated Oprah keeps the momentum going with a harrowing interview with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, another major figure who is equally dependent on artificial stimulus to juice his job performance.  In this mock animated interview produced by the Peter Schiff Show, the daily radio broadcast by noted author and economist Peter Schiff, Oprah gets Bernanke to confess to repeated attempts to push up economic statistics through direct and repeated injections of powerful monetary stimulants. His motivation: a competitive central banking culture fixated...

The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to ban the sale of a dozen rat and mouse poisons sold under the popular D-Con brand ... The company will have at least 30 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. If no hearing is requested, the ban will take effect.

Open defiance of Egypt's president in street protests shows how much the Muslim Brotherhood needs to leave Islam outside the door of democracy.Five days of protests in Egypt, with dozens of people killed and entire cities in turmoil, have revealed a whopping deficit of public trust in the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamic group that dominates the leadership of this young democracy of the Arab Spring.*************************************************SNIP************************************* In cities like Port Said, the protesters have displayed an open defiance of President Mohamed Morsi’s orders on a curfew and state of emergency. Egypt’s Army chief warns of the state collapsing. And indeed, many...

BOSTON (CBS) – One person disappointed by Gov. Deval Patrick’s decision to name Mo Cowan as interim U.S. Senator is former Congressman Barney Frank. Earlier this month, Frank openly lobbied for the position, saying “I think I’m better prepared than most people.” Patrick obviously felt differently and chose Cowan, his former Chief of Staff, who has no previous experience holding elected office. Frank issued this terse statement Wednesday: “I know Mr. Cowan is committed to working hard and in socially-fair and economically-efficient manner toward resolving pending budget issues.” “I now look forward to working for the election of Ed Markey...

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi defended his rancorous anti-Semitic comments, claiming that they were taken out of context. Morsi asserted in September 2010 that peace negotiations are "a waste of time and opportunities" as Arabs and Muslims get nothing out of engagement with "the descendants of apes and pigs." An Egyptian television shown this month aired the remarks, which were translated and distributed by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). "I was talking about the practices and behavior of believers of any religion who shed blood or who attack innocent people or civilians. That's behavior that I condemn," Morsi said,...

Obama and his minions seem to think that freedom is a four-letter word. His administration has imposed an array of intrusive, nanny-state, financial, environmental and consumer-product regulations that will cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars. ... the erosion of transparency in government, wasteful spending, burdensome regulation, and waning trust in the integrity of the public sector. A senior presidential appointee who epitomizes all of those flaws is EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, who has a cynical, hyper-regulatory, damn-the-science philosophy ... EPA systematically exaggerates benefits and underestimates costs. EPA is a serial offender when it comes to egregious government waste, fraud,...