Free Republic 2nd Qtr 2024 Fundraising Target: $81,000 Receipts & Pledges to-date: $36,544
45%  
Woo hoo!! And we're now over 45%!! Thank you all very much!! God bless.

Society (General/Chat)

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • Police Raid the Lesbians Who Trolled Russia's Leading Anti-Gay Politician

    02/26/2015 2:09:04 PM PST · by redreno · 14 replies
    http://globalvoicesonline.org ^ | Posted 26 February 2015 | Kevin Rothrock
    Being gay is dangerous business in Russia, but it’s especially risky when you troll the country’s leading opponent of gay rights. The owners of a St. Petersburg lesbian nightclub, raided today by police, are learning that lesson. Infinity is a “girls-only” nightclub for “St. Petersburg’s most stylish young women.” On February 1, one of the club’s owners and several of her friends were flying from Moscow to St. Petersburg, when they spotted Vitaly Milonov, a lawmaker famous for initiating Russia’s crackdown on LGBT rights. Not fans of his conservative politics, the girls photographed themselves kissing one another in front of...
  • Cop Assaults Man for Filming Brutality, Stomps Phone to Destroy Evidence — Video Survived

    Amherst, MA– University of Massachusetts Amherst student, Thomas Donovan, who is majoring in legal studies and had planned to become a Massachusetts State Trooper, has filed a lawsuit alleging his civil rights were violated after he was pepper sprayed, assaulted, and arrested for filming police brutality. The officer also repeatedly stomped on his cellphone in an attempt to destroy the evidence and cover up the crime- but the video survived.
  • DC's Catwoman Comes Out as Bisexual

    02/26/2015 1:17:54 PM PST · by C19fan · 60 replies
    Hollywood Reporter ^ | February 26, 2015 | Graeme McMillan
    After 75 years, Selina Kyle is finally coming out of the closet. RECOMMENDED Marvel Unveils Thunder God Police Force in New 'Thors' Series 'Justice League Detroit': The Failed Comic Behind the CW's Superhero Future How the New 'Fantastic Four' Trailer Stays Faithful to the Original Comics In the latest issue of the DC Entertainment’s Catwoman comic book series — No. 39, released this week — Kyle kisses another woman, ending decades of fan rumors and speculation by stating canonically that the character is, in fact, bisexual.
  • Hyperloop moves closer to becoming reality

    02/26/2015 11:26:09 AM PST · by Mellonkronos · 26 replies
    CNBC ^ | February 26, 2015 | Phil LeBeau
    [It would really be great if private entrepreneurs could develop this system! Musk is an innovator. Check out the videos in the article.] “Hyperloop moves closer to becoming reality.” Phil LeBeau@Lebeaucarnews (Hyperloop Transportation Technologies,Inc., says Elon Musk’s vision for the new transportation system is beginning to take hold. CNBC’s Phil LeBeau reports, and talks to Ahlborn about the 5-mile stretch to be tested in the next few years.) The Hyperloop, just an idea in the mind of Elon Musk two years ago, is moving closer to becoming reality. Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has signed an agreement with a developer in central...
  • Billionaire Tells Americans to Prepare For 'Financial Ruin'

    02/26/2015 11:05:29 AM PST · by Ghost of SVR4 · 24 replies
    NewsMax ^ | Feb 25 2015 | Newsmax Wires
    In a recent interview for his book Aftershock, Wiedemer says, “The data is clear, 50% unemployment, a 90% stock market drop, and 100% annual inflation . . . starting as soon as next year.” When the host questioned such wild claims, Wiedemer unapologetically displayed shocking charts backing up his allegations, and then ended his argument with, “You see, the medicine will become the poison.” The interview has become a wake-up call for those unprepared (or unwilling) to acknowledge an ugly truth: The country’s financial “rescue” devised in Washington has failed miserably.
  • 5 tips (from scientists) on how to survive a zombie apocalypse

    02/25/2015 11:51:49 PM PST · by Slings and Arrows · 55 replies
    Metro [UK] ^ | 25 Feb 2015 | Rob Waugh
    Got a plan for what you’d do if a zombie outbreak led to the total collapse of civilisation?Bad news – you are almost certainly doing it wrong.Simply hiding inside buildings – or God forbid, running around smashing in zombie skulls with a baseball bat – is a terrible idea, Cornell University researchers revealed after running the first ‘complete’ mathematical simulation.The best way to survive is actually to run for country areas – in particular sparsely populated mountains (the researchers give the example of the Rockies, but the Cairngorms ought to do it).By all means ignore the hordes of the undead and...
  • Is the Star Trek Economy a Welfare State?

    02/24/2015 9:34:40 PM PST · by Citizen Zed · 92 replies
    Slate ^ | 2-12-2015 | Ara Ogle, Quora
    As an example, Sisko's father runs a restaurant. Seats at that restaurant have to be a finite resource (because they require labor), so they would not be “free” to everyone—the owners get to choose whom they give it to. (That brings up the interesting question of whether the Federation would have anti-discrimination laws, but I digress.) Let's say Sisko chooses to feed people in his neighborhood; choosing to live in that neighborhood is the “price” his customers pay for his food. Similarly, Picard's brother makes real wine; since that requires real grapes and, again, labor, that would also be a...
  • The "Frozen" masses?

    02/25/2015 4:18:16 PM PST · by NYAmerican · 40 replies
    So, here we are. The enemy is in the White House, and in charge of most State and many Local Governments. The purge of the Military and the Pentagon is complete. They own the Mainstream Media, and virtually all of Academia. A populace consumed and mesmerized by their mobile electronic devices, Dancing with the Stars, and Justin Beiber, is no threat to them whatsoever, but rather a useful tool. As we speak, we are guaranteeing a psychotic enemy Nuclear Weapons, and fomenting/supporting Islamic fanaticism worldwide, while we also actively engineer class and racial unrest domestically. I feel like one of...
  • Slender Man stabbing prosecutors: keep case in adult court

    02/25/2015 3:33:41 PM PST · by Extremely Extreme Extremist · 17 replies
    WBAY.COM ^ | 25 FEBRUARY 2015 | AP
    WAUKESHA, Wis. (AP) — Prosecutors say the case should move forward in adult court against two Wisconsin girls accused of stabbing a classmate to please the horror character Slender Man. In filings late Tuesday, the Waukesha County District Attorney’s Office asked the court to find probable cause that both girls committed attempted first-degree homicide. Under Wisconsin law, that charge automatically puts the case in adult court. But defense attorneys want the case moved to juvenile court. They say the charge should be attempted second-degree homicide, which normally would be a juvenile charge.
  • Cornell researchers find safest place to hide from zombies

    02/25/2015 2:58:43 PM PST · by workerbee · 47 replies
    Fox ^ | 2/25/15 | Kate Seamons
    ***SNIP***The researchers used a number of techniques that are used when modeling real diseases, and the abstract ends with this dismal line: "We build up to a full scale simulation of an outbreak in the United States, and discover that for 'realistic' parameters, we are largely doomed." But Phys.Org relays a glimmer of hope by way of Alex Alemi, a grad student involved in the research: He says those who want to remain safe from the undead for as long as they can should head to the northern Rockies. He explains that while books and movies typically show an outbreak...
  • Should French Quarter cigar bar get a pass from New Orleans City Council?

    02/25/2015 2:08:00 PM PST · by BBell · 30 replies
    NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune ^ | 2/25/15 | Richard Rainey
    A French Quarter cigar bar's battle over state and city liquor permits has struck a major chord among New Orleans policy makers and civic leaders. Councilwoman Nadine Ramsey wants to create a new category in the zoning code -- called a "tobacco retail business" -- to keep La Habana Hemingway Cigar Bar on Toulouse Street in operation. But critics say that doing so could undermine the impending citywide smoking ban by exempting more drinking establishments from it and also impact the Quarter's long-standing prohibition on new cocktail lounges in commercial zones.
  • JPMorgan to close 5% of its bank branches

    02/25/2015 1:31:46 PM PST · by SeekAndFind · 10 replies
    CNBC ^ | 02/25/2015
    JPMorgan Chase plans to close 300 bank branches over the next two years, about 5 percent of the total, as more customers move online and the bank seeks to cut costs. The closures are part of a $1.4 billion cost-cutting plan the bank announced for this year. The latest developments were revealed during the bank's annual investor day conference Tuesday. Online and mobile banking have become increasingly popular and that trend is expected to continue. The shift online has begun to make brick-and-mortar branches less necessary and, frankly, expensive. Tellers handled only 42 percent of all bank deposits last year,...
  • How to handle an employee's offensive social media post

    02/25/2015 1:02:10 PM PST · by tbw2 · 48 replies
    AP ^ | 2/18/25 | JOYCE M. ROSENBERG
    This article has an employment lawyer as saying you have to fire people who post inappropriate things - including non-PC opinions.
  • I am a filthy woman - and proud of it: ...Being grubby is part of a British woman's heritage

    02/25/2015 12:21:22 PM PST · by beaversmom · 72 replies
    The Telegraph ^ | February 24, 2015 | Rowan Pelling
    If cleanliness is next to godliness (which I doubt), then the following should also be true: the more you boast about it, the more suspect you are. I’m amazed by the number of people who insist on telling me they take two showers a day, as if they’re the Mother Teresa of personal hygiene. What manner of grime are they washing away? It’s hard not to think of Lady Macbeth’s frenzied attempts to scrub the blood from her hands. So when I read of a survey that stated 4 out of 5 British women don’t shower every day, I applauded...
  • Exposed: what fracking really does to you, your family, pets and food

    02/25/2015 10:38:18 AM PST · by Citizen Zed · 45 replies
    The Ecologist ^ | 2-25-2015 | Allison Wilson
    The first researchers to systematically document ill health in livestock, pets, and people living near fracking drill sites were Michelle Bamberger and Robert Oswald. Bamberger, a veterinarian, and Oswald, a professor of molecular medicine at Cornell University, used a case study approach-looking at individual households-to search for possible effects (Bamberger and Oswald 2012). Many fracking chemicals are known carcinogens, endocrine disruptors or other classes of toxins (Colborn et al. 2011). Bamberger and Oswald's studies, carried out during the ongoing fracking boom, uncovered serious adverse effects including respiratory, reproductive, and growth-related problems in animals and a spectrum of symptoms in humans...
  • How Bad Ideology Destroys Good TV: Why the hit TV show 'Glee' Crashed and Burned

    02/25/2015 7:11:17 AM PST · by SeekAndFind · 55 replies
    Pajamas Media ^ | 02/25/2015 | Spencer Klavan
    So I was watching Glee the other day (yes I watch Glee, okay?!), and man has that show jumped the shark. It’s frustrating, because Glee went down in flames the way a lot of good shows do: it got too busy constructing a leftist fantasyland to tell a decent story. It’s another victim of what I like to call “liberal backslide.”Bear with me here for a second. I realize Glee was never an elegant allegory of fiscal conservatism. And no one could claim that it ever had an ironclad grip on reality. The show takes place in an underfunded Ohio...
  • Study Shows Anti-Semitism Rampant on US College Campuses

    02/25/2015 6:45:39 AM PST · by Olog-hai · 11 replies
    INN ^ | 2/24/2015, 8:07 PM | Tova Dvorin
    Anti-Semitism is on the rise not only in Europe, but in the US as well, a recent study has shown. More than 50% of American college students have been victims of anti-Semitism, according to the 2014 National Demographic Survey of American Jewish College Students, which was published by Trinity College on Tuesday. 1,157 Jewish college students over 55 campuses across the US were surveyed for the Trinity College study over the 2013-2014 academic year over a variety of topics. However, despite the control variables of topics other than anti-Semitism, a surprisingly high number of students reported being a victim of...
  • Richard Dawkins: Children need to be "protected" from religion

    02/25/2015 5:36:23 AM PST · by Heartlander · 30 replies
    Irish Times ^ | February 24, 2015 | Joe Humphreys
    Richard Dawkins: Children need to be ‘protected’ from religion ‘You have to write off those people’ who put the Bible ahead of science, author says Children need to be “protected” from religious indoctrination in schools, biologist and atheist campaigner Richard Dawkins has said, backing a campaign by Atheist Ireland to overhaul our education system.Speaking to The Irish Times in advance of a public talk at Trinity College Dublin on Tuesday evening, Prof Dawkins said: “There is a balancing act and you have to balance the rights of parents and the rights of children and I think the balance has swung...
  • ESPN suspends Keith Olbermann over Penn State tweets

    02/24/2015 12:14:26 PM PST · by E. Pluribus Unum · 42 replies
    Winnipeg Sun ^ | 02/24/2015
    ESPN on Tuesday suspended Keith Olbermann for the remainder of the week after he made insulting comments about Penn State students on Twitter.According to multiple reports, a Penn State alum tweeted to Olbermann the phrase "We Are!" and a link to an article about students raising more than $13 million to fight pediatric cancer. Olbermann replied "...Pitiful."Penn State students and alum rallied on Twitter and pressed Olbermann, who refused to back down, saying he was referring to Penn State students in general and not the fundraising.On Tuesday, ESPN said in a statement that "it was completely inappropriate and does...
  • Penn State grad got ESPN's Olbermann suspended

    02/24/2015 3:38:49 PM PST · by E. Pluribus Unum · 19 replies
    Philly.com ^ | 02/24/2015 | Robert Moran
    Lisa Aiello DeLeon just wanted to show Keith Olbermann that there was more to Penn State than the Jerry Sandusky scandal. When she read that the university's annual THON dance marathon had raised more than $13 million over the weekend for pediatric cancer research, she thought of the ESPN host.