Free Republic

When war once again came to Gaza in late 2023, Palestinian photographer Fatma Hassona began documenting all aspects of life: death, displacement, destruction, children celebrating during Eid, relief as people were allowed to return to northern Gaza during a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas this year. Despite the challenges she faced, the 25-year-old was planning for the future: She was engaged to be married this summer and received news last Tuesday that a documentary about her life in Gaza during the war had been accepted to Acid Cannes, which runs alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France. A day later,...

The recent terrorist attack (14 dead, 35 injured) in New Orleans by a homegrown former soldier, Shamsud Din Jabbar, who had “become radicalized” by ISIS has called America’s attention to the threat of Islamic extremism in the USA. Has the enemy without become a serious enemy within? And if so, what can be done to protect ourselves from further atrocities? We previously contended with the murderous events of 9/11 (2001), with downed planes and 3,000 dead; the Washington sniper and his pal (10 killed in 2002), who liked to pick off people at gas stations; the Fort Hood massacre (2009)...

There have been a thousand warnings about former President Donald Trump. If polls are to be believed these warnings have fallen on deaf ears. What accounts for this imperviousness despite clear evidence of his dangerous and egregious flaws? This question has stumped many. As a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who has long worked with complexities of mind, let me offer psychological explanations then suggest remedies that could help permeate this apparent impenetrability. He offers a sense of omnipotence. Trump makes it seem like nothing is hard, meaning it's easy to be all powerful....... He helps people deny painful realities and threats,...

As the temperature in Mecca reached 125.24° F. (51.8° C.) on Tuesday, word leaked out that nearly 600 pilgrims had died of heat stroke and 2,000 have been hospitalised for treatment. A virtual clinic treated more thousands remotely. Some 324 of the dead were Egyptians, while dozens were from Jordan. The season of the annual Hajj or pilgrimage to Mecca, the birthplace of Islam, just ended. Some 1.8 million pilgrims participated. Eyewitnesses said that not all the dead were elderly, that young persons died, as well. Pilgrims carry out a series of rituals during the pilgrimage, beginning with preparing themselves...

On January 22, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law a measure permitting abortion up to the gestational age of 24 weeks for any reason, and after that point, if “necessary to protect the patient’s life or health,” that is, broadening its prior “life of the mother” law to one based on the broad Doe v. Bolton definition as overall well-being. On February 21, the Vermont House passed a measure that “would legalize abortion at any stage of pregnancy and for any reason,” as described by Alexandra DeSanctis at National Review. The House sent it to the state’s Senate....

Saudi authorities agree to retry a Sri Lankan housemaid sentenced to death by stoning for adultery, according to minister. Harsha de Silva told parliament in Colombo the government had secured a fresh trial for the woman after Sri Lankan diplomats visited her in a Saudi jail over the weekend. "Through our intervention, they (Saudi authorities) have agreed to reopen the case," Mr de Silva told parliament

Islamic State fanatics release sickening new footage of mass executions. Included are horrifying scenes of a child executing several prisoners. The 22-minute film shows wholesale slaughter of Iraqi military cadets. It was filmed at last year's notorious Speicher massacre, in Tikrit, Iraq. Men are machine gunned in mass graves, while others are shot in the head. WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT Harrowing new footage has emerged of a young boy executing prisoners on the banks of the Tigris River, amid one of the biggest massacres ever committed by Islamic State fanatics. Filmed during the ISIS killing spree in Tikrit last year,...

Husband forces wife to drink acid SHEIKHUPURA: A man in Sheikhupura district forced his wife to drink acid after she gave birth to a babygirl, reported a private TV channel on Sunday. According to reports , family members of the man assisted him in the heinous act against his wife. God blessed Nawazish, a resident of Jandyala Road, with a daughter but he got so upset over the birth of a daughter that he decided to punish his wife. He did not even bother to look at the newborn girl and decided. He brought a bottle of acid and made...

Muslim women have been banned from traveling more than 48 miles from their homes without being chaperoned by a male relative, according to a fatwa issued by one of Islam's leading universities. The ruling was made by the Darul Uloom Deoband, the leading Islamic university founded in northern India in 1866, which has millions of followers from Bangladesh and Pakistan to Muslim communities in Britain. Its fatwa was issued after a female follower had asked: "Is a married woman permitted to travel to another country with her female sibling?" In a reply on the Deoband website, she was told:"She cannot...

'Fakir' arrested for killing infant CHENNAI (India) - POLICE in southern India said on Monday they had arrested a self-styled Muslim 'fakir' for the gruesome murder of an infant boy in a ritual he believed would lend him supernatural powers. Abdul Gafoor, a mystic who claimed he could perform magical feats, had confessed to kidnapping the 18-month-old in the southern city of Madurai and then beheading him, police inspector Chidambaram Murugesan told AFP. 'During questioning, he said he had a dream and heard a voice saying he would get extraordinary healing powers if he sacrificed a male child,' Mr Murugesan...

<p>Saiqa Akhter, 30, has been charged with a single count of capital murder in the deaths of her 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, police said. Dallas County Police spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield said the single count covered a child under 5 and would probably be changed either to include multiple victims or to add a count.</p>

Philippines: Islamist militants blamed for beheadings Manila, 12 June (AKI) - Islamist militants from the separatist Abu Sayyaf group have beheaded three civilians in the southern Philippines, the military officials said on Saturday. The three men were gathering wood near Maluso on the island of Basilan on Friday when they were abducted and executed by militants, Brigadier-General Eugene Clemen, a local marine commander, said. "We received reports this morning the three lumberjacks had been beheaded," Clemen said. The execution came less than two weeks after the group led Puruji Indama killed three people abducted in the nearby Sumisip town. Troops...

Iran to arrest women with suntan By Xien Jana Vencio Better hide those bronzed skin when visiting Tehran, Iran. At least if you are a woman. On Thursday, Tehran police chief Brig. Gen. Hossien Sajedinia has warned that all women sporting a tan will be arrested and imprisoned because this violates the "spirit of Islamic law." Thus, any woman that looked like a "walking mannequin" will be punished. He said that the Iranian public expects the police to act firmly and swiftly to any social misbehavior caused by women, and men, particularly those who defy the Islamic values. He cited...

Seattle cartoonist launches "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day" After Comedy Central cut a portion of a South Park episode following a death threat from a radical Muslim group, Seattle cartoonist Molly Norris wanted to counter the fear. She has declared May 20th "Everybody Draw Mohammed Day." Norris told KIRO Radio's Dave Ross that cartoonists are meant to challenge the lines of political correctness. "That's a cartoonist's job, to be non-PC." Listen to Molly Norris on Dave Ross Producers of South Park said Thursday that Comedy Central removed a speech about intimidation and fear from their show after a radical Muslim group...

• –––––CONWAY — Pvt. William Andrew “Andy” Long, 23 of Conway, died Monday, June 1, 2009. Andy was born June 26, 1985, in Long Beach, Calif., to Daris and Janet (Roberson) Long. Andy recently finished Army training at Ft. Benning, Ga., and was on his way to Korea. He attended Sunny Gap Baptist Church in Conway. His family says he had an infectious smile, a great sense of humor, and a brilliant mind. He is a hero. Andy is survived by his parents, Daris and Janet Long of Conway; sister Vanessa Rice and husband Robert of Conway and brother Triston...

Aguanga man to serve seven life sentences Friday, February 20th, 2009. Issue 08, Volume 9. An Aguanga polygamist received seven life sentences for torturing and endangering seven of his 19 children and abusing and imprisoning his three wives. Mansa Musa Muhummed, 55, also known as Richard Boddie Jr., sat in the courtroom last Friday looking unmoved as the judge issued his decision. A jury found Muhummed guilty of such acts as beating his children with hoses and boat oars, starving them and forcing them to eat their own vomit and feces. In addition, he imprisoned two of his wives in...

Two EMT workers in Britain were arrested after they were heard allegedly discussing whether they should bother to resuscitate a disabled man who had collapsed at home and subsequently died. Barry Baker, 59, who lived alone, dialed 911 saying that he thought he was having a heart attack. An ambulance was sent to his house while a controller kept him talking on the line. By the time the ambulance arrived at the house in Patcham, Brighton, Baker had collapsed, but the telephone line was still open and was being recorded. It is alleged that staff in the control center heard...

A good friend of mine (let's call him Bob) is convinced that unless the GOP puts abortion "aside as its focal point, it simply cannot win and regain power." That's especially interesting in light of Kathleen Parker's latest column, which disses the evangelical wing of the GOP. Bob's point is that "we've lost a majority of women over this issue as they have become one-issue voters." It's not only liberal women but also others who believe it's simply not the government's business. Kathleen Parker broadens the point considerably beyond abortion: "The evangelical, right-wing, oogedy-boogedy branch of the GOP is what...

A Federal Way man beat, raped and enslaved his Afghan teen bride, forcing her to perform domestic labor.... Mohammad Atahee, 37, and four other King County residents kept the girl out of school so nobody would intervene in the secret arrangement and so she would be available to cook, clean, do laundry and perform child care ..... Mohammad Yousuf, who pleaded not guilty, and Nasima Yousuf were released under travel restrictions and a judge's order to make no direct or indirect contact with the girl.... The Afghan girl was 13 in 2005 when Nahid Yousufi and Nasima Yousuf persuaded her...

Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia, is refusing to remove medieval artistic depictions of the Prophet Muhammad, despite being flooded with complaints from Muslims demanding the images be deleted. More than 180,000 worldwide have joined an online protest claiming the images.... are offensive to Islam, which prohibits any representation of Muhammad. But the defiant editors of the encyclopaedia insist they will not bow to pressure and say anyone objecting to the controversial images can simply adjust their computers so they do not have to look at them.[snip]Muslims and argue the least Wikipedia can do is blur or blank out the faces....