Free Republic

Is there anything more intolerant than the Tolerance Brigade? At the Daily Beast, Joel Kotkin agrees with Bloomberg’s Stephen Carter on the rise of a new McCarthyism, this time imposing penalties for dissent from progressive orthodoxy rather than tolerating debate on a broad range of issues. Both use attempts to silence argument in academia as the flash point that exposes this thought-police mentality. Carter recently wrote about the attempts to intimidate Douglas Laycock, an opponent of same-sex marriage, and explicitly invokes McCarthyism as the dynamic in play: A law student and a recent graduate, spurred on by the advocacy group...

There comes a point where the Left’s calumnizing of conservatives, its endless quest to delegitimize ordinary words, and its determination to criminalize religious expression all combine to make me want to offend as many leftists as I can, in response, just for fun. But not only for fun: Deliberately choosing to offend them, and thus trying to shred their ideological straitjackets, is occasionally a necessary endeavor. We on the right must show that we need not cower; we can and must fight back. In that spirit: To 50-year-old men, 20-year-old females are indeed “girls.” Not women. Get over it. If...

Students at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota cancelled a “Hump Day” party last week featuring a live camel following complaints that the event could be viewed as offensive to Middle Eastern cultures. The campus’ Residence Hall Association nixed its own event after several students began organizing a protest on Facebook. The protest had received more than 100 RSVPs before it was deleted Wednesday, according to aThursday report in Campus Reform. The episode has since triggered a social-media backlash against campus political correctness, with critics expressing incredulity over the idea that a camel is somehow culturally insensitive or racist....

An Australian woman is fighting to get rid of compulsory bicycle helmet laws because she deems them to be "sexist." Sue Abbott of New South Wales believes that people should have the option of whether to wear bicycle helmets because forcing women to use helmets is "sexist." "It is a very sexist law because a lot of women have maintained hairstyles and would end up with helmet hair," Ms. Abbott explains. "And women have told me that’s one of the factors (for not riding bikes)." Specifically, Abbott is campaigning to make helmets optional instead of mandatory. She believes those who...

The number of careers and professions available to practicing Christians is shrinking by the day. You can add a career in public health to that list. Dr. Brendan Bain, one of the leading AIDS experts in the Caribbean, has been unceremoniously cashiered from his post for having the temerity to tell the truth about the cause of AIDS. A long-time and highly respected professor at the University of West Indies until his retirement in 2012, Dr. Bain was praised by all as a "pioneer” in the effort to combat HIV/AIDS, which is at epidemic proportions in Caribbean nations. Since his...

The Washington Redskins responded Saturday to Senate Democrats saying the nickname is a racial slur and must be changed, saying it is “respectful” to Native Americans and suggesting the lawmakers don’t have all of the facts. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, team President Bruce Allen wrote: “Our use of ‘Redskins’ as the name of our football team for more than 80 years has always been respectful of and shown reverence toward the proud legacy and traditions of Native Americans.” […] The three-page letter—titled “The Truth about the Redskins’ Name and Logo”—references research that “the term ‘Redskins’...

Look at this disgusting garbage! Know why I won't contribute to "my" or any college? See here. In my e-mail today. The main page, so you can see the context.... https://www.launch.umd.edu/ ...and the specific nugget in detail... https://www.launch.umd.edu/project/533c322d0920657409de13be

almost 50 self-described "Patriots" held tall U.S flags in front of a high school still at the center of a public debate over free speech and cultural pride. (barf)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – News reports of frosted pop tart guns! Paper guns! Bubble guns! Pointed finger guns! Bang, bang, you’re dead! OMG! sound the alarm These days, everything’s a federal offense, so to speak, and no institution is ratcheting up the war-of-words like public education. This winter, public school administrators in Thousand Oaks, CA attended a “safe school” and “threat assessment” workshop, a collaboration of the local Ventura County Department of Education and the Ventura County Sheriffs where the education code was redefined to include a 21st Century list of words, phrases and expressions that can hurt. Literally. Yes,...

The Houston school district board has given preliminary approval to a new policy that would prohibit offensive or culturally insensitive mascots. The new policy calls on schools to show respect and cultural sensitivity in nicknames and mascots. The use of any race or ethnic group will be prohibited, the Houston Chronicle reported.

Americans are inclined to believe that, with the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the Cold War from 1945 to 1991 was over. In fact, that war of ideologies, communism versus capitalism, began in the 1920s after the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, initiated a covert program to undermine America. Today we call it "political correctness" and its impact on our society is sapping it of its true history and values. "Willing Accomplices: How KGB Covert Intelligence Agents Created Political Correctness, Obama's Hate-America-First Political Platform, and Destroyed America" by Kent Clizbe, a former CIA espionage officer, reveals how active and...

I read this published story from the NBC News website yesterday entitled (US teens lag in global education rankings as Asian countries rise to the top, 12/3/13) and was appalled just how far down the ladder American children are from the rest of the world. Here’s an excerpt: “Roughly half a million students in 65 nations and educational systems representing 80 percent of the global economy took part in the 2012 edition of (Program for International Student Assessment )or PISA, which is coordinated by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD. The numbers are even more sobering...

Navy SEALs ordered to remove ‘don’t tread on me’ Navy Jack from uniforms 10:44 AM 11/01/2013 Carl Higbie Author, 'Battle on the Home Front' The Navy Jack is the ‘don’t tread on me’ flag, one that has earned a revered place in America’s naval history and a beloved place in sailor’s hearts, through its use for over two centuries. This symbol of America’s naval ferocity has spanned our country’s entire existence, flying from the masts of the Continental Navy during the war of independence, to today’s War on Terror. In fact, an amendment to the Navy code called SECNAV Instruction...

In early October, I posted a blog entitled "Dear Texas: Please Secede" that advocated kicking Texas as well as Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and perhaps other Southern states out of the USA because they have an inferior culture and their stupidity and greed has had a negative effect on the nation from Day One. Since then, I have read even more articles about two kinds of secession -- Southern states leaving the USA and rural conservatives in liberal states seeking to form their own state. It's clear that the partisan divide in Washington, D.C., and in numerous states has become so...

I have a question for Megyn Kelly, a Fox News program host. Ms. Kelly, why did you rush to call Joe the Plumber a racist on your prime-time show when it is a fact that you gave a complete pass to the avowed racist Negress and ACORN member Jehmu Greene when she openly insulted Tucker Carlson for being a white male who disagreed with her? Or perhaps, Ms. Kelly, you presumed the smarmy Negress Jehmu Greene was actually embracing Mr. Carlson with words of love and kindness when she verbally attacked and insulted him live on camera on your show...

SEATTLE - An internal memo at Seattle City Hall is causing quite a stir. It suggests government workers no longer use the terms "citizen," or "brown bag." According to the Office for Civil Rights, the terms are potentially offensive and other words should be used. "Luckily, we've got options," Elliott Bronstein of the Office for Civil Rights wrote in the memo. "For 'citizens,' how about 'residents?'" Bronstein wrote. The Office of Civil Rights says Seattle serves all residents, whether they're United States citizens or not. And while city leaders publicize "brown bag" lunch meetings as a way to designate a...

In her book Statecraft, the late, great British prime minister Margaret Thatcher wrote: “Socialists have always spent much of their time seeking new titles for their beliefs, because the old versions so quickly become outdated and discredited.” The Iron Lady was absolutely right, yet again. America’s Democratic Left craftily swaps the words associated with its policies. As public opinion or the facts start to escape them, presto! Their speeches, articles, and TV appearances employ new language. Leftists leave inconvenient lingo behind, like a snake’s abandoned skin languishing between desert rocks. Inexplicably, though, the Republican Right usually adopts the Left’s new...

New York Dems want to pass a bill that would limit a description of a suspect to identify suspects essentially by the clothes they wear only. Truly mind-numbing stupidity. NYPost reports the following: Cops might as well wear blindfolds if the City Council passes a bill that would let them use little more than the color of a suspect’s clothing in descriptions — or risk being sued for profiling, according to this provocative new ad (pictured) from the NYPD captains union. The ad asks, “How effective is a police officer with a blindfold on?” And the answer is not very,...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/936215_481343335281236_1885909025_n.jpg Lt. Col Matthew Dooley, a West Point graduate and highly-decorated combat veteran, was an instructor at the Joint Forces Staff College at the National Defense University. He had 19 years of service and experience, and was considered one of the most highly qualified military instructors on Radical Islam & Terrorism. He taught military students about the situations they would encounter, how to react, about Islamic culture, traditions, and explained the mindset of Islamic extremists. Passing down first hand knowledge and experience, and teaching courses that were suggested (and approved) by the the Joint Forces Staff College. The course "Perspectives...

Abd al Rahim al-Nashiri, according to the 9-11 commission report, was the mastermind of the Oct. 12, 2000, attack on the U.S.S. Cole that killed 17 U.S. sailors. Nashiri was also the target of an "unauthorized" CIA interrogation technique (that had not been legally vetted by the Justice Department) that is described in a May 7, 2004, CIA inspector general's report that was partially declassified by the Obama administration this week. CIA officers blew smoke in Nashiri's face, according to the report, and they used cigars. The IG's office described this smoke-blowing as one of several "unauthorized or undocumented techniques"...