Free Republic

Homeland star Damian Lewis told a British talk show he sent a Muslim joke to president Barack Obama. During an appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show Saturday night, the Emmy-winning actor says the president wanted a signed DVD box set of the Showtime hit to give to the Teamsters labor union (the president has previously revealed Homeland is his favorite show). Lewis says co-star Claire Danes wrote something along the lines of, ”I was a fan of yours long before you were a fan of ours.” But when it was the British-born Lewis’ turn, the actor says he jokingly wrote:...

In 2008, Wall Streeters invested millions in Barack Obama’s campaign. Many of these big donors were thus a little miffed when Obama, as President, derided Wall Streeters as “fat cats” and, to add injury to insult, threw his support behind the Dodd-Frank bill, much hated in the financial sector it was designed to reform. This time around, Wall Streeters turned against Obama, sending an even bigger torrent of cash Mitt Romney‘s way. That didn’t quite work out as planned. “It’s a zero-percent return,” one Republican donor complained to New York magazine on the cold Wednesday after Obama’s victory. Having turned...

According to the White House, more than 7,000 people have signed petitions for Indiana and Kentucky to secede from the union. Related. In total, there are 20 states with similar petitions, all of them filed within the last two days. The petitions all came from individuals and not state governments. Withdrawing from the union is not legal. They all read the same way, "We petition the Obama administration to peacefully grant (the state) to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government." The petitions also cite Declaration of Independence. The petitions require 25,000 signatures each,...

In the John Waters-esque sector of northwest Baltimore — equal parts kitschy, sketchy, artsy and weird — Gerry Mak and Sarah Magida sauntered through a small ethnic market stocked with Japanese eggplant, mint chutney and fresh turmeric.... “I have $80 bucks left!” Magida said. “I’m so happy!” “I have $12,” Mak said with a frown. The two friends weren’t tabulating the cash in their wallets but what remained of the monthly allotment on their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program debit cards, the official new term for...food stamps. Magida, a 30-year-old art school graduate, had been installing museum exhibits for a living...

ULSA, Okla. — The picture of what happened to the children becomes more clear as KRMG finds out more details. Tulsa Police were called to a home in the 4900 block of N. Frankfort Pl. late Sunday evening. The neighbor called 911 to say the 4-year-old boy from next door was outside screaming because temperatures were in the 40's and he was locked outside in the nude. KRMG spoke with one of the neighbors. She says, "All she heard was this little boy screaming for his dad saysin 'I'm cold, I'm scared, let me in'" When Police pulled up, Ofc....

Owners of guns have been stocking up because they are concerned about a potential tightening of regulations on assault weapons in the president's second term. In October the number of background checks on people applying to buy guns, an indicator of future sales, increased by 18.4 per cent. There was a similar jump when President Obama was first elected in 2008. A total of 12.7 million background checks were carried out that year, up from 11.2 million the year before, and the number has been rising since then. Shares in weapons manufacturers like Smith & Wesson and Sturm, Ruger also...

The team of FBI agents that unearthed the emails between David Petraeus and Paula Broadwell also discovered this gushing draft memo from Speaker of the House John Boehner to President Obama. They didn’t know what to do with it, so they sent it to me. Dear Mr. President: Seeing that YouTube video of you choking up while thanking your campaign volunteers in Chicago reminded me of how much we have in common, even though we are from different political parties. You sometimes cry; I sometimes cry. You like golf and cigarettes; I like golf and cigarettes. You just got re-elected;...

Sir Rex Hunt, who was in charge of the Falkland Islands when Argentina invaded in 1982, has died aged 86. Sir Rex was considered a hero in the Falklands for his courage in organising the resistance to the Argentine invasion. He was taken prisoner by the Argentine invasion force and expelled to Uruguay. But when Britain recaptured the islands following the 74-day war he returned as Governor and remained in post until 1985. The Falkland Islands Government said it had received the news with 'great sadness'. In a statement it added: 'He will forever be remembered in the islands for...

ROCKLIN (CBS13) – An 83-year-old man was allegedly the victim of a beating by a man 50 years younger than him in what Rocklin police are calling a road rage rampage. Police said the incident started around 10 a.m. Saturday when the suspect, identified as 33-year-old Zubin Bogdanoff, didn’t like the way the elderly man was driving. Bogdanoff allegedly followed the man a half mile to his home and confronted him in his garage. Several neighbors were witness to the violent incident. “This guy was kicking an 80-year-old man in his own garage,” said a neighbor, who wished to remain...

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- West Virginia Democratic Party leaders were fuming Monday over an email that urged people to call state Republican headquarters if they witnessed voting irregularities during today's election. The GOP email -- titled "Legal Update" and distributed statewide -- also called out Democrats for an alleged "long and sordid track record of illegal activity on Election Day." State Democratic Party Chairman Larry Puccio said the email unfairly tarnished all West Virginia Democrats, who make up nearly 60 percent of registered voters in the state. "This is craziness," Puccio said. "You don't attack the citizens. But that is exactly...

On Bill Maher's Friday night show, Daily Beast columnist Andrew Sullivan was practically spitting in S.E. Cupp’s face as he jabbed a finger at her. CNN contributor and Democratic strategist James Carville also reacted with open disgust. What did Ms. Cupp say that ignited the firestorm? Watch the video

John McAfee, who founded an anti-virus company that's now the second largest in the United States, is reportedly wanted for murder in the Central American nation of Belize.

<p>The parents of Trayvon Martin have been saluted by Ebony magazine.</p> <p>Tracy Martin and Sybrina Fulton were named Ebony Power 100 honorees. So was Benjamin Crump, their attorney, at a celebration last week in New York.</p>

It’s been two weeks since Hurricane Sandy killed 113 people, wiped out portions of towns, and knocked out power to millions. It has also been two weeks since Barack Obama pledged, “No bureaucracy. No red tape.” However, according to multiple public and private sources, unions and union-related red tape are causing workers from out of state to be turned back, as well as workers contracted by FEMA, as well as tons of supplies, already in New York and New Jersey to sit idle—at a cost of millions to taxpayers. It has already been well publicized though the Daily Caller how...

Operative Faith reveals that Kroger will soon join the ranks of Durden Restaurants and slash the hours of its non-exempt (hourly) workers to avoid millions in Obamacare penalties. To give you a sense of Kroger’s size and importance, its sales last year were $90 billion and it employs nearly 350,000 people. Most of its jobs are hourly and the vast majority of workers are neither millionaires or billionaires. Faith is a mid-level manager at Kroger and reports the dire news: Last week we found out that, beginning in January, any employee who is not full-time at that point,will be limited...

Here's the link

This post is written in anger and frustration. Angry that we continue to follow the Republican Party’s elite ignorance. A party that continues to pull defeat from the jaws of victory characterized by pompous fools who fulfill the sterotype built by the left. Frustrated that the reality of politics is this: There will be no third party capable of competing with the coalition constructed by the dems. As a result, true conservatives MUST take steps to eradicate the ignorance of the Republican Party while still adhering to the core values of our forefathers (beliefs that I discovered are considered extreme...

PITTSBURGH (AP) — A top official with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is optimistic that a nationwide project examining natural gas hydraulic fracturing and potential drinking water impacts will provide comprehensive guidelines to help scientists and the public identify the key issues to focus on. But the industry said past studies have already shown the process is safe. Glenn Paulson, the EPA's science advisor, said Friday that a progress report on the study — mandated by Congress in 2010 — should be released before the end of the year, and a final report in 2014. He spoke at a University...

Northward winds are driving the record growth of winter sea ice around Antarctica, which stands in contrast to the extensive melting of the Arctic sea ice in recent years. Robert Lee Hotz has details on Lunch Break.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Some questions, ladies and gentlemen. When Democrats lose elections -- and they do lose elections. We all agree? When Democrats lose elections, do they ever discuss the possibility they may have to become pro-life? Okay. When Democrats lose elections, do they ever say, "You know what? We may have to give up this gay marriage position of ours and sort of abandon that. We may need to stand up for traditional marriage." Do the Democrats ever say that when they lose elections? No. After the Democrats lose elections, do they ever say, "You know, I think we've...

Benefit to fall $50 a month starting in January Ohio families receiving food stamps could get an unwelcome surprise come January: $50 less every month in assistance. For the 869,000 households enrolled in the program for the poorest Ohioans, that could amount to about $520 million annually out of the grocery budgets. Because of the way the federal government calculates utility expenses for people receiving the benefit, a mild winter nationwide last year, and a lower price for natural gas, many families could experience a significant cut in aid, those familiar with the program say. Recipients should get a letter...

Women have passed men on the nation's roads. More women than men now have driver's licenses, a reversal of a longtime gender gap behind the wheel that transportation researchers say is likely to have safety and economic implications. If current trends continue, the gap will only widen. The share of teens and young adults of both sexes with driver's licenses is declining, but the decline is greater for young men, according to a study by the University of Michigan's Transportation Research Institute. The study looked at gender trends in driver's licenses between 1995 and 2010. … Male drivers outnumbered women...

Photo of eagle on Fort Snelling gravestone touches hearts, goes viral A quick recap: Amateur photographer Frank Glick was on his way to work when he drove through Fort Snelling National Cemetery early one morning. He spotted a bald eagle through the mist, perched on a gravestone, and snapped shots with his aging but ever-present camera.

I worked in the White House staffer during the first Bush administration. I remember that the president was so mindful of being above reproach when it came to interactions with female staff, he often wouldn’t even make direct eye contact with them. He was an upright man, who took seriously his wedding vows to honor his wife and “forsake all others.” He took to heart the words of the Apostle Paul, who warned those of us who endeavor to lead righteous lives to “take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. David Petraeus obviously did not heed the...

The CIA is denying an assertion made by David Petraeus' biographer and girlfriend that the agency held militants in Libya before the Sept. 11 attack. … President Barack Obama issued an executive order in January 2009 stripping the CIA of its authority to take prisoners. …

When President Obama took the stage at McCormick Place in Chicago well after midnight, we were all too wiped out with joy or depression or Nate Silver auto-refresh fatigue to pay careful attention to the speech the newly reelected president delivered. The phrase that lingered in most of our sleepy ears was the reprise of his career-launching invocation of the United States as being more than red and blue states. So soaring, so unifying. But those words were merely the trappings of magnanimity draped over an argument that was, at its core, harsher than the one he had regularly delivered...

The man who voices the puppet of Elmo on Sesame Street has taken leave amid allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy. Kevin Clash, 52, has taken a leave of absence from the popular children's show after the programme's lawyers were contacted by a 23-year-old man who claims he had a sexual relationship with the puppeteer seven years ago, when he was aged 16. TMZ, who reported the allegations, said that Mr Clash had admitted he had a relationship with the man, but only after the accuser was an adult and said the accusations were both false...

The White House is pulling a tactic out of its campaign playbook – and President Obama’s own community organizing past – using the organs of government to enlist average Americans to help Obama advocate for his priorities. In an email sent to people who signed up to receive official updates from the White House, recipients are told to forward the message to their friends, asking them to help promote what is in effect White House propaganda. The White House email list, which government officials began compiling earlier in Obama’s term, is separate from the famed Obama campaign email list, but...

By KEVIN ROBILLARD | 11/12/12 1:34 PM EST Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein said on Monday that President Barack Obama should have been told much earlier about the FBI’s investigation into former CIA Director David Petraeus. “Absolutely,” Feinstein said when asked if the president should have been informed earlier. The president was told on Thursday of last week, officials have said. The FBI investigation ended up uncovering Petraeus’ affair with his biographer, leading to his resignation from the CIA. Feinstein has already declared her committee would investigate why the FBI didn’t disclose the investigation to Congress earlier. She also...

Antivirus pioneer John McAfee is on the run from murder charges, Belize police say. According to Marco Vidal, head of the national police force's Gang Suppression Unit, McAfee is a prime suspect in the murder of American expatriate Gregory Faull, who was gunned down Saturday night at his home in San Pedro Town on the island of Ambergris Caye. Details remain sketchy so far, but residents say that Faull was a well-liked builder who hailed originally from California. The two men had been at odds for some time. Last Wednesday, Faull filed a formal complaint against McAfee with the mayor's...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Just as I predicted, ladies and gentlemen -- wait 'til you hear the sound bites -- this election was lost because of your host, Rush Limbaugh. I am the primary reason. There are others, but I'm the primary reason the Republican Party lost. And I am, by the way, the primary reason the Republican Party will keep losing, until I am denounced by the Republican Party. Which, I'm gonna predict to you... What is today? The 12th of November. I'm gonna lay out a possible scenario where that could happen, because we're trending in that direction. BREAK...

Sergeant Danny Nightingale, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was sentenced to 18 months in a military jail last week. A working 9mm Glock handgun, given to him after he trained a counterterrorism force in 2007, was found in his home by police last year. He said he forgot he had the weapon and failed to declare it. His wife Sally described the father of two as a 'hero who has been betrayed', while the sentence came in for more criticism after it was handed down in the days leading up to Remembrance Sunday. Sgt Nightingale's lawyer said his client...

Some media pundits see in the growing proportion of non-white groups in the population a growing opposition to the Republican Party that will sooner or later make it virtually impossible for Republicans to win presidential elections or even to control either house of Congress. But is demography destiny? Conventional wisdom in the Republican establishment is that what the GOP needs to do, in order to win black votes or Hispanic votes, is to craft policies specifically targeting these groups. In other words, Republicans need to become more like Democrats. Whether in a racial context or in other contexts, the supposed...

Ohio families receiving food stamps could get an unwelcome surprise come January: $50 less every month in assistance. For the 869,000 households enrolled in the program for the poorest Ohioans, that could amount to about $520 million annually out of the grocery budgets.

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: "Kevin Clash, the voice of Elmo and star puppeteer for PBS," he's African-American, "'has taken a leave of absence from Sesame Street in the wake of allegations he had a sexual relationship with a 16-year-old boy' when he was 45..." Now, Kevin Clash, "the voice of Elmo and star puppeteer for PBS ... 'adamantly denies' the allegations, but "'has acknowledged to TMZ he had a relationship with the young man -- but insists it only took place AFTER the accuser was an adult.' "The accuser met with lawyers for Sesame Workshop. Clash said, 'I had a relationship...

Top 10: 1: KSU2: Oregon3: Notre Dame4: 'Bama5: UGA6: UF7: LSU8: TAMU9: The Other USC10:FSU

I am assuming everyone will remember that Petraeus' name was 'leaked out' to the news media this past summer as a possible running mate for Gov Romney. The questions are: 1. Did the Romney campaign know anything if indeed they were seriously interested in him? 2. Was his name floated to the press by OFA as sick joke?

Retired Gen. David Petraeus, who resigned as CIA director last week after admitting an extramarital relationship, could possibly face military prosecution for adultery if officials turn up any evidence to counter his apparent claims that the affair began after he left the military. The affair between Petraeus and his biographer, Paula Broadwell, both of whom are married, began several months after his retirement from the Army in August 2011 and ended four months ago, retired U.S. Army Col. Steve Boylan, a former Petraeus spokesman, told ABC News. Broadwell, 40, had extraordinary access to the 60-year-old general during six trips she...

Borrowing an idea left over from the Carter Administration, New York City announced an odd/even gasoline rationing scheme. It was hoped that the scheme would cut four-hour wait times at gasoline pumps in half. However, a substantial portion of drivers are unable to determine whether the numbers on their license plates are odd or even. “My plate has four numbers on it,” one driver observed. “Which one should I use?” Another driver pointed out that “I have a vanity plate. All of the writing on my plate is letters. Do I go on an ‘odd’ day because it is odd...

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides Thee. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psalm 73: 25-26HAPPY VETERANS DAY!

A social planner's complaints about email stalking launched the monthslong criminal inquiry that led to a woman romantically linked to former Gen. David Petraeus and to his abrupt resignation Friday as Central Intelligence Agency chief. A State Department official's complaints about email stalking launched the months-long criminal inquiry that led to a woman romantically linked to former Gen. David Petraeus and to his abrupt resignation Friday as CIA chief. Photo: REUTERS. .The emails began arriving in Jill Kelley's inbox in May, U.S. officials familiar with the probe said. Ms. Kelley, who helped organize social events at MacDill Air Force Base...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: I don't know. I don't know what all the hubbub's about. I really don't. See, I'm old enough, ladies and gentlemen. Some of you may not be, but I'm old enough to remember when a reckless affair with a very young woman by a high government official who had access to powerful, sensitive intelligence was not a big deal. I'm old enough to remember when, as long as it didn't get in the way of the work being done, it wasn't anybody's business. I'm old enough to remember when a high government official had an affair with...

DALLAS -- Wingspan Portfolio Advisors, a Carrollton-based loan servicing company, will layoff more than a quarter of its workforce at the end of the year. Wingspan issued a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) letter on Nov. 5 to the Texas Workforce Commission informing them all 459 employees at the Dallas location will be terminated effective December 21, 2012. The business is "an award-winning diversified servicing company" and "offers a wide-range of services to assist the mortgage industry in virtually every aspect of delinquent loan servicing," according to the company's website. The site says the company has nearly 1,700...

By Meghashyam Mali - 11/12/12 08:12 AM ET House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Pete King (R-N.Y.) on Monday said he found the FBI investigation that uncovered former CIA Director David Petraeus’s extramarital affair a “crisis” of “major proportions.” “This is a crisis of, I believe, major proportions. It’s not a usual political thing,” said King on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” King’s remarks come as lawmakers have raised questions about why they or President Obama were not informed sooner that the nation’s top intelligence officer was being investigated by the FBI.

Barack Obama spent his first term undoing what he saw as the excesses of U.S. post-Cold War foreign policy, from land wars in the Middle East to insufficient attention to Asia. By his own account, he largely succeeded. But chances are he will spend his second term grappling with the flaws in his cure. Contrary to the usual Republican narrative, Obama did not lead a U.S. retreat from the world. Instead he sought to pursue the same interests without the same means. He has tried to preserve America’s place as the “indispensable nation” while withdrawing ground troops from war zones,...

Military expert Paula Broadwell, who was allegedly improperly involved with resigned CIA Director Gen. David Petraeus, confirmed in October that the CIA annex in Benghazi asked for reinforcements when the consulate came under attack on September 11.... Broadwell was speaking at her alma mater, the University of Denver, on October 26. Her lecture, which is on YouTube under the title "Alumni Symposium 2012 Paula Broadwell," now has added value, because based on the recent disclosures, it can now be assumed that she indeed knew exactly what it was that Petraeus knew about the attack. Broadwell confirmed the reports on Fox...

Could oil production from the Bakken formation in North Dakota and Montana rival output from Saudi Arabia's supergiant Ghawar oilfield, the greatest oil-bearing structure the world has ever known? Until recently, comparisons between the shale fields of the Bakken and Ghawar, which produces 5 million barrels per day, would have been dismissed as fanciful. But Bakken's exponential growth and enormous reserves put it on course to produce more than 1 million barrels per day by the middle of next year, which will earn it a place in the small pantheon of truly elite oil fields. Ghawar accounts for nearly half...

<p>TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran's vice president said Monday that Tehran will break the `grasping hands' of newly re-elected President Barack Obama, the official IRNA news agency reported.</p> <p>Mohammad Reza Rahimi also said Iran will overcome U.S.-led sanctions against the country.</p>

So here is a bizarre twist in the David Petraeus resignation saga. Paula Broadwell, the biographer revealed as the woman having a secret affair with the now-former CIA director, gave a talk at the University of Denver on Oct. 26 in which she appeared to reveal sensitive, maybe even classified, information about the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi. The most interesting revelation is her claim that the CIA was holding several Libyan militia members prisoner, which may have prompted the attack.... [UPDATE: The CIA has denied holding prisoners at the annex, according to the DailyBeast's Eli...