Free Republic

From the Portland Tribune: Parents ask McDonald’s to ban Ronald Local parents and doctors took concerns about the health of their children to the source this week: McDonald’s.The fast-food giant’s unhealthy food and marketing targeted at children caused the group to gather 500 petition signatures from local parents. That petition was presented Wednesday morning to the Cedar Mill McDonald’s and representatives of Don Armstrong, who owns 14 McDonald’s restaurants in the Portland area. The group said they hope their message will make its way to the corporation. “There is no debate about whether the aggressive marketing of McDonald’s-style junk food...

From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Chesterfield worker shot in leg after security guard drops gun A security guard dropped his gun this morning and it fired a shot, hitting an employee of an insurance company in the leg, police say. Capt. Steven Lewis of the Chesterfield Police Department described the worker's injuries as not life-threatening. The injured man was being treated at a local hospital. The shooting happened about 9:30 a.m. Thursday at an office building at 390 South Woods Mill Road. The building houses several businesses, but Lewis said it happened in an insurance company. Lewis didn't have the...

Voila. From Daily Kos on January 14, 2011: Host a SOTU "Together We Thrive" PROGRESS PARTY! It's time to Network For Progress! We need to put the "working" into NETroots! Join us in DC and/or reach your local Obama/OFA, Progressive, Democratic and other Cause or Civic-minded groups and activists to host a State of the Union Party on Tue 1/25 and future collaborations so we can re-build the coalition that has been neglected since November 2008. Although OFA has done lots of great work the Social, Social Media & Media outreach efforts we need to compete with the GOP's Fox...

From AP: Some question pep rally atmosphere at Obama speech What was billed as a memorial for victims of the Arizona shooting rampage turned into a rollicking rally, leaving some conservative commentators wondering whether President Barack Obama's speech was a scripted political event. Not so, insisted the White House and host University of Arizona. Not a political even in the least, they say. The university said it did the planning with minimal input from the White House. The school paid for the event, including $60,000 for 20,000 T-shirts bearing the words "Together We Thrive," which were handed out for free....

In one of the most memorable moments of the memorial last night in Tucson, Barack Obama told the pep rally audience that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time on Wednesday night. It was very emotional moment: But, unfortunately it was not true. The Sonoran Chronicle reported that Rep. Giffords could open her eyes on Sunday. (The Sonoron has since pulled the article.) The bullet “traveled the entire length of the brain on the left side,” said Dr. Rhee, Chief Trauma Surgeon at the University Medical Center, at a press conference on Sunday. In terms of...

A Challenge To Glenn Beck: Will He Cool His Paranoid Anti-Government Rhetoric? To be clear, there’s no evidence Loughner was a Glenn Beck watcher or that Beck bears any responsibility for Loughner’s actions. Still, these tragic events provide an opportunity to re-examine the implications of extreme conservative rhetoric. The danger is real: A person who genuinely believes that progressive governance is an organized conspiracy to destroy American liberty might feel justified in taking drastic measures in response. Here's a look into the progressive comment section of the very same post: Heard on Stephanie Miller's show this AM that one of...

This liberal wanted so badly for the Loughner to be a right winger, he even created his own fake Arizona Secretary of State screenshot showing him as a registered Republican. Notice he spelled Tucson wrong? And let's not forget the fact that the only way to access voter registration information is to enter your Voter ID number and your driver license number. The blogger's site is here.

Obama decided to educate the American people about the tax cut deal by giving speeches all around the US. And to prove that Democrats were not in the midst of a civil war over taxes, he took Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid along. Just as he was beginning his first speech, Obama ducked when a Birkenstock flew out of the crowd and over the podium landing near Pelosi and Reid. Amid the boos, Obama replied, "Now I understand how our side feels about this tax deal, but it's the best we can do under the circumstances. I assure you that...

It was just another Little League game. The pitcher had just thrown two strikes. But when the next pitch was hurled, the batter smashed it and sent a line drive straight into the pitcher. For 11-year-old Jake Schutter of Mokena, the moment forever changed his life. Standing on the pitcher’s mound, the ball crashed into the left side of his head. He dropped to the ground and began to vomit. He later learned he would be permanently deaf in one ear. And his family is still unsure of the full extent of cognitive damage the incident caused, according to a...

Why is Obama fighting behind the scenes to get DADT repealed before Christmas? Because if it doesn't happen, there won't be any fruitcakes at the White House "holiday" party.

Obama was taking a walk around the White House grounds when he entered the garbage dumpster area where a janitor was dumping crates of food into the dumpster. Obama asked, "Why are you throwing away all this food?" The janitor replied, "We throw everything away that's past its expiration date. No exceptions." Obama peeked at the next dumpster, which contained a huge pile of documents. He asked, "What are these documents?" The janitor replied, "Those are every speech you've ever given." Obama asked, "And you're throwing them away? Why?" The janitor gave him a funny look and said, "We throw...

What's the definition of insanity? Obama switching to teleprompters filled with the same tired speeches and expecting different results.

The world's foremost experts on psychiatry have decided to eliminate narcissistic personality disorder from the 2013 edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. When asked by reporters why they decided not to include the disorder any longer, members of the panel cited the existence of two case studies of extreme narcissism with which the Manual could never compete. So they gave up. One is Dreams of My Father. The other is The Audacity of Hope. Useful Info Nation

After Obama was elbowed in the lip during a basketball game, he went to the doctor to get stitches. While he was there the doctor asked him if he had been experiencing any other pains. Obama said, "Well, sort of. It's mostly in my anal region." Obama kneeled on the table while the doctor put on a latex glove. He began to probe around until he pulled out a laptop. He shook his head and said, "I warned you about this type of thing happening. You tell the media if they want to stay in there, they can't be bringing...

How is it that the WikiLeaks founder is able to obtain millions of pieces of classified documents from the US government? Because to Obama, "classified documents" only means his transcripts and birth certificate. Useful Info Nation

To prove he's more empathetic than any president in history, Obama will show the world how much he cares about animals by pardoning not one buttwo turkeys today. In keeping with his usual technique of creating platitude-filled productions that wind up having an opposite effect, after the cameras leave, Reverend Wright will arrive to g@ddam the turkeys Obama and his family will be eating. Useful Info Nation

Once upon a time there was widespread concern that America’s late-night TV comedians, who fuel and reflect so much of popular culture’s chatter, would shy away from making fun of the Smoker-in-Chief because, well, you know. As someone who collects these passing smiles, we can report that is not the case. Here are a few recent offerings: Letterman: Vice President Joe Bidens birthday party was over the weekend. President Obama was so excited he asked Biden to attend in his place. Leno: Happy Birthday to Joe Biden. President Obama got him a gag gift. No, not a funny gift. A...

When Obama found out that Steve Austin had abused his government healthcare by $5,999,999, he sent Michelle to bring him in for questioning. Useful Info Nation

A majority of Americans want the Congress to keep the new health care law or actually expand it, despite Republican claims that they have a mandate from the people to kill it, according to a new McClatchy Newspapers-Marist poll. The post-election survey showed that 51 percent of registered voters want to keep the law or change it to do more, while 44 percent want to change it to do less or repeal it altogether. Driving support for the law: Voters by margins of 2-1 or greater want to keep some of its best-known benefits, such as barring insurers from denying...

If there was one thing American voters made abundantly clear on Nov. 2, it's how unhappy they are with politicians and the way things work — or more often don't work — in Washington. Survey after survey has shown that the majority of voters want their elected representatives to do a much better job of coming together to solve the country's problems. So will things improve after the "shellacking" that voters gave to Democrats in handing control of the House over to the Republicans? Few Americans appear to be counting on it. In a new ABC News/Yahoo! News poll, most...