How to Create a New and Empty Branch in Git

git checkout --orphan NEWBRANCH
git rm -rf .
touch .gitignore
git commit -a -m ""

Via bitflop.

Addendum: 2014-02-28:

Create an orhan branch
git checkout --orphan lp
git rm -rf .
touch .gitignore
git add .gitignore
git diff --cached
git commit -m "Initial import."
Create a remote branch
git push -u origin lp
Obtain a remote branch
git checkout -b lp
Delete a branch
Remote: git push origin :lp
Local: git branch -D lp