Free Republic

Only 1 in 4 people in a nationwide registry received cardiac rehabilitation referrals after being hospitalized for heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, in which the heart doesn't contract effectively. Among them, about 1 in 25 actually participated in a rehab program. The good news, researchers said, is that referrals increased over time—from 8% in 2010 to 32% by 2018. Cardiac rehabilitation, a medically supervised program that includes exercise training and healthy lifestyle education, has been shown in previous research to improve quality of life and exercise levels and to lower the risk of heart failure hospitalization or death from...

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) will remain under care at an inpatient rehabilitation facility with no known timetable for his release after he suffered a rib fracture and concussion. McConnell, 81, was discharged from hospital in mid-March on receiving treatment for tripping at a reception and private dinner at a Washington, DC, hotel hosted by the Senate Leadership Fund. According to his office, McConnell continues to undergo physical therapy to improve his physical wellness. It’s unknown when he might be ready to return to his vigorous Senate responsibilities.

Our treatment of troops returning from combat has led to a culture of permanent disability. They deserve better. Far too often, however, veterans returning to the civilian world are diverted from paths of self-sufficiency and shuffled down paths of dependency and dysfunction. I witnessed this personally at Walter Reed. Soldiers were transformed from men and women of consequence—bravely fighting for their country—to wards of the state, dependent on others and on charity for their sustenance, purpose and meaning. One soldier whom I knew had been wounded in 2003 and was fully able to function by 2005—yet lingered on at the...

Francis Met Archbishop Removed by Benedict XVIAccording to Tyzden.sk Francis had lunch and a long conversation with retired Trnava Archbishop Róbert Bezák, Slovacchia.On 24 June, Francis co-presided a Eucharist with Bezák and returned to him the episcopal ring which he had sent to the Vatican years ago in one of his many appeals for a review of his case.Bezák was appointed Trnava Archbishop in April 2009 when he was only 49. From the beginning, he wanted to promote an “open Church” – a euphemism for a Church which is open to everything but the Catholic Faith.He also denigrated several times...

My lawyer has given me names of books and movies to help me see what life is like for others in our country. I’ve learned that even though we live in a wonderful country things still need to improve. People of all colors should feel as safe as I do to walk down the street.” That passage is part book report, part white privilege mea culpa submitted to a federal court this month by Anna Morgan-Lloyd, one of the more than 500 Americans arrested for her involvement in the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. The 49-year-old grandmother...

Open a beekeeper’s beehive, and the bees will talk. Look closely (through your protective gear, of course), and you will see bees conducting a waggle dance, tails in the air, using their pheromones to express their concerns about the hive intruder. Queens are on the move, sometimes alerting her hive with a piping call. The piping call is one that inmates at the Collin County Sheriff’s Office are learning about as they navigate the art of beekeeping. It’s part of a one-of-a-kind beekeeping program at the CCSO Detention Facility with the help of Texas Bee Supply owners Lyndon and Blake...

WILMINGTON, Delaware (WPVI) -- Commuters can expect to see delays on Interstate 95 through Wilmington beginning in February. It's time for some rehabilitation, according to the Delaware Department of Transportation, which will be restoring a nearly one-mile corridor through Wilmington. They will also be overhauling 19 bridges to make sure it's safe for the next 30 years. The project will take about two years, and some commuters are frustrated. "Very frustrating. It's already always congested with traffic. So, if it's down to one lane, it's going to be even worse," said Stephanie Gentile from Tinicum. Traffic will be reduced by...

In the 1990s, it was our collective national will to do what was necessary, however distasteful to some, to rescue our society from catastrophe.As the nation prepares for the incoming Biden-Harris administration the new president promises will be “the most progressive in history,” many drug policy practitioners wonder with trepidation what this will mean for the country’s drug crisis. Record levels of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl, not to mention surging tonnage of cocaine and black market marijuana, are pouring across our borders at the hands of ruthless Mexican drug cartels, directly fueling ever-increasing overdose deaths and crime. So leftists’ stated...

Distance running with an upper-body amputation is a war against instability. Muscles can strain so much to compensate for the missing limb that they contort your spine, misalign your shoulders, and worsen your imbalance. In 2017, Ashley Jones—then 15 years old—faced a punishing return to high school sports following the amputation of her right arm. On the soccer field, she had collisions so violent that the pain would bring her to the brink of blackout. Later, during cross-country runs, the jostling of the amputation site intensified her phantom pain—which she’d already rated 7 out of 10 on normal days—to as...

Among members of the public who confronted London Bridge attacker Usman Khan were former prisoners attending a rehabilitation event at Fishmongers’ Hall, including a man convicted of killing a young woman. James Ford, 42, was out on day release when he joined those who chased Khan out on to the street before he was pinned to the ground on Friday afternoon. Ford was jailed for life with a minimum of 15 years in 2004 for the murder of Amanda Champion, who had a mental age of 15. It is thought Ford rushed to the scene and tried to save the...

A man accused of stabbing to death two people and injuring three more in London has a previous conviction for an “Islamist terrorism-related offense” — and was wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet when he carried out Friday’s attack, according to a report. The man — who was shot dead after being wrestled to the ground by bystanders in what British police called a “terrorist incident” — has a criminal history that includes a conviction for that unspecified offense, according to the Telegraph. The madman, whose name has not yet been released, was sprung from prison about a year ago after...

With few exceptions, states are losing the battle with aging bridges in need of repair or replacement. Even states with low percentages of bridges rated poor are finding it difficult to keep up with bridge and road systems that in many cases are 50 years old or older. Utah, which ranks fourth for the lowest percentage of poor bridges, programs a bridge for repair or replacement in the year after it drops to a poor rating, completing the project within four or five years. The Utah Department of Transportation notes, though, that the number of bridges falling from good to...

At every mile marker of the 2019 Chicago Marathon, Jimmy Choi dropped to the ground for a burpee—complete with push-up—and then jumped back up on his feet before he got back to running. For each mile marker on the course, he did that same number of burpees—from one on the first mile to 10 on the 10th, all the way up to 26 on the 26th mile—adding another hard effort to the already grueling marathon distance. By the time Choi, 43, reached the finish line in 5:56:03, he had completed a total of 351 burpees in addition to running 26.2...

Kansas City officials, using a new housing inspection law, have moved residents out of a troubled Northland apartment building where they found roaches, severe plumbing problems and other dangerous health violations, the Health Department announced in a news conference Wednesday. In the building, city officials and elected leaders said they saw caved-in ceilings, mold and damp carpets. During their visit Friday, they walked through human excrement in an apartment where sewage had backed up into the toilet, sinks and bathtub. “Disgusting is the best way I can tell you what I saw,” Councilman Dan Fowler, who represents the area, said...

After a six-year hiatus from running, Anne Mahlum got back into it big time, finishing up her goal of completing a marathon on every continent. Her last remaining one? Antarctica. She crossed that off her list on March 17, and she did it for a good cause: She ended up raising $102,927 for the New York City chapter of Back on My Feet, a nonprofit she had founded in 2007 that uses​ running and community to empower people experiencing homelessness. While Mahlum hadn’t laced up in six years, she wasn’t inactive. She had been busy growing her boutique fitness company...

They have no chef and they cook for themselves, often together. They make their own yogurt. On this summer morning, Rosalynn mixes pancake batter and sprinkles in blueberries grown on their land. Carter cooks them on the griddle. Then he does the dishes.

WHEELING — Motorists know age and excessive use are taking a toll on Interstate 70 through Ohio County, but some state lawmakers are concerned drivers may be paying tolls after a proposed $172.5 million rehabilitation on the stretch of highway is completed. Delegates Erikka Storch, R-Ohio, and Patrick McGeehan, R-Hancock, both said they voted against a bill — which ultimately passed — giving the West Virginia Parkways Authority the ability to charge tolls after construction of new roads and major improvements to existing highways because of their concerns about future tolling on Interstate 70. State Senate Majority Leader Ryan Ferns,...

The nearly $30-billion Gateway program to overhaul Northeast Corridor rail lines between Newark and New York City, an array of tunnels, bridges and viaduct over wetlands has two main thrusts: rehabilitation and expansion. These objectives are deeply intertwined—the project team must build new structures in the huge effort before it can upgrade old ones. That’s why digging two 1.4-mile, 28-ft-dia train tunnels under the Hudson River—an estimated $12.9-billion project component—isn’t just an expansion job but a lifeline to free a pair of 107-year-old tubes heavily damaged by Superstorm Sandy in 2012 and in need of a rebuild. It’s also why...

Diane Hendricks and her late husband saw opportunity in Beloit, a decaying industrial town. Now, she dreams of turning it into a mecca for start-ups. When Diane Hendricks sees something she doesn’t like here, she buys it. A bankrupt country club. A half-empty mall. Abandoned buildings. The rusting foundry down by the river. Beloit used to be a town that made papermaking machines and diesel engines. Ms. Hendricks thinks it can be a place where start-ups create the next billion-dollar idea, and she is remaking the town to fit her vision. She can do so because she is the second-richest...

Wisconsin’s highways are seriously underfunded. According to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation’s Transportation Fund Solvency report, spending only the $28 billion projected to be available over the next decade will lead to double the number of highway miles in “poor” condition — and will preclude even planning any highway expansions for nearly 40 years. Borrowing enough to spend $31 billion would slightly reduce the amount of “poor” highway miles but still would preclude planning any highway expansions until 2040. But a second WisDOT report offers a way out. Extensive research done last year for the DOT by the consulting firm...