Free Republic

At least a dozen executive directors of local Big Brothers Big Sisters affiliates are defying a new directive from national headquarters requiring them to allow homosexuals to mentor children of the same gender, according to a World magazine report. The dissenting executive directors interviewed by the magazine spoke on condition of anonymity fearing reprisals from national headquarters and their own local directors. Local affiliates of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America are independently funded and managed, paying about $5,500 in annual dues for the privilege of using the organizational name, fund-raising machinery and administrative support. One Midwestern director said he...

Roman Catholic church leaders in New York covered up for 13 paedophile priests in scores of instances of child abuse spanning three decades, and set up a secret bank account to be used to buy victims' silence, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Thomas Daily, the Bishop of Brooklyn, is the most senior official named in the $300m (£190m) suit, which accuses diocesan leaders of shuffling priests from parish to parish without informing their new congregations of the allegations against them. The amount of money demanded makes it the second-largest lawsuit filed in the child abuse scandal engulfing the...

I guess it was inevitable that a few extremists would attempt, as they always do, to exploit the tragedy of the Washington, D.C.-area shootings to promote a new grab for guns. Last week, Rep. John Conyers, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, and three of his colleagues urged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the marketing of military sniper rifles to civilians, noting that such a weapon may be involved in the recent Washington-area shootings. Conyers of Michigan and his pals claimed in the letter to the FTC that sniper weapons are different from standard hunting rifles because...

WASHINGTON – Several witnesses to the Beltway sniper shootings over the past two weeks have described suspects resembling Middle-Eastern men, but authorities have played down the Islamic terrorism angle to avoid mass "panic" in the area, an ATF official told WorldNetDaily. "That angle is actually being looked at, and the FBI has the lead on it," said the official, who is working with the sniper-murders task force based in Maryland's Montgomery County, where the first five shootings took place. "None of this has been overlooked. There's an awful lot that they're not allowing out," he said. "But the issue really...

<p>The American Academy of Family Physicians will consider two resolutions approving same-sex adoption and domestic-partner benefits at its Oct. 14-16 meeting at the San Diego Convention Center. The 93,500-member group, which is based in Leawood, Kan., has at this point taken no position on either issue.</p>

Amazon.com continues to claim First Amendment grounds for its sale and promotion of a book advocating adult-child sex but has removed an e-mail link to a self-proclaimed pedophile amid mounting pressure organized by a non-profit legal action group in California. Last week, WND reported that Amazon.com has been accused by the United States Justice Foundation of "contributing to the potential rape and molestation of children" through its online sale of "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers," by David L. Riegel, who has responded to questions submitted by WND. The USJF has given Amazon 30 days to remove the book from its...

In the United States of America, most Christian ministers don't really believe the Bible. Don't stop the presses – this is not breaking news. In fact, back in the 1960s, University of Virginia professor and sociologist Jeffrey Hadden conducted a survey of 10,000 U.S. pastors – to which 7,441 replied. Their responses revealed what many had long suspected: A large number of the ministers polled openly denied core tenets of the Christian faith, such as Jesus' virgin birth and physical resurrection. Although Hadden, when I contacted him to verify the poll numbers bandied about on different websites, couldn't confirm them...

Amazon.com has been accused by a nonprofit legal group of "contributing to the potential rape and molestation of children." The online retailer's sale and promotion of the book "Understanding Loved Boys and Boylovers," by David L. Riegel, is an unfair and unethical business practice, according to a letter sent yesterday to Amazon CEO Jeffrey Bezos by the United States Justice Foundation of Escondido, Calif. The USJF has given Amazon 30 days to pull the book or face "protracted litigation." In Riegel's book, released in 2000 by a publisher called SafeHaven Foundation Press, he writes: "Men who sexually pursue young boys...

The right of individuals to keep and bear arms may have some validity on the federal level, but states have a right to regulate and ban firearm ownership among the people, says California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. In a letter sent earlier this month to David Codrea, co-founder of Citizens of America, a California-based gun-rights organization, Lockyer said that while his duty is to enforce the laws of his state and the nation, "the responsibilities of my office do not permit me to independently interpret the state and federal Constitutions or the statutes written pursuant to those Constitutions." "The federal...

<p>California's Superintendent of Public Instruction Delaine Eastin apparently believes that the thousands of California parents who home-school their children should be given a stark choice: Send their kids to public schools or to state-approved private schools, or face charges and, at worst, maybe even have their children placed in protective custody.</p>

As if liberty-minded Americans needed more of an impetus to oppose restrictive and unconstitutional gun laws, WorldNetDaily editor-in-chief Joseph Farah's shocking story last week regarding the contents of an al-Qaida training tape provided the coup de grace in terms of motivation. Trouble is, I doubt many in Congress or the White House are paying attention. The tape, which was captured in Afghanistan, "shows Osama bin Laden's terrorists are not only planning attacks with weapons of mass destruction, but are preparing to kill Americans with drive-by shootings and home break-ins, through ambushes of law-enforcement officers and targeted assassinations on golf courses,"...

An al-Qaida training videotape, captured in Afghanistan, shows Osama bin Laden's terrorists are not only planning attacks with weapons of mass destruction but are preparing to kill Americans with drive-by shootings and home break-ins, through ambushes of law-enforcement officers and targeted assassinations on golf courses, WorldNetDaily has learned. The videotape was produced, U.S. analysts believe, for al-Qaida's internal use and did not appear to be an external propaganda device. U.S. military intelligence considers the tape much more significant in what it reveals about al-Qaida's modus operandi than the highly publicized video purchased and broadcast last month by CNN. U.S. forces...

When you read about the state of California's latest assaults against its homeschoolers, don't just dismiss it as another left-coast phenomenon that doesn't affect you. This is bigger than California and involves more than education. The California Department of Education is on the warpath against those parents who have had the audacity to escape its clutches. How dare they presume that they know what is best for their children (or care more about them) than the omniscient educators? In a July 16 memo, Deputy Superintendent Joanne Mendoza decreed that homeschooling is "not an authorized exemption from mandatory public school attendance."...

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has ordered the owners of a website to "immediately cease communicating hate messages" that the panel deems discriminatory against homosexuals. According to the website of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, this is the tribunal's second ruling this year involving a so-called "hate site." The five-member commission refers certain matters to the tribunal for action. Homosexual Mark Schnell filed complaints with the commission in 1999 and 2000, claiming that John Micka and Machiavelli and Associates Emprize Inc. discriminated against him. He felt the site communicated messages likely to expose "persons to hatred and contempt based on...

Over lunch two friends were discussing the government's recent round of tax cuts: "I'm opposed to those tax cuts," the retired college instructor declared, "because they benefit the rich. The rich get much more money back than ordinary taxpayers like you and me and that's not fair." "But the rich pay more in the first place," the businessman argued, "so it stands to reason that they'd get more money back." He could tell that his friend was unimpressed by this meager argument. Even college instructors are a prisoner of the myth that the "rich" somehow get a free ride...

Starting next year, rainwater will no longer be free in the city of Winona. While it hasn't figured out how to tax air or sex, beginning in 2003 the Winona City Council will charge city property owners for the rain that falls on their land. As part of the 2003 budget process, the council gave tentative approval to the creation of a $200,000 stormwater fund. The money will be generated by a charge, similar to water and sewer charges, billed to owners of property that drains into the city storm sewer system. The stormwater fund was discussed by council and...

Parents of 7-year-old Laura Greska have taken legal action against their daughter's school after Laura's teacher refused to allow her to read a religious book about Christmas in her classroom. After months of negotiations with Northwest Elementary School failed, the American Center for Law and Justice, an international public-interest law firm, filed a lawsuit yesterday against the Leominster Public School District in Massachusetts. ACLJ contends Northwest told the Greskas their daughter could not share her Christmas book in class because it contained the story of Jesus Christ's birth, thus making it religious. "This is a troubling example of a school...

MEN:- A 1997 study in British Columbia found the life expectancy of men who engage in sodomy to be comparable to that of the average Canadian man in 1871.  Researchers estimate that nearly half of the 20 year old men currently engaging in sodomy will not reach their 65th birthday.1- Ninety-five percent or more of the AIDS infections among gay men result from receptive anal intercourse.2- The risk of anal cancer "soars" by nearly 4,000% for men who have sex with men. The rate doubles again for those who are HIV positive.  A Michigan homosexual newspaper admits there is no...

While Tinseltown is known for its leading men and women, when it comes to good old-fashioned morality, Hollywood is devoid of leadership. In last week's issue of Parade Magazine, actress Bebe Neuwirth, 42, briefly discussed her new movie role in which she plays an adult woman who seduces a teen-age boy. To her credit, Ms. Neuwirth admitted it is morally improper for a "mature woman to bed a 15-year-old boy." But she went on to say that she took the role anyway because it gave her a chance to work with Sigourney Weaver, whom she has long admired. Translated, that...

Celebrating erotic relationships between women and young girls is the theme of a website called Butterfly Kisses which indicates the relatively unknown fact that pedophilia exists in significant numbers among females. While the site's creators do not identify themselves, posted articles show how some advocates are attempting to create an academic rationale for what is commonly and legally regarded as abuse and molestation. "It's very dangerous when you begin to see women organize in the same way you have seen men organized to rape children," said noted researcher Judith Reisman, who referred to the people behind the website as the...