Free Republic

Major DEI fail. Who vetted this agent? As previously reported, an armed Secret Service agent assigned to Kamala Harris got into a physical fight with other agents at Joint Base Andrews on Monday morning. According to reports, the problem agent, identified as Michelle Herczeg, began acting aggressively, speaking gibberish and shouting incoherently at other agents while they were near the lounge at JBA. Herczeg reportedly threw menstrual pads at another agent before getting into a brawl a JBA. RealClearPolitics reported that Herczeg grabbed a male agent’s personal cell phone and began deleting apps on it before she completely melted down....

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Texas) announced Friday that he is resigning from Congress immediately after facing a backlash over using $84,000 in taxpayer funds to settle a sexual harassment claim. "While I planned on serving out the remainder of my term in Congress, I know in my heart it's time for me to move along and look for new ways to serve," Farenthold said in a statement. The abrupt resignation is effective as of 5 p.m. on Friday, according to his office. Lauren Greene, the congressman's former communications director, sued her boss over allegations he fostered a hostile work environment where...

In the last few days and weeks, with relatively little public fanfare, radical legislation was enacted in New York City and Washington State to protect the rights of those who identify as transgender - at the cost of everyone else. And when I say "cost," I'm not exaggerating.In New York, violation of these new laws could cost you up to $250,000 for a single offense.What exactly do these new laws do?Rather than give you a lot of legal jargon, I'll give you some practical examples.Let's say you own a gym where men and women come in to work out and...

When the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan is completed next year what will happen to Afghan women? Will a resurgent Taliban return them to wearing burqas, withdraw them from schools and force them to live behind painted glass in their homes, permitting them to leave the house only when accompanied by a blood relative? The Afghan constitution contains language that supposedly protects women's rights and Afghanistan has signed several international human rights treaties that guarantee protection for women. Article 22 of the Afghan constitution reads, "Any kind of discrimination and privilege between the citizens of Afghanistan are prohibited....

Although some see it as a clear-cut case of race discrimination, Kim Ratliff, a County Commissioner in Mecklenburg County, N.C., doesn’t regret saying that the next county manager should be a “non-white male.” Ratliff’s comments were made last Friday when she commented on the departure of longtime county manager Harry Jones, WISTV.com reports. The County Commissioner said other county officials should learn from Jones’ tenure as county manager. “There were some people the manager was not talking to. There were county commissioners who were not talking to the manager,” she said, adding that the future county manager must have open...

Between the baby boomers on one hand and Generations X, Y and Z on the other, cultural and economic changes have transformed the landscape of our culture. It's difficult to wrap a description around what sociologists call a "cohort." "I'm not a real person yet," says a 27-year-old college graduate in the movie "Frances Ha," the latest and hippest of the contemporary coming-of-age scenarios. She has no credit card and explains that she even has to look for a cash machine to pay a dinner check. But if she doesn't yet feel mature enough to assume "personhood," at least she...

WASHINGTON — Christine Kwapnoski hasn't done too badly in nearly 25 years in the Wal-Mart family, making more than $60,000 a year in a job she enjoys most days. But Kwapnoski said she faced obstacles at Wal-Mart-owned Sam's Club stores in both Missouri and California: Men making more than women and getting promoted faster. [SNIP] The 46-year-old single mother of two is one of the named plaintiffs in a suit that will be argued at the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday. At stake is whether the suit can go forward as a class action that could involve 500,000 to 1.6...

it's a boy! Or a girl! A group of New York moms has filed suit against the makers of a "99.9-percent accurate" baby-gender test, claiming the results they got were 100 percent wrong. The product was advertised as "infallibly accurate in foretelling the gender of a healthy baby," and its Web site said the "prediction of your baby's gender is unmistakably correct or we will double your money back." The Baby Gender Mentor is touted as allowing women as little as five weeks pregnant to tell if they're expecting a boy or a girl, the suit says. That's nine to...

... Two pay discrimination bills on the House floor Friday could be among the first that labor-friendly Barack Obama signs into law when he becomes president later this month. ... Last year, President George W. Bush threatened to veto both the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which would overturn a 2007 Supreme Court decision making it more difficult to sue over past pay discrimination, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, which closes loopholes allowing employers to get around the 1963 law requiring equal pay for equal work. The bill the House is considering would clarify that each paycheck resulting from discrimination...

Two airlines "down under" are under fire after acknowledging their policy of not allowing an unaccompanied child passenger to sit next to a man. The policy emerged when a New Zealand man said he was asked by airline staff to move because an unaccompanied minor had been assigned the seat next to him. Mark Worsley was told to swap seats with a woman sitting nearby, who then moved into the seat next to the boy, about eight years old, for the 80-minute flight. "I was pretty shocked -- I think most people would be," the 37-year-old shipping manager and father...