Free Republic

A succession of high profile left wing decisions and initiatives of recent weeks drive home the extent to which the left is changing the face of America. Notable among these are the decision of a federal appeals court in California to uphold a prior court decision finding California’s Proposition 8, defining marriage as between a man and a woman, unconstitutional; the reversal of a decision, due to a tsunami of left wing pressure, of the Susan G. Komen Foundation to withdraw its funding to Planned Parenthood; and the Obama administration rulemaking refusing to grant a religious exemption from the new...

‘The Western world no longer aspires, as did the Western Europe of Dante’s day, to be a place of a single faith,” A.N. Wilson writes confidently in his recent book, Dante in Love. Really? It doesn’t? Has Western society given up that dream? Because many in the United States’ particular corner of civilization seem not to have gotten the memo. Maybe it’s the scientist in me, but I’m always looking for what Einstein called the “Theory of Everything” — one formula that explains the world, and clinging to the hope that society will someday be populated entirely by your co-religionists...

The FBI said it searched eight addresses in Minneapolis and Chicago as part of a terrorism investigation Friday. Warrants suggest agents were looking for connections between local anti-war activists and terrorist groups in Colombia and the Middle East. FBI spokesman Steve Warfield told The Associated Press agents served six warrants in Minneapolis and two in Chicago. "These were search warrants only," Warfield said. "We're not anticipating any arrests at this time. They're seeking evidence relating to activities concerning the material support of terrorism." The homes of longtime Minneapolis anti-war activists Mick Kelly, Jess Sundin and Meredith Aby were among those...

The two most talked about scandals this week have a lot in common. The sexual harassment allegations being made against Herman Cain expose a peculiar phenomenon also present in the scandal of Penn State icon Joe Paterno. Although both of these men are being accused of despicable behavior, people have rallied to their sides as if they are unfortunate victims. The revelation that Paterno, an icon in the sport of college football, had knowledge that his former assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was allegedly sexually abusing boys should have been devastating to the students at Penn State. These students should have...

The War Against the Poor: Occupy Wall Street and the Politics of Financial Morality by Frances Fox Piven. Tom Dispatch: We’ve been at war for decades now -- not just in Afghanistan or Iraq, but right here at home. Domestically, it’s been a war against the poor, but if you hadn’t noticed, that’s not surprising. You wouldn’t often have found the casualty figures from this particular conflict in your local newspaper or on the nightly TV news. Devastating as it’s been, the war against the poor has gone largely unnoticed -- until now. The Occupy Wall Street movement has already...

Both the protesters and the police are at fault for the violence yesterday. I'm not clear on what happened in Oakland last night, except that it was bad. The police are saying that they had to deploy beanbags and maybe tear-gas because people started throwing bottles, plates, and rocks when they tried to clear out the encampment at Occupy Oakland. I don't find this entirely implausible. The protesters are saying that when their authority was challenged, the police reacted with overwhelming and inappropriate force, which I also don't find entirely implausible. Since the police and the protesters seem, to date,...

"Don't touch me!" the man in the wheelchair shouted to stop me from placing my hand on what used to be his left arm. "I'm sorry -- I was just -- " "I know what you were doing," he said calmly. "You were showing me you care. I get it. But you have no idea how much pain I'm in. Don't feel bad. People are always touching me -- and because my left arm is gone and most people are right-handed, well ... Doctors, believe it or not, are the worst -- always touching me there. You'd think they of...

NPR Host/Occupy Protester Says She's Been Fired By Tim Graham Created 10/20/2011 - 10:56am AP is reporting NPR host/Occupy protest leader Lisa Simeone has been fired: "A freelance broadcaster who works for music and documentary programs has been fired from a job after NPR questioned her involvement in a Washington protest." Lisa Simeone said Thursday that she was fired from "Soundprint," a documentary show that is not produced by NPR, but by Soundprint Media in nearby Laurel, Maryland. "Simeone says she was fired Wednesday in a phone call during which NPR's code of ethics was read to her." Simeone is...

KKKolumbus no hero: He's a murderer who caused the genocide of the Indigenous people! “It has been said of the Spanish Conquistadors, that first they fell on their knees, and then they fell on the aborigines.” Eric Williams - Columbus to Castro. Annually, on the 2nd Monday of each October, most of the United Snakes of Amerikkka celebrate the anniversary of when Cristoforo Colombo discovered that the planet wasn't as flat as all of Europe then thought.  At the same time, many so-called Indians across the U.S. publicly protest the holiday, demanding that it be renamed ‘Indigenous American Day'.

A loose coalition of left-leaning groups like Adbusters and Anonymous are beginning their "occupation" of Wall Street today at noon. Their goal is to "see 20,000 people flood into lower Manhattan, set up tents, kitchens, peaceful barricades, and occupy Wall Street for a few months." According to the protest's website, a "leaked bulletin from the New York Police Department reveals that they expect at least 5,000" to show up today, and ask participants to being "warm clothing" along with other provisions due to the recent cold snap. Mayor Bloomberg told his eponymous news organization, "People have a right to protest,...

Law enforcement officers arrested the owner of BoCoMo Bay yesterday after firearms and a large amount of synthetic marijuana were found at his south Columbia home, they said. Approximately 100 firearms along with a large amount of substances believed to be synthetic marijuana were discovered at the home of Kevin E. Bay, 47, at 400 E. Old Plank Road, according to a Boone County Sheriff’s Department news release. Bay operates BoCoMo Bay at 1122 Wilkes Blvd. ***** Bay was arrested on the outstanding warrant from Stoddard County that charges him with six counts of delivery or imitation of a synthetic...

Despite an instant, commanding lead in the polls, newly-minted GOP presidential candidate Gov. Rick Perry is already being viewed as “unelectable.” The panel of reporters on Sunday’s The Chris Matthews Show reached a general consensus that Perry’s loose talk and extreme views will eventually lead the Republican establishment to choose the more moderate, more electable Mitt Romney to challenge President Obama in the general election. Barely a week into his campaign, the Texas Governor has talked himself into trouble, and not just with liberals and Democrats. While John Heilemann sees Perry’s smashmouth certitude as an advantage over Mitt Romney, The...

The American Renewable Energy Day conference in Aspen didn't cite Gore by name, but one of the opening speakers on Thursday suggested that audience members adopt aggressive tactics when dealing with climate deniers. Jigar Shah, CEO of an organization called the Carbon War Room, told the audience they must “confront the liars” on climate change issues or they are “part of the problem.” Shah urged them to “make a scene in public” by confronting politicians or speakers who suggest that alternative energy isn't a viable option for handling power needs and reducing carbon emissions. ... Lester Brown...founder and president of...

A careful audit of combat support and reconstruction contracts reveals that at least $360 million in US tax dollars has gone to fund the Taliban and terrorist operations in Afghanistan. Corrupt contractors and subcontractors are responsible for the diversion of funds which have surely resulted in harm to soldiers and civilians throughout the region. LOS ANGELES (Catholic Online) - The losses demonstrate one of the challenges the US faces in Afghanistan, specifically, rampant corruption. Private Afghan corporations are providing many support services to the US and NATO forces and are collecting payments from the military for their services. However, the...

PBS Hosts Blast Obama on Poverty TourBy Stephanie Samuel | Christian Post Reporter Fri, Aug. 12 2011 10:23 AM EDT PBS hosts Tavis Smiley and Cornel West, once strong supporters of Barack Obama, are traveling the country criticizing the president for failing to protect the poor during the debt talks. Noted African-American evangelical Bishop Harry Jackson, Jr. agrees that the president has done little to help the poor, but says systemic changes, not more wasteful spending, are necessary to lift Americans out of poverty. Radio and television hosts Smiley and his PBS Princeton University co-host West, have taken to the...

Immediately after President Obama took office, his Hollywood benefactors clamored for the creation of a "Secretary of Culture." Tinseltown was disappointed with the administration's crony arts czar choice (Chicago lawyer Kareem Dale), but left-wing artists and entertainers have now been mollified. Instead of one government-supported arts czar, the White House has designated an entire herd of them. On Tuesday, as part of Obama's "Winning the Future" initiative, the president designated members of the liberal activist group Creative Coalition as official "America's Champions of Change for the Arts." This is the latest in a series of "public engagement" efforts overseen by...

'Doomsday Plane' Would Save President and Joint Chiefs in Apocalypse Scenario By MICHAEL MURRAY June 7, 2011 In the event of nuclear war, a powerful meteor strike or even a zombie apocalypse, the thoroughly protected doomsday plane is ready to keep the president, secretary of defense, Joint Chiefs of Staff and other key personnel in the air and out of danger. It may not deflect a Twitter photo scandal, but it can outrun a nuclear explosion and stay in the air for days without refueling. The flight team for the E-4B, its military codename, sleeps nearby and is ready to...

decora writes "Crypto-mathematician Bill Binney worked in the Signals Intelligence Automation Research Center at the NSA. There, he worked on NSA's ThinThread program; a way to monitor the flood of internet data from outside the US while protecting the privacy of US citizens. In a new interview with Jane Mayer, he says his program 'got twisted. ... I should apologize to the American people. It's violated everyone's rights. It can be used to eavesdrop on the whole world. ... my people were brought in, and they told me, "Can you believe they're doing this? They're getting billing records on US...

At nearly 90 years old, Betty White has a message for senior citizens: get over it. The Golden Girls star can be seen stressing that age really isn’t a big deal in her promotional videos for AARP. Age shouldn’t be a deciding factor when voting for politicians either, the starlet told Politico in an interview Monday. “I think it’s mental activity and physical health that should have a lot to do with it, not just the number of years,” White said. For White, the age of the politician doesn’t necessarily make them an incapable public servant. “I think someone’s health...

Cast your minds back to November. Barack Obama had received his "shellacking" in the midterm elections, as the Republicans regained a majority in the House of Representatives and seized control of 29 of the 50 state governorships. It was the worst midterm defeat for the Democrats since 1938. Just a week earlier the president's approval ratings had fallen to a record low of 37%. Fast forward six months, and the president is enjoying the "Bin Laden bounce". His approval ratings stand at 52%, according to Gallup – up six points on April. Historians may look back on 1 May 2011,...