Free Republic

🚨DECISIONDESK HQ'S MICHAEL PRUSER: "Turnout is booming, and Republicans are coming out en masse" in FL-6. "Exactly 19,000 ballots were cast today through 10 am ET, and the composite of these ballots is a whopping R+36." "We are likely going to sail upwards toward R+18% by the end of the day." Yeah. If I'm Randy Fine, I am LOVING this. @VoteRandyFine

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Wednesday that the Islamic Center Hamburg (IZH) would be banned for propagating extremism and that its famous "Blue Mosque" was being searched by police. "It is very important to me to make a clear distinction here: we are not acting against a religion," Faeser said, but just against a group accused of undermining the German state as well as women's rights. The Imam Ali Mosque, known locally as the Blue Mosque, is one of Germany's oldest mosques and is operated by the IZH. Germany bans Hezbollah group, backed by Iran, in 2020 The...

Fans haven’t lost that lovin’ feeling for her. Legendary songwriter Cynthia Weil, the muse behind “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” and countless other hits, passed away Thursday evening at 82. Weil’s daughter Dr. Jenn Mann confirmed the icon’s death in a statement to TMZ. “My mother, Cynthia Weil, was the greatest mother, grandmother and wife our family could ever ask for,” she wrote. “She was my best friend, confidant and my partner in crime and an idol and trailblazer for women in music.” As of yet, the cause of death has yet to be revealed. Born in 1940 in New...

When women are beautiful and have brains its a heady combination. In the 1921 photo in the above link (red type below the headline) mystic philosopher Simone Weil looks like she could have done very well in pre-code Hollywood to me. Another celebrated French writer was Colette. Apart from her writings, perhaps Colette's greatest claim to fame was discovering Audrey Hepburn. Colette was being pushed along the Monaco seafront in a wheel-chair when she saw Audrey wearing a one-piece black swimsuit. Colette exclaimed, “Voilà ma Gigi!” because what she saw in Hepburn was exactly what was needed for the role...

Editor's note: Andrew Weil is the director of the integrative medicine program at the University of Arizona College of Medicine, and professor of Medicine and Public Health, author of "Eight Weeks to Optimum Health," "Healthy Aging," "Spontaneous Happiness" and the forthcoming "True Food." (CNN) -- "I'm just gonna put a little more butter in there, y'all," she said as she plopped a large chunk into the skillet. "Oh my," she added, "I've gone and put a whole stick in by now." I was watching Paula Deen on the Food Network, whipping up a shrimp sauté to go over pasta. I...

U.S. declares former UBS banker Weil a fugitive Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:36pm EST MIAMI (Reuters) - The former head of UBS AG's wealth management business, Raoul Weil, was formally declared a fugitive on Tuesday after failing to surrender to U.S. authorities on charges of conspiring to help wealthy Americans hide assets from U.S. tax authorities. Prosecutors in Miami released a copy of a judge's brief order putting Weil on the court's fugitive list, but said they would have no further comment. An indictment unsealed in November alleged that Weil and other unidentified bankers conspired to help 17,000 Americans hide...

Newton officials are calling their refusal to allow FBI agents access to library computers without a warrant during a terrorist threat last week “their finest hour.” Law enforcement officials say it’s a “nightmare.” Police rushed to the Newton Free Library after tracing a terrorist threat e-mailed to Brandeis University to a computer at the library. But requests to examine computers Jan. 18 were rebuffed by Newton library Director Kathy Glick-Weil and Mayor David Cohen on the grounds that they did not have a warrant. Cohen, defending the library’s actions, called the legal standoff one of Newton’s “finest hours.” “We showed...

My girlfriend has asked me to do some research on the "legit" or "bogus" undertakings of Dr. Andrew Weil via his Weil Foundation. The basic story is that she was impressed all of his "after-tax" profits go to his foundation. I remarked that was a nice way to pay yourself a lump sum (gotta pay the SG&A) without looking like a greedy, capitalist pig. After browsing Google for a bit, I'm not finding any substantial detail, just the usual "rah rah rah" stuff. Anyone already know about this character and his foundation? Your information would be appreciated. Thanks.