Free Republic

I've been gone a while, interesting summer, in a Chinese curse kind of way, hoping for a better 2014.

The pistol caliber debate can finally end. Pistol Caliber War - It's Over!

KNOXVILLE — Jenny Wright, the University of Tennessee student judicial affairs director fired Monday amid a probe into whether she had inappropriate relationships with student-athletes, was recently offered an adjunct professorship there, records show. Wright, 32, had received glowing performance reviews and commendations during her five-year tenure in the judicial affairs office, according to her personnel file. The adjunct position, offered to her in March, would have earned Wright an additional $4,500 per course in the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. She made $70,000 annually in her role as judicial affairs director, according to the university. Wright was...

Tim Tebow has been waived by the Jets, the end of an unsuccessful one-season experiment in New York. Coach Rex Ryan said in a statement put out by the team in announcing the move Monday morning: "Unfortunately, things did not work out the way we all had hoped."

Like me, millions of high-school seniors with sour grapes are asking themselves this week how they failed to get into the colleges of their dreams. It's simple: For years, they—we—were lied to. Colleges tell you, "Just be yourself." That is great advice, as long as yourself has nine extracurriculars, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores and two moms. Then by all means, be yourself! If you work at a local pizza shop and are the slowest person on the cross-country team, consider taking your business elsewhere. What could I have done differently over the past years? For...

Yeah, April Fools.

Yoko Ono tweeted a photo of John Lennon’s bloody glasses this week. Why? Well, she was celebrating her 44th wedding anniversary to the late Beatles singer. Ono sat down to reflect about Lennon’s life and death this week and she came to the conclusion that there have been far too many gun deaths in the world in the 33 years since Lennon was assassinated. Ono wrote on Twitter: “Over 1,057,000 people have been killed by guns in the USA since John Lennon was shot and killed on 8 Dec 1980.” The singer / artist sent out several more messages about...

Sure, it’s easy to criticize Hollywood, but try to remember that the entertainment industry today is an intellectually demanding environment, fraught with cognitively challenging, even intractable, questions, like, to take one recent example: How can the cable mini-series “The Bible” be such a ratings hit when there is no audience for overtly religious entertainment programming? According to the latest Nielsens, released Tuesday, Sunday night’s telecast of “The Bible,” produced by husband-and-wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey for basic cable’s History channel, managed to attract more viewers than anything on broadcast network NBC … during the entire week. The second...

Authorities are investigating an airplane crash Monday night in Miami Township in Montgomery County near Dayton, Ohio. It happend near I-675 South and I-75 North. Miamisburg resident Steve Pleasant told WHIO-TV he saw a small airplane flying low and it appeared to crash on the other side of a tree line. He said the crash “lit up the whole sky.” Area residents also reported to WHIO-TV of hearing at least two explosions. Officers searched the field with flashlights by the Miamisburg water tower near I-75. Police tell WKEF-TV that the pilot admitted to drinking. The FAA is investigating. Right now,...

Two storms will merge quickly enough to bring colder air, heavy snow and increasing wind to New England. Some areas will be hit with an all-out blizzard and a couple of feet of snow. The worst of the storm will hit late Friday and Friday night and will wind down Saturday morning. However, lingering effects from blowing and drifting snow, blocked roads and other travel delays are likely to linger into much of the weekend. Numerous flight delays and cancellations are possible centered on New England, but these problems will be felt elsewhere across the nation. Strong winds will not...

A retired Los Angeles cardinal accused of mismanaging a child sex abuse crisis has been stripped of all administrative and public duties by his successor. Retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, 76, has apologised for his "failure", Archbishop Jose Gomez said on Thursday. The Los Angeles archdiocese, the largest in the US, has released thousands of pages of files on priests accused of child molestation. Cardinal Mahony retired in 2011, having run the archdiocese for 25 years. In 2007 Los Angeles paid $660m (£415m) to alleged victims of abuse, the largest sex abuse payout on record. Cardinal Mahony has publicly apologised for...

A jihadist website posted a new threat by al Qaeda this week that promises to conduct “shocking” attacks on the United States and the West. The posting appeared on the Ansar al Mujahidin network Sunday and carried the headline, “Map of al Qaeda and its future strikes.” The message, in Arabic, asks: “Where will the next strike by al Qaeda be?” A translation was obtained by Inside the Ring. “The answer for it, in short: The coming strikes by al Qaeda, with God’s Might, will be in the heart of the land of nonbelief, America, and in France, Denmark, other...

DAYTON -- A mother was arrested after an argument with her daughter led to threatening her with a samurai sword. Dayton police said they were originally called about a mother and daughter argument about midnight Thursday. Marie Tingle, 39, told police during that visit that her daughter was talking back to her, running around with boys and being disrespectful and she asked the officers to take the 16-year-old girl to the Juvenile Detention Center. Officers said they couldn't arrest someone for being disrespectful but they did offer Tingle some ideas on discipline and suggested counseling. About 30 minutes later, the...

LINK: Penn State Student Affairs: The 'Worrisome' Veteran Penn State University's Office of Student Affairs, in partnership with President Graham Spanier, produced this vignette on "worrisome student behaviors" featuring a stereotypical "aggressive" veteran who threatens his professors. Faculty and administrators again prove they care more about poisonous "progressivism" than intellectual pluralism. This video was originally online @ http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/caps/wsb/index.html. Penn State removed the video from the website on Fri., Feb. 27, but left the others online -- all but declaring their awareness of its inappropriateness. http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/psucrs/

This photograph, released by the White House on Thursday, reveals the terrible moment when President Barack Obama was told the shocking news about the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The President, who has described the day of the shootings as the ‘worst day of my presidency,’ is seen bowing his head and closing his eyes as John Brennan, his deputy national security adviser, informs him about the tragic events unfolding in Newtown, Connecticut. In the wake of the tragedy, the president has tasked his deputy Joe Biden with leading a task force to look at proposals to tighten current...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - After the tragic events at Sandy Hook Elementary School, one local father and former Marine is standing guard at his children's school and parents said he's a welcome addition to the school. Jordan Pritchard, a former Staff Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, pulled down his old Marine Corps uniform from the attic Sunday night and decided to make a difference in his community. When he was in the military his job was to keep our country safe and for the next week he planned bring that safety home by standing guard outside the front door of...

As sheriff patrols will increase around Butler County schools in the wake of the Connecticut mass shootings, Sheriff Richard K. Jones is proposing placing weapons in schools — an idea he first pushed for after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007. In light of the recent tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., Jones said today that he would like to see legislation introduced that would mandate placing armed personnel in all public and private Ohio schools, from elementary schools through colleges. Jones said he believes putting guns in schools — either assigned law enforcement officers or select...

The families of eight D.C. sniper victims reached two settlements totaling $2.5 million yesterday with the dealer and manufacturer of the rifle used in the shooting spree that left Washington, D.C.-area residents afraid to leave their homes in the fall of 2002. Lawyers for the families call the settlements "landmark." The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which has filed a number of gun suits, said this is the first time a gun manufacturer has agreed to pay a settlement to victims. Bushmaster Firearms Inc. of Maine will pay $550,000, all of which is covered by its insurance policy. And...

Today upon a bus I saw A lovely maid with golden hair I envied her - she seemed so gay- And oh, I wished I were so fair, When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle; She had one foot and wore a crutch, But as she passed, a smile, Oh God, forgive me when I whine, I have two feet - the world is mine. And when I stopped to buy some sweets, The lad who served me had such charm He seemed to radiate good cheer, His manner was so kind and warm....

There are certain things you expect to see in a 97-year-old woman's home and certain things you don't. Katie Watson from Richfield, North Carolina is full of things you wouldn't figure. She shot her first rabbit when she was 10 years old. To this day, she hunts quail and turkey but she's probably most proud of the fact that she's tagged 44 deer since she turned 80. "How many men still hunt when they're 97?" she asks. If you wondered how she gets around in the woods, she takes an A.T.V. Watson doesn't plan on slowing down any time soon....