Free Republic

Votes have consequences. Pres. Barack “Abstain” Obama directed the U.S. to abstain rather than veto a vote by the UN Security Council in December 2016 just before leaving office called Resolution 2334 which condemned Israel for its settlements in occupied territories. In previous votes on this matter, the U.S. vetoed said condemnation. Without the U.S. veto of the Resolution, the vote passed at 14-0. This was Obama’s parting “gift” to Israel. It legitimized and thereby intensified Arab hatred for the Jewish settlers.

Dr. Anthony Fauci says that the government’s response against monkeypox must include combating anti-gay stigmas that could be associated with the disease. Speaking with NPR’s “All Things Considered” on Tuesday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), highlighted the importance of treating the virus as one that can affect anybody, and not only a certain part of the population. There are 19,188 confirmed cases of monkeypox in the current outbreak, which the World Health Organization has recently classified as a public health emergency. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 3,591 of them...

Russia calls on the U.S. to drop the idea of holding the Sea Breeze 2021 multi-national naval military drills in the Black Sea. The Russian embassy in the United Statesd left the respective statement on Twitter. "The large scale and clearly aggressive nature of Sea Breeze drills do not meet the real security challenges in the Black Sea region. They increase risks of unitended incidents. They welcome the militarist views in Kyiv. We decisively urge the U.S. and their allies to refuse from training in military actions in the Black Sea", reads the message. According to the Russian diplomats, "the...

As the Holy War concerning filling Justice Ginsburg’s seat begins in earnest, one question which the Republican side and President Trump should certainly pose, is what would the Democrats do if the situation were reversed? Without question, they would have a Democrat president nominate a new Justice, and the Democrat Senate majority would rush to confirm that nominee. In all likelihood, Democrat discipline would work to hold their majority together and the nominee would be confirmed. Already, two Republican Senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, have indicated they would not vote to confirm a newly appointed...

The United States could have killed a key United Nations resolution that condemned Israel for its West Bank settlements by voting against it rather than abstaining, former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said Friday night, but he thinks President Barack Obama took the action to "box the incoming Trump administration in." "This was a stab in the back against the Israelis," Bolton told Fox News' "Hannity" show Friday night. "It was entirely predictable. I would say this for people in the pro-Israel community in the United States who defended Obama's Middle East policy over these last eight years: You should have...

The Palestinian Authority’s (PA) representative to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) criticized Nigeria on Wednesday over its abstention during a UN vote on Palestinian statehood on Tuesday. In a statement quoted by the Ma’an news agency, the representative Muhannad al-Akluk, said Nigeria’s move was a "big disappointment", adding that voting against “Palestine” despite being a member of the OIC was a "clear contradiction." He also claimed that Nigeria’s abstention violated numerous resolutions passed at the Islamic organization's summits. The PA’s resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria by 2017 was defeated in the Security Council when...

Nationalists in the coalition caved in and abstained from the Knesset vote Wednesday afternoon that rejected a bill to legalize five homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El, forcing the expulsion of 30 families. The vote as 22 for the bill and 69 against. Absent from the vote were all of the ministers and deputy ministers who vowed to test Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultimatum to vote against the bill or be fired. Among those who left the Knesset before the vote were Jewish Home leader Daniel Hershkowitz and Likud ministers Yuli Edelstein and Ayoub Kara. Prime Minister Binyamin...

Nationalists in the coalition caved in and abstained from the Knesset vote Wednesday afternoon that rejected a bill to legalize five homes in the Ulpana neighborhood in Beit El, forcing the expulsion of 30 families. The vote as 22 for the bill and 69 against. Absent from the vote were all of the ministers and deputy ministers who vowed to test Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s ultimatum to vote against the bill or be fired. Among those who left the Knesset before the vote were Jewish Home leader Daniel Hershkowitz and Likud ministers Yuli Edelstein and Ayoub Kara. Prime Minister Binyamin...

Aso thinks Russia, China may abstain on U.N. resolution on N. Korea TOKYO, July 9 KYODO Foreign Minister Taro Aso expressed the view Sunday that Russia and China may abstain from a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution calling for sanctions against North Korea over its missile launches, rather than exercising their veto powers. Russia, which along with China is sympathetic to North Korea, could be leaning toward abstaining given its role as host of the July 15-17 Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, Aso said during a TV Asahi program. ''It is normal (for Russia) to think...

Rare Sexually Transmitted Disease Strikes 2 in N.Y. Wed Feb 2, 5:06 PM ET Health - Reuters NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two New Yorkers have been diagnosed with a rare sexually transmitted disease that is spreading among gay and bisexual men in Europe, the city health commissioner said on Wednesday. The disease, known as LGV or Lymphogranuloma venereum, is caused by specific strains of chlamydia and is often marked by painful, bloody rectal infection and genital ulcers. "LGV is a serious condition and its emergence in New York City reflects continuing high levels of unsafe sexual activity among men who...

Hey Kids! Want Good Sex? Try Abstinence.Warren ThrockmortonAs a mental health counselor, I am really troubled by the numbers of adolescents that I have counseled who cried for days and hurt for years because they engaged in "safer sex" within dead end, unfulfilling relationships. Sadly, they learned that “safer sex” can be hazardous to their emotional health. I think the current political debate concerning abstinence vs. contraceptive based sexual education has failed to include an important variable in the discussion of what to teach in school: sexual well being. In many contemporary sexual education curricula, young boys and girls who...

Elections recently concluded in Jammu & Kashmir. It made all the headlines. Do you know who won? Of all people who should know, I don't. But I do know that "voter turn-out" topped the the minimum 30% level set by the Indian government to present a legitimization of Indian rule of Kashmir. The secrets of democracies unveiled! Oops. When you vote in the election this November (or any time), remember that you are voting for more than one thing. Yes, you are voting for a candidate who may or may not win in an oliagarchy that has marginalized whatever orriginal...