Free Republic

The son of former US vice president candidate Sarah Palin did not start a booze-fuelled 20-man melee at an Anchorage house party as previously reported, it has been claimed. Members of the Palin family allegedly became embroiled in a brawl at a friend's home on 6 September. Early reports claimed that after arriving at the party in a stretch Hummer limousine, the former Governor of Alaska's son Track confronted a former boyfriend of his 20-year-old sister, Willow. A fight then broke out involving about 20 people, leaving Track with broken ribs and father Todd with a bloodied nose. Amid the...

After coming in third in the Iowa caucuses in 2008, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton does not have much love for Hawkeye State Democrats. The feeling, it seems, is mutual. Over the weekend, Clinton traveled to Iowa to attend retiring Sen. Tom Harkin’s (D-IA) “steak fry,” an event which has become an institution in the pivotal Midwestern electoral battleground. NBC News sent Andrea Mitchell along with her where the reporter spent some time speaking to prospective Democratic caucus-goers. Mitchell found what so many know in their hearts to be true: Clinton’s support among Democrats is a mile wide and...

Lincoln Motors marketing manager Thompson hopes the campaign with the Black Greeks will boost sales, help communities.To continue in its efforts to give back to local communities, the Lincoln Motor Company has teamed with the National Pan-Hellenic Council, Incorporated (NPHC), a group of nine African-American Greek-letter organizations. The program, “The Divine Nine Driven to Give Program,” is an extension of Lincoln’s national Driven To Give program that kicked off in August. “Being able to engage with influencers on initiatives that matter most to them is key in our efforts to introduce some of our newest products, like the first-ever Lincoln...

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The mother of slain teen Trayvon Martin will be part of a discussion at Lehigh University Tuesday. As part of the University's MLK Committee, a "Rap Sessions' event discussion will be offered at 7 p.m. in Baker Hall. The panel will feature Sybrina Fulton, the mother of Trayvon Martin, and will be moderated by hip hop artist and activist Jasari X. Martin was a 17-year-old African-American high school student was fatally shot by a neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in February 2012 in a Sanford, Florida, neighborhood. Zimmerman was acquitted of the crime in July 2013. Other...

My mother was fond of saying, "if you want someone to hear you, you must first listen to them" — know them, understand the questions they are asking, and be sensitive to their concerns. If you do this, she would say, "you will be able to speak with people and not at them". What happens when you don't follow this simple rule of communication was on display during the "In Defence of Christians" conference that was held in Washington from September 9th to the 11th. Addressing an audience of 900 mostly Arab Christians, Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) launched into a...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)During a Q&A with CSPAN, Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) discussed comments he has made many time in in the past claiming the Tea Party is motivated by racism because they are the old Dixiecrats from mainly Southern states Rangel said he was told not to talk about race anymore saying, "So people said please don't bring up that race thing anymore."(continued)

Yesterday, New York City Department of Health revealed that the number one name Black parents applied to their baby girls was Madison, a name historically and traditionally given by White parents. By contrast, the number one boy name was Jayden, often considered a typical “Black name.” The juxtaposition of the contrast is striking. It is no hidden secret that many Blacks in America for decades have struggled with the decision of whether to name their children a traditional African or African American name. The decision is based on how much they want to give away the race of their children...

Fred Ross's change-making Axioms for Organizers is updated for the Internet age, and for a new generation battling discrimination and police brutality.Most residents of Ferguson, Missouri, have probably never heard of Fred Ross, Sr., but they could use his help now. Ferguson's population is two-thirds African American, but the mayor, almost all members of the city council and school board, and 95 percent of the police department is white, and in last year's municipal election only 7 percent of blacks came to the polls. Ross—perhaps the most influential (but little-known) community organizer in American history—had a successful career mobilizing people...

Staff Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl left captivity to be catapulted into an overgrown spotlight of controversy and reckless speculation in May of this year. What should have been a flood of relief to see the American POW return home was replaced with, oddly enough, outrage, mostly from the Right. Angry tweets accused Obama of endangering U.S. soldiers by exchanging five prisoners from Guantanamo for Bergdahl. Twitter filled with frothing accusations against not only the President but the POW himself, as well as his family, who even received death threats. Bergdahl was a Taliban sympathizer, it was decided, and so was his...

Conservatism's former enfant terrible has been cast out of polite society and may soon face jail time. But business has never been better.Dinesh D'Souza is scrolling through his iPhone, showing me photos of C-list movie stars. "So my latest thing is tweeting out pictures of me with really attractive actresses," he says, giggling. There he is, standing next to a blond woman. "This is the actress Kelly Carlson. She came to one of our screenings. She's in, you know, Made of Honor." ("Christie/Wife #6.") He scrolls some more. "This is Stacey Dash, who's in Clueless." ("Dionne."). "She's a huge fan...

Where is the automobile headed in our gradually warming world? Fully electric like the Chevy Spark, Nissan Leaf, or Mercedes SLS AMG Electric Drive? Plug-in hybrid like the Chevy Volt, Ford Energi models, or Porsche 918? Flying cars like the Terrafugia Transition? Something else entirely? One thing's for sure: Wherever it's headed, folks buying at the pointy end of the price pyramid will get there first and help field-test the tech for the rest of us. If you have both the means and the inclination to live your automotive life on the green-tech bleeding edge -- or if you need...

The indignation was instantaneous. Neighbors in Canfield Green poured from their apartments and stared at 18-year-old Michael Brown, unarmed, face down in the street, shot dead by a police officer. Then, fueled by camera phones and social media, the outrage jumped out of this suburban apartment complex, crossed St. Louis County, traversed the country and, over the weeks, spread across the world. The Rev. Al Sharpton, preaching at Brown’s funeral two weeks later, said the teen was left in the street “like nobody cared,” as if his life “didn’t matter.”(continued)

What is happening to us, and what can we do about it? Confronting violence starts with confronting our anxiety about it.I know, the world is a violent place. But doesn’t this summer, and the last few weeks, seem especially so? From the global scene to the most personal, we seem to have settled for violence as the “new normal” at every level. This week, we observed the 13th anniversary of 9/11. That terrible day affected all of us, each of us being able to describe where we were and what we felt as the Trade Center towers fell. Yet, 13...

George Zimmerman is in the news again, and to no surprise it's not in a positive way. This Saturday news report shares that the man acquitted of murdering Trayvon Martin was recently involved in a road rage incident. Lake Mary Police said that the unidentified victim called 911 before and during the incident. He said that Zimmerman pulled up to him and said "Why are you pointing a finger at me?" When the man pulled into a parking lot, Zimmerman allegedly followed him as he was calling police, but left before the cops showed up on the scene. The man...

White man shoots and kills black man. Predominantly black population protests, riots, loots. Predominantly white police force overwhelmed. Governor calls out the National Guard. Curfew imposed. Similar events took place in Newark and Detroit in the summer of 1967. President Johnson responded by dispatching what would become known as the Kerner Commission to find the causes and propose a solution. The commission’s basic conclusion was “Our nation is moving toward two societies, one black, one white — separate and unequal.” Among its findings, the commission reported action against “local symbols of white American society, authority and property.” No single triggering...

I think this is a classic example of what happens when a law enforcement agency isn't trained or prepared for an unexpected or exceptionally large event. Ferguson is a city of 21,000 people. Its police department has 52 sworn officers. Only three are black, when about 68% of the city's population is black. This imbalance affects the current situation tangentially, but I doubt that it's a problem that the City of Ferguson is unaware of or that they haven't tried to fix it. Anytime a white police officer kills or seriously injures a minority citizen in a predominately minority community,...

Ferguson became a Selma-like moment for the 2010s – to the extent the stark images caused a nation to stop and reflect on the state of racial relations in America. Moreover, a new generation of activists, who were not weaned on the nonviolence of the Civil Rights Era, is coming to the fore. Ferguson, Mo. — Burly, with tattoos and a bandanna over his face, Anthony Pruit stepped up to the Missouri State Highway Patrol captain trying to cool the tensions that engulfed Ferguson, Mo., in protests and riots this summer. “We hurt, we broken, and we ain’t all criminals,”...

I had to read the penultimate paragraph of Ross Douthat’s New York Times piece on “friendless Middle East Christians” before the enormity of it sunk in. Douthat wrote: If Cruz felt that he couldn’t address an audience of persecuted Arab Christians without including a florid, “no greater ally” preamble about Israel, he could have withdrawn from the event. The fact that he preferred to do it this way says a lot–none of it good–about his priorities and instincts. In so many words: Jew-hatred among Middle Eastern Christians is so rampant that it should be ignored in the interests of saving...

After winning the presidency, Andrew Jackson sent a message to Congress suggesting that the office be extended to six years but limited to one term. His message caused wild speculation that the first “people's president” would not seek a second term. That led to a dramatic Jackson proclamation, in a letter to Pennsylvania Democrats, that the “call of the people” trumped his “personal inclination” and he could “not refuse to serve them.” The truth is, he was never not going to run. Jackson may have been the first Democrat to be elected as president. But his secretary of State and...

After being stiff-armed by Democrats on a liquor-tax dispute, Costco execs have shifted their loyalties to Republicans in this year’s state Senate races.When it comes to politics, Costco Wholesale has a well-deserved reputation as a Democratic-leaning corporation. Company co-founders Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman have hosted President Obama at fundraisers in their lakefront mansions. Costco executives have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Democratic candidates and causes over the past decade. But in the key battle for control of the state Senate this year, top Costco brass — miffed at Democrats over a liquor-fee dispute — have essentially switched...