Free Republic

The CRISPR genome-editing technique revolutionising biology just got a major upgrade. A new variant, called prime editing, should be even better at correcting disease-causing mutations. This approach, devised by Andrew Anzalone at the Broad Institute in Massachusetts makes it possible to add or delete short DNA sequences, or change one DNA letter to another, with fewer unwanted side effects. The technique gets closer to the ideal form of genome editing, which would work like the “find and replace” command in a writing app. Use of CRISPR has grown rapidly since it was devised in 2012 because it made the “find”...

It has been a stop-start affair of late for the Bloodhound supersonic car, which was on the brink bankruptcy last year but now has the land speed record again firmly in its sights. Then for the grand finale, the EJ200 jet engine fired up its afterburners for a full 12-second reheat, which established that it is functioning properly, and propelled the Bloodhound LSR to 334 mph (537 km/h), a record for the now 11-year-old project. This run marks the beginning of the high-speed testing program, with the team to build up to a target speed of 500 mph (800 km/h)...

The U.S. is on track to not admit any refugees in October, following the cancelation of hundreds of flights intended to bring refugees to the country, CNN reported Tuesday. Admissions had been slated to resume Tuesday after a temporary halt, but the extended pause will now continue until Saturday. The delay marks the third time this month that admissions have been postponed, according to CNN. Revised travel plans, including the re-booking of tickets for taxpayer-funded flights, will now be required. The initial pause on refugee admissions was set to expire Oct. 21 but was pushed back to Monday. A delay...

[Catholic Caucus] Let Women be Cardinals if They are Ordained to the Diaconate, says Cardinal Hollerich Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich has advocated from the Amazon Synod in Rome for the appointment of women as cardinals of the Church.Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg and President of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), told Argentinian paper La Nación before the vote on the Synod final document that he insisted in Synod meetings that “it would be good if there were some women cardinals if there are women deacons”. “Because I think that when one chooses the pope, women should...

The incident began about 11:45 p.m. Monday when a man standing on a narrow ledge on an overpass forced authorities to shut down both sides of the 101 near Hollywood Boulevard. The man held on to the fence for hours, facing officers who tried to get him to surrender as firefighters set up a ladder from the freeway below. He surrendered around 9:40 a.m. after authorities started cutting a hole in the fence, Los Angeles police Capt. Scot Williams told KTLA. All lanes of the 101 were reopened soon after. The man, who's about 25 years old, will be arrested...

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner on Tuesday lashed out at former Vice President Joe Biden, saying many of his efforts under the Trump administration have been aimed at “cleaning up the messes that Vice President Biden left behind.” Kushner pushed back days after Biden said in a “60 Minutes” interview that Kushner and his wife, President Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump, should not have been appointed to serve in Trump’s administration. “Look, he’s entitled to his opinion, but a lot of the work that the president’s had me doing over the last three years has actually been cleaning up the...

Michelle Obama says she "can't make people not afraid of black people," but can "pick away at the scabs of discrimination" through her life's work. "As people doubted us coming through — 'Are you Princeton material? Can you really make the grade?' Can you cut it?' — what do you do in those instances? All you can do is put your head down and do the work and let the work, your truth, speak for itself," the former first lady said Tuesday at the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago. "I can't make people not afraid of black people. I don't...

What is the funnest thing in America, after Halloween? You got it: the Federal Budget. And just in time for Halloween the Feds issued their report for the just completed FY 2019 with their Monthly Treasury Statement (MTS) for September 2019. Since it was issued late on Friday the 25th you know that there was bad news that the Democrat Operatives with Bylines would want to hype up to the max. It was the Deficit: Up 26%! Soaring! And so on. And yes! The deficit was a bloodcurdling $984 billion in FY 2019, just a tad under One Trillion Dollars. But...

The NCAA's Board of Governors voted unanimously Tuesday to permit college athletes the opportunity to benefit from the use of their names, images and likenesses "in a manner consistent with the collegiate model," the organization announced. “We must embrace change to provide the best possible experience for college athletes,” board chair Michael V. Drake, president of Ohio State University, said in a statement. “Additional flexibility in this area can and must continue to support college sports as a part of higher education.

The NCAA Board of Governors has taken the first step toward allowing athletes to cash in on their fame. The board voted unanimously on Tuesday to clear the way for the amateur athletes to “benefit from the use of their name, image and likeness.”

Italian bishops’ agency published prayer to Pachamama Missio, the pastoral agency of the Italian Episcopal Conference, published a prayer to Pachamama in an April 2019 publication devoted to the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. The prayer, described as a “prayer to Mother Earth of the Inca peoples,” reads: Pachamama of these places, drink and eat this offering at will, so that this earth may be fruitful. Pachamama, good Mother, be favorable! Be favorable! Make that the oxen walk well, and that they not become tired. Make that the seed sprout well, that nothing bad...

Top Democrats at the deposition of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the top Ukraine expert on the National Security Council, said his testimony Tuesday was “extremely disturbing” and praised him for appearing despite attacks from the White House. Acting House Oversight Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y, told NBC News she found Vindman’s remarks “extremely, extremely, extremely disturbing” as she left the deposition. Maloney refused to answer any other questions about Vindman’s testimony. Vindman, appearing voluntarily under congressional subpoena, was set to tell members of Congress conducting an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump that he was on the phone call between Trump...

“To clarify, yes we knew we would get banned, yes the [banishment] letters are real, and yes, I would do it again lol. Summer and Rose were said to be in violation of fan conduct, according to the letters posted online. “During the game, you violated the fan code of conduct by exposing yourself during the 7th inning, in order to promote a business,” the note read.

1. Vindman Is the Top Ukraine Expert on the National Security Council 2. Vindman Was Awarded a Purple Heart After He Was Injured in an IED Attack in Iraq 3. Vindman Was Present for the July 25 Phone Call Between Trump & the President of Ukraine 4. Vindman Is a First-Generation American Whose Family Fled the Soviet Union 5. Vindman, Who Has a Twin Brother, Married Rachel Cartman

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) warned the GOP dominated legislature to not waste time passing a bill to ban abortions after the baby's heartbeat can be detected. "I will veto whatever bill they pass," Wolf promised. "Some women don't want to be mothers. They shouldn't be forced to become mothers in order to fulfill somebody else's moral values." Rep. Stephanie Borowicz (R-McElhattan), sponsor of the bill was distressed that "the governor has rejected any and all limitations on the cruel practice of killing innocent babies. Isn't 'life' one of the inalienable rights that our country was founded to protect? Women...

As Chief Justice, John Roberts appoints the FISA judges, whose fraudulently-obtained surveillance approvals are central to the coup against President Trump. While I remain convinced that the House will not impeach him, if that were to occur it seems inevitable that Roberts would be a material witness and would recuse himself. While normally the Vice President presides over the Senate, he would have an obvious conflict of interest in this instance. So, the Constitution stipulates that the Chief Justice must preside over any impeachment trial of a President, but it is silent about any succession were he to be unavailable....

"The top Ukraine expert at the White House will tell impeachment investigators he twice reported concerns about President Trump’s pressure tactics on Ukraine, acting out of a “sense of duty.”

House Democratic leaders are walking back a planned vote Thursday that would officially endorse impeachment proceedings and say that the resolution would merely address the process of holding public hearings on the matter. “This is not an impeachment resolution,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters Tuesday morning. “I don’t know what an impeachment resolution is.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters Monday that the planned vote was “not an impeachment resolution.” Earlier in the day, Pelosi announced the House would vote on a resolution that “affirms the ongoing, existing investigation,” and “establishes the procedure for hearings that are open...

Do you hear that dull thud sound? That’s the sound of Elizabeth Warren beating her head against reality. Unlike Bernie Sanders, Warren hasn’t been willing to admit that taxes will have to go up to pay for Medicare for All. All she’ll say is that “for middle-class families, for hard-working people costs are going to go down.” Warren wants us to imagine is a system in which taxes go way up on top earners but people in the middle are better off.Monday the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget released a new estimate of what it would take to...

Contrary to popular misconceptions, All Saints Day and its vigil, Halloween, are not the same as the pagan feast known as Samhain. The feast of All Saints developed independently among Christian churches within the territory of the later Roman Empire. Halloween is merely the vigil of the feast of All Saints -- hence, All Hallows Eve. Samhain, meanwhile, was theoretically a festival of those pagans in Celtic regions outside the Roman Empire, specifically Ireland, about which almost nothing is known prior to the 12th century AD. The two feasts seem to share a common date, but beyond that, their provenance...