Free Republic

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rebuffed an appeal from a Christian former high school student who argued coursework on Islam at her Maryland school violated her First Amendment rights. The dispute involves Caleigh Wood, a student at La Plata High School in Charles County, Maryland, who enrolled in a state-mandated World History course during the 2014-2015 school year. As part of the class, the then-junior was required to complete coursework on “The Muslim World,” in which she learned about Islam. Wood took issue with two parts of the class: a PowerPoint presentation that said most Muslims’ faith “is stronger than...

Natural gas developers in Pennsylvania are hoping a recent water quality report by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission could squelch plans for a fracking ban that’s currently being considered by the neighboring Delaware River Basin Commission. The SRBC’s Remote Water Quality Monitoring Network report, which was released last month, revealed that water quality scores at 14 of the 16 stations in the basin were in the “good” or “excellent” categories According to a fact sheet from the Susquehanna commission, the monitoring stations are located in areas where active drilling takes place, as well as areas free of development, in order...

President Trump is barreling toward a showdown with Congress over his decision to pull back U.S. troops in northern Syria despite widespread opposition. The announcement, which caught leadership and traditional GOP allies flatfooted, sparked a wave of condemnation, with Republicans calling it a “disaster in the making,” a “catastrophic mistake” and a “terrible decision.” Lawmakers are already weighing how to respond to Trump’s decision, setting the stage for a high-profile clash with Trump as soon as Congress returns from a two-week break on Monday. “Congress must and will act to limit the catastrophic impact of this decision,” said Rep. Liz...

PRINCE GEORGE'S COUNTY, MD — Maryland state lawmaker Tawanna Gaines, a Democrat from Prince George's County, has abruptly resigned after being suspected of using money she raised for her reelection campaign for personal use. She submitted her resignation to House Speaker Adrienne Jones on Friday, Oct. 4. She now faces a federal wire fraud charge. Gaines, 67, has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2001 and, according to the AP, defrauded her campaign and its contributors of more than $22,000 from at least January 2015 through April 2018. "After much thought and consideration, I have decided to submit...

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. - Prince George’s County Council is replacing Columbus Day with Native American Day beginning in 2020. The council noted that Oct. 14, 2019 will be the county’s final official Columbus Day. The bill arrives on the heels of a similar measure passed by the D.C. Council, which voted Tuesday to rename the day traditionally reserved for Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples Day.

Baltimore: “Homeschooling Starts in Public School.” ??? by Scott Woodruff • October 4, 2019 The city of Baltimore has once again created conflict by unlawfully demanding that homeschool families enroll in public school. I addressed this issue less than two months ago and believed it was resolved. It was disappointing to see it surface again. A family moved to Maryland from another state and decided to homeschool their children in Baltimore. They filed a proper notice of intent, but a local official told them: “You need to enroll your children first in the local public school, and then un-enroll them...

Baltimore police said one of their officers was surrounded by over 100 people in a parking lot in northwest Baltimore later Saturday night. An officer responded shortly before 10 p.m. to the lot at Wabash Avenue and W. Northern Parkway where a “very large group” had gathered with their cars to “partake in illegal activities, police said. The officer got out of his car and approached the group when around 100 to 150 people surrounded the officer, police said. He then called for backup, and when the other officers arrived the crowd dispersed without incident. No one was injured or...

Thousands of pro-lifers stood outside in all kinds of weather Sunday to pray for unborn babies and their mothers. People gathered in about 1,600 communities in the United States and Canada for the annual Life Chain, according to organizers. The event brings pro-lifers together in their local communities to pray for an end to abortion and peacefully witness to the truth about life in the womb. In West Reading, Pennsylvania, about 75 people stood on the sidewalks in the rain, holding signs encouraging mothers to choose life, the Reading Eagle reports. “We got rained on quite well but people stayed...

Former Secretary of State and retired four-star U.S. Army General Colin Powell described foreign policy under President Donald Trump as “in shambles,” in an interview with CNN’s Fareed Zakaria Sunday. “I was a Republican who was Ronald Reagan’s National Security Advisor. I was a Republican who worked for George Herbert Walker Bush, and worked for George W. Bush. I’m a moderate Republican who believes that we should have strong foreign policy, strong defense policy, that we have to look out for our people, and we ought to work hard to making sure we’re one country and one team,” Powell declared....

Graham said that he and Sen. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., plan to introduce “veto-proof” bipartisan sanctions that will call for Turkey’s suspension from NATO if it invades Syria and attacks Kurdish forces. “This decision to abandon our Kurdish allies and turn Syria over to Russia, Iran, & Turkey will put every radical Islamist on steroids,” Graham added. “Shot in the arm to the bad guys. Devastating for the good guys.” Nikki Haley, Trump’s former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, was unequivocal in her criticism. We must always have the backs of our allies, if we expect them to have...

House Democrats, in their first hearing on D.C. statehood in more than 25 years, on Thursday advocated for the District of Columbia to become the country’s 51st state as Republicans raised concerns about recent corruption scandals involving local D.C. officials. Critics of D.C. statehood have long cited local corruption as one reason to oppose statehood. Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, the top Republican on the House Oversight and Reform Committee, said he wanted Thursday’s hearing to delve into the ongoing scandal involving D.C. Councilman Jack Evans. Evans resigned from his role as the chairman of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority...

BALTIMORE, Maryland, October 3, 2019 (LifeSiteNews) — A mother is furious after discovering that her 16-year-old daughter’s headaches and soreness were caused by a birth control implant inserted by a school nurse without her consent. Nicole Lambert was shocked to learn from her daughter’s pediatrician that the pain her daughter was experiencing had been caused by a tiny tube containing the contraceptive  “Nexplanon,” which had been improperly inserted in her daughter’s upper arm.Not only did the doctor recommend that the tube be removed to alleviate the child’s discomfort, but he further warned that the contraceptive could cause far worse side-effects, such...

When the FBI released its 2018 Crime Statistics on Monday, the silence from the anti-gun, anti-Second Amendment mainstream media was deafening. The Washington Post and the New York Times gave the report short shrift, while the Wall Street Journal ignored it altogether. Apparently the mainstream media isn’t interested in listening to facts and data that contradict their preconceived ideology: More guns equal more gun violence. According to the FBI, exactly the opposite is happening, and has been happening for years: The number of violent crimes committed in the United States continues to drop. Said the report, “In 2018, violent crime...

Conservative activist Scott Presler mobilized 200 volunteers to remove 50 tons of trash from a homeless camp in Los Angeles, California on Saturday. Presler’s volunteers removed more than five tons of waste per hour over a nine-hour span – and did so without any assistance from the government. On Saturday morning, Presler posted Twitter videos of the ground of the homeless camp covered in waste, before cleanup efforts began around 9a.m., which he followed with videos showing his group’s progress – and the end result. It’s almost 9 a.m. & we’re removing waste from a homeless camp in Los Angeles....

Rahm Emanuel raised taxes to get city worker pension funds on a ‘path to solvency.’ The shortfall still ballooned by $7 billion. ... A record-high property tax increase. A new tax on water and sewer service. A higher 911 emergency fee on telephone lines... Emanuel’s series of tax hikes was painful, but he promised the extra money was part of a plan to get the woefully underfunded city worker pension funds on a “path to solvency.”.. in the four years since .. The pension funds are actually worse off. When Emanuel pushed through the tax hikes, the city worker retirement...

“The inspector general has no idea where it came from. I mean, of course on its face it said it is coming from the White House,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md, a member of the House Oversight Committee said. “There is a series of folders which all come from Trump hotels, so folder after folder that says Trump hotel. Now, I haven't had time to thoroughly scrutinize, but it is a packet of propaganda and disinformation spreading conspiracy theories.”

An assault at The Great Frederick Fair that ultimately led to a man’s death sparked questions about why the two teenage brothers allegedly involved were charged as juveniles. The two brothers — one 15, one 16 — could not automatically be charged as adults under Maryland law, Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith said at a press conference Monday. “I can tell you, I don’t make the law,” Smith said. “I just prosecute people who break it.” The 15-year-old was charged with first-degree assault, second-degree assault and reckless endangerment, and the 16-year-old was charged with second-degree assault in the death...

The first gas station in the U.S. that has been completely transitioned from a petroleum station to exclusively charging EVs opened Thursday in Takoma Park, Maryland. RS Automotives, the local gas station, has been around since 1958. Depeswar Doley, owner of the station since 1997, said he was already unhappy with the way oil and gasoline companies structure contracts — such as limiting the use of multiple suppliers, including clauses that extend contracts when a certain volume of sales is not met and limiting maintenance support. These business factors already were pushing him to consider other options. A nudge from...

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- Grassroots Second Amendment activists from across the country are being urged to attend a 2nd Amendment Rally on Saturday, Nov. 2 at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., where they hope to deliver a message that the right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. Now is the time for activists to make plans, as the rally is a mere six weeks away. It is being dubbed as a “rally for the Second on the 2nd.” Rights activist Rob Pincus, director of media relations for “Save the Second,” is hoping for a big turnout at the...

<p>Scott said at a news conference that he wasn’t surprised by the allegations that Trump repeatedly urged Ukraine’s president to “look into” Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden because he’s “watched him over the years.” Trump had requested Ukraine look into Biden's attempt to pressure the nation into firing its top prosecutor, who was investigating a natural gas firm partially led by his son, Hunter.</p>