Free Republic

Like many of the women who say they were assaulted by Bill Cosby, it took me two decades to gain the courage to reveal it publicly. His accusers – mostly white, so far – have faced retaliation, humiliation, and skepticism by coming forward. As an African-American woman, I felt the stakes for me were even higher. Historic images of black men being vilified en masse as sexually violent sent chills through my body. Telling my story wouldn’t only help bring down Cosby; I feared it would undermine the entire African-American community.

They were four words that became the national rallying cry of a new civil rights movement: “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Protesters chanted it, arms raised, in cities across the country in solidarity for Michael Brown, the black teenager who some witnesses said was surrendering when he was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo. The slogan was embraced by members of Congress, recording artists and football players with the St. Louis Rams. It inspired posters and songs, T-shirts and new advocacy groups, a powerful distillation of simmering anger over police violence and racial injustice in Ferguson...

The Associated Press said Wednesday that it was considering legal action over unfulfilled Freedom of Information Act requests for government documents covering Hillary Rodham Clinton’s tenure as secretary of state. In its requests, the AP asked for her full schedules and calendars and for details on the State Department’s decision to grant a special position to a longtime Clinton aide, Huma Abedin, among other documents. The oldest request, the news organization said, was made in March 2010. “We believe it’s critically important that government officials and agencies be held accountable to the voters,” said AP’s general counsel, Karen Kaiser. “In...

I built a semi-automatic rifle in my kitchen. I’ll bet that’s one sentence you’d never thought you’d hear. Neither did I, until the day I decided to do it. The job required drilling aluminum, and tiny shards and slivers of metal were going to fly everywhere. It’s not something you want to do over carpet, so I decided to do it in my kitchen. Did it work? Hell yes, it did. After three hours of work with light tools, I had built the essential component of an AR-15 rifle. America has now reached a point where people can construct modern...

PARIS — AT dinner last summer with my brother-in-law, a grandson of Jews who fled Algeria for France, the conversation turned to the rash of anti-Semitic incidents plaguing the country. At such times, the question inevitably arises in the minds of many Jews: “Where could we go?” He mentioned Tel Aviv, London and New York, but the location mattered less than the reassurance that departure remained an option. He’s not alone in this thinking: 7,000 French Jews emigrated in 2014. Over the past year, as I watched with outrage at the dizzying spate of unpunished extrajudicial police killings of black...

Tom Schweich, Missouri's Republican state auditor and a leading contender for the governor's office in next year's election, has died, according to office. Earlier in the day, a police source said Schweich had sustained a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The initial statement from Schweich's office said only that he was being treated. Schweich was 54. His death was confirmed by his office early Thursday afternoon

Kansas appears on the verge of becoming among the most welcoming states to people who want to pack heat. A bill promising Kansans the ability to carry concealed firearms — without taking safety training or weathering the background checks required in most of the country — won initial approval in the state Senate on Wednesday. The change, expected to pass Thursday to a likely receptive House, would make Kansas a “constitutional carry” state. That would mean citizens would not need a permit to carry a hidden gun. The bill would maintain the current permit process for people who want to...

The Toys R Us store in Ferguson, which was burglarized during last year’s unrest, will close at the end of March, the company confirmed Tuesday. The store, open since 1989, will close “to prepare for the sale of the property,” said company spokeswoman Alyssa Peera. The store was “not meeting the needs of the business,” Peera said. “That is separate from the events that took place,” she added, referring to the protests and looting. “We have enjoyed serving the Ferguson community for many years. At this time, we do not have any plans for a new store in the Ferguson...

TALLAHASSEE — The case against Tadrae McKenzie looked like an easy win for prosecutors. He and two buddies robbed a small-time pot dealer of $130 worth of weed using BB guns. Under Florida law, that was robbery with a deadly weapon, with a sentence of at least four years in prison. But before trial, his defense team detected investigators’ use of a secret surveillance tool, one that raises significant privacy concerns. In an unprecedented move, a state judge ordered the police to show the device — a cell-tower simulator sometimes called a StingRay — to the attorneys. Rather than show...

COPENHAGEN — Europe, a continent long known for the rarity of gun violence, is confronting twin challenges that give the issue sudden urgency: a growing population of radicalized young men determined to strike targets close to home, and a black market awash in high-powered weapons. The problem has been rendered vividly in recent weeks by a pair of deadly assaults that each paralyzed a European capital. In Paris and Copenhagen, the attacks were carried out by former small-time criminals turned violent extremists who obtained military-grade illicit weapons with apparent ease. * In the case of the Paris attackers, they were...

The great city of St. Louis has a major problem with gun violence. Even as homicide rates have continued to decline elsewhere in the country, they have surged in St. Louis, which last year saw a 33 percent rise in killing, to 159 in a city of 318,000. (Note: this does not include the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, which is in St. Louis County, a separate jurisdiction with 1 million people.) Criminologists point to all the usual reasons for the violence: a thriving drug trade, high unemployment among young men, and so on. But a New York Times...

I’LL pay for this column. The Rottweilers will be unleashed. Once the Clintons had a War Room. Now they have a Slime Room. Once they had the sly James Carville, fondly known as “serpenthead.” Now they have the slippery David Brock, accurately known as a snake. Brock fits into the Clinton tradition of opportunistic knife-fighters like Dick Morris and Mark Penn. The silver-haired 52-year-old, who sports colorful designer suits and once wore a monocle, brawled his way into a Times article about the uneasy marriage between Hillary Clinton’s veteran attack dogs and the group of advisers who are moving over...

<p>Gov. John Kitzhaber announced his resignation Friday, ending weeks of speculation about whether he could lead Oregon with the cloud of at least two investigations into possible ethical breaches hanging over his head.</p> <p>The embattled governor faces allegations that his fiancee used their relationship to win contracts for her consulting business and failed to report income on her taxes. The state’s two top legislative leaders and the state treasurer -- all Democrats, as is the 67-year-old governor -- had called on Kitzhaber on Thursday to resign. Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Caption Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber, fiancee provide new green energy scandal After rumors swirl. Gov. Kitzhaber says he's not resigning After rumors swirl. Gov. Kitzhaber says he's not resigning Oregon governor insists he won't resign Oregon governor insists he won't resign Oregon sec. of state 'headed to the capitol to do some work' Oregon sec. of state 'headed to the capitol to do some work'</p>

OAKLAND (KPIX 5) – After the recent Black Lives Matter protests, there is a new brownie troop in Oakland. Instead of selling cookies, they are spreading a message. On a Saturday afternoon in Oakland, a handful of 8 to 10 year old girls are gathered, in brown uniforms, giggling and eating cupcakes. They look like Girl Scouts, but it’s not just fun and games. And it’s not just fun and games. “White policeman are killing black young folks such as women, men and children,” one of the girls said. Another girl said, “Mike Brown. He was shot because he didn’t...

The Obama administration is considering slowing its planned withdrawal from Afghanistan for the second time, according to U.S. officials, a sign of the significant security challenges that remain despite an end to the U.S. and NATO combat mission there. Under the still-evolving plans, Army Gen. John F. Campbell, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, could be given greater latitude to determine the pace of the drawdown in 2015 as foreign forces scramble to ensure Afghan troops are capable of battling Taliban insurgents on their own, the officials said. The options under discussion would not alter what is...

BOSTON — Rebekah Adelstone usually drives to work, which takes 15 minutes. Since record snows have fallen, she has not wanted to risk losing her precious parking spot, so she has taken a bus to the subway. But on Tuesday, after even more snow fell, the subway system was shut down. So she ended up taking two buses to work, and her commute stretched to two hours. Her ordeal was typical of many residents, who soldiered through the more than six feet of snow that has piled up in the last 17 days. With no chance to melt, the snows...

<p>There’s a story Brian Williams likes to tell. He has told it in a TV interview. He has told it to at least two book authors. But even though it had all the makings of a great yarn — danger, guns, resolve — Williams never reported it to his viewers.</p>

NBC should fire Brian Williams. It’s not just because the face of its news division has become the trending punch line on social media after his harrowing account of a near-death experience in Iraq was exposed as false. It’s not just because his explanation for the discrepancies in fact were simply absurd, or because his apology was more parsed than abject. It’s because he fabricated a story. This is one line in journalism that must never be crossed, should never be rationalized and can never be mitigated by any sum of years of honorable service in the profession. * Williams...

Nancy Pelosi has big problems in her ranks. The California lawmaker is facing some of the most serious unrest she’s ever seen in her dozen years as the leader of the House Democrats: Members complain that the party has no message and no clear plan to retake the majority, despite good news on the economy that should have brought rewards at the polls. They also accuse senior lawmakers of failing to pull their weight in dues as they occupy coveted committee slots. Pelosi remains the pre-eminent force in her caucus, and nobody is stepping up to challenge her. But the...

Stomp on the gas in a new Ford Mustang or F-150 and you’ll hear a meaty, throaty rumble — the same style roar that Americans have associated with auto power and performance for decades. It’s a sham. The engine growl in some of America’s best-selling cars and trucks is actually a finely tuned bit of lip-syncing, boosted through special pipes or digitally faked altogether. And it’s driving car enthusiasts insane. Fake engine noise has become one of the auto industry’s dirty little secrets, with automakers from BMW to Volkswagen turning to a sound-boosting bag of tricks. Without them, today’s more...