Free Republic

Authorities in Germany managed to take down one of the world's biggest child sex abuse platforms following a large-scale investigation which led to several arrests in mid-April, a police statement confirmed on Monday. The platform "Boystown" was active since at least June 2019 and had a membership of over 400,000. It was only accessible via the so-called darknet. Four German citizens between the ages of 40 and 64 were detained in relation to the case, three on suspicion of working as administrators for the platform — one of whom was arrested in Paraguay. Another man was taken in under suspicion...

The Boystown banners are coming down. Business leaders in Chicago’s largest LGBTQ neighborhood announced Wednesday that they would stop marketing the area as Boystown, following complaints that the 30-year-old name excludes women and gender nonbinary people.

Jesse Jackson was getting away with a big lie so well that the Chicago Sun-Times even wrote an editorial based on his phony claim. As the old, wry journalism joke goes, Jackson’s lie was so agreeable to the prejudices of MSM-ers, that it was “too good to check.” Enter the brave and scrappy bloggers at CWB Chicago, a neighborhood blog that: …was created in 2013 by five residents of Wrigleyville and Boystown who had grown disheartened with inaccurate information that was being provided at local Community Policing (CAPS) meetings. We knew from city data that robberies in our neighborhood had been soaring...

This FROM THE EDITOR: We will have a major update to the Dennis Hastert child sex ring story here tonight. Witness, sworn statement. Stay tuned... We will begin our coverage of the so-called "Dennis Hastert Sex Scandal," with a video from the early 1990s, from a trusted source of this website. The documentary was set to air on the Discovery Channel in 1994, but was pulled at the last minute, and never ran on cable TV. Some blog sleuths eventually dug it up, years later. It contains some mind-numbing accusations and earth shattering evidence against some Nebraska politicians at the...

A CNN pundit who has advocated nuclear containment of Iran and expressed antipathy towards American democracy is said to be on the short list for a top diplomatic post in a second Obama administration—perhaps even secretary of State. That is raising red flags across Capitol Hill and within foreign policy circles. Fareed Zakaria hosts CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” a weekly program focusing on international issues and American foreign policy. Zakaria is also an editor-at-large for Time magazine and a columnist for the Washington Post, where he regularly praises the president’s policies. Zakaria has gone to great lengths to ingratiate himself...

Taking a risk here, but politics makes for strange alliances, whether we know about the alliances or not. Credit should be given where it is due.

I received a gift in the mail today - an honorary certificate along with a citizenship card for Boys Town. I am now an official Honorary Citizen of the famous Nebraska village which was started by Father Flanagan over 90 years ago. Boys Town is one of the charitable organizations that my wife and I have donated to through the years. I first became aware of it, probably like most people, through the 1938 MGM movie starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. My citation reads as follows: "In appreciation of Assistance Rendered Father Flanagan's Boys' Home Presents Mr. Greg Crosby...

Jordan Andrew Davidson pleaded guilty Tuesday to the attempted killing of Jesus Humberto Aguilar, a Border Patrol agent.The 21-year-old, living in Bryan at the time of his arrest, pleaded to one count of attempted murder of an officer or employee of the U.S. and one count of using a firearm during a violent crime. He was arrested earlier this year in Nuevo Laredo after he shot Aguilar in the hand and fled across the Rio Grande. The attempted murder charge holds a penalty of up to 20 years in prison and the use of a firearm charge could add up...

Frankie Thomas, who became famous in the 1950s for his starring role in the TV children's show "Tom Corbett, Space Cadet," has died. He was 85. Thomas died Thursday of respiratory failure at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said his stepdaughter, Julie Alexander. Thomas began acting on Broadway in the early 1930s and soon ventured west to Hollywood, where he appeared in films including "A Dog of Flanders," "Boys Town" and "The Major and the Minor," as well as four Nancy Drew movies. In 1950, he beat out actors including Jack Lemmon to win the title role of Tom Corbett, a Space...

BOYS TOWN, Neb. — An Iraqi orphan credited with helping U.S. troops capture insurgents in Baghdad started a new life Tuesday at Girls and Boys Town, the storied home for troubled youngsters. Wearing a Girls and Boys Town windbreaker and holding a plastic American flag on a stick, “Johnny,” 16 — the nickname U.S. soldiers gave him — said he was happy to be in the USA. “Everything's OK,” Johnny said. “Real cool.” Soldiers in Baghdad encountered the boy living on the streets and discovered that he knew a lot about the people behind insurgent attacks in the city, said...

NYT Magazine January 25, 2004 The Girls Next Door By PETER LANDESMAN The house at 1212 1/2 West Front Street in Plainfield, N.J., is a conventional midcentury home with slate-gray siding, white trim and Victorian lines. When I stood in front of it on a breezy day in October, I could hear the cries of children from the playground of an elementary school around the corner. American flags fluttered from porches and windows. The neighborhood is a leafy, middle-class Anytown. The house is set back off the street, near two convenience stores and a gift shop. On the door of...