Free Republic

In the immediate aftermath of the multiple explosions that rocked the Copley Square area of Boston during this afternoon’s marathon, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof took to Twitter to say that the tragic events are a “reminder” of how Senate Republicans blocked the appointment of a new director for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). “[E]xplosion is a reminder that ATF needs a director. Shame on Senate Republicans for blocking apptment,” he tweeted with a link to a Washington Post article on the Senate GOP’s threats to put a hold on President Obama‘s nomination for a...

Obama’s Mini-Me will protect all of Obama’s, ahem, accomplishments.Ed Klein reports that Obama is using Valerie Jarrett to urge Elizabeth Warren to challenge Hillary in the primary to protect Obama’s transformation of the nation into something of which he and Michelle can be proud. Warren will protect Obama’s, ahem, achievements, Hillary can’t be trusted to do that. It’s entirely believable. Whether it’s true remains to be seen. Here is part of the report, This means Warren: Obama backs challenger to Hillary: "President Obama has quietly promised Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren complete support if she runs for president — a stinging...

SOMERVILLE (CBS) – A Somerville teacher has been arrested and charged with raping a 13-year-old child. Alexandra Romanos, 41, of Stoneham, was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of aggravated rape of a child, and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14. According to the DA’s office, a parent tipped off the school department last month about the teacher’s alleged relationship with a 13-year-old, which had been ongoing since March and had occurred both on and off school grounds. Romanos taught 5th graders at the East Somerville Community School, and has worked there for seven years....

Like the poster at the link, I am currently a Verizon Phone/DSL customer in Massachusetts and just received an email from Verizon stating that they will be raising my bill by $3/month, which already costs 76.00 with taxes, as we currently pay $59.99 for Verizon Freedom Essentials (unlimited nationwide + Canada and PR calling) and "High Speed Internet Enhanced" (approx. 6.50 Mbps speed at my location). No TV is included or needed. However, after i moved less than a 1/2 mile from where I was my Internet speed was approx. cut in half, from around 12 mbps to approx. 6,50....

Governor Deval Patrick today signed into law a bill raising the minimum wage from $8 to $11 per hour by 2017, setting Massachusetts on course to have the highest minimum wage of any state in the country. “Raising the minimum is about bringing a little relief to the working poor, many of whom do jobs we could not live without and who, by the way, will recycle that money right back into the economy,” Patrick said at a signing ceremony at the State House, joined by the Senate president, the House speaker and a number of other state political leaders....

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court has struck down a 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics in Massachusetts. The justices were unanimous Thursday that extending a buffer zone 35 feet from clinic entrances violates the First Amendment rights of protesters. ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Chief Justice John Roberts says authorities have less intrusive ways to deal with problems outside the clinics.

A bill introduced June 12 by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA), would establish a special envoy at the State Department to coordinate America’s “global response” on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues and allow LGBT individuals “who have a well-founded fear of persecution...to seek protection in the United States.” The International Human Rights Defense Act of 2014 would reinforce the Obama administration’s already established foreign policy position on LGBT rights, including the public funding of overseas LGBT groups. In addition, the bill would require annual congressional briefings on “the status of the human rights of LGBT people internationally” and institute...

When you look at world history, and especially biblical history, you will find that polygamy has been an accepted and honorable way of life. Many beloved prophets of the Old Testament were polygamists, and Abraham was a friend of God, all while having many wives. Polygamy was once a lifestyle accepted by all. For Christians of 2000 years ago, polygamy was stopped by the Roman empire. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, said, “A bishop should be the husband of one wife.” He was simply telling them to obey the law of the land. Roman law is...

A bleeding woman, who police say was stabbed in the stomach by her knife-wielding lover, frantically searched for her dogs as her Lawrence home went up in flames early yesterday. Yohanna Estrella, 34, was arrested after she stabbed her partner with a knife about 6 a.m. yesterday and set fire to her couch, a blaze that gutted much of the two-story apartment building on Haverhill Street, Lawrence police said.

While giving a speech at the Chicago Humanities Festival in 2011, Elizabeth Warren asserted that she was the first nursing mother to take the New Jersey Bar Exam, as reported at The Boston Herald (link now dead, reprinted at Legal Insurrection[1]) (emphasis added): Warren, who had no public events yesterday, again refused an interview request from the Herald, responding to questions instead through a spokeswoman by email. Meanwhile, campaign officials scrambled to address another claim Warren’s made about her life’s story. “I was the first nursing mother to take a bar exam in the state of New Jersey,” Warren told...

A Massachusetts judge ordered Tuesday that 16-year-old Justina Pelletier be returned to her Connecticut family. His ruling ended a 15-month odyssey that I believe showed that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Boston Children's Hospital were willing to disregard the rights of her parents and, in essence legally "kidnap" her. "We are stunned," Lou Pelletier, her dad, told me minutes ago by phone. "Justina called us with the news herself. We just want to thank everyone who helped us get our daughter home."

<p>If you weren’t paying attention, you might walk right by it, but there’s a small, secret, metal monument dedicated to Trayvon Martin sitting atop a lamppost in Jamaica Plain.</p> <p>According to WBUR, Matthew Hincman, an associate professor at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, attached the small, cylindrical metal statue to a lamppost a couple weeks ago without any official permission from authorities. It’s located at the corner of Eliot and Center streets in JP’s Monument Square.</p>

The Connecticut teen who has been in state custody for more than a year after her parents were accused of medical child abuse after disputing a diagnosis has apparently penned a note, giving a look into how she says she’s being treated. “They hurt me all the time push me all the time and more,” the purported note from Justina Pelletier says. It also says “[they] do not let me sleep vary [sic] much. “Hury [sic]!” Keith Mason, president of Personhood USA, a group helping lead the Free Justina Coalition, told TheBlaze that Justina gave the note to her parents...

For the past several months, the Pelletiers have met face-to-face with Justina once weekly in supervised visits of no more than one hour. Now, Massachusetts DCF is denying the Pelletiers visitation with Justina in another blatant act of vindictive punishment. This new act demonstrates DCF's unwillingness to reunite the family and exposes the agency's lack of interest in the welfare of Justina or the Pelletier family. Instead, DCF is concerned with getting back at a family that spoke out against their heavy-handed custody grab. By prohibiting Justina from seeing her family, DCF is treating her differently than all other minors...

Massachusetts Judge Joseph Johnston delayed his promised Justina Pelletier ruling for the sixth time on Friday, stating that he will now issue the ruling on Tuesday March 25, 2014 in a facsimile message. The critically ill teenager’s family has been fighting a custody battle against the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) for more than a year. Meanwhile her older sister Jennifer is pleading with friends and campaigners to do all they can to support Justina. Devastated by the delays in getting medication for her sister, she tweeted Friday that armed guards sit in on visits while she is...

Today a significant motion is being filed in the Juvenile Court requesting that Justina Pelletier return to her home to be with her mom and dad, Linda and Lou Pelletier. The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF) has indicated that it will not object to the Motion for Relief from Judgment filed today to return Justina home. The case is drawing national attention, as Boston Children’s Hospital filed a “medical child abuse” complaint against Justina’s parents last year, leading the state to take custody of her and hospitalize her for almost a year. justinapelletier19The motion comes a week after...

Video Shows Conn. Teen Begging Mass. Judge To Let Her Go Home BOSTON (CBS) – The family of a Connecticut teenager at the center of a custody dispute with the state of Massachusetts has posted a video showing the teen pleading for the judge to let her go home. The video shows Justina Pelletier asking Governor Patrick and Judge Joseph Johnston to let her move back with her family. “All I really want to be with is my family and my friends and that’s all I want is to be with my family and friends back home,” she says. “You...

Justina Pelletier is going home. A Massachusetts judge ordered the 16-year-old Connecticut girl, who was taken from her family by child welfare advocates more than a year ago, to be returned to her mother and father effective Wednesday. The ruling caps a long-running medical custody dispute that began when two highly-respected Boston hospitals clashed over the girl's diagnosis. The case sparked national outrage, and led Lou and Linda Pelletier, of West Hartford, Conn., to wage a bitter legal battle. “To hear the news is overwhelming," Lou Pelletier told FoxNews.com moments after learning of the ruling. "Now we can certainly begin...

juvenile court judge has ordered the Massachusetts Department of Children and Family to return Justina Pelletier to her parents, according to the Boston Globe. The Globe reports: “I find that the parties have shown by credible evidence that circumstances have changed since the adjudication on Dec. 20, 2013, that Justina is a child in need of care and protection pursuant to G.L. c. 199, 24-26.,” Judge Joseph Johnston wrote in the ruling. “Effective Wednesday, June 18, 2014, this care and protection petition is dismissed and custody of Justina is returned to her parents, Lou and Linda Pelletier.” Pelletier was placed...

Justina Pelletier is coming home. A Massachusetts judge ordered the 16-year-old Connecticut girl, who was taken from her family by child welfare advocates more than a year ago, to be returned to her mother and father effective Wednesday. The ruling caps a long-running medical custody dispute that began when two highly-respected Boston hospitals clashed over the girl's diagnosis. The case sparked national outrage, and led Lou and Linda Pelletier, of West Hartford, Conn., to wage a bitter legal battle.