Free Republic

Perpetually raging about the world's injustices? You're probably overcompensating. people publicly rage about perceived injustices that don't affect them personally, we tend to assume this expression is rooted in altruism—a "disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being of others." But new research suggests that professing such third-party concern—what social scientists refer to as "moral outrage"—is often a function of self-interest, wielded to assuage feelings of personal culpability for societal harms or reinforce (to the self and others) one's own status as a Very Good Person. Outrage expressed "on behalf of the victim of [a perceived] moral violation" is often thought...

BURLINGTON, Conn. (CBS Connecticut) – A court date Friday for a Harwinton woman accused of trying to hit a police officer with her car Thursday in Burlington. State police say 58-year-old Eileen Pierce tried to hit an officer directing traffic at a tree-trimming site on Route 69– allegedly driving her Subaru wagon directly at him, yelling out the window, and shaking her fist. The officer quickly got out of the way, and police say Pierce narrowly missed hitting a tree crew. When Pierce was pulled over at the Burlington-Bristol line, troopers say she rambled for several minutes, saying she was...

As part of its January 2017 issue exploring our evolving understandings and definitions of gender, National Geographic is featuring nine-year-old transgender rights activist Avery Jackson on its cover—the first time a trans person has made the cover of the magazine. Jackson rose to stardom last year when she began documenting her transition with “Avery Chats,” a series of YouTube videos describing how she came to understand her identity at such a young age and eventually came out to her parents as trans. “When I was born, doctors said I was a boy, but I knew in my heart I was...

The state of Utah has denied it has anti-gay school laws as it defends itself from a lawsuit challenging restrictions on talk about homosexuality in the classroom. The case quotes selectively from state law and school rules, which don’t contain the phrase “anti-gay laws,” state attorneys said several times in court documents filed Tuesday. They say the state school board is immune from a lawsuit and ask for the case to be dismissed. The National Center for Lesbian Rights argues the ban on so-called advocacy of homosexuality stigmatizes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students. …

Secretary of State John Kerry marked Sunday as the “Transgender Day of Remembrance” and warned the world that violence against transgender persons “fueled by hatred and bigotry” is “a global challenge.” “Transgender persons around the world are targeted by rising levels of violence fueled by hatred and bigotry,” said Kerry. “This is a global challenge and we all must do more to protect transgender persons on the basis of equality and dignity.” …

AT LEAST one person has been killed and 12 more are injured after a Syrian asylum seeker blew himself outside a wine bar in Germany. The attack took place in Ansbach, near Nuremburg, after the 27-year-old was denied access to the nearby Ansbach Open music festival, according to Germany's interior minister Joachim Herrmann. Hermann said the suspect, who was known to police, had lived in Germany for two years but was denied asylum in the country a year ago. He said it is unclear if the suspect intended to kill others or just himself but said he had “tried to...

OBAMA Mocked Trump And RNC’s “Vision of Chaos And Violence” 1 Hour Before Munich Attack (VIDEO) Aleister Jul 22nd, 2016 2:30 pm 142 Comments Obama RNC Obama held a joint press conference with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto approximately one hour before the shooting attack in Munich, Germany and mocked Trump and the Republican National Convention for concerns over terrorism. Once again… It's reality vs. Obama and reality wins… pic.twitter.com/0ubuFnaQ6Q — Jim Hoft (@gatewaypundit) July 22, 2016 CNN reported: Obama: Trump’s doom-and-gloom doesn’t match reality The deeply pessimistic outlook that Donald Trump offered at this week’s Republican National Convention doesn’t...

But while the pardon was a political mistake, it certainly was not a financial one. In the years following the scandal, the flow of funds from those connected to Marc Rich or the pardon scandal have continued to the Clintons. Rich died in 2013. But his business partners, lawyers, advisers and friends have showered millions of dollars on the Clintons in the decade and a half following the scandal.... ...In the years since the pardon was granted, Dozoretz has served the Clintons closely: as the finance co-chair of Hillary’s 2008 campaign and as a senior State Department official during Hillary’s...

The Pentagon announced Thursday that transgender people will be allowed to serve openly in the U.S. military, ending one of the last bans on service in the armed forces. Saying it’s the right thing to do, Defense Secretary Ash Carter laid out a yearlong implementation plan declaring that “Americans who want to serve and can meet our standards should be afforded the opportunity to compete to do so.” .... Under the new policy, by Oct. 1, transgender troops should be able to receive medical care and begin formally changing their gender identifications in the Pentagon’s personnel system. And a year...

Texas held the largest naturalization ceremony this week that the Lone Star State’s capital has ever seen. The ceremony was used to assault Donald Trump, the Second Amendment, and the death penalty before 1,210 new U.S. citizens and their families and friends. The Guest of Honor, Democrat Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt told the participants flanked by voter registration tables, “I encourage everyone to register to vote and hopefully, not for that guy who is against immigrants.” The husband of one of the participants, Kyle Hood, told Breitbart Texas that he was offended that the ceremony was used by the...

Breaking news by Stu Varney. Supreme Court was tied 4 to 4, so the lower court decision stands against Obama's Immigration plan.

BALTIMORE — The Baltimore police officer who drove the van in which Freddie Gray sustained a fatal spinal injury was acquitted on Thursday of second-degree murder and six lesser charges, leaving prosecutors still without a conviction after three high-profile trials in a case that has shaken this city. In his ruling, Judge Barry G. Williams rejected the prosecution’s claim that the officer, Caesar R. Goodson Jr., had given Mr. Gray a “rough ride” in the van, intentionally putting him at risk for an injury by taking a wide turn while Mr. Gray was not secured with a seatbelt. “The court...

The Baltimore police officer facing the most serious charges in the death of Freddie Gray was found not guilty of second-degree murder Thursday, WBAL reports. Officer Caesar Goodson was also charged with manslaughter, assault, reckless endangerment and misconduct in office after Gray's death.

A jury has convicted veteran U.S. Congressman Chaka Fattah in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan. Fattah was found guilty of all 22 counts against him, including racketeering, fraud and money laundering. His lawyers had argued that schemes were engineered without Fattah's knowledge by two political consultants who pleaded guilty in the case. Fattah's jovial and calm demeanor didn't change much as the verdict was read....

The Secret Service agent who guarded President Clinton during his sexual affair with Monica Lewinsky says the president was actually having sexual relations with numerous mistresses, including Eleanor Mondale, the daughter of former Vice President Walter Mondale. In his forthcoming tell-all book, “Crisis of Character,” Gary J. Byrne describes how he walked in on Bill Clinton and Ms. Mondale. “There before us was E! Network host Eleanor Mondale … and President Clinton in a compromising position, that is, making out on the Map Room table,” Byrne writes of the alleged Christmastime event during the middle of Clinton’s presidency, according to...

Another holiday brought another slaughter of innocents in heavily gun-controlled Chicago. Fifty-six people were shot during Father’s Day weekend, and 13 of those shooting victims died. This brings the number shot in Chicago to “about 1,800 people” year-t0-date, the Tribune reports.

Damning Dad: Father’s Day Pledge is appalling by Daniel Clark Happy Father's Day, you sadistic, sociopathic brute! That's essentially how the holiday is being observed here in Pittsburgh, a city that is plunging into full-blown, banana-brained liberalism at warp speed. Since 2014, political and business leaders have been signing onto the "Father’s Day Pledge to End Gender Violence," along with popular local sports figures like Pirate manager Clint Hurdle, and longtime backup Steeler quarterback Charlie Batch. If you don't understand what "gender violence" means, that's understandable, because liberals are still in the process of making it up. If they really...

See Something, Say Nothing A Homeland Security Officer Exposes the Govt. Submission to Jihad One day after a prominent U.S. Muslim leader reacted to the November 2015 Paris attacks with a declaration that the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has nothing to do with Islam, President Obama made the same assertion. Who exactly is the enemy we face, not only in the Middle East but also within our borders? Is it “murderers without a coherent creed” or “nihilistic killers who want to tear things down,” as some described ISIS after 130 people were brutally slain and another 368 injured...

Donald Trump, the most prominent Republican right now, suggested on national TV on Monday that President Obama is possibly complicit in Sunday's horrific terror attack in Orlando. And maybe, Trump hinted, the president is even somehow involved. On Fox & Friends, the presumptive GOP presidential candidate said, "He doesn't get it or he gets it better than anybody understands—it's one or the other and either one is unacceptable." "Look," he continued, "we're led by a man that either is not tough, not smart, or he's got something else in mind. And the something else in mind—you know, people can't believe...

And Imam Muhammad Musri of the Islamic Society of Central Florida warned against “sensationalizing” the story. Immediately the mainstream media and government and law enforcement officials have as their top priority of protecting Islam from criticism or scrutiny. Their kneejerk response to every jihad massacre is to regard Muslims as its victims, rather than scrutinize the motivating ideology of the killers. Instead of making sure no one thinks ill of Islam, they should be asking what it is about Islam that makes these jihad massacres keep happening.