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William Shatner’s on the phone, and here’s one of the first things he says: “I just put down the phone with Ben Folds.” I’m a “Star Trek” fan but it’s not, you know, a lifestyle. I like the franchise just fine, and my favorites are the third series and the sixth film.

A revered Chicago muffler shop owner became the city’s fifth homicide of 2013, but not before calling his son to let him know he was shot, MyFoxChicago.com reported. "They shot me in the back," Michael Kozel, 57, the owner Independent Muffler Shop in the city's Southwest Side, told his adult son. Those were his last words he said.

The national headquarters of the Likud party sent a letter to party members, Thursday evening, proposing that they demand the end of what the headquarters called the aggressive campaign "which is harming great rabbis of Israel and many members of the [religious Zionist] movement." Responding to language that has been used against Habayit Hayehudi (Jewish Home-New National Religious Party) and declining poll results, the letter says, " Many members of the movement, the ones it has elected, and its potential voters observe religion and tradition. The attempt to outline the religious-nationalist public as excluding women and dark hurts the Likud...

Sen. Pat Toomey is one of the great accomplishments of the Tea Party Movement, and after supporting him in ’04 back when Bush was backing Specter, it does my heart good to see him in our dysfunctional deliberate body. For that same reason, some are very angry at him for his vote on the fiscal cliff deal. But as we go into another debt-ceiling fight, he’s one of our better communicators on this issue. So, it also does my heart good to see him go on “Morning Joe,” up against five people who disagree with him, and direct the conversation,...

The Legacy Lives On! Mark’s Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation “Conservatism is the antidote to tyranny precisely because its principles are the founding principles.” --Mark Levin in Liberty and TyrannyWelcome to “The Levin Lounge”… Step in and have a virtual FRink.Taking the country by storm, one radio station at a time – and kicking the BUTTS of the competition! Welcome all, to the most FUN LIVE THREAD on FreeRepublic.com! You can call Mark’s show: 1-877-381-3811

President Barack Obama's staff used an autopen (a machine that mimics one's signature) to sign the "fiscal cliff" legislation that Congress passed on New Year's Day. There was no ceremony or photo-op for the autopen bill signing.

Glen Beck was too "right wing" - So Gore sold to "an authoritarian-Islamist government that has criminalized homosexuality, discriminates against non-Muslims, prosecutes journalists, and has a “Not Free” rating from Freedom House."

In the wake of the ludicrous 'fiscal cliff' deal made by Boehner and McConnell -packed with pork, increasing the deficit by $4 TRILLION, and raising taxes on most every American while extracting diddly-squat in spending cuts- the Republican Party doesn't represent my interests anymore, yet no GOPer has the huevos to mount a viable challenge to Boehner's feckless 'leadership'-Ron Meyer, a spokesman for the conservative group American Majority Action, which was among several calling for Boehner’s ouster, acknowledged that House Republicans simply do not have a viable alternative to Boehner. “It turns out no one else seems willing to...

FINAL VOTE RESULTS FOR ROLL CALL 2 (Republicans in roman; Democrats in italic; Independents underlined) YEA-AND-NAY 3-Jan-2013 1:38 PM QUESTION: Election of the Speaker

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) was reelected on a 220 to 192 vote by his colleagues Thursday despite last minute grumblings that opposition from within his own party would derail the embattled politician as retribution for his leadership on controversial issues including the recent fiscal cliff deal. (snip) Boehner ran unopposed within his own party, contrary to speculation that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) might challenge him for the position. Just prior to the vote, Cantor told CNN that Boehner would “absolutely” be reelected. Cantor voted against the fiscal cliff deal, which raised taxes on a majority of Americans,...

A strong report on private-sector hiring in December overshadowed rising jobless claims last week, lifting some economists' expectations for the federal employment snapshot due out Friday. Private-sector jobs in the U.S. increased by 215,000 last month, according to a report Thursday by payroll processor Automatic Data Processing Inc. ADP +0.39% and forecasting firm Moody's Analytics.

<p>CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois gun manufacturers are developing a strategy to address calls for a state assault weapons ban.</p> <p>The owner of Geneseo-based ArmaLite tells Lee Enterprises newspapers in Illinois (http://bit.ly/YFvFb7) that the gun makers are considering possible action.</p> <p>ArmaLite's Mark Westrom says there shouldn't be a rush to judgment following the shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults at a Connecticut elementary school. And he says the issue of semi-automatic weapons might better be addressed at the federal level than by Illinois lawmakers.</p>

Marc Barnes says of this women’s ordination video “Ordain a lady: that “This might be the greatest video ever to happen to the Catholic Church.” and goes on in post Why The Catholic Priesthood Is Composed of Dudes Ordain A Lady YouTube Video This is certainly the funniest thing I have seen in a while and one of the best defenses for the Church’s teaching. I would have been hard-pressed to make a better parody and the words are genius. Well at least it would be a genius video if it wasn’t real.Though one thing that really gets my ire...

According to the FBI annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed annually with hammers and clubs far outnumbers the number of murders committed with a rifle.

Thinking that she accidentally hit a large cat just after midnight Wednesday with her van, a woman in Veazie, Maine, put the unconscious animal in her vehicle to get it help. But after driving for several miles, she realized that this was no ordinary house cat: it was a wild bobcat.

WASHINGTON — Vice President Joe Biden was in rare form Thursday morning as he held a mock swearing-in session for the senators of the 113th Congress. In case you missed this hour of must-see TV, we’ve recapped Biden’s best comments. 1) “Spread your legs — your going to be frisked,” Biden said to North Dakota newest senator, Democratic Heidi Heitkamp, and her family, after the photographer suggested they “drop your hands to the side.” “You say that to somebody from North Dakota, they think it’s a frisk,” Biden told the photographer.

SAS has joined with 27 other pro-2A groups in order to present a unified message to the US Congress that we will not compromise when it comes to our Second Amendment Rights! The National Coalition to Stop the Gun Ban has sent the document below to Congress and we ask that you contact your legislators and do the same. Let them know that you are NOT WILLING to compromise away your Second Amendment Rights. Click on the image to open a pdf document that you can save and print out. We encourage you to give copies to your friends and...

When a thief unhooked her dog’s leash from outside a Manhattan shop and took off with him on the day before Christmas, little Mia Bendray was devastated. But on Christmas Day, her wish came true, and she was reunited with her beloved cavalier King Charles spaniel, Marley — thanks to a Good Samaritan. Tina Cohen, a high school teacher, saw a man in a park trying to sell a dog on Christmas Day. "I said that's not right,” she said.