Free Republic

First daughter Ashley Biden dialed up the fashion by rocking a tuxedo at Wednesday’s virtual inaugural concert.

A leaked memo addressed to higher-ups pulled back the curtain on the Washington Post's newsroom, revealing how dramatically Twitter scrambles priorities and distorts the paper's daily coverage. A leaked memo addressed to higher-ups pulled back the curtain on the Washington Post’s newsroom, revealing how dramatically Twitter scrambles priorities and distorts the paper’s daily coverage. This is not a surprising revelation, but it’s useful to see in print. Twitter is single-handedly exacerbating the media’s already serious flaws.Drafted at the request of National Editor Steven Ginsberg by a committee of 10 national reporters in late April, Ben Smith of the New York...

Users of cannabis, cocaine and heroin are victims of discrimination and should no longer be called druggies or junkies, an international drug legalisation pressure group declared yesterday. It called for an end to negative language for drug users and their habits in order to ensure their human rights are respected. As part of the drive to persuade people to think differently about drugs, the words addict and even drug user must be thrown out, a report from the Global Commission on Drug Policy said. It urged newspapers and broadcasters to encourage more positive attitudes by calling a drug user a...

A billboard in Indiana has caused some controversy in the wake of the high-profile police killings and officer-involved shooting deaths of African-American men. The electronic billboard in Muncie caught the eyes of plenty of people around the town Saturday and one person described it as “vulgar” and “discriminatory.” It read “Hate cops? The next time you need help call a crackhead.” Megan Thomas told The Star Press on Sunday that she noticed the sign while walking with her niece. She said she was offended by the message, which she alleged was "vulgar, discriminatory to many different classes of people in...

Two Texans that police say were caught trying to free mink from a Sioux City mink farm will faces multiple charges at a court hearing this week, but attempted burglary is not currently one of them. Authorities say Kellie Rose Marshall, 21, and Victor Vanorden, 24, were arrested early Monday morning while trying to free mink from a mink ranch near Stone State Park. Marshall and Vanorden, both of Austin, were arrested on charges that included a felony count of attempted second-degree burglary. However, court documents state those charges were not approved "at this time" at an initial appearance on...

President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama departed Friday morning for Southeast Asia, where they will spend the next ten days.

Citi: Rebounding Sentiment Forecasts Even Further Gains For Stocks Vincent Fernando, CFA Oct. 16, 2010, 9:18 AM Market sentiment has finally back to normal according to Citi's Panic/Euphoria model. The firm notes that sentiment is now 'barely in panic territory' in its latest PULSE Monitor report. Citi: This week’s Panic/Euphoria reading was -0.21; versus last week’s revised number of -0.23, generating a high probability of a rally over the next six-to-12 months. What's interesting is how well this model worked during the recent crisis, whereby forward returns (shown in gray above) ended up being high when sentiment collapsed in early...

Earlier this week, First Lady Michelle Obama addressed the National Restaurant Association with stern advice about the fare they should serve up -- less butter and cream, fewer fries. “I’m not asking any of you to make drastic changes to every single one of your recipes or to totally change the way you do business,” she said. “But what I am asking is that you consider reformulating your menu in pragmatic and incremental ways to create healthier versions of the foods that we all love." She also gave them advice on advertising. “It’s not enough just to limit ads for...

FOX has learned that the Richmond, VA campaign office of House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) was shot at overnight.

A Toledo woman, who allegedly put her fist through a fast-food drive-through window after being told her order couldn't be filled, appeared in court Saturday on a felony vandalism charge. Melodi Dushane, 24, of 1332 Felt St. became "upset that chicken nuggets weren't available" and "punched out the drive-through window," according to Toledo police. Police were called Friday to the McDonald's restaurant at 90 Main St., where Ms. Dushane was arrested. Before Ms. Dushane was booked into the Lucas County jail, she was treated at Mercy St. Charles Hospital for injuries sustained when she allegedly punched at the window. Ms....

Men Stole From Wounded Veterans by Jodie Mozdzer | Nov 23, 2009 1:48 pm Two Shelton men were arrested Sunday for allegedly stealing money meant for wounded Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Ron Orszag, a Vietnam veteran from Fairfield who served in the U.S. Navy, was outside the Stop & Shop on Bridgeport Avenue Sunday collecting donations for Operation Gift Card. The program purchases gift cards for severely injured Marines and soldiers. At about 5:15 p.m., Orszag, 62, had just sat down at the table when a young-looking man ran up from behind, grabbed a wooden collection box stuffed with about...

By now, everyone and they mama has heard that controversial green jobs adviser Van Jones has been forced to resign from his white house job. There are many differing takes on the subject, from ultra-rightwing commentators like Glenn Beck and his Fox News cohorts, to the liberal lefties over at HuffPo and Alternet. Whatever your take on Jones as an individual and green jobs in general, there's no question that the media frenzy surrounding him has been deafening. Earlier today, Davey D's website posted a new video by rapper Jasiri X called "The Crucifixion of Van Jones," which intersperses video...

In other words, phylogenetic reconstruction is sheer fantasy... William Dembski --snip-- The actual phylogenies here were experimentally known and yet standard evolutionary theory drew completely wrong conclusions. Oh, but it was a small population, small genomes, and intense selection pressure. Spare me...

Police Want To Speak With Resident Who Posted Sign.

Drug addicts in the town of Drammen say they were offered money or free kebabs to vote for the Labour Party in the local election last week. Bent Sandberg was offered NOK 50 (about USD 9) to vote for the Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet) in the local election last week. He declined the bribe.

Gubernatorial candidate and professional wiseacre Kinky Friedman was accused Wednesday of making another racially offensive remark _ this time in a year-old interview in which he said sexual predators should be thrown in prison and forced to "listen to a Negro talking to himself." The independent candidate already was under fire for referring to Hurricane Katrina evacuees in Texas "crackheads and thugs." ... The Fort Worth Star-Telegram and the Houston Chronicle have reported on an interview with Friedman that aired on CNBC last year in which the country singer and comedian was asked what to do with sexual predators. "Throw...

THESE ARE THE SENATORS WHO VOTED TO GIVE SOCIAL SECURITY BENEFITS TO ILLEGAL ALIENS REGARDLESS OF POLITICAL PARTY, THESE POLITICIANS NEED TO BE DEFEATED IN 2006, 2008 OR 2010, WHENEVER THEY NEXT COME UP FOR OFFICE. SEND THIS TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW; THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS TO KNOW THIS INFORMATION -- THAT IS, UNLESS THEY DO NOT MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO NEVER PAID INTO IT AND AMERICAN CITIZENS ARE BEING LEFT OUT. Grouped by Home State Alabama: Alaska: Stevens (R-AK), Yea Arizona: McCain (R-AZ), Yea Arkansas: Lincoln (D-AR), Yea Pryor (D-AR),...

I am curious why none of the media covers the most important aspect of the Malvo shootings. If you look at Newspapers on the dates when the shootings are underway you discover something I find quite interesting. The shootings begin to dominate the news the day before the debate on the Iraq war starts and they catch them the day after the declaration of war??? If you ask most people "do you remember the debate about starting the second Iraq war", they will all answer "yes of course". But if you followup with the question "name one point in the...

I recently received a reply to a post that stated: "This should be beneath a "freeper". Sad." So I asked.. what is it that makes a FReeper? My reply (and I will admit was tasteless) was also questioning. It stirred controversy and was removed? Why Moderators? Can you not tell me? Did it not meet with your "FReeper" mentality? According to all posted guidelines it should be listed but no, you chose to delete it. Yes.. I'm the first one IBTZ, I'm sure you'll nick me for speaking up..