Free Republic

I knew I was attracted to the same sex when I was seven — in some capacity, anyway. I don't think it's physiologically possible to truly feel sexual attraction at such a young age. But I knew there was a drawing in me toward the same gender – and drawing that was more than what some would say is "natural" or "normal." As I grew up in a rural Louisiana town and teenage hormones began to surge throughout my body, my drawing toward the same gender intensified — sexually and emotionally. While I was definitely not engulfed in the life...

Dean Koontz is one of the best-selling authors of all time. He just released "Saint Odd," the final book in one of his most popular series -- a series filled with stories inspired in part by troubles in his own life, CBS News' Ben Tracy reports. "I'm just the guy who lives down the street, and I do books instead of sell cars," Koontz said. If that's true, then Koontz is the Henry Ford of authors. He's written around 100 different books from sci-fi and suspense to horror with a touch of satire. "When I write a novel, I don't...

AUGUSTA, Maine — While Gov. Paul LePage and U.S. Rep.-elect Bruce Poliquin were the ones giving victory speeches after Election Day, it’s arguable that another Republican was an equal winner: political strategist Brent Littlefield. A consultant who crafted the successful campaigns of both LePage and Poliquin, Littlefield proved beyond a doubt in 2014 that he’s got a winning strategy for electing conservative Republicans in Maine. But he’s not telling anybody what that strategy is. “I don’t want to give away the secret sauce just yet,” Littlefield, a Maine native who lives in the Washington, D.C., area, said in a recent...

“Time’s up for denial and hypocrisy,” says Marine Le Pen, leader of France’s Front National political party. “The absolute rejection of Islamic fundamentalism must be proclaimed loudly and clearly.” Le Pen and her party are routinely denounced by the establishment media and politicians throughout the EU as “far right” and “racist.” The demonization may have lost all traction, however, as two hostage situations play out, having a profound effect on French national consciousness. A report in Bloomberg Business Week by Angeline Benoit, Sandrine Rastello and Caroline Alexander well sums up the fear gripping the establishment.

CNN, along with other national and world news organizations are not running detailed images of cartoons from the Charlie Hebdo magazine in their coverage of the terrorist massacre at the small weekly French publication, with some editors questioning whether it is worth jeopardizing the safety of their staffs to print the images deemed offensive to Muslims. CNN Senior Editorial Director Richard Griffiths, in a memo to staff members on Wednesday, said the network's platforms are encouraged to describe the cartoons verbally, but not show them, saying it is "key to understanding the nature of the attack on the magazine and...

Today’s terror attack on Charlie Hedbo, the irreverent French satirical magazine that was one of the few media outlets in France to publish the original “Mohammed cartoons,” is an attempt by Islamic fundamentalists to enforce shari’a worldwide, even on non-Muslims. We must not let them succeed. Self-censoring out of fear means self-imposition of shari’a (Islamic law). Self-censoring out of “respect” (actually just a euphemism for fear) means you are submitting to the terrorists’ worldview. The way to overcome them in this instance is to overwhelm them with disrespect and mockery. They can silence one magazine, but they can’t silence the...

[Official Video] Silent Night (Live) - Pentatonix - YouTube

The government is not telling the public about all the possible cases of Ebola it is monitoring in the United States, says investigative journalist Sharyl Attkisson. There is an effort to control the message, Attkisson said Sunday on Fox News Channel's "Media Buzz." "A lot of the media coverage has gone from overtime to almost nothing since they appointed the 'Ebola czar,'" Attkisson said. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Tom Frieden was all over the airwaves after the first case of Ebola was diagnosed in the United States in September and when two nurses who treated Ebola victims...

INDIANAPOLIS — A conservative think tank recently sent Ben Carson, a potential presidential candidate and fierce critic of the federal health care overhaul, a series of messages to post on Twitter during the grilling in the House of Jonathan Gruber, the M.I.T. economist who advised the Obama administration. Mr. Carson, a retired pediatric neurosurgeon, has set off a prairie fire of rank-and-file conservatives urging him to run for the Republican nomination. He liked the think tank’s idea, but he knows that he excites supporters because he is an unscripted outsider. So he wrote his own Twitter posts, including, “Why was...

The gang's all here! The Duggar family gathered for their annual Christmas card shoot, and E! News got the exclusive on the final, glorious product. The entire family is included—yup, that's right, all 19 kids—in the shoot as well as Michelle and Jim Bob Duggar. Jill Duggar's baby bump was on full display in a white maxi dress as she posed alongside her husband, Derek Dillard. Nestled up in the left corner is none other than Jessa Duggar and her hubby, Ben Seewald, who couldn't help but pose for the picture cheek to cheek. The most recent birthday girl, little...

BERKLEY — Stacie Chapman’s heart skipped when she answered the phone at home and her doctor — rather than a nurse — was on the line. More worrisome was the doctor’s gentle tone as she asked, “Where are you?” On that spring day in 2013, Dr. Jayme Sloan had bad news for Chapman, who was nearly three months pregnant. Her unborn child had tested positive for Edwards syndrome, a genetic condition associated with severe birth defects. If her baby — a boy, the screening test had shown — was born alive, he probably would not live long. Sloan explained that...

New government guidance has LGBT rights advocates "thrilled" In one short paragraph of a 34-page memo released on Dec. 1, the Department of Education articulated a clear stance on gender identity, saying transgender students in public schools should be enrolled in single-sex classes that align with how they live their lives day-to-day. “We’re thrilled,” says Shannon Minter, the legal director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights. “It’s so critical to the health and well-being of those students, and it’s going to be so helpful to have that guidance in writing so that schools understand what their obligations are.” The...

FOX News - A 5-year-old Staten Island girl diagnosed with leukemia was self-conscious about her hair loss until she met a princess who looked just like her, abc7.com reported. When Isabella Harvey was 3, she was diagnosed with leukemia, an aggressive cancer of the bone and blood marrow. Her mother, Pina Harvey, told ABC that at the time Isabella was too young to be bothered by the aesthetic side effects of her treatment, which included hair loss. But after nearly two years of fighting the cancer, Isabella has lost her hair again, and this time, she's more insecure about it....

Stacy Alexander, a home schooling super Mom of eight, was admitted to the ER On January 21, 2012 and on January 25th she was diagnosed with stage 4 Esophageal Adenocarcinoma which had spread to her lymph nodes and liver. This diagnosis was bleak. The tumor was HER2 positive meaning that it was overproducing a growth factor that made the cancer especially aggressive and it was also inoperable. A Cancer Treatment Centers of America study showed that only 6% of patients with this diagnosis survive 2 years and only 3% survive 5 years or more. Walt, Stacy's husband, who is a...

The oil price collapse has brought about excited speculation that the end may be near for Putin, Iran and the American oil shale industry. While the oil price downturn will definitely stress these three players, the prime candidate for political collapse is Venezuela – with significant ramifications for the United States. And it’s likely the Obama administration is not prepared at all. Venezuela has all three factors present for an imminent political implosion: 1) severe and worsening economic distress, 2) an organized political opposition, and 3) disunity in its security services. Russia and Iran may be in tough economic straits,...

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro blasted the United States Wednesday for its large-scale use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, saying it is flooding the market with oil produced with environmentally destructive methods. The United States, one of the world's biggest practitioners of fracking, a controversial technique that involves pumping a pressurized fluid - usually composed of water, sand and chemicals - into a shale formation to create a fracture in the rock layer and release trapped petroleum or natural gas - has used that technology to double oil output to 8.5 million barrels per day in six years.

The conventional wisdom has it that many U.S. oil producers can’t make money with oil prices below $85 a barrel. Here’s why the experts may be wrong. For U.S. consumers, there’s plenty to like about plummeting oil prices. After all, the cost of gasoline and home heating oil is falling dramatically as well. Since June, the price of WTI crude has dropped from about $101 a barrel to a recent price of $65, or roughly a 35% decline. And the average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline in the U.S. has plunged to $2.76 from $3.27 a year ago,...

Lower fuel prices are compounding the longest commodity slump in a generation. Because energy accounts for as much as half the cost to produce food and metals, all sorts of commodities will keep dropping, according to Societe Generale SA and Citigroup Inc. With inventories ample and slowing economies eroding demand, cheaper oil lowers the price floor for mining companies and farmers to remain profitable. Corn may drop another 3 percent, cotton 6.5 percent and gold as much as 5 percent, SocGen estimates. Costs are falling as surpluses emerge in copper and sugar and as the economy slows in China, the...

Nothing But Your Best! You have to Earn It! - YouTube via

... 1. We are not “The Establishment” or “RINO’s”, and you are not “The Base”. We are THE Republican Party founded in 1854. The Tea Party is a MOVEMENT that began inside our party sometime between 2007-2009, and if anyone must be referred to as a “RINO”, it’s the members of this movement, because they seemingly have a strong dislike for most of what occurs within our party. In 1854, the Whigs that were against slavery didn’t solve the problem by calling the others WINO’s, they courageously founded the Republican Party. That is what a Republican does. We don’t run...