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An Indiana police officer has irked several in his South Bend community with a T-shirt he’s selling that touts a take-off slogan of the “I Can’t Breathe” mantra that followed New York suspect Eric Garner’s death — “Breathe Easy: Don’t Break the Law.” The aim of the shirt’s message is to say “police are there for you,” the South Bend uniform store owned by Mishawaka Police Cpl. Jason Barthel said in a statement, the New York Daily News reported.

December 17, 2014 U.S.-Cuba relations, tense for half a century, are about to fundamentally change. Alan Gross, the American contractor who has been imprisoned in Cuba since 2009, will be released to the United States by the Cuban government, the White House announced Wednesday. The so-called "humanitarian release" will coincide with an exchange of three Cubans convicted of espionage in Miami for one unnamed U.S. intelligence asset.

“This will be the last vote of this Congress,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced shortly before 9:30 p.m. The Senate’s end-of-session mechanics kicked into high gear Tuesday, with the chamber confirming a slew of President Barack Obama’s judicial and executive nominations and clearing a one-year retroactive extension of lapsed tax breaks that will resolve the issue for just weeks. Reid, who will become the minority leader in the 114th Congress, told reporters he thinks the Democrats could have seen more accomplished in the lame-duck session. “There’s a lot more we could and should have done,” Reid said, adding,...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW4HC3PlohE&feature=em-uploademail

State funding for public schools is projected to increase by $2.5 billion over the next eight years, even if a House GOP plan is adopted that would shift some sales tax revenue from schools to roads, according to a Mackinac Center for Public Policy analysis. James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy for the Mackinac Center, projects that under the House-passed road plan, school funding will still increase from $11.5 billion in 2014 to $14.0 billion in 2023. Without the House plan, the School Aid Fund would increase to $14.9 billion by 2023. The projections are based on an estimate...

In the wake of the December 15 hostage situation in which an armed man held unarmed Australians at gunpoint for hours, former Sydney Deputy Mayor Nick Adams is calling for a gun ban to be lifted so Australians can defend themselves. Adams said he believes if there was ever a time Australians wanted to have a gun, it was December 15.

Students at George Washington University signed a petition to deport one American citizen in exchange for one illegal immigrant. More than two-thirds of the students approached by Campus Reform agreed to sign the petition. Students at George Washington University (GWU) willingly signed a petition supporting the deportation of one American citizen in exchange for one illegal immigrant. “Please sign our petition for President Obama to deport one American citizen, in exchange for one undocumented immigrant,” read the petition. “Everyone must be allowed a shot at the ‘American Dream.’ Americans should not be greedy. Let us right the wrongs of...

The Church of England has named its first female bishop, just four weeks after elevating women to the role was approved. Rev Libby Lane, who has spent much of her career working in the North East has been announced the new Bishop of Stockport, an assistant in the Chester Diocese. The historic move comes a month after the General Synod in York approved legislation to elevate women to the position and 20 years after the first women were ordained as priests.

Maisie Williams, who is best known for playing Arya Stark on HBO's Game of Thrones, is backtracking on her support for Emma Watson. On September 20, Watson generated tons of positive buzz for her HeForShe speech at the U.N., which aimed to "galvanize as many men and boys to be advocates for change" in the issue of gender equality. When speaking with The Guardian earlier this week, Williams, 17, said she considers herself a feminist, "though it’s not an issue high on her agenda," the writer noted.

The most common misconception among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing mass has been converted into energy or heat. "There is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss," says Professor Andrew Brown, head of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. "The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide. It goes into thin air," says the study's lead author, Ruben Meerman, a physicist and Australian TV science presenter. ------------------- The second most frequently asked question is whether weight loss can cause global warming.

An incredible letter from trenches of the First World War by a soldier describing how he organised the famous 'Christmas Day Truce' has been unearthed and is expected to fetch £20,000 at auction. The eight-page pencilled note was sent by Lance Corporal Willie Loasby of the 2nd Northamptonshire Regiment to his mother on December 27, 1914. The 25-year-old tells how he started shouting to German soldiers who were just 40 yards away in the trenches a few days before Christmas. He explains how he persuaded the enemy not to shoot before bravely walking out into No Man's Land to meet...

Heads up: there are fake Nikon D800E DSLRs floating around. That’s according to Nikon Europe, which posted a notice “regarding fraudulent Nikon D800E digital SLR.” Apparently some unscrupulous folk are taking the D800, replacing its outer shell with the D800E cover, and selling the fake cameras through online auction sites (presumably eBay).

The Obamas open up about raising their daughters, the impact of stereotypes, and what's on the POTUS dance party playlist. Subscribe now for instant access to the exclusive PEOPLE interview! -snip- "I think people forget that we've lived in the White House for six years," the first lady told PEOPLE, laughing wryly, along with her husband, at the assumption that the first family has been largely insulated from coming face-to-face with racism. "Before that, Barack Obama was a black man that lived on the South Side of Chicago, who had his share of troubles catching cabs," Mrs. Obama said in...

The Obamas open up about raising their daughters, the impact of stereotypes, and what's on the POTUS dance party playlist. Subscribe now for instant access to the exclusive PEOPLE interview! -snip- "I think people forget that we've lived in the White House for six years," the first lady told PEOPLE, laughing wryly, along with her husband, at the assumption that the first family has been largely insulated from coming face-to-face with racism. "Before that, Barack Obama was a black man that lived on the South Side of Chicago, who had his share of troubles catching cabs," Mrs. Obama said in...

We have some bad news for American conservatives: The leaders of our party, the once Grand Old Party, are trying to figure out a way to win elections without us, and if or when they do, they will abandon us like yesterday’s trash. If you have any question about this, you need not look any further than this National Journal story from yesterday, reporting that former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has “announced” on his Facebook page that he is “actively exploring” a presidential bid in 2016. Spoiler alert: Jeb Bush is not your dad’s conservative. We’re not sure if “actively...

Russia shoppers have been panic-buying everything from cars to flat pack furniture today after stores warned of price hikes at the weekend following a sharp fall in the value of the rouble. Several Ikea stores have been forced to close after the company warned its prices will go up from tomorrow, while cars and home appliances have been bought in record numbers. The rouble has slid 15 per cent in just two days, hitting an all-time low of 80 to the dollar at one point yesterday, prompting fears of a run on Russian banks.

Incitement against the Jewish State is directly related to the stabbings, raping and killing of Jews inside and outside of Israel. But doing something to stop it requires confronting a very troubling fact: the global epicenter for incitement is the “human rights” leviathan, the United Nations. From November 24, 2014 until December 5, 2014, UN human rights headquarters in Geneva mounted a public exhibit that was pure incitement. UN-driven antisemitism that takes the form of seeking to demonize, disable and ultimately destroy the Jewish state...

For sure am joking, just want to be banned, Jim R is a great guy, hope you can take a joke I am addicted to this site, seems I only argue with people anymore, so please ban me, other than this I would have had tyo post a thread asking to be deactivated, the moderator would not when I asked.Yes I hear you, why not just stop posting? Like I said it`s an addiction so I need to be deactivated. Why not allow people to just deactivate account. If you search on free republic that you want to close your...

Bill Cosby victim Beverly Johnson found herself in the middle of the war between Rosie O'Donnell and Whoopi Goldberg when she asked Whoopi if she would do a one-on-one interview on The View rather than be questioned by the other co-hosts. Apparently there was no such thing as a holiday cease-fire behind the scenes at the faltering daytime talk show after Rosie learned that Johnson would only appear on the show if Whoopi alone conducted the interview. The ex-supermodel had reached out to Whoopi privately to share her experience with Cosby after seeing the Oscar winner express endless support for...

From the Sydney Morning Herald: The siege in Sydney's CBD and its terrible end received saturation coverage on American cable news, with at least one commentator lamenting Australia's tough gun laws. Speaking on Fox News after police stormed the Lindt cafe, Charles Hurt, a writer with the conservative newspaper The Washington Times and a Fox News contributor, said: "These people are hell bent to kill innocent people … In a free society there is nothing you can do about it. You can't prevent all these things from happening, which is why most Americans, when they see this stuff play out...