Free Republic

BERLIN, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The German government has retreated from a plan to legally commit itself to meeting NATO's 2% military spending target on an annual basis, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday. A corresponding clause in a draft of the budget financing law passed by the cabinet of Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Wednesday was deleted at short notice, the source said. The change means that Germany will be able to stick to its current pledge of meeting the 2% target on average over a five-year period. This wording is softer than Scholz's original pledge in a speech...

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that private gatherings account for the vast majority of new statewide cases, while less than 2 percent are coming from bars and restaurants. Cuomo referenced a statewide contact-tracing data set, which collected information on how new cases have spread from September to November. According to the data, 74 percent of new cases have come from private social gatherings. The troubling information in this is that 74 percent of new cases are coming from household gatherings and living room spread," Cuomo said. "In many ways, you can understand what happened. You close bars, you close...

The trial of a former White House counsel in the Obama administration was postponed suddenly on Tuesday amid concerns about the jury selection process. Politico first reported that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson, who is overseeing the case, announced she may have violated Gregory Craig's right to a public trial by limiting public access to jury selection. Proceedings in the trial began Monday, with opening statements expected to take place Tuesday morning. Politico reported that Jackson thought the trial might have to be postponed to November to find another group to lead jury selection. Politico noted that the process...

Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) posted a video Saturday bragging about how he had escorted an eight-and-a-half months pregnant migrant from Mexico into the U.S. because the woman allegedly was having a difficult pregnancy. Wyden does not tell viewers that the woman is a Mexican citizen and that she brought her husband and 3-year-old son with her across the border.

On Sunday morning the American Flag on top of City Hall in Downtown Reno was replaced by the LGBT Flag following a gay pride celebration this weekend. By Sunday evening, the LGBT flag was taken down and now the American Flag is back up. The decision to replace the flag has been controversial. Many locals have expressed concerns over the American flag's removal. Around 9:00 p.m. our Channel 2 News crew was able to confirm the LGBT flag was taken down around 9:00 p.m. Sunday, and the American Flag was put back in its place. The City of Reno released...

SEATTLE--“They’ve taken an area that was formerly a home for gay people, for queer people, for artists,” says John Criscitello while showing me around Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, “and they’ve turned it into a destination drinking spot.” Criscitello, an artist who lives and works on Capitol Hill, is 48 years old but looks a decade younger. He’s tall and muscled, with tattoos covering most of his skin and blue eyes that stand out against the gloomy Seattle sky. He hasn’t been in the city long — he moved from New York just four years ago — but in that short...

The hullabaloo over false information being propagated about Indiana’s Religious Freedom and Restoration Act (RFRA) reveals a much more serious underlying problem in America. Morality according to the 3 Percent (the gay community in America) is defined by imposing conformity, control, coercion, and oppression over those who disagree with their definition of equality, fairness, tolerance, or even love. The 3 Percent’s “outrage” cannot be about equal rights, as same-sex couples already benefit from civil unions, domestic partnerships, marriage, adoption and fostering children, in addition to receiving health benefits and other legal rights. Nor can it be about fairness. I recently...

In the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released on Friday, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that only about 2 percent of the U.S. population are men who have sex with men. The CDC made the assertion in a new report indicating that 80 percent of all new HIV infections in 2010 were of men and that 78 percent of those were among men who have sex with men (MSM). “MSM represent approximately 2 percent of the U.S. population,” said the MMWR. …

Sixteen Democratic senators who voted for the Affordable Care Act are asking that one of its fundraising mechanisms, a 2.3 percent tax on medical devices scheduled to take effect January 1, be delayed.  Echoing arguments made by Republicans against Obamacare, the Democratic senators say the levy will cost jobs — in a statement Monday, Sen. Al Franken called it a “job-killing tax” — and also impair American competitiveness in the medical device field. The senators, who made the request in a letter(PDF) to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, are Franken, Richard Durbin, Charles Schumer, Patty Murray, John Kerry, Kirsten Gillibrand,...

MANCHESTER, NH – Rick Perry’s Granite State headquarters has the feel of a typical campaign office: Red, white, and blue “Perry – President” placards line the walls, young staffers tap away incessantly on keyboards and Blackberries, and dry erase boards are crowded with maps of the state, important dates, and key endorsements. The Texas Governor may have just sustained a series of extraordinary blows in national polling, but you wouldn’t know it from the demeanor of his staffers. The fight goes on, even in rival Mitt Romney’s regional backyard. Unsurprisingly, several staffers I spoke with are upbeat about Perry’s latest...

SAN FRANCISCO — A daylong work stoppage during which employees were encouraged to "call in gay" to express support for same-sex marriage drew spotty participation nationwide Wednesday, with some gay rights activists praising the concept but questioning its effect. In San Francisco's gay Castro district, residents and merchants said they endorsed the message behind "Day Without a Gay" but didn't think a work stoppage was practical given the poor economy and the strike's organization. "If we are going to make a huge impact and not be laughed at, then we have to take the time and make the time to...

Gay rights activists in San Diego and elsewhere, hoping to sustain a grass-roots protest movement launched after the Nov. 4 passage of Proposition 8, have planned a nationwide boycott tomorrow. The event, called Day Without a Gay, encourages gays, lesbians and their supporters to take off work, refrain from shopping and spend the day volunteering somewhere. “We're hoping to provide a visual representation of who we are,” said Sara Beth Brooks, an El Cajon bookkeeper who recently formed a group called the San Diego Equality Campaign. “We're your neighbors, your family, your friends. We're everybody. We hope this kind of...