Free Republic

We have followed the performance of Marie Harf as a spokesman for the Obama administration foreign policy at the State Department. Harf gives the catastrophic foreign policy of the Obama administration a lighter than air, Valley Girl kind of feel. She is a walking self-parody. As such, she presents a novel use of expressive form. Now comes word that Harf is being promoted to Senior Advisor for Strategic Communications to Secretary of State John Kerry. Like a helium filled balloon, Harf ascends. In her new position Harf will focus on negotiations between the U.S. and Iran on nuclear weapons. It...

A group of international women activists crossed the heavily-fortified Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea on Sunday in what they said was a symbolic act for peace. North and South Korea are still technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. Despite its name the DMZ is one of the most heavily militarized and fortified borders in the world. "We feel very celebratory and positive that we have created a voyage across the DMZ in peace and reconciliation," said U.S. activist and feminist Gloria Steinem, honorary co-chair of the WomanCrossDMZ...

Via Life Site News come some frankly bizarre statements from the Vatican official who put together last month's Protect the Earth, Dignify Humanity conference. Two major speakers at the conference were Jeffrey Sachs, widely criticized for the abject failure of his Millennium Villages initiative, and Ban-Ki moon, current secretary general of the United Nations—both of whom are extremely pro-abortion. Which the Catholic Church is not. Stefano Gennarini asks Archbishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Science and Social Sciences, whether he knew about the pro-abortion and population control chops of his two big guests and whether that...

A civil-liberties group is demanding a two-star Air Force general be court-martialed for mentioning God at a National Day of Prayer Task Force speech on May 7. Despite the religious nature of the event, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation has called for Olson to be “aggressively and very visibly brought to justice for his unforgivable crimes and transgressions,” adding that any other service members who helped him should be investigated and punished “to the full extent of military law.”

I can't help but notice that the nitwits on the left have adopted of late two ridiculous terms to blather against the sane. These terms are "White Privilege" and "Micro Aggression". Both of course are meaningless in any rational way but serve to tickle the pseudointellectual BB brains that like to think that a college education means anything these days. What I would like to do is have a competition of sorts to try and predict what the next popular nitwhittery from the left will be so we can get out ahead of it and begin the mocking of it...

Noting that he’s “perhaps the most progressive member of the United States Senate,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) described today how, as president, he would do socialism in America. “When we talk about Democratic socialism, I think it is important to realize that there are countries around the world, like Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, who have had social democratic governments on and off for many, many years. And we can learn a whole lot from some of those countries,” the 2016 Democratic presidential contender said on CBS this morning. “For example, the United States is the only major country on earth...

Hercules has been crushed — because of a selfie! A couple of tourists are in hot water after climbing onto a priceless marble statue of the mythical Greek hero in the northern city of Cremona, Italy, the Daily Mail reported. The miscreants put too much weight on the statue at the Loggia dei Militi palace during their boneheaded bid to snap a photo of themselves — shattering the crown of the Statue of the Two Hercules.

An advisory group reviewing U.S. hostage policy for the White House is expected to recommend that families of Americans held overseas not face the fear of prosecution if they pay ransoms, according to a report Sunday. "There will be absolutely zero chance of any family member of an American held hostage overseas ever facing jail themselves, or even the threat of prosecution, for trying to free their loved ones," one of three senior officials familiar with the review said in a report on ABC's "This Week." The family of slain American journalist James Foley, who become the first American executed...

Here is Dana Milbank of WaPo celebrating the “retreat” of climate change deniers: “There is no denying it: Climate-change deniers are in retreat.” He concludes his op-ed by noting “that corporations are becoming reluctant to bankroll crazy theories,” and “the surrender of climate-change deniers will follow.” For Milbank, this marks the historic turning point marking the collapse of flat-Earth science “crazies.”

President Obama's newly minted Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, wants to have a talk with the country about climate change. From a White House email sent out last night: Hi, everyone -- I'm the Surgeon General of the United States -- which means it's my job to keep America healthy by providing you with the best scientific information available about your health. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to meet with President Obama, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy and health care professionals to discuss climate change. We talked about the impact of climate change on public health and the importance of prevention.

Video at link. A black student organization at the University of California at Berkeley is demanding the university rename a building on campus after Assata Shakur, a former Black Panther, convicted cop killer and the first woman named to the FBI's Most-Wanted Terrorist List. A jury convicted Shakur of killing a New Jersey State Trooper in 1979. She escaped prison and fled to Cuba. The FBI calls her a domestic terrorist. In 2013, the agency added her to the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist List, alongside several members of Al Qaeda, airline hijackers and bombers. But to the Black Student Union...

Earlier this school year, a sixth-grader in the gifted-and-talented program at Bedford Middle School in Bedford, Virginia was suspended for one year after an assistant principal found something that looked like a marijuana leaf in his backpack. The student, the 11-year-old son of two school teachers, had to enroll in the district's alternative education program and be homeschooled. He was evaluated by a psychiatrist for substance abuse problems, and charged with marijuana possession in juvenile court. In the months since September, he's become withdrawn, depressed, and he suffers from panic attacks. He is worried his life is over, according to...

Some schoolchildren claim another student bragged about having marijuana. They inform school administrators. An assistant principal finds a leaf and a lighter in the boy’s knapsack. The student is suspended for a year. A sheriff’s deputy files marijuana possession charges in juvenile court... There was only one problem: Months after the fact, the couple learned the substance wasn’t marijuana.

The University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union (UTMSU) is pushing to have people never use the word "idiot" because, according to them, it promotes "ableism." According to "StopAbleism.org," ableism "are the practices and dominant attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities." UTMSU believes that the word "idiot," even if you are calling yourself that, promotes ableism. They feel so strongly that they are now putting up posters around campus to get the word out:

Facing backlash for allegedly stigmatizing minorities — particularly black men — the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities announced on Tuesday that it will no longer include racial descriptors in crime alerts issued to students and faculty. “This change supports our public safety goals while recognizing the harm that the use of race in crime alerts causes for some members of our community,” the university, which has nearly 50,000 students and is located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, said in a statement. “Moving forward, the University will use descriptions only when there is sufficient detail that would reasonably help identify specific...

EXCERPT With the anthem not even halfway through, fans at Madison Square Garden erupted on Sunday night when Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was shown on the jumbotron.

“There’s too many [expletive] guns out there,” he continued. “Especially in America. I think the population is like, 320 million? There’s over 300 million guns. Privately owned, in America. I think it’s a [expletive] disgrace. Every week now we’re picking up a newspaper and seeing, ‘Yet another few kids have been killed in schools.’”

In case you missed it, during last night’s opening bit, Golden Globes hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler took the opportunity to make a few funnies about the rape allegations against Bill Cosby: VIDEO ON LINK Lena Dunham, for one, thought it was hilarious: TWITTER IMAGE ON LINK

Women doesn't know where the gas door is on her car.

America remains, in spite of the left, the Last Best Hope of Man. As the New Year starts and the 2016 presidential race begins in earnest, that is a vital truth to grasp. Happy optimism, not grouchy despair, ought to inspire conservatism today. Yes, the national debt is huge and growing; entitlements and debt service will soon swallow each tax dollar. Yes, Obama has tried as hard as he can to undo the American Dream and will try in 2015 to fight us with unconstitutional rule by executive fiat. Yes, the educational and informational establishment is firmly in the hand...