Free Republic

With a vaccine at least a year away, the past may hold the answer to getting the world back in order. Variolation is a six-hundred-year-old predecessor to the smallpox vaccination. It was also an essential part of creating the United States of America. It may be time to visit it once again.Variolation worked by introducing a minute dose of the smallpox virus into the human body to trigger a mild infection that stimulates the immune system. Unfortunately, some people reacted strongly even to a small dose, and about 2% of people died. The variolation mortality rate, though, was still better...

Every time my father disciplined me when I was growing up under his roof, he would tell me, “only babies and animals are not accountable for their actions.” My father’s lesson was simple: all people must be held accountable for the things they say and do. That’s the way it should be. It is a sign of growth and maturity, and personal accountability is engrained in the American tradition. For many years dating to the end of slavery, black Americans shared this perspective as a matter of individualism and familial pride. But beginning in the 1960s, a lot of black...

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday the state will cut nearly $800 million in spending — most affecting education and health care — to offset the loss of tax revenue stemming from the coronavirus crisis. The cuts include a $300 million reduction in K-12 public-school funding, $210 million from Medicaid spending and $110 million from college and university funding, DeWine said. DeWine said all state government agencies will see their budgets cut, adding up to $100 million, except for the state Department of Corrections, which operates state prisons. As recently as the end of February, the state was...

While my inner troll is delighting in Tara Reade exposing the moral bankruptcy of Democrats’ phony “Believe all women” stance only when political enemies are accused, I am a skeptic.  And I fear that her efforts will help the Dem establishment in pulling the plug on Biden, whose declining mental capacity cannot be hidden for the nearly 6 months of presidential campaigning ahead. Make no mistake: rushing to deny the nomination to Bernie Sanders by backing Biden was a colossal blunder.  Shooing his rivals out of the race enabled a big Super Tuesday delegate harvest for Biden, but because...

WASHINGTON — A Massachusetts woman who accused former Senator Chris Dodd of sexually assaulting her after a booze-fueled dinner in 1985 is speaking out, saying she can’t understand why the Biden campaign tapped him to lead their vice presidential search. Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, 77, was already embroiled in his own sexual assault controversy when the campaign last week announced Dodd, a former Democratic Connecticut senator with a past of misconduct charges, would co-chair his Vice Presidential Selection Committee. In a lengthy phone conversation with The Post on Tuesday, Dodd’s accuser, Carla Gaviglio, now 59, said she was stunned...

The U.S. trade deficit widened by almost 12% in March as the coronavirus pandemic grounded international flights, froze the global tourism industry and caused massive disruptions in the exchange of goods such as new cars and iPhones. Imports fell 6.2%, but U.S. exports tumbled an even deeper 9.6% to cause the trade gap to rise. It’s the biggest monthly decline in exports ever recorded. The U.S. deficit rose to $44.4 billion in March from $39.8 billion in February, the government said Tuesday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had forecast a $44.2 billion shortfall. Exports fell to $187.7 billion in March from...

The most formidable risk we are facing isn't the coronavirus. Bruce Thornton is a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. The coronavirus pandemic and the draconian lock-down responses to it have given us an object lesson in just how irrationally we evaluate and compare risk. For all our pretenses that “experts” have enough reliable knowledge to mitigate risk based on facts, we still make policy decisions based on fear, self-interest, or ideology. Even before the current medical crisis, our distorted and excessive aversion to risk has led to policies rife with moral hazard that create new and...

A disturbing video posted to social media that appears to show a uniformed Los Angeles Police Department officer whaling on a man being detained has prompted an internal investigation for misconduct and excessive use of force.

Are American churches endorsing tyranny much as the German churches did in 1930 Germany?

[David Horowitz is the author of the forthcoming book Blitz: Trump Will Smash the Left and Win, to be published on June 2 by Humanix Books and available now for pre-order.] Nancy Pelosi is the leader of a party that has accused the president and the 63 million Americans who voted for him of betraying their country, destroying its Constitution, colluding with its enemies, causing the deaths of thousands of coronavirus victims, and hating immigrants, Muslims, people of color, gays, and women. According to Pelosi and the Democrats, Trump is so dangerous a threat to the republic that he must...

Raymond Ibrahim is a Shillman Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center. Ramadan is upon us and many Americans—not least the millions who were denied church access during Easter—are wondering: will mosques experience the same ban or will the usual double standard prevail? Among those wondering is America’s president, Donald Trump.  Recently asked at a press briefing why he retweeted a tweet by author Paul Sperry—“Let's see if authorities enforce the social-distancing orders for mosques during Ramadan (April 23-May 23) like they did churches during Easter”—Trump said: I would like to see that….   I would say there could be a...

New York City's new coronavirus cases are dropping, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday that he is concerned that the city will have difficulty reopening considering the money that has been lost while being slammed by the disease. "How are we going to afford to restart our city if right now we are literally out of money?" the mayor said on CNN's "New Day." "(We are) $7.4 billion in the hole because we've lost so much revenue. It's only going to get worse. How do we pay for all the basic services we need, all the people who have...

United Airlines plans to cut at least 3,400 management and administrative positions in October as the coronavirus pandemic crushes air travel demand, and has told pilots to brace for changes as well, according to two memos seen by Reuters. Chicago-based United is among the U.S. airlines that have accepted U.S. government payroll aid that bans job or pay cuts before Sept. 30. However, United and other carriers have warned that demand is unlikely to recover to pre-crisis levels by that date, forcing them to shrink in the fall. The United memos are the first indication of just how much major...

Those who want us to be afraid are targeting that which gives us hope and faith. Early on Easter morning on Clifford Ave, 3 people were shot. 2 of them recovered, but 1 did not. The triple shooting in Rochester was one of a series of brutal gangland assaults in the upstate New York metropolitan area. Justin ‘Tookie’ McMillan's shooting by Dvontea Alexander marked the eighth murder in Rochester. Tookie’s social media photos showed him flashing stacks of hundred-dollar bills and gang signals. Dvontea Alexander, his alleged shooter, appeared to have a previous criminal record. Dvontea was quickly arrested and...

Dr. Judy Mikovits is a brilliant scientist and Christian who was imprisoned by Fauci and his accomplices. Dr. Mikovits was under a gag order which has now been lifted. She has enormous scientific knowledge but the above film avoids a lot of technical discussion and focuses on the courage of her character. This video is Part 1 in a series of videos to be released over the Summer of 2020. It is only 26 minutes and is absolutely a Must-See. https://videos.utahgunexchange.com/watch/plandemic-part-1-dr-judy-mikovits_WtI2RQjupp9lcRO.html We will be seeing a lot more of Dr. Mikovits in the months to come.

COLUMBIA, SC- Throughout the coronavirus outbreak, many have resorted to at-home salon services as non-essential businesses have closed. A woman in South Carolina was attacked and killed by an alligator in a gated community while attempting to do the homeowner's nails on Friday. Authorities say 58-year-old Cynthia Covert was trying to touch the alligator when it grabbed her. She was able to briefly get out of the animal's grip and stood waist-deep in the Kiawah Island pond. She told the homeowner, "I guess I won't do this again," but the alligator grabbed her in its jaws again and took her...

The Washington Post is blaming the Wuhan virus for every problem associated with this pandemic, But they should really be blaming the politicians for their draconian policies for creating problems, policies which they support. Here's a headline: The coronavirus pandemic is pushing America into a mental health crisis It is power-hungry politicians, along with their supportive fans in the media, who have escalated a major mental health crisis in the country. It's not the virus itself. They have used the virus as an excuse to control who can work and what we can do every day. They are intentionally sending...

Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed into law the CARES Act to provide emergency measures to help us get through the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 shutdown. A crucial objective was to provide funds to the many individuals who suddenly found themselves cash-strapped and unable to pay bills because, through no fault of their own, they were out of work. Two major provisions are $1,200 cash payments for individuals, and relaxing rules to allow withdrawal from or loans against IRAs, 401(k)s and other defined benefit retirement plans without penalties or tax consequences. The cash payments received most...

XFG GCGHQVMQ AZIVIGDD TP XFG EMWA HTMVD RTHG XFMI RMAGD BN PTH XFG MWXD TP OHGGV ZI XFG FGMVJZIGD. —WFMHJGD ABHMJX

The office of former president Barack Obama privately blasted a congressional investigation into former vice president Joe Biden and his son, as well as alleged Ukrainian election interference, calling it an effort “to give credence to a Russian disinformation campaign,” according to a letter obtained by BuzzFeed News. In March, Obama’s office told the National Archives and Records Administration — which maintains presidential records — that a request from two top Republican senators for Obama administration documents related to Ukraine was improper. “It arises out of efforts by some, actively supported by Russia, to shift the blame for Russian interference...