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A San Diego school district is under fire for providing a curriculum that teaches young students about nine genders and 30 sexual orientations. Parents have objected to a slideshow featured on the San Diego Unified Schools (SDUS) website entitled 'LGBTQIA+ Terms you should know'. The resources outlined definitions for nine gender identities including transgender, non-binary, genderfluid and agender. The slides also included a graphic showcasing more than 30 'LGBTQ Youth Sexual Orientations' including graysexual, queer, asexual and pansexual. SDUS is the second largest district in California and services more than 121,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It is unclear...

Some films are obviously Christmas movies, like Noelle. But that designation is not so clear cut for others. They may be set during the holiday season, and they may even touch upon Christmas themes, but does that mean they truly qualify in the traditional sense? …And the latest movie to take the stand in our great Christmas movie debate is hoping its season stock(ing) is about to go up. That’s right, it’s time to buy or sell holiday shares in Trading Places. How much of Trading Places takes place at Christmastime? Roughly 75% of Trading Places is set during Christmas...

Maria and the family fled Villa Trapp in Austria not by foot over the mountains – that would have taken them to Germany, not Switzerland – but by train to Italy (formerly Croatia), where Georg had grown up and earned a military pension

I’ve learned that Notre Dame has decided to opt out of any post-season bowl games this year. They finished the season with a 10-2 record, losing to Miami and Texas A&M. I know they are an independent program/not a part of any conference. Is this a reasonable decision? Unreasonable? If they played a strong schedule or have a record of beating teams that made it to the 12-team cut-off, I can see understand their POV. (Not saying it’s right. Just that I understand it.)

Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has won the 2025 Heisman Trophy, beating out Notre Dame running back Jeremiyah Love, Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia and Ohio State quarterback Julian Sayin. The Hoosiers shot-caller became the first Indiana player to win the award. Mendoza was instrumental in IU's historic regular season, steering the Hoosiers to a 13-0 record, the program's first outright Big Ten championship since 1945 and the No. 1 seed in the College Football Playoff. He led the country in passing touchdowns (33) and is the third Big Ten quarterback since 2000 with three straight games of at least four passing...

It’s easy to be a Scrooge about Christmas movies, especially these days. Streaming platforms have shamelessly muscled into the Hallmark market, churning out quick, cheap holiday romcoms with C-list casts every year, hoping to land on something so irresistibly cheesy it briefly becomes a seasonal phenomenon. Put that cynicism aside, however, and most of us can admit that we all have at least one movie we return to every December – the one that allows us to embrace nostalgia unapologetically and lets us know that the most wonderful time of the year has arrived. It doesn’t have to be schmaltzy...

When the inscrutable Dr. Lao (Tony Randall) and his mystical Chinese medicine show roll into the Wild West settlement of Abalone, Arizona, he ends up in the middle of an ongoing feud between a ruthless land baron, Clint Stark (Arthur O'Connell), and an idealistic newspaper editor, Ed Cunningham (John Ericson). The shape-shifting Dr. Lao soon weighs in on the battle, as well as the problems of widowed librarian Angela (Barbara Eden) and her ambitious young son, Mike.

Without a doubt, the Chinese central bank (PBoC) is still the leading single entity that is driving up the gold price to record highs, year-to-date by more than 55 percent. In the third quarter of 2025, the PBoC’s gold purchases (reported and unreported) accounted for 118 tonnes, up 39% MoM and 55% YoY, according to my long-time methodology1 (now copied by Goldman Sachs, Bloomberg, MarketWatch, The Washington Post, TIME magazine, Financial Times, Financiele Dagblad, and El País, to name a few). Chart 1. Reported central bank gold buying versus estimates by the World Gold Council on central bank gold buying...

A decade-long study of older women found that tea drinkers had slightly stronger bones, while moderate coffee drinking caused no harm. Heavy coffee intake—over five cups a day—was linked to lower bone density, especially in women who consumed more alcohol. Tea’s benefits may stem from catechins that support bone formation. The researchers say small daily habits could make a meaningful difference over time. Share: FULL STORY Tea May Strengthen Bones in Older Women Tea showed a gentle positive effect on bone strength, while excessive coffee appeared to weaken it. Moderate coffee is fine, but a daily cup of tea may...

Claudia Lenz uses imaging techniques to visualize injuries that are not visible to the naked eye. Credit: University of Basel, Eleni Kougionis Bruises are one of the most common injuries observed on victims of violent crime, especially victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. However, bruises can be difficult for forensic nurse examiners to detect, particularly on victims with darker skin tones. An inaccurate documentation of injuries can be detrimental to the victim’s legal case against their attacker, as well as to the victim’s medical treatment. In cases of strangulation, visible traces such as strangulation marks on the neck fade...

“It’s not the monsters under the bed you need to be worried about, it is the ones you invite into your home.” These are the words of a woman who has spoken of how she believes a forensic marking spray saved her life. When her ex-partner attacked her one day and smashed her car up, she was left fearing for her life. Terrified of what he might do if he came back, she was offered several safety measures by Durham Constabulary, including SelectaDNA personal defence spray, which she accepted. This is a compact forensic marking device which, when sprayed, provides...

Explanation: On December 5, 2022, a camera on board the uncrewed Orion spacecraft captured this view as Orion approached its return powered flyby of the Moon. Beyond one of Orion's extended solar arrays lies dark, smooth, terrain along the western edge of the Oceanus Procellarum. Prominent on the lunar nearside Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the largest of the Moon's lava-flooded maria. The lunar terminator, the shadow line between lunar night and day, runs along the left of this frame. The 41 kilometer diameter crater Marius is top center, with ray crater Kepler peeking in at the edge,...

Peter Greene, the actor known for playing villains and criminals, including in his role as Zed in "Pulp Fiction," died at his New York City home Friday, his manager confirmed. He was 60. Greene was found dead inside his Lower East Side apartment, manager Gregg Edwards said. He did not disclose a cause of death. Greene's death was first reported by the New York Daily News.

Explanation: Can you see the bat? It haunts this cosmic close-up of the eastern Veil Nebula. The Veil Nebula itself is a large supernova remnant, the expanding debris cloud from the death explosion of a massive star. While the Veil is roughly circular in shape and covers nearly 3 degrees on the sky toward the constellation of the Swan (Cygnus), NGC 6995, known informally as the Bat Nebula, spans only 1/2 degree, about the apparent size of the Moon. That translates to 12 light-years at the Veil's estimated distance, a reassuring 1,400 light-years from planet Earth. In the composite of...

Former Rep. Katie Hill, the California Democrat who resigned following her très bizarre multi-layered sex scandal with a younger female congressional staffer, who then presented herself as the victim of harassment, bullying, and revenge porn in a New York Times op-ed, is back. She’s not back in Congress, but back to her pre-Congress homeless nonprofit grift. Allegations and photos emerged of Rep. Katie Hill and her husband involved in a “throuple” threesome relationship with a young congressional staffer in 2019. Hill also had allegedly been involved in a sexual relationship for a year with her finance director, RedState reported. She...

“History repeats itself,” said the founding father of modern liberalism. “First as tragedy, second as farce.” Sometimes it turns out to be, “First as patriotism, second as farce.” Via Boston.com: In honor of the Boston Tea Party’s 252nd anniversary next week, local activist groups are calling for Bostonians to recreate the historic protest as an act of resistance against immigration arrests and what they describe as tyranny. “Tyranny” refers to the federal government finally lifting a finger to enforce immigration law before America is washed away in a tsunami of unlawful foreign invaders. The original Boston Tea Party was the...

A college student who lives with family says he recently opted to spend money on a tattoo instead of helping with rent, and he’s afraid to tell his mom about it.

Former President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary, are being pressured to appear for depositions related to the case of convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In a press release Friday, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman James Comer (R-KY) issued a statement regarding the depositions scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. “It has been more than four months since Bill and Hillary Clinton were subpoenaed to sit for depositions related to our investigation into Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell’s horrific crimes. Throughout that time, the former President and former Secretary of State have delayed, obstructed, and largely ignored the Committee...

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Donald Trump expressed concern that his wife, Melania, may now be aware of what he got her for Christmas after news reports surfaced that the U.S. military had seized a Venezuelan oil tanker this week. When the story broke, Trump reportedly scolded White House staff for potentially spoiling the surprise that he was giving his wife the one-of-a-kind gift of a seized tanker filled with crude oil. "I hate to think the surprise is ruined," Trump told friends. "I know she would love to have opened that tanker on Christmas morning and have it be a...

This is a chapter from my book, "Sleuthing The Scriptures". I wrote the book in late 2022. It's Christmas time again, so I am offering it to me fellow freepers. I pray you enjoy it. When you think of the first story of Christmas, it’s usually about Mary and Joseph looking down at their new born son in a manger, surrounded by barn animals and maybe a shepherd or two looking on. Angels singing praises of joy to the Lord Most High, and maybe even the star that is guiding the wise men from Babylon to the destination of the...