Free Republic

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, signed legislation on Tuesday prohibiting the sale of Confederate flags on public property, including at state and local fairs. Cuomo was well aware that such legislation is likely to fail a First Amendment test, but this did not deter him. "This country faces a pervasive, growing attitude of intolerance and hate—what I have referred to in the body politic as an American cancer," he wrote. "By limiting the display and sale of the confederate flag, Nazi swastika and other symbols of hatred from being displayed or sold on state property, including the state...

American rock group Bloodhound Gang has been barred from a music festival in Russia, the Russian Culture Minister said, after a band member shoved the country's flag into his underpants during a gig. Moscow reacted angrily, barring the band from performing at a festival in the Krasnodar Black Sea region, also known as Kuban. The event, held on August 1-7, is expected to feature bands including The Prodigy, Guano Apes and Scooter. "I spoke to the Krasnodar region authorities. Bloodhound Gang is packing their suitcases. These idiots will not perform in Kuban," Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky said on Twitter...