Free Republic

On the afternoon of Feb. 25, a Wednesday, Gabby Schilling received a long-awaited piece of mail: her acceptance letter to Salve Regina University in Rhode Island. She was also informed that she’d be pitching for the school’s softball team. Her dad, retired baseball great Curt Schilling, was elated. He wasn’t at the family home in Medfield, Mass., when Gabby got the news, but at 2:53 p.m., -snip- Schilling has 121,000 followers on Twitter. Within hours, he says, he started seeing some crass ­responses.snip Schilling thought about what to do. “Five years ago, I would’ve gotten in the car and beaten...

Montana legislators will consider Wednesday afternoon whether to join every other state in the nation in putting anti-bullying policy into law. A bill being introduced by Democrat Rep. Kimberly Dudik in the Montana House Education Committee would define bullying, prohibit it in public schools and require that public school districts enact their own policies addressing bullying. […] Julie Hertzog, director of PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center, said most state laws enforcing bullying definitions and procedures were enacted in the mid-2000s, with updates like cyberbullying provisions being added every year. She said the laws build better environments for kids to learn...

An 11-year-old hunter from Oceola Township, Michigan, took a rare albino 12-pointer with a crossbow last week while hunting with his father. The albino buck was well known in the area, but Gavin Dingman ended up being the lucky hunter to harvest it. Sadly, the celebration ended for Dingman and his family, as they became the subject of death threats and social media backlash. "My dad was just like, 'Take a deep breath. Are you sure you can take the shot? If you're not 100 percent, we don't want to injure it,'” Dingman told the Livingston Daily on Monday. The...

There is a new form of cyberbullying out there and it is scary, because it could derail the professional career of any conservative - even those working in apolitical jobs. Slimy folks like “Busta Troll” are hijacking Facebook pages of conservatives, replacing the content with goats and anti-conservative messages. Some believe a goat is used because it is a Satanic symbol; many of the conservatives are targeted because of their Christian or Jewish views. The conservative Citizens’ Post page on Facebook was hijacked by the “Goatz Alliance,” which also goes by the name “Busta Troll,” by pretending to be from...

New York's highest court said on Tuesday that a law designed to criminalize cyberbullying was so broad that it violated the First Amendment, marking the first time a U.S. court weighed the constitutionality of such a law. . . . The Court of Appeals in a 5-2 decision said it was possible to pass a law outlawing bullying via social media or text message that respected free speech rights, but the county's statute went too far. . . . “The problem is, it’s going to be really tricky to write a law that is comprehensive in its coverage of bullying...

A teen said he was cyberbullied for wearing an “I Love Fossil Fuels” shirt on Earth Day. John Digiacobbe said he loves fossil fuels because they’ve been around for millions of years and provide for more than 80 percent of energy. Some of his classmates, however, don’t seem to share that view. Digiacobbe said wearing the shirt prompted comments at school and a “firestorm of negative tweets.” …

The war that has been brewing between the Sexual Activists of America, and every day people of faith, morals, and conscience has moved into the major campaign of the conflict. This week has been bloody. For the better part of the past two years I have repeatedly stated on my radio show that we have entered a day where the Constitutional guarantee of absolute legal protection for one's freedom of religious faith and expression is running headlong into a culturally driven force that is a non-Constitutional right to sexual freedom. The United States Constitution doesn't address sex, sexuality, sexual...

(WASHINGTON) -- It appeared Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, expected something entirely different from Facebook when he asked whether his Facebook followers were better off with Obamacare than they were four years ago, suggesting they “Comment with YES or NO!”Post by Senator Ted Cruz.Comment they did. By late Wednesday afternoon, the status update had more than 55,000 replies.   “I and a few million other people are a lot better off,” said one user. “I hope you are enjoying your Cadillac plan given to you by your wife’s employer, Goldman Sachs.” “YES, best law ever! And way overdue!” read another one....

DENVER — Colorado lawmakers gave initial approval to legislation that would make cyberbullying a crime. Cyberbullying has increasingly become a part of modern childhood where young children have access to social media sites and near constant Internet access on smart phones. The House Education Committee approved the legislation, HB 1131,on a unanimous bipartisan vote of 12-0. The bill, which now moves to the House Appropriations Committee, would make it illegal for someone to harass a minor online if the victim feels the threat puts them in serious emotional distress or fear for their life. “Bullying will never stop if we...

Admittedly I don’t listen to Christian rap or rap of any kind for that matter, but after watching this news report I had to hear Bizzle’s new song which is a well thought out response from a Christian perspective to Macklemore’s song “Same Love.”- (the song the played at the Grammys for the big gay wedding.) And let me say Bizzle’s new song doesn’t pull any punches at all. It treads in love but it doesn’t tread lightly. It’s quite powerful actually. But first, watch this news report by KHOU on how Bizzle’s life is being threatened because of his...

Paris Jackson's deep depression has been largely the result of bullying ... and Facebook has been hosting the haters. Sources closely connected to Paris tell TMZ ... the 15-year-old has been reeling from comments left on her Facebook page --- many about Michael Jackson and his lifestyle. Some of the comments involve the various molestation allegations ... others involve the odd life Paris lived while Michael was alive. We're told Paris has taken the comments very personally ... and one source says, "They destroyed her." The source adds, there's a nexus between the bullying and her penchant for cutting. Now...

So I just noticed today that a few of my "Facebook friends" more like 2 people I haven't spoken to in twenty years, had those stupid gay marriage red equality signs up. I defriended them all, anyone else have the same thing happen?

America’s free-speech model is in desperate need of an update, says an American-Muslim human rights activist who recently spoke at an event linked to an Obama administration appointee. Dr. Qasim Rashid argued that cyber-bullying laws could be used to limit freedom of expression – such as the burning of Korans -- in war time: “When a nation is at war, many things that might be said in times of peace are a hindrance to this effort,” Rashid said on March 19 at Howard University. “And their utterance will not be endured so long as men fight and…no court can regard...

A mother who endured cyberbullying after her daughter's death writes about the insidious trend. Lesli Catsouras, the mother of Nikki Catsouras, has just completed a memoir "Forever Exposed," about her family's journey coping with Internet trolls and cyber-bullies in addition to the toll-road-crash death of her 18-year-old daughter.

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Adam Smith, the man who videotaped himself getting free water at a Chick-Fil-A drive-thru just to berate the young woman as been fired. Smith in his video said he was happy to feel "purposeful" in condemning the Chick-Fil-A employee over CEO Dan Cathy's same-sex-marriage remarks. The video went viral and citizen journalists tracked him down online and grabbed copies of his resume. His employer, Vante, released this statement a bit ago: Vante of Tucson, AZ Regrets Actions of Former CFO Employee Has Left the Company TUCSON, AZ--(Marketwire - Aug 2, 2012) - The following is a statement from Vante: Vante...

(CBS News) New York state lawmakers have proposed a ban on anonymous online comments. Called the Internet Protection Act (A.8688/S.6779), the legislation would require a web site administrator to pull down anonymous comments from sites, including "social networks, blogs forums, message boards or any other discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages."The bill states: A web site administrator upon request shall remove any comments posted on his or her web site by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post and confirms that his or...

The sad case of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old gay kid who committed suicide after being bullied, has inspired Lady Gaga to try to get involved in the situation. She’s insisting that bullying be made illegal. Since she’s a spoiled pop star suggesting an idea that’s about as sensible as wearing a meat suit, she probably won’t have much luck with it. And she certainly shouldn’t.That being said, I have more empathy for Jamey Rodemeyer and other kids like him because I was bullied in high school and can tell you that it’s a horrible experience. Not only are you afraid...

A 16-year-old girl is facing up to a year in jail after creating a Facebook page insulting her classmate as 'hoes'. The teenage 'Mean Girl' allegedly posted nine photographs of the girls from her school in Manassas, Virginia, and added lewd comments about them. The Facebook page called 'Stonewall Hoes' has since been taken down by authorities. But the teen, who has not been named, has been charged with cyber bullying at Stonewall Jackson High. Authorities said the comments posted under the photos led to the charges of harassment by computer.The girl has been suspended and now faces expulsion. Student...

It is the kind of torment that no parent would want their child to endure. Cyberbullying can and does lead to suicide. Special laws have now been passed to try and deal with this relatively new phenomenon, which affects an estimated 50 percent of all teenagers at one time or another. That's because the Internet is now part of our daily routine. But increasingly, online communications cause severe trauma. Take the case of Jessi Slaughter, a young girl whose You Tube video that has gone viral. It shows her crying hysterically, telling her peers to "stop hating." Young people with...