Free Republic

CHICAGO - Late on a balmy Friday night in Wicker Park, a gentrifying neighborhood just northwest of the Loop, a small tribe of 20-somethings gathers outside a corner bar. Their leader, a petite, energetic 25-year-old named Meghann Walker, hands out leaflets to people heading inside. "Do you guys know Ron Paul is going to be in town tomorrow?" Walker asks a short-haired young woman in jeans and flip-flops. "There'll be a lot of good people there, that's for sure."

Drug warriors push broad censorship of student speech. When Joseph Frederick, a Juneau, Alaska, high school senior, unrolled a 14-foot banner proclaiming "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" at a 2002 Winter Olympics torch relay rally near his school, he was trying to attract TV cameras. Instead he caught the eye of Deborah Morse, the school's principal, who crossed the street, grabbed the banner, crumpled it up, and suspended Frederick for 10 days. Morse was offended not by the banner's religious content but by what she took to be its pro-marijuana message, which she felt undermined the school's anti-drug stance. When the...

Famed attorney Kenneth Starr filed a petition for the Juneau School District on Monday in the country's highest court to hear the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case. Starr, of the Los Angeles-based firm Kirkland & Ellis, filed the petition in the U.S. Supreme Court to challenge the March 10 decision by the 9th Circuit Court, which ruled that former Juneau-Douglas High School principal Deborah Morse violated former student Joseph Frederick's free speech rights. Starr, the former independent counsel whose investigation led to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton, has taken on the case pro bono for Morse and the...

A few minutes ago I posted here about Linda Ronstadt. No swearing, no personal insults. Other posters here viciously attacked and insulted Ronstadt, their posts remain. My post got deleted within minutes. Are you guys really that scared? I believe in free speech and the exchange of opinions, obviously you don't. Mr Robinson, answer me: on what basis was my post deleted? I almost feel compelled to post on various other websites how I doubled up laughing about the cowardice on display here. Again, show me your courage please, cheers from the Leftist Dutchman!

FIRE RAINS FROM SKY-METEORITIC FLOW-EGYPT FOR 3RD DAY Translated by: http://translation2.paralink.com/ Article Link: http://www.newsru.com/world/15jul2004/shar.html Translation: In several villages in the south of Egypt for the unknown reason have simultaneously burned down about 100 houses, informs RIA of "News" referring to local press. In result there were some hundreds local residents, many of which have burned. Under the statement of numerous eyewitnesses, on roofs of houses on which peasants dry pomet, used in these places as fuel, drop the fiery spheres instantly igniting structures. Local authorities cannot explain the reason of ignition yet. On one of versions, on houses the pigeons...

Stepping into the Dennis Kucinich rally at the University of New Hampshire on Sunday night, the first thing to hit you is the stench of male body odor. Not the "man, it's hot on the dance floor, I think I'll take my sweater off" kind of odor, but the "I use organic deodorant" kind. The second thing that hits you is the aroma of marijuana. Not the "Dude, want a toke?" variety, but the "No, officer, we just went outside for some fresh air" kind. Signs hang from the ceiling along each wall. "Vote Kucinich 4 Healthcare." Tables full of...

Two men swept up in the multistate federal drug paraphernalia sting known as "Operation Pipe Dreams" in February were sentenced Thursday to five years of probation, and six months in home detention. They were fined $20,000 each. Jason Robert Harris, 31, and Saeed Mohtadi, 33, pleaded guilty in May to one count each of conspiring to sell drug paraphernalia. The pair, both active in Eugene, Oregon's burgeoning art glass scene, operated several Internet businesses that marketed glass pipes and bongs created by a cadre of local glass artists. They advertised their wares as incense burners and labeled other items "for...