Free Republic

The teen birth rate has been cut in half since 2008, but the causes behind plummeting teenage pregnancies could also extend into adulthood and contribute to a demographic crisis. Although teen pregnancy has loomed large in American culture in recent decades, rates of teen births, pregnancy, and even abortion have fallen precipitously. Public health experts have cheered this trend, given the links between teen pregnancy and adverse outcomes for both mother and child. But the general decline in childbirth among a younger cohort may carry over into later years, reinforcing America's record-low fertility rate. The new Pew study breaks down...

Hey kid, I get it: some days you’re just not feeling it. Four-year-old princess Charlotte showed her cheeky side at The King's Cup regatta. When mum Kate Middleton told her to wave to onlookers after the race Charlotte decided to stick her tongue out instead. Mum of course was appalled. Trust me hon, sometimes adults feel the same way.The President and Melania on the way to El PasoBut when you grow up you have to put on your adult face and do what you need to do no matter how you feel.POTUS and FLOTUS in El Paso, DaytonUnless, that is,...

I’m only going by the trailer in insisting that it’s not but that’s more than most of its critics seem to be going on. This passage from THR’s write-up of the movie, whose ads were pulled after the El Paso and Dayton shootings, is making the rounds:

Capitalizing on this year's renewed interest in the worst nuclear accident in history, booze makers have introduced Atomik, the world's first vodka made from distilled grains from Chernobyl's exclusion zone. Atomik may sound misguided at first, but the distillers have good intentions. Gennady Laptev, a scientist at the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute and a cofounder of the Chernobyl Spirit Company, says making use of the abandoned land at the disaster site will aid in reviving the economy for struggling cities in the surrounding area.

Bill Clinton called for the Assault Weapons Ban to be re-instated Thursday following two mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio that killed a combined 31 people. The 42nd president signed the Federal Assault Weapons Ban into law in 1994, but the law expired ten years later in accordance with its sunset provision. Bringing back the ban has long been promoted by Democrats and some Republicans. (RELATED: Republican Rep Endorses ‘Assault Weapons’ Ban, Mag Restrictions)

Today’s Cryptogram MO MP UQOOQG OJ AMBQ OCIT OJ FQTZ, ITZ MO DJPOP IUJNO OCQ PIRQ. ---HCMFMH AMUUP Author of today’s quote You can find this little fun word game, to combat early dementia and senility in us baby boomers, in several daily publications. The way it works is a letter stands for another letter. For example: AXYDLBAAXR is LONGFELLOW (does not apply to today's cryptogram). Beware, the game is very addictive. If this is your first time, don't be intimidated. PLEASE DO NOT post the answer in general comments, but DO post your time and any tips you might...

"No candidate received a polling bump as a result of the Detroit debates," writes Morning Consult analyst Anthony Patterson this week. That's a big disappointment for the dozen or more candidates struggling to make the Democrats' 2 percent cutoffs for further debate appearances, as well as for the pundits weary after six or so hours of debates and post-debate interviews. Actually, it appears that Kamala Harris sunk a bit from her numbers after her school busing hit on Joe Biden in the Miami debate, and Elizabeth Warren's post-Detroit numbers are up a bit. In the most recent national polls, Biden...

Former Vice President Joe Biden, now running for president, took partial credit for getting “assault weapons” and “high capacity magazines” banned for ten years, in 1994. And if elected president, he promised to go even further than that by not only banning such weapons but by removing them from their lawful owners. Biden made the comments at a campaign rally in Iowa on Tuesday. “American history is not a fairytale,” Biden said, launching into America’s founding and the stain of slavery and the persistence of “racism.” Later in his speech, Biden blamed Trump for “doing nothing – nothing about the...

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's Defense Ministry said a rocket engine exploded during a test Thursday, killing two people and injuring four others. Local officials reported a slight increase in radiation levels in a nearby city. The ministry said the explosion occurred at a military shooting range in Nyonoksa in the northwestern Arkhangelsk region, causing a fire. It said six servicemen and civilian engineers were injured, and two of them later died of their injuries. Some Russian news reports cited unidentified sources who said up to 15 people were injured. Nyonoksa hosts a navy facility that serves as a base for...

This week, Democratic Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro, who chairs the presidential campaign of his twin brother, Julian, tweeted the names and employers of more than 40 San Antonians who maxed out their donations to President Donald Trump's reelection campaign. Mind you, the federal maximum is $2,800 per individual, so we're not talking about nefarious millionaires and billionaires or political activists or public figures. The congressman curated a list of retirees and business owners whose only sin was displeasing Castro. The congressman claims he was targeting voters who "are fueling a campaign of hate that labels Hispanic immigrants as 'invaders.'" First...

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia filed criminal charges on Friday against 17 current and former directors at subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) following an investigation into a multi-billion-dollar corruption scandal that led to the demise of state fund 1MDB.Those charged on Friday include Richard Gnodde, chief executive of Goldman Sachs International, Michael Evans, president of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) and a former director at Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC, and Michael Sherwood, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group.The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the bank for its role as underwriter and arranger of the bond offer....

Presidential frontrunner Joe Biden said “we choose truth over facts” in a confusing gaffe that closed out a speech in Iowa today. Biden was ending his speech by praising the American spirit. “There is nothing we’ve ever decided to do we’ve been unable to do. Period. That’s not hyperbole. We have never, never, never failed when we’re together. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s time to get up. Everybody knows who Donald Trump is. Even his supporters know who he is. We got to let him know who we are. We choose unity over division. We choose science over fiction,” he...

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez continues to shun responsibility for heightened tensions among House Democrats, distancing herself from her former chief of staff Saikrat Chakrabarti whose attacks on moderates she called “divisive.” Her comments came soon after Chakrabarti’s surprise resignation earlier this month following a series of controversies that contributed to public divisions within the House Democratic Caucus. “I think it was divisive,” Ocasio-Cortez said during an interview with the New York Daily News, though she insisted the resignation had nothing to do with Chakrabarti’s attack on moderates. “I believe in criticizing stances, but I don't believe in specifically targeting members.” She...

Desperation is in the air this election season. Democrat Dan McCready who is running for North Carolina’s 9th District House seat showed outrage that his Republican opponent, Dan Bishop, used a white supremacist slur in his ad. That horrific white supremacist word he used? The answer is: clown. The Washington Free Beacon reported on the background of the entire fiasco. In April Bishop released an ad calling national Democratic figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren, and Bernie Sanders ‘crazy liberal clowns.’ Then an extended version was released earlier this week adding attacks on their policies including taxpayer-funded healthcare...

Today’s Campaign Update (Because The Campaign Never Ends) Getting put in Facebook jail yesterday reminded me of the first time I got put into a real jail. It turned out to be the funniest moment of my life. The Funniest Moment of My Life So, I busted out of Facebook jail last night and then went right to bed ‘cuz I was sleepy. It was quite the 24-hour ordeal. Ok, it really wasn’t – it was actually kind of a relief if you want to know the truth. I actually go stuff done around the house for once. That was...

The remains of a mysterious Jewish city populated decades before the destruction of the First Temple was discovered on a site near Beit Shemesh about six months ago. The findings not only revealed evidence of the renewal of Jewish settlement in the area following the destruction wrought by Sancheiriv but also revealed evidence of the idol worship the Jewish people engaged in at the time. The findings of figurines and idols in the Jewish city corroborated the Tanach's (Jewish Bible) attribution of the destruction of the First Temple to idolatry. Sancheiriv (Sennacherib), the king of Assyria from 705 BCE to...

ENJOY

White supremacists have committed at least 73 murders since the far-right rally two summers ago in Charlottesville, Virginia. That comes from a report released Thursday by the Anti-Defamation League that says 39 of the killings were “clearly motivated by hateful, racist ideology.” The violence of the Unite the Right rally has led to an increase in white supremacist activity, according to the report, which is titled “Two Years Ago, They Marched in Charlottesville. Where Are They Now?” “The violence on the streets of Charlottesville has kindled two major tracks of white supremacist activity,” the ADL said. “The first is the...

Here’s a chilling little account of an incident that could be a portent of ugly things to come. A priest was opening the outside sacristy door of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne in preparation for a weekday evening Mass when a young man, well-dressed in a suit and to all appearances a respectable citizen, approached him from the cathedral grounds and asked if this was the sacristy. He asked if he could go in with the priest to see it. When told it was private premises and not shown to the public, the young man became aggressive and, taking out...

London (CNN) - McDonald's has reportedly admitted that its new paper straws, rolled out last year to help "protect the environment," can't be recycled - unlike the plastic versions they replaced. **SNIP** But the fast food giant acknowledged on Monday that the new versions are too thick to be processed by its recyclers. "While the materials are recyclable, their current thickness makes it difficult for them to be processed by our waste solution providers, who also help us recycle our paper cups," a McDonald's spokesman told the UK's Press Association news agency.