Free Republic

The guidance – which incredibly points out that it has been allowed in Britain since Henry VIII passed a law enabling him to marry Anne Boleyn's cousin Catherine Howard – says that cousin marriage offers benefits such as 'stronger extended family support systems'. The practice, which is common in the British Pakistani community, has been linked to a greater prevalence of disorders such as cystic fibrosis or sickle cell disease. Figures show that up to 20 per cent of the children treated for congenital problems in cities such as Sheffield, Glasgow and Birmingham are of Pakistani descent, compared with 4...

Former US president Barack Obama has said there is no military rationale right now for continuing to pummel what is already broken in Gaza, and he said it was unacceptable to ignore the human crisis that is happening there. He said children there were starving and that a starting point in the crisis would be for both sides to acknowledge each other’s history, in a bid to break the cycle of violence. He told a paying audience at the 3Arena in Dublin that where the truth becomes whitewashed, “you lose touch with reality and it puts you in a position...

Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director James Comey claimed he is innocent amid news Thursday that he has been federally indicted. Comey posted a video to his Instagram account wherein he said he was “not afraid” and felt ready to go to trial. “My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. But we couldn’t imagine ourselves living any other way. We will not live on our knees, and you shouldn’t either. Somebody that I love dearly recently said that ‘fear is the tool of a tyrant,’ and she’s right....

On Tuesday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “The Brief,” Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard responded to arguments that Hamas could simply end the war right now if it surrendered and released hostages by saying that “Hamas must release all hostages. They must do that. Humanity must win. But this will not happen as long as the Israeli government keeps playing games on the back of its own Israeli citizens.” …

Would-be Trump assassin Ryan Routh was declared guilty on Tuesday on all charges, but The New York Times accidentally published the wrong article. In journalism, outlets often pre-write obituaries, election outcomes and potential court verdicts of major cases before they occur, using the basic facts of the story and adding whatever key details are essential on the day of. However, a screenshot indicated that the New York Times accidentally published a headline, “Man Found Not Guilty of Trying to Assassinate Trump in Florida.” The lede of the now-scrubbed article added, “In a surprise verdict, a federal jury acquitted Ryan Routh...

Pregnant women are filming themselves taking Tylenol in defiance against Donald Trump's shaky claim the painkiller causes autism in children. The president announced that doctors in the US will begin advising expectant mothers against taking the drug because of an apparent link. Trump, 79, claimed that taking Tylenol 'is no good', adding that pregnant women should 'fight like hell' to avoid taking it, except for in cases of extreme fever. Several moms have gone viral on TikTok for posting videos of themselves taking Tylenol in protest. 'Here's me, a PREGNANT woman, taking TYLENOL because I believe in science and not...

Police in Louisiana have arrested three suspects in connection with the theft and destruction of a statue depicting Abraham Lincoln The incident took place at the Houmas House Estate and Gardens, a historic plantation located in Darrow, a small town between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Located on a curve of the Mississippi River, the site first attracted European settlers in the early 1700s; construction on the property’s large Greek Revival-style mansion started in 1829. Today, the 38-acre site is a tourist destination, Kevin Kelly, the site’s owner, noticed the antique, solid silver statue of the nation’s 16th president was...

On Friday, during an appearance on CNN’s “NewsCentral,” actor and director Rob Reiner stated that President Donald Trump had “declared war on this democracy.” […] He continued, “First of all, He throws people out of the country without due process. He takes funds that were appropriated by Congress, refuses to distribute them, in clear contradiction to the Constitution, the separation of powers. He’s browbeating businesses and universities and law firms. This is way beyond Jimmy Kimmel. We are fighting. This is a man who’s a convicted felon, an adjudicated sex offender and business fraudster, and he’s decided that our 250...

Former Vice President Kamala Harris revealed that Pete Buttigieg was her “first choice” as running mate in last year’s presidential election, but such a pairing “was too big of a risk,” according to an excerpt from her upcoming book. Buttigieg, the former secretary of transportation and mayor of South Bend, Indiana, who is gay, “would have been an ideal partner — if I were a straight white man,” Harris wrote in a portion of “107 Days” published by The Atlantic. “But we were already asking a lot of America: to accept a woman, a black woman, a black woman married...

He retired late and has a mortgage not set to be paid off until just after his 100th birthday. Some might say that's not the best of financial planning. And as he struggles to find his post-presidential feet there seems little prospect that Joe Biden, 82, will get any help from some of his Democratic friends. 'There isn't a whole lot of goodwill for the former president in some key corridors of power, and that stems from the fact that he never should have tried to mount a reelection,' one Democratic insider told the Daily Mail. 'A lot of us...

Police are probing the death of a congressional staffer who was found on fire at her home in Texas. Regina Santos-Aviles, 35, was discovered by her mother, who called emergency crews to the Uvalde residence on the evening of September 13. She was taken to Brooke Army Medical Center but died from her injuries the next morning, according to the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office. Santos-Aviles, remembered by friends and family as a 'devoted mother' to her eight-year-old son, had served as the regional district director for Republican US Representative Tony Gonzales since 2021. Uvalde Police Chief Homer Delgado said...

A car jumped over an open Seattle bridge to get away from officers, KIRO 7 reported. Seattle Department of Transportation traffic cameras showed the car hopping the University Bridge as it was lowering Wednesday afternoon. Before jumping the bridge, the driver hit the crossing gate. They managed to elude officers, who stopped before the gap. Car found, driver not located Officers found the car near Northeast 42nd Street and Pasadena Place Northeast with a broken windshield and damaged undercarriage, according to KIRO 7. Police searched the area, but did not find the driver.

CLEVELAND, Miss. (AP) — Mississippi police on Wednesday awaited autopsy results for a Black student found hanging from a tree at Delta State University, in a case that has ignited strong emotions in a state with a history of racist violence. The 21-year-old student was found near the campus pickleball courts early Monday. While police have said they saw no evidence of foul play, his family is demanding answers and has hired prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Campus police Chief Michael Peeler released little new information about the investigation at a news conference, calling the death an “isolated incident”...

Jeffree Star is known for his abrasive personality online. And that is usually on display when he is feuding with other creators. But the controversial YouTuber-turned-TikToker may have pushed away even more fans with his most recent comments about the LGBTQ+ community. In a recent TikTok Live, the beauty guru took time to speak about the killing of right-wing political commentator Charlie Kirk, who was shot while speaking at a university in Utah. Clips of the Live made their way around X earlier this week. And in the video, Star made disparaging remarks about nonbinary people and defended Kirk's historically...

Pennsylvania’s Democrat Gov. Josh Shapiro is extremely aggrieved by President Donald Trump pointing to leftist violence and referring to individuals perpetrating it as “scum.” Shapiro attempted to spread blame around by stating that “no one party is immune from political violence.” […] “We are at an inflection point in America. Violence transcends party lines — and the way to address it and have true peaceful debate is for leaders to speak and act with moral clarity. That needs to start with the President,” he said, placing blame on Trump and completely ignoring the fact that Kirk did just that —...

Many Americans love the feeling of driving a new car, but the price of that thrill is pushing household budgets to the edge. Auto loan delinquencies are spiraling, the nation now owes a staggering $1.66 trillion in auto loans, and some figures show scary similarities to the period right before the 2008 financial crash. That’s according to a new report titled “Driven to Default: The Economy-Wide Risks of Rising Auto Loan Delinquencies” from the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). It describes auto finance in the US as being “at breaking point,” and criticizes Congress and the country’s federal watchdogs for...

The far-left New Republic, in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, declared that Democrats’ responses condemning the killing were “too tasteful for the moment,” warned that “empathy helps prop up Republicans and Trumpists as legitimate and normal political actors,” and urged Democrats to adopt a “callous, perhaps, but short of cruel” tone — even suggesting they say, “I’m sorry his family is suffering. I wish his message would die with him.” In an article titled “Charlie Kirk and the Empathy Trap” — with the subhead, “Democrats will never be as cruel as Republicans after a political assassination. That’s to...

Buttigieg said (on Sunday’s Meet the Press), “I want to be really clear about this. This is an example of something that is hurting. We are not getting the leadership that we need to bring this country together from the White House.” He added, “In order to turn the tide of political violence, yes, we have to reject those who commit political violence. Yes, we have to reject those who celebrate or promote political violence. But also in order to deprive political violence of its power, we have to reject anyone who would try to exploit political violence. The response...

Former convict Jumpsuitpablo gives the 411 on Tyler Robinson in jail even with picture. He says Robinson is not talking in his "Turtle Suit". Something to make you all smile.

President Donald Trump and his team are crowing about the downsizing of the federal bureaucracy, which is set to shrink by tens of thousands more on Sept. 30 when workers who took a DOGE buyout hang it up. But if Trump’s goal was to dismantle the workforce he calls the “deep state” — and blames for the failings of his first term — he’s got a long way to go. Although he’s disrupted swaths of the government, the vast majority of career federal employees who avoided the firings of the past seven months are sticking it out, according to Labor...