Free Republic

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Brynn Toohey paced alongside the ice at the Simoni Skating Rink, playfully pushing a golf ball back and forth with her stick. “I want to score a bunch of goals,” she said. From the time she could walk, Toohey, 29, had played hockey. Her grandmother used to steal traffic cones off the street so Toohey could do drills. But after college, she stepped away from the sport, trying to figure out who she was. She drank too much. Publicly, she still lived as a man. “I was trying to drink it away,” Toohey said. “Oh yeah, I’ll...

When Susan Allen was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012, she became the first openly lesbian Native American woman to win office in any state legislature. But framing that achievement as one for the lesbian community alone obscures another aspect of Allen’s identity, and one that is directly connected to her Native American ancestry: Allen also identifies as “two-spirit.” While Americans are increasingly familiar with the elements that make-up our modern LGBTQ abbreviation, other, often older queer identities like two-spirit remain unappreciated to the point of erasure. But if Allen and other two-spirit folks have their way,...

The word “Latinx” (pronounced “La-teen-ex”) has been used more and more lately. And, yet, while many people are using the term and identifying as Latinx, there are still others who may look at the word with skepticism and confusion.

In government schools across America in communities being targeted to become “Blue Zones,” children may soon be chanting “Hara Hachi Bu” before eating their lunch — at least between the data-mining and intrusive scoring to determine “progress” in their physical, mental, and spiritual “well being.” The Japanese phrase, associated with the Eastern religion of Confucianism, translates roughly to “eat until you are 80 percent full.” Parents, meanwhile, will receive wide-ranging instructions covering everything from the food they eat and the “tribe” they associate with to the location in their home designated for sexual activity and even the size of their...

She’s a prisoner in her own home. Katie Holmes fears she can’t take one step without a Scientology goon following her every move in a heavy- handed intimidation attempt, multiple sources close to the actress told The Post yesterday. The pretty actress last night was holed up in her Chelsea pad — terrified that soon-to-be-ex-hubby Tom Cruise might kidnap their little girl, law-enforcement sources said. Holmes told another building resident of her abduction fear — and that neighbor called police on Friday, sources said. But without Holmes phoning in the report herself — and Cruise known to be 2,600 miles...

The room buzzes with little voices. Little children engage in "mature, dramatic play." An adult helps the children "regulate" and "monitor each other's compliance" with "rules and assigned roles."[1] Each child knows his or her place. Each child does the group's bidding, nothing else. Orwell's 1984? No, a scene played out in thousands of classrooms across America. The drumbeat of collectivism begins in preschool. And a long-dead Soviet psychologist helped define that drumbeat. Months ago, an email from a teacher spurred me to investigate the theories of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). My research revealed starry-eyed academics enamored of collectivism.

White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett has “exciting announcements” about small-business investments, but the Obama administration doesn’t want anyone reporting on it. The Energy Department sent out advisory of a conference call Thursday afternoon with Jarrett and other officials “for an update on our inter-agency collaboration on small business procurement and exciting announcements on upcoming events around the country.” DOE encourages recipients to “circulate this call information widely” to businesses in swing states like Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida and Colorado. Even to New York and Washington, D.C. But the kicker: The “exciting call” itself is “off-the-record and is not for press...

Obama Vows To Address Record Deficit Woes President decries 'what can only be described as a decade of profligacy' WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrillion-dollar spending plan Monday, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion. Speaking from the White House hours after the budget's release, the president decried "what can only be described as a decade of profligacy." He pledged to "do what it takes" to create jobs, while asking lawmakers to follow his lead on reducing "waste...

Acknowledging she believes in God, and then figuratively spitting in his face. Chilling.Proudly sticking it to all the pro-lifers who are kneeling in prayer.

NEW YORK – Barack Obama and his message of change will get a ringing endorsement on Inauguration Day from 12 bells at a church near ground zero. "Change ringing is a way that we express the joy of our community, and I think much of the nation is joyous about this inauguration," said Jeremy Bates, a Manhattan lawyer and former Obama campaign worker who will be among the 12 ringers pulling on sturdy ropes in the church's bell tower to mark the historic occasion. Change ringing is far more common outside the United States. Most cathedrals in England have sets...

Obama reaches out and touches O'Reilly's knee during the Ayers interview segment on the O'Reilly Show (7:05 mark)

CHRIS MATTHEWS: Anyway, thank you Roger, thank you. What a night! I'm getting giggles! It's so exciting here -- Chuck Todd, Andrea Mitchell -- because there's news in the air.

"Democratic presidential hopeful, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., has a word with aide Huma Abedin at the start of a campaign rally at Capital High School in Charleston, W.Va."