Free Republic

In light of recent events, methinks it's fair to ask: What's the current status & justification of FR policy re: Alex Jones & InfoWars?

Japanese people often fail to understand why neighbouring countries harbour a grudge over events that happened in the 1930s and 40s. The reason, in many cases, is that they barely learned any 20th Century history. I myself only got a full picture when I left Japan and went to school in Australia. From Homo erectus to the present day - more than a million years of history in just one year of lessons. That is how, at the age of 14, I first learned of Japan's relations with the outside world. For three hours a week - 105 hours over...

Authorities on Tuesday said vandals flooded a World War II-era submarine moored at the New Jersey Naval Museum and stole four memorial plaques from the property. Intruders intentionally opened hatches throughout the 312-foot U.S.S. Ling, causing the entire inside of the 2,500-ton craft to flood with water from the Hackensack River, according to city police Capt. Brian Corcoran. The damage reported Tuesday came after officers responded to the Naval Museum in Hackensack a day before, police said. A caretaker found plaques valued at more than $10,000 that honored sailors and the 52 U.S. submarines lost during World War II were...

Number One Idiot: I am a medical student currently doing a rotation in toxicology at the poison control center. Today, this woman called in very upset because she caught her little daughter eating ants. I quickly reassured her that the ants are not harmful and there would be no need to bring her daughter into the hospital. She calmed down and at the end of the conversation happened to mention that she gave her daughter some ant poison to eat in order to kill the ants. I told her that she better bring her daughter into the emergency room right...

Not strictly limited to politics, Snopes.com is a website that supposedly attempts to debunk and invalidate urban legends, Internet rumors and other stories of uncertain origin. Today, they are the voice of the statist globalist oligarchy. Of course, others mostly rich country-club Democrats, think otherwise. They point out the mission statement at the website. It is officially an “independent entity” privately owned by its operators. Not for profit? The owners, Barbara and David Mikkelson, have both publicly stated that they receive no funding in any form. Curious. Most curious. This is really, really interesting. You know, it sure is curious...

Is Boston racist? Plenty of signs point to yes. The city has been called out many times for being home to a number of racist acts, from a Fenway crowd member calling Baltimore Orioles outfielder Adam Jones the N-word last summer to comedian Michael Che saying Boston is “the most racist city” he has ever been to. Now, another spotlight is shining on racism in Boston after a Twitter user shared her experience and received a flood of responses telling similar stories.

[TEACH A CHILD TO READ THIS SUMMER. MORE INFO.] No less an authority than Robert Sweet, President of the National Right to Read Foundation (NRRF), said there are a dozen good phonics programs and which one doesn’t matter that much. This answer is reassuring; it furthers my resolve not to pretend I know which one is best. My goal is to make sure everyone understands why phonics is superior, and that phonics offers a lot of variety and creativity. Search Google or YouTube, you’ll find there is a mountain of good phonics material. One popular homeschooling site lists more than...

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday added his former White House aide, Omarosa Manigault Newman, to the growing list of African-Americans he has publicly denigrated on Twitter, calling her “that dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife” in the wake of her allegations against him of mental deterioration and racism. Even for a president who consistently takes to Twitter to assail his adversaries, the morning tweet about Ms. Manigault Newman was a remarkably crude use of the presidential bully pulpit to disparage a minority woman who once served at the highest levels in his White House. The tweet reprised Mr. Trump’s...

This is one of the most amazing videos I have ever seen but in order to appreciate it fully, you need to take the time to watch in full (or at least the first hour) the linked 2 1/2 hour video which is actually highlights of a much longer 9-hour total interrogation that occurred in Ottawa, Ontario on February 7, 2010. In order to fully appreciate the video I'm asking you to watch, you might want to familiarize yourself with the Williams murder case, which is very notorious up in Canada but not that well known here in the U.S....

New research from the Loyola Marymount University School of Education (SOE) shows that inner-city Los Angeles students attending Catholic schools graduate high school at a much higher rate than their peers in comparable public and charter schools. 100 percent of these students, who came from families living at or below the poverty line, graduated high school. 96 percent were accepted into either two- or four-year colleges. Key factors in achieving not only high academic excellence but also character formation boiled down to school climate, personal relationship and tuition assistance, according to interviews with the tracked students. One alumnus spoke of...

PARIS — A new set of eco-friendly but completely exposed urinals deployed on the streets of Paris are provoking uproar from locals. One of the bright red “urinoirs” installed on the Ile Saint-Louis, not far from Notre Dame Cathedral and overlooking tourist boats passing on the Seine, has caused particular indignation. Locals have written to the town hall to demand its removal and are planning a petition. “There’s no need to put something so immodest and ugly in such an historic spot,” said Paola Pellizzari, 68, owner of a Venetian art store.

An attempt by officials in Paris to tackle public urination by installing open-air urinals, or "uritrottoirs," has outraged some residents of the French capital. The new urinals, housed in flower boxes, aren't subtle -- they're fully exposed on street corners, are painted bright red and have nearby signs advertising their presence. Officials say the urinals are eco-friendly -- they will harness nutrients in waste to produce compost for parks and gardens. According to the statement, one year of a person's urine holds enough nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium to fertilize 400 square meters of wheat. However, these features have done little...

After people began getting a bit antsy about how their phones were tracking their every move for the past several years, Google felt a need to respond. After all, their former motto was something about not being evil and you need to give the customer what they want. (Within reason.) CNBC covered an announcement from the company back in May which explained how easy it was.It boiled down to a few basic bullet points: “Google has new tools that let you easily turn off everything it logs about you. You can turn off location history, Google Search results, YouTube...

A new study is challenging the American Psychological Association's contention that therapies for unwanted same-sex attraction are harmful. The study, "Effects of Therapy on Religious Men Who Have Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction," which was first published July 23 in The Linacre Quarterly, finds that sexual orientation change efforts (SOCE), often derisively called "conversion therapy," improves the mental health of participants. Researchers surveyed 125 male residents of the United States. The men, mostly Christian, were at various stages of experiencing unwanted same-sex attraction. Some were sexually active while others were abstaining from sex. Eighty-nine percent of respondents were Christians from a variety...

Just as a man with a sledgehammer sees every problem as a wall to be smashed down, a socialist sees every problem in society as just another issue to pound with a big government program. Ironically, that includes problems CREATED by the government. For example, have you noticed that the left-wing “fix” for the cataclysmic damage Obamacare has done to America’s health care is getting government even more involved with “Medicare for all"? According to liberals, Medicare for all will provide better care than the current system at a cheaper price. Of course, that’s exactly what they said about Obamacare...

Tennessee Senate - Blackburn vs. Bredesen Gravis Bredesen 44, Blackburn 48 Blackburn +4

LAS VEGAS — Two Boise men were killed in a crash Wednesday near Las Vegas, media partner CBS 2 News reports. The Nevada Highway Patrol told station KSNV a semi-truck driver admitted he fell asleep before a five-vehicle crash on Highway 93. The crash happened just before 6 a.m., Wednesday at an active construction zone. According to highway patrol, the semi was filled with sand, so the driver could not stop in time, running over the car in front of him. The car was ripped in half, split down the middle. The two men inside were pronounced dead at the...

A restaurant chain is facing a lawsuit regarding a Harlem restaurant staff's refusal to serve a group of transgender woman and a gender nonconforming person. Deja Smith, Daniele Marino, Jonovia Chase, Jahmila Adderley and Valerie Spencer claim they were told the Texas Burgers & Chicken on Frederick Douglass Boulevard and West 116th Street was out of chicken when they attempted to order there on May 28, but a customer directly behind them had his order taken, according to multiple reports. A video of the discriminatory behavior went viral in May after it was posted to Instagram by "Orange is the...

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — One of the four Vermont Democrats seeking the party nomination to run for governor in the fall election isn’t old enough to vote, let alone drive. Ethan Sonneborn, 14, of Bristol, met the requirements to be on the primary ballot and is taking his place with the state’s more age-appropriate candidates on the Tuesday primary ballot, to say nothing of numerous candidate forums and debates. “I think Vermonters should take me seriously because I have practical progressive ideas, and I happen to be 14, not the other way around,” Sonneborn said in a recent televised gubernatorial...

A 4-year-old Manchester boy is being called a hero after his grandmother stopped breathing on Tuesday and he called 911. Max Velez is being credited with saving her life, and this week, he was recognized for his actions. “I'm so proud because he's really shy, and I guess he was calm the whole situation,” said Fallon Clarke, Max’s mother. While Clarke was at work, he was home with his grandmother when she had a medical emergency. “Really extreme – she couldn't breathe,” Clarke said. “She couldn't get up, so really, Max handled the whole situation, they said.” Max said he...