Free Republic

The Free State Project is picking up speed as Libertarians and other freedom-minded people begin moving to a small state where they hope to make a big difference. New Hampshire was chosen last fall as the destination for thousands of small-government advocates who are promising to move in and try to staunch the onslaught of socialism. Now they're starting to make good on their promise. An estimated 300 or 350 Free Staters (or Porcupines, as they call themselves) attended the first semi-official gathering in New Hampshire June 24-27. Though the Porcupine Freedom Festival wasn't officially sponsored by the FSP, "it...

NEW YORK - Thousands gathered at New York City hall park yesterday to renew their marriage vows and make a pro-active and positive statement that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman. The effort brought together the largest coalition of churches in New York ever in support of a single matter. The Church of God In Christ, a predominantly black denomination, CONLICO - the largest coalition of hispanic churches in NYC, and the City Covenant Coaliton all combined forces and efforts to get out the message - marriage is sacred, and God designed it as a...

EDITORIAL - For the last 120 days we have talked about the need to send a message of support for the institution of marriage as it has been defined from the beginning of civilization. The day has arrived and the time to act is here. Today at City Hall Park in downtown NYC. You are invited to come and renew your marriage vows. Marriage by definition is a sacred covenant between one man and one woman. This ceremony today is extremely significant to this regard. Significant in size and scope. Today unified African American churches from the COGIC denomination (Church...

I have created a public register of "bump lists" here on Free Republic. I define a bump list as a name listed in the "To" field used to index articles. Free Republic Bump List Register

<p>The world of massively multiplayer online games is often a dangerous place, what with constant threats from bloodthirsty monsters and murderous non-player characters. But now players have even more peril to contend with: addictive drugs that can incapacitate or kill their characters.</p>

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A tearful U.S. soldier was sentenced to a year in jail Wednesday after pleading guilty to abusing Iraqi detainees in a scandal threatening to undermine President Bush's re-election chances. Military policeman Jeremy Sivits, who apologized to Iraqis at the first court martial of soldiers accused of abuses which sparked worldwide outrage, was also expelled from the army. It was not enough for Iraqis protesting outside Abu Ghraib prison, scene of the scandal that came to light when pictures were published of naked and terrified Iraqi inmates being abused and sexually humiliated. "It's a kangaroo court, set up...

frame grab taken from web site video footage May 11, 2004, shows a man, who identified himself as Nick Berg of Philadelphia (C) seated in front of his five masked captors moments before he was executed. Al Qaeda's leader in Iraq beheaded an American civilian and vowed more killings in revenge for the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, an Islamist Web site said on Tuesday. After one of the masked men read out a statement, they pushed Berg to the floor and shouted 'God is greatest' above his screams as one of them sawed his head off with a large knife...

Yes, I inhale. I am one of more than 100,000 California medical cannabis patients. I use cannabis, marijuana, pot or whatever you want to call it, to alleviate symptoms from post-traumatic stress and bipolar disorders. Cannabis allows me to forget about my neuroses and live a productive life as a student, volunteer, and activist. The U.S. government likes to paint cannabis as an evil monster, but that is not true. Most taxpayers are tired of billions of dollars being spent to wage a drug war that's done nothing but widen the profit margin of drug dealers and placed millions of...

Amaani Lyle was fired four months into her job for Warner Brothers as a writers' assistant on "Friends" because she couldn't type fast enough to record the writers' dictation accurately. She sued for sexual harassment because the comedy writers would regularly make jokes about women and sex in the process of writing a sitcom about the sexual adventures of six thirty-somethings. A California appeals court has decided that a jury should resolve whether the jokes made by the comedy writers were appropriate for writing a sitcom or whether they created an actionable "hostile working environment for women." Summary judgment was...

PHILADELPHIA - Mark W. Potter, Special Agent in Charge of the Philadelphia Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Patrick Meehan, United States Attorney, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, announced that Dwight Grant, known throughout the rap music industry as Beanie Sigel, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court today to violating the federal firearms and narcotics laws. ATF agents and officers of the Philadelphia Police Department arrested Sigel in July 2003, and charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. The arrest stemmed from an incident that occurred in April 2003, when...

WASHINGTON (April 6) - Americans may say they know a lot about sexually transmitted diseases but they do not practice what they preach when it comes to defending against them, according to a survey published Tuesday. While one in four Americans will be infected with an STD -- and up to half of younger adults will be -- most of those surveyed believed they were not personally at risk. This is precisely why STDs spread so easily and so pervasively in society, said the American Social Health Association, which published the survey. ''The findings in our survey are quite disturbing....

<p>As Melissa Ann Rowland's unborn twins got closer to birth, doctors repeatedly told her they would likely die if she did not have a Caesarean (search) section. She refused, and one later was stillborn.</p> <p>Authorities charged 28-year-old Rowland with murder on Thursday, saying she exhibited "depraved indifference to human life," according to court documents. One nurse told police that Rowland said she would rather "lose one of the babies than be cut like that."</p>

HERO’S BURIAL: Gen. John MacDonald, official representative of the US army, hands over the American flag to Helen Therriem, mother of Fil-American US army specialist Solomon Bangayan (inset) who was killed in action in Iraq earlier this month. Bangayan was given the Bronze Star, Purple Heart and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal as he was buried in his hometown of Sudipen in La Union yesterday.

GALLUP TUESDAY BRIEFINGGovernment & Public AffairsSeptember 2, 2003Ideological Crossroads: Gen X Marks the Spotby Darren K. Carlson, Contributing EditorA special analysis* of Gallup data on the politics of Americans between the ages of 25 and 38 -- post-baby boomers who correspond roughly to "Generation X" -- points toward a more conservative ideology than one might expect, given their relatively young age. Two survey questions focusing on respondents' stances on social and economic issues shed light on where Gen Xers stand ideologically. Socially Balanced The famous 1960's admonition to "never trust anybody over 30" alluded to people's penchant to grow more...

I want to kick off a grass-roots movement to educate and inform discerning Democrats about the real nature of their party and am soliciting suggestions from Freepers. The reasons I am doing this are several, as listed below: * I have several conservative Democrat friends who have always voted D, but who disagree with the stance of their party on issues like AA, tax-cuts, and regulations. * These people do not understand that regardless of the "moderate" local Dem candidate they vote for, the party agenda is driven in Congress by an extremely liberal faction of the party. * Case...

The Space Gen team participated in the Sept 9-12th 2002 UN/ESA Enhancing the Participation of Youth in Space Conference this week in Austria. At that event a number of youth delegates from around the world felt compelled to join together and speak out against the growing inertia in the US to put weapons in space. Here is their declaration: The Graz Declaration For Peace in Space (MS Word RTF format)12 September 2002 The US government is now planning to put weapons in space. This threatens the precious peace of space, and demands a response from the people of the world....

The young prefer Rule Britannia to Cool Britannia By Tom Leonard, Media Editor (Filed: 09/05/2002) THE popular image of young people as opposed to tradition, the monarchy and patriotism is wrong, says a poll of attitudes to Britishness.The survey of 20- to 30-year-olds shows that symbols of "old" Britain, such as the Royal Family, Buckingham Palace and Marks & Spencer, figure far more prominently than the trappings of "Cool Britannia" in many young people's sense of national identity.Nearly three-quarters of those questioned said they were proud to be British, an emotion that 50 per cent said they felt when they...

I'm a Barbie girl, and I still turned out all right Rosie DiManno As a kid, with five tormenting boys in the house, my Barbie dolls would routinely turn up strung by the neck from the maple tree out front, or wedged in grotesque positions among the branches, or rendered headless and amputated, perhaps buried neck-deep in the garden.I sometimes think the brothers got more enjoyment than I ever did from the endlessly entertaining indignities inflicted on that blue-eyed blonde with the knock-out knockers and impossibly tiny waist.Despite what the fembos would subsequently charge, I never imagined that I would...

First television documentaries wed two strangers.Then they document the making of a movie. (with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck)Now HBO wants to field a presidential candidate,' Brown Jenkins writes.I don't know about the logistics of this:if HBO will help pay for the candidacy, do they just want a Time Warner pupper in the White House?HBO gives you free advertising and a platform from which to espouse your beliefs.How's that for a confict of interest?

A Project of the American Family Association Purpose Dads, are you fed up with the sewage the networks are sending into our homes in the name of entertainment? Are you concerned about the negative effect the networks and sponsors are having on our children? If so, we urge you to become a member of OneMillionDads.com. This campaign was started to impact the decision-makers at the major television networks. Our goal is to stop the intentional exploitation of our children by those networks through the mechanism of grassroots, online activism using e-mail as our primary tool. Our aim is to register ...