Free Republic

I started writing a collection of sarcastic definitions about a year or so ago for fun and have amassed roughly 50 words so far, so I made a page for them and was planning on doing a daily/almost daily flashcard like the one below.

In our federal system, states should be able to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on Friday joined an amicus brief on behalf of 57 members of Congress in support of the right of states to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman. The brief was filed in four cases that the Supreme Court will jointly hear on April 28, 2015, in which same-sex couples challenge the marriage laws of Ohio, Tennessee, Michigan, and Kentucky, all of which were upheld by the U.S....

Jonathan Chait burned up the Internet this week with his critique of so-called political correctness. Among many responses, Amanda Taub‘s stands out for its denial of Chait’s basic premise. According to Taub: …there’s no such thing as “political correctness.” The term’s in wide use, certainly, but has no actual fixed or specific meaning. What defines it is not what it describes but how it’s used: as a way to dismiss a concern or demand as a frivolous grievance rather than a real issue. This is a curious response. Sure, people use the term in different ways. But Chait provides a...

At a conference for abortion providers, held in Los Angeles, nurse Henrietta Blackmon instructed other clinic workers: “We have to be very, very sensitive, and very, very aware what words we are using to describe the procedures used. Use the word “fetus”: this is a fetus; this is not a “baby.” Paul Marx, the Death Peddlers: War on the Unborn (Collegeville, Minnesota: St. John’s University press, 1971) 21

Thought the following descriptions and caustic quotes concerning liberals might be amusing to many. Oddly no definition for "libertarian" though a bit of running commentary about both Republicans and Democrats. Extracted from the newly released The Devil’s Dictionary (new millennia edition). Grab a copy for your cynical old man for father's day. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0983240752/liberal, noun 1. Someone who does not care what you do as long as it is compulsory. 2. A person who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which he proposes to pay-off with your money. 3. A person whose interests aren't at stake at the moment....

mosin-nagant The Mosin-nagant is an old school bolt action rifle from Russia. Originally designed by a drunk Russian engineer and an even more drunk Belgian gunsmith, who drew up blueprints on napkins in the back of a pub somewhere in Siberia in a vodka-induced stupor. The Mosin-nagant fires the 7.62x54r cartridge, which can kill a polar bear at a thousand yards and keep going right through the tree he was standing in front of. The Mosin-nagant was used by the Russians in both world wars, so it's killed more Germans than collisions on the autobahn and under-cooked sauerkraut combined. Surplus...

The vote was 13-5 for a compromise defining a "covered journalist" as an employee, independent contractor or agent of an entity that disseminates news or information. The individual would have been employed for one year within the last 20 or three months within the last five years. It would apply to student journalists or someone with a considerable amount of freelance work in the last five years. A federal judge also would have the discretion to declare an individual a "covered journalist," who would be granted the privileges of the law.

Two-thirds of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they want their member of Congress to “keep their promises and stick to principles” as opposed to “compromise in a bipartisan way to get things done.” “From Obamacare on down, sticking to principle is where the Republican base is today,” said David Kirby, vice president of opinion research at FreedomWorks. “It’s an example of how off the Republican establishment is from their base.” Social issues have become less salient to GOP voters: 41 percent said gay marriage is not one of their top 10 issues. Asked about abortion, about one-third said it is...

Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kansas, and other conservative members of Congress say they will attempt to introduce in the coming days a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. Following the Supreme Court's ruling deeming the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional, several Republicans expressed their disappointment with the decision and vowed to take action. Apparently, this means an amendment to the Constitution. "This Court has taken it upon itself the radical attempt to redefine marriage," Huelskamp said, standing outside the Supreme Court. "I think what gets lost in this judicial attempt to short-circuit the democratic process is the needs of our children…. Every...

That was quick. Moments After DOMA Ruling today by the Supreme Court- Plaintiff Sandy Stier in the Prop 8 case promised to keep pushing until gay marriage is legal in all states. “We want to thank the justices for overturning DOMA. It is so, so important for us and all families. And, we thank the justices for letting us get married in California. But that’s not enough. It’s gotta go nationwide. And we can’t wait for that day.“(VIDEO-AT-LINK)

CINCINNATI — No one heckled Senator Rob Portman during his first appearance before thousands of Ohioans since becoming the most prominent elected Republican in the country to endorse same-sex marriage. “Wouldn’t you say,” he said, turning to his wife, Jane, after marching in an opening day parade for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday, “that most of the comments were thank yous and thumbs up and ‘You did the right thing’?” True, but for some of the Ohioans who acknowledged Mr. Portman, doubts flickered below the surface. “Senator!” said one spectator, Pete Kidnocker, reaching out to shake Mr. Portman’s hand. But...

You know our political discourse has lost its moorings when it’s the Republicans who play that famous race card in defending one of their own. The person in need of defense is Dr. Ben Carson, a renowned Johns Hopkins surgeon. Carson happens to be black, Yale-educated — and conservative. After his impassioned criticism of President Obama at the National Prayer Breakfast, many in the GOP thought they’d found their 2016 standard-bearer. But however brilliant, Carson has raised eyebrows since coming into the spotlight. Last week, he told Sean Hannity, “Marriage is between a man and a woman. No group, be...

<p>The Associated Press on Thursday updated its stylebook so that married individuals will be referred to as husband and wife, regardless of whether they are in a same-sex marriage. The change comes a week after the AP received criticism for an internal memo designating the word "partners" for individuals in same-sex marriages.</p>

Arizona, as with many states, has numerous definitions of what is legally considered a firearm. The definition of “firearm” is found in several different places in the Arizona legal code. This makes it difficult for citizens and lawyers to determine what is legal and what is not. People have faced prosecution for possessing items that most would not consider to be firearms, such as BB guns, airsoft replicas, squirt guns, or antique guns that are not legally firearms under federal law. One man was prosecuted for possession of a firearm for a collection of parts that experts testified could not...

**SNIP** “Under current law, on January 2, 2013, there’s going to be a massive fiscal cliff of large spending cuts and tax increases,” said Bernanke, in testimony to the House Financial Services Committee on February 29, 2012. **SNIP** What’s likely, is that as members on the Hill grew concerned with the stalemate over the automatic spending cuts and tax increases, the communications apparatus went to work and settled on “fiscal cliff,” members started using, Bernanke used it, and suddenly it explodes in the media and becomes codified as short hand for a complex issue. There you go. From early films...

Last month, the grossly exaggerated testimony of a 30-year-old Georgetown law student delivered before an ad hoc congressional committee quite blatantly attempted to expand the legal definition of the term, “denial of services.” When the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services held that all employers, even religious institutions, must provide health insurance coverage for contraceptive services, including those aiding abortions, to its employees, it set off a firestorm within the Roman Catholic community. The department’s mandate directly conflicts with the church’s 2,000-year history celebrating the sanctity of life. When health officials issued their decision, U.S. Rep. Darrell E. Issa,...

FBI to change definition of ‘rape’ for the first time since 1929BY Rheana Murray NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Updated: 11:04 am The FBI’s definition of “rape” is about to get a long-awaited update, for the first time since 1929. The revamped description will be broader, pleasing activists who say the current definition leads to the low-balling of sexual assault cases, and also discourages victims to come forward. An agency panel voted on Tuesday to change the narrow definition that’s currently in use: “Carnal knowledge of a female forcibly and against her will.” The new definition, which will more closely match...

AG Eric Holder attempts to avoid question about lying to congress. Saying that lying depends on one's state of mind. (December 8, 2011)

Evidently, the newspeak definition of ‘misinformation’ is actually ‘opinions with which I don’t agree’. According to Media Matters for America that is, as The Right Sphere points out. They use an example given in Howard Kurtz’s article “Partisan Organizations Use Sound Bite Warfare” wherein Kurtz describes the “bat signal” given out by MMFA. This coordinated attack sprung from Governor Mike Huckabee making a remark on a radio show about Natalie Portman’s pregnancy and how he thought she was “boasting” about unwed motherhood: Media Matters mission, and what presumably allows them the tax exempt 501(c)(3) status, is as follows: Media Matters...