Free Republic

With so many strong relationships with gay and bisexual men throughout his formative years, it seems altogether likely that Obama did not restrict “making love to men” just to his “imagination.” In 2012, Barack Obama famously made the cover of Newsweek magazine with the heading, “The First Gay President.” That headline, meant in jest, now seems more than a little prescient. Much publicity has been given in recent weeks to Barack Obama’s very real homosexual fantasies. These were communicated in a letter to girlfriend Alex McNear in 1982, when Obama was in his early twenties. These comments were first included...

Six Miss Universe Indonesia contestants have filed complaints against pageant organizers following this year's pageant. Mellisa Anggraeni, an attorney who is representing the women, claimed five of the contestants were asked to take off their tops for “body checks” two days before the final round of this year’s pageant on Aug. 3, according to Reuters and CNN. At a press conference on Tuesday, Anggraeni alleged organizers said this was so they could “examine any scars, cellulite or tattoos on their bodies,” the BBC reported. The women also claimed they were photographed topless while men were present, per the outlets. "I...

A Muslim cleric has been arrested on charges of blasphemy and hate speech in Indonesia after his decision to allow women to preach and pray beside men sparked a backlash in the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation. Panji Gumilang, 77, who runs the Al-Zaytun boarding school in the district of Indramayu in West Java, was arrested on Tuesday, Indonesian National Police official Djuhandhani Rahardjo told reporters outside its Criminal Investigation Agency in Jakarta. In the past, the school, home to roughly 5,000 students, has faced public backlash over its unorthodox practices like allowing men and women to pray alongside each other...

Indonesian police have brought blasphemy and hate speech charges against the head of a controversial Islamic boarding school, following public uproar over its teachings, including unorthodox treatment of women and use of Hebrew. Panji Gumilang, head of the Al-Zaytun school in conservative West Java province, was named a suspect by police on Tuesday (Aug 1), national police official Djuhandhani Rahardjo told reporters, and faces a maximum 10 years in prison if found guilt of blasphemy and hate speech. Founded in 1996 and home to roughly 5,000 students, the boarding school has caused a stir with practices like allowing men and...

Incidents of Muslim groups objecting to houses serving as worship places were reported from two places on Java island recentlyMuslim groups in Indonesia continue to prevent Christians from holding religious activities inside houses as they were yet to receive a government permit, which is difficult to obtain in the most populous Muslim-majority country. Disturbances occurred on June 18 at two places on the island of Java, the world's most populous island and home to nearly 56 percent of the Indonesian population, adding to the long list of cases of suppression of religious minorities in the Southeast Asian nation. In a...

It seems that hardly a day goes by without reports of another tourist offending local customs on Bali. There are bikini-clad yoginis doing ‘downward dog’ poses in temple gateways and half-naked hooligans arguing with traffic police over their lack of a crash-helmet. While the world asks what’s caused this sudden rush of inappropriate behaviour, travellers who know the island well are wondering why it’s taken so long for Balinese to stand up and say, “enough is enough!” In 1972 the iconic surf-movie Morning of the Earth showed a naked hippy teaching elderly Balinese fishermen how to smoke cannabis. Four centuries...

A growing number of countries are coming forward to join BRICS and accept the new currency for global trade. The South African ambassador Anil Sooklal hinted that the alliance could expand this year becoming BRICS+. The move could add pressure on the U.S. dollar as developing nations would end their reliance on the greenback. The global financial order could tilt from the West to the East creating a new multipolar economy. According to the latest report, the BRICS alliance has formally received applications from 25 countries to join the bloc. The 25 nations that expressed their interest to join are...

Video posted online shows 2 women being beaten, thrown into the sea for allegedly flouting rules by dining in a cafeRights groups strongly condemned a Muslim mob attack on two women in Indonesia for allegedly eating in a cafe during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and criticized police for not arresting the suspected attackers. A total of 89 organizations and 122 eminent citizens including Catholic youth groups signed a joint statement on April 19 to slam the incident saying that “persecuting women in the name of religious morality is an act that tramples humanity.” “In fact, no religion teaches...

As I publish this, the Indonesian national holiday Hari Kartini is just beginning. Geopolitically, Indonesia is a free market democratising society which is wavering between being non aligned in its region and being troubled by some aspects of modern Chinese expansionism. It behooves The West to try to understand Indonesia better. It is the fourth biggest nation in the world by population. The Kartini Day holiday celebrates the life and spirit of Javanese princess Raden Ajeng Kartini, who established the first high school for girls in Java over a hundred years ago during Dutch Colonial rule. This made Kartini a...

Eleven fishermen have survived for six days without food and water before being rescued west of Broome The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has confirmed a group of fishermen was rescued about 3pm Monday from Bedwell Island in the Rowley Shoals, 313 kilometres west of Broome, after their vessel was shipwrecked during Cyclone Ilsa. AMSA diverted a rescue aircraft to investigate and tasked a rescue helicopter to fly the fishers to Broome after a Border Force surveillance flight noticed people in distress. According to an AMSA spokesperson, survivors said there had been two fishing vessels with 10 crew each, but...

In the clips shared to social media, masses of garbage could be seen charging down canals and storm drains, the water carrying it virtually invisible for all of the junk. “These are the trash tsunamis of Indonesia and it will all end up in the ocean,” clean-up environmentalist Gary Bencheghib, who shared the clip, wrote. “We can no longer turn a blind eye to these waves of plastic.” “The trash is not the problem. It’s the people. If they don’t waste from the beginning, there will still be trash but maybe better managed,” another wrote. Others called for a more...

Bank Indonesia (BI) says it will introduce a domestic credit card system allowing for greater independence and lower fees, as transactions are settled locally rather than by foreign providers. BI spokesperson Erwin Haryono said on Saturday that the central bank had been in discussion with local industries and progress stood at 90 percent, but he declined to reveal when the domestic credit card would be launched or what it would be called. Erwin said a domestic credit card would have several benefits, notably lower fees, because offshore settlement and relying on foreign payment networks like United States-based Visa or Mastercard...

The volcano, located in Indonesia’s Yogyakarta special region, erupted at about 12pm (05:00 GMT) on Saturday and unleashed clouds of hot ash and a mixture of rock, lava and gas that travelled up to seven kilometres (4.3 miles) down its slopes. A column of hot clouds rose 100 metres into the air, said the National Disaster Management Agency’s spokesperson Abdul Muhari. There were no immediate reports of casualties. At least eight villages near the volcano have been affected by volcanic ash... Kompas TV showed ash-covered houses and roads at a village near the volcano, located on Java Island. The 2,963...

Geography often shapes culture. In most of the Indonesian island of Java, incredible fertility has long produced the bounteous harvests of a happy people, when they get their fair share. But the fruitful plains are always overshadowed by magnificent hills and mountains some of which are active volcanoes. Both the island and the people are able to erupt. Australia can be defined by being mostly desert. (70% is arid or semi-arid.) What about America? How many culturally significant geographies are there?

Indonesian rescuers and firefighters on Saturday searched for more than a dozen people missing under the rubble of charred houses and buildings, after a large fire spread from a fuel storage depot in the capital and killed at least 18 people. The Plumpang fuel storage station, operated by state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, is near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighborhood in North Jakarta. It supplies 25% of Indonesia’s fuel needs. A preliminary investigation showed the fire broke out when a pipeline ruptured during heavy rain, possibly triggered by a lightning strike, said Eko Kristiawan, Pertamina’s...

A shallow earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost province of Papua on Thursday, killing four people who were unable to escape when a floating restaurant collapsed into the sea. The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude 5.1 earthquake hit residential areas in Jayapura, near Papua's northern coast and was centered at a depth of 22 kilometers (13 miles). Shallow quakes often cause more damage on the Earth's surface. “The residents were really panicked. I was in a car, and I felt like the car's wheels were lifted up,” said Tri Asih, a resident of Jayapura, Papua's capital. Officials said four people who...

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake shook eastern Indonesia and southern Philippines on Wednesday, with no damage immediately reported and no tsunami warning issued. Some residents tried to escape from houses in the Indonesian town of Tobelo in North Maluku province. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake occurred 48 kilometres deep under the sea, centred 154 km northwest of Tobelo. Resident Pius Ohoiwutun said some people ran from houses when the quake shook. “I felt a little swaying as the lamps also swayed,” Ohoiwutun said. The undersea quake was also felt in several provinces and cities across the southern Philippines, but...

A 31,000-year-old skeleton found in a remote area in Indonesia is rewriting what we know about early medicine medical procedures according to a new study published in the weekly scientific Nature journal on Wednesday. ... The oldest previous known example of a limb amputation had been a roughly 7,000-year-old skeleton from France, whose left forearm had been surgically removed and then had partially healed. This had led researchers to believe that operations of this nature took place in established agricultural societies. The latest discovery turns that notion on its head and suggests that Stone Age hunter-gathers had a far more...

The epicenter of the magnitude 7.6 temblor was in the Banda Sea, nearest the Tanimbar islands in Maluku province that have about 127,000 residents, according to 2021 data. Tremors were felt in several regions, including Papua and East Nusa Tenggara provinces, as well as in northern Australia. Indonesia’s Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency issued a tsunami warning that was lifted three hours later. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake’s epicenter was at a depth of 65 miles not far from Australia’s northern tip. Deeper quakes tend to cause less surface damage than shallow shaking but are more widely felt....

International travelers have been flocking back to the popular resort island of Bali as the Covid pandemic subsides, prompting hopes that Indonesia's battered tourism industry is on the road to recovery. But this week, controversial new laws were passed in parliament that ban cohabitation and sex outside marriage. The laws will apply not just to residents but also to foreign expats and tourists in the country -- raising concerns from experts. Although the changes are not expected to kick in for at least another three years, industry players tell CNN that the new criminal code could put foreigners off visiting...