Free Republic

Bill Maher Bill Maher has definite thoughts on religion, and few if any are positive.The same seems to go for his thoughts on Republicans, which makes it no surprise the comedian/political commentator is speaking out against Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett and her religious roots. During Friday’s episode of HBO’s Real Time, Maher slammed Senate Democrats for not going harder on ACB over her Christianity while calling the wife and mother of seven “nuts.”He dug in during a “New Rule” segment: “New rule: Democrats have to stop talking about packing the Supreme Court, because it’s already packed — with...

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is considering a $94 million property tax increase, layoffs for more than 300 city workers and a gas tax hike as part of her plan to close a $1.2 billion budget deficit, sources told the Tribune. Lightfoot also is considering about $500 million in refinancing city debt to help close the deficit, sources said.

American journalist Michelle Kosinski responded to an allegation that she had an affair with Kim Darroch, the former British ambassador to the U.S., who was reportedly being probed over the fears of passing on classified White House information to her.On Friday, Kosinski dismissed the allegation calling her linking with Darroch as "nonsense" and "incorrect information." The Sun U.S. reported on Thursday that Darroch, who is married, had a "passionate affair" with Kosinski that lasted several months. At the time, she worked with CNN as a White House correspondent. Now, this nonsense-- British tabloids printing incorrect information about my private life...

Bishops for Biden San Diego’s Robert McElroy emerges as another one. Should Biden win the presidency, he will be the “second practicing Catholic” to hold that office, the media informs us without irony. Neither John F. Kennedy, with his prodigious womanizing, nor Biden, with his open hostility to Church teaching, justify that label. If anything, Biden has promised not to practice his faith. Like JFK, Biden believes in the strict separation of church and state, though not in the separation of religion from campaigning. Needing to win the Catholic vote, Biden has been playing up his Catholic roots, tattered as...

Chances are you’ve already made up your mind about whom to vote for as we decide who’s going to be the next president of the United States. You probably are also aware there’s no way The Hartford Courant or most any other newspaper is going to endorse Republican Donald Trump for reelection. There are many reasons for that, and we’re not going to go into them in great detail here. If you are voting for Democrat Joe Biden, you know what they are. If you’re voting for Trump, you probably don’t care. But there is one issue that demands a...

This was going to be the year that Halloween fell on a Saturday. For the weeks leading up to it, Chanel Devereaux, a drag queen and longtime host at Nellie’s Sports Bar in Washington, would have lined up performances across town. She would have sewn more than a dozen extravagant costumes for other drag queens and painted scores of friends’ faces for the long-running High Heel Race on 17th Street in Dupont Circle and the Miss Adams Morgan Pageant. The month of October alone would have brought in about a quarter of Devereaux’s annual income. “Halloween is what I affectionately...

On July 1, the state of Virginia enacted the “Virginia Values Act,” which bans discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. A companion law requires employers to include coverage for sex reassignment and “gender affirming” surgeries in their health plans. According to the Alliance Defending Freedom, who has filed a pre-enforcement challenge, the Virginia Values Act requires “churches, religious schools, and Christian ministries to hire employees who do not share their stated beliefs on marriage, sexuality, and gender identity.”Though the Act provides an exemption for religious schools “owned, supported, controlled, or managed” by denominations or churches, that...

Most Americans were under the impression that this week's presidential debate had been canceled. Then they turned on NBC and realized they were wrong. The only change, it turns out, is that the "Today" show's Savannah Guthrie was taking on the president in what the network hilariously billed as a "townhall." Twenty minutes into Guthrie's interrogation, not one audience member had asked a question. It was a stark contrast to the Joe Biden lovefest happening on ABC, where even softball questions were changed out for Nerfs. Of course, the president predicted the "townhall" would be an ambush, even tweeting beforehand:...

No country should allow the sale of children or the intentional creation of orphans, which, make no mistake, is exactly what is happening with surrogacy. A British man living in the United States who has recently begun a romantic relationship with his daughter’s ex-boyfriend bought a baby and is being praised by media for it. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow paid about $100,000 for his new daughter, Valentina Willow. He is most proud of the baby girl’s looks.“Every parent thinks their baby is the best-looking baby in the world, but the truth is Valentina Willow is the best-looking baby in the world,” Drewitt-Barlow...

Mieke Haeck, identified by ABC News as a physical therapist, was described as a first-time voter from State College, Pennsylvania. Her party affiliation wasn’t noted when she asked a question involving her 8-year-old transgender child. Haeck is the wife of Ezra Nanes, a Democrat who ran an unsuccessful 2018 challenge against Republican state Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman, Fox News reports.

Federal prosecutors are alleging that a Netflix star who campaigned for Joe Biden committed a multitude of sex crimes against underage boys, in one incident assaulting a 15-year old boy in a public bathroom. Jerry Harris is being charged with assaulting ten boys, and prosecutors are arguing that he “exhibits all the signs of a serial child predator” who either “wanted to be caught or he simply cannot control his impulses.” Harris is most known for his appearance in Netflix’s Cheer documentary about competitive cheerleading. He recently appeared in a digital campaign event with Joe Biden, in which the Democratic...

The online version of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary changed the definition of “sexual preference” on the same day that senators scolded Judge Amy Coney Barrett for her use of the word during day two of her confirmation hearings. When questioned by Democratic senators on the judiciary committee on Obergefell v. Hodges, which decreed a constitutional right to same-sex marriage, Sens. Mazie Hirono and Cory Booker reprimanded Barrett for using the term “sexual preference,” claiming that is was outdated and offensive.

New York Times economist Paul Krugman is at it again. He’s promoting a conspiracy theory that libertarian billionaire Charles Koch wants U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Amy Coney Barrett to — wait for it — destroy the planet. Sounds like Krugman may have been watching too much Star Wars. Promoting a Times article headlined, “Charles Koch’s Big Bet on Barrett,” Krugman tweeted: “This analysis got somewhat lost in the shuffle, but Charles Koch is going big for Barrett — not bc he hopes she'll destroy Roe or the ACA, but because he hopes she'll destroy the planet.”

Why does Facebook treat gays unfairly? Why does it put them in a special class, telling them they must remain gay even if they want to change? Why does Facebook suppress the stories of those who have changed – and are much happier for it – rather than give them the space to choose for themselves? You might say, “Are you crazy? You have this all wrong. Facebook is standing with the gay community, protecting them from hate speech and exposing ‘conversion therapy’ as dangerous. That’s why Facebook has removed the pages of so-called ‘ex-gay’ organizations.” Of course, I’m quite...

Climate change has spurred close to a doubling of natural disasters in the last 20 years, and world leaders are failing to prevent Earth from evolving into “an uninhabitable hell” for millions, the United Nations warned on Monday. At least 7,348 major disasters had occurred between 2000 and 2019, claiming 1.23 million lives, affecting 4.2 billion people and costing the global economy some $2.97 trillion, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction said in a new report entitled “The Human Cost of Disasters 2000-2019.” According to the Geneva-based agency, the last two decades saw the number of disasters caused by...

"Hundreds of students from around Milwaukee gathered at Zeidler Union Square to rally in support of solutions to the climate crisis before marching to Wells Fargo and Chase Banks downtown. Students are demanding they stop financing the fossil fuel industry and reinvest those funds into renewable energy sources and sustainable infrastructure through equitable practices. Eleven people including MPS teachers Monica Pallo, Michele Hilbert, and Alex Brower and Rufus King alumni Lauryn Cross were all among those arrested for taking part in non-violent civil disobedience blocking an entrance. All eleven have since been released. Thank you all for fighting for a...

Vatican Mints Mother Earth Coin Image of St. Peter welcoming migrants engraved on second coin VATICAN CITY (ChurchMilitant.com) - The Vatican City State Mint has issued a 10-euro silver coin depicting "Mother Earth" — an image designed for World Earth Day by Bergamo-born sculptor and engraver Luigi Oldani. Ten euro coin depicting "Mother Earth" While the Numismatic Chronicle interpreted the icon as Madre Terra (Mother Earth), the Vatican portrayed it as "a mother carrying the Earth, to which we owe care and love as if she were a daughter." The coin, issued Monday, symbolizes the earth's fertility "with long ears of corn"...

Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced his resignation at Tuesday night’s assembly meeting. Berkowitz, while not in attendance, announced his resignation through a written statement read by his chief of staff. “It is with profound sadness and humility that I resign as the mayor of the Municipality of Anchorage,” Jason Bockenstedt said on behalf of the mayor, to applause and cheers from those in attendance.

Amy Coney Barrett apologized Tuesday for referring to sexual orientation as a "preference" during the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearing. "I certainly didn't mean and would never mean to use a term that would cause any offense to the LGBTQ community," Barrett said, after questioning by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii). "So, if I did, I greatly apologize for that. I simply meant to be referring to Obergefell's ruling with respect to same-sex marriage."

I watched Judge Andrew Napolitano on the Fox Business Network talk about the jurisdiction clause in the 14th Amendment, specifically, “subject to the jurisdiction thereof.” He made the point, as I did in my previous post, that one group of people that this applies to are foreign diplomats. He disagrees with the contention that it should apply to illegal immigrants too. The point he made was that illegal immigrants are indeed subject to the laws of the country. If an illegal robs a bank and gets caught, he will be arrested and prosecuted. Therefore, the Judge concludes, they’re subject...