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Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy court. The company...

We have the right ideas.  Even our worst guy (aka Mittens the Friendly GOP Ghost) should have walked away with the election given record unemployment, a crappy economy and an Executive who is, verifiably, a forger and Marxist.  It’s true Romney didn’t MAKE an issue of the things that would have made this a clear cut choice for the people.  As I’ve pointed out a zillion times, UCLA Professor Lynn Vavrick says that BIG IDEAS statistically trounce opponents in close elections.  (Aren’t you sorry you dumped on Newty now?) Anywho, we have 2 fundamental problems BEYOND the candidate we...

Rangel: No daylight between Obama and Pelosi on tax hikesBy Mike Lillis - 11/20/12 05:12 PM ET President Obama and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are on exactly the same page when it comes to supporting an increase in tax rates on the wealthy, Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) said this week. Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), the Republican whip, recently suggested that there's daylight between Obama and the House minority leader regarding their approach to those rates. But Rangel dismissed that claim outright, breaking into laughter Tuesday when he was asked about McCarthy's remarks. "I'm laughing because what he is saying, and...

A top security official in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi was killed in front of his home overnight on Wednesday, security officials said, in the latest violence to plague the cradle of the North African country's revolt. Faraj al-Deirsy, head of Benghazi police, died from multiple gunshot wounds, police and interior ministry sources said. "This happened in front of his house when unknown attackers opened fire and hit him before fleeing," a police source. An interior ministry official confirmed that Deirsy, in charge of security in Benghazi, had been killed in front his home. Libya has been hit by...

(Reuters) - U.S. forces have decimated al Qaeda's leadership and made gains against some of its affiliates, but the fight has shifted in new directions that will require persistent U.S. efforts to truly end the threat, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Tuesday. Panetta, in a speech to the Center for a New American Security, said while the United States had achieved progress against al Qaeda affiliates in Yemen and Somalia, associated groups had made inroads in Mali and Nigeria and were trying to gain a foothold in Libya. He said the United States had "decimated core al Qaeda," killing...

Democrats and the mainstream media have tried to paint Republicans as a regional -- and predominantly Southern -- party of white males, but nearly 30 percent of Democrats in the House will come from just two states -- California and New York -- when the next Congress convenes. Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) on Wednesday said to “take a good look when the House convenes after this next Congress is sworn in” to see that the Republican party has gotten “white and more male,” while Democrats are “majority minority and female.”

A good read and a surprisingly fair treatment in that it actually addresses and condemns comments from Obama that are nearly exactly the same as Rubio’s: And here’s then-Sen. Obama, D-Ill., speaking at the Compassion Forum at Messiah College in Grantham, Pa. on April 13, 2008: Q: Senator, if one of your daughters asked you—and maybe they already have—“Daddy, did god really create the world in 6 days?,” what would you say? A: What I’ve said to them is that I believe that God created the universe and that the six days in the Bible may not be six days...

Alex Wagner worships no other god before her Lord Barack. Think that statement is over the top? Not after you watch this worshipful video of MSNBC's Alex Wagner in which, among her other hallelujahs to her personal god who assumed earthly form in Burma, is this gem: “A man who is better at stagecraft than almost any leader in US history.” This is but one of several gushing praises of Obama which gives the impression that Wagner could be in dire need of some serious Barack cult deprogramming.

UN official calls for marijuana ballot rollbackAP / November 20, 2012 VIENNA (AP) — The head of the U.N. drug watchdog agency is urging U.S. federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and over. Raymond Yans says the approvals send ‘‘a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad.’’ Yans heads the International Narcotics Control Board.

In the election’s aftermath, the culture war looks like a rout. Few ever relished this fight; most preferred simply to be left alone. We aren’t community organizers. Sadly, neutrality was not realistic. No, being Switzerland was never an option. By not defending America’s heritage of limited government, free markets and biblical morality, we’re being overrun a la Belgium. Powerful forces array. Christians consider this battle in spiritual terms. Conservatives sense a political donnybrook. Others deplore eroding standards of conduct and lost liberty. The Left vies for our children’s hearts, souls and minds. While no majority, progressives dominate the dissemination of...

Hostess Brands Inc. lived to die another day. The maker of Twinkies and Ding Dongs said late Tuesday that it failed to reach an agreement with its second-biggest union. As a result, Hostess plans to continue with a hearing on Wednesday in which a bankruptcy court judge in White Plains, N.Y., will decide if the company can shutter its operations. The renewed talks between Hostess and The Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union came after the company declared last week that it would move to wind down its business and start selling off its assets in bankruptcy...

Local lawmakers are fuming over an Obama administration policy promoting welfare and EBT benefits for immigrants, with a “welcome” package and promotional website that encourage new arrivals to take advantage of the nation’s generous government largesse. “I think it’s a complete outrage that we’re encouraging people coming here to get on public assistance,” said state Rep. Shaunna O’Connell, a Taunton Republican who has fought for EBT reform. “We should be encouraging people to be self-sufficient. These programs are rampant with fraud and abuse.” The fight over welfare for recent immigrants is unfolding in Washington, where a group of GOP senators...

One image taken from the pro-Hamas rally held by Al-Awda NY, among other anti-Israel organizations, in Times Square this weekend. I wish I could say that it was anomalous in some way, but the inexorable truth is that the physically and intellectually etiolated creature you see above was probably as representative of the spirit of this demonstration as any of the participants. That a decrepit red diaper baby extolled the Marxist, Latin American despot Hugo Chavez is not surprising, although neither should be his admiration for Chavez’s staunch ally Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A man who shares with his equally anti-Semitic friend...

~ Freeper Canteen ~ Canteen Mission StatementShowing support and boosting the morale ofour military and our allies' militaryand family members of the above.Honoring those who have served before. Today We Want To Know..... What's Your Thanksgiving Personality? Click here and take the quiz! To share your results, click "Get HTML", then copy and paste the code into a "Reply" box. Have fun! Please remember that The Canteen is here to support and entertain our troops and veterans and their families, and is family friendly.

-snip- The only thing that President Obama seems to have accomplished in Cambodia vis-a-vis his meeting with Hun Sen is giving the authoritarian leader an even stronger stranglehold on an office that he’s held longer than any other leader on the entire continent of Asia. After the fall of another long-ruling tyrant, Moammar Gaddafi of Libya, Hun Sen was asked if he was nervous about being overthrown himself. He responded, “I not only weaken the opposition, I’m going to make them dead … and if anyone is strong enough to try to hold a demonstration, I will beat all those...

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday accused Israel of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza, saying the Jewish state's air raids could not be considered self-defence. "Israel is committing ethnic cleansing by ignoring peace in this region and violating international law," Erdogan said. "It is occupying the Palestinian territory step by step." The premier said Israeli air raids against Gaza could not be deemed self-defence, accusing Western countries of aiding what he called a "terrorist state" by condoning its violence. "Sooner or later, Israel will answer for the innocent blood it has shed so far," he said. Erdogan's words came...

It will be ironic but fitting if the rights to the Twinkie and other treats end up being bought by Mexican bakery El Grupo Bimbo through bankruptcy liquidation. Growing up in Pittsburgh, union people are the greediest,entitlement minded people I have known in my lifetime. The only EXCEPTIONS I have personally known just happen to HATE being in the union and despise the lazy idiots more than anyone... (video) The union people who are actually WORTH the money they are paid - resent - that they have to pick up the slack for the idiots!

TOPEKA -- About 50 college students who are in the U.S. illegally marched Tuesday on Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach's office urging him to stop working on immigration laws and to do his state job

The National Security Agency has shot down a Freedom of Information Act request for details about an elusive presidential order that may allow the government to deploy the military within the United States for the supposed sake of cybersecurity. The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) reports on Tuesday that their recent FOIA request for information about a top-secret memo signed last month by US President Barack Obama has been rejected [PDF]. Now attorneys for EPIC say they plan to file an appeal to get to the bottom of Presidential Policy Directive 20. Although the executive order has been on the...

The Obama Administration is playing dirty. Trying to put a price tag on access — either a news organization plays ball and accepts what they dish out without challenge, or the news organization is excluded, punished... ...and now the latest…. DNI Director James Clapper told Capitol Hill last week that the DNI did not know who took the term Al Qaeda out of the talking points that was given to Ambassador Susan Rice. It turns out that is not true and the DNI released a memo to the media last night indicating that DNI Director James Clapper was wrong last...

Dozens of explanations have been offered by people who think they are savvy about politics to explain why Mitt Romney lost and Barack Obama was reelected despite his many unlawful actions and the high unemployment figures. I toss into the mix my view that the two major political parties need rebranding. Obama's massive negative TV advertising rather successfully branded Romney and the Republican Party as rich guys who can't empathize with ordinary hard-working Americans. In fact, Obama grew up enjoying a pampered lifestyle attending elite schools and colleges and now is rich, too, with his wealth and lifestyle coming from...

At a campaign event today in Wisconsin, President Obama once again misled the country about the status of the terrorist group al Qaeda. "Al Qaeda has been decimated," he said to the crowd. This statement is simply not true. Recently, "al Qaeda is on the run" was dropped from Obama's campaign trail stump speeches due to the fallout over the 9/11 attack in Benghazi which was carried out by al Qaeda terrorists. That move by the campaign doesn't change the fact that al Qaeda has not been "decimated" and is not "on the run" as President Obama suggested to the...

Danica Patrick and her husband are divorcing after seven years of marriage. Patrick announced the split with Paul Hospenthal on her Facebook page Tuesday. "I am sad to inform my fans that after seven years, Paul and I have decided amicably end our marriage," she said. "This isn't easy for either of us, but mutually it has come to this. He has been an important person and friend in my life and that's how we will remain moving forward." Hospenthal is a physical therapist who met Patrick while treating her for a non-racing injury. The two were married in 2005,...

MULTAN: The parents of a girl whose body was found buried in a field a month ago have confessed to killing her, police said on Monday. They said the parents had killed her for marrying without their consent. They said the post-mortem examination had revealed that the girl had been strangled and the body burned before she was buried. ... the mother had confessed to helping her husband kill Naureen. She told police that they tied her hands and feet and tried to strangle her. They said they then covered her mouth with a cloth and set her on fire...

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — About 625 people will be laid off when Cliffs Natural Resources idles a Michigan mine and cuts production at a Minnesota operation due to declining demand for iron ore, the company announced Monday. Two of the four production lines at Northshore Mining's taconite plant in Silver Bay will shut down effective Jan. 5, resulting in 125 layoffs, said Cliffs' Minnesota spokeswoman Sandy Karnowski. It has not been determined how those layoffs will be distributed between the plant and Northshore's mine in Babbitt, she said. Cliffs also plans an extended summer shutdown at the Empire Mine near Palmer,...

Snip: The Ohio Republican has smoothed over differences with Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), expanded his powers on the panel that doles out plum committee assignments, shot down a challenge to his earmark moratorium and worked behind the scenes to ensure that Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) would win her leadership contest.

Full title: Atheist Group Backs Parents Who Are Upset School Wants To Take Kids To See ‘Charlie Brown Christmas’ At ChurchLITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CBS Atlanta) — Charlie Brown has been caught in the crossfire of the “war on Christmas” mantra. KARK-TV reports that some parents were upset that Terry Elementary School in Little Rock wanted to take children to go see a play of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” at a local church.

I just received a call that my Father passed today. Please pray for my Mother for strength. They were two weeks shy of their 55th wedding Anniversary. Thanks in advanced and God bless.

White House still dodging talking point responsibilityPresident Obama took responsibility last week for his administration’s actions in Benghazi, Libya. He insisted those criticizing U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice for misleading the American people regarding the terror attack ought to come after him instead. This week, administration leakers are passing the buck. Unnamed sources within the administration say that someone in the Office of Director of National IntelligenceJames R. Clapper removed references to “al Qaeda” and “terrorism” from Mrs. Rice’s talking points, with CIA and FBI concurrence. According to this version of events, Mr. Obama, his national security...

GE Healthcare said Friday it is cutting 2 percent of its jobs in Wisconsin, where it has 6,500 employees, and 10 percent of its workforce in Vermont, where it employs about 500 people. The Waukesha-based medical equipment manufacturer said it needs to make "tough decisions in the current economic climate" and was looking for ways to streamline its operations and lower costs. "This will reduce complexity, speed up decision making and help us become more accessible to our customers," said GE spokesman Benjamin Fox. "It also addresses the continued economic challenges in Europe and the U.S., and it will position...

And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.(Genesis 4:1-2)By now, Adam and Eve had been evicted from their home, the garden of delight, because of their sin. They were not allowed to remain, nor to eat of the precious “Tree of Life”, in fact it would have been spiritually disastrous for them to do so. They had rejected God’s glory. They chose not to...

Fresh off his reelection, President Barack Obama is asking his supporters to complete a survey that asks the people being polled to check off which “constituency groups” they identify with – there are 22 groups listed but not one for “whites” or “men.” The post-election survey, distributed through www.barackobama.com to “take this organization forward,” includes the question, “Which constituency groups do you identify yourself with? Select all that apply.” It then lists 22 groups. But whites and men are not on the list – women are, as are African Americans, Arab-Americans, Latinos and LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender). Other...

Intelligence Report: Fired Jesse Jackson Jr. staffer says she fled Chicago over harassmentChuck Goudie November 20, 2012 Updated at 06:21 PM today (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A former top aide to Jesse Jackson Jr. says she had to flee Chicago because of harassment by the Jackson family. **SNIP** "I started to receive harassment after I went to see Rev. Jackson," Hayyim said. "I've had people coming by my home taking pictures and damaging property, which I filed a police report for, but I removed myself from that location to a safer place." **SNIP** Hayyim says she is having to represent herself...

Now that the election is over, nine Republican and nine Democrats have asked the president to stop making excuses and build a job-creating pipeline that will close the revenue gap through economic growth. The truly bipartisan group of senators, led by Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat and powerful chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and John Hoeven, a North Dakota Republican, wrote President Obama on Friday urging him to quickly issue a permit for the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline that would bring over 830,000 barrels of crude from Canada's oil sands to American refineries every day. "Setting...

Nudists will need to cover up or limit where they show their bare buns after the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 to pass a ban on public nudity. Supervisors Jane Kim, John Avalos, Eric Mar, Christina Olague and David Campos voted to oppose the ban. Campos argued that police resources could better be spent fighting violent crime, instead of tracking down naked men roaming the streets. Other supervisors argued the ban seemed to infringe on people’s right to express themselves and was merely a problem in a Castro that didn’t need a citywide ban. The ban still requires a second...

Hostess Brands Inc. said Tuesday night that mediation talks with its bakers union failed and the company will proceed with plans to close down and sell its assets.

Tax policy really tells you a lot about a government... what politicians’ values and priorities are. People can SAY anything, but in a way, tax policy is putting their money where their mouths are. For example, politicians like to talk about technology, efficiency and transparency. But just take a look at the tax code to see where they really stand. Estonia’s Taxation Act of 2002, which form the preponderance of that country’s tax code, is 43,370 words. In Canada, the tax code is close to 1 million words. And in the US, the tax code is so daunting that simply...

In his column yesterday, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman made the case for how the pro-union and high-tax policies of the 1950s led to America’s unparalleled economic success from the end of World War II until the mid-1970s. The essay is a classic example of how to use a few correct facts to make a completely illogical argument. First Krugman says “Above all, the success of the postwar American economy demonstrates that, contrary to today’s conservative orthodoxy, you can have prosperity without demeaning workers and coddling the rich.� The only evidence of “coddling� he cites is lower tax rates...

Former ambassador to China and Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman could have been the greatest threat to the president’s re-election, Obama’s campaign manager claimed Tuesday morning. … The fact that Huntsman is widely considered a “moderate” may have played into Messina’s supposed concern. Against Mitt Romney, “Barack Obama won moderates by 15 points,” Messina explained. But it’s unlikely that Messina—an astute Democratic partisan—truly perceived Huntsman as a threat. The former Utah governor barely registered Republican support during the primary season. …

A report from CNet today claims that a bill up for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee next week that was supposed to increase privacy protections around our email would instead do the opposite, allowing many federal agencies to gain access to your email without a warrant. However, my reporting suggests the article is inaccurate. Here’s what CNet says: [snip - see below] This would be particularly disturbing in the wake of the scandal surrounding Generals Petraeus and Allen, whose emails were exposed during a wide-ranging and questionable FBI investigation and have brought the discussion of limits on the...

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — There's a new superpower growing in the Great Plains and the South, where bulging Republican majorities in state capitols could dramatically cut taxes and change public education with barely a whimper of resistance from Democrats. Contrast that with California, where voters have given Democrats a new dominance that could allow them to raise taxes and embrace same-sex marriage without regard to Republican objections. If you thought the presidential election revealed the nation's political rifts, consider the outcomes in state legislatures. The vote also created a broader tier of powerful one-party governments that can act with...

Fiscal 2013 Second-Quarter Results – Continuing Operations, Excluding Fiscal 2012 Productivity Charges: Heinz delivered its 30th consecutive quarter of organic sales growth (volume plus price) of 3.3%.Reported sales grew 0.5% to $2.83 billion, despite a -2.4% foreign currency exchange impact.Emerging Markets delivered 13.2% organic sales growth (+10.3% reported) and represented 23% of total Company sales.Top 15 Brands delivered organic sales growth of 4.6% (+1.7% reported).Global Ketchup posted 5.0% organic sales growth (+3.8% reported).Net income grew 10.4% to $290 million (+22.3% reported).Marketing investment increased 13.4% on a constant currency basis (10.0% reported).Operating income declined 1.0% (+9.4% reported).EPS grew 11.1% (+23.3% reported).On...

Shepard Smith just said on Special Report that a cameraman and another journalist have been killed in Gaza. He said "this type of targeting by Israeli's is unprecedented" What a dolt! Doesn't he realized Hamas can call anyone killed in the strikes "Journalists" They'll just stick a camera in the dead persons hands. Ugh!

Is that Romney pumping his own gas? No, he's a dead ringer but it's not him Yeah, that's totally him This is tough -- I really can't tell

The IDF hit more than 50 targets in Gaza on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of strikes in the region Tuesday over 100. Half of the strikes were aimed at terrorist cells that were engaged in firing rockets at Israel. Six known Hamas terrorists and one known Islamic Jihad terrorist were killed over the course of the day. Twenty terrorists were injured in airstrikes as they attempted to fire Grad rockets. Twenty-two percent of Tuesday’s strikes hit rocket launchers that were not manned at the time. Another 8 percent of strikes targeted smuggling tunnels. Four percent targeted weapons stockpiles,...

I heard recently that only 38% of California workers are employed by the private sector, and that only half of those 38% pay taxes. I cannot remember where I heard the statistics and am having trouble finding any documentation on the Internet. Can any FReepers confirm or deny the stats? Thanks to anyone who can help me out!

Looming over politics in 2012 was Franklin Roosevelt’s admonition in his Second Bill of Rights speech (his 1944 State of the Union Address) for the creation of security. To revive its founding, the government must guarantee various now-fundamental rights including the “right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;” the right to “adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;” and “the right to a good education.” Together, “All of these rights spell security.” In this view, security is the highest aim of American politics: “Necessitous men are not free,” FDR...

It was a quiet night at U Fleku, Prague’s premier beer hall. I sat at a long wooden table in the main bar, a Teutonic shrine to dark wood. Waiters scurried about, balancing trays of glasses filled with the rich dark lager that’s brewed on site. The evening entertainment started: a scowling, mustachioed accordionist playing Que Sera Sera. As I finished my beer, the accordionist paused and hunted through his pocket, looking miserably at some loose change. A heavy hint? The majority of travellers to the Czech Republic rarely strike farther than Prague, treading the tourist trail of Charles Bridge,...