Free Republic

When we say ‘Santa’, you probably think of an old fat guy with a bushy beard - but what if they were a woman, or non-binary? Isn't everyone capable of spreading Christmas cheer? This is the debate that's heating up right now after a councillor in Newton Aycliffe (near Durham) complained last month about a woman being cast in the role of Santa in the town’s Christmas parade. Arun Chandran, the Newton Aycliffe councillor who was against the idea of a female Santa, told The Times that the role is only appropriate for men. “My understanding is that Santa Claus,...

Ruba and Saqib both carry a gene for an incurable condition, which means their children have a one-in-four chance of dying in early childhood. They've already lost three. Ruba now wants IVF, to select a healthy embryo. Saqib is putting his trust in Allah. And some relatives want them to separate and remarry. Ruba Bibi had not wanted to marry so young. She had planned to do A-levels and go to university, but before she had finished her GCSEs her parents arranged for her to marry Saqib Mehmood, her cousin, in Pakistan. Born and brought up in Bradford, Ruba had...

It only takes a minute, and it will feel good! https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/

"... but the mayor, Robert Ménard, persists. “The installation of such a Nativity set, on a temporary basis, at the initiative of a public person, in a public place, is only legally possible when it is of a cultural, artistic or festive nature, without expressing the recognition of a cult or mark a religious preference,” says the administrative court, quoted by the prefecture..."

She may have delivered a baby, but that ho' ain't a mom! "... according to the statements, a peace officer “made several attempts to calm client Headley down and to just have a seat to avoid [the] situation from getting worse.” Headley’s child was also still in his stroller when the incident sparked and that she only picked him up after NYPD cops arrived, the statements say. “She began to use her baby as a shield from getting arrested and was telling the officers, ‘You better not touch me,’” one report states. Another report says Headley “intentionally used her toddler...

How did this happen? Big Tech lobbyists orchestrated the quiet insertion of a seemingly innocuous provision (Article 19.17) into the deal that is based on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Section 230, much beloved by big tech, and an essential building block of their monopolistic dominance, holds that platforms like Facebook cannot be held liable as a "publisher or speaker" of their users' content.

Special Counsel, Robert Mueller's team wiped the iPhone belonging to disgraced former FBI agent Peter Strzok before it was handed over to investigators, the inspector general's bombshell new report has revealed. Mueller's team scrubbed anti-Trump Agent Strzok's phone of all data and settings after determining "it contained no substantive text messages."

Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team on Friday released key documents relating to the FBI’s questioning of former national security adviser Michael Flynn, confirming agents did not believe at the time Flynn intentionally lied to them -- though he was later charged with making false statements in that interview.

Former FBI Director James Comey, speaking to an appreciative audience in New York on Sunday, told NBC's Nicole Wallace that he sent two FBI agents to visit then-National Security Adviser Mike Flynn at the White House on January 24, 2017, because he figured he could get away with it. Wallace asked Comey: "You look at this White House now, and it's hard to imagine two FBI agents ending up in the State room. How did that happen?" "I sent them," Comey replied. The audience laughed, and Comey continued: Something we've -- I probably wouldn't have done or maybe gotten away...

It seems to me that Trump has enormous leverage over these negotiations if he so chooses to use it. There is one decision that is completely within his control that Democrats are desperate but powerless to stop: the continued employment status of one Robert S. Mueller III. IMHO, late next week he should offer Democrats a promise that he will terminate Mueller effective midnight Friday night if a budget without $5B in border wall funding is not on his desk. He should also stipulate that if the government closes, the cost of re-opening it will increase $1B per day for...

Witnesses have been grilled by members of a US House oversight committee over the probability that the Clinton Foundation had received donations from foreign powers who wanted favors in return. The shady donation tactic, otherwise known as "pay-to-play," allows donations as a means for preferential treatment for outside influencers.

The greatest happiness in life, is to love and be loved. --George Sand Brought this up with some people last night, and I was at first really taken back by the number of those there, who disagreed with this statement. Am interested in the how fellow Freepers think on this. You could almost cut it down the middle with 1/2 of the group agreeing that the greatest joy is to love someone, and the love is returned. I would say their politics was clearly more conservative, and they were Christian. Then you had a third who found happiness purely in...

Nearly 80 percent of the equipment for staging the December 23 election in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, was destroyed when a fire ripped through a warehouse, as violence flared just 10 days before the vote. The blaze, which officials blamed on arson, was the latest drama of an increasingly tense election campaign ahead of the December 23 election when the country will choose a successor to President Joseph Kabila. Also Thursday, a teenager was shot dead in the central Kasai region as party faithful gathered ahead of a rally by Felix Tshisekedi of the UDPS, one of the leading opposition...

So this FR fundraiser is dragging out. I am asking southern freepers to do a rebell yell, be proud of God, the USA, The Southern culture, Robert E Lee, SEC football and sweet tea. Eat some Grits, then donate 5 or 10 dollars to get this one FR donation cycle put to bed. Just to be clear - Florida is part of the south. So don’t be a putz. Go Gators! Florida Gators are special to me and honestly, I think Miami got a good man as head coach. During 2019, I want to take over a future FR fundraiser...

On occasion our kids, when little, received Christmas gifts from Grandparents that our kids were not expecting and frankly had no idea of what to do with it. A wood box to our 5 year old son, with nothing in it. Just the box. But it had been his Great Grandfather's and Grandma wanted him to have it. Hope dashed, a tear welled up in his eye but he did not cry. OR the silver Victorian shoe horn that our 6 year old got; it was pretty but she had no idea of how it should be used at Christmas...

Most times I find newer Christmas songs leave much to be desired. Like to see what Christmas songs you like that are less than 50 years old?

Police officers in San Francisco may no longer demand that suspects – whether handcuffed or not – sit on the ground or sidewalk at a crime scene, the city’s police chief writes in a department memo. The practice is viewed as “demeaning” to suspects, city police Chief William Scott has determined, according to the Bay Area’s FOX 2. The change is “aligned with 21st century policing, our department values and our commitment to providing safety with respect to everyone whom our officers encounter,” a police department spokesman told FOX 2. “In order to carry out duties respectfully and professionally, sitting...

BARACK OBAMA–THE CON MAN WHO WON’T GO AWAYNote: I originally posted this on September 7th of this year, but then made it “Private.” I knew that the cultists wouldn’t listen to me and wondered what good posting this would do. I revisited the article today, and see that everything in it still applies. Most important, I realize that this person is not going away, is extremely dangerous to the future of our Republic, and will (unless his hidden deeds come to light) attempt to influence President Trump’s re-election. For this reason, I’m “re-posting” the article. Perhaps someone out there will...

Judge Emmet G. Sullivan, who is due to sentence General Michael Flynn next Tuesday, has thrown a wild card on the table, raising the possibility that a miscarriage of justice may finally be called out and the guilty plea coerced by Team Mueller thrown out.

The commercial where the lady mail carrier runs into Santa when delivering a package. It's a classical piece of music.