Free Republic

"Guns don't kill, people do." True or false, truth or lie, "people" do use their thoughts and words to help push their decisions to invalidate, as non-persons, other classes of "biological-organisms"-with-23-paired-chromosomes-which-are-totally-indistinguishable-from-humans; and whether or not to sentence the "non-persons" to termination because they want their land or money, or because if those 23-chromosome things are allowed to live it will curtail their ability to "do it" with whomever and whatever their supreme will dictates (what Ralph Nader called "gonadal politics"). So, yesterday, Jonathan Turley ("Democratic Despotism: The American Left Moves from Censored to Compelled Speech") noted: In Illinois, Democrats have...

An amateur sleuth and self-taught cryptography expert is convinced he’s cracked the notorious unsolved Zodiac and Black Dahlia murders — and that the killer is the same man. Alex Baber — a 50-year-old West Virginian with autism — used AI programs and his codebreaking prowess to whittle down the Zodiac killer’s infamous 1970 clue he sent to newspapers and identify a single suspect with an overwhelming connection across all the murders: a late Chicagoan named Marvin Margolis. “It’s my autism. Once I start on something, I have to see it through. The deeper I go, the harder I push. My...

Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson claims he 'inherited' the city's spiraling migrant crisis and lashed out at Lori Lightfoot's former administration. Johnson criticized Lightfoot's administration at a press conference on Tuesday held to announce the Unity initiative, an interfaith partnership aimed at bringing sleeping migrants out of police stations and into shelters. Johnson told reporters that 'the international crisis that I inherited six months ago, I've made it very clear we are going to move people out of police districts, women and children who are living on floors and sleeping outside that we're going to create spaces that provide more dignity.'...

Cheap Trick has issued a statement in response to criticism they received for performing at last week's Kennedy Center Honors in support of Kiss. The Rockford, Illinois-based rockers paid tribute to their longtime musical compatriots and 2025 Kennedy Center honorees, covering the face-painted band's signature hit "Rock and Roll All Nite" at the Dec. 7 ceremony. Surviving classic-era Kiss members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons and Peter Criss accepted the honors alongside fellow honorees George Strait, Michael Crawford, Gloria Gaynor and Sylvester Stallone. What Did Cheap Trick Say About Performing at the Kennedy Center Honors? On Wednesday, Cheap Trick issued a...

The other day R. Bruce Dold, the great Pulitzer Prize winning editor of the Chicago Tribune, died. And our friend Cory Franklin wrote a beautiful column about Bruce. At the church there were many people there, people I knew, former colleagues at the Tribune who loved and respected Bruce. But I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were not there for Bruce alone, but that we also were mourning journalism itself. At least Chicago journalism, the Chicago newspapers. I’m not trying to redo Dr. Franklin’s great work about Bruce, but I did add an editor’s note explaining that while he...

The team said they are not asking for state taxpayer dollars, but are still seeking a commitment to local infrastructure and reasonable property tax certainty.

Coalition Life, the nation’s largest pro-life professional sidewalk counseling organization, has released footage of a hearse pulling into the Fairview Heights, IL Planned Parenthood. The video contains footage of a Coalition Life sidewalk counselor engaging with the hearse driver upon its arrival. The driver clarified that they were not there for pregnancy related services, and were instead there “picking up someone to take them to the funeral home.” Moments later, the woman driving the hearse entered Planned Parenthood and exited carrying the remains of an aborted child in a bag. Following the incident, Coalition Life staff called Lake View Funeral...

Pope Leo XIV is expected to name Bishop Ronald Hicks of Joliet, Illinois, to succeed retiring 75 year old Timothy Cardinal Dolan as archbishop of New York, sources briefed on the transition say. About Bishop Hicks Pope Leo is from Illinois, and he has tapped a fellow Illinois native to lead the archdiocese of New York. Hicks, 58, and Pope Leo have much in common. They were both born and raised in suburban Chicago, with Hicks being born in Harvey and raised in South Holland. Both men also speak fluent Spanish after spending years ministering to the poor in South...

CHICAGO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The windowless newsroom of The Phoenix, the Loyola University Chicago newspaper, hums like an old refrigerator. A coffee pot burbles in the corner as juniors Julia Pentasuglio and Ella Daugherty lean over a glowing laptop, updating a Google map. Each red pin marks a sighting of federal immigration agents near campus and the surrounding neighborhoods. Nearby, editor-in-chief Lilli Malone scrolls through reports from Rogers Park, a neighborhood along Chicago's lakefront where 80 languages mix. There were new pins from seven sightings that day alone - reports of vans barreling down side streets, masked immigration officers...

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker on Friday signed legislation allowing physician-assisted suicide for certain terminally ill patients, making Illinois the 12th state to enact such a law. The measure, known as the End of Life Options for Terminally Ill Patients Act, or Deb's Law, lets doctors prescribe a lethal dose of drugs that eligible patients may self-administer. Springfield's State Journal-Register reported that the law takes effect in September. Under the statute, adults must have a terminal illness expected to result in death within six months, as confirmed by two physicians. Patients must have the mental capacity to make medical decisions, be...

My youngest daughter, Katie, who was only 20 years old, was killed on Jan. 19. Her only “crime” was being a passenger in a car in Urbana, Illinois. The man who took her life, Julio Cucul-Bol, was an illegal immigrant who was driving drunk when he slammed into the Honda Civic she was riding in at nearly 80 miles an hour. He fled immediately and was then aided by associates in Urbana and Chicago as he tried to escape justice.

Democrat Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker expanded his state’s culture of death on Friday by signing a bill into law legalizing assisted suicide for terminally ill people. Illinois is now the 12th state, plus Washington, DC, that allows physicians to assist terminally ill people in killing themselves — all in the name of “choice,” compassion, and easing end-of-life suffering. Pritzker signed the bill despite concerns from opponents that such a law could be a slippery slope (look no further than Canada) and could be used to coerce people with disabilities and financial hardships to choose death. […] The bill, called the...

Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are advocating for a bill that would stop President Trump from replacing immigration judges with what the senators call “inexperienced attorneys.”The bill is led by Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and co-sponsored by Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) alongside Senators Wyden and Merkley.

I’ve spent my life covering Chicago politics and Chicago political corruption. So, I guess you could say that I’ve seen some things: Many years ago, when I was first starting out in the newspapering business, the vaunted Chicago press corps—the corporate legacy media–was bowing and sniveling before a black “reform” mayor (not named Johnson) for fear of being branded as racists. This was just as the mayor’s top aide wearing a bad wig, collected rent in a city limousine from impoverished women living in his slum buildings full of rats. Or later, when Chicago politicians were terrified into silence when...

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill) railed against the Department of Transportation (DOT) proposal to give $10,000 bonuses to only the air traffic controllers and FAA technicians who worked everyday without pay during the government shutdown. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has announced a similar bonus for TSA screeners who worked all of their assigned shifts during the government shutdown. "It's not fair to the thousands of other government employees who for one reason or another opted not to work without pay," Duckworth complained. "The problem with these selective bonuses is that it weakens the solidarity that labor unions need...

Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, the ranking member on the Senate's aviation subcommittee, is demanding the Transportation Department expand its $10,000 bonus to all air traffic controllers and FAA technicians who worked without pay during the government shutdown. The department said it would give the bonuses only to those who did not miss a day of work during the 44-day shutdown. "Excluding 96 percent of the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Controller and Technician workforce from this bonus is unfair, divisive and disrespectful to the over 20,000 dedicated Federal employees who worked under extremely stressful conditions to ensure...

A staff member from Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office allegedly signs official documents while falsely claiming to be the attorney representing an illegal immigrant (Credit: ICE) A staffer for Democrat Senator Tammy Duckworth was caught posing as a lawyer to help free an illegal immigrant from ICE custody in East St. Louis, Illinois. The Department of Homeland Security is demanding answers after Duckworth’s staffer, Edward York, misrepresented himself to federal agents as legal counsel for Jose Ismeal Ayuzo Sandoval, a four-time deported illegal alien with a prior DUI conviction. According to a letter from the DHS, York entered the ICE facility...

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that President-elect Donald Trump was “putting on a reality TV show for his MAGA base” with his cabinet nominations. Host Nicolle Wallace said, “Why is Pete Hegseth, who seems like a capable news anchor, but why is he this cause now with all of the baggage that has been revealed that we know from reports? He did not disclose to Donald Trump. Why do you think Trump and his allies are digging in and pressuring someone like Senator Joni Ernst to confirm him?”

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI), President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the intelligence community, was “compromised.” Host Dana Bash said, “Let’s turn to former Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard, who the president elect tapped to serve as Director of National Intelligence. She’s a critic of U.S. intelligence operations. She has promoted Russian propaganda. Your fellow Democrat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, called her, ‘likely a Russian asset.’ Now, you and Tulsi Gabbard are both veterans. You served with her in the House what do you think of her?”

Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) said Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” that Republicans have put the “rights of a fertilized egg over” the rights of women in America. Partial transcript as follows: MARTHA RADDATZ: What was your reaction when you saw the Supreme Court decision in Alabama? DUCKWORTH: Not at all surprised, unfortunately. I have been talking about this in 2018 when it was very clear that Republicans were working to eliminate women’s reproductive rights. I said if Neil Gorsuch gets put on the Supreme Court, if Amy Coney Barrett gets put on the Supreme Court, we’re going to have an...