Free Republic

Men are being asked to don a suit and tie for a Friday protest circling the Supreme Court, the day after the Women's March returns in D.C. to demonstrate against the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh. The FBI's supplementary investigation into sexual assault allegations against the judge is expected to available for viewing at the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said he wants a vote on the nomination this week, which could get pushed into the weekend. The Women's March is holding a "#Cancel Kavanaugh" Thursday protest at 12:30 p.m. outside the Barrett Prettyman Courthouse...

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., acknowledges Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh's combative approach to some questions posed to him by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee was not ideal. "I think his interaction with some of the members was a little too sharp," Flake said in a "60 Minutes" interview to air Sunday night on CBS, before adding Kavanaugh did apologize to Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., over their tense exchange during last week's hearing.

On September 5 gun control activist David Hogg suggested AR-15s cannot be used for self-defense because they shoot further than handguns. He made this suggestion via a tweet which he sent in response Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony that AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles are used for “self-defense.” Kavanaugh’s full statement was that “handguns and semi-automatic rifles are weapons used for hunting and for self-defense.” But Hogg isolated the words “self-defense” and tried to make a point: David Hogg ✔ @davidhogg111 The effective range of an AR-15 is 1600 feet for comparison your typical handgun is 75 feet if...

Guns and I go back a long way. My father was a champion skeet shooter. A picture of him aiming his favorite pump skyward has pride of place in our living room. He owned fine rifles and shotguns, and he valued them. My first experience with pulling a trigger came late, by family standards. I was already 7 or 8 when my dad and “Uncle” George took me out back of Old Lily’s house and handed me a sawed-off shotgun (illegal then and now) kept handy for woodchucks and rattlesnakes. The recoil didn’t knock me off my feet, but my...

Gov. Rick Scott (R) is pushing firearm confiscation orders and stands opposed to the suggestion that teachers should be armed for school safety. CNN reports that Scott is pushing a “Violent Threat Restraining Order,” which are similar to California’s Gun Violence Restraining Orders in that they a designed to secure court orders to confiscate firearms following a family member’s complaint. It is difficult to see how such orders–designed to be triggered by family requests–would have been effective against Nikolas Cruz. After all, the family with which he was staying repeatedly called the police on him in November 2017 but refused...

Balzac’s Sarrasine tells the story of a young woman’s wonder at the strange appearance of an old man at a party in Paris. Balzac has tremendous fun describing the man. First his clothes: he is wearing ‘a white waistcoat embroidered with gold’ and ‘a shirt-frill of English lace, yellow with age, the magnificence of which a queen might have envied’. Then the face: ‘That dark face was full of angles and furrowed deep in every direction; the chin was furrowed; there were great hollows at the temples; the eyes were sunken in yellow orbits. The maxillary bones, which his indescribable...

The University of Leipzig has voted to adopt the feminine version of the word for “professor” as its default. In German, Professorin refers to a female professor while Professor is the male equivalent. Under the new measures, written documents will use the term Professorinnen when referring to professors in general. A footnote is to explain that male professors are also included in the description. …

Eunuch regiment needed to protect Indian borders, minister says A regiment of eunuchs should be established to guard India's borders and leading politicians, a state minister said on Tuesday, citing their "loyalty and integrity". Published: 1:59PM BST 11 May 2010 "In my humble opinion, if eunuchs are engaged in policing or paramilitary forces they would do a better service to the nation," said Tako Dabi, home minister of the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. Mr Dabi sent a letter to Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram to offer his idea for the improved defence of the country. "Why can't there be...

For seemingly the first time ever, Jesse Jackson has actually given an apology instead of demanding one. What happened? While waiting for an interview, a microphone caught him whispering: “See, Barack’s been talking down to black people on this faith-based . . . I wanna cut his nuts off. Barack, he’s talking down to black people.” And for what also seems to be the first time ever, Jesse Jackson is correct. Not about the castration, of course, that’s wrong and probably illegal in most states. (And can anyone explain how advocating privates-chopping is better than saying “nappy-headed hoes”?)

People Magazine’s November double issue named George Clooney “The Sexiest Man Alive” for the second time (1997 was the first). While I like looking at Clooney as much as the next girl, when he opens his mouth, all I can see is Michael Moore. If Michael Moore is a dumbed-down Noam Chomsky (and he is), George Clooney is a dumbed-down Michael Moore. And that’s not sexy. Call me old-fashioned, but one trait I’ve always looked for in a man is that he be more intelligent than I am. And more manly. But when I see George Clooney, all I can...

RUSH: We will start with the Iraq surrender group, big press conference today chaired by Lee Hamilton and James Baker. I think one of the best ways to share with you my thoughts on this is to read to you an e-mail I got from an Air Force friend of mine, a veteran in Iraq watching this this morning. "Hey, Rush, I'm climbing out of my skin here, watching the Iraq surrender group unfold on TV, but they're missing the point. Iraq is not the problem. The hatred our enemy has for us, that's the problem. Iraq is only a...

Castrati were the singing superstars of the 18th Century. But, as a new exhibition illustrates, theirs is a tale with some modern parallels. They look rather innocent in the museum display case - like a pair of old-fashioned shears. But these "castratori" were the implements used to castrate boys - who were making an irreversible sacrifice for their singing careers. It might seem more like tears in their eyes than Stars in their Eyes, but this was the uncomfortable route to stardom taken by thousands of poor families who wanted their sons to become rich and famous musical stars. In...

RUSH: The president had a fabulous press conference today. We've got audio sound bites. In fact, just to tease you, grab sound bite number one. Bob Schieffer, well-known member of the drive-by media, anchors the little-seen, very little-watched Face the Nation on CBS on Sunday mornings, even Bob Schieffer had to say this. SCHIEFFER: I must say, this is about as close to the George Bush that one sees off camera as I have ever seen. I mean, if we named presidents the way we do historical figures like Richard the Lionhearted or Ivan the Terrible, certainly today what you...

53 Senators vote to raid the Social Security trust fund TownHall.com ^ | 3/17/06 | Tim Chapman Posted on 03/18/2006 3:04:56 PM PST by eeevil conservative 53 Senators vote to raid the Social Security trust fund Yesterday, Senators Jim DeMint and Mike Crapo introduced an amendment to prevent the current Social Security Surplus from continuing to be spent. 53 Senators voted against it. After the vote, DeMint issued the following statement: “Sadly, fifty-three senators turned their backs on America’s seniors,” Senator DeMint said. “There is simply no way to save Social Security if we don’t have the courage stop using...

I have a new theory about what's behind everything that's wrong with the Bush administration: manliness. "Manliness" is the unapologetic title of a new book by Harvey C. Mansfield, a conservative professor of government at Harvard University, which makes him a species as rare as a dissenting voice in the Bush White House. Mansfield's thesis is that manliness, which he sums up as "confidence in the face of risk," is a misunderstood and unappreciated attribute. Manliness, he writes, "seeks and welcomes drama and prefers times of war, conflict, and risk." It entails assertiveness, even stubbornness, and craves power and action....

Dr. Filth, he keeps his world Inside of a leather cup But all his sexless patients They're trying to blow it up -- Bob Dylan: Desolation Row LIKE SOME HAGGARD CRACK WHORE banging on the door of a dealer's den willing to do anything , the hapless Joel ( "I despise our troops." ) Stein has been passed randomly about the blogsphere in the last couple of days. Once a blogpile of such mountainous proportions starts, there's little left to comment on in terms of the content of Stein's small dry excretion after the first five hours. By that time...

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