Free Republic

Today, the 77-year-old resigned from the school's board of trustees, saying, "I have always wanted to do what would be in the best interests of the university and its students,"

Conservative writer/filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza was spared prison time today when a federal judge sentenced him to five years probation for violating campaign finance laws....

A high-profile case of a Belgian transsexual who chose to be killed by medical euthanasia after a sex-change operation turned him into a "monster" has highlighted the soaring number of people in the region electing to die this way – and has raised fresh questions over the controversial practice. Nathan Verhelst, born Nancy, gave an interview to a local newspaper hours before his death this week citing his "unbearable psychological suffering" – rather than a terminal or degenerative physical illness – as his reason for dying voluntarily. "When I looked in the mirror, I was disgusted with myself. My new...

A conservative legal group has stated its intentions to file a lawsuit against New Jersey over a recently signed law banning sexual orientation conversion therapy for minors. Mat Staver, founder and chairman of The Liberty Counsel, confirmed to The Christian Post on Monday his organization's plan to file the suit. "We will be filing suit," said Staver, adding that the suit should be submitted "later this week." On Monday, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law A-3371, a bill that would ban the controversial practice of reparative therapy (also called conversion therapy) for minors. A-3371 enjoyed bipartisan support in...

An 8-year-old boy who drew a swastika as part of a holiday assignment at James McDivitt Elementary School did nothing wrong and should not have been reprimanded by school officials, according to members of the International Raelian Movement. “The swastika is part of the official Raelian symbol,” wrote Raelian Guide Thomas Kaenzig in a letter to Samuel B. Stewart, superintendent of schools in Middlesex County. “There cannot be a more sacred symbol for us Raelians and this is also the case for the billions of Hindus, Buddhists, Jains and members of other religions on this planet,” Kaenzig wrote. The child...

In a move that could significantly expand insurance coverage of weight-loss treatments, a federal health advisory panel on Monday recommended that all obese adults receive intensive counseling in an effort to rein in a growing health crisis in America. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force urged doctors to identify patients with a body mass index of 30 or more — currently 1 in 3 Americans — and either provide counseling themselves or refer the patient to a program designed to promote weight loss and improve health prospects. Under the current healthcare law, Medicare and most private insurers would be required...

My wife and I are starting counseling today - please, keep us in your prayers - I want to save this marriage. Thank you

A graduate student in Georgia is suing her university after she was told she must undergo a remediation program due to her beliefs on homosexuality and transgendered persons. The student, Jennifer Keeton, 24, has been pursuing a master's degree in school counseling at Augusta State University since 2009, but school officials have informed her that she'll be dismissed from the program unless she alters her "central religious beliefs on human nature and conduct," according to a civil complaint filed last week. "[Augusta State University] faculty have promised to expel Miss Keeton from the graduate Counselor Education Program not because of...

Thursday July 22, 2010 Augusta State Univ. to Counseling Student: Change Beliefs or Get Out AUGUSTA, Georgia, July 22, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Attorneys with the Alliance Defense Fund (ADF) filed suit against Augusta State University Wednesday on behalf of a counseling student who was allegedly told that her Christian beliefs are unethical and incompatible with the prevailing views of the counseling profession. The student, Jennifer Keeton, says she has been told to stop communicating her beliefs and that she must undergo "training" to accept homosexuality in order to graduate from the counseling program.Augusta State ordered Keeton to undergo a...

Tim Pawlenty, the pro-life Minnesota governor and potential 2012 Republican presidential candidate, is drawing cheers and jeers from pro-life and pro-abortion groups for declaring April as a month to help women negatively affected by their abortions. As LifeNews.com first reported two weeks ago, Pawlenty and Texas Gov. Rick Perry both declared April as Abortion Recovery/Awareness Month. Lisa Dudley, Director of Operation Outcry, a group that helps women who regret their abortions speak out, told LifeNews.com at the time that Pawlenty's move showed he has an "understanding of the consequences of abortion" and a " willingness to protect women and the...

President Barack Obama quietly breached years of protocol on Saturday morning by leaving the White House without the press with him. About two hours before reporters were supposed to be in position to leave with the president, Obama left the grounds of the White House. Members of the press were told he was attending one of his daughter's soccer games in northwest Washington, D.C. The White House press corps traditionally travels with the president anywhere he goes, inside and outside the country, to report on the president's activities for the benefit of informing the public and for historical record.

A respected domestic violence and anger management counselor in Fairfax County was arraigned in federal court Thursday after he allegedly pulled a gun on two men who he believed were blocking his car on an Annandale street last week. The two men were federal marshals. Jose L. Avila, 57, was ordered held without bond pending a detention hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. He has been held in the Fairfax jail since Jan. 25, when he apparently picked the wrong place and time to complain about thoughtless parking. Avila's attorney said Avila had worked for many years at...

During a recent talk regarding my book, “Blessed with Bipolar,” I was stumped by the question, “How does a person get to where you are now from where you were in the psych ward?” I actually have a 380 page answer to that question. What stumped me was the question behind the question: “How do I get my bipolar daughter into treatment?”

As a member of the American Psychological Association for 36 years, I am filled with indignation at the recent statement of the APA that deems it “inappropriate” for therapists to treat homosexual clients. Such therapy is called reparative therapy and has as its goal the establishment of a heterosexual orientation in place of a homosexual one. This statement of the APA has been issued despite the fact that there are a number of outstanding members of that organization, including two past presidents, who have strongly supported reparative treatment.Issued in August, “Appropriate Therapeutic Responses to Sexual Orientation” advises treatments that “increase...

WASHINGTON -- Let's see if we can have a reasoned discussion about end-of-life counseling. We might start by asking Sarah Palin to leave the room. I've got nothing against her. She's a remarkable political talent. But there are no "death panels" in the Democratic health care bills, and to say that there are is to debase the debate. We also have to tell the defenders of the notorious Section 1233 of H.R. 3200 that it is not quite as benign as they pretend. To offer government reimbursement to any doctor who gives end-of-life counseling -- whether or not the patient...

GOP backs away from end-of-life counselingBy BEN EVANS, Associated Press Writer Ben Evans, Associated Press Writer – 44 mins ago WASHINGTON – Until last week, Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson was among the most enthusiastic backers of end-of-life counseling in government health care programs like Medicare. That was before conservatives called it a step toward euthanasia and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin likened the idea to a bureaucratic "death panel" that would decide whether sick people get to live. And even though those claims have been widely discredited, the issue remains a political weapon in the increasingly bitter health care debate....

What happened to ObamaCare? Rhetoric met reality. As both candidate and president, the master rhetorician could conjure a world in which he bestows upon you health care nirvana: more coverage, less cost. But you can't fake it in legislation. Once you commit your fantasies to words and numbers, the Congressional Budget Office comes along and declares that the emperor has no clothes. President Obama premised the need for reform on the claim that medical costs are destroying the economy. True. But now we learn — surprise! — that universal coverage increases costs. The congressional Democrats' health care plans, says the...

Obamacare dictates end of life counseling every five years (or more)... See for yourself: Here is the section dealing with end of life counseling for seniors. This section talks about possible life sustaining treatment. These orders, of course, will be "standardized and uniquely identifiable throughout the State." This life sustaining treatment will be "guided by a coalition of stakeholders includes representatives from emergency medical services, emergency department physicians or nurses, state long-term care association, state medical association, state surveyors, agency responsible for senior services, state department of health, state hospital association, home health association, state bar association, and state hospice...

A 16-year-old charter high school student allegedly struck out against a classmate who had been bullying him Wednesday by stabbing the youth with a scissors in a school hallway. Chicago Public Schools officials said the stabbing happened during a "conflict resolution" session -- in which the perpetrator and his father had come to meet with the dean of academics over how to address threats from the alleged bully. CPS officials said the father and son had been meeting with school officials on the issue just before 9 a.m., when the son left the dean's office and encountered the alleged bully...

May 4, 2008 -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama's loose cannon of a spiritual adviser, stole the wife of a parishioner - after the man sought Wright's help in saving his troubled marriage, the former husband told friends. Delmer Reed, 59, confided to pals that he believed the minister moved in on his wife while Wright was counseling the couple at his Chicago church in the early 1980s, The Post has learned. "That's exactly how he said it," Reed's divorce lawyer, Roosevelt Thomas, told The Post. "It looks like Delmer might have been right," he said, because after Delmer...