Free Republic

Last week the controversy over the NFL Washington Redskins’ name, deemed offensive by the professionally aggrieved, reached a new peak when the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board canceled six federal trademark registrations owned by the team.Nevada Senator Harry Reid, who had previously blustered impotently that he wouldn’t accept an invitation to attend a Redskins home game until the team changed its name (a threat which no doubt sent waves of panic through the Redskins organization), gloated that the ruling proved “the handwriting is on the wall.” “It’s only a matter of time,” he tweeted, “until [Redskins owner] Daniel Snyder is...

BALTIMORE (AP) — A second Baltimore officer has been suspended while the department investigates his role in the slitting of a dog's throat, while the animal's owner says it took her days to find out how the dog died. Court documents say Officer Thomas Schmidt held the dog down while a fellow officer cut the animal's throat on Saturday. Schmidt has been suspended with pay during the investigation, Baltimore Police spokesman Jeremy Silbert said.

In the midst of the Obama administration transporting around 1,000 unaccompanied minors from Border Patrol centers in Texas to facilities in Baltimore, MD, and Richmond, VA, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced in a press release on Wednesday that a Federal Grand Jury returned a second superseding indictment charging four Maryland men in connection with a conspiracy to participate in murder in aid of a racketeering enterprise known as the La Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13.

The nation of Sweden is demanding that the Obama administration act to deny copyright status to the Minnesota Vikings, claiming the name demeans its citizens and all other Scandinavians. “We can no longer tolerate the use of this disgusting epithet by an American football team,” said Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Milkquist in a letter to President Obama “First of all, ‘football’ means ‘soccer,’ Milkquist wrote. “I realize that this is an unrelated matter, but it really pisses people off in Europe. You only use your foot occasionally in football, whereas in soccer the foot is the only thing you can...

In a defiant statement issued Wednesday, the Washington Redskins said the team would appeal the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's decision to revoke the trademark to the team's name and logo on the grounds that they are offensive to Native Americans. The professional football team added that in the meantime, the ruling would have "no effect at all" on its trademark rights while the case is on appeal. The press release even put that in boldface and underlined it. "We are confident we will prevail once again, and that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board’s divided ruling will be overturned...

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has canceled the Redskins' trademarks. The petitioners, consisting of five Native Americans, sought to cancel the trademarks based on a section of the Trademark Act that "prohibits registration of marks that may disparage persons or bring them into contempt or disrepute."

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Patent Office ruled Wednesday that the Washington Redskins nickname is "disparaging of Native Americans" and that the team's federal trademarks for the name must be canceled. The 2-1 ruling comes after a campaign to change the name has gained momentum over the past year. The team doesn't immediately lose trademark protection and is allowed to retain it during an appeal.

Ted SieferJune 16, 2014 Deer ticks, also known as blacklegged ticks, are the prime carriers of Lyme disease, which is particularly common in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Large numbers of ticks, the parasites that carry Lyme disease, are expected to emerge in New England in the coming weeks, experts said on Friday. Abundant snow over the winter and a wet spring have created ideal conditions for ticks to come out in the warm weather and try to latch onto hosts, they said. "The next three to four weeks is the peak season of risk," said Sam Telford, an infectious disease...

"Celebrate Pride Month with the St. Ignatius Community!" "As members of the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, we are called to celebrate and share the gifts of diversity of sexuality in our church today. Our organization, Embracing God's Gifts, has been formed as an instrument for recognizing these gifts and incorporating their goodness and use into the life of our parish."

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is welcoming members of Congress and their senior staff to tour a temporary shelter being used to house illegal immigrant children — but the invite comes with a list of rules, including a suggestion that members leave their cellphones in their vehicles. The 40-minute tour will take place Friday at the Ventura County Naval Base in Oxnard, Calif., according to the email invitation, obtained by The Daily Caller. The tours are meant to give members and staffers an inside look at how temporary facilities are being used to house illegal immigrant children...

HOUSTON, Texas--The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is taking select Members of Congress on a secret tour of the temporary children’s shelter set up to house the children who entered the country illegally as part of the Texas border crisis. The tour will visit the temporary shelter set up at Naval Base Ventura County later this afternoon. The Congressional delegation will be given a 40-minute tour of the facility where they will witness the interior of the shelter and the care being provided for the unaccompanied minors while they are being housed in their facilities. An email obtained...

The Obama administration plans to move as many as 1,000 unaccompanied minor migrants from Border Patrol facilities in Texas to facilities in Baltimore, Md., and Richmond, Va., in an effort to ease overcrowding and address the growing humanitarian crisis along the border. SNIP According to a “transportation flow chart” obtained by BuzzFeed, the administration will now begin resettling the children to an Office of Refugee Resettlement facility in Baltimore and to St. Paul’s College in Richmond. Both facilities can accommodate up to 500 beds, according to the document. According to the chart, DHS buses and planes, as well as commercial...

The Mount Vernon Assembly – Indianapolis FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Skip Brown skip.brown@iga.in.gov 317-232-9521 The Mount Vernon Assembly to Meet at Indiana Statehouse June 12 and 13 INDIANAPOLIS (June 9, 2014) – More than 100 state legislators representing 33 states will meet at the Indiana Statehouse in Indianapolis on June 12 and 13 to continue establishing the rules and procedures needed for a future state-led convention for proposing amendments to the U.S. Constitution, as authorized by Article V of the Constitution. The meeting is a continuation of efforts that began in December 2013 at George Washington’s historic Mount Vernon estate...

It now appears a vacant building in downtown Baltimore won't house refugee children from Central America. A spokeswoman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake told WBAL News that the former Metro West building on North Greene Street is no longer being considered as a place to house the children. Spokeswoman Caron Brace says aides to the mayor were informed of the decision during a meeting today with federal officials.. The building, once used by the Social Security Administration, was being considered as a place to house 9,500 children who were caught at the U.S. Mexican border last month. Mayor Rawlings-Blake, as well...

WASHINGTON – Conservative Victory Political Action Committee and other prominent organizations and leaders are organizing a rally in front of the Mexican Embassy at 1911 Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC on Thursday, June 12, 2014 at 10 AM to 1 PM. Mexican authorities arrested U.S. Marine Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi on March 31st, 2014, after he accidentally drove across the border with three legally owned guns. Tahmooressi immediately disclosed that he had his guns in his vehicle, and was cooperative with authorities at the border. Mexican prosecutors originally charged Tahmooressi with gun trafficking and he was taken to a Tijuana prison where...

This morning on ABC News , Steve Coburn apologized for his sore loser remarks following the loss of California Chrome at the Belmont Stakes.

Or.. Democratrina. Far more destructive than any bomb or hurricane, Democrat locusts destroy lay waste to Detroit. This is the 'progress' they want for the rest of America.

All FReepers and lurkers in good standing are invited to join the members of the D.C. Chapter of FreeRepublic.com in a freep of Her Heinous Hillary Rodham Clinton this Saturday morning in Pentagon City. Clinton is scheduled for a book signing appearance for her State Department whitewash memoir at the Costco. We freeped Clinton there on her Living History tour. BufordP is going to anchor this one. When: 9: 00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Saturday, June 14, 2014 Where: on the public sidewalk in front of Costco, 1200 S. Fern St. Pentagon City, Virginia. As always, the D.C. Chapter's rules...

Ronald Ace, photographed at his home in Laurel, Maryland, May 4, 2013, said his flat-panel "Solar Traps," which can be mounted on rooftops or used in power plants, will shatter barriers that have stymied efforts to make solar energy cheap, clean and reliable. His claimed discoveries, which exist only on paper so far, would represent such a leap that they're sure to draw skepticism.

The father of a Perry Hall High School student struck a teacher with a baseball bat after police were made aware of a series of texts between the teacher, a 42-year-old man, and a 15-year-old student, Baltimore County police said. Police said an officer of the White Marsh Precinct read over dozens of texts that “described an emotional relationship that seemed inappropriate for a teacher and student,” according to a release from the Baltimore County Police Department. The girl's mother alerted police to the texts at about 3 a.m. at the precinct. Police determined however that no crime had been...