Free Republic

A weekend fire that gutted the Mission San Gabriel Arcangel church started in the choir loft on the second floor, then spread to the ceiling and the wooden roof, authorities said Monday. But investigators have not yet determined what started the blaze, which broke out early Saturday morning at the 215-year-old church on West Mission Drive. Investigators took collected materials over to a lab, San Gabriel Fire Capt. Antonio Negrete said. The fire began at the choir loft, which is about 250 square feet, he said, adding that there was substantial burning in one area. It spread to the ceiling....

In a tweet to mark the International Day of Cooperatives, Saturday, Pope Francis notes that cooperatives across the globe are making a real difference in the fight against climate change.For the past 97 years, the International Day of Cooperatives has been celebrated each year on the first Saturday of July. Since 1995, the United Nations and the International Cooperative Alliance have chosen the theme of the annual day. The focus for this year is on climate action for sustainable development for a healthier, fairer and more united economy. In a tweet for Saturday’s observance, Pope Francis also focused on the...

A joint effort by former Vice President Joe Biden and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to unify Democrats around Biden's candidacy has produced a 110-page policy wish list to recommend to the party's presumptive presidential nominee. Throughout the Democratic primary, Biden stuck to a more moderate platform, while Sanders, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and much of the rest of the crowded field courted progressives and advocated for broader structural changes. But as the United States faces a growing pandemic and unemployment rates at the highest levels in generations, Biden has been talking more and more about a presidency that approaches Franklin...

Monmouth University will remove Woodrow Wilson's names from the university's marquee building, citing the 28th president's racist policies, at a time when numerous monuments and honors given to figures associated with segregation or racism are being reassessed. The decision comes four years after the New Jersey university's trustees voted to keep Wilson's name on the building amid student calls to rename it. President Patrick F. Leahy said "the context has changed" since then.

Not to count our chickens before they hatch, but Seattle is poised to actually follow through on a progressive revenue option. Or three. As long as the council doesn't pull some of that 2018 head tax nonsense. There are multiple tax options that the Seattle City Council is considering: Councilmembers Kshama Sawant's and Tammy Morales' Tax Amazon package or Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda's JumpStart Seattle plan. And, it looks like Councilmember Andrew Lewis just introduced a capital gains tax proposal: Councilmember Andrew J. Lewis @CMAndrewJLewis 1/ We live in a time of enormous inequity and our regressive tax system isn't helping....

(Reuters) - Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's stunning upset over a member of the Democratic congressional leadership in 2018 made her a household name and inspired similar insurgent campaigns around the United States. Now the democratic socialist from New York City, best known by her initials AOC, must survive her own challenge from within the party in a June 23 primary election. Two other members of "the Squad" – four women of color who, in their first terms, have become the face of the U.S. House of Representatives' liberal wing – also face primary challengers. Like Ocasio-Cortez, Michigan's Rashida Tlaib and Minnesota's Ilhan...

As this once great land descends even further into this “check your privilege” wokescold madness the lawless not only want to govern your actions, but your thoughts as well. What so many are hailing as a transformative moment in American history is really a dystopian thought-policing nightmare. – Stephen Kruiser Some things that your great grand children may never know if progressives are allowed to complete their cultural revolution: Simple fun: driving their own car to a happy neighborhood bistro. Whiling away the afternoon drinking coffee and reading a book of their choice… Although their “choice” will be somewhat...

A news editor for a small, independent outlet was in support of the protests-turned-riots, until they broke into her office and she had to take cover in the basement. A news editor for a small, independent newspaper was in support of the protests-turned-riots, until they broke into the paper's office and she had to take cover from looters and vandals in the basement. Leigh Tauss, an editor for the progressive news outlet Indy Week in North Carolina, was stunned to find that the protesters-turned-rioters did not look favorably upon her business when they swept the area.

By: BNJ Editor and Chief At Large I did not create the BNJ for profit. The BNJ informs and is therapeutic. My desire is to publish both sides of an issue from a neutral perspective. The mendacity of the national media is frustrating me to no end, as I assume it is doing the same for you. The BNJ is an outlet for our frustration. We can reach 100 or 1000 people. That makes a difference and you can help. The BNJ is not right or left. It presents both sides. I don’t want to turn off either side. My...

Conservatives have developed a fascination with Sweden’s hands-off approach to the coronavirus — an unexpected twist for a country that once served as a Republican punchline for Bernie Sanders jokes. On the surface, Sweden’s approach to containing the coronavirus pandemic is a libertarian dream: Restaurants remain open, as long as they adhere to social-distancing rules. Schools are in session. Salons are in business. And by some metrics, Sweden has fared roughly as well as many of its European neighbors, all of which have instituted much stricter lockdown measures. The combination has made Sweden an object of curiosity — and a...

Conservatives should stop helping ultraconservative Democrats lie by agreeing with the Democrats' false claim that Democrats are liberals instead of ultraconservatives. Conservatives should also stop calling outdated Democratic ideas "progressive". Conservatives, like many Americans, falsely believe there are only two political "attitudes" in the United States. One attitude is called "liberal". The other is called "conservative". There is a third attitude called "ultraconservative" which has at times adversely affected American society. Real liberals are open-minded and sometimes overly optimistic about the positive impact of change. Democrats are closed-minded True Believers who tend to believe they are Right about everything and...

Progressive darling Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) made the case that the proposed Wuhan coronavirus relief package that's currently floating in Congress shows why progressive ideas and the progressive movement are achievable. "It's actually a fascinating progressive moment because what it's shown is that all of these issues have never been about how are you going to pay for it. It's never been about whether we have the capacity to do these things or if the logistics have worked out," AOC explained in a video for Sen. Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. "All of these excuses that we have been given as...

The nation’s most prominent elected Democrat said Friday her party must resist the temptation to chase progressive dreams, such as Medicare for All, if it wants to win the 2020 elections. The key to victory, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, is policies that appeal to the political mainstream. “I just say to all of our friends, you know, you want to go to the left? You want to win the election, let’s make a decision to win the election. And when you make a decision to win the election, you have to make every decision in favor of winning,” Pelosi...

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., added more national support to progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros as she runs to unseat Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, a man she has described as "Trump's favorite Democrat." Cisneros is one of nine endorsements that Sanders announced on Wednesday. The others included "squad" Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich. “This is the most important election in our lifetime and I’m proud there are so many candidates running for Congress who understand that real change comes from the bottom on up, not the top on down,” Sanders said, according to...

Three months after a portion of Seminary Road was re-paved and re-striped to reduce it from two vehicular lanes in each direction to one lane, a turn lane and bike lanes, the 51 Comments over the “road diet” still rages on. Let us know what you think in the poll and the comments.

**SNIP** Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York have promoted "Medicare for all," a federal $15 minimum wage, and social justice issues as cornerstones of a policy platform that helped elect both House Democrats in 2018. “We have the support of the majority of the public for the policies that we advocate for. And so we have to speak from a place of authority and power,” Omar told BuzzFeed. **SNIP** The Congressional Progressive Caucus co-chairwoman, Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington, who referred to Trump as a "combative racist" in 2019, said, "progressives are just the first...

Progressive journalist Ryan Grim said Monday that the Democratic Party fears that a potential presidency for Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) represents a threat to the party's establishment. “A Sanders’s presidency is a threat of an entirely new party of which you’re not necessarily welcome, or you might be welcome in but in extremely subservient and much less paid role,” Grim, The Intercept's Washington, D.C., bureau chief, told Hill.TV. “That, I think, mingles with a genuine fear that Bernie Sanders isn’t electable, and they’ll run with whatever sticks,” he added. “It’s too early to say what exactly is going to stick...

WASHINGTON (WNDU) - VoteVets, the largest progressive group of veterans in America, is endorsing South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg for president. It is the first presidential endorsement for the group, which represents more than 700,000 veterans, military families and civilian supporters. "We need a candidate who will win," VoteVets Chairman Jon Soltz says in a release. "Bar none, Pete gives us the best shot at doing just that. It is time to rally around him, and stop the walking, talking national security threat that is Donald Trump." Buttigieg is a veteran himself. He took a leave of absence as mayor...

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) spoke at church service in Columbia, South Carolina, over the weekend and attempted to use scripture to push his progressive agenda. Sanders spoke at Reid Chapel AME and sought to link his campaign and the scriptures by focusing primarily on the need for “justice.”

Less than a year into their terms, progressive Democratic Reps. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are facing accusations that they mishandled campaign finances - and the outcomes could have big impacts on their political careers. Tlaib, Omar and Ocasio-Cortez are three out of four members of the so-called "Squad," a group of up-and-coming female members of Congress who have been outspoken about their beliefs as they appear to pull their party to the left. Here are the questions they're being asked about their campaign finances as the 2020 election looms. Rashida Tlaib Since August, an official congressional watchdog...