Free Republic

We now say not to use the archaic and sexist term "mistress" for a woman in a long-term sexual relationship with, and financially supported by, a man who is married to someone else. Instead, use an alternative like companion or lover on first reference. Provide details later.

The United Kingdom’s Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills (Ofsted) argued before the High Court that Christian groups should not allow their religious beliefs to influence their professional activities. (???) After an inspection and review in March 2019, Ofsted, a non-ministerial department of the British government, downgraded the Christian-run Cornerstone Adoption and Fostering Service from “good” to “requires improvement” because it only places children with married Evangelical Christian couples. Challenged by Cornerstone before the High Court, Ofsted lawyer Sir James Eadie said that Ofsted “does not prevent Cornerstone and their carers manifesting their religious beliefs as they...

The Queen was surrounded by historic personal mementos from the war years as she paid emotional tribute to the wartime generation in an electrifying speech on the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Her aquamarine and diamond clip brooches were an 18th birthday present from her father King George VI in April 1944 - just over a year before the end of the conflict in Europe. The two art deco-style pieces, which the Queen wore separately in a diagonal setting, were made by Boucheron from baguette, oval and round diamonds and aquamarines. She also chose to wear the precious jewellery during...

He believes it had been closed up for more than 50 yearsA man who drilled a hole in his wall was stunned to find a secret 120-year-old tunnel underneath his house. Jake Brown was doing some work at his newly bought home when he realised that one wall had different textures. He inspected further and made an opening big enough to get his head through to take another look. To his shock, Jake discovered there was a huge area underneath his home in Plymouth, Devon, so he opened it up to investigate. Inside the tunnel he discovered items including paint...

The US Justice Department moving to drop the criminal charges against former National Security Adviser General Michael Flynn who was prosecuted in connection with the Robert Mueller investigation into alleged "Russian collusion" with President Trump's campaign in 2016. The Justice Department is asking that the charges be dismissed "with prejudice" meaning they cannot be refiled in the future...... The US Supreme Court has overturned the conviction of a former aide to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie convicted in 2016 of fraud...... Oregon's Governor Kate Brown is talking about a regulated re-opening of Oregon business starting May 15th with new "rules"...

The government is using the coronavirus pandemic to transfer key public health duties from the NHS and other state bodies to the private sector without proper scrutiny, critics have warned. Doctors, campaign groups, academics and MPs raised the concerns about a “power grab” after it emerged on Monday that Serco was in pole position to win a deal to supply 15,000 call-handlers for the government’s tracking and tracing operation.

British epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who helped create the U.K.’s coronavirus lockdown strategy, resigned from his position at the government on Tuesday after violating social distancing guidelines. The story: Ferguson reportedly had visits at his home from his married lover during the lockdown, despite repeatedly advising the public about the importance of social distancing. Ferguson has frequently appeared on TV where he supported the lockdown and praised the “very intensive social distancing” measures. Ferguson’s lover, Antonia Staats, made at least two visits to his home in London since the lockdown measures were imposed, on 30 March and 8 April, the Telegraph...

The scientist whose advice prompted Boris Johnson to lock down Britain resigned from his Government advisory position on Tuesday night as The Telegraph can reveal he broke social distancing rules to meet his married lover. Professor Neil Ferguson allowed the woman to visit him at home during the lockdown while lecturing the public on the need for strict social distancing in order to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The woman lives with her husband and their children in another house. The epidemiologist leads the team at Imperial College London that produced the computer-modelled research that led to the national lockdown,...

The UK scientist whose doomsday predictions triggered a massive lockdown on both sides of the Atlantic has resigned his government advisory position, amid claims he broke the strict lockdown rules he pushed to meet his married lover. Professor Neil Ferguson, an epidemiologist of Imperial College, London resigned from his role as a senior scientific advisor to the British government Tuesday evening. Admitting his error, Professor Ferguson told the paper: “I accept I made an error of judgment and took the wrong course of action. I have therefore stepped back from my involvement in Sage [the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for...

Two teens have been charged with the unprovoked, fatal stabbing of a British health worker who was ambushed just days after his father died of coronavirus complications, according to a new report. David Gomoh, 24...who worked Barts Health NHS trust, was targeted in a random attack...according to initial reports. Muhammad Jalloh, 18 and a 16-year-old boy who was not identified because of his age were charged with murder Sunday, The Guardian reported.

Well here we are in this stressful wartime situation. I am out working and even volunteering a bit six days a week experiencing what's real out there. Fear and anger and shortages of goods..... Covid-19 Russia Update: Almost 10-Thousand New Cases.... DC 19 Update: Spain's Inmates Allowed Out Of Their "Cells" To Exercise As one person put it to me today: "It's like we're living in North Korea" Well, we maybe on the way to Venezuela or North Korea with some signs appearing in front of us in plain sight but the folks there you can argue have it worse...

A leaked document from the "Five Eyes" intelligence alliance – made up of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand – shows China purposefully hid and/or destroyed evidence about the Wuhan coronavirus. Specifically, the alliance said the Chinese Communist Party's cover-up can be described as an "assault on international transparency." Australia's The Saturday Telegraph obtained a copy of the 15-page report which concluded China put other countries in grave danger by covering up different aspects of the coronavirus, including the fact that it can be transmitted from human-to-human, doctors magically "disappearing" when trying to talk about...

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2020 / 03:00 pm MT (CNA).- English Catholics must avoid “any sense of self-pity” over church closures, Cardinal Vincent Nichols said at a Mass honoring workers in hospitals and care homes. Speaking via livestream from an empty Westminster Cathedral in London April 23, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who is Archbishop of Westminster and head of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, paid tribute to the “quiet heroes” on the front line of the coronavirus crisis. “For most of us, our part in this effort is so different,” the cardinal said. “Yes, deprivations are placed on us,...

Ethiopia was invaded by the Italian troops during a military campaign that lasted from 1935 to 1936. After Italy declared war on the United Kingdom in 1940, British forces invaded and took Ethiopia in 1941. At the time, Ullendorff was a British army officer who was also a young scholar with extensive knowledge of Ethiopian history and languages, Parfitt told Live Science. "He went to the Church of Mary of Zion with a couple of soldiers," Parfitt said. He spoke to the monks in the church in Amharic, a language widely spoken in Ethiopia, asking to see the ark. His...

A woman who was one of the first people injected as part of human trials for a coronavirus vaccine has said she is ‘doing fine’ after fake reports of her death. An online article claimed microbiologist Elisa Granato, who took part in the UK trial in Oxford on Thursday, had died following complications when taking the vaccine. The Government later said the story is ‘completely untrue’, and warned people about sharing unsubstantiated claims online. Following the article about her ‘death’, Dr Granato tweeted about the news before making her Twitter account private. She wrote: ‘Nothing like waking up to a...

Well welcome to Stalag Covid 19 for this weekend's adventure..... Hey the one and only "Rnaround Sue" Dion with a song he recorded in the days when he was part of the Contemporary Christian Music scene in the early 1980's. I was around and saw him beret and all in person. Idols and idolatry right out of the Good Book but what about today..... Resistance In Idaho: The Latest This week a woman arrested for asking too many questions, Sara Brady, as a group of mothers and children entered a closed down park in Meridian, Idaho engaging in civil disobedience....

Patients treated with hydroxychloroquine have no better chance of survival than those who don't receive the drug hailed by Trump as a 'game-changer', results of a New York state Health Department trial suggest. 'I think from the review that I heard basically it was not seen as a positive, not seen as a negative,' said Governor Andrew Cuomo during CNN's coronavirus town hall. Ultimately, the study, conducted by SUNY at Albany, is intended to involved some 4,000 coronavirus patients, but the preliminary results are from a sample of 600 patients. Survival rates were no better among the group treated with...

Despite the devastating economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, Britain is making scant effort to negotiate a far-reaching free trade deal in the wake of Brexit that would stave off a costly final separation at the end of the year, the European Union said Friday. EU negotiatior Michel Barnier said his British counterparts keep insisting on unrealistic deadlines and demands that could only lead to a chaotic trade rupture which would mount economic losses on both sides on top of those already expected from the coronavirus crisis. “I am worried,” Barnier said after what he described as another week of...

The Chinese government has been “transparent, open” and “very quick” in its response to the coronavirus outbreak, Beijing’s ambassador to the United Kingdom said Thursday. Liu Xiaoming urged international cooperation during the pandemic and said “blaming” and “bullying” would just create a wedge between nations. The United States thinks “they can bully China, they think they can bully the world," he continued in an online news conference with a member of Britain's House of Lords. "If WHO [the World Health Organization] do not act in their way, they stop supplying, they stop support. They criticize WHO to be China-centric, that’s...

The European Union warned Israel Thursday against applying sovereignty over portions of Judea and Samaria, vowing to “closely monitor” Israeli moves in the area. In a statement released Thursday afternoon, EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell noted the deal between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Blue and White chief Benny Gantz for the formation of a unity government, expressing a willingness to cooperate with the new Israeli government in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic, while cautioning the Jewish state against altering the status quo in Judea and Samaria. “The European Union takes note of the political agreement that could...