Free Republic

Conservatives should be disabused of any notion that the recent revocation of the Redskins’ trademark by the US Patent Office had anything at all to do with the disparagement of Native Americans, real or perceived. On the contrary, the exercise in political correctness is not about aggrieved Native Americans. It’s about the power to redistribute wealth and to eliminate private property. Essentially, the Left has declared that no person’s or company’s trademark (or patent) is safe. Get together a group of lawyers who are experts in victimization and who have access to some aggrieved group, find a trademark name --...

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal on Saturday night accused President Barack Obama and other Democrats of waging wars against religious liberty and education and said that a rebellion is brewing in the U.S. with people ready for "a hostile takeover" of the nation's capital.

The U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s cancelation of federal trademark registration for the name Washington “Redskins,” after ruling it disparages Native Americans, puts pressure on team owner Daniel Snyder and the National Football League (NFL) to change the name but falls far short of settling the issue. The split, 2-1, decision by unelected trademark board members shows the increasingly heavy hand that politics is playing in the activities of the private sector, since the ruling followed recent public calls for a name change from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The team counters that the long-standing “Redskins” name...

by Gina Cassini | Top Right NewsThe date has been set - in stone. Circuit Court Judge Margaret Noe has ordered Matthew Hindes to appear in court on Monday, or risk losing full custody of his daughter. There's one problem -- a big one: Matthew Hindes is a Petty Officer in the U.S. Navy, and is currently stationed on a submarine deployed in the Pacific Ocean! Yes, the judge is out of her mind, but it is worse than that. Hindes has had full custody of his daughter since 2010. He received full parental rights when his daughter was taken from...

A U.S. Navy sailor from Washington State is currently serving on a submarine thousands of miles away in the Pacific Ocean, but a judge has ordered him into an impossible custody scenario: Appear in a Michigan courtroom Monday or risk losing custody of his 6-year-old daughter. Navy submariner Matthew Hindes was given permanent custody of his daughter Kaylee in 2010, after she was reportedly removed from the home of his ex-wife, Angela, by child protective services. But now a judge has ordered him to appear in court Monday, or risk losing his daughter to his ex-wife in addition to a...

Ex-Rep. Joe Walsh ‘kicked off the air’ over racist terms on radio Fri, 06/20/2014 - 3:37am Mitch Dudek According to posts on former U.S. Rep. Joe Walsh’s Twitter account Thursday night, the conservative radio talk-show host was kicked off the air on WIND-AM (560) for using racial slurs while trying to have a discussion about racial slurs. In a series of tweets posted about 7 p.m., Walsh says: “Just got kicked off the air until further notice. Tried to have honest discussion about racist terms and management censored my language.” And: “I’m trying to have an honest, adult conversations about...

Why the Redskins Trademark Ruling Should Terrify You Article Subtitle: Anyone deemed politically incorrect is now outside the protection of the law. Like most people, I haven’t been all that interested in the controversy over whether the name of the Washington Redskins is offensive. Personally, I’m more offended that Washington, DC, has become the kind of megalopolis that can support an NFL team. If I had my way, it would go back to being a humid, swampy backwater with impassable mud roads. Pierre L’Enfant has much to answer for. But I think everyone should be terrified by the new ruling...

Jesse Brisbin, a 30-year-old twice-convicted sex offender allegedly attempted to abduct a six-year-old girl from a Seattle park on Thursday evening, but he picked the wrong park to act on his compulsion. According to witnesses, he made it about three blocks with the girl after grabbing her by the hand and wrapping his shirt around her face before a group of about 20 neighborhood children and adults caught up with him. According to the Seattle Police Department, the six-year-old girl broke free and Brisbin tried to run away. The men tackled Brisbin, who lives only about a half-mile from Benefit...

Mix-A-Lot invited women to join him onstage, where he was backed by an orchestra. "Since tonight is orchestral movements from the hood night, I'm going to leave some of this open if a couple of ladies would like to get up on the stage," he told the audience. "Many musical innovations have been made in hip-hop music that can bring new energy, sounds and rhythm to the classical world."

BELLINGHAM, WA, June 5, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) -- A parent's letter to KOMO News in Washington has led to a teacher's apology after a drama awards ceremony at Bellingham High School devolved into vulgarities and what the unidentified mother called "trash." According to the mother, who asked to be anonymous to protect her 17-year old daughter, retiring teacher Teri Grimes gave sex toys to the male teen who won the title of "horniest stud" and the same toys to the girl who won "horniest girl."   But it was the anti-Catholic skit that was the last straw for the mother, who...

In an interview with NBC News Obama reiterated the now popular talking point that everyone in government was “unanimous” in their support for the release of five mass murdering terrorists for one American deserter. Obama told NBC News, “I make no apologies for it. It was a unanimous decision among my principals in my government.” Good for him. So now we’re supposed to be impressed that all of the Obama cheerleaders in the West Wing jumped on board with the dumbest prisoner exchange in American history? Is there any real question as to why Obama didn’t give Congress prior notice...

It didn’t take long after yesterday’s shotgun attack by a non-student at Seattle Pacific University for word to get out that the brave actions of students ended the attack before far more people could be injured or killed. The friends of the first man to go after the armed suspect quickly identified the bashful hero to the world via Twitter.

The gun lovers who preach that arming American citizens to stop even more violence always ignore the fact that Wayne LaPierre was wrong. “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” LaPierre, the National Rifle Association’s executive vice president, infamously said after a gunman in 2012 killed 20 schoolchildren and six adults in Newtown, Conn. Yet looked what happened Thursday. According to police, a student building monitor named Jon Meis used pepper spray to subdue a shooter who had already killed one student and wounded a couple others at Seattle...

He’s described as quiet, gentle, outdoorsy; a young man of deep Christian faith and dedicated student on the cusp of a promising life beyond college. But by several accounts Thursday, a single word prevailed when describing Seattle Pacific University student Jon Meis: hero.

News Print Article | Email Friend | Reprint Permissions Planned Parenthood affiliate has lost more than a quarter of its customers since 2012 by Ben Johnson Thu Jun 05, 2014 12:03 EST Tags: oregon, planned parenthood, planned parenthood columbia willamette, washington state VANCOUVER, WA, June 5, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Planned Parenthood affiliate has revealed that it has had to dramatically downsize – including closing one-third of its offices in its two-state territory – because it had lost a quarter of its business in two years. Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette announced yesterday that it is closing three of its offices...

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- A Bellingham High School drama teacher has issued a formal apology after her awards ceremony devolved into an evening of profanity, jokes about a priest having sex with kids, and a box of sex toys. A parent attended the ceremony in the school auditorium with her 17-year-old daughter, who was nominated for an award. Both want to remain anonymous until after graduation on June 6. The teacher is Teri Grimes, a veteran of three decades who is slated to retire after this year. In an email to KOMO News, the upset mother complained about the teacher's use...

CLACKAMAS, OR, June 4, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Planned Parenthood affiliate has announced that, in order to remain financially viable, it is closing three offices in the Pacific Northwest and laying off employees at its remaining locations. Stacy Cross, CEO of Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, which covers Oregon and part of Washington State, said in a press release that the action is "necessary in order to maintain a fiscally solvent operation that continues to keep our doors open to patients in our region for the long-term.”

Last week, Michigan became the latest of a handful of states to officially raise its minimum wage this year, with a gradual four-year phase-in that will take its floor from $7.40 up to $9.25 an hour — but over in the city of Seattle, things just got real. Say hello to what will soon become the highest minimum wage in the nation, via the AP: The issue has dominated politics in the liberal municipality for months. Mayor Ed Murray, who was elected last year, had promised in his campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. A newly...

It turns out that leftists can’t repeal the law of supply and demand. In the Seattle suburb of Seatac, adjacent to the airport and full of parking lots, hotels, and restaurants with many low wage employees, the minimum wage was hiked to $15 an hour, and the results of this social experiment are coming in. United Liberty reports: A February report from the Seattle Times revealed: At the Clarion Hotel off International Boulevard, a sit-down restaurant has been shuttered, though it might soon be replaced by a less-labor-intensive cafe… Other businesses have adjusted in ways that run the gamut from putting more work in...

Today is the birthday of Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, the wife of George Washington and the first First Lady of the United States. Born in Virginia, she was married to Washington for more than 40 years until his death in 1799.