Free Republic

A California state judge on Thursday ordered Calvary Chapel Church, San Jose, in Santa Clara County to pay $1.2 million in fines for violating COVID-19 restrictions on masking, social distancing, and gatherings. And one reason the county knew the church ran afoul of those rules was that its employees tracked the congregation by their phones.

Theo Khelfoune Ferreras cared passionately about environmental issues and had recently been helping out Greenpeace as a fundraiser before his life tragically ended A teenager’s worries over climate change and environmental issues ultimately caused him to take his own life, according to his heartbroken sister. ‘Passionate activist’ Theo Khelfoune Ferreras, from Walthamstow, died on March 29, 2023, less than two months before his 20th birthday. Now his sister Lisa, 18, has spoken out about the troubles that were affecting her older brother, who recently became a Greenpeace fundraiser, and what led to him ending his life so abruptly. Lisa told...

The term “transphobia” is incredibly loaded, as most accusatory modern terms are. It wrongfully suggests that the person arguing against the idea of gender fluidity is only doing so because they are uncontrollably afraid of people with gender dysphoria. I’ve yet to see anyone’s fight-or-flight instincts get triggered when someone who is transgender gets near them, but there’s an incredibly strong possibility that the people who are transgender haven’t had that experience with anyone either. While I have no doubt that they’ve encountered emotionally-based resistance, I’m betting it’s never been a complete and total panic that resulted in violence or...

If virtually everyone is expecting a recession, and most people start acting accordingly, do you think that will make an economic downturn less likely or more likely? Needless to say, the answer to that question is obvious. Right now, banks all over the country are getting really tight with their money, large corporations are laying off workers at a frightening pace, and consumers are cutting back on their spending. In other words, it really is starting to look a lot like a recession out there, and economic conditions are only going to get even more harsh in the months ahead....

After announcing which acts are going to play at the festival, now Lollapalooza fans know when their favorite artists are going to play this summer.On Tuesday, the organizers announced the day-by-day lineup for the event in Grant Park from August 3-6. This announcement comes as single-day and two-day tickets go on sale on Wednesday at Noon central time. Prices for one day start at $125 with the two-day passes starting at $250. Full festival passes have already been on sale and start at $365.

UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, said joining Muslims as they fast during Islam's holy month of Ramadan showed him "the true face of Islam", Anadolu News Agency reports. "The sense of peace, the sense of solidarity, the sense of generosity that I witnessed in the communities hosting refugees, and also the resilience, the courage of the refugees themselves was extremely inspiring," he said. His remarks came during an interview with UN News's Arabic service on Wednesday, ahead of his visit to Somalia next week as part of the UN Chief's annual tradition of visiting a Muslim-majority country during Ramadan. "And it...

A Delaware judge delayed the start of the eagerly anticipated trial on a voting-machine company’s defamation claims against Fox News, an announcement that came as the network is looking for a possible way to settle the case. Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said late Sunday that he was delaying the start of the trial by one day, moving it from Monday to Tuesday. He didn’t explain the reasons for the move.

(CP) A new motion from the largest teacher's union in the United Kingdom demands schools support drag queen story time to help create safe spaces for LGBT students. During its annual conference in Harrogate, England, last week, the National Education Union passed Motion 34, titled "Raising the aspirations of LGBT+ students in our schools." The conference highlighted what it says is an apparent lack of "LGBT+ inclusive education" and spaces for students to discuss their gender or sexuality. The motion claimed that some schools have not allowed LGBT authors to visit and that the "far right" has attacked "[c]reative initiatives"...

KHARTOUM — While excavating an archaeological site in the Old Dongola region of northern Sudan, Polish researchers discovered stone artifacts dating back to the Middle Ages including ancient murals inscribed with drawings and pictorial motifs of Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the archangel Michael. The researchers described the discovery as unique and unexpected because the images were painted in an unusual way compared to other Christian archaeological discoveries in northern Sudan. The Polish archeologists said the unique archaeological discovery has great artistic and historical significance for the Old Dongola region. They explained the murals have retained their natural colors and...

NORTH CONWAY. N.H.—Vivek Ramaswamy isn’t making much of a dent in the polls yet, but judging from the audience reaction at a packed Masonic lodge in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, it won’t be long. Everyone was paying close attention. There was no sense in the room of skepticism over why this 37-year-old guy—out of nowhere and standing there with his doctor wife—had the temerity to run for president. They got it. He had done his homework and then some. Several people during the lengthy question session prefaced theirs with “I voted for Trump but I’m going to vote for you.” Others...

Yeah, that's not a typo. 688. There have been 688 homicides in Chiraq in the past 12 months. The Chicago Sun-Times keeps track of every victim in a morbid list that's updated every day.

Vatican City, Apr 12, 2023 / 04:10 am Pope Francis has told “keyboard warriors” to put aside online polemics and get out from behind their desks to proclaim the Gospel. Speaking in St. Peter’s Square on April 12, the pope urged Christians to go out and “get moving” to share the good news of the Gospel with the world. “One does not proclaim the Gospel standing still, locked in an office, at one’s desk or at one’s computer, engaging in polemics like ‘keyboard warriors’ and replacing the creativity of proclamation with copy-and-paste ideas taken from here and there,” Pope Francis...

In a new speech held at the Republican National Committee on Saturday evening, 45th President and leading 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump declared that “the old Republican Party is gone, and it is never coming back.”In his speech to the committee, held in Nashville, Trump emphasized his record of accomplishments during his first term and outlined his various policy proposals for a second term in the White House come 2024, according to Politico.Trump emphasized his role in transforming the party in 2016 to a focus more on right-leaning national populism rather than the Republican Party during the Bush era...

When the disciples asked Jesus about the signs of His coming and the end of the age (Matt. 24:3), the first thing He said was, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matt. 24:4). Deception is a major sign of the end of the age, and it will reach its peak during the Tribulation Period. Jesus mentioned it four times in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24:4, 5, 11, and 24). It confirms a vision that Daniel had about a coming leader that would cast the truth to the ground (Dan. 8:12). The angel Gabriel revealed that this coming leader (that...

Rishi Sunak has said he believes that 100 per cent of women do not have penises. The prime minister has put himself at odds with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer by declaring that 100 per cent of women do not have male genitals. By contrast, Sir Keir earlier this month suggested that as many as one in every thousand women has a penis. Asked whether it is true that 100 per cent of women do not have a penis, in an interview with Tory-supporting website Conservative Home, Mr Sunak said: “Yes, of course.” He added: “We should always have compassion...

An “ambitious” climate bill that would speed up Colorado’s decarbonization efforts, incentivize the purchase of electric lawn equipment and streamline the regulation of carbon-sequestration wells passed the state Senate on a Democratic-led party-line vote Friday. Senate Bill 16, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Chris Hansen of Denver, is one of several bills trying to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that is moving through the Legislature this year, but it stands out for the breadth of sectors and activities that it could affect. An amendment made Thursday to the bill, for example, would fine utilities as much as $20,000 per day for failing...

WASHINGTON—The classified documents that investigators say were leaked by a junior member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard indicate the extent to which U.S. spy agencies rely on clandestinely intercepted communications to keep tabs on their adversaries and allies alike. In vivid examples, the documents track foreign governments’ military movements, diplomatic efforts and clandestine weapons sales, as well as debates in friendly capitals and more. The powerful eavesdropping program that enables some of that intelligence gathering is due to lapse at the end of the year. To persuade Congress to renew the program, Biden administration officials had been debating whether...

Five years ago, Andrew Gillum was one of the brightest stars in Florida politics. The then-Tallahassee mayor had a national profile. He won the 2018 Democratic nomination for Florida governor. And he nearly defeated Ron DeSantis, losing by fewer than 34,000 votes, or 0.41 percentage points. Then came the fall. In 2020, he was found by police in a South Beach hotel room in the company of a man who appeared to have overdosed on drugs. And last year, he was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused of lying to FBI agents and defrauding campaign mega donors and organizations...

A new COVID-19 variant fueling a rise in cases is causing a new symptom that has not been associated with the virus during the three-plus years of the pandemic.The so-called Arcturus strain — officially known as XBB.1.16 — is believed to be one of the most infectious versions of the Omicron variant to date. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) variant tracker, XBB.1.16 United States cases have doubled in the last week.Itchy, red eyes not seen in earlier waves "are symptoms of the new Omicron variant," according to a brand-new report by the Mayo Clinic."One new...

Seventy years ago, in 1953, Ian Fleming, a British WWII planner and supervisor for commandos, published a brief espionage novel, Casino Royale, and thus James Bond was born. The book allowed Fleming to reimagine British imperial greatness and continue in fiction his command over manly men willing and able to kill and die for a cause, for the thrill of the fight, and for pride. He could speak for civilized society’s necessary assassins.By the use of his imagination, Fleming became far more successful and important than he had ever been in public service. He ended up orchestrating one of Britain’s...