Free Republic

A California-based synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America has elected its first-ever openly gay bishop, over a year after the regional body removed its first-ever trans-identified bishop from office. At the ELCA Sierra Pacific Synod Assembly last week, Pastor Jeff R. Johnson of Berkeley, California, was elected to a six-year term as bishop of the regional church body. Johnson was elected bishop on the fifth ballot last Sunday, receiving 226 votes, while the Rev. John Keuhner, pastor of Unity Lutheran Church of South San Francisco, earned 168 votes. Shortly after winning the election, Johnson addressed the synod gathering,...

Former Liberty University president and chancellor Jerry Falwell Jr. has accused multiple past and current members of the Evangelical Christian university's senior leadership team of sexual misconduct and self-dealing in an amended lawsuit. First filed in July, the lawsuit also alleges the exploitation of the trademark and image of his father, Jerry Falwell Sr. In his initial filing of the lawsuit on July 27, Falwell, who was forced to resign as president of the university in the summer of 2020 over a sex scandal, accused the institution founded by his father in 1971 of profiting from Jerry Falwell Sr.'s "brand...

Arizona police shot and killed a man suspected of carrying out several robberies in a span of hours - only after they blitzed him with a flashbang and fired non-lethal rounds in an attempt to get him to surrender his weapon. Detectives from the Mesa Police Department and members of the U.S. Marshals Arizona Wanted Task Force were searching for 20-year-old Ny'Kendreon Pride on August 3. They spotted him in the area of 1233 North Mesa Drive by the Glen at Mesa apartment complex. Pride was the prime suspect in a string of thefts: a robbery at a Walgreens the...

Amira and Nadya Gill, 25, are accused of lying about their heritage for money They said they'd been adopted and their birth mother was an Inuk woman A pair of Canadian twin sisters have been charged with fraud after allegedly pretending to be Inuit to obtain more than $10,000 in scholarships and grants for their online business. Amira and Nadya Gill, 25, were charged along with their mother, Karima Manji, with fraud of over $5,000 each. According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, they told police they were the biological daughters of Inuit woman Kitty Noah, and that Manji had...

"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;" "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing. "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I...

Lawmakers recognized Yaroslav Hunka, 98, shortly after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the Canadian Parliament. It seemed like a touching and timely tribute by Canadian lawmakers to a 98-year-old war “hero” who fought for Ukraine’s independence during World War II. But it soon emerged that the man was in fact part of a notorious Nazi unit, leading to fury at the standing ovation he was given in the presence of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Yaroslav Hunka wiped away tears on receiving the rousing recognition from the Canadian House of Commons on Friday. He was singled out by Speaker Anthony Rota,...

With all signs indicating a possible relationship between platinum recording artist and songwriter Taylor Swift and Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, there are Native Americans who are urging for Swift to use her involvement to end the use of the tomahawk chop by the team's fans. Swift attended Sunday's game between the Chiefs and the Chicago Bears at Arrowhead Stadium as a guest of Kelce, as the pop star was seated in Kelce's family suite alongside his mother, Donna. After the game, a group of Native Americans, led by Rhonda LeValdo of Not In Our Honor, voiced hope...

Ford repeatedly defended the proposed billion-dollar factory despite its reliance on Chinese company for key technology ... Ford Motor Company announced Monday that it would pause construction of a billion-dollar plant in Michigan involving a Chinese electric vehicle battery company. ... national security experts have blasted the company for teaming up with a Chinese firm with ties to the Chinese Communist Party on such a major investment. The plan had been considered for Virginia, though it never reached a final discussion stage. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin opposed the plant over China's potential influence in the plan and argued that "CATL...

In Germany in 1938, Adolf Hitler outlawed homeschooling.Source: https://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/139Hitler said, “Give me a child when he’s seven and he’s mine forever.”Source: https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Scinto-Hitler-quote-used-to-stress-early-432121.phpHitler’s ban on homeschooling is still in effect in the 21st century.Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20100711123536/https://time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1968099,00.htmlIn 2006, Katharina Plett was arrested for homeschooling her own children. Her husband and their children fled the country.Source: https://www.brusselsjournal.com/node/1330In 2008, Juergen and Rosemary Dudek were sentenced to 90 days in jail for homeschooling their own children.Source: https://hslda.org/post/hslda-files-asylum-application-for-german-homeschool-familyUwe and Hannelore Romeike and their homeschooled children fled Germany after the police showed up at their house to enforce Germany’s ban on homeschooling. They came to the United States...

Former President Donald Trump’s campaign was forced to walk back a claim that he purchased a Glock pistol at a South Carolina gun shop on Monday amid questions about the legality of such a purchase considering he has been charged with numerous felonies in multiple cases. “President Trump buys a [Glock] in South Carolina!” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung posted on X Monday afternoon, including video of the former president at the Palmetto State Armory in Summerville holding a Glock and saying, “Wow.” “I’ve got to buy one. I want to buy one,” Trump said in the video. Cheung, who...

The Prince of Bavaria complained about the effect 'cultural appropriation' has had on Oktoberfest, bemoaning the fact that the annual German festival is 'just about wearing a costume to get drunk in.' While speaking to a local radio station, Luitpold Rupprecht Heinrich said that the focus on spectacle has caused Oktoberfest to lose its way. "When I see Chinese-made folk costumes made of plastic, pseudo-costumes with tight dirndls, then the whole thing becomes a carnival," Heinrich said, per the Daily Mail. "We all talk about cultural appropriation today. Here it's happening to us Bavarians!" The great-grandson of the last Bavarian...

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador tried to slam conservative media, claiming they will not report on the corruption investigation of U.S. Senator Bob Menendez. The Mexican president mistakenly claimed that conservative news outlets would provide cover for Menendez because he was a “Republican… from Texas.” The statements came during his Monday news conference where the Mexican politician briefly discussed the case. “These news outlets from the right, conservatives, are not going to say that they found gold bars,” Lopez Obrador said. “The Republican Senator, Bob Menendez from Texas, he has always been against us. They are not going to...

What are their net worths? Forbes has estimated the net worths of many 2024 candidates: Ramaswamy: over $950 million Haley: about $8 million Pence: approximately $4 million Scott: over $1 million A source told FOX Business Ramaswamy's fortune was above $1 billion. Christie has a personal fortune that The Independent reported may be near $5 million. Meanwhile, DeSantis had to disclose his net worth in June, pegging it at $1.17 million in a state financial interests form.

During a speech delivered to the United Nations General Assembly, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil asserted that the United States is pursuing the establishment of a military base in the Guayana Esequiba region. This area has been a subject of territorial dispute between Venezuela and Guyana, a conflict spanning over two centuries. Gil contended that the United States has positioned itself as a self-declared authority in Latin America, now inserting itself into this longstanding disagreement between Caracas and Georgetown. According to Gil's statements, the United States government's alleged agenda revolves around the appropriation of Venezuela's oil resources, facilitated through collaboration...

We all have sad stories to tell occasionally and I have one. I have a friend I known for well over 40 years and she has always been fun to be around and we have stayed in touch all this time on and off. Until about a year ago I had no idea she was a committed, hard core, alcoholic. The last two years she had been talking about a decline in her health. She had taken the Covid vaccines and at least one booster and I was fearful this caused her to have some adverse effects. But the surprise...

On this date in 1998, the execution grounds settled a local political rivalry in China. According to an upsetting 1999 Los Angeles Times feature, Cao Haixin had lately governed a small village that was being swallowed up by the sprawling Zhengzhou metropolis. The previous village chief, Cao Xinbao, had profiteered gleefully from his run at the top with sweetheart deals on rapidly appreciating real estate for himself and his connections. Cao Haixin, a reformist farmer, beat Cao Xinbao at the polls in 1995 and set about making unwelcome inquiries into the whereabouts of millions of yuan … at which point...

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews says he will resign, effective from 5pm tomorrow.

He was known as the Last Godfather and boasted he had “filled a graveyard all by myself” with his brutal crimes. Now Sicilian don Matteo Messina Denaro has met his own end, at the age of 61. The mafia boss, who was arrested in January after 30 years on the run, died in hospital in the Central Italian city of L’Aquila suffering from cancer. A notorious womaniser who flaunted his wealth with Porsche cars, Rolex watches, Armani suits and Ray-Ban sunglasses, Denaro was respon­sible for some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Cosa Nostra. Among them was a...

The U.S. Marshals Service last year arrested three men accused of fatally beating 17-year-old high school student Ethan Liming to death outside the school founded by LeBron James in June. The three men beat Liming to death and later bragged about it to friends. According to reports, Ethan Liming, whose father is a pastor, tried to calm the situation in the parking lot when he got jumped and hit in the head from behind. The suspects broke his neck.

U.S. incentives to boost consumption of more environmentally friendly fuel has created a new market for used Chinese cooking oil, worth almost $390 million in the last 12 months and growing rapidly, China's customs data shows. China has been shipping more waste oil to the U.S. since October 2022, two months after the Biden administration passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to promote clean energy, which included tax credits for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and extended incentives for biodiesel. In the first eight months of 2023, Chinese exports of used cooking oil (UCO) to the U.S. totalled almost...