Free Republic

Does Trans-World Airline Really Fly to Happy-Land? Intro: Chastity is Dead—Not long ago, family warnings passed from parent to child on avoiding unwise hookups and dodging defective partners, such as the promiscuous tart. Roman historian Tacitus offered this gem—“A woman who’s lost her chastity will stoop to anything.” Yet now, the category of un-chastity no longer exists since “slut shaming” is immoral—despite female’s sexual history being a statistical premonition of marital longevity. Overall, decline in romantic relationships from the 60’s till now is everywhere obvious. And yet—no element more influences human happiness and productivity than marital stability. Perhaps why, in...

Former first lady Michelle Obama was desperate never to be photographed wearing a bikini while serving as first lady, according to her husband’s new book. Barack dished the dirt about his life partner in The Promised Land, the narcissist’s recently published memoirs, making it known that it was among her top priorities as first lady to never be photographed in a bikini. “She was serious. ‘This is one of my main goals as first lady. I will not be photographed by the paparazzi in a bathing suit.’ And she succeeded,” Barack wrote in his book. Perhaps Michelle, a very handsome...

The world’s largest dataset on patients who have undergone sex-reassignment procedures reveals that these procedures do not bring mental health benefits. But that’s not what the authors originally claimed. Or what the media touted. In October 2019, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a paper titled “Reduction in Mental Health Treatment Utilization Among Transgender Individuals After Gender-Affirming Surgeries: A Total Population Study.” As the title suggests, the paper claimed that after having had sex-reassignment surgeries, a patient was less likely to need mental health treatment. [snip] But it’s actually worse than that. The original results already demonstrated no benefits to...

...Washington was approached about writing the score by the film’s director, Nadia Hallgren. After watching a rough cut, Washington, who voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012, signed on. “I always thought Michelle Obama was an amazing person when I would watch her interviews,” he recalls, “but the chance to hear her talking about her way of thinking about life — and saying what’s important and not — was really cool, so I was definitely interested in doing it.” The work itself turned out to be far more intense than he’d imagined. Washington had only a few short weeks...

Michelle Obama says it was a “slap in the face’’ that minorities didn’t go to the polls in 2016 — and has no plans on re-entering the political spotlight amid a push to make her Joe Biden’s running mate. “It takes some energy to go high, and we were exhausted from it … when you’re the first black anything,’’ she said of her and her husband, former President Barack Obama, in a new Netflix documentary set to air Wednesday, May 6. “You know, the day I left the White House, it was painful to sit on that stage, and then...

Netflix and Barack and Michelle Obama’s production company have announced their latest film: “Becoming,” a documentary that follows Michelle as she goes on tour to promote her bestselling memoir of the same name. Although the documentary was directed by Nadia Hallgren, it sounds like the film had extensive access to and input from Michelle Obama . After all, it was produced by Higher Ground Productions, the company the Obamas formed to create content for Netflix, Spotify and others. And the announcement comes with a letter from Obama, in which she says this wasn’t just a standard book tour: “In groups...

A student accused of opening fire at a Colorado school reportedly told investigators that he targeted peers who made fun of him for his gender identity, court documents show. Alec McKinney, 16, and Devon Erickson, 18, allegedly decided to carry out the shooting after exchanging messages on social media the day before the May 7 attack at STEM School Highlands Ranch near Denver, the documents show. The shooting resulted in the death of 18-year-old Kendrick Ray Castillo; eight others were injured. The police records, which were unsealed Thursday, show McKinney telling officers in an interview that he intended to “shoot...

The 5-year-old stepson of a British woman who lives as a man, with the child’s mother, is now “transitioning” to a girl, the couple has revealed. They also complain that they’ve suffered “insults” at the hands of people online and their neighbors, and they’ve also been reported to social services. What, exactly, these insults are was not specified in an article covering the couple on Heart. They’re adamant, however, that they’re not responsible for the child’s gender confusion and that the “transition” is what’s best:

On Wednesday, President Donald Trump tweeted that he wouldn’t allow transgender individuals to serve in the military:

A transgender dad and daughter from Detroit are revealing their incredible journeys as they transition from mom and son. Corey Maison, 15, first told her parents she identified as a girl four years ago, but it was not until last year she learned that her mother also struggled with her gender identity. The pair are now leaning on each other as they transition together.

SACO, Maine — The person charged with fatally stabbing a mother of five in a Maine supermarket went to the store to kill “several random people,” according to a court affidavit released Thursday that says the suspect confessed to the slaying. Connor MacCalister followed Wendy Boudreau from the parking lot of the Shaw’s supermarket in Saco into the ice cream aisle, grabbed the 59-year-old woman from behind and slit her throat, the suspect told police. Boudreau died later at a hospital.

TAMPA The University of South Florida is offering transgender students the opportunity to live alone or with a friend of a different gender in campus housing. Beginning Thursday, students can identify themselves as male, female or transitioning on their housing applications. Anyone who checks transitioning can live alone, with a friend or with a randomly assigned roommate. A student's choice of transitioning won't be disclosed to any randomly selected roommate without permission. Then, in the spring, the Tampa school will begin a pilot program with several "gender-neutral" dorm rooms for any student who wants to live with another student of...

Churches often borrow from business worldTaking care of business (ABP) -- Churches can learn from the business -- for better or for worse. Some best practices in the corporate world translate well to the nonprofit sector, including churches, experts insist. And at the same time, churches can benefit by looking at some lessons failed businesses learned the hard way. Baptists with expertise in both business and congregational life note several areas where churches can discover lessons worth learning: -- Core values and mission: “Start with a core set of values -- an irreducible minimum of non-negotiable basics,” said Chris...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2007 – The surge of additional forces into Baghdad and other areas of Iraq is working, a top general commanding coalition forces there said yesterday. Even as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan continues, levels of violence in Iraq have dropped, Army Lt. Gen. Raymond T. Odierno, commander of Multinational Corps Iraq, said at the National Press Club here. The surge allowed Iraqi and coalition officials to wrest whole provinces from extremist grasp. In December, President Bush accepted recommendations of military leaders to place five more combat brigades and their supporting complements in and around Baghdad. More...

IUKA, Miss. -- In April, 150 members of Iuka Baptist Church voted to kick Charles Jones off the deacons' board. The punishment followed weeks of complaints by Mr. Jones and his friends that the pastor was following the teachings of the Rev. Rick Warren, the best-selling author and church-growth guru. After the vote, about 40 other members quit the church to support Mr. Jones.

WASHINGTON -- Coalition training teams with Iraqi military units, police battalions and border guard units are making a tremendous difference in the performance and professionalism of the Iraqi security forces, said the commander of the Iraq Assistance Group on Monday. Army Brig. Gen. Dana Pittard told the Pentagon press corps in a video teleconference from Iraq that Iraqi forces are well-equipped, but require help in sustainment. Pittard confirmed that 100 members of an Iraqi battalion had refused to redeploy to Baghdad. The soldiers were part of the 10th Iraqi Army Division, in southern Iraq's Maysan province. "There were some soldiers...