Free Republic

(Reuters) - Americans blame Republicans in Congress more than congressional Democrats or President Barack Obama for pretty much everything, states a new poll out from Ipsos. "We questioned Americans who is responsible, and they indicated it was Republicans. We didn't ask them 'responsible for what?'. We just left that open-ended," said Lou Z. Pollster. "I'm sure Republicans cause old age," said one respondant, "and my dog went missing. Republicans again!" "Entropy has been described as the eventual heat-death of the universe," said another respondent, who identified himself as a physicist, "and REPUBLICANS are to blame for this!" When asked who...

Fontella Bass, the St. Louis-born gospel and R&B singer famous for her 1965 hit “Rescue Me,” died Wednesday night. She was 72 and had suffered a heart attack on Dec. 2, her family said this morning. Ms. Bass was taught by her mother, gospel singer Martha Bass. Ms. Bass graduated from Soldan High School and started her professional career at 17 at the Showboat Club near Chain of Rocks, Mo. She got a contract with Chess Records and sang duets with Bobby McClure, including “Don't Mess Up a Good Thing.” She sang and co-wrote “Rescue Me,” which sold more than...

ELYRIA, Ohio — Invacare Corp. said Thursday it is eliminating 143 jobs because of limits on manufacturing at one of its Ohio facilities. Invacare makes wheelchairs, crutches and motorized scooters. It has faced scrutiny from the Food and Drug Administration about facilities where it makes wheelchairs. The company said on Dec. 20 that it had reached an agreement with the FDA and that production at two sites in Ohio would be limited until inspectors certify that they are in compliance with FDA regulations...

Michigan’s right-to-work law is expected to take effect April 1, but in that time unions could resort to at least two ploys to maintain the cash stream they get from dues. "You're probably going to see the union giving up the moon to get an extension of their union security clause," said F. Vincent Vernuccio, labor policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "They will put their own interests above the workers.” Under the state's new right-to-work law, workers must wait for a union contract to expire before opting out of paying dues or fees. In that time,...

<p>The portrait gives the impression of a movie poster associated with the 1972 mobster classic, “The Godfather,” directed by Francis Ford Coppola.</p> <p>A video uploaded by the Chicago Tribune on Sunday shows Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass entering Emanuel’s Chicago office to give the mayor his gift.</p>

On September 26, Investor’s Business Daily made an acute observation: The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has fiercely fought against essential U.S. counter-terrorism programs and actions but was curiously silent when the White House pressured YouTube to take down the film Innocence of Muslims, a provocative presentation of Mohammed's life, in order to appease Muslim rioters. The background of one top ACLU official, Jameel Jaffer, may explain the inconsistency. Jameel Jaffer heads the ACLU’s Center for Democracy and was the director of the Center’s National Security Project from 2007 to 2010. He is best known for suing to get information...

The US has blacklisted an Al Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria, declaring that “extremists” could play no role in building a future for the Syrian people. The move against the Al Nusra Front came as the Obama administration recently recognized the new Syrian National Coalition as the “legitimate representative” of the Syrian people. The problem for the Obama administration, however, is that, though a minority, Al Nusra has been seen as one of the most effective rebel groups fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, raising concerns that violent Jihadists are leading the Syrian revolt.

The Al-Madany Islamic Center of Norwalk in Connecticut wasn’t ready to give up when its proposal for a 27,000 square foot facility was turned down by the zoning commission over matters completely unrelated to religion. The Islamic Center sued, asserting—as you might have guessed—it was religious discrimination. The cry of “Islamophobia” got the Justice Department on its side, and the zoning commission suddenly changed its mind after a closed session. The current Islamic Center was established in 1999 and serves 100 families. Feeling that more space was needed, the Center purchased the property in 2008 and made the $3.5 million...

During 2012, virtually every aspect of American life was subjected to government meddling, ranging from how many calories you consume to how efficient your dishwasher is. These rules affect us in a variety of ways. Most increase the cost of living, others hinder job creation, and many erode our freedom. Not all regulations are unwarranted, of course. But increasingly, the rules imposed upon us by the government have less to do with health and safety and more to do with lifestyle -- substituting the judgment of bureaucrats for our own. Which are the worst? There is no objective standard to...

Former Detroit Lions offensive lineman Lomas Brown has apologized for recent comments he made about Scott Mitchell, claiming he regrets intentionally missing a block decades ago that resulted in the quarterback suffering an injury. Brown, currently an NFL analyst for ESPN, admitted during a radio interview this past Friday that he allowed a defender to hit Mitchell because he was frustrated with the struggling quarterback when the two were Lions teammates in 1994.

Orit Zuaretz (Kadima / Livni) demands, in a letter to Besheva magazine, that the magazine refrain from awarding the Jerusalem Prize to pro-life NGO Efrat and its chairman, Dr. Eli Shussheim. In a letter to Besheva Director David Saada, Zuaretz explains that "the organization's dubious methods of operation were exposed more than once over the last few years." She pointed to a Channel 2 report about the death of Raz Atias, whose girlfriend was pregnant and who did not want to abort the baby, despite pressure to do so from his parents. Atias planned to commit suicide with his girlfriend...

Here's a New Year's wish I would love to see come true. However it is defined or however many people are part of it, it is time to send the giant never-ending "GOP Establishment" made up of some professional politicians, some moneyed nouveaux riche who -- by virtue of their contributions and the faux friendships it buys with politicians -- consider themselves political landed gentry and the endless scam artist consultants they support packing. As previously stated, I thought Mitt Romney to be a better candidate than did many observers. That said, the recent revelations in news articles that claim...

(Reuters) - Americans blame Republicans in Congress more than congressional Democrats or President Barack Obama for the current "fiscal cliff" crisis, as the deadline approaches for action to avert big tax increases and spending cuts, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Thursday. When asked who they believed to be more responsible for the "fiscal cliff" situation, 27 percent blamed Republicans in Congress, 16 percent blamed Obama and 6 percent pointed to Democrats in Congress. The largest percentage - 31 percent - blamed "all of the above."

This is called " Shadow Land " and the talent is amazing. Incredible, Amazing, Uplifting, this is exactly what art and imagination are meant to be, different, exploring, extreme and moving.

A 26-year-old woman came home on Christmas to find a man she’d never seen before folding her laundry in her Irving Park neighborhood apartment, police said. **SNIP** The woman called police and officers got to the scene and interviewed Edge, who told them someone let him inside and asked him to clean the home, police said. He was arrested at 9:40 p.m. at the home. Edge is a sexual predator who was convicted in Lake County of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a 15-year-old, a crime that occurred when he was 51, according to the Illinois Sex Offender website.

President Obama cut his Hawaiian Christmas vacation short in order to come back to Washington, D.C. to, supposedly, hammer out a deal with Congress in order to address the looming fiscal cliff. There's only one problem: much of Congress won't be there. The House of Representatives adjourned Thursday afternoon, only hours after President Obama touched down in Washington, D.C. While it was initially reported that they wouldn't be back until Monday, December 31 - the last day to totally avert the fiscal cliff - Jake Sherman discovered they'd be back in an emergency on Sunday. House Republican leaders are bringing...

... Another thing that brings the community together is the Christmas holiday. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and my family has adopted many different traditions over the years. ... Many of these traditions show how Christmas fosters a sense of community, bringing together people who have little else in common to share in the magic and promise of the season. For a little while, we can put aside our political, cultural, and social differences and just watch trains go around a track, sing Christmas carols, watch dancers and musicians marching down the street, or just admire the lights and decorations...

Lisa Jackson is the boss at one of the most contentious government agencies in the Obama administration and is responsible for numerous controversial actions that will have a significant financial effect on American consumers: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). So it’s no wonder Congress is miffed to discover that her decision-making process on key issues was conducted in the most secretive manner Washington has ever devised—under an alias. Jackson’s secret identity email account name is “Richard Windsor.” The name is part family dog (Richard) and part hometown (East Windsor, N.J.), and it turns out there are at least 12,000 recently...

The House of Representatives will reconvene on Sunday evening, just less than 30 hours before the United States reaches the fiscal cliff. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, notified lawmakers that the House would come to order at 6:30 p.m. ET on Sunday in hopes of averting the end-of-year combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that constitute the fiscal cliff.

My DEAR READERS: It’s crunch time. My apologies to those who have tried to contact me; my computer died and I had no email access for several weeks. I’ve also been incredibly busy, part of which I will now describe: After contacting my state AG, county attorney, and others, I realized I needed to file a criminal report in the city in which the crime was committed: Bob Bauer’s crimes of 1) of suborning perjury by advising Germond and Villaigarosa to sign an Official Certification of Nomination that Bauer KNEW had legally been disclosed as fraudulent, and 2) fraud when...