Free Republic

Recording events from public land shouldn't be a crime. Yet when a woman in Utah, standing by a public road, filmed farmworkers pushing a cow with a bulldozer, the farmer drove up to her and said, "You cannot videotape my property." Soon the police came and local prosecutors charged her with "agricultural operation interference." They dropped the charges several months later since she was on public land. But what if she'd posed as a farmworker, got a job on the farm and then secretly recorded what she saw? Increasingly, activists do that. More than a hundred such undercover investigations have...

The first weekend in July, the National Education Association (NEA) held its annual Representative Assembly in Houston, an assembly consisting of “nearly 7,000 delegates.” The National Education Association is a “progressive” political activist organization that masquerades—er, I mean, identifies as an educational organization. . . . . . . . Read these “New Business Items” just passed by the NEA, and see if you believe the NEA honors its Code of Ethics: •“The NEA vigorously opposes all attacks on the right to choose and stands on the fundamental right to abortion under Roe v. Wade.” •“The NEA will immediately call...

The Thirty Meter Telescope is being built atop Mauna Kea, Hawaii's tallest mountain Illustration showing the proposed Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea on Hawaii's Big Island.Thirty Meter Telescope / via AP file HONOLULU -- Construction on a giant telescope will start again next week after lengthy court battles and passionate protests from those who say building it on Hawaii's tallest mountain will desecrate land sacred to some Native Hawaiians. State officials announced Wednesday that the road to the top of Mauna Kea mountain on the Big Island will be closed starting Monday as equipment is delivered. Scientists revere the...

In New York City public schools, students can choose their classes, their sports, and their genders! Starting this fall, Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza is making the Big Apple an even bigger news story by radically changing the city's policy on registered names, dress codes, bathrooms, locker rooms, and athletics. He says this is his way of celebrating Pride month. But "proud" is the last word most parents would use to describe the news. In this new Wild West of gender identity, Carranza is giving the green light to everything from unofficial name changes to unisex school uniforms. "Schools are safe...

Our defeat was all but inevitable, yet the transgender activists still showed up in matching shirts and waved multicolored flags. Their speakers outnumbered ours 4 to 1, but they still hissed and muttered ugly names at our side while we spoke. We had gathered for the Arlington County School Board’s meeting on June 18. For four months, the Arlington Parent Coalition had worked tirelessly to get our liberal school board and administrators to reconsider or delay the implementation of policies that would expand accommodations for transgender-identified students. Those policies were passed four years ago during the summer, when nobody was...

In his History of Sexuality, Foucault noted that it was only in the 19th century that we began to define people by their desires. That’s when “homosexual became a personage,” “a type of life,” a “morphology.” Foucault — yes, that Foucault — thought this reductive and distracting. What would he say now, I wonder? Consider all the additional “personages” that have appeared in the last few decades. By no means an exhaustive list, these include transgender, pansexual, bisexual, asexual, demisexual, neutrois, agender, non-binary, polysexual, polyamorous, genderqueer, and genderfluid. Many have their own flags — an interesting trend in itself. And...

Back in the day, I remember reading, the Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat had a problem. What to do to cool off all his guerrilla fighters once they were ensconced in a camp in Lebanon? The answer: get them wives. He was facing the problem with all political movements, especially lefty movements, once they have reached their goals. How do you get the activists to go home? What about the black civil-rights activists after the 1960s civil rights acts? What about the feminists after girls became the majority of college students? And now, what about gays, what with gay marriage and...

Recently, California Gov. Gavin Newsom — who makes former Gov. Jerry Brown look like a conservative — declared that the national Republican Party is headed for the “waste bin of history” because of its policies. This from one who wants universal (taxpayer-supported) health care for undocumented migrants in California and taxpayer-supported preschool for all 3-year-olds by the same public school system that is failing elementary and high school students, with no solution for the many homeless in cities of the Golden State. California can be saved from the progressives seeking the Democratic presidential nomination by broadening the base of commonsense...

Every now and then we need to remind ourselves of the threat to and America and Americans from within the country. Over the last two years we have seen the systematic attacks on the Trump administration as well as on American history. Things like statues being taken down, our voices stifled and the medias bias that permeates our air waves. For this, I wanted to bring forth for your reading displeasure the 1963 entry into the congressional record of the 45 Communist Goals taken from Skousen's book, The Naked Communist.

Vice President Pence on Wednesday announced that the administration will challenge the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide injunctions that halt policies advocated by President Trump. The administration's move — aimed at pushing back at unfavorable decisions from lower courts across the country — would set the stage for a vast legal debate and battle over the role that national injunctions play in the courts. Pence argued to supporters at an event hosted by the conservative Federalist Society that the Trump administration has been “unfairly” targeted by injunctions issued by lower courts, saying the rulings have prevented...

Special Edition04-15-19 ***After Action Report*** I just got back from the demonstration in Fresno, California. It wasn't a Free Republic event, but was sponsored by the local Tea Party and Free Republic was notified at the last minute, so Freeper attendence was small. I counted about 5-6 Freepers. I'd say the total attendance was 50-60 people total, maybe a bit more. There was a Tea Party board member with a sound system and microphone, a guy and his buddy from some web site that I forgot the name of and he was live-streaming the event somewhere on the internet....

The Mueller report exonerated President Trump of claims that he colluded with Russia to steal the election from Hillary Clinton. In response, Nancy Pelosi said screw Mueller's report. Her minions will continue seeking to create evidence of Trump/Russia collusion to impeach him. ... A highly visible Tea Party supportive of our president would help to counter the lies. There have been 533,074 articles claiming Trump colluded with Russia, filled will bogus accusations, deceptions and lies.

NEW YORK — Pro-life activists are calling for a repentance a week after the New York state Legislature passed a bill making it legal for abortionists and other health care professionals to perform abortions up to birth for any reason that might threaten a woman’s mental or physical health.

I don’t want to divide up the country. I don’t want to occupy New York City or San Francisco. I just want to take the minority of outraged Communist and build a monument to freedom with their skulls. The Democrat Party is willing to burn America down in order to steal it, and they are now the open enemy of the state and the people, and they’re going to get their reply ballistically, not rhetorically. Once you’re kissed in the forehead that way, there is no further reply. Nature is brilliantly subtle like that. Nothing less will suffice any longer....

Read the article. A master list of leftist tactics, strategies, and case studies.

Pope Francis, ending a month-long meeting on the theme of Catholic youth, told young people Sunday that in order to be good members of the Church they should not be obsessed with “doctrinal formulæ” but blend its rules with social activism to help those in need. Francis said a Mass for about 10,000 people in St. Peter’s Basilica to ceremoniously close the Synod of Bishops, officially titled “Young People, Faith and Discernment of Vocation” and attended by some 300 bishops, priests, nuns and lay participants. The gathering’s final document, issued late on Saturday night, called for women to play a...

This letter has been sent to the Washington Post. We thought our FReeper friends might like to see it.

As I compose this commentary, there remain segments within the American evangelical church that continue to advance and propagate the principles and tenets of the "gospel" of social justice. Increasing numbers of evangelical churches, pastors, and ministries are buying into what I consider merely a new presentation of an old soteriology: salvation by social activism. One such organization, Evangelicals For Social Action, describes itself as "a catalyzing agent for Christ's shalom via projects focused on cultural renewal, holistic ministry, political reflection and action, social justice and reconciliation, and creation care. Rather than a typical "think" tank, ESA is a "do"...

CDC links outbreak of salmonella in 33 states to Kellogg's Honey Smacks cereal (headline)

The shift in American society from admiring Christians to fearing and criticizing them provides an opportunity for self-reflection. How have we been presenting the message we believe in? Might there be a more grace-filled way?Some want to focus on personal morality and leave public morality to secular politicians. Others seek ways to guide the broader culture while still communicating grace. Rather than propose a single path, I will instead make some observations and suggestions for Christians to consider as we interact with a world that does not always share our views.Clashes Between Christ and Culture Are UnavoidableJohn Howard Yoder recounted...