Free Republic

Last week, the Boy Scouts of America made its landmark decision allowing gay Scouts to be members (but not adult leaders), and while many liberal organizations are pleased, America’s largest Protestant church organization seems poised to cut off ties with the Boy Scouts in protest. More than 70 percent of Boy Scout troops across the country are sponsored by religious organizations. Many sponsorships come from the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 47,000 churches. Now, Frank Page, president of the SBC's executive committee, says it’s time for its congregations to cut all ties with the Boy...

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee has notified senior Democratic Party officials that he intends to switch his party registration and join the Democratic Party, multiple sources familiar with Chafee’s decision told POLITICO. Chafee, a former GOP senator elected as an independent in 2010, has struggled with low approval ratings and faces a difficult reelection fight in 2014.

April 1, 2013, Fort Collins, CO–HiViz Shooting Systems (a division of North Pass Ltd.), announces plans to relocate operations out of the state of Colorado due to recent changes in Colorado state gun control legislation. HiViz President and CEO, Phillip Howe, states that talks are currently under way with officials of a neighboring stater egarding the move. Mr. Howe comments, “I make this announcement with mixed emotions. Colorado is a beautiful state with great people, but we cannot in clear conscience support with our taxes a state that has proven through recent legislation a willingness to infringe upon the constitutional...

Following in fellow MSNBC co-host Chris Hayes’s footsteps, the network’s conservative pundit S. E. Cupp has withdrawn from speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference next month over the issue of same-sex marriage and the exclusion of GOProud. Cupp announced her decision to back out on The Cycle earlier this afternoon.

New York (CNN) -- Helen Gurley Brown, who created the idea of a modern woman with her book "Sex and the Single Girl" and was editor in chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for three decades, has died at age 90, the Hearst Corporation said Monday. Gurley Brown died Monday morning at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia after a brief hospitalization, the publisher said. "Helen was one of the world's most recognized magazine editors and book authors, and a true pioneer for women in journalism -- and beyond," Hearst Chief Executive Frank Bennack said. It was Gurley Brown who invented today's notion of a...

The Catholic News Agency's Michelle Bauman reports that there has been a "wave" of recent defections and departures from the Democratic Party that could be as many as several hundred. The establishment press is clearly being remiss in failing to note them at all -- something which would not be occurring if it involved Republicans going to the party of the left. The reasons for the moves primarily relate to President Obama's endorsement of same-sex "marriage" and the assault on religious freedoms inherent in his administration's requirement that employers who offer health insurance plans, in Bauman's words, "cover contraception, sterilization...

A historic Christian university in Rome, Georgia has received record resignation letters from staffers after mandating that its employees sign a “personal lifestyle statement.” Reports indicate that nearly sixty out of the two hundred employees at Shorter University have decided to leave the educational institution rather than sign the statement, which outlines a moral code that staff are required to live by.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and aerospace pioneer Burt Rutan are building the world’s biggest plane to help launch cargo and astronauts into space, in the latest of several ventures fueled by technology tycoons clamoring to write America’s next chapter in spaceflight. Their plans, unveiled Tuesday, call for a twin-fuselage aircraft with wings longer than a football field to carry a rocket high into the atmosphere and drop it, avoiding the need for a launch pad and the expense of additional rocket fuel. Allen, who teamed up with Rutan in 2004 to send the first privately financed, manned spacecraft into space,...

The Irish and German governments became entangled in a spat on Thursday after details of the Irish budget were given to the German Bundestag, before being presented to the Irish parliament, the Dáil. The sensitive plans, including a two-percent increase in the top value added tax (VAT) and a €100 household tax, were sent by the German finance ministry—along with a letter of intent from the Irish Finance Minister—to the Bundestag budgetary committee. This provoked outrage in Ireland, and denials from Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny that he had given the information to the Germans. Irish opposition parties said if...

The final end of Libya's Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. While you do not see Gaddafi assassinated, you do see him still alive in the first video. He is even fending off his captors who have him. Then near the end of the video, you will hear gunshots. In the second video you will see that Gadaffi is dead, and hear the rebels celebrate by shooting their weapons in the air. They also show his now lifeless body. So be warned, because both videos are graphic and could be very disturbing to see. Follow this link to see Gaddafi's End

Downtown Los Angeles boasts some big-city perks like spacious lofts and trendy restaurants, but living there is a different kind of beast. By Mike Armstrong July 17, 2011 "Look, Daddy, that man's going to the bathroom!" No, not the words any daddy wants to hear from his 10-year-old daughter, especially during a stroll through their brand-new neighborhood. Moving my wife and kids into a downtown Los Angeles loft may not win me "Dumbest Dad of the Year" honors, but it should at least get me into the quarterfinals. The loft itself was great. More like a movie set than an...

I was one of those rare species: a black Republican, the guy willing to spit into the wind of conventional thought, who was often showcased on camera at party events to prove inclusiveness. But as a proud black man, I can no longer be a member of the Republican Party. Being a Republican has long been a part of my personal and professional identities, so leaving the party is a difficult and emotional decision. In 1998, as a young man searching for what I believed were shared values, I cut ties with the Democratic Party and became a Republican. Democrats,...

Two of the nation's premier moral issues organizations, the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, are refusing to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference in February because a homosexual activist group, GOProud, has been invited. "We've been very involved in CPAC for over a decade and have managed a couple of popular sessions. However, we will no longer be involved with CPAC because of the organization's financial mismanagement and movement away from conservative principles," said Tom McClusky, senior vice president for FRC Action.

The departure of Patrick Kennedy, Congressman for Rhode Island, will leave the capital without a Kennedy for the first time in 64 years. The dynasty's sole remaining political office is held by Bobby Shriver, John F. Kennedy's nephew, who has a part-time city council seat in the Los Angeles suburb of Santa Monica.

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Kennedys have held congressional seats, the presidency and the public's imagination for more than 60 years. That era ends when Patrick Kennedy of Rhode Island vacates his U.S. House seat next month, leaving a City Council post in California as Camelot's sole remaining political holding.

Clive Runnels reports from the border on the liberal masses scampering northward. The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck. Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night. "I went out to milk the cows...

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he has no regrets about quitting the Republican Party, despite his decisive defeat on Tuesday. In a phone interview with The Hill, Crist said he is proud of his Senate campaign and doesn’t regret his decision to challenge former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio (R) as an independent candidate. The decision to bolt the GOP initially moved Crist past Rubio in the polls. That lead quickly eroded, however, and on Tuesday, Rubio crushed Crist and Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) with 49 percent of the vote, compared with 30 percent for Crist and 20 percent for...

Arizona’s hard-hitting immigration law is driving Hispanics out of the state weeks before the controversial law goes into effect. Although concrete figures are not available, anecdotal evidence suggests Hispanics, both legal residents and illegal immigrants, are starting to flee. Schools in Hispanic neighborhoods are reporting abnormal enrollment drops, and businesses that serve Hispanics also report that business is down, according to a USA Today report published Wednesday. The report suggests that the immigration law is compounding demographic trends that have already significantly curtailed illegal immigration during the past two years. The bad economy has been the primary deterrent to many...

George Lopez on Larry King takes his usual swipe at Palin - VIDEO He previously called her "la cabrona" on his show... Lopez: "Everyone is trying to build a wall, they don't know what the answer is to immigration is, I will give the answer Larry King to immigration. If Sarah Palin wins and runs for President in 2012, I have on a reliable source as head of all the Latinos, we will voluntarily go back to Mexico if she becomes President of the United States, there it is"

Today, Rep. Bart Stupak understands what our group's polling revealed: a vote for Obama's health care bill was a vote against the will of his constituents. Yet he chose to do it anyway and now he is suffering the consequences. In the final hours of the health care debate, Americans across the country were deeply saddened when Rep. Stupak (D-Mich.) and a handful of “pro-life” Democrats buckled under White House pressure and voted for legislation that will lead to the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade. Their cover was a fig leaf -- an Executive Order signed by...