Free Republic

Remember the story we told you yesterday about how black Olympian Shani Davis was angry that a coin flip decided that white Olympian Erin Hamlin would be the Team USA flag bearer in today’s opening ceremony? Well, the story got worse. Davis skipped the parade of athletes over the entirely fair process to decide a tie:

WASHINGTON — Gov. Charlie Baker is getting a pittance in disaster aid from the Obama White House compared to the tens of millions of dollars former Gov. Deval Patrick scored for lesser storms than the worst winter in memory inflicted on the Bay State, a Herald review found.The Federal Emergency Management Agency rejected Baker’s request yesterday to extend the time available to Bay State communities to apply for reimbursement for the late-January blizzard.Only $67.5 million in federal relief is expected to be available.That’s a drop in the bucket for the estimated $350 million or more in expenses incurred during the...

China warned on Thursday that military intervention in Syria would hurt the world economy and push up oil prices, reinforcing Vladimir Putin's attempts to talk U.S. President Barack Obama out of air strikes. The rift over Syria could overshadow a summit of the Group of 20 (G20) developed and developing economies in St. Petersburg at which global leaders want to forge a united front on growth, trade, banking transparency and fighting tax evasion. The club that accounts for two thirds of the world's population and 90 percent of its output is divided over issues such as turmoil in emerging markets...

President Obama does not "accept responsibility" for high gas prices, his spokesman indicated today, arguing that Obama has done everything he could to bring down the price of oil and blaming the high gas prices on oil price increases caused by global factors.

After the high-profile confirmations of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Sam Alito, judicial nominations went into limbo. Today, we'll see the opening gambits on when and whether that will end.The reason the confirmation process came to a standstill is simple: Senate Democrats don't want additional conservatives on the bench and hope to stall votes long enough to keep them off until Democrats can reach the Holy Grail of a Senate majority. That could be a very long time coming, though Democrats always are hopeful that their day is at hand.It's less clear why Republicans let the nominations wallow in...

TAKING LIBERTIES Shut Up, They ExplainedThe left's regulatory war against free speech.BY BRIAN C. ANDERSONWednesday, January 25, 2006 12:01 a.m. ESTThe rise of alternative media--political talk radio in the 1980s, cable news in the '90s, and the blogosphere in the new millennium--has broken the liberal monopoly over news and opinion outlets. The left understands acutely the implications of this revolution, blaming much of the Democratic Party's current electoral trouble on the influence of the new media's vigorous conservative voices. Instead of fighting back with ideas, however, today's liberals quietly, relentlessly and illiberally are working to smother this flourishing universe...