Free Republic

Just so you loyal readers might know, I do occasionally think about things other than politics. This time it is Tom Brady football, although I admit I would rather forget about the whole thing. You know the story. Tom Brady, #1 quarterback for the #1 New England Patriots, now accused of having let the pressure out of the footballs he used in the AFC Championship Game against the Indianapolis Colts on January 18, 2015, making them easier to throw and catch. . . especially in cold weather. Brady denies everything, as well she should. He could have won the game...

During a panel discussion about poverty, President Obama criticized Fox News for stereotyping poor people as “sponges” or “leeches.” Part of the problem, he explained, was that so many people think that the poor are underserving of help from the federal government, causing wealthy people to actually be angry at the poor. “I think the effort to suggest that the poor are sponges and leeches are don’t want to work, are lazy or are undeserving got traction,” Obama said. He blamed the Fox News channel for feeding that narrative. “It’s still being propagated, I mean, I have to say that...

HELL'S KITCHEN — The gay hotelier whose OUT Hotel has faced a boycott since he and his business partner met with Sen. Ted Cruz fired back at "gay extremists" in an op-ed published Sunday. Mati Weiderpass, who had previously apologized on Facebook for hosting the conservative presidential candidate, wrote in the New York Observer that the boycott was "small and intolerant." "What would we say if the Jewish community organized a boycott of a business leader who hosted a private discussion with an important Muslim politician?" the op-ed asked. Protesters took to a Facebook group with 11,000 likes and demonstrated...

Just when I think something could not get more absurd -or- wonder how a really cool legit tactical ideal can get bastardized, something comes along and sets a new bar. Latest up is Rapid Wraps a company selling 3-packs of magazine wraps via Amazon. At first, when looking at the page listing, its cool. You have flags (Union Jack, Confederate, and the Star-Spangled Banner), then flames, and then… bacon. Heck, you even have the option of cooked or uncooked bacon!. . .

Chris Rock was interviewed by Hadley Freeman at The Guardian last week, where he spoke on everything from his divorce, to new Daily Show host Trevor Noah, and of course, racism. Rock seems to think that police violence is just a part of everyday life for young black men, and that “white kids” are never victims of police brutality:

The U.S. has become significantly less Christian in the last eight years as the share of American adults who espouse no systematic religious belief increased sharply, a major new study found. For what is likely the first time in U.S. history – certainly the first since the early days of the country – the actual number of American Christians has declined. Christianity, however, remains by far the nation’s dominant religious tradition, according to the new report by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center. The rapid increase in the number of adults without ties to traditional religious institutions has strong implications for...

One of the most difficult games to play in politics is the notion of what might have been… How might things have been different had JFK not been shot? How might have things have been different had Al Gore won in 2000? How might things have been different had Mitt Romney or John McCain not run inept campaigns against Barack Obama? We’ll never know what the outcomes might have been because there really is no way to objectively measure that when it comes to policy. Would JFK have scaled up Vietnam the way LBJ did or, if he did, would...

A Maryland man faces a long recovery after he was brutally beaten by a group of teens.

The American Civil Liberties Union demanded an end to the use of government drone aircraft to “spy” on those looting and burning buildings in Baltimore. “Persons walking the streets should not be faced with such an intrusive violation of their privacy,” declared ACLU spokesman Bertram Petty. “Officials need to present a ‘probable cause’ case to observe a specific individual suspected of a specific crime. They have no authority for a general surveillance of an entire city.” Petty also questioned whether the looting and burning would even qualify as crimes, per se. “The title to the property being removed from the...

Henry Ford did a lot for the automobile in America. What everyone knows is that he figured out how to improve manufacturing efficiency so much that the auto was transformed from a toy for the rich into an item that ordinary people could afford. ... But very few people know that Ford had to fight against a cartel to be allowed to sell his vehicles. In this 2001 article published in The Freeman, “How Henry Ford Zapped a Licensing Monopoly,” Melvin Barger goes into the fascinating history of Ford’s legal battle against the Association of Licensed Automobile Manufacturers (ALAM). In...

For over two hundred years, whenever a debate has broken out in the United States, political cartoons have been there to take part in the argument—and sometimes to push it to its limits. Beginning in 1754, when Benjamin Franklin’s “Join or Die” cartoon appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette, political cartoonists have long used their skills to praise, attack, caricature, lampoon, and otherwise express their opinions on the most urgent political issues of the day. Political cartoons began as a street-level phenomenon. In the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, they were often posted on walls or passed from person to...

A pair of gay Florida dads will have their son baptized this summer, following a soul-searching controversy within their Episcopal church that concluded with a meeting with — and the blessing of — their local bishop. “We talked about my being a part of the baptism and I told them I would be happy to do so,” said the Rt. Rev. Gregory O. Brewer, head of the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida, in a statement. “We look forward to celebrating Jack’s baptism at the Cathedral in the near future.”

If the Clintons were to move back into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the first daughter, Chelsea, would presumably take on the traditional responsibilities of the first lady, an expert on the White House tells Daily Mail Online. 'There is a social function to the first lady's role, and that will not go away,' C-SPAN co-CEO Susan Swain said. 'Diplomacy' is conducted through social settings, 'and it is important to have somebody in that role.' Several first daughters have filled the role of hostess in place of their mothers, throughout American history, Swain, the producer of C-SPAN's acclaimed series on America's first...

Greece emptied an IMF holding account to repay 750 million euros ($840 million) due to the fund, a Greek central bank official said, avoiding default but underscoring the dire state of the country's finances. With Athens close to running out of cash and a deal with its international creditors still elusive, there had been doubts about whether the leftist-led government would pay the IMF or opt to save cash to pay salaries and pensions later this month. Greece, like all other International Monetary Fund members, holds reserves from the IMF that are denominated in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), a basket...

U.S. shale production growth will fall 86,000 barrels per day next month, the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimated in its monthly report, more evidence the nation’s oil boom is in decline. The EIA’s monthly forecast is the second in a row to project an overall decline in domestic production growth, as diminishing output from older shale wells outpaces new gushers in the oil fields. Producers have sidelined about 941 oil-drilling rigs since October, and oil traders are starting to see signs the U.S. shale boom is weakening, which could signal the global glut in crude supplies will ease. Crude prices...

A 33-year-old Oklahoma man has been charged with killing his stepfather by giving him an atomic wedgie, that caused the victim to suffocate on his own underwear. He pleaded guilty on Monday to first-degree manslaughter.[snip] An atomic wedgie is the slang name for an extreme version of the common underwear-yanking prank that bullies are known to use in schools across America. Oklahoma Medical Examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliott said the cause of death was asphyxiation and blunt force trauma after the elastic band was stretched too tightly over St. Clair's neck. Pottawatomie County Sheriff Deputy Travis Palmer said Davis and St....

PM meets with Germany defense minister visiting Israel to mark 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Netanyahu: Iran leading campaign of 'conquest and subversion' around Israel's borders Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday asserted that the threat emanating from the "imperial and theological ambitions" of Iran's "ayatollah regime" poses the greatest threat to the region. Speaking in Jerusalem with German Defense Minister Ursula Von Der Leyen, the prime minister said that Israel views Iran's quest to create an "empire" coupled with its nuclear ambitions as the greatest security challenge to the Middle East. "They are leading a...

The likely Republican presidential candidate Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, posted on Twitter this photograph from his meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. Mr. Walker has restricted media access to the trip, leaving news outlets to rely on pictures like this from his Twitter feed.

CHICAGO (AP) — President Barack Obama has decided to build his presidential library on the South Side of Chicago, where his political career began. The Barack Obama Foundation announced in a news release early Tuesday that the library will be erected on park land that was proposed for the site by the University of Chicago. The site was selected over bids made by Columbia University in New York, the University of Hawaii and the University of Illinois at Chicago. "With a library and a foundation on the South Side of Chicago, not only will we be able to encourage and...

A critical vote on President Barack Obama’s trade agenda appears in danger on Tuesday afternoon as Republicans suffered defections and Democratic leaders sounded confident they could muster the votes to block the bill. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) implored Democrats to open debate on fast-track trade legislation, but he stopped short of agreeing to their demands for additional worker protections ahead of a high-stakes, cliffhanger vote Tuesday afternoon. With McConnell refusing to budge, Democratic leaders predicted that they can muster 41 votes to block the fast-track bill this afternoon, after both parties plot further strategy at private party lunches....