Free Republic

The new conventional wisdom on Hillary: The Democrats should thank their lucky stars because she’s all that stands between them and political oblivion. What a difference a midterm debacle makes. If you think about the Democrats’ outlook without Hillary Clinton, it’s rather sobering. The New Yorker just chatted up three other presidential aspirants: Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Jim Webb. Ahem. Case closed. We’ll come back to the also-rans, but there is a danger for the Dems here that extends beyond 2016. To put it bluntly: this team has a very thin bench. The party has simply atrophied under Barack...

That would be the Democratic, Barack Obama-appointed FCC chair, who spent yesterday backpedaling from his boss on a major policy announcement. Obama went so far as to push out a video demanding unilateral action from the FCC on Net Neutrality, the latest White House distraction from the disastrous midterm elections and an attempt to show that Obama is still relevant: “As long as I’m President,” Obama says into the camera after cheesy, 1996-style buffering graphics, “that’s what I’ll be fighting for, too.” He may be fighting for it, but Obama clearly isn’t managing for it very well. Within hours of this...

Oscar-nominated documentarian Amy Berg talks 'An Open Secret,' which targets underage abuse and names more names: "When you meet the victims … it’s difficult to ignore". The spotlight again will be trained on the alleged sexual abuse of minors by powerful Hollywood players when Amy Berg's disturbing new documentary, An Open Secret, debuts at the DOC NYC film festival in New York on Nov. 14.

Sen. Harry Reid said Wednesday he’s seen obstruction from Republicans and has no intention of adopting those tactics when he lands in the minority next year. Mr. Reid, the Nevada Democrat who will go from being majority leader to minority leader, said he will work “in good faith” to make the Senate operate smoothly, and said that means rejecting the obstruction he said the GOP pioneered while they were in the minority. “I have no desire to engage in that,” Mr. Reid said in opening the Senate for the lame-duck session, which will see a number of retiring or defeated...

Oil prices are plunging. Gasoline is now cheaper than milk. Why doesn't Washington do something already?Since peaking in June, the price of oil has tumbled by 25 percent. Texas light sweet crude futures have fallen to around $77.40 a barrel, a three-year low, while Brent oil, the global benchmark, sank on Monday to its lowest price in four years.With cheaper oil has come cheaper gasoline. The national average price for a gallon of regular is now just $2.926. Drivers haven't seen pump prices this low since December 2010. Nor have they seen such a sustained decline — the price has dropped...

... Lawyers for Ingmar Guandique and the government were scheduled Wednesday to begin three days of hearings. Guandique's lawyers say he was convicted on the basis of false or misleading testimony given by a one time cell mate and prosecutors knew or should have known the testimony was false and investigated the man further. ...

Iranian state TV has released video footage claiming the country has successfully replicated a highly sophisticated U.S. stealth drone that crashed over Iran in 2011. The video released Wednesday includes both aerial and ground footage, demonstrating a black pilotless aircraft closely resembling a RQ-170 sentinel stealth drone, flying over a mountainous area of Iran before touching down at an unmanned air base. Segments of the video appear to be genuine, David Cenciotti, founder of “The Aviatonist” a military aviation blog said, while some of the frames showing the drone landing appear to be computer generated, showing a smaller prototype model...

Looking for suggestions and/or advice dealing with parents with dementia and making mostly bad decisions.

Michigan’s state budget is a $52 billion-plus document that cuts across most aspects of our lives: police, courts, transportation and education to name a few subjects. Is it any wonder then that few noticed or complained when a $100,000 “one-time” appropriation was slipped in to subsidize an athletic competition between people who are in the autumn of their years? Subsidizing the “Michigan Senior Olympics” is not a proper function of government. It is unfair to those whose hobbies are not subsidized, it financially supports a group who may already be healthier and wealthier than your average resident, and the state...

<p>I’ve often called Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY)68%68% “RedState’s Leading Supervillain,” and it’s not been unwarranted either, but… damn, I respect this.</p> <p>BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republicans have promised Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA)59% a seat on the Senate’s energy committee if he defeats Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA)2%2% in Louisiana’s runoff election next month, potentially undercutting one of her main arguments for re-election.</p>

* 'Stand for Principle PAC' isn't officially connected to the Texas senator * But his friends' establishment of a financial juggernaut to help him in 2016 is the biggest sign yet that he's running for president * Georgia business consultant filed papers with the FEC on Friday * Group can raise unlimited amounts of money as long as it doesn't coordinate its activities with any candidates * Former Cruz college roommate, considered his closest friend, chose the group's nameIf Ted Cruz isn't running for president, his closest friends are setting up a super PAC for nothing. The 'Stand for Principle'...

10.1 Procedures for Dealing with Academic Misconduct in Research and Scholarship Unethical behavior in research and scholarship strikes at the heart of the scholarly and educational enterprise. A shared understanding of expectations and responsibilities is, therefore, critical — not only to the quality of the research enterprise but also to the collegial life of this community. Academic misconduct can take many forms, including fabrication or falsification of data, theft of ideas or direct plagiarism, and deliberate interference with the integrity of the work of others. Whatever the form, academic misconduct is behavior that may lead to a variety of disciplinary...

I took one for the team and listened to this guy on a new tape for 52 minutes. Another Gruber video. This guy did travel the Country, speaking about the Obamacare-sham and DID REPEATEDLY to many groups, that O'care was: complicated, political, that the STATES IF NO EXCHANGES are set up their citizens will pay the "tax" but NO tax credits, and blah blah blah, and some INTERESTING NUGGETS.

Just at first glance, and without looking it up on Google Translate, what is the difference between these two passages of a recent important Vatican document, the final “Relatio” from October’s Extraordinary Synod of Bishops? “…confronto alla luce del Signore Gesù per discernere le vie con cui rinnovare la Chiesa e la società nel loro impegno per la famiglia fondata sul matrimonio tra uomo e donna.” and “…facing the situation, with an eye on the Lord Jesus, to discern how the Church and society can renew their commitment to the family.” A little pared down, perhaps? The official Italian original...

<p>ObamaCare architect Jonathan Gruber apparently doesn't think much of the intelligence of the American people.</p> <p>A new tape has surfaced showing Gruber, once again, claiming the health care law's authors took advantage of the "stupid" American public.</p> <p>The tape, played on Fox News' "The Kelly File," showed Gruber speaking at an October 2013 event at Washington University in St. Louis.</p>

The hospital that treated the only Ebola patient to die in the United States will pay his relatives an undisclosed sum and create a charitable foundation in his name, the family's attorney said Wednesday. The agreement heads off a lawsuit from relatives of Thomas Eric Duncan, who died Oct. 8 at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas. Attorney Les Weisbrod declined to say at a news conference how much money the family would receive but said the settlement was a "very good deal" that would provide for Duncan's parents and his four children. Weisbrod also said Presbyterian hospital was not charging...

Looking ahead to the 2016 presidential election, how influential were each of the potential GOP candidates during the midterm election? The Appinions study I wrote about on Monday provides great data to answer this question. The midterms continue to be a highly salient topic, despite the fact that it’s been just over a week since voters drew the curtain on the campaign. Indeed, Appinions "Active Attention Index," a metric based on the quantity and quality of reactions on the topic from opinion leaders across multiple media venues, grew 34 percent, from 129,000 the day after the election to 173,000 on...

Dr. Shane Truman Todd--Murdered not Suicide "Our country has been sold out for money and power, ...China has bought out our government." The press is reporting that Communist China has engaged in more computer hacking, this time of employee data at the U.S. Postal Service. But don’t worry. The Washington Post reports that the Obama administration has “strongly urged” China to “refrain” from hacking. Meanwhile, CNN is covering the “controversy” over whether Obama chewing gum at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Beijing has offended some Chinese. No attention in the latest computer hacking scandal has been given...

Is the movie 'Song of the South' racist...of course not!...Have a Zippy Doo Dah Day! Is censorship of Hollywood motion pictures a thing of the past, or… Is it still alive and well in the movie industry today against movies that are not politically correct? There are many who find some ‘R’ rated Hollywood movies of today equally offensive but I don’t think Hollywood is listening. Why would an old wonderful family motion picture offend anyone starring an African-American man whose stories fascinate both Black and White children? Some call Walt Disney’s 1946 family classic ‘Song of the South’ racist....