Free Republic

Lego has been accused of racism by the Turkish community over a Star Wars model that supposedly resembles one of Istanbul’s most revered mosques. tria’s Turkish community said the model was based on Hagia Sophia mosque in Istanbul and that the accompanying figures depicted Asians and Orientals as people with “deceitful and criminal personalities.” The Turkish Cultural Community of Austria released a statement calling for Lego to apologise for affronting religious and cultural feelings. The anger was provoked by “Jabba’s Palace”, a model of the home of Jabba the Hutt from Lego’s Star Wars product range based on the blockbusting...

Washington, DC Mayor Vincent Gray is demanding that the City's NFL franchise currently know as the “Redskins” change its name. “The current name is demeaning to Native Americans,” Gray said. “Since the City has made major financial contributions in support of this franchise I am asserting our right to insist on a new monicker for the team.” Wags we quick to come out with a few risible possibilities. “I think 'Crackheads' would be a good name for the team,” said long time resident Joe Blough. “It would more accurately fit the culture of the city and could be seen as...

Who were all the great inventors, innovators, and philosophers? Who forged the West? Who birthed democracy? Who gave us our Constitution? While modern society prides itself on being unbiased, it’s no exception to the rule that every age has its fashionable prejudices — and unfashionable people. Among the latter today are white men, and the closer they are to “dead white male” status, to use a favored leftist descriptive, the greater the disdain in which they’re held. Thus do we see sneering at “old white men.” Earlier this year, Senator Harry Reid — one well acquainted through experience with old-white-male...

Ex-CIA Director David Petraeus told lawmakers during private hearings Friday that he believed all along that the deadly attack on the US consulate in Libya was a terrorist strike, even though that wasn't how the Obama administration initially described it publicly. Petraeus told lawmakers that the CIA's draft talking points named specific terrorist groups. But Petraeus said some federal agency changed it to "extremists."

Mr Curmudgeon:During the third and final presidential debate held in Boca Raton, Florida, conservative columnist Ann Coulter Tweeted, "I highly approve of Romney's decision to be kind and gentle to the retard." Many among the media elite were highly offended that Coulter would use 'retard' to describe the man they consider the savior of America - President Barack Hussein Obama.Mitt Romney, who bested the president in the three-game series - as evidenced by his post-debate rise in the polls - proved to the American people, if not the media, he is knowledgeable and, more importantly, the only serious candidate of...

PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland police shut down the Burnside Bridge and detained 13 bearded men who said they were headed to a photo shoot to raise money for breast cancer research Wednesday evening. According to spokesman Robert King, police received a report that a man on the bridge had an assault rifle. Officers shut down the bridge just after 7:30 p.m. while they investigated. Police found 13 bearded men, many of whom wore military style uniforms. One of the men had an assault rifle, King said. They were taken to the Central Precinct. It's unclear if the assault rifle was...

(NEW YORK) —“ ‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy…What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote Shakespeare in Romeo & Juliet.   But apparently thy name is no longer so sweet for actor Kevin Bacon.        Bowing to pressure from various Muslim groups such as CAIR (Center for American–Islamic Relations), the iconic actor and musician has publically vowed to change his last name.  The reason: although many Muslims, like most Americans, watch films featuring the seemingly omnipresent actor, his last name has become a source of “discomfort,” as...

FORT HOOD — A string of witnesses in an evidentiary hearing identified Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan as the triggerman at a Fort Hood deployment center that left 45 dead and injured. As his trial nears almost three years later, few here argue over his guilt. They wonder why a psychiatrist would gun down fellow soldiers. Rep. John Carter, R-Round Rock can explain it. He calls Hasan a domestic terrorist, something prosecutors have never claimed, and says those avoiding the term are indulging in political correctness. “Believe me, my friend, if somebody had jumped up and said, ‘Praise God and...

WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. Army leaders have begun to study the prospect of sending women soldiers to the service's prestigious Ranger school - another step in the effort to broaden opportunities for women in the military. Gen. Raymond Odierno, Army chief of staff, says he's asked senior commanders to provide him with recommendations and a plan this summer.

Kraft Foods is attempting to clean up the mess made by the accidental release of a controversial Oreo advertisement that features a breastfeeding baby. The ad shows a baby feeding from an uncensored breast and holding an Oreo cookie in its hand. “Milk’s favorite cookie,” it reads at the bottom. A spokesperson from Kraft told CBS St. Louis that the ad was not intended for mass public consumption. “We’d like to clarify that Kraft Foods did not create this visual,” a spokesperson said in a statement via e-mail. ... “It was never intended for public distribution or use with...

AUSTIN - The Daily Texan's editorial board apologized Wednesday for running an editorial cartoon that referred to Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager shot and killed in Florida, as a "colored boy." The cartoonist, Stephanie Eisner of The Woodlands, apologized separately. She no longer works for the University of Texas' student newspaper, according to the board. The editorial board said it will take steps, including requiring all newspaper employees to take part in a seminar each semester "about the relationship between race and the media." "We sincerely apologize for publishing the offensive cartoon and for the harm that decision caused,"...

Kids at Soule Road School in Wilbraham, MA ate green veggies and wore green today but, begorra, under no circumstances were they celebrating St. Patrick’s Day! Instead, it was “Happy O’Green Day.” “Inclusive and diverse,” and to “ease any discomfort that may go along with celebrating St. Patrick’s Day” was the (non) reasoning behind the name change, according to principal Lisa Curtain. “Not so,” says the more diplomatic school superintendent, M. Michael O’Shea who undoubtedly has his share of Irish ancestry. “Soule Road has not changed the name of St. Patrick’s Day. St. Patrick’s Day is on the Soule Road...

"Insulting the Quran is an act of blasphemy" "We will hold sacred the beliefs held sacred by others" The latest advisory to our soldiers and contractors fighting jihad in Afghanistan and Iraq will turn your stomach....Please see attached training module, this training is mandatory and must be completed by all onsite personnel by 10 March 2012. For any personnel scheduled to leave before this training is due, the training must be done and reported to Operations prior to travel. All departments will be required to scan all sign in sheets to Operations for accountability purposes; the departments will be required...

A liberal media watchdog group was purportedly given a grant to expand their monitoring and fact checking of religious broadcasts. According to a weeklong "inside" series by The Daily Caller, Media Matters for America once received a $50,000 grant to "monitor and attack" religious news outlets like the Christian Broadcasting Network and Focus on the Family, though the exact details remained unclear. Tax returns allegedly revealed that the ARCA Foundation, a grant making organization focused on advancing social equity, justice and democracy in the U.S. and abroad, allotted the money in 2006 when Congresswoman Donna Edwards of Maryland's 4th District,...

If you heard more "Merry Christmas" than "Happy Holiday" during the 2011 holiday season, it may be a sign that using "Politically Correct" language is going out of style.

Homeland Security: The bleaching of Islam from the terror picture is almost complete. Eric Holder has ordered a purge of FBI training manuals. Soon the 9/11 hijackers' religion will be censored, too. Last week, top Justice Department officials huddled with several Islamic groups — including a Muslim Brotherhood front implicated in a terror-finance scheme — to discuss "post-9/11 discrimination." They promised the aggrieved they'd pull back references to Islam from terror-training materials. "I recently directed all components of the Department of Justice to re-evaluate their training efforts," Deputy Attorney General James Cole announced during the Washington conference. U.S. Attorney Dwight...

UND officials have estimated the cost of retiring the Fighting Sioux nickname and logo at nearly $750,000, not counting the cost of changes that may occur at the privately-held Ralph Engelstad Arena. University President Robert Kelley sent the estimates last week to a budget analyst and auditor with the North Dakota Legislative Council, in response to a request made by Rep. Mike Schatz, R-New England. Schatz, who has declared that he will not support an attempt in next month's special legislative session to clear the way for retirement of the name and logo, said he asked for the cost information...

On the tenth anniversary of 9/11, we mourn our losses. We mourn the loss of fellow Americans who died at the hands of a sworn enemy and we mourn the loss of those in the ranks of our military who have since fought a righteous fight to protect us from that enemy. In a weekly radio address, President Barack Obama called for unity as the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001 draws near: "We were united," said the President, "and the outpouring of generosity and compassion reminded us that in times of challenge, we Americans move forward together, as one...

During the 1980 New Hampshire Primary and around the time of a canceled Nashua Telegraph debate between Bush and Reagan (due to complaints by Baker and Dole) there was an occasion of the telling of what would now be unthinkable – a politically incorrect joke – as we are now all so sensitive and have learned not to tell jokes, or enjoy or take a joke (something so well alluded to by Herman Cain in the last primary debate: “America needs to learn how to take a joke!”). ********************* Rendezvous With Destiny – Ronald Reagan and the Campaign that Changed...

David Frum is a writer who, in 1997, engaged in a spirited online debate with homosexual writer Andrew Sullivan over the topic of homosexual "marriage." In over 5,500 words of text, Frum was articulate, cogent, and compelling in his opposition to radically redefining marriage, saying that "this request isn't just misplaced, but is actually logically impossible." Now, however, Frum has changed his mind. In a short CNN op-ed last week, he wrote that "the case against same-sex marriage has been tested against reality. The case has not passed its test." Tested? Only five out of the fifty states (soon to...