Free Republic

Massachusetts Democratic State Representative John Fresolo complained that “people are misinterpreting the rationale behind what I did.” What he did was send a digital photo of his penis to a computer at the State House. A legislative aide who saw the photo lodged a complaint with the Ethics Committee. Fresolo maintained that he was “pilot-testing a new element for sexual offender databases. Right now, all we have on sex offenders is facial photographs. In cases where a rapist wears a mask the victim may not be able to identify her assailant. By providing another data point we could close more...

It was a productive day for Gary Strader when he pulled his vehicle up to a remote site in northeast Nevada and found nine coyotes caught in leg hold snares set by the federal government. As was routine, Strader, a former trapper with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, signaled his dogs to attack. His supervisor, who had accompanied him that day, watched and laughed as the dogs circled the coyotes and ripped into them, Strader recalled. "That was regular practice," said Strader, who in 2009 left Wildlife Services, a little-known program within the USDA. The program is tasked with humanely...

In “Queering Schools, GSAs and the Law: Taking on God”--an excerpt from the book The Gay Agenda: Claiming Space, Identity & Justice--a law professor at the University of Manitoba calls for changes in “state-issued law and policy approaches” to ensure that Canadian schools, including Catholic schools, become “queered.” “The most effective approach would call for laws, policies and programs that mandate curriculum and educative responses to transform the schooling experience of all students,” writes Donn Short, who discusses “the reach of the law and the ability of the law to take on what sits as the major social norm and...

Protectors, predators, and peter pans--a five post day This is a five post day, so scroll down for all the goodies. Before I move on to something else, I have been thinking of raising Catholic boys to be men again, as I consider working in schools again as a substitute teacher. I always end up teaching boys....hmm. I teach boys to be men. There are three categories of men: Protectors, Predators and Peter Pans. Now, young boys learn to be one of these types. I want to write about this from my own experience in teaching, observing and being...

The 10-week investigation into the downing of a CIA drone in Iran is raising questions as to whether the malfunctions inadvertently may have handed the Iranians not only the aircraft but its data. Based on the review, a former intelligence official told Fox News that investigators think one of the drone's three major "data streams" began sending back bad information to its U.S.-based operator. A leading question is whether the bad data caused the drone's operator to inadvertently land the aircraft. But it also raises the possibility that the faulty data stream could have prevented the drone from dumping the...

Some 200 Catholic priests suspected of sexual abuse are living undetected in communities across California, according to an attorney who represents hundreds of plaintiffs who sued the LA Archdiocese for molestation they say was inflicted on them by priests and clergy of the church. Ray Boucher has mapped sixty locations where suspect priests live, in cities and towns from northern to southern California, and provided those locations to NBC4 exclusively. “Many if not all these priests have admitted to sexual abuse,” Boucher said. “They live within a mile of 1,500 playgrounds, schools and daycare centers.” Since none of the priests...

Former Penn State coach Jerry Sandusky's wife has denied allegations that her husband sexually abused boys in their home and that she ignored cries for help. Sandusky was arrested Wednesday on 10 new counts of child sex abuse charges based on the testimony of two new alleged victims. The new allegations bring to 10 the number of alleged sex abuse victims. Dottie Sandusky, who delivered a $50,000 check today to help bail her husband out of jail, was named in the testimony of one of the new alleged victims. Mrs. Sandusky has been implicated in the alleged sex abuse crimes...

At least two wolves chased down and killed a teacher who was jogging on a road last year outside a rural Alaska village, according to a report released Tuesday by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

UPDATE 11.25am: OCCUPY Melbourne protesters have supplied drugs to homeless children and wards of the state as young as 12, a charity group says. The Salvation Army's Major Brendan Nottle said two 16-year-old girls were also invited to the home of activists in their late 20s and early 30s, while another 16-year-old was given marijuana to smoke. "We've had young people actually coming to our workers, as young as 12 and 13, and saying that they’ve been down at Occupy Melbourne," said on 3AW this morning. "They’ve been making statements to our workers around them being allowed to sniff glue...

The Des Moines Register released a detailed story about a 90-year-old woman who was allegedly sexually attacked. Was the alleged predator working in the nursing home? No, he was living there by court order. Not only is he living there, but his roommate is also a sexual predator. They are 78 and 83 years old. They are not locked in their rooms but are free to go anywhere. This attack was witnessed by an 8-year-old girl who was visiting.

HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 24 (UPI) -- A Connecticut lawmaker says he wants to change the traditional Oct. 31 date of Halloween to the last Saturday of the month for safety and other reasons. The change would make the holiday easier for working parents, safer for trick-or-treaters and would boost the economy as well, state Rep. Tim Larson said. "Halloween is [a] fun night for the whole family, but not so much when you have to race home from work, get the kids ready for trick or treating, welcome the neighborhood children, and then try to get everyone to bed for...

Yesterday, the Turkish media reported, “Turkey … agreed with the US on a deal involving the transfer of US-engineered unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that could prove crucial in combating terrorism.” The Predator drones, expected to be delivered in June 2012, are supposed to help the Turks combat terrorists, which in Ankara’s narrow definition means the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) crossing into Turkey from the Iraq border. The Predators, said Turkish defense minister İsmet Yilmaz, “are UAVs with better qualities and features than the [Israeli-made] Herons.” Ankara, the report explains, was “disappointed by Israel's failure to return six Herons it had...

The U.S. and Turkey are discussing how to continue cooperation against terrorist targets in northern Iraq after U.S. forces leave Iraq in December, including the possibility of basing Predator drones in Turkey, a U.S. official said Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The U.S. currently is sharing Predator surveillance data with Turkey as part of a joint effort to combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, which the U.S. considers a terrorist group and whose fighters have launched cross-border attacks into Turkey from northern Iraq. The Predators, capable of...

Two themes have already emerged in the still-early 2012 presidential contest:Republicans are running against Washington and President Obama is running against part of Washington, the Congress that gave him his early legislative achievements.The newest entrant to the GOP race is Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who touched on one of the most emotional and volatile issues sitting on the nation's debate table: border security, illegal drugs from Mexico and illegal immigrants.In his announcement speech in South Carolina on Saturday, Perry said:America’s standing in the world is in peril, not only because of disastrous economic policies, but

Education Secretary Arne Duncan issued a “Dear Colleagues” letter on June 14 directing federally funded schools to allow and promote the establishment of clubs on campuses, specifically Gay-Straight Alliance clubs for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students.The letter was issued from the department’s Office of Civil Rights for elementary and secondary schools and was sent to all school districts in the United States, according to Jo Ann Webb, spokesperson for the Department of Education (DOE).Webb said the school districts – the entity that oversees elementary, middle and secondary schools in a specific district in every state – will decide what...

Top gay rights leader: kids of religious families are ‘target demographic’ of anti-‘gay bullying’ ad by Kathleen Gilbert Fri Jun 10 7:18 PM EST June 10, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After the broadcast of a homosexualist advertisement during the family-friendly Fox show American Idol prompted outrage, the founder of the ad campaign has confirmed that such advertisements are intended to promote the message of the gay rights lobby to young children in households that normally wouldn’t support it. One conservative leader has now demanded that Google, Fox, and Disney-Pixar sever their ties with the campaign. Peggy Nance of Concerned Women...

He says there was nothing indecent going on. Do we have any reason to believe anything he says, though? I’m just spitballing here, but he may, just may, be only admitting to as much as he absolutely has to. And with Patterico’s prosecutorial brief, lying about not tweeting with any minor at all became untenable. Rep. Anthony Weiner sent private electronic messages to a 17-year-old Delaware girl but maintains there was nothing inappropriate in his communications with her. In a statement to Roll Call Friday evening, the New York Democrat’s spokeswoman Risa Heller said, “According to Congressman Weiner, his communications...

Rep. Anthony Weiner has achieved something by behaving so spectacularly shamefully. Unless I miss my guess, he has revived the concept of sexual morality. Even for a jaded nation, this is one sex scandal too far. We've had it. Our capacity to remain non-judgmental on sexual matters -- as we've been tirelessly instructed to do for 40 years -- seems to have reached its end point. The national reaction to Weiner's conduct, in contrast to previous sex scandals (and there have been too many to count in the past two decades), has been not amusement (though jokes made the rounds)...

Pro-family organizations across the nation are expressing shock and alarm over a new wave of homosexual indoctrination developing in public schools – especially in California – where parents are not even given the option of withdrawing their kids from the mandatory lessons on being "gay" or more. "Young children are being taught that they can choose to be a boy or a girl – or both," said officials at Mass Resistance, one of the leading organizations across the country defending the fact that students are boys or girls. "Boys, for example, should be comfortable wearing girls' clothes and nail polish,...

When schoolchildren are brought to a state-sponsored "youth" event promoted by their schools (and personally endorsed by the Governor), you'd think that there would be some sense of "appropriateness" involved. Not when it comes to the homosexual movement. Homosexual activists always insist that their involvement with middle-school and high-school kids is all about promoting "tolerance" and "feeling safe" from bullies and "homophobes" -- and not about sex. But what really happens at these activities? At the "youth pride celebration" on the Boston Common, kids are encouraged to gather around tables set up by various adult homosexual organizations under a line...

President Obama has authorized the use of aerial drone strikes in Libya to aid rebels fighting to oust dictator Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced Thursday. Gates stressed that even though the United States will begin using the armed Predator drones in Libya, American soldiers will not be deployed to the country. He said the Libyan people will have to remove Gadhafi themselves, though the U.S. "can provide them with some cover from the air." The announcement falls in line with the Obama administration's pledge to not put American boots on the ground to remove Gadhafi from power....

Here is a list of the teacher 'sexpidemic' cases WND has documented where female teachers have been accused, or convicted, of assaulting students: Abbie Jane Swogger, 34: Teacher's aide at Highlands Senior High School in Harrison, Pa., was arrested Feb. 22, 2008, for renting a hotel room where police found beer, marijuana, an open condom wrapper and at least four teenage girls and boys, including several of her 15-year-old son's friends. Though categorically denying rumors she was having sex with students from the school, Swogger was quoted as saying, "I was stupid, very stupid. I already know I was and...

Children including teens (yes even your children and grandchildren) have almost certainly been exposed to pornography. A predator has already approached many. The lure, if not cash, is usually alcohol or some other drug, occasionally cigarettes for the very young. Statistics are spotty as most children, even older teens, whether they take the bait or not, do not tell anyone in authority. Do not help these pigs. There are clear statistics that the earlier a child is exposed to drugs, the higher the likelihood of trouble. The nonsense that it is somehow responsible to show a child how to drink...

How many times have you heard that public school teachers are sorely underpaid, under-appreciated public servants with hearts of gold who love your kids more than you do? There is a myth out there that every person who enters into the sacred field of education has the heart of a servant, a love of children and no desire for personal gain or satisfaction. And certainly, there are teachers that fit that description (I’ve had a few myself.) But I’ve also had teachers who should never have been allowed within fifty feet of children. A 2004 study by Hofstra University scholar...

Predators such as wolves, bears and panthers are being reintroduced close to where people live, as a growing number of scientists believe they may hold the key to restoring damaged ecosystems."It used to be we would see it once every year or so, but now it's every two weeks," said Al Sanchez. "I'm starting to panic when I hear noises. If I come out here I'm concerned I'm going to be his prey." Mr Sanchez and Reg Malone, who live in a densely populated suburbs of Naples, Florida - a city of 300 000 people - are regularly visited by...

Viewed from a distance, the natural world often presents a vista of sublime, majestic placidity. Yet beneath the foliage and hidden from the distant eye, a vast, unceasing slaughter rages. Wherever there is animal life, predators are stalking, chasing, capturing, killing, and devouring their prey. Agonized suffering and violent death are ubiquitous and continuous. This hidden carnage provided one ground for the philosophical pessimism of Schopenhauer, who contended that “one simple test of the claim that the pleasure in the world outweighs the pain…is to compare the feelings of an animal that is devouring another with those of the animal...

Salazar's 5-year-old son was attacked and severely mauled by a cougar that tried to drag the boy off a well-used hiking trail and into the woods in the Sandia Mountains outside of Albuquerque. The story was so frightening that it made national news. "People would say that it was just an accident. That it was extremely rare, just a rare accident." ...Convinced that three attacks in three months didn't qualify as rare... In 2006 and 2007, there were nine reported ... In 2008, there were 40 reported encounters before the attack on her son in May. This led her into...

Thomas Jefferson was a genius. The Declaration of Independence and his other writings prove this beyond doubt. But even he had difficulty thinking free. He had spent his life up to that point as a subject of His Britannic Majesty King George III. So when he wrote the first draft of the Declaration, he automatically used the word “subjects.” But he saw his error, erased “subjects” and substituted “citizens.” If even Jefferson had to make an effort to think free, how much more do we non-geniuses have to exert ourselves constantly to be alert. If we citizens allow ourselves to...

A pair of illegal immigrants raped a 14-year-old Texas girl at July 4th party in Texas, where the teen was later found sitting naked in a bathtub, police said. The victim told police that she went to an Independence Day party with her cousin in Horseshoe Bay, Tex., about 40 miles northwest of Austin, where she was left in a room with Anibal Escobar, 19, and Anael Martinez, 22, MyFoxAustin reported. The two Honduran natives, who told police they are in the U.S. illegally, made advances at the victim and then raped her, she told police. The victim’s cousin discovered...

71 % Tomatometer How does the Tomatometer work Reviews Counted:87 Fresh:62 Rotten:25 Average Rating:5.9/10 Consensus: After a string of subpar sequels, this bloody, action-packed reboot takes the Predator franchise back to its testosterone-fueled roots.

Delivering on its promise, Predators is a moody, unrelenting and attention-grabbing sci-fi thriller, filled with action, splendid visual effects and packed with undulating tension. True to its 80s film origins, and using its broad concept as a springboard, the ante of the premise of an invisibly cloaked extra terrestrial warrior is raised and a twist added. The dense jungle may be like the Amazon, but the location is planets away, and the writers that producer Robert Rodriguez has commissioned, have cleverly made the problem of relocating its human characters one of the intriguing plot points. Beyond its spectacular effects and...

This is the most heart-tugging story I’ve ever written. Atrocious victimization of children is prevalent throughout the world. After meeting Jason and Kristin Weis, National Walk directors of Stop Child Trafficking Now (SCTNow), and looking them squarely in the eyes, I knew it was decision time. I could turn my back and pretend that human trafficking doesn’t affect me. Or, I could assist in fighting the war. Stop Child Trafficking Now is a 501c3 organization with a mission and strategy to stop child trafficking by targeting the source – predators who drive the sex industry. Yes, they are in our...

NEW YORK — US actors and liberal intellectuals joined a list to be published Friday of nearly 2,000 people accusing President Barack Obama of allowing human rights violations and war crimes. "Crimes are crimes, no matter who does them," the statement reads over pictures of Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush due to appear in the New York Review of Books. The statement, published as a paid advertisement, accuses Obama, who was elected in 2008 with the enthusiastic support of US liberals, of continuing Bush's controversial approach to human rights in Iraq and Afghanistan, and in domestic security. It...

Officials concerned about protecting youngsters from predators in child welfare systemSpotlight on female workers in wake of recent allegations By Ofelia Casillas, Tribune Reporter February 14, 2010 Four times recently adult women have been investigated on allegations of sexually abusing some of the state's most vulnerable teen boys— those living in child welfare facilities where they were seeking treatment for abuse, neglect or behavioral problems. A 29-year-old teacher faces charges of having sex with a 15-year-old in Chicago. A 40-year-old instructor was convicted of having sex with a 16-year-old in a Mundelein institution. A 26-year-old Lake Villa therapist is scheduled...

  Cindy Thai Tai - Singer, songwriter, make-up artist  (After & before gender reassignment operation) We have all heard about the many nightmares associated with government taking over the health-care industry, but are we really ready for the actual consequences? Think about that for a moment and let the many possibilities sink into the gray matter inside your skull. When all is said and done there really are no limits. And please do not give me any of this foolishness about the Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats forcing amendments into the final bill that will disallow certain procedures or conversely that...

What is surprising is that he is not afraid to go into the cage with predators and he treats them as if they were just dogs. Moreover, I would never put my child on the back of a big cat even if I was upbringing the animal myself.

FAIRFIELD, Calif. (CBS13) ― An unidentified military veteran was involved in a tense confrontation with anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan and the group Code Pink at a rally at Travis Air Force Base on Saturday, November 28, 2009. CBS A Saturday rally led by anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan at Travis Air Force Base nearly ended in a brawl when a military veteran physically confronted the protesters. Anti-war group Code Pink demonstrated at the military base Saturday morning in the first of six planned protests against unmanned military drones currently in use in overseas war zones. Sheehan, a well-known anti-war activist...

Last month, the U.S. Air Force created four new UAV squadrons (29th Attack Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 16th Training Squadron and 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron). All these new units are actually training squadrons. The air force is training 220 operator crews (each with a pilot and one or two sensor operators) a year. In two years, this will increase to 400 a year, which will enable the air force to run 50 CAPs (Combat Air Patrol; UAVs in the air over a combat zone) simultaneously. The large number of new crews are needed because the pilots only operate UAVs for...

After what could be the first grizzly bear attack on a human in the Upper Green, a 46-year-old sheepherder was life-flighted to Idaho Falls early Monday morning after being seriously mauled. The grizzly began its rampage in the early hours in a sheep herd grazing near Forest Road 617, at the eastern edge of the Gros Ventre Wilderness near Tosi Creek. The herd is tended by Marcello Tejeda, of Rock Springs, and Jorge Mesa, both of whom were awakened by what they thought was a black bear in the sheep, according to their employer, rancher Mary Thoman of Fontenelle. Monday,...

WASHINGTON — From a secret division at its North Carolina headquarters, the company formerly known as Blackwater has assumed a role in Washington’s most important counterterrorism program: the use of remotely piloted drones to kill Al Qaeda’s leaders, according to government officials and current and former employees. The division’s operations are carried out at hidden bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where the company’s contractors assemble and load Hellfire missiles and 500-pound laser-guided bombs on remotely piloted Predator aircraft, work previously performed by employees of the Central Intelligence Agency. They also provide security at the covert bases, the officials said. The...

(CBS) It's not often the enemy tells you something you're doing - strikes by CIA drones against al Qaeda sanctuaries in Pakistan - is working. But in this document posted on the Web, a top al Qaeda commander writes: "The harm is alarming. The matter is very grave." Both senior government officials and outside experts say it is an extraordinary confession, reports CBS News correspondent David Martin. "It exposes for the first time a level of paranoia and a level of self-consciousness and a lack of confidence in al Qaeda's leadership in their propaganda that we just haven't seen up...

Reportedly, Senator John McCain wants Predators to provide with uncensored Wi-Fi coverage to the people of Iran. I don't know if this is even technically possible, but its so preposterous and fantastically cool that I love the idea: "During the Cold War, we provided the Polish people and dissidents with printing presses. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube are the modern-day printing presses. They are the way to spread information and keep the hope of freedom alive amongst the Iranian people." Of course, the Predators—or whatever other method—could be taken down with missiles or fighter planes, but the basic idea is spot...

As once-threatened animal populations including black bears, mountain lions and alligators rebound and people move into former wildlands, predators are showing up precisely where they don't belong: in backyards. And the wildlife isn't as afraid of us as we might think. Welcome to the food chain. It was the perfect ending to a perfect afternoon. Gary Mann and his girlfriend Helen were watching the sun go down after a satisfying day clearing brush in the backyard of Mann’s home in Sutter Creek, Calif. A pile of branches and twigs was burning merrily, throwing shadows into the growing darkness as the...

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an airbase inside that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counterterrorism collaboration with the United States. The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land. At a hearing, Feinstein expressed surprise at Pakistani opposition to the ongoing campaign of Predator-launched CIA missile strikes against Al Qaeda targets along...

Okay... I can't take it anymore. Who are all these so-called "Christians" with MySpace pages that are filled with profanity, filthy song lyrics, sexual inuendo, and some blatant sexual come-ons, and so forth? What kind of witness is that? Well, truth is I don't believe these people are Christians (you shall know them by their fruit) and I know of no truly repentant and on-their-knees Christian that would ever put that on there. They are smearing the name of Christ. It just infuriates me. One of my nieces is doing this very thing and I'm ashamed for her. She was...

ROCKLAND, Mass. – An elementary school teacher accused of having sex with a teenage boy pleaded not guilty to rape charges Friday. Christine A. McCallum, 29, of Rockland, is accused of having multiple sexual encounters with the boy that began when he was 13 years old. The alleged incidents occurred in Abington and Rockland. ... The married fifth-grade teacher has been fired ..

A married South Shore teacher was living a disturbed double life for nearly two years, police said, allegedly seducing a 13-year-old boy, plying him with booze and having sex with him on kitchen floors and couches, sometimes right under the nose of her husband. Christine A. McCallum, 29, who is on leave from her job at an Abington elementary school, was charged yesterday with seven counts of statutory rape for the serial liaisons in Rockland and Abington from February 2006, when she allegedly took the boy’s virginity, to November 2007. McCallum, a waifish bespeckled blonde who tightly clutched her husband’s...

Neighbors of a suburban schoolteacher who is accused of seducing a 13-year-old boy are still reeling from the shocking allegations lodged against the “clean-cut” woman who appeared to be dedicated to her husband and her job. “When you talk to her, she is quiet, really nice,” said Erica Mara, 20, who lives across the street from Christine McCallum, 29, who was charged Friday with seven counts of statutory rape. No one answered the door at McCallum’s home on Central Street in Rockland yesterday. Mara questioned how McCallum, a teacher at an Abington elementary school, would find time to have an...

Chilling game of hide and seek with a hungry polar bear ...These pictures show how close one man came to being a polar bear's dinner. Mmmm, looks like dinner time: The bear stands on its haunches and peers over the car roof at his prey, a surveyor returning to his vehicle in the Alaskan town of Barrow The chase is on: The man has his glove off, but not enough time to unlock his car door ...With no time to unlock the door of his vehicle and climb inside, he tried to duck out of sight. He's coming to get...

How the decline of hunting is changing the natural order of predator and preyTHE TWO WOLVES emerged like specters from the tree line and crossed a field of snow. From that moment, and even after everything that followed, no one disputed their penetrating beauty. Silver on white. Two men watched them approach. The men—a pilot named Todd Svarckopf and an aviation worker named Chris Van Galder—worked at Points North Landing, an outpost that serves local mining camps in Saskatchewan province, about 750 miles north of the U.S. border. On this particular day in November 2005 a low cloud ceiling prevented...