Free Republic

Published online: 24 October 2005Charlotte SchubertY chromosomes reveal founding fatherDid conquest and concubines spread one man's genes across Asia? The Manchu warriors took control of China in 1644. © Punchstock About 1.5 million men in northern China and Mongolia may be descended from a single man, according to a study based on Y chromosome genetics1. Historical records suggest that this man may be Giocangga, who lived in the mid-1500s and whose grandson founded the Qing dynasty, which ruled China from 1644 to 1912. The analysis is similar to a controversial study in 2003, which suggested that approximately 16 million men...

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A new population genetics study may have identified history's greatest lover, at least as measured in millions of descendants in his direct male line. This mighty progenitor was not a celebrated expert in the amorous arts like Casanova. Instead -- and this might say something about human nature that we'd rather not know -- he owed his lineage's staggering reproductive success to his being perhaps history's greatest fighter. The 23 co-authors of a paper published electronically by the American Journal of Human Genetics examined the Y-chromosomes of 2,123 men from across Asia. The Y...

A US accountant has proof that he is descended from the Mongol warlordTHEY seem the unlikeliest of relatives. One was a fearsome warlord whose name became a byword for savagery. The other is a mild-mannered accountancy academic from Florida. Yet Tom Robinson, 48, has become the first man outside Asia to trace his ancestry directly to Genghis Khan, the 13th-century Mongol leader whose empire stretched from the South China Sea to the Persian Gulf. And, since his paternal great-great-grandfather emigrated to the United States from Windermere, Cumbria, many more descendants are probably scattered across the Lake District. Genetic tests have...

Genghis Khan: Father to Millions? By Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery Newshttp://dsc.discovery.com/news/briefs/20040621/gallery/genghis_goto.jpg> Statue of the Mongol Emperor June 22, 2004 —Genghis Khan left a legacy shared by 16 million people alive today, according to a book by a Oxford geneticist who identified the Mongol emperor as the most successful alpha male in human history. Regarded by the Mongolians as the father of their nation, Genghis Khan was born around 1162. A military and political genius, he united the tribes of Mongolia and conquered half of the known world with a cavalry riding on grass-fed ponies. By the time Genghis died in 1227,...

Beijing shopgirl could be descendant of Confucius By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 20/06/2006) Kong Tao is a 24-year-old sales assistant from a humble village background in eastern China, living in Beijing. But popular belief has it that she is a descendant of Confucius, the Great Sage. Now Miss Kong, with three million other people worldwide, may be able to find out whether her claim to fame is well-merited, or whether she can return to obscurity. The Chinese Academy of Science has said it is willing to offer DNA tests to anyone claiming Confucius as an ancestor. Since Confucius's proper...

Dublin: Scientists in Ireland may have found the country's most fertile male, with more than 3 million men worldwide among his offspring. The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty in ancient Ireland. His genetic legacy is almost as impressive as Genghis Khan, the Mongol emperor who conquered most of Asia in the 13th century and has nearly 16 million descendants, said Dan Bradley, who supervised the research. "It's another link...

Legend has it that, while raiding England around 500 C.E., the Irish warlord Niall of the Nine Hostages took a young St. Patrick prisoner and brought him to Ireland. Historians disagree about whether Niall was really the kidnapper, but one thing is for certain: This ancient king went on to found the most powerful ruling dynasty in Irish medieval history, the Uí Néill (literally "descendants of Niall"). Now, a study reveals that this royal lineage may be imprinted in the genes of roughly a tenth of Irish men living today. Although most of our genetic makeup comes from both parents,...

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Scientists in Ireland may have found the country's most fertile male, with more than 3 million men worldwide among his offspring. The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty in ancient Ireland. His genetic legacy is almost as impressive as Genghis Khan, the Mongol emperor who conquered most of Asia in the 13th century and has nearly 16 million descendants, said Dan Bradley, who supervised the research. "It's...

By Siobhan Kennedy | January 17, 2006 DUBLIN (Reuters) - Scientists in Ireland may have found the country's most fertile male, with more than 3 million men worldwide among his offspring. Article Tools Printer friendly E-mail to a friend Science RSS feed Available RSS feeds Most e-mailed More: Globe front page | Boston.com Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty...

Confucius, he has many descendants By Richard Spencer in Beijing Last Updated: 1:27am GMT 19/02/2008 More than a million people around the world have responded to an appeal for people who think that they are descendants of the Chinese sage Confucius. The appeal was made by Kong Deyong, a 77th generation descendant of Confucius who founded the Confucius Genealogy Compilation Committee and is based in the family's home town of Qufu, eastern China. Confucious: founding father of Chinese political and ethical thought Mr Kong, a senior member of the Confucius clan, fled to Hong Kong after the Cultural Revolution, when...

Throughout human history, relatively few men seem to have had a greater input into the gene pool than the rest, suggests a study of variations in DNA. Tens of thousands of years of polygamy has left a mark on our genomes that is a signature that small numbers of males must have mated with lots of females. Over time, such a pattern will spawn more genetic differences on the X chromosome than other chromosomes. This is because women have two copies of the X, while men only one. In other words, the diversity arises because some men don't get to...

A west Texas grand jury investigating allegations that members of a polygamist sect sexually abused girls indicted three more people Tuesday, raising the number of defendants in the case to nine. Each of the sect members indicted Tuesday by the Schleicher County grand jury was charged with sexual assault of a child, and two face an additional charge of bigamy, state Attorney General Greg Abbott said in a statement. Abbott's office has taken over prosecution of the case from local authorities in the tiny county. The names of those charged were not immediately released, but none had been charged previously....

FOUKE, Ark.—Federal and state authorities, prompted by allegations of child pornography being produced on site, executed search warrants Saturday evening at Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. Shortly before 6 p.m., agents from the FBI, Arkansas State Police and the Arkansas Department of Human Services converged on the multiresidential compound, which sits on the equivalent of a half-mile square. For about an hour, search teams were seen entering the church and several neighboring buildings belonging to the Alamo Ministries. Allegations that children living at the Alamo facilities were being sexually and physically abused were central to the state investigation, said Bill Sadler,...

LUDZIDZINI, Swaziland — Once upon a time, a young and handsome king ruled over a land of mountainous splendor near the southern tip of Africa. He liked to get married, and as the years passed he took 13 wives, each of them a great beauty. His countrymen wanted His Majesty to be happy, but some also thought so many spouses were an extravagance for a poor, tiny nation. After all, the king, Mswati III, often provided these wives a retinue, a palace and a new BMW. A great event was soon forthcoming — on Saturday, in fact. To prepare for...

A Nigerian religious leader with 86 wives has accepted an Islamic decree ordering him to divorce all but four of them, local authorities say. A spokesman for the emir of Bida told the BBC that Mohammadu Bello Abubakar, 84, agreed on Saturday to comply with the decree.

Nigeria's Islamic authority has told the man who has 86 wives to choose only four and repent within three days or else he will be sentenced to death. The Jamatu Nasril Islam (JNI) passed their verdict on Mohammed Bello Abubakar, 84, according to Sharia law. This comes two weeks after the Nigerian press and the BBC reported on the case. Talking to the media then, Mr Abubakar challenged Muslim scholars, saying there is no punishment stated in the Koran for having more than four wives. However, Mr Abubakar advised other men not to follow his example and marry 86 women....

Researchers from the U.K.'s University of Sheffield looked at men older than 60 from 140 countries that practice polygamy and found that they lived an average of 12 percent longer than men from 49 monogamous nations, according to a report from the Times of India. ... Scientists believe women, who live considerably longer post-menopause than other mammals, do so because the longer they live the more grandchildren they have to dote on. Caring for grandchildren, it seems, gives women a reason to live long after they're no longer able to reproduce.

<p>Warren Jeffs and four followers were indicted in Texas in July and charged with sexual assault of a child.</p> <p>District Judge Barbara Walther said there was solid evidence that the girl -- who authorities allege was married to Jeffs at the age of 12 with the consent of her parents -- was an underage bride.</p>

State seeks to return eight children to foster care.

More than two months after being forced to return children from a polygamist sect to their parents, Texas child welfare authorities want eight youngsters put back in foster care.Individual hearings for the four mothers of the children, who range in age from 5 to 17, are set to begin Monday. Child Protective Services has asked a judge to return the children to foster care because their mothers have allegedly refused to limit their contact with men accused of being involved in underage marriages. "We continue to have concerns in particular for these eight children, which is why we have asked...

ROTTERDAM, 12/08/08 - Although polygamy is banned in the Netherlands, the marriages of Muslims who have several wives are recognised by Dutch authorities. Registrars in the major cities, in particular, record dozens of bigamous or polygamous marriages per year. These marriages are prohibited and an offence in the Netherlands. However, polygamous marriages that take place in countries where more than one wife is permitted, such as Morocco, are accepted, newspaper NRC Handelsblad reports. If immigrants with several wives settle in the Netherlands, the local authorities register all the marriages. However, the Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), where all marriages are...

Texas Rangers are investigating 20 cases of sexual assault and about 50 bigamy charges involving members of the FLDS Church, the Deseret News has learned. Texas officials on Monday confirmed the number of open cases but would not say how many suspects were involved. "We are working with several other agencies on this investigation, and I do not know what ultimately the team will decide to do as far as possible charges filed," Texas Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Tela Mange said. The investigation has already prompted five indictments, including one against the church's leader, Warren Jeffs. A Schleicher...

"Texas authorities on Tuesday indicted the leader of a polygamous sect ... on charges of felony sexual assault on a minor, the first criminal charges to stem from a massive raid on the group's West Texas compound," The Los Angeles Times reported last week (http://tinyurl.com/6oenlz). The Associated Press and other media used similar words: "indicted polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs ... charges of felony sexual assault of a child." Straightforward reporting? In my "20/20" special "Sex in America", polygamy activist Mark Henkel said no, it's an ignorant distortion. "The media kept saying, 'Polygamist leader, polygamist leader,'" Henkel told me. "But...

Five indicted FLDS members have turned themselves in. The men, sought since they were indicted Tuesday on a series of charges relating to alleged sexual abuse at the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' Schleicher County ranch, turned themselves in to the Schleicher County Sheriff's Office about noon today, said Texas Ranger Capt. L.C. Wilson. According to the Texas Attorney General's Office, the five men are: * Raymond Merril Jessop, 36, the alleged husband of a 16-year-old daughter of Warren Jeffs, is charged with one count of sexual assault of a child. * Allan Eugene Keate, 56, is...

Obama has at least 7 (maybe 8) half siblings from 4 different women. Papa got around.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Polygamous sects that have spread throughout the United States and beyond are "a form of organized crime," largely unchecked by law enforcement, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Thursday. Sen. Harry Reid says polygamous sects have "wrongly cloaked themselves in the trappings of religion." He is proposing a federal-state partnership aimed at policing such communities. "The lawless conduct of polygamous communities in the United States deserves national attention and federal action," Reid said before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Sen. Reid Says Polygamy Is 'Form of Organized Crime' Thursday , July 24, 2008 WASHINGTON — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took a rare opportunity Thursday to switch roles and testify before his colleagues to blast polygamy, a still-used practice among some who practice the Mormon faith. Reid, D-Nev., is Mormon himself and noted that while his church had cast off its polygamist past, some members continue the practice of men maintaining multiple wives. The groups that still practice polygamy "are a form of organized crime," Reid told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

ELDORADO - A Schleicher County grand jury issued indictments today against Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints leader Warren Jeffs and five other sect members, alleging sexual assault, bigamy and related charges. Jeffs was charged with sexually assaulting a child, a first-degree felony, and the four others were indicted on allegations of sexually assaulting girls younger than 17. Each of those four face one felony count of sexual assault, and one faces an additional charge of bigamy.Jeffs was identified because he was served with the indictment in jail. The other four remain unidentified until they are served....

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will introduce a measure Wednesday establishing a federal task force on polygamy and offering help to those trying to escape polygamous communities. The bill, if passed, would set the stage for likely the largest orchestrated crackdown on polygamy in a century. Ahead of the first congressional hearing focused on polygamy since the 1950s, Reid, a Mormon convert from Nevada, will introduce the Victims of Polygamy Assistance Act. It would set up a collaborative effort between federal, state and local law enforcement agencies to combat "broad patterns" of polygamy-related crimes. The bill also would create grants...

Warren Jeffs married his underage daughter to the 34-year-old son of his chief deputy, one day after she turned 15, according to pictures, diaries and a marriage record kept by Jeffs' polygamist sect obtained Friday by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News. The documents were attached to a report filed Friday by Court-Appointed Special Advocates in San Angelo, the girl's guardian, in a battle over who represents her in court. The CASA report contradicts both interviews the girl and members of her church, The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, have given denying that she...

Thousands of polygamous marriages like Hadi's have sprung up throughout Italy as a byproduct of a fast-paced and voluminous immigration by Muslims to this Roman Catholic country. Despite the obvious culture clash, Italian authorities largely turn a blind eye, leaving women in a murky semi-clandestine world with few rights and no recourse when things go especially badly, as they did in Hadi's case.

Custer County's sheriff is taking a stand. "We don't want them here," Fred Jobe says of the polygamists who quietly are settling onto his turf. "I just don't want them to think they're gonna move in and take over the county." As Jobe tells it, followers of Warren Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have moved into four compounds in Custer County and two in Fremont County. The extent of their influx into south-central Colorado is unclear because few outsiders have been let inside the sect's secrecy fences. Many locals are wondering why they don't see...

A Washington County judge on Wednesday granted a temporary restraining order and injunction sought by a polygamous sect spokesman, who is accusing a Cedar City investigator of harassment. Fifth District Judge G. Rand Beacham set a hearing for July 23 on the action sought by Willie Jessop. Jessop, a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, filed the request against private investigator Sam Brower on Tuesday. He claims Brower has a "long history of following and photographing FLDS members," often leading to confrontations, and has engaged in a "pattern of continual harassment" that includes making...

A coalition that represents fundamentalist Mormons has issued a statement objecting to the LDS Church's attempts to deny their claim to a shared Mormon heritage. The Principle Voices Coalition, based in Salt Lake City, said that members "strenuously object to any efforts to deprive us and others of the freedom to name and describe ourselves by terms of our own choosing." Two weeks ago, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints launched a media campaign aimed at distinguishing itself from the breakaway sects. The church said its effort was primarily aimed at clarifying the difference between the LDS Church...

new clothing brand may be born out of the Texas raid on a polygamous sect. FLDS women for the first time are offering their handmade, distinctive style of children's clothes to the public through the Web site fldsdress.com. Launched initially to provide Texas authorities with clothing for FLDS children in custody, the online store now is aimed at helping their mothers earn a living. The venture, which has already drawn queries from throughout the U.S., is banking on interest in modest clothes, curiosity and charity to be a success. "We don't know what to expect but we have had a...

The irony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) wading into California’s same-sex marriage debate is too delicious to ignore. Earlier this week, the church sent a letter signed by its president, Thomas B. Monson, to all Mormon bishops in California. The document refers to the California Marriage Protection Act on the November 4 ballot, a state constitutional amendment that would prohibit the legal recognition of same-sex unions so recently won by a California Supreme Court decision. The letter is to be read aloud during June 29 services. In part, it states, “We ask that...

The juxtaposition of same-sex "marriage" being approved in California with the raid on the Texan polygamists seems to have made a few people ponder the logical connection between homosexuality and polygamy -- and, in some cases unhappily, reflect that former senator Rick Santorum was right when he said the Supreme Court's Lawrence decision would lead to sexual arrangements few people now approve.   And if so, the Unitarians will have gotten there first. A few years ago, a group called Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness declared that they wanted to "take their place beside the divorced, the intentionally single,...

AUSTRALIA prides itself on its tolerance and its wide acceptance of different mores, but polygamy appears to be a bridge too far for even the most ardent multiculturalists, Islamic and otherwise. Debate raged across the nation yesterday about whether a pluralistic and free society could happily accommodate the practice of polygamous marriage. Keysar Trad, president of the Islamic Friendship Association, spoke out this week, admitting he had once considered marrying another woman. He also backed calls by another senior member of the Islamic community, Sheik Khalil Chami of the Islamic Welfare Centre, for polygamous relationships to be recognised. ...Chami said...

An FLDS teenager is taking a dispute with her attorney public, claiming the attorney is making her life "harder" and asking the lawyer to "please leave me alone." Teresa Jeffs, 16, a daughter of polygamous sect leader Warren S. Jeffs, gave The Salt Lake Tribune on Sunday a copy of an e-mail she sent Natalie Malonis of Flower Mound, Texas, after seeing news reports about her case. On Friday, Malonis won a court order banning contact between an FLDS spokesman and the girl. "The most help you will be to me now is for you to step aside and let...

Al Holm lived his entire life as a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints — until he confessed two years ago to being addicted to online porn sites and was expelled. Now, contrite, lonely and grieving the loss of his family, he's trying to work his way back into the secretive polygamist sect. But he can't find anyone with the authority to pardon him.

Six-year-old Samuel Jeffs has only one leg. On April 3 he was taken away from his home and his mother by the Texas Child Protective Services (CPS). His father, Warren Jeffs, is in prison, convicted in Utah of being an accomplice to child rape. On May 19, Samuel’s mother, Sharon Barlow, is sitting in a San Angelo courtroom with her attorney to hear a review of Samuel’s care. She is wearing an ankle-length turquoise dress, cut roughly in the style of a 19th-century prairie housewife’s. She has reddish hair, a pointed nose, sleepy eyes and poor skin. The hair rises...

A lawyer for the 16-year-old daughter of polygamist group leader Warren Jeffs is requesting a restraining order to prevent a spokesman for the group from intimidating and harassing the girl. The request for a restraining order against Willie Jessop was filed in San Angelo today by Natalie Malonis. The teenager was one of the hundreds of children taken from the Yearning For Zion Ranch by Texas Child Protective Services in April because investigators believed they were exposed to abuse by members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her name is not being disclosed because Malonis...

Utah birth records sought in probe of FLDS couples' ages Utah birth certificates may be playing a significant role in an investigation into possible sexual abuse at a polygamous sect's Texas ranch, The Salt Lake Tribune has learned.     An Arizona investigator requested copies of birth certificates for approximately 25 FLDS couples from the YFZ Ranch - about 50 people in all - to confirm their dates of birth, according to Jeff Duncan, director of the Utah Office of Vital Records and Statistics.     Gary Engels, a special investigator for Mohave County, Ariz., made the request for information first...

A grand jury is scheduled to meet in Eldorado, Texas, next week and could begin considering evidence from the raid on the Fundamentalist LDS Church's YFZ Ranch. The Eldorado Success newspaper reported Wednesday that the Schleicher County grand jury is expected to begin considering the first criminal cases that could come from the April 3 raid. The Texas Attorney General's Office declined to comment on any proceedings. "In Texas, grand jury proceedings are secret proceedings by law," attorney general's spokesman Jerry Strickland said in an e-mail Wednesday to the Deseret News. "We can not and will not comment on such...

Gospel Teachings About Lying by Elder Dallin H. Oaks This fireside address was given to faculty, students, and alumni of BYU on September 12, 1993. My brothers and sisters. I am glad to be with you tonight. Before I get to my prepared remarks, I want to say something about the faculty of our Law School. Soon after I went into law teaching, Edward H. Levi, who was then dean of the University of Chicago Law School (later a distinguished attorney general of the United States), became provost of the university and appointed me associate dean and acting dean...

KUTV airwaves turned into a verbal boxing ring, Thursday night, when FLDS Spokesperson Willie Jessop and Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff exchanged heated words. Thursday’s quarrel was not the first confrontation between the two public figures. In a letter --written by Jessop and sent to President Bush-- Jessop accuses Shurtleff of furthering “efforts to exterminate the FLDS and boasting that he has driven them out of Utah.” (Click here to read the FLDS Letter To Pres. Bush) In a live 2NEWS interview at 5 p.m., Shurtleff called Jessop a “liar” and threatened him saying, “we put Warren Jeffs in prison...

SALT LAKE CITY — A high-ranking member of a polygamist sect met with the Utah Attorney General's Office to discuss the recent raid at a Texas ranch. Willie Jessop met with Attorney General Mark Shurtleff's chief deputy and other staff members Thursday, The Salt Lake Tribune reported today. Jessop hopes the meeting will "begin to open doors" with Utah authorities. In April, after allegations of abuse, more than 400 children were removed from an Eldorado, Texas, ranch owned by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

"MURRIETA, Calif. (AP) - A polygamist was convicted Wednesday of charges that he starved, tortured and abused two of his wives and many of his 19 children and stepchildren. A Riverside County jury found Mansa Musa Muhummed guilty on 25 counts, including torturing seven of the children, abusing 12 of them and falsely imprisoning the wives. Muhummed, 55, shook his head as the verdict was read, prosecutor Julie Baldwin said."

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ― The home of the San Angelo judge who ordered the removal of 440 children from a polygamist ranch is under guard after Utah and Arizona authorities warned of "enforcers" from the sect, a newspaper reported Wednesday. Police assigned to Judge Barbara Walther's San Angelo house were provided dossiers and photos of 16 men and women deemed a threat, the Deseret News said. "There are many individuals who are willing to give up their life for the cause and you can never underestimate what a religious fanatic is capable of," said e-mails obtained from the Washington...

Gov. Rick Perry hinted Thursday that members of a polygamist sect whose children were recently returned amid a botched sex-abuse investigation should pack their bags, a newspaper reported. Perry, who was in La Baule, France, for a European business conference, said that the state of Texas has an obligation to protect young women from being forced into marriage and underage sex, The Dallas Morning News reported in its online edition. He also warned members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints that child sex abuse won't be tolerated and even suggested that followers of the renegade...