Free Republic

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell shouldn’t have to testify about how cheerleaders are paid, his attorneys argued in court filings on Tuesday. “The request for a deposition of Commissioner Goodell is unwarranted and is, at best, a fishing expedition or, at worst, an improper ploy for media coverage,” Goodell’s lawyers wrote (PDF) in response to a subpoena. To justify the subpoena, Ferrari’s attorney cites a 2009 “Radio Broadcast Rights Agreement” (PDF) involving the Bills and Citadel Broadcasting (CMLS) in which Citadel agrees to have cheerleaders on the squad (the “Buffalo Jills”) sign an attached agreement stating that they “will not obtain...

“We can’t waste the spotlight. Time is short. Change is needed. And women are smarter than men,” Obama said during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit to a laughing audience, according to White House Press Pool reports. She continued, “And the men can’t complain because they are outnumbered today.”

A New Mexico man almost lost his genitals to a dog bite when a 90-pound (40-kg) mixed breed pitbull attacked his eight-year-old daughter and he intervened to rescue her, police said on Sunday.

A top Pentagon official began interviewing Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl on Wednesday morning at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, Bergdahl’s attorney, Eugene Fidell, confirmed to The Hill. Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl has been tasked with investigating the circumstances surrounding Bergdahl’s 2009 disappearance from his Army base in Afghanistan. Dahl was appointed to the case in mid-June and Fidell told Reuters last week that Dahl is expected to complete the probe within 60 days from his appointment.

"President Barack Obama drew the diplomatic line somewhere at the first ever U.S-Africa summit at the White House this week by not inviting Zimbabwe’s brutal dictator Robert Mugabe. But the guest list still included several other African leaders with only slightly better human rights records. The White House promoted the summit as the largest-ever gathering of African leaders in the United States, with more than 50 countries represented. The red carpet was rolled out for Equatorial Guinea's Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who shot or jailed virtually all his political opponents, Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh, who threatened to ‘cut off the head’...

It is well understood that just because a court’s opinion is “wrong” does not make it en banc worthy. Judge Jeffery Sutton U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit made this point some years ago. It’s also a point that Judge Edwards made in his opinion respecting the denial of en banc review in Bartlett v. Bowen (1987). Judge Edwards’s opinion in Bartlett is worth quoting at length: The decision to grant en banc consideration is unquestionably among the most serious non-merits determinations an appellate court can make, because it may have the effect of vacating a panel opinion...

On Fox Business Wednesday, former ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton declared that under the president’s ineffective leadership, “the world’s descending into chaos” and if America continues to pull back internationally, "you're going to have anarchy increasing." Speaking with host Stuart Varney, Bolton first discussed Vladimir Putin’s hostile strategy in Ukraine and Europe, including increasing the number of Russian troops at the border and conducting cyber-warfare against several European countries—“aggressive” tactics to which Bolton saw no end in sight. Varney then transitioned to the recent WSJ/NBC poll that presents damning numbers about the American people’s opinion of President Obama’s...

Tourists in northern Australia have been left stunned by two fierce animals going head-to-head -- a massive saltwater crocodile wrestling with a bull shark in its jaws. ... Brutus, who is thought to be about 80 years old and is missing a front leg and most of his teeth, is well known in the area, and the Northern Territory News described the battle as "Jaws v Claws". Speculation is that the prospect of a fish dinner was tasty revenge for a croc that was thought to have lost his limb to one of the sharks who inhabit nearby waters. "But...

Earlier this week, Army officials provided greater clarity behind its ongoing involuntary drawdown efforts with MOAA and other major veteran and military service organizations. The teleconference followed swift negative reaction by the press and legislators when various “pink slip” news stories surfaced regarding the way the Army handled the notification of nearly 1,200 officers involuntarily selected to separate; some while deployed combat zones. During the teleconference, Army officials emphasized that leaders were involved in the notification process. The 87 deployed captains (O-3), once notified, immediately received “change of mission” orders and will be out of country within 30 days. They...

New Delhi: Air India has been forced to ground one of its planes after crew spotted rats scurrying around the cabin, The Times of India reported on Tuesday. The plane was on its way from New Delhi to Calcutta when staff became aware of the infestation, the newspaper said. "Rats on board an aircraft can lead to a catastrophe if they start chewing up electric wires," the paper quoted an unnamed airline official as saying. "If that happens, pilots will have no control on any system on board leading to a disaster." No one at the airline was immediately available...

France, the once atheistic land, has really began to find a spine in recent weeks. I reported a little over a week ago that France had banned Pro-Palestinian terror protests and leveled stiff penalties for violators. Now, word is that France is opening up their borders for asylum to Christians suffering persecution from Islamists in Iraq.

I wonder how the Ebola doctor feels now that his humanitarian trip has cost a Christian charity much more than any services he rendered. What was the point? Whatever good Dr. Kent Brantly did in Liberia has now been overwhelmed by the more than $2 million already paid by the Christian charities Samaritan's Purse and SIM USA just to fly him and his nurse home in separate Gulfstream jets, specially equipped with medical tents, and to care for them at one of America's premier hospitals. (This trip may be the first real-world demonstration of the economics of Obamacare.) There's little...

Coming into the midterm elections, Democrats across the country are attempting to distance themselves from President Obama and his many failed policies, and who could blame them? With historically low approval numbers and the majority of Americans thinking our nation is worse off than when he took office, supporting him now would be the kiss of death in certain states where his agenda has had the worst effects. West Virginia is one of them. A video posted to YouTube Monday shows a concerned West Virginia voter questioning Democratic Senate candidate Natalie Tennant on her support for Obama, specifically his anti-coal...

A member of the U.S. Army Band said he was forced out of the U.S. Army for having anti-Obama bumper stickers on his personal car, serving Chick-fil-A sandwiches at a party and reading books written by conservative authors like Sean Hannity, a federal lawsuit alleges. Master Sergeant Nathan Sommers, a 25-year veteran of the military and a decorated soloist in the U.S. Army Band Chorus, claims he was forcibly retired from the Army due to his religious and conservative political beliefs. I first told you about Sommers last year in a series of exclusive Fox News reports. John Wells, an...

Hmm…that doesn’t seem weird at all. Why would the government be keeping tabs on people not related to terrorist groups? Not only that, but the group of those without the ties looks like it makes up almost half of the people on the overall list. Check it out from Reason.com… More than 40 percent of the people on the United States federal government terrorism watch lists have no discernable connection to any terrorist group. 280,000 out of 680,000 people on the list of those whom authorities are keeping their eyes on and pulling aside for further examination at airports and...

The Federal Communications Commission is looking to raise revenue – and the agency is in full pitch mode. The company is injecting itself as the middlemen between buyers (wireless carriers) and sellers (TV broadcasters) of spectrum, hoping to take a large commission check as a result. The FCC is hoping to raise $20 billion by matching the broadcasters who are willing to sell at the lowest prices with the wireless carriers willing to buy at the highest. The spread between becomes the government’s commission check. In typical government fashion, Congress already earmarked the funds to pay for a $7 billion...

"Laboratory mice are one of the most common animal models used in biological and medical research...However, the artificial selection process also caused the mice to lose the very important trait of being able to survive in the wild. Besides these lost traits, the female lab mice developed the tendency to immediately mate with every male in their vicinity, including siblings and parents" '

Wikimedia, the non-profit organisation behind Wikipedia, has refused a photographer’s repeated requests to stop distributing his most famous shot for free – because a monkey pressed the shutter button and should own the copyright[.]

Canada has slapped fresh economic sanctions and travel bans on some Russian and Ukrainian groups and individuals. In addition to VTB Bank OAO , Russia’s second-largest bank by assets, Canada targeted Bank of Moscow and the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank). The United States imposed sanctions on all three banks last Wednesday to punish Russia for its actions in Ukraine.

By the end of the summer, President Barack Obama will make what some activists and legal experts say could be the "boldest move" of his presidency as he prepares to move without Congress on immigration reform. The coming executive actions to change immigration policy could become the defining moment in a second term marred by congressional gridlock. Amid fierce debate over the crisis along the U.S.-Mexico border they also could set up a potential political firestorm just weeks before the crucial midterm elections. Perhaps most importantly, Obama's coming executive actions could also test the limits of presidential power. "Depending on...