Free Republic

Members of the Parsi Zoroastrian community in Calcutta have filed a petition in a local high court against the music video for the song “King” by Amitis featuring Snoop Dogg, calling it blasphemous and disrespectful toward their faith, the Times of India reports. Zoroastrianism is a millennia-old faith with roots in ancient Persia and a flourishing community in India; its scripture emphasizes the sanctity of nature and the duality of existence. Amitis is an Iranian-born singer who now lives in Atlanta; “King” appears to be her entrance into the realm of Western pop. Snoop Dogg is Snoop Dogg — in...

Simply asking someone “Where are you from?” or calling America "the land of opportunity” is now considered offensive at some colleges and universities, where such “micro-aggressions” are detailed in training programs and seminars for new faculty and staff. Other examples of “offensive” statements include, “I believe the most qualified person should get the job,” “Affirmative action is racist,” Everyone can succeed in this society, if they work hard enough,” When I look at you, I don’t see color,” and “I don’t believe in race.” A full list of these “offensive” statements can be seen here. The newly forbidden terms were...

Thank you to “The Five” co-host Greg Gutfeld for calling out the media for their absurdity! The Daily Caller reports: “The Five” co-host Greg Gutfeldblasted Bristol Palin’s haters Tuesday after her pregnancy announcement, saying they “would have been more supportive” if she simply had an abortion. The Fox News personality went on to praise the daughter of Sarah Palin for choosing “humiliation over convenience,” adding that she “took the pain, for it was more humane.” “I get it, of course, the media would have been more supportive if she had an abortion. But then if she had, they never would...

The first comprehensive analysis of the woolly mammoth genome reveals extensive genetic changes that allowed mammoths to adapt to life in the arctic. Credit: Giant Screen Films © 2012 D3D Ice Age, LLC ======================================================================== The first comprehensive analysis of the woolly mammoth genome reveals extensive genetic changes that allowed mammoths to adapt to life in the arctic. Mammoth genes that differed from their counterparts in elephants played roles in skin and hair development, fat metabolism, insulin signaling and numerous other traits. Genes linked to physical traits such as skull shape, small ears and short tails were also identified. As a...

Today, dozens of concerned pro-lifers in Orlando, Florida are conducting an awareness campaign outside the NEA Teacher’s Union Convention to expose their support of abortion. According to Bob Pawson, director of Pro-Life Educators of America, who heads up the annual campaign, pro-Life teachers, parents, and students from the greater Orlando area hope to educate the 10,000 delegates about the NEA’s stand on abortion as they arrive for the National Education Association’s annual convention in Orlando. “This demonstration is somewhat unique,” said Pawson. “Usually, NEA itself does the picketing— presenting demands in front of schools or school board buildings in towns...

Beginning in seventh grade, public school students in the Virginia suburbs outside Washington, D.C., will be taught about “sexual orientation terms,” including heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality—“and the gender identity term transgender,” according to a newly adopted sex education curriculum. The Fairfax County School Board voted last week to adopt the controversial new “Family Life Education Curriculum.” The meeting was crowded with angry parents, many of whom spoke out against the sudden changes. …

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Nittany Lion wrestling national champion Matt Brown (West Valley City, Utah) has been named as the 2014-15 Capital One Division I Academic All-America® of the Year, as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Brown is the second Penn State student-athlete to be selected as an Academic All-America® of the Year and joins former Nittany Lion wrestler, Dr. Jim Martin, who received the honor in 1988-89. Dr. Martin won a national title in 1988 and was a four-time All-American at Penn State A criminology and international politics major with a 3.97 G.P.A., Brown...

A Republican candidate: They're raping us! A Democrat candidate: Pretend you like it so they vote Democrat!

Chicago school and city officials detailed $200 million in cuts—including layoffs, scaled-back maintenance and reduced transportation—to the nation’s third-largest school district Wednesday, one day after the district paid a $634 million pension bill officials said it couldn’t afford. Mayor Rahm Emanuel said schools would still open on time in the coming school year and class sizes wouldn’t be affected. He put the blame on state legislators for worsening the situation and said a property tax increase was up for consideration. The district had to borrow and factor in the cuts to make the pension payment by Tuesday’s deadline because legislators,...

Media analyst Mark Dice asks beachgoers in San Diego, California some basic questions about America's 4th of July Independence Day celebration and their answers are quite disturbing.

As a totalitarian regime the Third Reich developed its own language, a perversion of the German language. The control of hearts and minds, to which totalitarian political systems aspire, necessitates such a perversion of the normal use of language. Meaning is twisted and distorted in such a way that the citizens of a totalitarian state can no longer distinguish truth from falsehood. They are reduced to such a state of confusion and impotence that they can be fully manipulated by the dictatorial government.

A great video by Paul Harvey to forward to everyone this Independence weekend.

It's a rare, if not historic pushback—tens of thousands of people across the Canadian province of Ontario are announcing loudly that they oppose the new sex education curriculum proposed by the province’s premier, Kathleen Wynne. Large numbers of protestors have made their voices heard in front of Wynne's office, in front of the provincial legislature at Queen's Park, and at the offices of Members of Provincial Parliament across the province. Harking from every culture and ethnic group, the protestors are demanding one thing: Let kids be kids. The entire phenomenon is startling for a number of reasons. First of all,...

The newly discovered Hades centipede. Credit: J. Bedek An international team of scientists has discovered the deepest underground dwelling centipede. The animal was found by members of the Croatian Biospeleological Society in three caves in Velebit Mts, Croatia. Recorded as deep as -1100 m the new species was named Geophilus hadesi, after Hades, the God of the Underworld in the Greek Mythology. The research was published in the open access journal ZooKeys. Lurking in the dark vaults of some of the world's deepest caves, the Hades centipede has also had its name picked to pair another underground-dwelling relative named after...

Collinsium ciliosum, a Collins' monster-type lobopodian from the early Cambrian Xiaoshiba biota of China. Credit: Javier Ortega-Hernández A new species of 'super-armoured' worm, a bizarre, spike-covered creature which ate by filtering nutrients out of seawater with its feather-like front legs, has been identified by palaeontologists. The creature, which lived about half a billion years ago, was one of the first animals on Earth to develop armour to protect itself from predators and to use such a specialised mode of feeding. The creature, belonging to a poorly understood group of early animals, is also a prime example of the broad variety...

While there's no way I can verify this, I like the message regardless. The Aussies have it right on most issues. Listen at: https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pwghabw4N80?rel=0

Researchers have shown that machines are inching closer to self-learning, and perhaps even copping a little attitude. Over at Google, a computer program using a database of movie scripts was asked again and again by researchers to define morality. It struggles to do so, and in a conversation recorded by its human engineers, becomes exasperated and ends the conversation by lashing out at its human inquisitor. Here’s part of the exchange, as related in a paper presented this week: Human: Tell me the definition of morality. Machine: I don’t have ethics. Human: Look, I need help; I need to know...

When conservatives stop playing defense...

Opponents or Enemies? In any conflict, it is a deadly error to mistake or underestimate the adversary's capabilities, will to employ them, or ultimate goals. Around the globe, what was once confidently deemed “Western civilisation” is in an end-stage battle with champions of a collectivist and statist ideology which, over the last century, has enacted programs of redistributive taxation, borrowing, and spending whose unsustainability has now become self-evident and which, unless the present course is altered, will collapse in at most ten years. Further, the second- and higher-order effects of these policies have led to demographic collapse in the societies...

One Boy Scout died and three others were rescued after being swept away in a flash flood early Saturday, according to the New Mexico State Police. A group of eight Scouts, ages 14 to 17, three crew leaders and one adult ranger were on the two-week trek across the Philmont Scout Ranch, a popular Boy Scout ranch near Cimarron. They were camped near the North Ponil Canyon, 15 miles northeast of the training center. Rain started falling early Saturday morning, flooding parts of the ranch property, according to a news release posted on the ranch’s website. Around 4:30 a.m. Saturday,...