Free Republic

Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden, has a memoir due out April 6 which will chronicle his life and times, despite his father assuring the nation his family would not cash in on presidency. AP reports the book is called “Beautiful Things” and will center on the younger Biden’s well publicized struggles with substance abuse, according to Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

Politico on Friday broke the news that our newspaper of record has opted to jettison “freelance columnist” Willie Brown at month’s end, putting a belated conclusion on an inexcusable and, frankly, inconceivable situation. And it only lasted 12 years. Less time than the Central Subway project or Geary BRT - but an embarrassingly long stretch for something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place. Brown, former mayor and Assembly speaker, and still very much a mover and shaker, high-level information peddler, and registered and unregistered lobbyist in this town, should never have had a column in the San Francisco...

On July 31, the Houston Chronicle published a front-page story with a provocative headline. "'We've moved on': Political anger after Harvey has eased," it declared, adding: "Experts believe disaster response is unlikely to be a factor in November." It was a significant story by veteran reporter and Austin bureau chief Mike Ward. It asserted that Houston residents initially fed up with the uneven government response to Hurricane Harvey actually weren't going to blame politicians after all. The story began with West Houston resident Betsy Scheer, whose anger had faded. She was going to vote Republican. "My friends are mostly the...

The San Francisco school board’s new president broke with protocol Tuesday night by deciding to skip the Pledge of Allegiance before a meeting, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. In its place, Steven Cook recited a quote from the poet Maya Angelou: “When you learn, teach. When you get, give.” Cook told The Chronicle he chose not to enforce the pledge because of his disappointment with the political climate. He said the Trump administration “has been attacking our liberties.” The Pledge of Allegiance, while required by state education code, is rarely enforced by schools, district officials said. District spokesman Gentle Blythe...

The politically convenient, scientifically baseless theory that sexual assault so traumatized Christine Blasey Ford she mixed up her attacker is now something like common wisdom for many Republicans.

A half a world away from the spectacle of Washington, Melania Trump still managed to create one of her own during a Kenyan safari on Friday, riding out into the grassland wearing a crisp white pith helmet — a common symbol of European colonial rule.

A massive coalition of U.S. Christian churches attended by 40 million people wants Brett Kavanaugh to withdraw his Supreme Court nomination. The National Council of Churches says the conservative jurist has "disqualified himself." The group says in a statement that at last week's dramatic Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, he showed "extreme partisan bias," demonstrating he lacks the temperament to join the high court. The group says Kavanaugh told "outright falsehoods." And it is criticizing his judicial record on voting rights, health care and other issues on which the group has taken liberal-leaning positions. Kavanaugh is a Roman Catholic who has...

Tesla is happy to do things differently than other automakers, from the company-owned stores to the all-electric drivetrain. It also doesn't use union workers at its factory in Fremont, California (the former NUMMI plant, pictured). But now the United Auto Workers (UAW) is testing the waters for representation at the plant, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. UAW President Bob King has revealed that the UAW has created an organizing committee in Fremont. How this would change things at Tesla – and whether it would be a good or bad thing – is not really known, but...

Raises may be small and bonuses a distant memory of better times, but one workplace number isn't frozen: Employees can expect a double-digit percentage increase next year in the cost of health insurance they get through the office. This year's health care overhaul combined with other factors will push the average cost per Houston employee to $4,946 next year — 12 percent more than this year — according to Aon Hewitt, a human resource consulting firm that tracks medical costs. The figure includes insurance premiums and insurance-related expenses such as co-pays and deductibles. The firm surveyed 350 large employers nationwide,...

The Great Influenza pandemic killed as many as 100 million worldwide when the global population was less than a third of what it is today. It killed more people in twenty-four weeks than AIDS has killed in twenty-four years, more people in a year than the Black Death of the Middle Ages in a century. It didn't single out the very young and the very old. Half those who died were young people in the prime of life - in their 20's and 30's. By a bizarre and unprecedented stroke it turned the immune system itself into a killer. Two-thirds...

One of the "Most Commented" stories on the Houston Chronicle was the story about Joe Wilson shouting "You lie!" during Obama's speech. The story appears as a "Most Commented" story in the right hand column on the website. Upon clicking on that link, the story is "Access forbidden" and is not found. Interesting.

BOGOTA -- Three Americans held captive by Colombia's leftist rebels for 5 1/2 years published a memoir Thursday full of wrenching survival stories and unkind words about Ingrid Betancourt, the most famous hostage who shared their jungle prisons. The chronicle of the U.S. military contractors' 1,967 days as rebel captives describes their pain and perseverance, mind-numbing boredom in jungle cages, forced marches in chains, close calls under fire and ultimately, a miraculous rescue. ( Read Rest at Link)

NEW YORK -- The Hearst Corp. today announced an effort to reverse the deepening operating losses of its San Francisco Chronicle by seeking near-term cost savings that would include "significant" cuts to both union and non-union staff. In a posted statement, Hearst said if the savings cannot be accomplished "quickly" the company will seek a buyer, and if none comes forward, it will close the Chronicle. The Chronicle lost more than $50 million in 2008 and is on a pace to lose more than that this year, Hearst said. Frank J. Vega, chairman and publisher of the Chronicle, said, "It's...

The Hearst Corp. said Tuesday that unless the San Francisco Chronicle can undertake "critical" cost cutting measures including job cuts within weeks, the company will be forced to sell or close the newspaper. Hearst said the Chronicle lost more than $50 million last year and added that, "this year's losses to date are worse." The Chronicle has had major losses each year since 2001, Hearst said. The closely-held media company said cost reductions including an unspecified reduction in union and non-union employees are needed to restore the Chronicle to health.

VIDEO HERE. Barack Obama stated his intention to bankrupt the coal industry in an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. That would throw countless people out of work, devastate the economy of many coal producing states, and send electricity prices skyrocketing for everyone. Sarah Palin opposes Barack's bankrupt plan and pledges to fight with everything she has for working Americans! Please ask everyone you know to vote for her Tuesday November 4th!!!

In his 1842 classic "Morte d'Arthur," Alfred Lord Tennyson has the dying King Arthur say to his mourners: The old order changeth, yielding place to new; and God fulfills himself in many ways, lest one good custom should corrupt the world. Those Famous Last Words can now apply to two of the best-known and once widely read institutions in the United States, the Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. Along with almost all of U.S. daily newspapers, these strongly liberal – one of them a one-time toppler of a president of the United States – are beginning to lose,...

The Houston Chronicle is now the sixth-largest metropolitan newspaper in the nation on Sundays — up from seventh — and remains at seventh-place weekdays, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Monday. Chronicle Publisher and President Jack Sweeney said the Chronicle was outperforming most major markets in the country. "We virtually held steady in daily circulation and showed a gain on Sunday," Sweeney said. Sunday circulation ticked up .09 percent, from 692,593 to 693,228. Daily circulation dipped .13 percent, from 508,091 to 507,437. "We want more of our readers engaged in the paper seven days a week, so we've worked hard...

Looks like Christian Chronicle web site has been defaced by sickos.

Debate and Switch What do MyDD, Daily Kos, and the San Francisco Chronicle have in common? They're all involved in The Lie of the Week. The Fox haters' echo chamber is reverberating like crazy. They've got a new bee in their bonnet: Freeze Out Fox News! The Nevada Democratic Party has had the affrontery to cosponsor a Presidential debate with the eeevil FNC, and the haters will have none of it. The anti-Fox warriors always find it necessary to embroider the truth (what's left of it) with a tapestry of tall tales, stories that the gullible swallow uncritically in...

Newspaper circulation fell 2.6 percent in the six-month period ending in March, according to data released Monday, as the industry continued to struggle with competition from other media outlets and the Internet. The decline in average paid weekday circulation was about the same as the previous time newspapers reported six-month circulation figures for the period ending last September, according to the Newspaper Association of America, a trade group. The NAA reported that average paid circulation at Sunday newspapers fell 3.1 percent versus the same period a year ago, also a comparable decline with the last time circulation figures were reported....