Free Republic

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Cobb County School Board voted to terminate a teacher after she read a book about gender norms to her fifth-grade class. In a board meeting Thursday evening, the board voted 4-3 to fire Katie Rinderle. Rinderle, a longtime educator in the Cobb County School District, read a book called “My Shadow is Purple,” a book about gender norms. The termination comes a week after a tribunal proceeding was held to decide if she would keep, or lose, her job. The tribunal determined that she did violate part of Georgia’s new divisive concepts law, but they...

A new study, Prevalence of syphilis among men who have sex with men: A global systematic review and meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020, released today highlights the unacceptably high global prevalence of syphilis among men who have sex with men and underscores the need to advance stalled progress toward eliminating syphilis as a public health threat by 2030. Syphilis, a sexually transmitted infection (STI), is caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum. The study led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK and published in The Lancet Global Health presents the first global syphilis prevalence estimate among...

There are good reasons not to confine the discussion to academic journals. In the latest issue of National Review, John McWhorter has a challenging and thought-provoking essay about the topic of race and IQ — specifically, about whether that topic should even be up for discussion in liberal-arts classrooms and in the media, as opposed to in scientific journals. He suggests not, as there is nothing to gain from discussing it. I read McWhorter’s essay with special interest because I have violated the norm he proposes. I have written about race and IQ on numerous occasions — and for a...

If they are people of the book [Jews and Christians] we demand of them the jizya—and if they refuse, then we fight them. That is if he is Christian. He has three choices: either convert to Islam, or, if he refuses and wishes to remain Christian, then pay the jizya [and live according to dhimmi rules]. But if they still refuse—then we fight them, and we abduct their women, and destroy their churches—this is Islam!… Come on, learn what Islam is, are you even a Muslim?! As for the polytheists [Hindus, Buddhists, etc.] we allow them to choose between Islam...

A liberal is someone who thinks the third world's problems can be fixed by killing enough brown babies and who calls people who object to that "racists". A liberal is someone who thinks tax increases on businesses are paid out of the secret stash of cash all businesses hide in their basement.<> A liberal is someone who thinks prayer in school is obscene but who believes schools should teach Nietzsche. A liberal is someone who wants stricter gun control but has armed bodyguards. A liberal is someone who wants guns out of honest citizens' hands but who also wants more...

Some of us now struggle to recognize the culture we live in. We are profoundly baffled and greatly disturbed by what seems like a complete inversion of values. The zeitgeist looks at actions that to us seem utterly unremarkable and treats them as major social sins or even illegalities. Yet when other actions strike us as jaw-droppingly outrageous or corrupt, the larger culture shrugs without concern. If nearly half the culture acts and believes in ways that are alien to us, but they are backed by the establishment media hordes, then we in the other half feel utterly adrift...

“Now, many experts view it as a sexual orientation as immutable as heterosexuality ... a deep-rooted predisposition ... that becomes clear during puberty and does not change.”The above idea was expressed with respect to homosexuality decades ago and since has become left-wing dogma. The thinking is that if someone was “born that way,” if the behavior is “natural” for him and he didn’t choose his feelings, how could it be wrong?Yet the opening quoted line wasn’t penned decades ago — it’s only two years old. And homosexuality wasn’t the focus.It was about pedophilia.Here is the complete quotation, as published by...

WASHINGTON – Homosexual websites are abuzz tonight with efforts to “out” Rep. Aaron Shock, R-Illinois. Shock, who has repeatedly denied rumors he is “gay,” was not reachable for comment. The campaign began with a Facebook posting by former CBS News contributor Itay Hod, who also contributes to Salon, TMZ, Out Magazine and the Daily Beast. Hod offered a post about a hypothetical GOP congressman from Illinois who opposed repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” legislation, opposed the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and supported the federal marriage amendment. “We’ve been so effective at convincing everyone that outing people...

In the aftermath of the exposure and resignation of Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) from Congress, his colleagues, some journalists, ethicists and pundits are trying to sort out what it means. Has a new standard been created in Washington? How can Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) remain in office under an ethical cloud about money and Weiner be forced to resign because he had fantasy sex? It wasn't even "real" sex, like Bill Clinton had. Clinton also lied about sex and was impeached for lying (but not for the sex because as actress Janeane Garofalo told Bill Maher recently, "everyone lies about...

Video entertainment pertaining to historic events: that's the ticket. This week, besides "Copying Beethoven," "Dahmer" was in the mix. How disturbing to discover the account in no way depicts the offender's arrest, let alone his trial, conviction, and subsequent death at the hands of another criminal. It also lacks in accuracy. Today happens to be the anniversary of Dahmer's death. He was pronounced dead at 9:11 a.m. November 28, 1994. The occasion of seeing this video sparked a minor inquiry into the whole situation, looking for sources and documentation that might lead to further understanding as to the details...

The human brain is a complicated organ. It can be infinitely pliable but also maddeningly rigid. Humans can be slow to recognize signs of imminent disaster. While red flags are flapping wildly in the wind, the person ignores any and all warnings. But the brain can be highly suggestible, too, easily controlled and shaped by advertisers and spin doctors. Thus, after countless ads, a person associates soda with Coke, search engines with Google. And after having "Yes we can," burned into their neural pathways, all hope and change is connected to Obama. That's why it's crucial to notice all the...

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia (AFP) – Bolivian President Evo Morales was under fire on Wednesday for suggesting that eating hormone-injected chicken could provoke male deviance at a global climate change summit. Bolivia's opposition and homosexual groups criticized comments made by Morales at the first "people's conference" on climate change the previous day, in which he said that chicken producers inject birds with female hormones and "when men eat those chickens, they experience deviances in being men." The Bolivian president also suggested that the European diet made men go bald. Spain's National Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals sent a protest letter...

The situation is very similar in the US today. An NOP poll in September 1999 found seven out of 10 Britons believed lesbians and gay men should be allowed to serve in the military. At the same time General Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, a leading opponent of the change, told the BBC: "Two surveys have disclosed that the overwhelming majority of those in military service today find homosexuality abhorrent." In the US, a Gallup poll of 1,015 US citizens in May 2009 found 69% in favour of allowing gays to serve openly in the armed forces - an increase of 6%...

Gay-rights campaigners and secularists called on Tuesday for protests during a visit to Britain by Pope Benedict XVI this year, after he condemned equality legislation seen as friendly to gays. The 82-year-old pontiff, who made his comments in a letter to the bishops of England and Wales on Monday, is reportedly set to visit Britain in September, the first such trip in 28 years. Human rights campaigner and gay activist Peter Tatchell said he saw the pope's letter as an attack on the legal rights granted to gay people and women. "His ill-informed claim that our equality laws undermine religious...

UPPER WEST SIDE — Hundreds of New Yorkers struck a pose in silent protest of a gay marriage ban on Monday afternoon at the Empire Hotel. The gay rights group NOH8 Campaign organized the photo shoot, which was the first in New York. At the shoot members and supporters of the LGBT community posed with "NOH8" tattooed on their cheeks and duct tape over their mouths to symbolize their voices not being heard. "We wanted to come out and take part in the photo shoot and show our support," said Battery Park City resident Jeff Adams, who has been with...

While President Obama has lifted restrictions on AIDS-infected foreigners entering the United States, the “gay rights” lobby is demanding more. Led by lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, 90 mostly Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives are demanding that President Obama denounce the Christians of Uganda for considering new legislation opposing homosexual practices that threaten public health in that East African country.

By MARILYN GEEWAX Cox News Service WASHINGTON - Wal-Mart Stores is moving to attract gay shoppers as it expands its presence in urban centers. By entering into a partnership with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce this week, the company "is making a very sincere effort to reach out to people who are a significant part of our customer base," Wal-Mart spokesman Bob McAdam said Wednesday. But Wal-Mart did not issue a news release about the alliance, leaving the chamber to announce it. And as news trickles out, a backlash is taking shape among some conservatives. "I don't...

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto!" was Dorothy's famous line in The Wizard of Oz. It has become a classic, meant to convey the bewilderment of a person who suddenly realizes he's in a strange world and wonders how he got there. For many parents in Massachusetts, California, and elsewhere in the U.S., the truth is beginning to dawn on them: They aren't living in Kansas anymore. Public education is being used to brainwash thousands of children -- even as young as kindergarten -- into believing that homosexuality is simply a normal and healthy variation of human sexuality....

Dutch will allow paedophile group A Dutch court has turned down a request to ban a political party with a paedophile agenda. BBC News Monday, 17 July 2006 Judge HFM Hofhuis ruled that the Brotherly Love, Freedom and Diversity Party (PNVD) had the same right to exist as any other political party. The PNVD was formed by three paedophiles in May, prompting outrage in Dutch society. It seeks to lower the age of sexual consent from 16 to 12 and legalise child pornography and sex with animals. "Freedom of expression...including the freedom to set up a political party can...

Note: The subject matter of this commentary may not be suitable for children. Please use parental discretion. Earlier this week, the cable network Bravo aired the documentary Three of Hearts: A Postmodern Family. The film is designed “to challenge conventional ideas of family,” according to director Susan Kaplan. Three of Hearts shows two gay men, Steven Margolin and Sam Cagnina, bringing a woman into their relationship. For several years, the director followed Steven and Sam—and the woman they called their “wife,” Samantha Singh. (Sam actually married her, presumably on behalf of both men.) We see them interact with their families,...