Free Republic

What is the definition of the word “black?” According to Dictionary.com, the synonyms associated with the word range from “gloomy,” to “threatening,” to “evil,” and even “soiled.” The noun section adds that “black” is sometimes capitalized in reference to “a member of any of various dark-skinned peoples,” and “often offensive” when referring to African Americans. Now, women of color online are demanding a change to the “offensive” connotations of the word. “Let’s Change The Old, Insulting, Abusive, Objectionable, Hostile, Attacking Definition Of ‘Black/ black,’” wrote one Twitter user. “It’s Not Who We Are Or What We a Stand For. So...

Taylor Swift was once apolitical — famously so. That changed in October 2018 when she made a bold and rare move to support Democratic nominees in the midterm elections. At the stroke of midnight on June 1, 2019, which kicked off LGBTQ Pride Month, Swift released an open letter to one of her senators, Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander, in support of the Equality Act and in rejection of President Donald Trump’s stance on the matter. “I personally reject the President’s stance that his administration, ‘supports equal treatment of all,’ but that the Equality Act, ‘in its current form is filled with...

A new Gillette ad released last week Thursday features a transgender man shaving for the first time. Samson Bonkeabantu Brown, a Toronto-based artist, shares the personal on-camera experience with his father, who coaches him through the significant life moment. “Now, don’t be scared,” his father warns. “Shaving is about being confident.” “Growing up, I was always trying to figure out what kind of man I wanted to become and I’m still trying to figure out what kind of man that I want to become,” says Brown, who addresses his transition through manhood.

SNOGGING cows – “with or without tongues” – is all the rage in Austria, endangering the animals and those smooching them, warn officials. The disturbing trend has been promoted by Swiss app Castl, which launched its bizarre Cow Kiss Challenge to raise money for charity. But the practice has been slammed, with politicians and farming officials saying that it's creating a nuisance and could lead to people getting trampled to death by upset cows, particularly those with calves. Castl has been encouraging people in Switzerland, Germany and Austria to kiss cows for a good cause since launching its “KuhKussChallenge” on...

House of Representatives voted Friday 236-173 ...Eight Republicans crossed party lines to vote for the bill, which had unanimous Democratic support. The bill amends the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to make “sexual orientation and gender identity” protected characteristics under federal anti-discrimination law. Among other things, that would force public schools to expand female athletic teams to include biological males who identify as transgender girls. Republican Florida Rep. Greg Steube introduced a last-minute amendment to the bill that would have preserved Title IX’s protections of female athletic teams, but Democrats rejected it.

<p>When the man arrived at the hospital with severe abdominal pains, a nurse didn’t consider it an emergency, noting that he was obese and had stopped taking blood pressure medicines. In reality, he was pregnant — a transgender man in labor that was about to end in a stillbirth.</p>

All they had to do was make average tasting cookies at competitive prices. Instead, Chips Ahoy decided it’d be a good idea to do this. What in the… I’m not even sure what this is supposed to mean. Even if someone believes being a drag queen makes a man suddenly become a woman, they don’t become suddenly become a mother in the process. That’s kind of separate aspect of feminism that you can’t just appropriate. Also, aren’t drag queens a different thing than transgenders, i.e. they don’t claim to be the opposite sex? None of this makes any sense. There’s...

Oy. Ok – so before I start, let me make it clear that I understand that mother’s day can be difficult for children without moms. Here’s the thing – I think every day is difficult for children without moms. Or dads. It’s just reality. One day isn’t going to change their reality. But is this about children who have tragically lost their mothers? Or is this some PC bullcrap about how binary traditional families are offensive. Hmm. According to Daily Mail: A school has renamed a Mother’s Day stall to avoid upsetting any children without a mother. Brunswick East Primary...

MASON, Ohio — Mason High School students will no longer vie for valedictorian and salutatorian distinctions in an effort to "reduce the overall competitive culture" between students, school officials said. Beginning with the Class of 2020, the high school will do away with both honors. School officials said it follows a yearlong study and focus group with students, staffers and families. "It's about what it means to be happy and what it means to be successful and it's not just about the grade but it's about the whole child," Associate Principal Shanna Bumiller said. Mason school officials made the announcement...

This week, the Met Gala took place in New York City. The event has always been a showpiece for celebrities seeking to make a splash, from Rihanna in her Pope costume to Katy Perry dressed as a chandelier. This year’s event was designed in homage to Susan Sontag’s 1964 essay “Notes on Camp.” According to Sontag, “camp” is the “love of the unnatural: of artifice and exaggeration.” In reality, camp according to Sontag is something else: a deliberate attempt to tear down boundaries. “Camp taste,” Sontag wrote, “turns its back on the good-bad axis of ordinary aesthetic judgment.” “[H]igh culture,”...

NYC Vows to Start ‘Phasing Out’ Hot Dogs to Save the Planet as Part of Their Own $14B Green New Deal Madison Dibble about 2 hours ago Hot dogs may become harder to find following the approval of New York City’s version of the Green New Deal as local politicians pick of the sword to take on climate change. On Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.) slapped his signature on his city’s blueprint for combatting climate change. Following in the footsteps of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), the city passed a Green New Deal to mobilize the city’s resources to combat...

Left-wing Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo got political in his Easter Sunday greeting, urging his fans to recall how Jesus Christ was an “illegal immigrant” — a flawed talking point frequently deployed to harpoon the moral argument for stricter immigration policies. “Happy Easter! Never forget…Jesus was an “illegal immigrant,” Ruffalo tweeted to his nearly 5 million Twitter followers with a link from the Guardian about Jesus entitled, “The politics of Easter is powerful. Let’s not forget it.”

The moronization of society proceeds apace. As we mentioned on the show, a bigshot New York Times correspondent thinks that playing "Edelweiss" at the White House is some kind of Nazi dog-whistle to Trump supporters. It is tragic and profound the way even small artifacts of our inheritance get trashed in these witless arguments, so, if you want to know the real story of the very last song in the Oscar Hammerstein catalogue, here's what I had to say a couple of years back: Not long after Rodgers & Hammerstein wrote the song, Theodore Bikel was leaving the theatre when...