Free Republic

On this date in 1547, the Duke of Norfolk was to have been beheaded. But thanks to the previous day’s death of the corpulent 55-year-old King Henry VIII, the duke’s death warrant was never signed, and the condemned noble died in bed … seven years later. A force in the gore-soaked arena of English politics for two generations, Thomas Howard had steered two nieces into the monarch’s bed. Both girls had gone to the scaffold,* and the disgrace of the second, Catherine Howard, brought a collapse in the whole family’s fortunes. Thomas Howard’s son Henry was not as lucky as...

Prince Charles personally accepted suitcases and shopping bags stuffed with millions of dollars’ worth of cash from a controversial Qatari politician between 2011 and 2015, according to an explosive new report. “Everyone felt very uncomfortable about the situation,” a former adviser to the Prince of Wales told the Sunday Times of London. The “only thing we could do was to count the money and make a mutual record of what we’d done,” the source said. “And then call the bank.” Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, the former prime minister of Qatar, bestowed the big bucks on the...

Tommy DiMassimo, the Wright State University student with Atlanta ties who in March rushed the stage at an Donald Trump rally in Ohio, has raised $340 from 10 people through a Go Fund Me page for his legal defense as of Wednesday afternoon. His funding goal is $25,000, according to the page. DiMassimo was arrested March 12 after he vaulted a stage barrier and rushed to the back of the stage in a hangar near Dayton International Airport in Vandalia, Ohio, a suburb of Dayton. His Go Fund Me page gets political, saying that he rushed the stage “not to...

Iraq crisis: the bare faced ISIS executioner who spreads terror with his open killing • Shakir Wahiyib is a feared enforcer for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham who does not cover up his face in videos of his killings In an army full of masked, black-clad figures, he is the one man who is never shy to show his face. But for those unlucky enough to cross him, the face of Shakir Wahiyib, a feared enforcer for the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, is often the last they will ever see. The star of a series of...

Prince Charles has called people who deny human-made climate change a "headless chicken brigade" who are ignoring overwhelming scientific evidence. The heir to the British throne, a dedicated environmentalist, accused "powerful groups of deniers" of mounting "a barrage of sheer intimidation" against opponents. He made the comments at a Buckingham Palace awards ceremony on Thursday. Charles said it was "baffling ... that in our modern world we have such blind trust in science and technology that we all accept what science tells us about everything — until, that is, it comes to climate science." He praised finalists for the Prince...

LEWISTON, Me. — Hillary Clinton isn’t pulling her punches today, and she’s ripped. Clinton doesn’t think a temporary suspension fits the crime by MSNBC’s David Shuster, who commented this week that the Clinton campaign had “pimped out” 27-year old Chelsea Clinton by having her try to recruit Democratic Party super delegates to support her mother. Sen. Clinton’s letter to Steve Capus, president of NBC News, pretty much says it all: Dear Mr. Capus, Thank you for your call yesterday. I wanted to send you this note to convey the depth of my feeling about David Shuster’s comments. I know that...

A University of Colorado professor who once compared some Sept. 11 victims to a Nazi could learn within three weeks whether he can return to the classroom — or whether the university will pursue sanctions including dismissal. University President Hank Brown received a report Tuesday from a faculty committee regarding its hearing on alleged research misconduct by ethnic studies professor Ward Churchill. Brown has 15 business days to determine how to proceed, the university said. If Brown decides the are no grounds for dismissal, he could return Churchill to the classroom and close the case, or he could recommend sanctions...

Afghanistan's Taliban on Saturday demanded Pope Benedict XVI to apologise for remarks linking Islam with violence, adding the comment showed the Christian West was waging war against Muslims. "We strongly condemn it," Mohammad Hanif, who regularly speaks to the media on behalf of the extremist insurgent group, said. "We also want the Pope to apologise before the Muslim Umma (nation)," he said. The remarks were "obviously part of a crusader war that the West, chiefly America and (President) Bush, is waging against Islam and Muslims," he said. The ultra-conservative Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion five years ago...

The leader of a militant group involved in beheading hostages has been captured in Fallujah and the group was broken up, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said tonight. He identified the group as Jaish Muhammad – Arabic for Muhammad’s Army. The group “has been arrested … We arrested their leader,” Allawi said, identifying him as Moayad Ahmed Yasseen, also known as Abu Ahmed. Muhammad’s Army was known to have co-operated with Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al-Qaida and Saddam loyalists and was responsible for killing and beheading a number of Iraqis, Arabs and foreigners in Iraq, Allawi said....

Terrorists beheaded a civilian at village Dhok in Thanna Mandi area last night. The victim has been identified as Haqim Din son of Fazal Din, a resident of Dhok. Police said 36-year old Fazal Din had left the house yesterday at 1430 hours for a shop. However, he didn’t return to the house. His body was found in a surrounding forest area this morning. They said the civilian was reported to have been kidnapped by the terrorists and beheaded. No reasons could be ascertained behind his killing. Thanna Mandi police was investigating the case. POONCH, Jan 22: The historic Mata...

President Bush grabs his dog Barney after it came into the room and frightened area children as Bush participated in the White House children's story hour, Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2002, in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)" width=409 height=301>