Free Republic

.... Fourth-quarter earnings results came out on Wednesday and they were terrible. The bad news starts with a quarterly loss of $427 million, but it doesn’t end there. Comparable store sales—meaning stores that were open this past quarter and also open in the same quarter of the previous year—fell by a mind-boggling 32 percent. Henry Blodget says it may have been the worst quarter posted by any retailer ever. It wasn’t supposed to be this way. JCPenney made a big splash in the retail world by hiring Ron Johnson, mastermind of Apple’s retail operations, as CEO. He immediately set about...

As a young single woman, Michelle Robinson was a fixture in the home of civil rights leader Jesse Jackson, who along with Rev. Jeremiah Wright “arranged” her marriage to Barack Obama, according to sources in Chicago who know the couple. Jackson’s daughter, Santita, is still one of Michelle’s best friends. “It all relates back to Trinity and to the Jesse Jackson orbit of blacks here in Chicago who gave Obama legitimacy and helped him establish his identity as a black man,” Robyn explained. “The political left wanted to push a black to the presidency, and the key operatives in the...

Reggie Love resurfaces on eve of Republican convention The former personal aide to Barack Obama known as the president’s “body man,” Reggie Love, resurfaced on the eve of the Republican National Convention to support his old boss. Hired as Obama’s “deputy political director,” the Duke University basketball and football star was the constant companion of the president for two years before resigning last November. The White House explained Love had decided to pursue further studies at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, but the Internet, at the time, was abuzz with speculation that Love was dismissed...

An HIV-positive man walked into an unlocked motel room at the Parliament House gay resort Saturday and raped another man, Orlando police said. Kenneth Creuzer, 48, told investigators the door to the man's room was open, so he walked in and assaulted him as he lay on his stomach, a police report states. Leaving a door ajar and the blinds open while lying facedown is known as an invitation to sex, Creuzer told investigators. The man told officers he was asleep about 3:05 p.m. when he heard someone come in and assumed it was his boyfriend. When he realized it...

Republican lawmakers are blasting the Pentagon's decision to allow troops to march in uniform at a San Diego gay pride parade last week. Two senior Republicans on the House and Senate Armed Services committees said Tuesday that the Pentagon was out of line to grant the one-time exemption that allowed military uniforms in the parade. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.) said the Pentagon made a “dangerous exception” to its policy of not allowing military uniforms in parades. In a statement, the Armed Forces Readiness subcommittee chairman said that the decision was a made to advance the Obama administration’s social agenda. “I...

President Barack Obama’s love of golf hit a milestone today as he marked his 100th time on the links. His Father’s Day achievement was reached at the Beverly Country Club in his hometown, the windy city. Mark Knoller, CBS radio correspondent and chronicler of all things presidential, pointed out the quiet occasion to the traveling press. Like 15 of the 18 presidents since Theodore Roosevelt, Obama has used golf as a way to unwind outdoors, but away from the prying eyes of press and onlookers. And despite the fact that he had never golfed before taking office, his love of...

Three women identified by their lawyers as lesbians were arraigned yesterday on a hate crime charge for allegedly beating a gay man at the Forest Hills T station in an unusual case that experts say exposes the law’s flawed logic. (Victim or Perp?)

Sally Kohn, a former senior strategist at the Soros-funded Center for Community Change, has been hired as a Fox News Contributor. Soros is the controversial hedge fund billionaire, convicted of insider trading in France, who finances the “progressive” movement in the U.S. An open lesbian who shuns feminine attire and frequently wears a suit jacket, Kohn is joining Fox News after being a regular on such programs as “The Ed Show” on liberal rival MSNBC. The former chair of the board of the Center for Community Change, Cecilia Munoz, was recently named the Director of the Domestic Policy Council in...

Anthony Weiner proposed a threesome with texting pal Traci Nobles and a man, according to a new report. The Queens Democrat made the suggestion in the midst of his texting and tweeting adventures that eventually forced him to resign his congressional seat in June, RadarOnline.com reported today. The revelation came from conversation excerpts that Radar obtained from Nobles' proposal for a tell-all book. After proposing a threesome, Weiner told Nobles, "I'm not really talking about other chicks... How about with another guy?" "It can be hot," Weiner replies. "Hmmmm, haven't done it before," Nobles said.

Using photoshop, can a savvy Freeper assemble my "gay Obama" photos into a single, low-rez MONTAGE photo? (to go easy on our servers) ------------------------------------------------------------ Cain is getting pounced on for made-up stuff. Meanwhile Larry Sinclaire's amazing allegations regarding fellatio & crack cocaine go completely ignored. That's unfair. Fair is fair. Last night some radio journalists re-interviewed Larry Sinclaire regarding his story, and I must say he was WAAAAY more believable than I'd thought (when I first heard the story I simply paid it no attention). I'm no closer to endorsing Larry Sinclaire's lifestyle than I was then, but now I...

Using photoshop, can a savvy Freeper assemble my "gay Obama" photos into a single, low-rez MONTAGE photo? (to go easy on our servers) ------------------------------------------------------------ Cain is getting pounced on for made-up stuff. Meanwhile Larry Sinclaire's amazing allegations regarding fellatio & crack cocaine go completely ignored. That's unfair. Fair is fair. Last night some radio journalists re-interviewed Larry Sinclaire regarding his story, and I must say he was WAAAAY more believable than I'd thought (when I first heard the story I simply paid it no attention). I'm no closer to endorsing Larry Sinclaire's lifestyle than I was then, but now I...

A nephew of late PLO founder Yasser Arafat says the family will be releasing a 558-page French medical report detailing the cause of his death. Naser al-Qudwa told the Palestinian Authority's semi-official Maan News Agency the document is being translated from French before it is released. Al-Qudwa claimed the report would answer "many questions," adding the 'Palestinian people' had a right to clear answers regarding his uncle's death. The report by French doctors reportedly describes a platelet disorder and speculates on its cause. The doctors, however, ruled out cancer or acute infection, Al-Qudwa says. "We have said that it is...

The Bexar County District Attorney's Office and SAPD are looking into an alleged incident back in 1999 that reportedly happened in San Antonio. The San Antonio connection involves the 1999 Alamo Bowl when Penn State went up against Texas A&M. The grand jury indictment, alleges Sandusky brought a young boy to San Antonio to attend the Alamo Bowl. He is identified as "Victim 4." Sandusky reportedly threatened to send the victim home if he didn't cooperate with the illegal activity. Sandusky is also accused of giving Victim 4 gifts, clothing, and passes to various sporting events. Sandusky allegedly guaranteed Victim...

A 19st rugby player suffered a stroke while training - and discovered when he woke up that he was gay. Chris Birch, 26, had proposed to his girlfriend and worked in a bank when he suffered a freak accident in the gym. The rugby-loving Welshman was trying to impress his friends with a back flip but broke his neck and suffered a stroke. He was taken to the Royal Gwent hospital where his girlfriend and family waited for news - but said: 'I was gay when I woke up and I still am.' His friends were stunned by the dramatic...

The Dodd-Frank Act goes on for 2,319 pages. Like Nancy Pelosi's "pass it to find out what's in the O'care Bill" statement, Senator Dodd said, "No one will know until this is actually in place how it works. But we believe we've done something that has been needed for a long time. It took a crisis to bring us to the point where we could actually get this job done." The Wall Street Journal reported on July 14, 2010, just one week before Obama signed Dodd-Frank into law that it will "unleash the biggest wave of new federal financial rule-making...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—When the city of Cambridge issues paychecks to its public employees, nearly two dozen workers find a federal tax on their income that their colleagues don't have to pay. Like many people, these 22 school and city workers chose to put their spouses on their employer-provided health insurance. Because they're in a homosexual relationship, the value of that health coverage is considered taxable income by the federal government. But starting this month, Cambridge will become what is believed to be the first municipality in the country to pay its public employees a stipend in an attempt to defray the...

Boy, 14, arrested on sex charges A 14-year-old Salina boy was arrested Sunday, accused of sexually molesting three grade-school-aged boys. Marcus A.M. Hamilton, 2163 Lewis, was being held in the Saline County Juvenile Detention Center Monday after a parent reported to police that inappropriate sexual contact had been observed between Hamilton and the boys in east Salina on Sunday evening, said Capt. Mike Sweeney, of the Salina Police Department. The boys reported that they had had previous sexual contact with Hamilton, Sweeney said.

Gov. Mark Dayton will be the first Minnesota governor ever to participate in the Twin Cities annual gay and lesbian parade. The Twin Cities Pride Parade takes place in Minneapolis on Sunday. In a proclamation, the DFL governor proclaimed June “Pride Month” in the state, and noted that Minneapolis was the first city in Minnesota to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

I’m no conservative. And I'm certainly no intellectual. But I totally understand the freakout among conservative intellectuals over Sarah Palin. For a movement based on ideas, the former governor of Alaska and 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee who sits astride the party as a powerhouse fundraiser and potential king- or queenmaker has been uninterested in setting forth a vision crafted after years of thorough study to match her outsized influence. The Atlantic’s Joshua Green wags his finger at those worry-wart Republicans: “It's not hard to understand what these conservative intellectuals are trying to accomplish,” he writes, “They genuinely believe that...

Former defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who served at the Pentagon under two Republican presidents, says the “time has come” time for gays and lesbians to serve openly in the US military. Two months after President Obama signed a law that will lead to the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Rumsfeld told ABC News Radio that the nation is ready for open service. “First of all, we know that gays and lesbians have been serving in the military for decades with honorable service,” Rumsfeld said. “We know that [repeal of a ban on gays serving openly] is an idea whose...