Free Republic

For decades, Illinois House speaker Michael Madigan dominated the state’s political system, corrupting it to his own ends. What should we make of his ouster? The Chicago machine turned out some of the most notorious names in American public corruption, including Anton Cermak, Richard J. Daley, and Ed Kelly. The machine also turned out Mike Madigan, who ruled over Illinois politics for 50 years, 36 of which he spent calling the shots as House speaker. Most people thought Madigan would only leave office in handcuffs or a casket. Most people were wrong. For the first time since 1970, “the Velvet...

"Do not betray the public servants who gave decades of their lives to this country," she wrote in the petition.

Tom Girardi, former 'Real Housewives' husband, sentenced to 7 years in prison In 2024, the 86-year-old estranged husband of "Real Housewives of Beverly Hills" star Erika Jayne was convicted of stealing money from his clients for over a decade.

A gang of wealthy 'crypto bros' have been arrested for luring their former business partner to a stunning New York City mansion before torturing him for weeks. The group are accused of kidnapping the 28-year-old Italian man before committing sickening acts on him in the $75,000-per-month rented brownstone in Soho. They alleged to have Tazed him, pistol-whipped him and threatened to carve him up with a chainsaw if he did not give up the millions of dollars in his crypto account. But their plot was foiled when the victim - who has not been named - escaped and flagged down...

Harvard economist Benjamin Friedman's book, 'Religion and the Rise of Capitalism,' provides an illuminating, if not always convincing, examination of how theology influenced modern economic thought.“One of the fundamental elements of the spirit of modern capitalism,” German sociologist Max Weber wrote in his landmark 1905 book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, “of rational conduct on the basis of the idea of the calling, was born from the spirit of Christian asceticism.”Weber attributed the free-market success so prevalent amongst Protestant societies to its origins in Calvinist predestinarian theology: believers could never know for sure whether they had been...

This month — March 30th — will mark 20 years since Terri Schindler Schiavo was cruelly killed, deprived of food and water for 13 days until she finally succumbed to dehydration and starvation. It was one of the most controversial bioethics issues to arise since Roe v. Wade, in what many deemed a victory for supposed “medical choice.” Now, two decades later, a pair of bioethicists is revisiting Terri’s death, and argued that while they believe killing her was the right decision, it also ended up leading to the fall of Roe v. Wade in 2022. The Hastings Center is...

A Tennessee woman has been banned from every Walmart in the country after an epic shoplifting spree. Ashley Cross, 37, cannot enter any of the grocery giant's 4,600 stores after being caught running a bar code scam. Cross, a known shoplifter, was caught using barcode for a watch battery to scan multiple items for $1 at self-checkouts. Memphis Police caught Cross in the process of stealing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt some boots and 11 packs of ramen noodles from a Walmart on Elvis Presley Boulevard earlier this week. The total haul was valued at $137.34, according to the...

The complaint, filed in State of California Superior Court in San Francisco this week, asks for damages and a jury trial. The mother, Marina Baran, her son, Daniel Baran, who was 19 when he was killed, and her husband, Alexander Baran, are listed as the plaintiffs. Baran's son took his fatal thrill ride in January 2024. His body was found on the tracks near Balboa Park Station.

MSNBC host Joy Reid said Monday during the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump that it was tough to watch the “takeover of the United States by a base mentality of greed and corruption.” Reid said, “The promise of the incoming administration is to wipe away the civic memory of Washington, to get rid of and to fire all of the people who normally transition as civil servants from one administration to the next. The promises on the table are 200 some odd executive actions, an attempt to get rid of birthright citizenship, an attempt to do mass deportation.”

Princeton University professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. claimed on Monday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that greed, selfishness, and hatred motivate the voters for President-elect Donald Trump. Glaude said, “Its an important point that requires I think a bit truth-telling about the Republican Party in its modern iteration. There’s always been at least these three elements corporatists, libertarian and nativist. Right. So this is a really important point, right? In the sense that you’ve always had these three components and Ronald Reagan was able to balance them in interesting sorts of ways.” He continued, “And so we have here is the plutocrat, right,...

Salvation Army Angel Tree Drama: These People Are Not Grateful In today’s video we’ll be discussing how some parents are not grateful for the gift given to their kids for Christmas by Salvation Army Angel tree FReepers youtube and tic tok is blowing up over this. Some who received items from the Salvation Army's Angel Tree were quite ungrateful and posted about it. They have since deleted their video over bad comments but everyone saved them. People are upset, as they should be over this. Now not all were going on tic tok and saying their "Christmas was ruined" but...

The estate of Malcolm X is suing the federal government, accusing it of playing a role in the 1965 assassination of the civil rights leader. In a lawsuit filed against the Department of Justice (DOJ), FBI, CIA and New York Police Department (NYPD), the estate alleges the agencies all played a significant role in the events leading to Malcolm X’s slaying and then engaged in a decades-long cover-up of their involvement. The complaint says the quartet of agencies were aware of credible threats against Malcolm X’s life but failed to intervene. “As a direct result of the Defendants’ intentional, bad...

The greed is unreal. When football fans realized that it costs a whopping $679.99 for NFL Sunday Ticket through the Apple Store, or $739.99 if you decide to bundle in NFL RedZone, a ton of them went absolutely bonkers in anger. The ridiculous prices were revealed by NBC Sports’ ProFootballTalk, and understandably so, it set off a reaction of rage among the NFL‘s fanbase. And to nobody’s surprise, that $679.99 price tag (or $739.99) to watch through Apple TV, iPads, iPhones and other Apple devices is the highest price out of all streaming services. Because of course it is. It...

Two other individuals, including Perry's live-in personal assistant, were charged on Thursday in connection with Perry’s death last year from ketamine.

During an interview on Tuesday for Wednesday’s BET News interview special “Black America Votes: The Biden Interview,” President Joe Biden said that he tells people who are dealing with high prices that inflation is falling, he believes the Federal Reserve will reduce rates, we have to confront corporate greed, he has policies on housing, and he implemented his student loan plan. Journalist Ed Gordon asked, “What do you tell people who are paying six bucks for cereal, they can’t take their kids to a movie or a ballgame, memories that last with you? What do you tell them?”

New research has confirmed that increasingly fewer Millennials and Gen Zers are having children, and there is a “scary” reason why. More than half of 18- to 34-year-olds are choosing not to have children due to financial challenges, according to newly released data from Australian research company the Red Bridge. Of the young people choosing not to have children, 35 percent are university-educated, and 33 percent are earning more than $2,000 a week. Just under half don’t own a home. Kos Samaras, director of Red Bridge, said the research is a sign of the times, and young people are financially...

Alex Jones on Thursday moved to liquidate his personal assets, agreeing to demands from the families of Sandy Hook victims whom he owes more than $1.5 billion in damages over his lies about the 2012 school massacre. ...Prior to Thursday, Jones had resisted converting his personal bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 liquidation. But facing mounting legal pressure, he reversed course and caved to the demands of the Sandy Hook families, who have still not seen a penny from Jones since juries in Connecticut and Texas found him liable in 2022 for defamation and emotional distress. His lawyers said in a...

During an interview aired on Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “OutFront,” President Joe Biden stated that while “corporate greed” has caused an increase in the amount of money people have to spend on groceries and people feel real pain from the cost of groceries and food and he’s angry people have to spend more, “if you take a look at what people have, they have the money to spend.” Host Erin Burnett said, “[T]here’s real pain. Grocery prices are up 30% — more than 30% since the beginning of the pandemic, and people are spending more on food and groceries than...

ATMORE, Ala. (WAFF) - The State of Alabama executed death row inmate Kenneth Smith on Thursday at the Holman Correctional Facility. The 58-year-old Smith was put to death with nitrogen gas, the first time that method was used in the United States. Smith is one of two men convicted in the 1988 murder-for-hire slaying of Elizabeth Sennett. Prosecutors said he and the other man were each paid $1,000 to kill Sennett on behalf of her pastor husband, who was deeply in debt and wanted to collect on insurance. Sennett, 45, was found dead March 18, 1988, in her home with...

NBC Bragged About Streaming Numbers for Peacock-Only Playoff Game, and Fans Didn’t Want to Hear It KARL RASMUSSEN NBC announced its ratings for the Peacock-exclusive NFL Playoff game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night. The network boasted some massive numbers for the game, which aired exclusively on NBC’s streaming service. According to NBC, the wild-card round game was the most streamed event of any kind ever in the United States, with more than 23 million viewers tuning in. While the network was pleased with the viewership milestones, fans weren’t quite so ecstatic. Those who didn’t...