Free Republic

An Assyrian Orthodox Church bishop who was stabbed during a livestreamed church service in Sydney had spoken critically about Islam in a video recorded four months ago. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was preaching at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley in Sydney's west just after 7pm on Monday when a 16-year-old boy walked up to the altar and allegedly stabbed him multiple times. On a separate video of the aftermath of the alleged terror attack, the boy said in Arabic 'If they didn't insult my prophet, I wouldn't have come here. If he didn't involve himself in my religion,...

Sydney has been shaken by another stabbing attack with a priest and worshippers assailed by a knife-wielding man Monday in a suburban church. Bishop Mari Emmanuel was preaching a live-streamed sermon at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in the city’s west when a man dressed in black approached the altar and allegedly stabbed the Christian Orthodox priest multiple times. Horrifying footage of the incident, which was being broadcast live on the church’s YouTube page, shows Bishop Emmanuel look up in astonishment as the attacker suddenly rains down blows on his face and head, news.com.au reports. The local Sydney-based outlet goes...

The future of Boston Market is in jeopardy after owner Jignesh Pandya filed for personal bankruptcy on Dec. 8 with the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Court. The chain, which has over $329,000 in unpaid sales and payroll taxes, also had its headquarters seized by the Colorado Department of Revenue. Engage Brands, one of the Rohan Group of companies, owned by Pandya of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, purchased Boston Market from affiliates of Sun Capital Partners in 2020, the same year it also acquired Corner Bakery from affiliates of Roark Capital Partners. The Dallas-based bakery, however, filed for Chapter 11 earlier...

AMMAN, Jordan (RNS) — Yasmine Faraa, a Jordanian of Palestinian heritage, was angered when an Israeli missile hit a building belonging to St. Porphyrios Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza, killing 18 and injuring 20. Faraa, a Muslim, came up with the idea to hold a vigil outside the Orthodox Christian Church, in the Jordanian capital’s Sweifieh neighborhood, to show solidarity. The numbers that turned out for the vigil on Sunday (Oct. 22) surprised even the Jordanian police, who had initially decided that they didn’t need to block the roads leading to the church. The crowd was largely composed of middle-...

Are aliens real? Do UFOs really exist? These questions, once relegated to the confines of conspiratorial enterprises, are now legitimately being pondered among some scientists, academics — and even in the halls of Congress.It’s an issue Dr. Hugh Ross, an astrophysicist and apologist, has long researched and explored.“I became a UFO expert, but not on purpose,” he recently told “Billy Hallowell’s Playing With Fire.” “I was an amateur astronomer before I became a professional astronomer.”

WiFi is electromagnetic waves in the 2.4 and 5 GHz ranges. It’s the same thing as the light you see, only it can penetrate walls due to its much longer wavelength. Just like light (and echolocation) these waves also reflect off various surfaces and, when reconstructed properly, can be used to create an image.

Ron DeSantis may be missing his moment. A number of the Florida governor’s donors and allies are worried his recent stumbles suggest he may not be ready for a brutal fight against Donald Trump. Some feel DeSantis needs to accelerate his timeline to run for the GOP presidential nomination and begin directly confronting Trump if he's to have any chance of thwarting the former president’s momentum. Others believe DeSantis should sidestep Trump altogether and wait until 2028 to run. “They liked him — many of them might even support him,” the person who was at the event said of DeSantis....

The United States Marine Corps disbanded its elite and historic scout sniper program as part of its extensive revamp to adapt infantry battalions to future warfare. The age-old MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) has been around since World War II, and one nonprofit organization representing the renowned Scout Snipers is calling the Corps move “misguided” and “ill-advised.” “We’re shocked and saddened that our Marine Corps leadership seems to have forgotten the lessons learned in combat, paid for with the blood of our members,” the USMC Scout Sniper Association wrote on Facebook. A memo from Deputy Commandant for Plans, Policy, and Operations...

It's a burden that's fallen on women for decades. But a contraceptive that's targeted at men could hit shelves in less than a decade, according to one of the most eminent reproductive health experts who is leading the UK trials of the frontrunner. And rather than a pill, it is a gel — which has a similar consistency to hand sanitiser, dries quickly and is odourless — that men rub onto their shoulders, chest and upper arms once a day. Within weeks, user's sperm count plummets and — once levels are low enough — it can work as a couple's...

It was worse than we thought. It turns out that Hunter Biden’s drug enslavement, sex addiction, and penchant for Russkie hookers didn’t stop there. It was probably worse than his hinky “big guy” business deals, diamond “gifts,” and unearned Ukrainian paydays. There was a Chinese spy involved. Just like Democrat Eric Swalwell’s Fang Fang. Hold on, I’ve got to catch my breath. Be honest: You thought it would be that Putin inserted, so to speak, hookers who would double back and sting the first son. But those chickens haven’t come home to roost — at least as far as we...

New York is poised to strengthen its oversight of private and religious schools following years of complaints that thousands of children are graduating from ultra-Orthodox Jewish schools lacking basic academic skills, including the ability to read English. A Board of Regents committee unanimously approved guidelines Monday to make sure instruction at the state’s private and religious schools is equivalent to that of its public schools. The rules would apply to all of New York’s 1,800 nonpublic schools but would have the greatest impact on the ultra-Orthodox schools, called yeshivas, some of which provide rigorous religious instruction but little or no...

The AG of North Dakota has taken action with a inquiry after billionaire Bill Gates’ latest farmland purchase. Bill Gates acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company plans to use the land and if it meets any of the exceptions to the North Dakota Corporate Farming Laws. "Bill Gates acquired six parcels of land in Pembina County. Tuesday, the office of the Attorney General sent out a letter asking the Red River Trust to confirm how the company...

Meta suggests it may have to shut down Facebook and Instagram in the European Union (EU) if it’s no longer able to transfer data across the Atlantic between Europe and the US. While the suggestion appears to just be posturing, some top politicians in Europe seem almost hilariously unphased by the proposition. Meta’s suggestion was quietly mentioned in the company’s annual report to the US Securities and Exchange Commission last week. The remarks regard new EU legalization currently being drawn up that would require data processing service providers to set up safeguards against illegal data transfers to non-EU governments. “If...

Facebook's user numbers declined for the first time in its history last quarter.Facebook's parent company Meta reported daily active user numbers of 1.929 billion over the last three months of 2021. In Q3 of 2021, it reported an average of 1.93 billion active users. This means it lost roughly 1 million users over that period.Facebook stock plunged 22% in premarket trading following its Q4 earnings.CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in the company's earnings call that the company's social-media business is facing stiff competition.

The BBC and wokeness killed the much-loved sci-fi TV series. The writer who last revived ‘Doctor Who’ is likely the only one who can save it now. “Doctor Who” is dead. Ratings haven’t been this low since the moribund 1980s. Fan interest is zilch, with little engagement on social media. The show just finished its 13th series, and the few who watched could only yawn. The doctor is on life support thanks to the BBC’s incessant diversity mandates, executive producer Chris Chibnall retcons, and the lazy pomposity of the first female doctor, Jodie Whittaker. But there is hope. A familiar...

Things are going horribly for Democrats. A legislative seat held for decades by Democrats in Iowa is no longer blue. Republicans flipped in red. In the “Trump-hostile” state of Connecticut, Republicans won back a state senate seat. This occurred in an affluent suburban where folks have been anti-Trump. Here’s a quick review of the history of this Iowa seat: “This district went (62/38) blue in 2012,” Townhall reports. “Then (51/38) in 2016.” “It shifted back to deeper blue territory in the Democratic wave year of 2018, only to become a three-point squeaker in 2020,” the report added. In yesterday’s special,...

"Short version: Private enforcement of vaccination is being done through Texas HHS's ImmTrac2 vaccine database and the CDC's IZ Gateway. Sever this connection. Long Version Texas HHS tracks instate vaccinations for children at schools. When COVID broke out, the CDC established data connections with each state to track vaccinations. This is done by an electronic file feed between our database and the CDC. That electronic file feed is called the CDC IZ Gateway. Once the CDC has this data, they send it out to third parties, such as contractor ID.ME, and it is used for vaccine enforcement with private firms....

Rep. Adam Schiff recalls Robert Mueller’s testimony during the Russian “collusion” inquiry as being “painful” in a new interview — dodging on whether cognitive decline should have disqualified the former FBI director from leading the investigation. In his new book and an interview this week, Schiff (D-Calif.) revealed he would not have wanted Mueller to testify if he knew how “painful” it was going to be, saying Congress had to stick to shorter questions for the beleaguered special counsel. “I did understand immediately why his staff had been so protective and why they were so reluctant to have him testify,”...

Mick Jagger and Keith Richards have announced the Rolling Stones will stop performing hit song Brown Sugar, amid discomfort about the 50-year-old classic's references to slavery. The band, currently on the road for a 13-date U.S. tour, have not played Brown Sugar - one of their most recognizable songs - since kicking off in St Louis on September 26. The 1969 song has been a staple of their live show since it came out 50 years ago, and is the second most played song in their catalog after Jumpin' Jack Flash, with 1,136 known performances, according to Rolling Stone magazine....

The Black national anthem was played ahead of the NFL’s first game of the season between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday night. The NBC broadcast played a video of Alicia Keys singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing" while the Florida A&M University Concert Choir joined in from Raymond James Stadium. Players from both teams stood in their respective end zones and locked arms to show unity ahead of the game. Lift Every Voice and Sing" was played before the start of Week 1 games during the 2020 NFL season, and Front Office Sports reported in...