Free Republic

The German chancellor has voiced her appreciation for BioNTech, the small German firm behind the first coronavirus vaccine to get regulatory approval. Merkel said the shot will save "many lives."

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PRESIDENT Trump has slammed UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Twitter following the PMs decisions to backtrack on regulations surrounding the holiday season. Johnson assured UK citizens that they would not have to compromise their Christmas plans and would be able to enjoy the holiday period without restrictions. Trump tweeted: "We don’t want to have lockdowns. The cure cannot be worse than the problem itself!" Johnson delivered a press conference on Friday afternoon where he detailed a new strain of the Covid-19 virus that is 77% more transmittable. With the new strain creating an influx of cases in the South...

Merry Christmas from President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump. @realDonaldTrump & @FLOTUS are seen December 10, in their official 2020 Christmas portrait,on the Grand staircase of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)

The first legal hanging in Alberta, Canada, took place on this date in 1879. Generations later, it’s still remembered as one of the province’s worst, and strangest, crimes. The hanged man was a native Cree known as Swift Runner (Ka-Ki-Si-Kutchin) — a tall and muscular character with “as ugly and evil-looking a face as I have ever seen,” in the words of an Anglo Fort Saskatchewan officer. Whatever his comeliness, Swift Runner was on good terms with the frontier authorities, who trusted him as a guide for the North West Mounted Police. That is, until the Cree’s violent whiskey benders...

Tennessee’s highest court recognized unborn babies as victims, if only inadvertently, in a ruling this month about mothers who use opioids while pregnant. WZTV 17 Nashville reports the Tennessee Supreme Court unanimously agreed that babies may sue drug companies for harm that they suffered in the womb from their mothers’ use of the drugs. The ruling dealt with the Tennessee Drug Dealer Liability Act and drug companies that produce prescription opioids, according to the report. The act allows babies to “sue for damages caused by the use of illegal opioids if there is clear and convincing evidence that the drug...

The fingertip devices that hospitals use to monitor patients' oxygen levels might be less accurate in people with dark skin, a new study suggests. At issue are pulse oximeters -- small medical devices that clip onto a fingertip and estimate how much oxygen is making it into the blood. They are routinely used in hospitals to help providers make treatment decisions. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, pulse oximeters have increasingly made their way into the hands of lay people. Fairly cheap home devices are available, and people with milder cases of COVID have used them to monitor their oxygen levels....

In every competition out there, there will be a winner and a loser. It’s just the way that competitions work. Literally everywhere you go there are competitions going on and there are always winners and losers. When we are children, we are always taught to be gracious losers. Yes sometimes losing a tough competition hurts, but if you accept it graciously, people will always praise your character. The problem with today’s young generation is that they have forgotten how to lose graciously. Since the announcement that Donald Trump has won the presidential election, liberals have been protesting this victory. They’re...

The Rev. Raphael Warnock is running against pro-life incumbent Sen. Kelly Loeffler in one of the two Georgia run-off races which will decide whether the Senate remains under the steady leadership of pro-life Sen. Mitch McConnell. Rev. Warnock proudly wears the badge of defender of “reproductive justice.” But as a letter from more than 25 Black pastors proclaimed, “Abortion is fundamentally in conflict with the plain reading of the Bible.” You have gone on the record saying that you are a “pro-choice pastor ”who will “always fight for reproductive justice.” You have publicly expressed your views that abortion is an...

In October, Indonesian diplomats and Muslim clerics stepped off a plane in China. While the diplomats were there to finalize deals to ensure millions of doses reached Indonesian citizens, the clerics had a much different concern: Whether the COVID-19 vaccine was permissible for use under Islamic law. As companies race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine and countries scramble to secure doses, questions about the use of pork products - banned by some religious groups - has raised concerns about the possibility of disrupted immunization campaigns. Pork-derived gelatin has been widely used as a stabilizer to ensure vaccines remain safe and...

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has cautioned his citizens that his government won't be responsible if the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine turns people into "crocodiles" or make women bearded as a side-effect, leaving netizens baffled. Bolsonaro, who had tested positive for coronavirus after months of undermining the pandemic shared Brazil's vaccine distribution plans recently, saying that inoculations would eventually be provided free of charge "for everyone who wants it," while insisting that he has chosen not to be vaccinated. "In the Pfizer contract, it's very clear: 'we're not responsible for any side-effects.' If you turn into a crocodile, it's your problem," he said,...

There are two run-off races in Georgia, which will take place January 5, featuring pro-life incumbent Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue matched up against pro-abortion Democrats the Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively. Were the Democrats to win both contests, there would be 50 Republican Senators and 50 Democrat Senators. This leaves the deciding vote to the president of the Senate—the Vice President. So what takes place in less than three weeks will decide if pro-abortion Joe Biden has, in addition to a Democrat majority in the House, functional control of the Senate. It’s not surprising that the...

“Lindsey Graham praised the COVID-19 vaccine after getting his shot on Saturday.” “Help is on the way!” “If enough of us take it, we will get back to normal lives.” Numerous Pictures at link

“This book is about a political force of unprecedented magnitude in American life,” The New Leviathan warned. It defined the ‘New Leviathan’ as “a network of billion-dollar tax-exempt foundations and advocacy think tanks that work in concert with government unions and grassroots radical groups to make up the organizational core of the political left.” When The New Leviathan: How the Left-Wing Money-Machine Shapes American Politics and Threatens America's Future arrived in 2012, it came as a warning from David Horowitz, one of the veterans of the New Left, and Jacob Laskin, a talented Front Page Magazine author, about the new...

It’s a mild, softly glowing December morning in Albany, and I’m at the most beautiful landfill in the world. Well, a former landfill: Albany Bulb, a 33-acre bulb-shaped strip of land protruding into the San Francisco Bay. Offering both sweeping views of the San Francisco skyline and human-made sculptures crafted from found materials, these days, the Bulb evokes more of a sense of whimsy than it does the desolation of a landfill. Wet dogs pitter-patter gleefully down dirt trails, and children exclaim with wonder as they discover life-size dinosaurs made of driftwood and rebar. On pandemic-era weekends, the parking lot...

A Chicago-area hospital halted coronavirus vaccinations for its workers after four people had allergic reactions, according to a report. Only one of the reactions was severe, said officials with the Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, Ill., where vaccinations are expected to begin again on Sunday. The other three people who experienced reactions to the historic jab had only mild symptoms which are not unexpected after someone is vaccinated, officials said.

...Now it appears that President Trump has made a decision. Trump is going to fight. Look at Dan Scavino’s last three tweets —

Is it just me, or does everyone have a first recollection of hearing about Bigfoot? OK, yeah, it’s just me. Growing up in Santa Cruz, my parents were childbirth instructors. Every Wednesday, they would have pregnant couples over to coach them on the ins and outs (literally) of what to expect on the big day. We kids would be shuttled off to the neighbors for the duration of the class. Next door, we were allowed to watch all kinds of television that were not permitted in Casa de Otter: What’s Happening!, Good Times and even M*A*S*H. Amid this hit parade...

`Linus and Lucy’ and other music he created for the Charlie Brown TV Specials reverberate forever in the American heart It’s great music to hear anytime, but especially this time of year. It’s the late jazz composer Vince Guaraldi’s joyful music for the Charlie Brown TV specials. His song, “Linus and Lucy” has become the main theme of all the Charlie Brown specials, though it was first used in the Charlie Brown Christmas special. Nobody had ever used a soundtrack of hip piano jazz for an animated feature before this. Composers such as the great Carl Stalling did compose tremendously...

Montgomery Daily Voice serves Montgomery, PA COVID-19: Pennsylvania Cracking Down On Noncompliant Businesses Cecilia Levine 12/19/2020 11:24 a.m. Panico's in Lansdale remains open despite temporary COVID-19 restrictions closing indoor dining in Pennsylvania until Jan. 4. Panico's in Lansdale remains open despite temporary COVID-19 restrictions closing indoor dining in Pennsylvania until Jan. 4. Photo Credit: Google Maps More than 150 Pennsylvania businesses were warned this week that they will be facing more serious repercussions for defying COVID-19 restrictions. The restrictions close indoor dining, gyms and theaters until Jan. 4, but businesses already crippled by the pandemic say they can't afford to...