Free Republic

(1918 Bolshevik Poster by Alexander Apsit reads "Citizens, hand over your weapons!") Why I gave up my guns • A former firearm enthusiast explains his personal epiphany Late one night in the spring of 2008, I was jolted awake by the sound of yet another a burglar trying to break into my Atlanta home. We’d already had a series of scary close calls, but this time I was ready: I had staged my shotgun and a box of shells in a broom closet right by the back door, next to the umbrellas. While my girlfriend called the police, I...

Matt Damon's film is set to intensify debate on fracking As one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors with a reputation for straight-talking, he has made little secret of his willingness to confront thorny political and social issues. Now Matt Damon is facing off against one of America's most powerful institutions - the oil and gas industry - in a film that represents a new battleground for environmentalists' campaigns against fracking. Promised Land, which goes on nationwide release in the US this week, is set to intensify debate on the controversial drilling technique to such an extent that the industry has...

(Reuters) - U.S. Democratic Representative Barney Frank wed his longtime partner, James Ready, on Saturday, becoming the first sitting congressman to enter into a same-sex marriage. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick officiated the ceremony and added some levity by saying Frank, 72, and Ready, 42, had vowed to love each other through Democratic and Republican administrations alike, and even through appearances on Fox News, according to Al Green, a Democratic congressman from Texas. "Barney was beaming," said Green, who attended the ceremony. He added that Frank, a champion of gay rights and the sweeping reform of Wall Street, shed a tear...

President Barack Obama will host a reception at the White House to observe Gay Pride Month on Friday. In a proclamation earlier this month, the president stressed that his administration has worked to “level the playing field for lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people.” Obama’s recent declaration of support for gay marriage was celebrated as a key endorsement among gay rights groups. After the reception, the first family leaves for Chicago, where they will spend the night.

EXCLUSIVE The drag queen, 12 Schoolboy is ‘Naughty Nora’ By JOHN COLES  A SCHOOLBOY aged 12 has been crowned the DRAG QUEEN of his village - and his parents are delighted. Redvers Stokes slips on his mum's bra, a tight pink dress, blonde wig and towering heels to become "Naughty Nora". He clinched the title against tough competition from local men by belting out camp versions of Michael Jackson's Thriller and Dolly Parton hits. The tiny Cornish village of Sticker, near St Austell, started its drag queen contest two years ago - because not enough girls among the population...

It doesn't matter if it wasn't meant for our ears. It doesn't matter that NBA players might do it all the time. And it doesn't matter in the slightest that Kobe Bryant(notes) wasn't using the usual, hateful, meaning behind a homophobic slur that starts with an "f" and ends with those who are mindful of the pain and suffering that the LGBT community has gone through cringing as we hear it. Before we get to the specifics, here is Bryant's statement on the incident: "What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration...

TUCSON — Law enforcement officials said Friday they have multiple photos of Jared L. Loughner posing with a Glock 9mm gun next to his naked buttocks and dressed in a bright red g-string. The photos were turned over to the police by Walgreens, where Mr. Loughner had taken them to be developed. In some of the photos he is holding the gun by his crotch and in others, presumably shot in a mirror, he is holding the gun next to his buttocks, the police said. It was not yet clear when the photos were taken or whether Mr. Loughner had...

Accused Arizona shooter Jared Loughner took photographs of himself wearing nothing but a red G-string and holding a Glock 9 mm gun before going on a rampage that injured Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others. The kinky photos were turned over to Tuscon cops by Walgreens staffers just days after Loughner, 22, dropped them off to be developed before Saturday's attack, The New York Times reported today on its website.

An 18-year-old refugee claimant who says his life could be at risk if he's sent back to Mexico was to be deported Saturday - amid what his lawyer called an unusually high degree of secrecy. Daniel Garcia, whose application for a temporary stay of his deportation order was dismissed by the Federal Court on Friday, was set to board a plane back to Mexico, although his lawyer said the government has not disclosed when the flight would take place. Lawyer Joel Sandaluk said Garcia's deportation itinerary was "blacked out," something he called "very unusual." "I've been doing this for 10...

Sir Elton John and David Furnish have become parents to son Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, the couple tells UsMagazine.com exclusively.The baby boy, who was born Dec. 25 in California via a surrogate, weighed 7 pounds, 15 ounces. "We are overwhelmed with happiness and joy at this very special moment," John and Furnish tell Us in a joint statement. "Zachary is healthy and doing really well, and we are very proud and happy parents." This is the first child for John, 62, and Furnish, 48. The couple married in 2005 after 12 years together.

Vice President Biden says U.S. attitudes are evolving on the issue of gay marriage and he thinks it's inevitable there will be national consensus.

More details are emerging about the case of Wikileaker Pvt. Bradley Manning and they are… Gagalicious. Manning's plan to download and leak thousands of classified documents to Wikileaks hinged on lip-syncing to "Telephone". Manning allegedly leaked the Iraq Apache helicopter video, and it's believed he also downloaded over 150,000 diplomatic cables from the military's SPIR-Net and shared them with Wikileaks. How did he do it without arousing suspicion? According to the New York TimesAccording to the New York Times: "He was able to avoid detection not because he kept a poker face, they said, but apparently because he hummed and...

A U.S. Army intelligence analyst serving in Iraq has been arrested by federal officials for allegedly leaking classified information to the online whistleblower site Wikileaks, according to a Wired blog.Specialist Bradley Manning, 22, of Potomac, Md., is reportedly the source of the controversial video of a 2007 American helicopter strike that claimed the lives of several bystanders. Wikileaks published that video in April. Manning reportedly became a target of the investigation after boasting of leaking more than a quarter of a million classified documents to former hacker Adrian Lamo, who reported him to the Army. Lamo claimed, via his...

Not everyone who serves is deserving of respect. Last April, WikiLeak.org and its owner, Julian Assange, edited and published a 2007 footage they entitled "Collateral Murder", which purported to show an American Apache helicopter killing unarmed civilians, including news reporters, in Iraq. While WikiLeak.org is slated to release a new video of an alleged "massacre" by U.S. forces in Afghanistan, a 22 year old Pfc Army intelligence analyst serving in Iraq was detained about a month ago, accused of being the source of the leaked "Collateral Murder" video. Charges have now been brought: BAGHDAD — An American soldier in Iraq...

Bradley Manning, 22, had just gone through a breakup. He had been demoted a rank in the Army after striking a fellow soldier. He felt he had no future, and yet he thought that by sharing classified information about his government's foreign policy, he might "actually change something." A series of instant messages from Manning to a stranger open a window into the anguished state of the former Army intelligence analyst, who was detained late last month for allegedly leaking classified video and documents to Wikileaks.org. The military has not detailed the allegations against Manning, who is being held in...

Tempers were fraying in the White House Cabinet Room as night turned into morning on Jan. 15. President Obama had been cloistered nearly all day with House and Senate Democrats, playing “marriage counselor,” an aide said, as he coaxed, cajoled and prodded them on a health care overhaul. As the clock neared 1 a.m., the two sides were at an impasse. Mr. Obama stood up. “ ‘See what you guys can figure out,’ ” one participant remembers him saying, adding that the failed effort left the president mad. Another Democrat who was there, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California, said...

More than £1 million worth of counterfeit cigarettes filled with rabbit droppings instead of tobacco have been confiscated by customs officials in Spain. The fake cigarettes - due to be sold on the black market as famous brands - were discovered after British holidaymakers in the Canary Islands smelled a rat whenever they lit up. "They stunk. They smell just as you'd imagine burning poo to smell," said one customs official in Tenerife. Police and customs staff arrested 12 smugglers in an undercover operation to intercept the cigarettes as they landed on a boat from China. "They not only smell...

WASHINGTON (CNN) – Emmy Award winner Alec Baldwin is eyeing a post-acting career that could take him off a Hollywood soundstage into the halls of Congress. Baldwin, who currently stars in the NBC comedy "30 Rock," told Playboy magazine that he is seriously considering running for Congress. But he acknowledged his opponents would have plenty of fodder to use against him. "I'll put it this way," he told the magazine. "The desire is there; that's one component. The other component is opportunity." A native New Yorker, Baldwin said he has been approached by an unnamed Democratic law firm who wanted...

....Palin could have gone to a major hospital in Anchorage and delivered the child and still have Trig as an Alaskan. But, no, she had to add an extra risk to her unborn child by ensuring her local hospital and family doctor could deliver the child - even if that extra 45 minutes (like the ten hours that preceded it) could have posed a deathly risk to a special needs infant....It remains true that no one in the MSM will investigate the details of this truly bizarre story.... The one MSM newspaper that tried to report out the story of...

That's the argument raging online. "It's difficult not to wonder if Lambert's sexuality played a role in Allen's victory," the Chicago Tribune's TV critic writes. "Though he never said whether he was gay, pictures of Lambert kissing other men appeared on the Internet during Season 8. "If Lambert's popularity on Idol was any indication of how tolerant and accepting America has become, his loss may indicate there's still further to go," continues the Tribune writer. Adds pro poker player (and recent Celebrity Apprentice runner-up) Annie Duke: "I seriously think Adam lost just because he is gay. Bummed. Bummed. Bummed." Blog...