Free Republic

New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits fell slightly last week, government data on Thursday showed, suggesting the labor market continues to expand at a moderate pace. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 370,000, the Labor Department said. The prior week's figure was revised up to 372,000 from the previously reported 370,000. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims unchanged last week. Claims have barely budged in the past four weeks indicating a marginal improvement in the pace of job creation after April's disappointing 115,000 gain in nonfarm payrolls.

Monday, Politico's "media analyst" Dylan Byers's posted what at first glance looked like bad news for radio talk show giant Rush Limbaugh, who has been the target of a boycott after apologizing for comments he made about about pay-for-my-birth-control crusader Sandra Fluke. Byer's headline reads: "Limbaugh takes post-Fluke ratings hit." According to Paul Bond's reporting at the Hollywood Reporter, there's only one problem with Byers' headline: it isn't true. Byers: Rush Limbaugh took a significant ratings hit in some key radio markets last month in the wake of the Sandra Fluke controversy.

It’s been nearly eight years since Dan Rather’s long career at CBS came to a close after he ran a story that could have derailed President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection. Instead, the story about Bush’s supposedly questionable National Guard service wound up giving the media a black eye after some of the documents used to in the report turned out to be fake. Nonetheless, Rather is still at it, making the case that he was in the right and that the only reason he was forced out at CBS was because of pressure from his corporate superiors. Rather made...

When Washington Post journalist Elizabeth Flock wrote a post last year falsely accusing Mitt Romney of using a Ku Klux Klan slogan in his campaign speech, she was not fired or disciplined. But when Flock stole from the work of another mainstream organization and did not properly attribute, she abruptly “resigned” from the Washington Post conveniently and coincidentally before another editor’s note went up on her post that described it as having “serious factual errors” and “a significant ethical lapse.” Flock told AFP that “she resigned on Friday before the Post published a second editor's note about her work and...

An "outraged" Florida prosecutor fired back on Monday at the family of Trayvon Martin, describing as "outright lies" their account that he and a local police chief met and decided not to follow a detective's advice and arrest the teenager's killer. ... In the letter delivered Monday, the Martin family said that a Sanford police detective "filed an affidavit stating that he did not find Zimmerman's statements credible in light of the circumstances and facts surrounding the shooting." The family said Sanford Police Chief Bill Lee and State Attorney Norm Wolfinger met the night of the shooting and disregarded the...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Safe to say that the media has destroyed George Zimmerman. They set out to destroy George Zimmerman, and they've done it. It's unconscionable what they've done. George Zimmerman doesn't have a microphone, can't fight back. He was just singled out and destroyed. The third network has come forward today and admitted that their original interpretation of a tape involving words spoken by Zimmerman may now not be correct. The third network. The first was NBC, which admitted doctoring a 911 tape. This is not an accident that takes place in the hustle and bustle of putting together...

Shorter CNN to George Zimmernan: Gee, George, sorry we pretty much declared you a racist in front of all of America before having all the facts, but Obama's all-in on this one and we're all-in for Obama and since you're a registered Democrat, we think you'll understand. XXXOOO -The Most Trusted Name in News

SANFORD, Fla. — The Rev. Al Sharpton, an MSNBC host and liberal political figure, riled up a mostly-black Sanford, Fla., crowd on Thursday night in the wake of the killing of 17-year-old student Trayvon Martin. “Some people said to me in the media — ‘Let me get this straight,’ they said. ‘Reverend, it seems like there’s a lot of people who are angry — are you afraid of violence?’” Sharpton preached to the central Floridian crowd. “I said, ‘No. I’m afraid of the violence you already had.’” “Violence is killing Tray Martin,” Sharpton continued. “Don’t act like we are the...

Journalism: Bloomberg News has published a piece designed to shame GOP White House hopefuls for fingering government housing policy in the crisis. But it's Bloomberg that needs schooling. Its lengthy article scoffs at top Republican candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich for laying much of the blame on federal regulations. It argues their view "has been rejected" by the Washington punditry, as well as the Democrat-appointed "commission that investigated the meltdown." While true, the prevailing wisdom is dead wrong. And the business wire not only parroted this false Democrat narrative, but conveniently omitted key facts. Take Bloomberg's analysis of the...

Sharyl Attkisson of CBS News has posted a bombshell article detailing how the Obama administration has greatly increased gun sales to the Mexican military. But further investigation into Attkisson’s discovery points toward the padding of a gun-control statistic — one frequently mentioned by the Obama administration — as the motive behind the increased sales. Writes Attkisson: One weapon — an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle — tells the story. In 2006, this same kind of rifle — tracked by serial number — is legally sold by a U.S. manufacturer to the Mexican military. Three years later — it’s found in a criminal...

(CNN) - Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will not release more Freddie Mac-related documents, according to campaign spokesman R.C. Hammond. Though the contender for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination said Wednesday that his campaign would "do what they can" to release more information about payments he received as a consultant from the government-backed mortgage group, Hammond backtracked later in the evening. When asked via email whether the campaign would release more Freddie Mac-related documents or if a fact sheet it released in the afternoon was the last word on the issue, Hammond responded to CNN, "last word."

Coming off her week-long One Nation bus tour that was widely seen as a test-run for a presidential campaign, Sarah Palin says she’s starting to see that running for president might not be the best fit for her. “Not only do I love my freedom of not having a title and being a declared candidate — that is liberating — I know you can make a difference as an individual,” she said. “Hopefully, I can inspire others to know that you don’t need a title. You don’t need to be in office to effect positive change.”

According to NBER.orgthe National Bureau of Economic Research, the recession officially ended June, 2009. Yet unemployment just went UP to 9.8%. So we are not in recession folks; we have been out of it since mid-2009. What is keeping unemployment so HIGH?

The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans, expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to rescue Wall Street banks and has overseen an economy that has grown for the past five quarters. Most voters don’t believe it.

This morning Ben Smith of Politico posted a story that essentially mislead readers about what newfound conservative hero Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey thought about immigration. Smith's article spun Christie into an "amnesty" supporter when it doesn't seem he is. One has to wonder why Smith did this? Among many other issues, in the multipage interview with Gov. Christie Smith broached the immigration issue. Being a governor, Christie is faced with as much trouble over the issue as any other, of course, but Smith's characterization of Christie's position on immigration would tend to make one feel that Christie is...

Cadmium. Sounds like a super cool name for a new car, doesn't it? Wow, here the voiceover on the commercial: "Be the first on your block to drive the new Cadmium." Actually, you likely would not want to because of what that name means. According to HealthLine.com, Cadmium can be very toxic, and is dangerous if it is swallowed or inhaled. It is used in a large number of industrial applications. In the United States, over 10 million pounds of cadmium are used industrially every year. While spontaneous recovery from mild cadmium exposure is common, doses as low as 10...

Gov. Palin posted a Facebook Note on June 1, 2010 which described in detail how NBC twisted and distorted a printed statement she had supplied them. NBC sought an interview with Gov. Palin and her husband Todd regarding the fence they built to protect their border from stalker Joe McGinnis. NBC promised Gov. Palin to run her statement as a full-screen graphic, then broke their promise. Par for the course with an agenda-driven media. Purposeful Distortion is Malicious It’s one thing to distort or misrepresent words as they’re spoken, especially if the subject is a fast talker. Cub reporters covering...

When Annabel Park imagined what it would be like to head a new national political movement, here is what she had in mind: a coming together of engaged, intelligent citizens who had tired of the angry rhetoric and accusations of the Tea Partiers; Americans of all political persuasions joining in a spirit of equanimity to discuss the nation's problems, and maybe even share a laugh. It was this beautiful vision that danced in Park's head on a recent Saturday as she made her way to Busboys and Poets, a cafe in Washington, D.C., for one of nearly 500 Coffee Party...

Tea Party rallies: thousandsTea Party participants: millionsTea Party squabbles with Law Enforcement: 0 Tea Parties confronted by riot police: 0 Tea Parties dispersed by tear gas: 0 Tea Party arrests: 0 Tea Parties causing violence/injuries: 0 Tea Parties causing property damage: 0 Tea Parties responsible for the death of anybody: 0

Are we surprised> This lying idiot said he as at the DFW Tea Party event in Grand Prairie Tx. maybe he wa but some facts of his artilce don't add up. he said he saw diveristy , until he realized it was the stadium workers. BS unles he got there early afternoon there were no workers. only Tea Party Volunteers. Then he said he was asked as he walked in if he was a worker. I was not at the gate but i am calling BS on that too. He said he sat on the front row. this I know...