Free Republic

One council member in Maryland not only didn’t want to comment on a story, but he also doesn’t want his name in any news articles about him. The issue stems from an article Frederick News-Post reporter Bethany Rodgers wrote about concerns Kirby Delauter, a Frederick County Councilman, and fellow Councilman Billy Shreve had over County Council parking spaces. Delauter declined to comment for the article, which isn’t out of the ordinary for a public official. But what he did next, is. “Shame on Bethany Rodgers for unauthorized use of my name and my reference in her article today,” Delauter posted...

A federal judge says that Florida's county court clerks have a legal duty to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples, but he has stopped short of ordering them to do so. U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle issued a ruling Thursday in Tallahassee federal court responding to requests to clarify his previous order that Florida's same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional. He stayed that order, but the stay is scheduled to expire at the end of the day Monday.

First Sgt. Katrina Moerk, now the first sergeant of Charlie Company, 741st Military Intelligence Battalion, was browsing a social media network's community page earlier this year, when she came upon a video that she found offensive and sexist. When she commented as much, several respondents attacked her with insults. Some of these respondents were wearing uniforms in their profile photos, the first sergeant said, so she wrote to them directly. "I looked them up, introduced myself and explained to them why they were stupid. And I [copied] the director of the Army SHARP program to help their units improve their...

SNIPPET: "Things apparently did not go smoothly at last week's Chicago conference on "Islam and Muslims in America," which was sponsored by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC). President Obama's special envoy to the OIC, Rashad Hussain, had been scheduled to address the event, held at the American Islamic College. But after news reports highlighted his participation, Hussain reportedly withdrew at the last minute, citing a "scheduling conflict." This earned him an angry rebuke from websites like this (which the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Report asserts is "an arm of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood.")" Read more at: http://www.investigativeproject.org/blog/2010/10/rashad-hussain-reportedly-yanked-from-oic-chicago

If you recall, back in May, William Baer was arrested after voicing opposition to a school board meeting about a controversial book by Jodi Picoult titled Nineteen Minutes, a story about a school shooting that contained pornographic content. It was also required reading for ninth graders. Now a New Hampshire 4th Circuit Court of Appeals judge has blasted the school board for "silencing" him and arresting him, which was a violation of Mr. Baer's free speech.

A vote December 2 by the Washington, D.C., City Council could compel private religious schools and universities in the nation’s capital to allow groups that oppose the schools’ moral values access to their campuses, programs, and funds. The council voted to eliminate faith-based schools’ 25-year-old legal protections from discrimination lawsuits as part of a “human rights amendment.” Barring an act of Congress, D.C.’s religious schools will likely have to go against their religious values when it comes to permitting use to their campuses or programs. The city’s rules hold that it’s “unlawful discriminatory practice” to limit any use of facilities,...

Law: If there really is a "war on women," it's being waged against a group of nuns who seek to honor their call to serve the dying poor without being compelled to provide contraception coverage to those who help them. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver heard oral arguments Monday in the lawsuit by the Little Sisters of the Poor challenging the ObamaCare abortion-inducing drug mandate that threatens religious liberty. The case of the feisty nuns challenges a bizarre "accommodation" offered by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). Under its proposal, the Little Sisters can fill...

A parent at St. Paul's Nova Classical Academy alleges the charter school violated his sixth-grade daughter's right to free speech when administrators prohibited her from passing out anti-abortion fliers. The parent, Nicholas Zinos of St. Paul, has sued the school in federal court on behalf of the girl. Nova policy requires administrator approval before students hand out or post materials at school, the lawsuit states. In a letter to Zinos, the school's top administrator said the school has come to limit political, religious and controversial speech to its high school students in response to parental concerns. The lawsuit alleges the...

An Oklahoma school district is reportedly walking back plans to begin offering students an elective course on the Bible after facing pressure from a major atheist group. The class, called “The Book: The Bible’s History, Narrative and Impact,” was developed, in part, by Hobby Lobby president Steve Green, and it was set to launch in Mustang Public Schools, Raw Story reported. The Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) said on its website Tuesday that the district canceled the class after Hobby Lobby allegedly did not provide the district with the final curriculum for approval and did not “commit to providing legal...

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley made national news last year when he fought to pass and signed a tax bill that levied a tax on Marylanders, businesses and churches for the amount of “impervious surface” they have on their property. Roofs, driveways, sidewalks, and parking lots qualify for the “rainwater remediation fee” to “protect the Chesapeake Bay.” Though the O’Malley administration calls it a “fee,” it is commonly called the “rain tax” throughout the state. It is wildly unpopular and the promise to fight to repeal the tax was a large factor in Maryland electing Republican Larry Hogan governor this month....

A RationalWiki piece informs its very-intelligent readers that American Thinker is a “wingnut publication”. In a sub-link which explains the word “wingnut”, moonbat RationalWiki says that “not all conservatives are wingnuts”. Nonetheless, American Thinker is a “wingnut publication”. That must mean that RationalWiki believes that American Thinker isn't even a good kind of conservative publication. Bad conservatives, apparently, are “reactionary” or “radical right”: unlike the good ones.

Street performer Michael Grant - AKA Philly Jesus - was arrested Friday in Philadelphia's LOVE Park... He was charged with disorderly conduct and failure to disperse after refusing a cop's order to leave the park... Grant says he had every right to stay in the park and does not solicit money... Hundreds of online supports have started a #FreePhillyJesus to have Grant's charges dropped...

Perhaps the first clue, or the ten thousandth, was when many Democrats opposed the reinsertion of God into their party’s platform in 2012 and booed the judgment that the measure to do so had passed. But now it’s all but official: The Democrats are the party of the Devil. Here’s the story, courtesy of CBS Boston: Ruth Provencal is a devout Catholic whose favorite phrase when saying goodbye has now thrust her into controversy. “I would say ‘thank you for voting, God Bless you,’” Provencal explains. After serving as an election volunteer five times, the 67-year-old was told to stay...

MADISON, Wis. – Frustrated by one federal court, conservative activists in the crosshairs of a partisan Wisconsin prosecutor say they’ll take their First Amendment case to the Supreme Court. Andrew Grossman, an attorney for veteran political activist Eric O’Keefe and the Wisconsin Club for Growth, said he hopes the high court will settle questions tied to political speech and Wisconsin’s politically charged John Doe investigation. The petition of certiorari, as it’s called, is due by Jan. 21. It’s been a long and winding road to the high court. U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Randa had argued the conservatives showed that...

President Obama plans to discuss differences with Chinese President Xi Jinping “directly and candidly,” he said in a written interview with China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. Obama regularly conducts such written interviews with prominent news organizations in the countries where he travels, but the decision to talk to an organ of the Chinese government could raise eyebrows amid continuing concerns over Beijing’s human rights record. At a press conference with Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Monday, Obama said he continued to have “concerns” about China’s actions. “There are certain things that the United States believes. We believe in freedom...

House Republicans will have their largest majority since the 1930s next year, but that doesn't mean Speaker John Boehner's (R-Ohio) job will be easy.The House GOP leadership's struggles in keeping members in line over the past four years have been well documented. Some of the incoming freshmen will likely join the ranks of conservatives who frequently oppose leadership initiatives.Among the new freshmen, for instance, is one congressman-elect who has called Hillary Clinton the "anti-Christ," another who has suggested Muslims don't deserve First Amendment rights, and yet another who has declared himself open to the idea of the United States invading...

A former Navy chaplain who made headlines for being court martialed for praying in Jesus’ name has been elected to the Colorado State House of Representatives. Former Chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, nicknamed “Chaps,” won the seat Tuesday in Colorado House District 15 with more than 70 percent of the vote. His work will begin in January.

FULL TITLE: Orange Is the New Black star Lea DeLaria unleashes an expletive-filled rant at a Bible preacher on the subway in New York Orange Is The New Black actress Lea DeLaria unleashed an expletive-filled rant at a Bible preacher on a New York subway train on Tuesday morning. The outburst was captured by fellow commuters on the train who filmed the 56-year-old actress - who plays Big Boo on the Netflix prison comedy - tell a man he has 'no right' to preach about the Bible on the public train. DeLaria - who is wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with...

MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Milwaukee Board of School Directors President Michael Bonds doesn’t like what he calls “biased” coverage by Milwaukee Journal Sentinel education reporter Erin Richards. So he’s asking the state’s largest newspaper to take Richards off the beat and assign a different journalist to write about Milwaukee Public Schools — or else. “I just requested that we have somebody who’s objective, who’s going to give the readers the truth and everything about what’s going on … we want a new reporter or else we’re going to cut off all ties with the Journal in terms of communication with them,”...

First, the mayor of Houston flagrantly violated clergy's First Amendment rights, when she subpoenaed sermons, and she still refuses to rescind her mandate. And now California government officials are forcing churches and other faith-based organizations to fund abortions. What's next? Thanks to the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare), the California Department of Managed Health Care has required that all insurance plans in the Golden State cover abortions immediately. The kicker is that California churches are no longer exempt from providing such coverage for their employees -- despite the fact that earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Obamacare...