Free Republic

Did coronavirus leak from a research lab in Wuhan? Startling new theory is 'no longer being discounted' amid claims staff 'got infected after being sprayed with blood' Ministers fear that the coronavirus pandemic might have been caused by a leak from a Chinese laboratory, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Senior Government sources say that while 'the balance of scientific advice' is still that the deadly virus was first transmitted to humans from a live animal market in Wuhan, a leak from a laboratory in the Chinese city is 'no longer being discounted'. One member of Cobra, the emergency committee...

I have been discussing Catholic Moral Teaching in the last two columns. The authentic Magisterium of the Catholic Church affirms that there are intrinsically evil acts which can never, ever, ever be chosen. A clear summary of this teaching is found in paragraph 80 of the encyclical letter of Pope St. John Paul II entitled The Splendor of Truth (Veritatis Splendor): “Reason attests that there are objects of the human act which are by their nature ‘incapable of being ordered’ to God, because they radically contradict the good of the person made in his image. These are the acts which,...

The head of the Food and Drug Administration said he is hopeful about finding a treatment for coronavirus after federal health officials approved two treatments for emergency use. Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, spoke Saturday during the White House coronavirus task force press briefing. He highlighted a program that uses convalescent plasma as a way to treat COVID-19 patients. The program collects blood plasma from people who have recovered from the novel coronavirus and transfers the immunoglobulins - antibodies produced by white blood cells and offer immunity - to help patients recover more rapidly....

You may have encountered the rumor that a lab in Winnipeg, Canada, might have played an inadvertent role in the creation of the COVID-19 virus. The general idea behind this is that Chinese communist medical spies worked in the lab at our invitation (which makes my use of the word inadvertent rather charitable), and that they illegally stole information and even had samples shipped to China. Here's the official disclaimer (lame at best) trotted out by our government for the (dis)information of the sheeple of Kanaduh. Do you believe a word of this? I don't. But I'm used to seeing...

Dr. Deborah Birx said Saturday that Americans should especially focus on social distancing guidelines in the next two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. “This is the moment to not be going to the grocery store, not going to the pharmacy, but doing everything you can to keep your family and your friends safe,” she said. Birx noted that Pennsylvania, Colorado, and the Washington, DC, metro area were starting to have an increasing number of cases. “We’re hoping and believing that if people mitigate strongly, the work that they did over the last two weeks will blunt that...

Most religious celebrations have been closed to the public.FRANCE, April 1, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – On Sunday, a widely shared message and a photo on the Twitter account of a Parisian priest became a symbol of hope. Father Franck Derville, hospital chaplain of one of the foremost hospitals in Paris, Hôpital Cochin, visited COVID-19 patients in the ICU ward. He posted a picture of himself wearing protective garb over his Roman collar as well as a mask and glasses. At a time when most religious celebrations have been closed to the public, visits of religious ministers to the sick and to...

SpaceX’s ban on Zoom Video Communications Inc illustrates the mounting challenges facing aerospace manufacturers as they develop technology deemed vital to national security while also trying to keep employees safe from the fast-spreading respiratory illness. In an email dated March 28, SpaceX told employees that all access to Zoom had been disabled with immediate effect. “We understand that many of us were using this tool for conferences and meeting support,” SpaceX said in the message. “Please use email, text or phone as alternate means of communication.”

Researchers in Australia report that Ivermectin, an FDA-approved drug commonly used to treat parasites, appears to be effective in treating the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus (COVID-19). The drug is widely available and can be “repurposed” for this application, doctors said. The ScienceDirect journal, Antiviral Research, published an article by a group of Australian researchers from Monash University in Melbourne reporting that Ivermectin appears to be effective at inhibiting the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. The article states: Ivermectin is an inhibitor of the COVID-19 causative virus (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro. A single treatment able to effect ∼5000-fold reduction in virus at 48h in cell...

While it’s hard to see the bright side of things during the dark days of the coronavirus pandemic, one potential silver lining is the fact most consumers are cooking more at home. Research has shown that home cooking not only often can lead to healthier overall lifestyles, but it’s also a good life skill to teach kids. And whether you’re taking a casual tour of social media or looking at data from any number of sources, signs today definitely point to more of us making our own food. A lot more of us. But what specifically do the numbers say?...

Over the past few years, the United States’ approach to China has taken a hard-line turn, with the balance between cooperation and competition in the U.S.-Chinese relationship tilting sharply toward the latter. Most American policymakers and commentators consider this confrontational new strategy a response to China’s growing assertiveness, embodied especially in the controversial figure of Chinese President Xi Jinping. But ultimately, this ongoing tension—particularly with the added pressures of the new coronavirus outbreak and an economic downturn—is likely to expose the brittleness and insecurity that lie beneath the surface of Xi’s, and Beijing’s, assertions of solidity and strength. The United...

Not Only Zen. Cardinal Bo Is Also Openly Attacking China Myanmar borders China and is economically dependent on it. But that has not kept the archbishop of the capital of Yangon, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, from openly criticizing the powerful neighbor.He has done so with a statement made public with great emphasis on April 2 on the website of his archdiocese.The statement is reproduced in full below. It is very severe and detailed in denouncing the Chinese regime's guilt in the spread of the coronavirus epidemic, with the effect that "lies and propaganda have put millions of lives around the...

The National Basketball Association recently suspended its season. At the time, the reason given seemed justified, given the emergence of COVID-19 and that several players in the league have now tested positive. However, it has been confirmed by anonymous sources that a league shutdown has been in the making for months and that they were simply looking for a good excuse to shut it all down. The players, led by Washington Generals All-Star Power Forward Art Tubolls, held a secret vote prior to the beginning of the season to suspend the league for any credible reason until President Donald Trump...

Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Friday China and other nations should be pressured to shut down so-called “wet markets” as the new novel coronavirus spreads throughout the world. “[They] should shut down those things right away,” Fauci told 'Fox & Friends" Friday. “It just boggles my mind that when we have so many diseases that emanate out of that unusual human-animal interface that we don’t just shut it down.” Scientists have yet to determine exactly how the novel coronavirus spreading around the globe began infecting people. But theories have swirled that...

Trump’s prior initiatives eased the implementation of many of his most effective orders during this crisis. President Donald Trump has courted endless controversies for promoting nonconventional policies and entertaining contrarian views. From the outset, he oddly seemed to have believed that having navigated the jungles of the Manhattan real estate market—crooked politicians, mercurial unions, neighborhood social activists, the green lobby, leery banks, cutthroat rivals—better prepared him for the job than did a 30-year tenure in the U.S. Senate. Certainly, candidate and then President Trump’s strident distrust of China was annoying to the American establishment. The Left saw China in rosy...

The nasty Chinese coronavirus is taking a massive toll, not only in America, but also around the world. While not as deadly as past flu epidemics, the final numbers are not yet known. Most of those who catch the virus have mild symptoms, but a small percentage are not so lucky. Those with severe disease may find themselves in an intensive-care unit, connected to a ventilator for several weeks, with no guarantee of returning home. Mitigation methods are in effect, expanding our vocabularies with now familiar terms of social distancing, quarantines, and stay-at-home orders. While mitigation reduces the spread, preventing...

A Philadelphia mail carrier was assaulted by a group of young males late Thursday as he waited for the subway during his commute home, officials said. The attack took place at 7:30 p.m. on the Broad Street Line platform at City Hall, according to Sgt. Eric Gripp, a Philadelphia police spokesperson. Charges were pending Saturday. Gripp said that the victim was cooperating with police and that the attackers could face aggravated-assault and robbery charges. Video of the attack was shared on Facebook after the incident, and quickly spread across social media. In the footage, a group of five males approach...

On Thursday, three pro-life activists stood outside of Valencia Planned Parenthood in San Francisco six feet apart from each other, holding pro-life signs for about 15 minutes. Then, police arrived. The officers issued two warnings and a citation to the pro-lifers for allegedly breaking the Stay-at-Home order issued for the city amid the coronavirus pandemic. But the pro-life activists say they will never stop helping women and defending life. Terrisa Bukovinac, founder and executive director of Pro-Life San Francisco, joined activists Matthew Prewett and Ron Konopaski outside the abortion business on Thursday to encourage women to choose life for their...

ROCK RAPIDS, Iowa -- A Mitchell, South Dakota, man is facing a misdemeanor firearms charge of accidentally shooting another man in the buttocks early Sunday morning while he was trying to disassemble a 9mm handgun in the victim's Rock Rapids home. Lance Earl Morgan Bryant, 28, is charged with discharging a firearm in city limits, a simple misdemeanor. According to a criminal complaint filed in Lyon County District Court, at 2:15 a.m. Sunday, Lyon County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a man suffering from a single gunshot wound at a residence in the 300 block of South Adams...

There are a lot of things in life to get exasperated about. The rude guy who cuts in front of you on the highway, a person who is loudly talking on the phone at a restaurant, or people who chew with their mouth open. But Democrat congresswoman Jan Schakowsky is exasperated about the fact that Republicans continue to push for a vote on a bill to stop infanticide. As LifeNews has reported, Democrats, led by Nancy Pelosi, have blocked a bill to protect babies who are born alive after abortions and provide them with appropriate medical Ccre and treatment a...

The chickens are finally coming home to roost for left-wing journalists in our country, and we can never let them live this one down. For weeks, they mocked and berated President Trump for having hope that hydroxychloroquine could be a powerful therapeutic cure for the Chinese Coronavirus. Now, Trump is getting the last laugh. Not only did more than 6,000 doctors from across the world come out and say that hydroxychloroquine is the "most effective therapy" for Coronavirus, but even the NEW YORK TIMES has caved and is finally reporting on it's positive benefits. "Malaria Drug Helps Virus Patients Improve,...