Free Republic

Cancer-stricken Sen. Kennedy asks state leaders for speedy process to replace him in Congress BOSTON (AP) — A cancer-stricken Sen. Edward M. Kennedy has written a poignant letter to Massachusetts leaders asking that they change state law to allow a speedy replacement of him in Congress. The note to Gov. Deval Patrick and the state's Senate president and House speaker acknowledges the state changed its succession law in 2004 to require a special election to fill any vacancy. At the time, legislative Democrats were concerned Republican Gov. Mitt Romney would be able to fill any vacancy created as Sen. John...

Till death do us part? An unusual wedding ceremony was held in the southern resort town of Eilat on Wednesday, as Sharon Tendler, a 41-years-old Jewish millionaire from London married her beloved Cindy, a 35-year-old dolphin, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.  The groom, a resident of the Eilat dolphin reef, met Tendler 15 years ago, when she first visited the resort. The British rock concert producer took a liking to the dolphin and has made a habit of traveling to Eilat two or three times a year and spending time with her underwater sweetheart.  "The peace and...

Two mainline denominations have announced decisions indicating a further move away from Bible-based Christianity. In Michigan, the new bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Michigan is an ordained Zen Buddhist. Northern Michigan's Episcopal congregations and delegates overwhelmingly elected the Rev. Kevin Thew Forrester at their convention on Saturday. The diocesan website says Thew Forrester "has practiced Zen meditation for almost a decade," and the Buddhist community welcomed his commitment by granting him "lay ordination." The website also says Northern Michigan's new bishop "resonates deeply" with "his own interfaith dialogue with Buddhism and meditative practice." Meanwhile, Presbyterian Church (USA) representatives...

LOS ANGELES, February 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Actor Gary Graham knew that by writing about his personal experience and rejection of abortion, he would be incurring the ire of not a few among the Hollywood elite.Yet a blog column posted last Tuesday by the seasoned actor, known most recently for his roles as Ambassador Soval in the TV series "Star Trek: Enterprise" and Capt. Ingles on "J.A.G.", took an unflinching look at truths almost entirely ignored by those in the Hollywood establishment."I’m going to say what millions know in the front of their brains, and many, many more millions know...

"Just as most older conservatives now acknowledge that they once erred in "keeping blacks in their place," they should make the same acknowledgement for gays and their right to marry, and live happy, open and contented lives in each other's arms." "Fear that others may reject these apparently arbitrary moral boundaries, and hence question those who decreed them, and cause society to fall apart, is the reason for the conservatives' deep paranoia about the mythical "gay recruiting" and the equally mythical "gay agenda.""

According to TwinCities.com,After decades of honing his musical skills, Charles Philyaw landed his dream job in 2004 as the full-time director of music liturgy at St. Andrew Catholic Church in Verona. The church, with 1,643 adult members, was more than just a place to work for Philyaw. He and his partner, James Mulder-Philyaw, joined the parish and participated fully in the religious community. Then in June, it all collapsed. Philyaw said he was told by the parish priest, the Rev. Dave Timmerman, that he would no longer be retained because he was living an openly gay life. He was given...

"Obviously trying to make light of a bad situation."

DAYTON, Ohio - Escalating its efforts to portray Senator Barack Obama as a candidate whose values fall outside the mainstream, the campaign of Senator John McCain on Tuesday unveiled a new television advertisement claiming that Mr. Obama, the Democratic nominee, favors “comprehensive sex education” for kindergarten students. “Learning about sex before learning to read?” the narrator asks in the 30-second advertisement, which the campaign says will be shown in battleground states and on national cable. The commercial also asserts that a sex-education bill introduced in Illinois, which Mr. Obama did not sponsor and which never became law, is his “one...

The Dennis Miller interview By JEFFREY RESSNER | 8/10/08 12:29 PM EST How would you describe your political beliefs: Republican? Independent? Libertarian? Well, I’d say it’s eclectic pragmatism at some point. I’m a moderate in some degree because I have wildly swinging opinions but through some sort of ideological feng shui they end up in the middle. Some swing far to the left, others to the far right. I’m for the war, but I’m also for gay marriage. I don’t care if two folks with the same genitalia want to get hitched, I just don’t want some a—hole from another...

----snip Villanueva was reportedly shooting dice with friends in Henri Bourassa Park in the ethnically-diverse borough when police attempted to make a routine arrest. Montreal police say about 20 youths then surrounded them -- several of them reportedly rushing at police. ----snip Villanueva's death triggered an angry and violent response Sunday night. Vehicles were set on fire and there was widespread looting and violence targeting police and emergency service workers. One police officer was shot in the leg, while another officer and an ambulance technician received minor injuries. The technician was struck in the head with a bottle, said CTV...

ABC News' Teddy Davis and Lindsey Ellerson Report: Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., told Planned Parenthood Tuesday that sex education for kindergarteners, as long as it is "age-appropriate," is "the right thing to do." "I remember Alan Keyes . . . I remember him using this in his campaign against me," Obama said in reference to the conservative firebrand who ran against him for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Sex education for kindergarteners had become an issue in his race against Keyes because of Obama’s work on the issue as chairman of the health committee in the Illinois state Senate. "'Barack...

A rookie cop - the son of a highly respected New York City detective - has been stripped of his badge and gun after being caught on video viciously attacking a bicyclist who was part of a Times Square demonstration. ' The startling YouTube video shows Officer Patrick Pogan, 22, apparently setting his sights on - and then tackling - a bicyclist as he pedaled along Seventh Avenue as part of last Friday's controversial Critical Mass ride. Christopher Long, 29, was among a throng of riders as he whizzed toward the corner of West 46th Street at 9:30 p.m. and...

MONTREAL, June 18 (UPI) -- An appeal will be filed in a Montreal court after a Quebec judge overruled a father who grounded his 12-year-old daughter for dangerous Internet use. The lawyer for the father, who can't be identified to protect the girl, told The Gazette newspaper that Justice Suzanne Tessier overstepped the court's bounds last Friday when she ruled in favor of the girl's legal challenge and said she would be allowed to go on a school trip her father had forbidden because of misbehavior. "I don't think this tribunal was the proper forum for a decision like this...

As researchers ponder growing evidence that blacks have worse outcomes than whites in the treatment of chronic disease, they often theorize that members of minorities suffer disproportionately from poor access to quality care. Now a new study of diabetes patients has found stark racial disparities even among patients treated by the same doctors. The lead author of the study said in an interview that he attributed the differences less to overt racism than to a systemic failure to tailor treatments to patients’ cultural norms. The problem, said the author, Dr. Thomas D. Sequist, an assistant professor of health care policy...

San Luis Obispo, CA (AP) -- A Nipomo priest got probation for groping a male sheriff's deputy at the Pirates Cove nude beach. Besides three years' probation, the Rev. Geronimo Enrique Cuevas must complete 40 hours of community service and attend an AIDS education class. He also is banned from Pirates Cove.

AS A CHILD, Peter Leeson was pirate-obsessed. He cherished the ruby-eyed skull ring he got at Disney World, after riding Pirates of the Caribbean. He took up a collection of coconut pirate heads. He lapped up the pirate themes in "Goonies." And when he grew up to be an economics professor, and started studying pirate society, he found a new excuse for admiration. Pirates, it turns out, were pioneers of democracy. Presidential candidates, take note: Long before they made their way into the workings of modern government, the democratic tenets we hold so dear were used to great effect on...

Colleges' final frontier: mixed-gender housing Jason Carmignani hung out with his roommate, Yael Bassal, at Clark University. "We're both pretty mellow," he said. (Dominic Chavez/Globe Staff) Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Peter Schworm Globe Staff / April 2, 2008 In the Woodstock era, the advent of coed dorms caused a stir, with Life magazine proclaiming the development "an intimate revolution on campus." Coed floors came along over the next two decades, giving college students immediate proximity to each other. The next step, coed suites and bathrooms, brought the sexes even closer together. Now, some colleges are crossing the...

New Jersey will soon become the latest state to legally honor a person's so-called "gender expression."Homosexual activists are praising New Jersey lawmakers for adding cross-dressers to the list of those protected by the state's supposed "hate crimes" law, and for allowing judges to impose "sensitivity training" on those accused of violations. Bob Knight of the Culture and Media Institute is surprised that mainstream media outlets have not given the story more play. "It's really quite a coup for the gay activists in New Jersey," he states. "Because when you put these hate crimes laws on the books, you're putting into...

Extreme parenting has come to be associated with images of overly involved parents — this generation's stage parents, who manage and control every minute of their child's life, imposing their adult dreams and desires onto the little ones in a pathetic attempt to fuel their own insatiable need for success and recognition. As familiar as this parental profile has become, another form of extreme parenting has emerged, one that is getting harder to ignore. I am referring to the increasingly ubiquitous parenting approach that rejects the use of the word "no," and in which even the most reasonable degree of...

A Casa Furniture and Bedding store in Alexandria has been advertising easy credit with a twist: “no gringo papers” necessary. A sign outside the store at the intersection of North Beauregard and King streets reads, “Credito sin papeles de gringo.” In English, that could be translated to say “Credit without gringo papers.” Blanca Granados, the store's assistant manager, translated the message to mean “just 'without white papers,' like Social Security or like that.” Miss Granados said the store requires customers who purchase furniture on credit to fill out an application and provide personal documentation. The store will accept a passport...

LONDON, July 10, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - "Gay", "queer", and any other words or behaviours offensive to homosexuals must be stamped out among schoolchildren in the United Kingdom says the new Children's Minister. Children's Minister Kevin Brennan told the homosexual advocacy group Stonewall that the government will require teachers to treat "homophobic abuse" just the same as "racist abuse." Brennan promised new regulations this autumn that would require teachers to act on name-calling such as "gay" and "queer" or be guilty of colluding in "homophobia," even when the words are being used as synonyms for "lame" or "bad.""This is too often...

NEW YORK (AP) -- A bouncer at a popular West Village restaurant ejected a lesbian customer from the bathroom after last month's gay pride march because she looked too masculine, the woman charged Monday. Khadijah Farmer, 27, said the incident happened June 24 at Caliente Cab Company on Seventh Avenue South, where she had gone with her girlfriend and another friend to have dinner after the march. Farmer said she was using the women's bathroom when a male bouncer burst in and banged on the stall door, saying a customer had complained that there was a man in the women's...

On April 5, 1967, representatives of the San Francisco Oracle, the Diggers, the Family Dog, the Straight Theater, and other parts of the Haight-Ashbury hippie scene held a press conference to announce the formation of the Council for a Summer of Love. The event scored friendly media notices: The next day’s San Francisco Chronicle described the coalition as “a group of the good hippies,” defined as the ones who “wear quaint and enchanting costumes, hold peaceful rock ’n’ roll concerts, and draw pretty pictures (legally) on the sidewalk, their eyes aglow all the time with the poetry of love.” ......

ABC Primetime has a segment on, now, about a brother and sister who want to marry. First they softened us up with gay "rights" - now, the next rung down the ladder to barbarism. You supporters of Rudy for President - a gay rights advocate - this is what you're buying into: a slippery slope to barbarism.

The actress who was engaged to Jude Law when he cheated with the nanny now says monogamy is "overrated."Sienna Miller tells Rolling Stone that "monogamy is a weird thing" for her. She says it's a hard thing to maintain because we're all "animals." She's still with Law and is hoping they'll have babies. The 24-year-old British actress has been in Pennsylvania shooting the screen adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh." She got into some hot water for comments she made about the city. "Can you believe this is my life?" she told Rolling Stone. "Will you pity...

(AgapePress) - She stands with her arms folded resolutely across her chest. In the background of the photo, you can see playground equipment. She is the mom protecting our children in this lead magazine article about the dangers of pest control spraying in the nation's schools.On the Internet, a website tracks reports of school pesticide exposure incidents. In 1995, Case #94415050501 records parents' complaints that their children had been exposed to pesticides on the school playground. One child in fifth grade broke out in hives. However, medical reports did not substantiate any claim that the child's hives were due...

(AgapePress) - Barna Research in 2002 revealed that less than 10 percent of teens believe that there are such things as moral absolutes to guide their actions. These teens were initiated into this "value-free" environment by their parents -- adults who believed in moral absolutes made up only 22 percent of the research sample. So perhaps it is fitting that My Super Ex-Girlfriend and John Tucker Must Die were released as this summer's one-two PG-13 punch. If we are going to encourage a new generation of morally ambivalent teens, after all, we need to make sure they can attend...

<p>MEGA-RICH pop superstar George Michael this week sank to new levels of depravity—trawling for illegal gay sex thrills in a London park.</p> <p>News of the World investigators caught the singer red-handed and red-faced as he emerged from the bushes after cavorting with a pot-bellied, 58-year-old, jobless van driver.</p>

(AgapePress) - I think she still holds it against me. As a teen today, it's absolutely ludicrous to think that my niece Katie needs to hold my hand while crossing the street.But way back when, when Katie was just three, our battle of wills produced fierce tears. On a shopping trip, I her aunt, was entrusted with her safety. All was going well ... until the moment I grabbed Katie's hand before we crossed the busy parking lot in front of the store.Katie jerked her hand away from me. Hearing a car's motor on the left, I reached out...

It's 10 a.m. on a Saturday, and I am at the front of a room at the Phinney Ridge Neighborhood Center, explaining oral sex to a woman pretending to be my son. I stammer and pause, go back over my words and Hate This, while the woman smiles. Your turn next, sister. Talking to our kids about sex is something we over-prepared parents just aren't prepared for. I changed the diapers, packed Gatorade and soothed all sorts of hurts, emotional and physical. But preparing my 13-year-old son to be a sexual being? Explaining when and why, how and where? Sure,...

When writer Marcia Segelstein headed to the bookstore to scout out books for her 12-year-old, she wasn’t sure what to expect. But she certainly didn’t expect rampant drinking, drug use, profanity, and explicit descriptions of sex and nudity. Nevertheless, that’s exactly what she found. Segelstein’s daughter had been clamoring to read the Gossip Girl series, which “‘all’ of her friends were reading,” she said. After seeing what was in the books, Segelstein was floored. But a school librarian confirmed, “They’re very popular among sixth and seventh graders.” Even worse, the librarian added, “Some parents are so happy that their kids...

Silvia Johnson, who became known as the "Cool mom" for partying with her children and their teenage friends, pleaded guilty this morning to a charge of violating bond conditions. Johnson, 41, is serving a 30-year sentence for plying high school boys with liquor, drugs and sex. She was charged with violating bond conditions and a protective order that barred her from contact with some of her children, while she was free awaiting sentencing. Johnson was arrested on the new charges after a Sept. 25 car crash in which a 14-year-old girl was driving. Johnson and a carload of teens, including...

BOSTON   Agents began dismantling a massive Southie drug factory yesterday where MIT graduate Kevin McCormick was found dead after an apparent wild weekend sex romp gone wrong. Police say they found hundreds of chemicals used to concoct club and date-rape drugs such as crystal methamphetamine and “Special K.” “This is probably the largest (meth) lab we’ve seen in the Northeast in the past 10 years,” said an investigating agent from the Drug Enforcement Administration who refused to give his name. “This is not a small lab. This is not a mom and pop lab.” Investigators found chemicals used to manufacture crystal...

Traditional sexuality morality — meaning sexual restraint, particularly for women — was based on that connection between sex and conception: it evolved to protect paternity and patrimony. Now the connection has all but disappeared, as has patrimony, and the less connection, the less restraint and the more empty the morality. For this reason Christian moralists and others are doomed to failure with their quixotic hopes of getting people to say no to sex or to save themselves for married monogamy; they might as well try to put a genie back in his lamp. Because higamous, hogamous we are mostly not...

An interim legislative committee is considering a bill that would prohibit gays, lesbians and single people in Indiana from using medical science to assist them in having a child. Sen. Patricia Miller, R-Indianapolis, said state law does not have regulations on assisted reproduction and should have similar requirements for adoption in Indiana. "If we're going to try to put Indiana on the map, I wouldn't go this route," said Betty Cockrum, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Indiana. "It feels pretty chilling. It is governmental intrusion into a very private part of our lives." Miller acknowledged that the legislation...

The Netherlands and Belgium were the first countries to give full marriage rights to homosexuals. In the United States some politicians propose “civil unions” that give homosexual couples the full benefits and responsibilities of marriage. These civil unions differ from marriage only in name. Meanwhile in the Netherlands polygamy has been legalised in all but name. Last Friday the first civil union of three partners was registered. Victor de Bruijn (46) from Roosendaal “married” both Bianca (31) and Mirjam (35) in a ceremony before a notary who duly registered their civil union. “I love both Bianca and Mirjam, so I...

AMSTERDAM — Women who smoke during pregnancy have a higher chance of having a lesbian daughter, neurobiologist and brain researcher Dick Swaab has claimed. Swaab wrote about his theory this week in a University of Amsterdam magazine for graduates, newspaper 'De Telegraaf' reported. In a study on the hypothalamus, Swaab said a person's sexual preference is decided in this region of the brain. It also influences a person's predisposition to aggression, depression and symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The development of an unborn child can be influenced by external substances such as nicotine and amphetamines and the chemicals in diet pills.

Not long after an affirming treatment by Hollywood, the life of the "father of the sexual revolution," Alfred Kinsey, is about to be feted on Broadway. The musical "Dr. Sex" is scheduled to run Aug. 26 to Oct. 30 at the Peter Norton Space in New York City, according to BroadwayWorld.com Production notes call "Dr. Sex" the "cleanest show about sex in the history of musical comedy." The movie "explores the loving relationship between Dr. Alfred Kinsey, his wife, Clara ... and their handsome boyfriend (and lab assistant), Wally Matthews." Brian Noonan of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "Les...

This November, Judy Blume was presented with a medal from the National Book Award Foundation. The same day, Madeleine L’Engle received a medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Though both authors are best known for their books for teenagers, they couldn’t be more different. Blume made her name as the writer of Deenie, Forever, and other young adult novels known for their sexual themes and explicit descriptions. Typically, many of the articles written to celebrate her medal pictured Blume as a sort of big sister who provided guidance and reassurance about premarital sex, masturbation, and similar topics. Washington...

Flag stirs flap at Howell High Controversy centered over meaning of Diversity Club message Thursday, December 23, 2004 BY STEPHENIE KOEHN News Staff Reporter What is the meaning of a rainbow? For many who see one during or after a rainstorm, it's a harbinger of good luck or at least a warm and fuzzy feeling. In the form of a flag hanging at Howell High School, however, it has created a controversy between those who see it as an expression of diversity and those who see it as supporting homosexuality. Confusion over the meaning of the flag, said Howell High...

What is it about sex education that causes some otherwise rational adults to behave irrationally?  When it comes to other topics -- smoking, drinking, drug abuse -- we don’t hesitate to give our children the benefit of an unambiguous “no.” We tell them flat out that they shouldn’t do it. If anyone said, “But kids are going to drink any way, so let’s show them how they can minimize the effects of a hangover,” most parents would suggest that that person have his head examined.  Yet who can deny that the same logic (or lack thereof) lies behind the push...

Sen. Kennedy Says Opponents of “Gay Marriage” Are Bigots Sen. Edward Kennedy has told A.P. that opponents of “gay marriage” are bigots. The news service reported last week: “Meanwhile, Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy criticized supporters of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, saying that would be a civil rights setback. “Kennedy said bigotry should not be written into the federal constitution, and constitutional amendments should be about expanding rights and liberties.” Unitarians Confirm Our Forecast that Group Sex Will be Next The Unitarian Church is now welcoming those who believe in group relationships including the practice of “romantic love.”...

This commercial is an attempt by the uber liberals to try and show the Christian Right as monsters! For a good annaysis go to http://www.starktruth.com

To all D.C. (suburban MD) Freepers; Jerry Klein, WMAL's house liberal is fielding calls on the Montgomery County Sex-ed controversy.

The refusal of CBS and NBC to air an advertisement from the United Church of Christ that says it welcomes all people, even homosexuals, to worship, is evidence that there is no need for official government censorship in the United States. All the government has to do is create a climate of fear, intimidation and intolerance of views that differ from its own, and the TV networks will censor themselves. If you watch the ad featuring two bouncers at a rope line, selecting the crowd for church, you will see that it broaches the subject of homosexuality in the most...

Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals "can result in pregnancy," a congressional staff analysis has found. Those and other assertions are examples of the "false, misleading, or distorted information" in the programs' teaching materials, said the analysis, released yesterday, which reviewed the curricula of more than a dozen projects aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease....

Teen Says He Lost Virginity At 9 CLEVELAND -- Research shows 16 percent of girls and 20 percent of boys have engaged in sexual intercourse by the time they reach their 14th birthday. For some fourth- and fifth-graders, sex is the topic of school lunch room conversations almost daily. In a special report, NewsChannel5's Deb Lee explored the troubling statistics. Lee talked with a 15-year-old Cleveland-area girl who is enrolled at the Pepper Pike Alcohol Treatment Center for kids about her experiences with alcohol and sex. The teen said kids are having sex as young as 11 and 12 years...

The Washington Post is running this story today about how misleading abstinence-only education is. The claim is that abstinence-only curricullum contain mis-leading, distorted, and sometimes flat-out false facts. Some of their examples of this are: Many American youngsters participating in federally funded abstinence-only programs have been taught over the past three years that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person’s genitals “can result in pregnancy,” a congressional staff analysis has found. Okay, so what’s wrong with any of...

If we are having problems with sexual education here in America, shouldn't we try to implement a system that the Dutch have in place? I don't know the positives/negatives of the system because I can't get any details on the web, can some of you help me out? I hear they have an average of 8 pregnancies per 1,000. Plus their abortion rate is the lowest in the world.

CHARTED: Yoko Ono, 71, has the No. 1 single on the dance chart, "Every Man Has A Man Who Loves Him"/"Every Woman Has A Woman Who Loves Her," a mix of techno beats and her somewhat off-key vocals that delivers a message in favor of same-sex unions. "This is a victory not just for me but for all Americans who are against the administration's decision to ban gay marriage," Ono says about the success of the tune, as quoted by the BBC.