Free Republic

The New Atheists were never a particularly funny bunch. They were either, like Richard Dawkins, chippy materialists with a quasi-religious faith that science can offer a complete answer to any mystery worth contemplating. Or they were, like Christopher Hitchens, swaggering verbal stylists whose cleverness put a charming gloss on sentiments about believers that would otherwise sound like hate speech. But there is another gang of hyper-confident male atheists for whom knee-slapping humour is front and centre in their atheist proselytizing, far more than science or intellectual debate. These are the Comic Atheists, people like TV host Bill Maher, Family Guy...

Former Planned Parenthood CEO Cecile Richards said women are dependent on abortion for their freedom because, without it, they cannot control their own bodies. “If you can’t control your own body, you are not free,” Richards said. “That is a fundamental issue, and I don’t think we can, like, make any bones about that.” Richards was interviewed by former Daily Show correspondent Jessica Williams, reports MRC NewsBusters’ Katie Yoder, who also notes the unlisted YouTube video of the interview. The former head of America’s largest abortion vendor has been promoting her new book, Make Trouble, since she stepped down from...

Scientists at the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife have found that mussels in Seattle's waters are testing positive for opioids. The finding suggests "a lot of people" are taking oxycodone in the Puget Sound, researchers say. Scientists used mussels as a way to test pollution in Seattle's waters and discovered high enough oxycodone levels for the shellfish to test positive. Mussels do not metabolise opioids, but some fish can become addicted. Mussels are filter-feeders, which means they filter water for nutrients to nourish themselves. In the process, they end up storing pollutants in their tissues, which makes them...

Just five hours after four people were injured in a dog attack in the North Sound, the animal was euthanized. It happened around 12:30 p.m., off Cemetery Road in Arlington. Police say four Jehovah’s Witnesses parked in front of a house and as soon as one of them - a 70-year-old woman - got out of the vehicle, a pit bull attacked her. “I just heard the screaming - I heard some screaming and I didn’t really pay much attention to it. I was on my phone and I just thought it was kids. It sounded like a little girl...

The French government has agreed to absorb €35 billion in debt from the state railway SNCF, a top union official said Friday, as it seeks an end to nearly two months of strikes. Luc Berille, the head of the UNSA union, said that the state had proposed taking on €35 billion ($41 billion) of the SNCF’s €46 billion of debt, starting with €25 billion as soon as 2020. “The prime minister was specific,” Berille said after talks with premier Edouard Philippe, adding that the government would increase infrastructure investment by €200 million a year to reach an annual total of...

It is perhaps our most astonishing social contract. Universal, essential and (mostly) binding, it depends of a certain amount of skill, (hopefully) a modicum of training and, most of all, trust. I am talking, of course, about driving a car. And even though, in the span of just a century and a quarter, it is now just as common an everyday task as taking out the garbage or shopping for groceries, it remains an amazing — possibly the most amazing — social construct we all share. Think about it for just a minute. Except for the time spent on divided...

James Caan says society is in a strange place ... because it's nature's way that men and women are supposed to be attracted to each other. We got the movie legend Thursday night in WeHo leaving Craig's, when our photog asked about sexual misconduct allegations against Morgan Freeman.

Lakemont, Blair County, Pa. - The Blair County Coroner tells WTAJ at 6:18 Thursday night, a 6 year old boy in Lakemont, Blair County was killed by the family Pit Bull. Logan Township Police are investigating. The boy was killed by blunt force trauma at the home along Gesser Avenue. The boy went to Baker Elementary School. Counselors there have been called in to help students and staff Friday. WTAJ is currently withholding the name of the child out of respect for the family's wishes. Coroner Patty Ross wanted to thank the staff at UPMC for their compassion during this...

Seems to me the author is Iranian but lives in the US or Europe. Lots of videos and photos. He is coordinating video coming out of Iran. See coverage of Israeli missile strikes on Iran- Al Quds forces bases within Syria scroll down to May 23 and 24. Many Iranians in Syria are getting wasted and so are Hezbollah missile production lines. Iran is have lots of trouble delivering gasoline due to unrest and truckers strikes.

Disgraced officer Scot Peterson allegedly "covered up" a "simulated rape" on a schoolboy involving a baseball bat and Sheriff Israel's son, according to a new report.

The United States is in the grips of a free-speech paradox. At the same time that the law provides more protection to personal expression than at any time in the nation’s history, large numbers of Americans feel less free to speak. The culprit isn’t government censorship but instead corporate, community and peer intimidation. Conservatives can recite the names of the publicly shamed from memory. There was Brendan Eich, hounded out of Mozilla for donating to a California ballot initiative that defined marriage as the union of a man and woman. There was James Damore, abruptly terminated from Google after he...

Terrorists murdered eight people and wounded another 45 by detonating three bombs at a cricket match in Afghanistan. The explosives went off nearly simultaneously in crowds of spectators at the match in a Jalalabad stadium late on Friday night. Among those killed was the deputy provincial mayor of neighboring Laghman province and the organiser of the night time 'Ramadan Cup' tournament.

KFC has been embroiled in a racism row after police were called to eject a group of black British tourists from one of its German stores following an argument with staff over noise. The aggrieved customers say they were told to leave for laughing and talking too loudly during a meal but claim they did nothing wrong and were targeted because of their skin colour. Staff said the tourists had been throwing food and insulting employees, leaving the manager no choice but to call the police to 'protect staff and guests'.

A First Dates hopeful shocked viewers when she said she was 'born into the wrong race', and that although she is white, she feels 'more black inside'. Ruth, 27, from Scotland, a carnival dancer and trainee accountant who showed off the effects of her Brazilian bum lift on the Channel 4 dating show, explained that she identifies more with black culture than any other, and said she was single because of her preferred taste in black guys, and a 'lack' of them in her Scottish home town. 'I think I've got "born in the wrong race" syndrome, where I am...

There's reportedly one big reason why the NFL took sweeping action Wednesday in adopting a new national anthem policy prior to the start of the 2018 season. And he resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington. “Our league is f-----g terrified of Trump. We're scared of him,” one unnamed source told Bleacher Report as reaction to the plan poured in. After a tumultuous 2017 season, which saw NFL attendance and TV ratings drop as President Trump and others criticized on-field protests by many of the league's players, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced this week that the league would fine any...

OKLAHOMA CITY - A mother and daughter were shot Thursday night at a popular restaurant on Lake Hefner in northwest Oklahoma City, police said. The shooting occurred at Louie’s Grill & Bar at 9401 Lake Hefner Parkway around 6:30 p.m. According to Captain Bo Mathews with the Oklahoma City Police Department, the suspect described as an 18 to 20-year-old white male entered the restaurant and opened fire.A mother and daughter celebrating a birthday were the shooting victims. They were both transported to OU Medical Center. News 9 has learned that the victims are Natalie Will and her daughter, Niah. Police...

Fewer births and more deaths have resulted in the lowest birth rate in 33 years being registered in Norway for the first three months of 2018. But the population of the country is growing overall as a result of immigration, news agency NTB reports. Net migration to Norway during the first quarter of this year was 5,500, but the net population change caused by births and deaths was just 1,700, according to figures from Statistics Norway (SSB). That compares with 2,400 in 2017 and 3,500 in 2016. The figure for net migration was a result of a total number of...

Rachel Dolezal, the white woman who passed as black and led an NAACP chapter, is facing a lengthy prison term on welfare fraud charges. Ms. Dolezal, who legally changed her name to Nkechi Diallo in the wake of her “transracial” flap, has been charged with three counts — theft by welfare fraud, perjury, and making false claims to get public assistance. According to KHQ-TV, which broke the charges, she could get up to 15 years in prison. Ms. Dolezal received $8,747 in food assistance, and $100 in childcare assistance, the Spokane, Washington, NBC affiliate reported, citing court documents. She received...

Various NFL players are reportedly discussing different forms of protesting in response to a new policy requiring players to stand for the national anthem. “I talked to a former NFL player yesterday who has said that players are already talking about other ways in which they can protest," NBC's Craig Melvin said on "Today" on Thursday. Melvin did not specify which players he spoke to, or what other forms of protesting they were considering.

A drug-fueled sex fad called "chemsex" was linked to increased risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) among men who have sex with men (MSM), researchers found. Gay, bisexual or other MSM who disclosed use of chemsex were more likely to be newly diagnosed with HIV infection, acute bacterial and rectal STIs, and hepatitis C, reported Mark Pakianathan, MBChB, of Wandsworth Integrated Sexual Health at The Courtyard Clinic in London, and colleagues.