Free Republic

MISS MANNERS It's best to ignore strangers who shout their prejudices Judith Martin Miss Manners November 8, 2007 Dear Miss Manners: This evening I found myself waiting in line with two young men who proceeded loudly to proclaim at least five different countries they would like to bomb, and advocated reintroducing the draft so that everyone else would have to share their "sacrifice." They then loudly branded several political figures they disapproved of with a crude word. I bit my tongue and waited quietly. Then the people in front of me joined in and, incredibly, they all complained about how...

Bush apologizes to Wiccan widow Published: Sept 2, 2007 at 10:16 AM WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush apologized to a Nevada Wiccan who was left out of a presidential meeting with relatives of soldiers killed in combat. Rebecca Stewart, who sued to have the Wiccan symbol placed on her husband’s grave marker in a military cemetery, told The Washington Post the president called her to apologize. She said she explained to Bush the faith she and her husband shared. Sgt. Patrick Stewart was killed in Afghanistan in 2005. Stewart said she heard about the private meeting...

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday that First Amendment rights need to be expanded and cited the elimination of McCain-Feingold campaign finance reforms as one solution. Gingrich, a Republican, suggested allowing people to give any amount to any candidate as long as the donation is reported online within 24 hours. "Just as tax lawyers always succeed in out-thinking the (Internal Revenue Service) because they stay after five and the IRS goes home, the private-sector lawyers will always out-think the (Federal Election Commission) because they stay after five and the FEC goes home," Gingrich told about 400 people at the...

Catholic and other religious social service groups must provide contraceptive coverage to their employees even if they consider contraception a sin, according to yesterday's ruling by the state's highest court. The 6-0 decision by the state Court of Appeals hinged on defining Catholic Charities and the other nine religious groups suing the state to be social service agencies, rather than only operating as churches. The organizations "believe contraception to be sinful," the decision states. "We must weigh against [their] interests in adhering to the tenets of their faith the state's substantial interest in fostering equality between the sexes, and in...

LONDON, OCT. 8, 2006 (Zenit.org).- In many countries speaking out publicly against homosexuality leads to serious legal problems. And in the battle under way to protect freedom of speech for Christians to express their beliefs, the future is far from clear. A recent victory in Britain saw legal charges against Stephen Green dropped, the Telegraph newspaper reported Sept. 29. Green was arrested by police in early September after handing out pamphlets at a "Mardi Gras" homosexual festival in Cardiff, Wales. The pamphlet contained Bible verses about homosexuality. During a hearing before a magistrate's court last week, the Crown Prosecution Service...

Bill O'Reilly is covering the Columbia University controversy where leftists protesters rushed the stage during his top-of-the-hour Talking Points segment, and one of the speakers, Marvin Stewart, is being interviewed.

Hello, fellow white people! Yeeeeeehaawwwwww! What in tarnation is all this jibber jabber I hear about the Iraqi war going anything but one hundred percent perfectly?! I tell ya what that is: COMMIE talk! These Un-American libs (which include minorities, women, and other minorities, such as blacks and homosexual gay queers!) the war has turned into a black hole with no "forseeable" (whatever in tarnation that big word means) end in sight. To this I say, shut your damn mouth! The only opinions that should be expressed are those that are in total agreement with our distinguished president, Dick Cheney,...

The FEC has published the final rules and explanation and justification for internet communications in pdf format. This is a 96 page document that needs to be read.

6-3 ruling places the statutory rights of Big Labor ahead of the Constitutional rights of individuals Mike Reitz, director of the Evergreen Freedom Foundation’s Labor Policy Center, released the following statement in response to the Washington Supreme Court’s ruling that a law prohibiting unions from using non-member dues for political purposes is unconstitutional. Today’s Supreme Court ruling strikes a terrible blow against the rights of workers in Washington state. There is now no protection for teachers’ First Amendment rights from violations by union officials. This harmful opinion was written by former-Justice Faith Ireland, who has been off the court for...

You people are a genuine menace. I think I'll be calling my congressman to see what can be done to shut this place down.

Freedom of, NOT from Religion If you listen to the ACLU, the Constitution says that our founding fathers intended there to be a great barrier between Church and State. That placing a Manger or even a Christmas tree is a direct endorsement of religion. For this reason, I recommend you do not listen to the ACLU, rather listen to the Constitution itself. I challenge you to find “separation of church and state” in the Constitution. What the constitution actually has to say is this; in the first amendment the Constitution promises that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment...

Town Council's Ban on Talk of Wal-Mart Draws Protest From ACLU The Associated Press Published: Jul 8, 2005 YELM, Wash. (AP) - The town council barred residents from mentioning Wal-Mart at meetings, prompting a challenge by civil libertarians who said a "free and accountable" government depends on a citizen's ability to voice concerns openly. The retailing giant has an application pending to build a superstore, spurring controversy in the small town about 15 miles southeast of Olympia. In a letter to the council, American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Aaron H. Caplan said his group believes it is unconstitutional to ban...

I know we like to post news stories on this board and go OMG OMG OMG teh udder side teh suXorZ!!11! It's rare that anyone really writes anything somewhat original so, here, I'll do something like that. I'm amazed at some of the twists that are going on in political and legal life right now. So much so that I really think it's worth commenting on. In some ways, we're going in the absolute wrong direction. Now before you get a knee jerk reaction and say i'm a "traitor" or some DUmmie here to quiety say "It's because of Bu$hco...

Something remarkable is happening as a Republican Congress and president move to crackdown on 527 groups like the MoveOn.org Voter Fund and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth: Liberals are realizing that something's fishy. Three years after the passage of McCain-Feingold (a.k.a. the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002, a.k.a. the End of Free Speech As We Know It), a smattering of Democrats and liberal activists are slowly coming to the conclusion that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to let the government decide who can and cannot engage in political speech. After all, what would prevent incumbents in Congress...

Neither the Jeff Gannon nor James Guckert saga is going to cause the White House Correspondents Association to seek any changes in the White House press-credentialing process. It appears that everyone involved in the process is very uncomfortable in attempting to define exactly what a "journalist" is. And that's a very good thing. WHCA President Ron Hutcheson said on February 15, "I'm not comfortable in passing judgment on who is a journalist and who isn't. My overriding view is that if I am going to make a mistake, it is going to be on letting people in rather than keeping...

SALEM, Ore. - Two controversial road signs that were put up in Marion County have already been ripped down. The road signs read, "The American Nazi Party has adopted a two mile stretch of Sunnyview Road" and were put up by Marion County officials one week ago. The county says they have received a lot of complaints from residents claiming the county is condoning the organization. However, officials insist the American Nazi Party has a right to free speech, just like everybody else. Viewer Note: A sharp eyed KATU viewer noticed that the name of the group was spelled Amerian...

On January 17, I posted a First Look column titled "The ACLU's Very Own Constitution." In it I commented upon an item that I had first been made aware of in a "Best of the Web" column by James Taranto of the Opinion Journal. The subject of my column was how the ACLU had distorted, edited, "censored" the 1st Amendment on its website in order to support its claim that the Framers considered the freedom of speech so important that they put it at the very tip-top of the Bill of Rights. But now the ACLU has changed its website...

Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise there, thus building a wall of separation between church and State.

Omega Letter Christian Intelligence Digest Ten Congress Members Call For Boykins' Removal They Were Appalled By His Mention Of GodCommentary on the NewsSaturday, September 04, 2004OL StaffTen members of Congress wrote a letter to President Bush stating that Lt. Gen. William Boykin should be dismissed as the Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. In case you don't remember, Boykin is the man in charge of hunting for Osama and was caught speaking to a church while in uniform. The letter states that Boykin has offended Muslims and he lacks objectivity. They seem to be overlooking the fact that it...

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court declined Tuesday to allow a Wisconsin anti-abortion group to run political ads this fall that criticize Democrats. Wisconsin Right to Life had sought to run radio and television ads that mention Sen. Russell Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat up for re-election, despite a campaign finance law's restrictions on election-time political commercials. Feingold is also a co-author of the campaign law. A lower court last month ruled the ads were illegal, but the Wisconsin group asked Chief Justice William Rehnquist to grant an injunction allowing the ads to air pending an appeal. The group contends the ads...

<p>As the New York Times has reported, in an October 2003 memorandum to law enforcement agencies, the FBI expressed concern over the that marches and rallies in Washington might become "violent, destructive, or disruptive."</p> <p>In the memo, law enforcement agencies at all levels of government are warned to be aware of "possible indicators of protest activity."</p>

8/20/2004 5:16:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk, Political Reporter Contact: Chad Clanton or Phil Singer, both of Kerry-Edwards 2004, 202-464-2800; Web: http://www.johnkerry.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Kerry-Edwards campaign spokesman Chad Clanton released the following statement today about the new Swift Boat Veterans for Bush ad: "This is another ad from a front group funded by Bush allies that is trying to smear John Kerry. The newest ad takes Kerry's testimony out of context, editing what he said to distort the facts. He testified as a 27 year-old Vietnam veteran. He opposed a war that, at that point, cost...

.S. District Judge Sim Lake ruled today that a Bible displayed in a monument outside the Harris County Civil Courts Building must be removed within 10 days and that the county must pay $41,000 in court costs and attorney fees. Real estate broker and attorney Kay Staley sued the county in federal court to have the monument removed, contending the display violates the First Amendment ban on an establishment of religion. The King James Bible rests under glass inside a 4-foot stone monument on the west side of the Civil Courthouse, 301 Fannin. The monument was constructed with private funds...

The San Francisco Human Rights Commission chastised the Police Officers' Association for promoting tickets to the Michael Savage Uncensored event this past May. In a letter from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission to San Francisco Police Officers’ Association (POA) President Gary Delagnes, the commission chastised the association for promoting tickets to its membership offered by radio station KNEW to the “Michael Savage Uncensored” event this past May. The POA, representing labor interests of dues-paying cops (not the city or police department), was taken to task for accepting tickets from the radio station for an event that the commission finds...

In Rush's closing segment he said that he just received a story or document saying that lawyers for both the Kerry and Edwards teams were sending out letters to TV stations warning them about showing the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth advertisement!

Thursday, August 5, 2004 MATTERS OF LIFE AND DEATH Trooper kicks pro-lifer out of state Abortion images on truck barred, detainee called 'Jesus freak' Posted: August 5, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com Two pro-life advocates have filed a federal lawsuit claiming one was berated as a "Jesus freak" and "extremist" and the other kicked out of Connecticut by state troopers because of their provocative anti-abortion signs. After five days in Boston to demonstrate at the Democratic convention, Michael Marcavage and Dennis Green were driving a truck with panels that display large photographs of aborted children when they were...

WASHINGTON — Chief movie lobbyist Jack Valenti defended smoking in Hollywood films, but senators insisted the industry must do more to stop the practice. "I don't believe that whatever the director does ought to incite the intervention of the government in any form," Valenti, head of the Motion Picture Association of America, told a Senate Commerce Committee hearing yesterday. "I've got to tell you I believe it is his right to tell the story as he chooses to tell it." Some lawmakers were dissatisfied by his answers. A study last year found that teens who watch movies with smoking in...

After banning the press from videotaping its weekly meeting, the Cornell University Student Assembly (SA) rejected the Academic Bill of Rights. Citing the document’s objectives as “redundant,” “irrelevant,” “insulting,” and “objectionable,” the SA determined that academic freedom was unimportant to the Ivy League campus. The Resolution on Academic Freedom — based on David Horowitz’s Academic Bill of Rights — was introduced by a bipartisan coalition of Cornell students, including the editor-in-chief of The Cornell Daily Sun. The resolution stated that the “SA affirms [the] principles of academic freedom and intellectual diversity” and went on to cite six principles: (1) Students...

<p>Received another letter from Gannett Publications, publisher of USAToday, and several other newspapers. Due to contractual arrangements they have with third-party content providers, they have denied our request to allow posting of excerpts. They will only allow the posting of titles and links.</p>

As most of you are aware, we've recently received several copyright complaints. In the last few weeks, we've received complaints from the SJ Mercury News, Independent (UK), SF Chronicle and The Boston Globe. Just a couple days ago the Post-Gazette send a cease and desist notice and yesterday I heard from the Tribune-Review. Tonight, I got a call from Amy and there were two more registered letters at our PO Box. The McClatchy News (Sacramento Bee) and USAToday are now added to the list of publications that have complained about copyright violations. Well, folks, the handwriting is on the wall....

L.A. Man Shoots Car Thief, Charged with Murder Wed Apr 7, 5:51 PM ET Add U.S. National - Reuters to My Yahoo! LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A 26-year-old Los Angeles man who prosecutors say shot at two thieves stealing his car, killing one of them, was charged on Wednesday with murder. Yoon Ho Song could face 50 years to life in prison if he is convicted of the first degree murder of Mario Sandoval Martinez and a special allegation of using a handgun, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said. Prosecutors say Song came out of...

New London, CT (February 21, 2004) - A rally by College Republicans from Connecticut College in New London, CT was broken up Friday night by Campus Safety officers, who told them they had no permit. The students were rallying peacefully in front of the Olin Science Center, near the main entrance to the school. The students were showing their support for President Bush, and encouraging others to be excited about and supportive of the President. "No one has ever needed a permit before," said Bob French, a junior from New Hampshire and the Executive Director of the state-level College...

<p>Hewlett-Packard had the right to fire an employee who posted anti- gay passages from the Bible at his work cubicle in protest of the computer industry giant's diversity policy and in an effort to persuade gays to repent, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.</p>

<p>Secularist fanatics try to take "holy" out of the holidays.</p> <p>If you like your Christmases straight--i.e., "Merry Christmas" instead of "Season's Greetings"--the run-up to Dec. 25 can be a trying time. And this year the grinches are again out in full force, trying their best to strip from our public squares any hint of what most Americans will actually be celebrating come Christmas morn.</p>

Sad day for freedomMona Charen (archive) December 12, 2003 | Print | Send On Dec. 10, 2003, freedom took two body blows. The first was the decision by the Supreme Court of the United States to permit the limitation of political speech. This is not exotic dancing or flag burning. This is "Vote for Sam Smith" -- the beating heart of our democracy. The Supreme Court has just tied a gag around our mouths, and most of the intellectual class is delighted. Apologists obscure the crude reality of this repression by calling it "campaign finance reform." Well, you can call...

<p>Who could have imagined that the same Court which, within the past four years, has sternly disapproved of restrictions upon such inconsequential forms of expression as virtual child pornography, tobacco advertising, dissemination of illegally intercepted communications, and sexually explicit cable programming, would smile with favor upon a law that cut to the heart of what the First Amendment is meant to protect: the right to criticize the government.</p>

Supreme Court whitewash? Posted: December 11, 20031:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The Associated Press story covering the Supreme Court hearing on requested release of Vincent Foster crime-scene photos read as follows: "Five government investigations concluded that White House attorney Vincent Foster's death in 1993 was a suicide." Not true. There haven't been five government investigations. In fact, there hasn't been even one real government investigation. Instead, there have been five cover-ups, all using the same tainted evidence and the same tainted investigators. Attorney Allan Favish believes the public may learn something from 10 unreleased police photos of Foster and has taken...

[Reading from an Associated Press wire story:] "A sharply divided..." There's nothing "sharply divided" about this. We got four liberals and we got two Republicans who read the editorial pages - or two conservatives who read the editorial pages - on the Supreme Court. Let me just stick with the details here, and then I will ad-lib my commentary and analysis after presenting to you the facts. "A sharply divided Supreme Court upheld key features of the nation's new law intended to lessen the influence of money in politics, ruling today that the government may ban unlimited donations to political...

In a tragic decision today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling that jeopardizes a cardinal principle of the U.S. Constitution: free speech. Concerned Women for America's Chief Counsel Jan LaRue noted that the decision means less protection for political speech, the very speech the First Amendment aims to shield, than for pornography. The following article comes to us from the James Madison Center for Free Speech of Washington, D.C. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution mandates that "Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech." Today the United States Supreme Court has...

<p>WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court (search) upheld key features of the nation's new law intended to lessen the influence of money in politics, ruling Wednesday that the government may ban unlimited donations to political parties.</p> <p>Those donations, called "soft money," had become a mainstay of modern political campaigns, used to rally voters to the polls and to pay for sharply worded television ads.</p>

GENEVA — Worried over U.S. domination, a group of developing nations wants to put control of the Internet into the hands of the United Nations, an issue that likely will overshadow a summit on information technology opening today. Key decisions on Internet issues, such as domain names and addresses, now reside in a private agency spun off from the U.S. government — and the United States wants to keep it that way. But if countries do not think their concerns are adequately heard by the Internet's key decision-makers, a U.N. official warned yesterday, they may create conflicting national policies and...

The controversy surrounding the photographs posted last week on the Web site of the Penn State College Republicans' chair has caused the resignation of at least one member and many statements and apologies from others. Leaders of the group met with university administrators to discuss the gravity of the situation. Brian Battaglia, the group's chairman, said he met with Vice President of Student Affairs Vicky Triponey this weekend to discuss possible resolutions to the situation and group members' safety on campus. "There is definitely a double standard," he said. "Our members and the officers and myself really do feel threatened...

<p>Stanley Shepp wants the right to teach his daughter about polygamy and his religious beliefs.</p> <p>HALLAM, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Tracey L. Roberts isn't trying to stop her ex-husband from voicing his support of polygamy, a belief that broke up their marriage.</p>

The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that reinstated Parks' false advertising and publicity claims against OutKast and three Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites) units -- LaFace Records, the record producer, and Arista Records and BMG Entertainment, the distributors. Parks made history in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white man and move to the back of a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Her arrest, which became a defining moment in the civil rights movement, led to a 381-day boycott of the bus system by blacks. It resulted in the end...

Editor, Naples Daily News: Jeffrey Curley was a 10-year-old who had his bike stolen in October 1997 in Massachusetts. Charles Jaynes was a member of the North American Man-Boy Love Association. The association publishes literature on the subject of how to trick and sexually molest young boys and avoid prosecution. Jaynes and Salvatore Sicari learned of his stolen bike and lured Jeffrey into their vehicle by offering him another bike and then proceeded to sexually sodomize him. When Jeffrey tried to resist, Jaynes smothered him with rags soaked in gasoline. They then dumped his body in a river. The men...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court disappointed news organizations Monday by refusing to clarify free-speech protections for journalists sued after they criticize people or products. Justices declined to stop a lawsuit against the publisher of Consumer Reports magazine over the negative road test ratings it gave the Suzuki Samurai because of potential rollovers. Consumers Union, which reports on the safety of products like child safety seats and lawn mowers, argued that a lower court ruling in its case will silence reporters who have information about dangerous products but fear costly lawsuits. Suzuki Motor Corp. argues the magazine set out to...

<p>Kindergartners and first-graders may not distribute to their classmates gifts that bear a religious message, according to a ruling by a federal appeals court.</p> <p>The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of a New Jersey elementary school in forbidding a boy from giving out pencils with the message "Jesus loves the little children" with a heart symbol substituted for the word love.</p>

LAW OF THE LAND Judge rules Scouts 'religious' group Long-standing lease of park considered 1st Amendment violation Posted: August 6, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The city of San Diego is contemplating an appeal of a federal court decision that sided with the ACLU and a lesbian couple seeking to nullify its long-standing lease of a public park to the Boy Scouts. A U.S. District Court judge ruled last Thursday the Boy Scouts is a religious organization, and the agreement to use Balboa Park violates the First Amendment's ban on state-sponsored religion. In a closed session last night,...

COLUMBUS, Ohio July 17 — A state appeals court on Thursday dismissed the guilty plea of a man imprisoned for writing fictitious stories of child torture and molestation. Lawyers specializing in the First Amendment believe Brian Dalton was the first person in the United States successfully prosecuted for child pornography that involved fictional writings, not images. The 10th Ohio District Court of Appeals in Columbus ruled that Dalton received ineffective legal assistance. Dalton had argued that his former lawyer didn't inform him of the legal implications of a guilty plea or ask for an immediate dismissal on First Amendment grounds....

I honestly believe that the threat of lawsuits against individual downloaders was and is bogus. I have not seen one shred of evidence to the contrary. I've downloaded tons of songs beginning back with Napster. It never hurt the recording industry one ounce. What hurts them is when there is no interest. Luckily for them, Napster and Kazza kept the interest alive. When Napster first came out everyone loved it and there was no talk of lawsuits. The recording industry was booming. Sales were up and I remember news pundits and other talking heads say that the reason sales of...