Free Republic

Quelle surprise. The Boy Scouts of America has faced pressure for decades to end its national policy barring gay men as Scout leaders, finding itself barred from schools and other public venues for its stand even as churches and other civic organizations supported them. Yesterday, BSA’s national office changed its policy to end hiring discrimination within the organization and remove its bar on openly gay volunteer Scout leaders, while allowing church-sponsored troops to make their own leadership choices. Will that end the controversy? Don’t bet on it: The Boy Scouts of America, facing litigation, shrinking membership and sweeping acceptance...

Ugh. Not again. This is really becoming epidemic in some cities: SMOKING GUN – Ohio cops are investigating the ransacking of a Circle K store that was overrun early Saturday morning by up to 70 juveniles.According to Akron police, the suspects “entered the gas station and started to destroy and steal property” during the so-called mob and rob attack.As seen above, a couple who stopped at the Circle K for gas shot video of the juveniles fleeing the store with stolen merchandise. A woman in the car called 911 and reported that the suspects were “running around in the parking...

Anyone have a tape measure I can borrow? I need to measure some drapes.No, no, I kid. The head-to-head match-ups in this poll mean nothing but the data on Hillary’s deteriorating image is — *mwah* — magnifique. First, the irrelevant yet sexy numbers showing her losing to Bush, Walker, and Rubio in Iowa, Virginia, and Colorado. It’s a perfect matrix of Democratic failure.Great stuff … except that lots of voters in those states couldn’t pick the Republicans out of a line-up right now and have yet to digest a single Democratic attack ad. Those margins will change as the...

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno is on his way out the door and heading for retirement after a long, highly decorated career. We certainly wish him all the best and thank him for the service he has provided. Before leaving, though, he sat down for a wide ranging “exit interview” with Fox News and it sounds like he wasn’t pulling any punches. (While still maintaining the requisite levels of professionalism.) Odierno is widely viewed as being instrumental in the success of “the surge” in Iraq back in the day and spent more time on the ground there...

Anthony Hervey — a 49-year-old black activist known for being a vocal proponent of the Confederate flag — died Sunday in a car crash caused by a car-full of black hecklers who chased and verbally attacked Hervey, driving his vehicle off the Mississippi highway. Hervey was driving home from a rally to preserve the Linn Park Confederate Monument in Birmingham, Alabama, the Daily Mail reports. The memorial is soon to be removed from the park pursuant to a recent vote by Birmingham political leaders. Hervey was a well-known black activist for preserving the Confederate flag who’s advocacy dates back to...

By the pen and the phone.The President is not going quietly into that good night and lame duck isn’t on the menu as far as he’s concerned. Barack Obama’s next fourth quarter play seems to be an attempt to go around congress and restrict the Second Amendment rights of millions of Americans based on data in the Social Security system. Specifically, if you are someone collecting benefits who has their payments handled by another family member or third party, you could find your information being turned over to the feds and your gun rights suspended. (From Fox News) The...

Saudi Arabia has arrested 431 people suspected of belonging to Islamic State cells and thwarted attacks on mosques, security forces and a diplomatic mission, the interior ministry said on Saturday. The announcement came after a car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near the kingdom's highest security prison on Thursday, killing the driver and wounding two security officials in an attack claimed by Islamic State. A string of deadly attacks carried out by followers of the ultra-hardline militant group based in Iraq and Syria has fueled concerns about a growing threat of militancy in the world's top oil exporter. "The number...

Amazon backed Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in his fight against The New York Times Monday, saying there is “no evidence” his book sales are driven by “strategic bulk purchases.” The Cruz campaign accused The NYT Friday of lying when it said his new book, “A Time For Truth,” did not make the bestseller list because a bulk of its sales came from “strategic bulk purchases.” Cruz and his publisher, HarperCollins, said Friday the books were not sold in bulk. “A Time For Truth ranked high on the other publishing industry bestseller lists including Nielsen Bookscan (#4), a subscription service that...

Well, that didn’t take long, did it? After spending the last day or so insisting she wouldn’t step down after presiding over the worst data-security failure in history, OPM chief Katherine Archuleta has suddenly found a desire to spend more time with her family. It’s either that or someone in the White House conducted a successful exfiltration. The New York Times’ Julie Davis broke the news on Twitter: BREAKING: Embattled OPM Director Katherine Archuleta resigns in wake of revelations about massive hack of govt computer systems— Julie Davis (@juliehdavis) July 10, 2015 ABC, Reuters, and AP all tweeted out...

Egyptian actor Omar Sharif, best known for his roles in Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago died at age of 83, Egyptian media reported. “He died this afternoon of a heart attack in Cairo,” Steve Kenis told AFP, adding that the actor had been in a hospital for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Born in a Syrian family and named Michel Demitri Chalhoub in Egypt in 1932, he was brought up as a Roman catholic and earned a college degree in mathematics and physics before he joined his family’s business. Read: Hollywood film legend Omar Sharif suffering from Alzheimer’s disease Omar...

BALTIMORE (AP) — Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said Wednesday that she has fired Police Commissioner Anthony Batts, 2 1/2 months after the city broke out into riots following the death of a man who was injured in police custody. Rawlings-Blake announced her decision in a three-paragraph news release that also noted she has named Deputy Police Commissioner Kevin Davis as interim commissioner. The mayor scheduled a news conference with Davis for later Wednesday afternoon. Rawlings did not give a reason, but the move comes amid a spike in the city's homicide rate. Baltimore was rocked with civil unrest in late...

How nice that the city of San Francisco opens its arms to welcome anyone – legal or illegal, even murderers.  The city's "compassion" toward illegal aliens has now cost a young woman her life, and questions are being asked about how Francisco Sanchez was able to avoid being deported for the 6th time, leaving him free to walk the streets and "accidentally" kill Kathryn Steinle. Breitbart: Five-time deportee, seven-time convicted felon Juan Francisco Lopez-Sanchez said in a new interview Sunday with a local ABC News affiliate that he came to San Francisco because he knew the sanctuary city would not...

I owe an apology. On the eve of this Independence Day, I have a renewed sense of what this country stands for, and how I personally could help achieve it. The promise of equality and freedom is one that all of us have to work for, at all times. I know this as a survivor of the Japanese American internment, which each day drives me only to strive harder to help fulfill that promise for future generations. I recently was asked by a reporter about Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in the marriage equality cases, in which he wrote words that...

NBC has severed all ties with Donald Trump after his insulting remarks about Mexican immigrants. "At NBC, respect and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump," the network said in a statement. "To that end, the annual Miss USA and Miss Universe Pageants, which are part of a joint venture between NBC and Trump, will no longer air on NBC. In addition, as Mr. Trump has already indicated, he will not be participating in The Celebrity Apprentice on...

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence has been in an ongoing legal battle for years now trying to sue Lucky Gunner, an ammunition supplier, and hold them responsible for James Holmes shooting up the Aurora movie theater. How they managed that mental leap was always a bit of a mystery, but they’ve been able to tie up Lucky Gunner in court for quite a while over it. This week a judge had apparently heard enough and declared the action to be little more than a publicity stunt and a nuisance suit, ordering the Brady Center to pay the...

Lots of Republican candidates are really up in arms about the Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling, and some are trying to fight back strongly against it. Mike Huckabee said states should outright reject it, while Ted Cruz proposed Supreme Court elections to push back against “judicial tyranny.” But on Face the Nation today, likely GOP candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich told John Dickerson, “I believe in traditional marriage, but the Supreme Court has ruled, it’s the law of the land, and we’ll abide by it.” He implored people to just “take a deep breath,” and said there are plenty...

MALONE – Richard Matt has been shot and killed near Malone, two sources have told The Buffalo News. The sources said that a shootout occurred and that Matt was killed. At least one of the two fugitives shot at a camper, which brought a quick response team to the area, the source told The News. The FBI and other law enforcement were involved in the incident. No police were injured. David Sweat is believed to be in a nearby wooded area, and a furious ground search is underway, one source told The News. Sweat is believed to be armed. Canine...

I can’t lie. After the Charleston massacre and the demand to take down the Confederate Flag, and purely as a matter of professional self-interest, I’m keen to see which exciting new directions this unleashed impulse towards cultural purging takes us in over the next days and weeks. It’s a bloggy gold mine, my friends. It may never run dry.Cashier the most popular Hollywood film of all time? Sure, why not? If we’re going to Year-Zero the south’s Confederate past, we might as well really go for it. Based on a best seller by die-hard Southerner Margaret Mitchell, “Gone with...

EXCLUSIVE: Fox News will not renew its contract with Sarah Palin, whose bombastic appearances have been a cable staple since the former Alaska governor’s failed run on John McCain’s ticket in 2007. When asked for comment, a Fox News spokesperson confirmed the network had amicably parted ways with the governor on June 1. Palin, 51, is expected to make occasional guest appearances on Fox and Fox Business, and will appear on other networks and cables. She has a show on the Sportsman Channel, does a lot of speeches, and will announce a new publishing project soon.When Palin was at her...

Is this bolder than what Haley did or not as bold? Davis may not hold the same cultural currency as a symbol of southern pride that the flag does, but Haley had less to lose in making her move than Bevin does. She’s the term-limited governor of South Carolina; he’s the GOP nominee for governor in Kentucky. If there’s a broader southern backlash coming to all of the criticism of Confederate iconography this past week, he’ll pay for it more than she will. NEW: @MattBevin, in a statement to me, calls for removing the Jefferson Davis statue in the...