Free Republic

Donald Trump personifies the Liberty Movement’s finest anti-establishment spirit. He is the only rational choice left in the presidential race for those of us who hold liberty dear. Just like Ron Paul, Donald Trump loves America and Americans, and we find it fascinating that he arrived at many of the same positions as Ron Paul not by extrapolating them from libertarian principles but by applying his ample business experience and sheer human decency. Most importantly… 1. Donald Trump is a diplomat, a dealmaker and a non-interventionist. He wants to make the military “so strong that we never have to use...

LOS ANGELES - Despite repeated protests about its lack of diversity over the years, Hollywood does a fine job of engaging in repetitive amnesia about its pervasive and longstanding biases. Chris Rock, in other words, was in a target-rich environment on Sunday, and he didn't waste the opportunity. Rock's scathing and generally well-crafted monologue at Sunday's Academy Awards recalled the episode of "Black-ish" that aired on the same network just a few days ago. Rock's opening minutes were entertaining, but they made an array of serious points. "Is Hollywood racist?" he asked at the mid-point of his withering monologue,...

Comedian Chris Rock gave what has to be both the most monotonous and racially-charged Academy Award monologue in its entire history — it was 10 minutes of nothing but one #OscarsSoWhite joke after another. Then for the cherry on top, he shouted out “Black lives matter!” at the end. Rock hit the audience right out of the starting gate. “Man, I counted at least 15 black people on that montage,” he said. “Hey, well, I’m here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the white People’s Choice Awards. You realize if they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job....

Chris Rock came out swinging in one of the best opening monologues in years and took on the diversity controversy from the get-go at the 88th Academy Awards. Last night also saw Brie Lawson win Best Actress, Leonardo DiCaprio snag Best Actor in his fifth nomination, Alejandro G. Iñárritu was named Best Director and Spotlight won Best Picture. With all that, the Oscars themselves had a not such a great night with a 23.1/37 in metered market results. That’s down 6% from the 24.6/39 that the ceremony got last year in early results from the 56 markets across the country....

An 8-year-old boy said he helped his mother's boyfriend grow "special medicine that can cure anything at all," The Times-Argus reportsA second-grader's story about helping a farmer grow "special medicine" plants led to the bust of an indoor marijuana growing operation in Vermont, authorities said. According to an affidavit, an 8-year-old boy told school officials and Windsor police detective Jennifer Frank that he helped his mother's boyfriend, 54-year-old Steven Mann, grow "special medicine that can cure anything at all," The Times-Argus reports. Police said they found 50 marijuana plants worth $75,000, along with two "grow rooms" next to the...

The Libertarian Party of Mississippi is hosting the first Libertarian Presidential debate featuring 11 of the 12 announced candidates! The first video is the teaser video created by our organization at the request of LPMS Chairman Aaron Barksdale. The second video is the livestream which will also be featured on http://mslp.org/debate/.

So, what happened today in the most important chapter of the Cirinna Bill -- the Italian bill establishing civil unions for normal and "same-sex" couples in Italy? After the disastrous papal interview in the flight from Mexico, in which His Holiness all but called the Italian Church to remain silent on the bill (because he would not venture into political matters, though he did exactly that regarding the United States presidential elections in the very same interview), the Bishops backed down, and the conservative group that was holding back the bill in the Senate (led by Catholic Senator Alfano), made...

WASHINGTON -- Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) said Sunday that he supports a constitutional amendment that would bar the Supreme Court from granting marriage equality rights nationwide. The Supreme Court is expected to issue a decision this month that could grant, for once and for all, same-sex couples the right to wed across the country. But Walker said on ABC's "This Week" that he would support amending the constitution to protect states that still want to ban same-sex marriage. "I personally believe that marriage is between one man and one woman," Walker, a prospective GOP presidential candidate, said. "If the...

A New York lawmaker has proposed a bill that would ban iPhones from being sold in the state, unless Apple provides special "back doors" that would allow law enforcement to spy on users. That's a double dose of the Nanny State: setting rules for what can be bought and sold, while giving the government an easier way to spy on residents' everyday activities. The bill is sponsored by State Assemblyman Matthew Titone, D-Staten Island, and it would mandate that iPhones and other cell phones sold in New York be "capable of being decrypted and unlocked." The bill has support, perhaps...

ination to the Supreme Court made by President Barack Obama, the White House is surely gearing up for a strategic nomination and epic battle for the future of the highest court in the country. Obama needs to move forward quickly with a transformative nominee who stands a chance of success on Capitol Hill. Diane Humetewa, U.S. District Judge for the District of Arizona is perhaps the most likely person to advance through Senate confirmation during Obama's final year in office. Nominating her would transform the federal judiciary, bring Native Americans into the highest echelons of political society, and actually stand...

World boxing star Manny Pacquiao has drawn an outcry in the Philippines after publicly denouncing people in same-sex relationships as "worse than animals." Pacquiao, a high school dropout from a poverty-stricken rural family who went on to become a boxing legend, made the remark when he and other Philippine senatorial candidates were asked by the local TV5 network about their views on same-sex marriage. His remarks were posted online Monday by TV5, sparking criticism, including by some fellow Filipino celebrities. "It's just common sense," said the 37-year-old Pacquiao, who is currently a member of the House of Representatives. "Have you...

Given their small numbers, occasional libertarian pandering to the “inside job” morons yields no theoretical benefit greater than a few additional comments on a YouTube video. Worse, they’ve actually made intelligent discussion more difficult. Questions about the government’s lack of readiness for 9/11, for example, now carry the unmistakable whiff of fringe kookiness. So do demands for basic government transparency, like calling for more of the 9/11 Commission report to be declassified. Mention this idea and some people will move away before you start ranting about the moon landing being fake. That’s too bad, because some accountability has been lost...

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi rejected on Friday the Roman Catholic Church's interference in a parliamentary debate on legislation that offers homosexual couples legal recognition and limited adoption rights. Renzi spoke a day after the head of the Italian bishops' conference, Angelo Bagnasco, urged the upper house Senate to allow secret balloting when it votes on the bill, arguing this would allow lawmakers to follow their conscience. Italy is the only major Western country that has not yet recognized gay civil unions. "Parliament decides whether or not to allow secret votes......not the head of the bishops' conference," Renzi said during...

Dubbed 'super confessors', for one year only they can absolve sins usually only pardoned by the pope himself. And on Wednesday over 1,000 of these "missionaries of mercy", handpicked by Pope Francis, were sent forth to win back the hearts of those who have left the Catholic Church and open the door to repentant sinners across the world. There are certain evils the Vatican ranks above other sins, from attempting to assassinate the pope to defiling the Eucharist -- the rite of consuming consecrated bread and wine in Church -- by spitting it out or using it in a...

Gay Therapy Gay conversion therapy, as it is known, supposedly helps gay people overcome same-sex attractions. But mainstream psychologists say the therapy is ineffective, unethical and often harmful, exacerbating anxiety and self-hatred among those treated for what is not a mental disorder. In 2013, two cases involving the therapy to convert gay people into heterosexuals hit the courts, with one seeking to sue counselors who offer the therapy and the other seeking to defend them. Here are five things you need to know about the therapy and the current lawsuits.

Gov. Chris Christie signed a bill Monday barring licensed therapists from trying to turn gay teenagers straight, making New Jersey the second state to ban so-called conversion therapy, along with California. The bill passed both houses of the New Jersey Legislature with bipartisan support in June. Assemblyman Tim Eustace, who sponsored the bill and is openly gay, described the therapy as "an insidious form of child abuse." In a note accompanying the bill, Christie said he believes people are born gay and that homosexuality is not a sin. That view is inconsistent with his Catholic faith, which teaches that homosexual...

Although the Catholic Church teaches that homosexual acts are "intrinsically disordered," constitute "grave depravity," and can never "be approved," the Catholic bishops of New York State "have not taken a position" on past bills and "do not foresee taking a position" on Gov. Andrew Cuomo's new order banning private and public health insurers from covering gay conversion therapy for minors. Cuomo, a Catholic who supports homosexual marriage and abortion, made his announcement about prohibiting health care coverage for conversion (or reparative) therapy on Saturday, Feb. 6. In a press release, Cuomo's office said, "Multi-agency regulations announced today ban public and...

February 10, 2016 8:30AM Gallup Finds More Libertarians in the Electorate By David Boaz The Gallup Poll has a new estimate of the number of libertarians in the American electorate. In their 2015 Governance survey they find that 27 percent of respondents can be characterized as libertarians, the highest number it has ever found. The latest results also make libertarians the largest group in the electorate, as compared to 26 percent conservative, 23 percent liberal, and 15 percent populist.For more than a dozen years now, the Gallup Poll has been using two questions to categorize respondents by ideology: Some people...

A good piece at Reason.com called "Rand Paul Is Out—But Libertarianism Is Finally Mainstream": "Rand Paul beat them all after being excluded from the Fox Business debate just a few weeks earlier. I’m going to call that a comeback—one small step for mankind, another bigger step for the future of liberty." "Why? Because Rand has seeded another generation of liberty-minded young people, much like his father did in 2008 and 2012. When I was a kid, there was no broad social movement for liberty like we see today. Rand juiced the build-out of this community simply by being on the...

Hillary Clinton loves black people. And black people love Hillary—or so it seems. Black politicians have lined up in droves to endorse her, eager to prove their loyalty to the Clintons in the hopes that their faithfulness will be remembered and rewarded. Black pastors are opening their church doors, and the Clintons are making themselves comfortably at home once again, engaging effortlessly in all the usual rituals associated with “courting the black vote,” a pursuit that typically begins and ends with Democratic politicians making black people feel liked and taken seriously. Doing something concrete to improve the conditions under which...