Free Republic

So who benefits the most from this new ‘relationship’ between the United States and Cuba? Aficionados’ will soon be able to smoke fine Cuban cigars without having to smuggle them into the U.S., but beyond that what exactly has the U.S. gained by Barack Obama’s diplomatic overture towards the brutal communist dictatorship in Havana? The Caribbean island has been locked in the 1950’s for decades as the rest of the world moved into the twenty-first century. But while trapped in the past Cuba has certainly been involved over the years in current events, and usually not in a particularly positive...

His poll ratings may be in the basement and his policies might have mostly blown up in his face but there is one place where the president can still boost his self-esteem. This past Monday, Stephen Colbert, the faux television news host for Comedy Central, hosted President Barack Obama on the campus of George Washington University. As their school newsletter, GWToday, noted: “Our students started lining up for the show outside Lisner Auditorium by 9 a.m. George Washington Today was there to capture what was Trending Today – the first in an ongoing video series on current events and issues.”...

When did Sony get bought out by the French? Sony has decided cancel the theatrical release of their newest comedy after an apparent North Korean threat. “The Interview”, a Seth Rogen comedy about two inept journalists who are recruited to kill North Korea’s leader, found itself at the center of an international cyber-attack on Sony Entertainment earlier this month. Mountains of data from Sony’s secure records have been leaked by assumed North Korean sources, along with a rather chilling warning:“The world will be full of fear,” the message reads. “Remember the 11th of September 2001. We recommend you to keep...

The protests are part of a burgeoning grassroots movement calling for an end to the spread of Islamic Sharia law in Germany. Thousands of German citizens have been taking to the streets to protest the growing "Islamization" of their country. The protests are part of a burgeoning grassroots movement made up of ordinary citizens who are calling for an end to runaway immigration and the spread of Islamic Sharia law in Germany. The guardians of German multiculturalism are fighting back: they are seeking to delegitimize the protesters by branding them as "neo-Nazis" and by claiming that the Islamization of Germany...

WASHINGTON -- Will Rogers, the late American humorist and corn-pone philosopher, once said, "All I know is what I read in the papers." That statement earned him a place in Bartletts's Familiar Quotations. Were he alive today it would most likely be inviting widespread derision. Today's newspapers abound with bogus stories. Most of us only know of the stories that are soon exposed. Doubtless there are many more. For instance, news stories of GDP growth or inflation rates usually have to be revised but they are taken at face value when they first appear. Are there any newspaper readers...

Sometimes, you just need Texas. As the rest of the entertainment industry was being brought to its knees by the threat of more hacking and terrorism, a theater in Texas decided to both capitalize on this story and stand up for freedom of speech. The only bummer is they’re holding a free screening, as I’d hoped they’d rake in a bunch of cash for filling a gap in the market, which would be as appropriately American as the statement they’re making about our values. They should be rewarded, and they will be, at least with brand recognition and good will:

KANSAS CITY, Mo — Many pregnant women get amazing ultrasound images of their baby, and not necessarily for medical reasons. The Food and Drug Administration is re-issuing an alert discouraging “keepsake” imaging. One local sonographer says the focus of the alert isn’t where it should be. Sara Gillum, her partner and two grandmothers-to-be have come from northern Missouri to Prenatal Imaging Centers in south Kansas City to see the baby Gillum is expecting in March. Gillum had a diagnostic ultrasound at her doctor’s office weeks ago, and says she wanted another look to make sure everything is okay. “But also...

“TOMORROW (Tues), #OccupyCountycouncil, 2:30PM! We demand an end to a justice system that jails nonviolent offenders but lets cops kill! 41 S. Central, 63105.” These were the words of a mass text sent to subscribers to the “Ferguson Action” list. The list includes groups that formed in response to the August shooting death of an unarmed black teenager, Michael Brown, by police officer Darren Wilson and have fueled the protest movement that has continued since. Video was posted online of the Tuesday meeting showing that a few protesters had indeed attended. Four members of the group spoke to the St....

Last Sunday, in the hallowed pages of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the paper’s chief editorial writer Kevin Horrigan penned a piece entitled “Cheney or McCain?” along with the subtitle “Torture: The Incredible Burden of Being an Old White Guy.” The OP-ED could have been a lighthearted piece about growing older in a changing nation, or it might have been a more serious consideration of the thorny problem of America, her enemies, and the line between tough interrogation and torture, either of which would have been welcome under varying circumstances. Unfortunately, Mr. Horrigan used the recent torture revelations as a teaser...

Elizabeth Warren's fans refuse to take no for an answer, but soon enough they'll almost certainly have to. Pining for a Warren presidential run in 2016, progressive groups have gathered more than 100,000 signatures, recruited Obama campaign alums to back her, and pledged to raise $1 million. And on Wednesday, they're holding a kickoff event in the key early state of Iowa. But despite the infrastructure being built all around her, Warren continues to say no—and no, and no again—to the prospect of a presidential run. So unless the Massachusetts Democrat is preparing a massive reversal, progressives will need a...

California’s “yes means yes” law turns the idea of sexual consent upside down. Suddenly, nearly all sex is rape, unless no person involved reports it as such. Consent, under the California law that is spreading to other American universities, is required to be “ongoing throughout a sexual activity and can be revoked at any time.” The law also states that “a lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent, nor does silence mean consent.” Also, previous sexual activity “should never by itself be assumed to be an indicator of consent.” The law also states that incapacitation due to drugs...

Under the guise of “public safety,” Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) announced Monday his push for a package of gun control measures during the 2015 session of the Virginia General Assembly in his latest misguided attempt to erode the rights of law-abiding citizens. McAuliffe’s scheme for rolling back your constitutionally protected freedoms includes: *Attempting to reimpose the ineffective one-handgun-per-month (gun rationing) restriction that Virginia repealed in 2012.*Seeking to arbitrarily strip some 9,000 Virginia residents of their right to hold concealed handgun permits for falling behind on child-support payments and pursuing prohibitions for people convicted of certain misdemeanor crimes from possessing a...

Seth Rogen and James Franco give every indication of being in life something very much like the loveable dopes they play in the movies, and that they should be central figures in a matter of international importance is unlikely indeed. But that is nonetheless where we find ourselves: Hackers working on behalf of the regime of Kim Jong-un, the third-generation dictator of North Korea, stole a trove of documents from Sony Pictures and released them to the public to punish the entertainment concern for commissioning The Interview, a Rogen-Franco comedy in which a celebrity journalist secures an interview with Kim...

Thanks to an announcement from the state Department of Health today, New Yorkers will miss out on a multi-billion-dollar industry that has made other states rich. The decision, a ban on fracking, has little to do with sound science and much more to do with the political cowardice of New York’s leaders, the politicization of state agencies, and the political activism of radical environmentalists. The story begins about six years ago, when Governor David Paterson decided to refer a politically controversial decision about fracking to state agencies, ordering a study while instituting a de facto fracking ban. His successor,...

Last week the papers were overflowing with stories about a Senate committee's report on the Central Intelligence Agency's use of torture to extract information from terrorists -- known or just suspected terrorists. Those stories were shortly followed by others reporting the responses of CIA types and other knowledgeable sources critical of the Senate committee's report. Plus a few words from unhelpful types like Dick Cheney, our former vice president who is still playing word games, and John Yoo, who wrote the notorious Torture Memo(s), and is still defending their torturous language. Torture? That ain't torture, to hear Messrs. Cheney and...

Here in Oklahoma, the news that Senator Tom Coburn will be retiring early from his second term has still not entirely settled in with most folks. For ten years we awoke each day knowing that our state’s voice in Washington would be one of principled reason and absolute integrity. It’s not that our other senator, Jim Inhofe, or our House members, like Tom Cole and Frank Lucas, are lacking. They are all solid conservatives, as is former congressman James Lankford, whom we elected in November to replace Coburn in the Senate. But as conservatives across the nation have recognized for...

The elite media will scoff at a potential Donald Trump candidacy for president. They will consider it a publicity move and a bluff. The Washington insiders will write off Trump as completely unqualified to be a presidential candidate, much less president. And as usual, they will be wrong. I have no earthly idea if Trump could actually win the GOP nomination or defeat the likes of Hillary Clinton in the general election. Certainly Jeb Bush's decision to "explore" a presidential run makes him the likely candidate of the GOP establishment, cutting Mitt Romney off at the pass. But neither big...

The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, suggesting the labor market continued to strengthen. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 289,000 for the week ended Dec. 13, the Labor Department said on Thursday. The report came a day after the Federal Reserve offered an upbeat assessment of the labor market and the broader economy, and signaled it could start raising interest rates next year. The U.S. central bank, which has kept its short-term interest rate near zero since December 2008, lowered its unemployment rate forecast on...

Marquette’s suspension of a professor — apparently for criticizing an instructor who seemingly refused to allow discussion of anti-gay views in her philosophy of ethics class — reminds me about the Marquette “unlawful harassment” training, which I’d been meaning to blog about. Some months ago, Marquette conducted training on “Unlawful Harassment Prevention for Higher Ed Faculty and Graduate Assistants.” As usual, the training involved some specific vignettes, with questions and answers. I have copies of the screenshots from one of the vignettes, and here are some excerpts (this John McAdams (Marquette Warrior) post also has more): All week, Becky and...

I have a theory as to why Americans don't worry all that much about global warming: High-profile purveyors of climate change don't push for reductions in greenhouse gases so much as focus on berating people who do not agree with their opinions. They call themselves champions of "the science" yet focus on ideology more than tangible results. Their language is downright evangelical. Recently, science guy Bill Nye joined other experts who objected to the media's use of the term "climate skeptic." They released a statement that concluded, "Please stop using the word 'skeptic' to describe deniers." Deniers? Like Judas? Why,...