Free Republic

'.XXX' Domain Name Under Consideration Again By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Staff Writer January 19, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - The organization in charge of approving Internet domains has reintroduced a controversial proposal to create a domain registry specifically for pornographic content. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) in June 2005 approved the creation of the ".xxx" domain. But in May 2006, the organization voted against a contract with domain distributor ICM Registry, in part because of outcry from conservative family groups. Since then, the ICANN and ICM Registry have worked to revise the terms of the original contract, adding...

New Day in Washington for Pro-Life Marchers By Susan Jones and Payton Hoegh CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Correspondent January 19, 2007 (CNSNews.com) - For more than three decades, pro-life activists have been coming to Washington every January to mark, with sadness, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion. The challenges are bigger than ever this year, they say, with pro-choice Democrats in control of Congress. Pro-life activists plan to address that reality at a Monday-morning news conference on Capitol Hill. The news conference will be followed by a pro-life worship service and the annual March for Life. "It's...

(CNSNews.com) - Suspected terrorists being held at Camp Delta at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are offered meals that contain more than twice the recommended daily calorie intake, according to American Legion National Commander Thomas Bock, who toured the facility in February. Bock, who spoke on a panel at the conservative Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, said detainees are offered "more than 4,200 calories per day." The Department of Health and Human Services makes diet and nutrition suggestions based on a 2,000-calorie per day diet. The average lunch at Guantanamo, according to Bock, consists of fresh vegetables, meat, rice, two...

(CNSNews.com) - Liberal activists plan to protest "Republican corruption" on Wednesday outside the offices of Americans for Tax Reform, where conservative leaders and activists gather weekly -- "to discuss their next moves," protest organizers said. The "Stop Corruption First" protest is intended to draw media attention to the "close connection" between congressional Republicans and the "business lobbyists who are funding their operations," a press release said. "The plan is to show up, peacefully conduct a protest with signs, and disperse after a half hour or so," said MoveOn.org Political Action, which is co-sponsoring the protest with the Campaign for America's...

CNSNews.com) - The Chicago chapter of the Service Employees International Union is apparently using hardball tactics to convince two regional hospital chains to allow its workers to unionize. The union is urging uninsured Chicagoans to seek free medical care at the 16 hospitals belonging to the Advocate and Resurrection health care networks in a campaign that could financially squeeze the chains and place patients at risk, according to a hospital association. The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) launched its Care for All campaign in September, but the union began targeting Advocate Health Care in 2003. That is when the SEIU...

I apologize for the vanity but thought we'd all enjoy a good laugh at the extent to which PC has invaded the University of Maryland. A friend of mine who is a student there recently complained (in an e-mail dripping with sarcasm) that the university president's "Holiday Greeting" e-mail was offensive. Below is my friends initial complaint and the response he received from the diversity office. From: DELETED Sent: Thursday, December 15, 2005 To: PRESIDENT MOTE Cc: DELETED Subject: Re: Holiday Greeting President Mote, I wanted to let you know that I was deeply offended by your recent mass e-mail...

Group to Protest 'Republican Death Machine' On Eve of Execution(CNSNews.com) - Opponents of the death penalty on Monday night, hours before the scheduled execution of convicted murderer Stanley "Tookie" Williams, will protest the "legal lynching" outside the Justice Department in Washington, D.C. An advertisement for the protest obtained by Cybercast News Service states that the rally will "demand [California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger] grant clemency," and it encouraged activists to "join us to raise our voices against the Republican death machine at the Department of Justice." Nick Chin, a spokesman for the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, which is sponsoring...

White People Won't Vote for Blacks, Congressman Charges By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent October 14, 2005 (1st Add: Includes details about Voting Rights Act)(CNSNews.com) - The chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus on Friday urged his Capitol Hill colleagues to extend and strengthen the Voting Rights Act in order to "level the playing field" because, U.S. Rep. Melvin Watt said, "white people ... will not consider voting for an African American candidate." Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, made the remarks at a Washington hearing held by the National Commission on the Voting Rights Act. The commission, a project of...

'Eco-Terrorism' Advocate's Speech Sponsored by University By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent September 30, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - An Ohio taxpayers' group is appealing to the publicly funded Ohio University to repeal its sponsorship of an environmental activism conference that is hosting an outspoken supporter of "eco-terrorism." Two departments at the university are co-sponsoring the Buckeye Forest Council's conference, "Defending the Earth in Times of War." The keynote speaker on Saturday is Derrick Jensen, an author and activist who has advocated the tactics used by groups like the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) to disrupt industries that profit from the environment. "Our problem...

Bush Team Conspired Against Blacks, Activists Charge By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent September 12, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - Several black civil rights leaders are accusing the federal government of conspiring against poor African Americans in the aftermath of the flooding in New Orleans. But one of those hurling the charges, comedian and political activist Dick Gregory, on Friday refused to say what, if anything, he has personally contributed to the relief effort. Gregory, who had just visited evacuees at the Houston Astrodome and the city's convention center, said he was able offer the flood victims something else besides money and food....

(CNSNews.com) - The owner of a gun show targeted by federal law enforcement for a half dozen undercover enforcement operations may join with some of his customers in filing a federal class action civil rights lawsuit against the agencies that participated in the operations. Virginia State Police (VSP) records obtained through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by Cybercast News Service confirm that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) conducted "Task Force" undercover surveillance and enforcement operations in connection with six gun shows in Richmond, Va., between July of 2004 and June of 2005. Richmond...

The D.C. Council Committee on Public Works and the Environment is scheduled today to hold a hearing on three bills that would broaden smoking bans in city workplaces. Two bills would extend the definition of workplaces to include bars and restaurants. One of those bills would provide an exemption for cigar bars that earn at least 10 percent of their revenue from tobacco sales. The third bill, written by committee Chairman Carol Schwartz, would punish smoker-friendly restaurants by quadrupling the business licensing fee [snip] A more sweeping bill awaits consideration in September in the Health Committee, which is headed by...

Activists Plan Disruptions for World Bank, IMF Meetings By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent April 15, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - Cue the protesters: In what's become an annual rite of spring, an assortment of leftist-activists have launched a weekend full of demonstrations against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which are holding meetings in Washington, D.C. In past years, the protests have been marked by violence and arrests. A group called the A16DC Collective -- A16DC stands for April 16 in D.C. -- has been holding events in the week leading up to the meetings, with more serious protests planned as...

Iraqi Expatriates Hopeful for Future as Voting Begins By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent January 28, 2005 New Carrollton, Md. (CNSNews.com) - Music, shouts and dancing filled a parking lot in New Carrollton, Md., Friday as Iraqi expatriates began casting absentee ballots in the first free elections of their lifetimes. "I came here to vote for these boys," said Salam Majeed, pointing to his sons, Jawal, 14 and Badahr, 12. "This is their future, that's what I'm here for, the future of Iraq." Iraqi nationals living in the United States can cast absentee ballots in five U.S. cities through Sunday. The...

Group Demands Apology for Lawmaker's 'Anti-Youth' Statement By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent January 12, 2005 (CNSNews.com) - Some young voters are demanding an apology from a Republican lawmaker who criticized President Bush's intentions to reform Social Security. On the front page of Tuesday's Washington Post, Rep. Rob Simmons (R-Conn.) was quoted as saying, "When does the [Social Security] program go belly up? 2042. I will be dead by then." Simmons was rejecting the president's stated desire to let younger workers funnel a small percentage of their Social Security payroll tax into privately held accounts. "It is profoundly irresponsible for him...

Brandon Singleton was 8 when he first saw the movie "Clueless," and it changed his life. He was entranced by the paradise of teenage consumption that the 1995 film portrayed, a Hollywood world of valet parking and designer duds. So when he entered Suitland High School in Prince George's County four years ago, he was determined to make it his reality. Now 17, he wears Armani sunglasses inside his mother's modest townhome on a recent afternoon as he rattles off a list of his favorite designer brands: Dolce & Gabbana, Coach and "a little Burberry here and there." His first...

EBay to Ban 'Racially Derogatory' Search Terms By Nathan Burchfiel CNSNews.com Correspondent November 15, 2004 (CNSNews.com) - The Internet auction giant eBay plans to implement a "pop-up" notification when "racially derogatory" search terms are entered on the website. EBay will formally announce the change on Wednesday, which the National League of Cities has been pushing. John Pionke, a media relations official with the National League of Cities (NLC), declined to offer specific examples of the derogatory words in question, but explained that the campaign was started about a year ago by a member of the organization. Philadelphia Councilwoman Marian Tasco...

This picture looks oddly fake. They wouldn't allow people that close to Air Force One, and it reeks of photoshop. Why would Yahoo! Photos and Rueters post this if it's fake?

The Associated Press released "test returns" for the Nov. 2 election on Wednesday. Surprisingly, they basically gave the election to Bush. The results, most of which do not have all precincts reporting, show Kerry winning only 7 states. (One of those states is Bush's home state of Texas ... a little joke from the AP?) Bush is shown winning Kerry's home state of Massachusetts, so at least the joke is played on both candidates. Interestingly, with 55 percent of precincts reporting, Kerry has 5 votes and Bush has 6 votes in Hawaii! Bush wins key swing states Florida (by 10...