Free Republic

Is American Crossroads giving North Carolina Senate candidate Thom Tillis one last push before the state's Republican primary? The group has reserved $1.1 million in advertising in North Carolina for April, its political director, Carl Forti, confirmed Monday. The ads, the content of which Forti would not disclose, will air in the pricey Raleigh and Charlotte media markets. That influx of spending will hit just before Tillis, the Republican frontrunner, faces off May 6 against a field including Greg Brannon, a physician who has been endorsed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Mark Harris, a Baptist pastor who has received...

COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WECT) - A parent is speaking out after she said her daughter's teacher rejected a rough draft of her paper. The subject, her hero, Jesus. Heather Watts said her daughter attends second grade at Cerro Gordo Elementary School in Columbus County. Watts said the teacher asked her 8-year-old daughter Ryleigh, "can't you write about something different?" "I think she should have freedom to write about what she wants to write about," the disgruntled mother said. "If she wants to write about Jesus, she should write about Jesus." Watts said this question is threatening her daughter's First Amendment...

In Greenville, North Carolina, a jury in federal court found that the University of North Carolina-Wilmington violated criminology professor Mike Adams’ free speech rights when it denied his application for promotion to full professor. The ACLJ represents Dr. Adams, along with Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Travis Barham. Dr. Adams is a conservative Christian who also regularly contributes to Townhall.com, where he often critiques the widespread leftist abuses within colleges and universities. His speech caused a furious response within his university, with the Chancellor even attempting to alter the standards for promotion to allow the faculty to consider professors’ protected speech...

WASHINGTON — Senate Majority PAC, a group that supports Democratic Senate candidates, is preparing a $3 million advertising campaign against Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch, the libertarian-minded billionaire brothers who support conservative causes and have already poured millions of dollars into the 2014 midterm elections. The group’s effort will last for roughly two weeks and span five states — Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan and North Carolina. In an attempt to combat the Koch brothers’ influence, the $3 million buy will nearly match what Senate Majority PAC has spent on all of its other television ads so far this...

In a constituent meeting gone awry that was captured on shaky, amateur video, embattled Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) berated a group of local activists who oppose amnesty legislation, suggesting they were racist and saying they didn't have “any damn facts.” “You're telling me what people have told you? You don't have any damn facts!” Ellmers exploded at one of the activists when he said that employers – who often claim a labor shortage to argue for amnesty – frequently don't post job openings in that region. “Facts – numbers. Facts – documents,” Ellmers lectured, her voice dripping with disdain. She...

In a constituent meeting gone awry that was captured on shaky, amateur video, embattled Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) berated a group of local activists who oppose amnesty legislation, suggesting they were racist and saying they didn't have “any damn facts.” “You're telling me what people have told you? You don't have any damn facts!” Ellmers exploded at one of the activists when he said that employers – who often claim a labor shortage to argue for amnesty – frequently don't post job openings in that region. “Facts – numbers. Facts – documents,” Ellmers lectured, her voice dripping with disdain. She...

Yesterday, Ron Woodward of NC Listen reported on a meeting he had with Renee Ellmers on the topic of immigration and amnesty. He claimed he had exited the meeting appalled both by her positions and by her behavior.One of the constituents attending the meeting recorded the conversation.The Randolph Tea Party posted the clips online, and exclusively forwarded the links to PJ Media. Four clips of the meeting are embedded below.At one point, Ellmers says of Woodard: “You don’t have any damn facts.”Ellmers claims he is stereotyping, and constantly interrupts him. This conduct occurred after she had inconvenienced the group by...

Two North Carolina Muslim converts were arrested on terrorism charges this week: These two were proselytized, then recruited to Jihad. They didn’t brew up this scheme on their own. This is so similar to what happened to Carlos Bledsoe in Tennessee before he traveled to Yemen and came back to wage Jihad in Nashville and Little Rock. There are active Jihadi recruiting operations going on in the US…

DURHAM, NC, March 20, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – During a national media blitz, the Duke University student who makes pornographic films to pay her tuition has said her experience in the industry has left her feeling “empowered” and uplifted. But an anti-pornography activist has posted a shocking video graphically undermining her claims. “My experience in porn has been nothing but supportive, exciting, thrilling, and empowering,” Miriam Weeks, who revealed that she performs under the name Belle Knox, wrote on the feminist website xoJane.com last month. “For me, shooting pornography brings me unimaginable joy.” “It is my artistic outlet: my love, my...

Earlier this week, I wrote about a 9-year-old North Carolina boy who was being teased at school for wearing a “girlie” My Little Pony backpack to school. Administrators at Hyatt Elementary initially tried to solve the problem by telling Grayson Bruce to not wear his beloved backpack, telling him was a “trigger for bullying.” But then a social media firestorm ensued. Grayson’s mom, Noreen Bruce, launched a Support for Grayson Facebook page, attracting over 70,000 fans, and people all over the world wrote in messages telling the boy that his love for My Little Pony is awesome. Men posted images...

A jury in North Carolina on Thursday found that the University of North Carolina-Wilmington retaliated against criminology professor Dr. Mike Adams for his political and social views. Adams, a Townhall columnist, explained last year that despite his track record of success at the university in terms of teaching, research and service, he was denied a promotion to full professor because of the views he advanced in his opinion columns. He described the promotion process as being “replete with procedural irregularities and with direct criticism of [his] columns and [his] beliefs.” The ACLJ, who represented Adams along with Alliance Defending Freedom...

RALEIGH, N.C. - FBI agents raided a Raleigh apartment Wednesday of a man authorities said wanted to travel overseas to kill non-Muslims. FBI agents showed up at Autumn Pointe Apartments on Bremer Hall Court and raided an apartment belonging to Akba Jihad Jordan. A Federal criminal complaint says Jordan and another man, Avin Marsalis Brown, had plans to kill non-Muslims in Syria or Yemen. The federal documents show a years worth of conversations between the two men and FBI informants. The informant says Jordan possessed an AK-47, a bullet proof vest, swords and other weapons - some of which were...

A pizza delivery woman thwarted an armed robbery attempt at a house off Rosehill Road on Thursday by producing a weapon of her own, Fayetteville police said. (snip) The man put something to the back of Hurd's head and demanded money, Joyce said. "Unbeknownst to them, she had a weapon," Joyce said. "She pulled out a gun, and when she did, the suspects fled and they didn't get anything."

Author's Note: The fight for student’s rights continues. The series is stretching out longer than anticipated but you will want to keep reading. There's some good news at the end of the road. Dear Chancellor Miller (chancellor@uncw.edu); After laying the groundwork in my previous correspondence, I finally have an opportunity to respond to the sweeping claim that UNCW's student affairs division treats student groups equally, regardless of their political viewpoint. I will also respond to the Dean's claim that there are hundreds of student groups on campus that have been approved without any difficulties whatsoever. That claim suggests that those...

Keith King pushed aside a half-eaten plate of barbecue, slaw and hushpuppies. He needed to make a point. “Hagan,” he said with conviction, “is set to be beat.” For the Republicans gathered last week for a county convention at King’s Restaurant, the sentiment was universal. What King – and most of those in the room – didn’t know is which Republican candidate is the best challenger for Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan. “I do not have a favorite,” said King, a former Lenoir County GOP chairman running for school board. “I need to hear more.” Six weeks before early voting...

Turning up the heat in the U.S. Senate primary, Republican Greg Brannon said a “culture of corruption” would make N.C. House Speaker Thom Tillis “unelectable” in November. “The Democrat attack machine will make easy pickings of his candidacy,” Brannon wrote in a new fundraising letter. Brannon hit Tillis on several points, including his 2012 decision to give severance pay to two staffers involved in sex scandals. The attacks are among the sharpest yet in a Republican contest to pick a challenger to Democratic U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan. Eight Republicans are running in the May 6 primary. But Brannon, more than...

MEDFORD, Mass. — Colleges are paying students to take a year off after high school to travel, volunteer or do internships so that students of all income brackets can benefit from “gap years.” A new program at Tufts University and existing ones at a handful of other schools aim to remove the financial barriers that can keep cash-strapped students from exploring different communities and challenge their comfort zones before jumping right into college. The gap year program starting this fall at Tufts will pay for housing, airfare and even visa fees, which can often add up to $30,000 or more....

Clay Aiken's appearance here recently seemed as much a fan tour as a campaign stop. The former American Idol contestant and current Democratic candidate for the Second Congressional District was at Di'lishi Frozen Yogurt Bar to meet people and have his picture made with them. Some talked politics while others just seemed to want to see and touch him. Marlo Francis, owner of Di'lishi, said the event was the result of a friendship between Aiken and Lane Ragsdale, who works at the N.C. Zoo. "Clay's PR person asked me about visiting the Zoo," said Ragsdale, who added that Aiken's Zoo...

Emilio Vicente, brought illegally to the U.S. as a child, was candid about his identity when he ran for student body president at the University of North Carolina. --SNIP-- "I'm undocumented and I'm gay, so I've come out of two different closets," Vicente said inside the student union, dressed in jeans and a Carolina blue T-shirt. If there is a face of the young, Americanized immigrant — the so-called Dreamer — it might be Emilio Vicente.

Black Panther professor, teacher intimidation at the heart of graduation-rate scandal Source alleges WSSU provost is behind falsification of grades. WSSU under fire for allegedly boosting graduation rates. Larry Little, an activist for the Black Panthers and Democratic Party, purportedly violated UNC political activity guidelines. No passing grade? At Winston-Salem State University (WSSU), that’s no problem. According to documents exclusively obtained by Campus Reform, students unable to successfully pass a class often have options other than taking a failing mark. And these options bode well for WSSU as higher graduation rates bring more grant money. “You can’t imagine what goes...