Free Republic

On Tuesday morning, January 21st, I filed a motion with respect to Dr Michael Mann's defamation suit against me, National Review, Rand Simberg, and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. I did so because I felt the procedural fiasco the case has been reduced to since last July 10th thanks to the incompetence of the previous judge, Natalia Combs Greene, required what I called "an act of jurisprudential hygiene" from the new judge, Frederick Weisberg. Unfortunately, the DC Superior Court seems disinclined to clean up its act. I appreciate that, to those who followed the fun and frolics of my free speech...

On Monday, March 18, the New Jersey Senate Health, Human Services, and Senior Citizens Committee held a three-hour hearing on a bill that would take away the rights of minors who experience unwanted same-sex attraction (SSA) to receive therapy from licensed mental health professionals. Representatives from gay-rights organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign, Equality New Jersey and the Trevor Project, as well as several mental health associations, testified at length about the so-called dangers of “conversion therapy” (this is a pejorative term coined by activists to demean therapies that assist individuals who experience unwanted SSA). When Brielle Goldani, a transgendered...

Republican obstructionism is once again controlling Washington. The GOP refuses to negotiate—other than on their own terms—regarding the “sequester crisis” with its thoughtless spending cuts, which have been imposed on the nation notwithstanding what will likely be a disastrous impact on our economy, if not a danger to our national security. At least the GOP is consistent. During the first four years of the Obama presidency, Republicans opposed everything, and after the 2010 mid-term election, when they regained control of the House of Representatives, this opposition turned into blanket obstructionism. Still, President Obama was overwhelmingly reelected and campaigned on adopting...

...This Presidential campaign cycle is very different for our family than the one in 2008. This time around, we have a four-year-old daughter we adopted from Ethiopia two years ago... Because we’ve had the audacity to appear in public with our family, we’ve been getting hate mail from liberals who are deeply offended that a white family would raise a black child (the Huffington Post posted a video of Naomi and me at CPAC and it generated more than 1,000 comments, many of them utterly vile). Usually, I laugh at baseless criticism and it inspires me to work even harder...

From homeland security to healthcare, the federal government now has the power to reach further than ever into American society. But so far, the feds have sensibly stayed out of the business of appointing religious leaders. Now, in a stunning about-face, the Obama Administration has urged the Supreme Court to allow courts to decide virtually any dispute between a church and its ministers. In the administration’s view, juries and judges, not congregations and bishops, should have the final say on who is fit for religious ministry. Fundamental questions of theology would be resolved in the same way as slip-and-fall cases....

It has been a record year for new legislation designed to make it harder for Democrats to vote — 19 laws and two executive actions in 14 states dominated by Republicans, according to a new study by the Brennan Center for Justice. As a result, more than five million eligible voters will have a harder time participating in the 2012 election. Of course the Republicans passing these laws never acknowledge their real purpose, which is to turn away from the polls people who are more likely to vote Democratic, particularly the young, the poor, the elderly and minorities. They insist...

It's not news when Jon Huntsman criticizes fellow Republicans. It's news when he agrees with them. On Sunday, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Huntsman found himself in a virtual love-in with Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann over, of all things, taxes. The paper asked Huntsman if "the half of American households no longer paying income tax—mainly working poor families and seniors—should be brought onto the income tax rolls." He agreed, crediting the GOP's current front-runner for vice president, Sen. Marco Rubio, with the insight that "we don't have enough people paying taxes in this country." The Journal...

Four years ago, the BBC decided to capitalize on the immense popularity of the long-running Doctor Who series by creating a spin-off called Torchwood. Whereas Doctor Who is, apart from the intensity of its stories, safe for the whole family, producers said that Torchwood would be “dark, clever, wild, [and] sexy.” Doctor Who for adults” is what they called it. As a colleague wrote at the time, a better word to describe the show is “nihilistic” — it’s a judgment that’s reinforced by the show’s newest character. [...] For the fourth season, entitled “Miracle Day,” the writers ratcheted up the...

Presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman has snagged an endorsement in a key battleground state - Jeb Bush Jr, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Rumors of a "major" announcement from the Huntsman campaign have been circulating through Florida for days, leading many to speculate that the former governor himself would throw his weight behind Huntsman. It was his 28-year-old son, however, who accepted a position with the campaign and detailed his support in a statement released Wednesday.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A lesbian couple is asking for changes at Dollywood after an employee asked one of the women to turn her T-shirt reading "marriage is so gay" inside-out to avoid offending others on a recent visit to the Tennessee theme park complex. Olivier Odom and Jennifer Tipton said Tuesday they want the park to be more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families after Odom was asked to reverse her shirt when they visited Dollywood Splash Country next to the Pigeon Forge amusement park. The story was first reported by WBIR-TV in Knoxville. Dollywood spokesman Pete...

Last week was a great week for lesbians coming out of the closet – coming out, that is, as middle-aged heterosexual men. On Sunday, Amina Arraf, the young vivacious Syrian lesbian activist whose inspiring blog "A Gay Girl In Damascus" had captured hearts around the world, was revealed to be, in humdrum reality, one Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old college student from Georgia. The following day, Paula Brooks, the lesbian activist and founder of the website LezGetReal, was revealed to be one Bill Graber, a 58-year-old construction worker from Ohio. In their capacity as leading lesbians in the Sapphic blogosphere, "Miss...

PORTLAND, Ore. - A mail carrier who was caught using a yard as his personal toilet will not be fired. The incident happened last month at a home in southeast Portland and a neighbor, Don Derfler, captured the man in the act with his camera. Derfler had been waiting for his babysitter when he saw his mailman acting odd at his neighbor's house across the street. The postal worker then pulled down his pants and that's when Derfler began snapping pictures. "We trust people like the postal service and meter readers and people of that nature," Derfler told us when...

I am sorry, but if you believe the newest death of OBL, you're stupid. Just think to yourself--they paraded Saddam's dead sons around to prove they were dead--why do you suppose they hastily buried this version of OBL at sea? This lying, murderous Empire can only exist with your brainwashed consent--just put your flags away and THINK!

The former housekeeper of California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman was honored at an immigrant rights gala in Los Angeles Thursday. The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, which organized the event, says Nicky Díaz Santillán's situation is similar to many undocumented immigrant household workers. The Mexican-born Díaz Santillán made headlines during California's gubernatorial election after her lawyer, Gloria Allred, claimed the housekeeper was "exploited, disrespected, himiliated and emotionally and financially abused" by Whitman. Díaz Santillán, who is an undocumented immigrant, claimed Whitman knew about her status during the nine years she was employed, which the republican gubernatorial candidate denied.

Listen The popular morning drive radio talk show The Grandy Group aired today a special song entitled "Obama is a Muslim." The satirical song was performed by The Grandy Group host Fred Grandy. The song was inspired by a new poll finding an increasing number of Americans convinced that President Obama is a Muslim. Share the song with your friends!

Charlie Crist left the Republican Party in April. In August, however, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole — now a health-care lobbyist — cut Crist a $1,000 check to finance his Senate race against Republican nominee Marco Rubio. See the FEC image below.

WASHINGTON -- Too many Republican leaders are acquiescing to a poisonous "demagoguery" that threatens the party's long-term credibility, says a veteran GOP House member who was defeated in South Carolina's primary last month. While not naming names, 12-year incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis suggested in interviews with The Associated Press that tea party favorites such as former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck are the culprits. He cited a claim made famous by Palin that the Democratic health care bill would create "death panels" to decide whether elderly or sick people should get care....

HT: PB "The Governor is jogging with his/her dog along a nature trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks dog. California : #1. Governor starts to intervene, reflects upon the movie 'Bambi' and then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural. #2. He calls animal control. Animal control captures coyote and spends $200 testing it for diseases and $500 upon relocating it. #3. He calls veterinarian. Vet collects dead dog and spends $200 testing it for diseases. #4. Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for diseases from the coyote and on getting...

Here are my 99 races, grouped into five levels of difficulty. I’ve used three different measurements – the Department of Homeland Security’s old color-code alert system, a comparable degree of difficulty to beating NFL teams, and a quick assessment.

A Connecticut man, apparently in a spat with his neighbor, placed a Craigslist ad inviting strangers to her house to fulfill her "group sex" fantasies, police said. A Connecticut man's alleged Craigslist posting included his neighbor's address.Philip James Conran, 42, of West Hartford, Conn., was arrested in early April for allegedly creating a fraudulent Craigslist ad from a soccer mom "looking for fantasy to be filled." He entered no plea to charges of harassment, reckless endangerment, breach of peace, accessory to burglary, accessory to sexual assault, accessory to disorderly conduct, accessory to criminal trespass and risk of injury to child.