Free Republic

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) announced today it will acquire GE's entire 49% common equity stake in the NBCUniversal joint venture for approximately $16.7 billion. Also, NBCUniversal will purchase from GE the properties used by NBCUniversal at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC's headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ for approximately $1.4 billion. The acquisition accelerates GE's divestiture ahead of a redemption period that would have begun in July 2014 and solidifies Comcast's position as a leading media and technology company. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of...

(Newser) – Looks like Jesse Jackson Jr. didn't exactly work out a sweetheart plea deal for himself. Prosecutors intend to recommend 46 to 57 months of prison time for the former congressman, along with a fine of between $10,000 and $100,000, Politico reports. As part of the deal, Jackson admits to having conspired with his wife to illegally spend $750,000 in campaign money on such vagaries as fur coats, airplane tickets, a $43,000 Rolex watch, celebrity memorabilia, booze, cigars, and even groceries. Jackson was formally charged today with felonies including conspiracy, reports the Chicago Tribune. His wife, former Chicago...

Two U.S. senators have written a letter to Chuck Hagel to ask the defense secretary nominee to explain his assertion that "the State Department was becoming an adjunct of the Israeli Foreign Ministry." Hagel, the Washington Free Beacon reported yesterday, made the comment in 2007. "Dear Senator Hagel," Senators Lindsey Graham and Kelly Ayotte write. "Yesterday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that in a 2007 speech at Rutgers University regarding America's relationship with the Middle East you remarked that 'the State Department was becoming an adjunct of the Israeli Foreign Ministry.' According to notes posted on the internet by a...

TIMBUKTU, Mali —AP discovers al-Qaida letter, spelling out terror network’s strategy for conquering N Mali...

Michigan’s U.S. senators – Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow – are among those urging the Army Corps of Engineers to allocate money to help the Great Lakes recover from Hurricane Sandy damage. “While the Great Lakes navigation system is threatened due to underfunding, which has been worsened due to lakes levels that have hit record lows, the system also was damaged by Hurricane Sandy,” a group of Midwest senators wrote in a letter Thursday to Assistant Secretary of the Army Jo-Ellen Darcy. “This storm covered 900 miles, and impacted 24 states, including states surrounding the Great Lakes. Across the Great...

A giant in Catholic broadcasting—and one of the most familiar and recognizable deacons in America—has died.From the National Catholic Register: Deacon R. William Steltemeier Jr., died on Feb. 15 at age 83 after an extended illness. Familiar to Eternal Word Television Network’s international family of viewers, for three decades he had been a faithful servant for Mother Angelica and the mission of EWTN.He is survived by Ramona, his wife of 59 years. He was preceded in death by his son, Rudy Steltemeier III, and daughter-in-law Debra Steltemeier. Funeral arrangements are still pending.Born in Nashville, Tenn., on June 6, 1929, to...

Is it possible to have too much cash for your own good? I believe the average 7th grader would easily recognize the inherent absurdity of such a question. However, the average economic writer does not understand what the average 7th grader does. For example, please consider Apple isn't the only company with too much cash on CNN Money by author Paul La Monica. Issuing preferred shares that pay a big dividend may not be the best use of Apple's more than $137 billion of cash and liquid investments. But hedge fund manager and Apple shareholder David Einhorn, who is pushing...

The liberal hosts on MSNBC just couldn't get enough of watching U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio reach for a glass of water and take a sip during his rebuttal of President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, airing the snippet a staggering 155 times during the Wednesday broadcast schedule. Other cable news networks showed the footage far less often. CNN aired it 34 times, and Fox News Channel played it just 12 times -- all of which took place on “The O’Reilly Factor” and “Hannity” while the hosts discussed the media's obsession with the Florida Republican's “watergate” incident. MSNBC's total...

A drug kingpin in Mexico who has never set foot in Chicago has been named the city's new Public Enemy No. 1 — the same notorious label assigned to Al Capone at the height of the Prohibition-era gang wars. The Chicago Crime Commission announced the move Thursday, saying it considers Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman even more menacing than Capone because he's the leader of the Sinaloa cartel, which supplies most of the narcotics sold in the city. "Of the two, Guzman is by far the greater threat. ... And he has more power and financial capability than Capone ever dreamed...

Walmart sales called a 'total disaster'. Anyone else making the connection with the shoddy treatment of gun owners and the slavish boot kissing of the Administration?

Pretty spectacular — and a little frightening, one might imagine, if one of these streaked across your field of vision.  Russia Today’s English-language service reports on the phenomenon observed over the last several hours, which also shattered windows in the Urals region as the meteor exploded in the atmosphere (via The Corner):

What will drive demand for housing in 2013? Will it be pent up demand? That was the primary driver in 2012 when interest rates fell to the lowest on record for mortgages. Will it be investors who accounted for approximately 28% of all sales last year? Or will it be good old fashioned job growth adding to demand for homes? Pent up demand is finite. After a certain period of time that demand becomes satisfied. Any sudden increase in interest rates and that demand disappears. Investors are price sensitive buyers. They are driven by the bottom line. It is a...

Too Big to Jail How HSBC hooked up with drug traffickers and terrorists. And got away with it The deal was announced quietly, just before the holidays, almost like the government was hoping people were too busy hanging stockings by the fireplace to notice. Flooring politicians, lawyers and investigators all over the world, the U.S. Justice Department granted a total walk to executives of the British-based bank HSBC for the largest drug-and-terrorism money-laundering case ever. Yes, they issued a fine – $1.9 billion, or about five weeks' profit – but they didn't extract so much as one dollar or one...

February 7th, 2013 Stay off the Triumph Last week we sailed the Triumph and were very disapointed. For over half the cruise the motor couldn't run at full power so we missed Cozumel totally. The room lights were falling and the hallway outside our door smelled like sewage several times. This ship should be docked now. If you're booked on this ship, I'd op for another Carnival ship. This was our 4th Carnival trip. The other three were good ships.

He was supposed to be ‘God’s Rottweiler.’In Newsweek, A.N. Wilson looks at the paradox of Benedict XVI. My wife exclaimed, when she heard of the pope’s surprise announcement to retire:“It’s bad enough having one old man thinking he’s infallible—now there’ll be two of them!” Our conversation went on to imagine the election of yet another octogenarian, who might well in turn resign before the demise of Benedict. Pretty soon, the Vatican could fill up with retired infallible old men, most of them Italian,allnodding in front of the daytime television in the geriatric wing, andall—all—infallible.

The White House confirms today that President Barack Obama will be vacationing in Florida this weekend. His wife, First Lady Michelle Obama, will be in Colorado. The two daughters will be with Michelle. From the White House press gaggle aboard Air Force One: Earnest confirmed that FLOTUS and her daughters are on a "ski trip out West with family and friends", and won't be with POTUS in Florida this weekend. While the rest of his family will be skiing, Obama is expected to be hitting the links with golf pros and buddies in Florida. Vice President Joe Biden and his...

Two Russian nuclear-armed bombers circled the western Pacific island of Guam this week in the latest sign of Moscow’s growing strategic assertiveness toward the United States. The Russian Tu-95 Bear-H strategic bombers were equipped with nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and were followed by U.S. jets as they circumnavigated Guam on Feb. 12 local time—hours before President Barack Obama’s state of the union address. Air Force Capt. Kim Bender, a spokeswoman for the Pacific Air Force in Hawaii, confirmed the incident to the Washington Free Beacon and said Air Force F-15 jets based on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, “scrambled and responded...

At a cost of more than $14,000, NJ Transit said it sent four employees to the Super Bowl in New Orleans so they could help prepare the agency to handle transportation and security at the event next year at MetLife Stadium. Bills obtained by The Record through an Open Public Records Act request show $7,800 was spent on hotel rooms from Jan. 31 to Feb. 4, $5,241 on airfare and $423 in miscellaneous expenses, the newspaper reported Friday. The party was made up of chief of staff of rail operations Rich Andreski, Hoboken rail operations superintendent Joseph Meade III, NJ...

I received the info below from FNC’s Thomas Firth but it caught my attention so I thought I would post it. Note that Facebook played it both ways (also giving to Repubs, including Gov Romney) but gave generously to President Obama (numbers below.) Why does Facebook give to both political parties? Just in case Republicans won and they would then want a cozy relationship with the Republicans…and because it can (it has a ton of money.) Note also the info about its lobbyists…check out the jobs they held before became lobbyists for Facebook. Read and tell me what you think.

The so-called morning-after pill has exploded in popularity since it was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration 15 years ago. According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 5.8 million American women used emergency contraception (EC) between 2006 and 2010. Nearly a quarter of sexually active women ages 20 through 24 have used it. All told, 11 percent of fertile, sexually active women said they had used EC, whereas back in 2002, the last time CDC surveyed women, only 4 percent had. While more people are using EC, what's most interesting is who...