Free Republic

For those who have asked, yes this man appeared to be armed, as were a few protesters. It was a tense few minutes.

Clinical trial operator Panthera has begun vaccinating volunteers in a world-first trial of Valneva’s inactivated Covid-19 vaccine at its site in Rochdale. The study, which will include 4,000 participants across 24 sites in the UK, is being overseen by the global contract research organisation, Pharm-Olam. Panthera’s clinical trial sites in Rochdale, Preston and London will be vaccinating healthy volunteers over the age of 18 who have not had a Covid-19 vaccination. The double-blind phase three trial will compare Valneva’s inactivated vaccine, VLA2001, with AstraZeneca’s conditionally approved vaccine Vaxzeria. Unlike earlier Covid-19 vaccine trials, which involved a placebo dose, everyone involved...

Welcome to the Weekend. Your currently sober drunk host coming off 15 hours in bed sleeping but with a busy schedule ahead which will include posting when I can. I am not feeling well but I have worked myself in part to this exhausted state I find myself in. Vaxxers Or Anti-Vaxxers We Are All God's Children The media making much of Joe Rogan saying he is not an "anti-vaxxer" an indication that the Establishment's march in lockstep media wants to demonize and marginalize opponents of vaccination. This world filled with many accusations about people who don't support the Insider...

COMMENTARY: For the best model for workers, look not to a man named Marx but to a carpenter named Joseph.The Childhood of Jesus. (photo: Gerard van Honthorst / Web Gallery of Art) May Day has all sorts of historically varied meanings and traditions among various groups, including Catholics. Since the late 19th century, however, May 1 has been particularly known for its association with workers — particularly, its appropriation if not exploitation by socialists and communists. That began in earnest on May 1, 1889, when socialists launched International Workers’ Day. “May 1st is May Day, the International Workers’ Holiday,” explains...

Rudolph W. Giuliani says that the FBI secretly spied on his Apple iCloud account beginning in late 2019 when he was having regular messaging conversations with his client, President Trump, during House impeachment proceedings. Mr. Giuliani said the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan on Thursday informed his attorney, Robert Costello, that covert wiretapping took place. Mr. Giuliani, once the mob-fighting top prosecutor in New York and then the city’s mayor, said an assistant U.S. attorney made the disclosure because the operation will have to be detailed in court. The penetration happened under the Trump administration and then-Attorney General William P....

The Washington Post and New York Times issued major retractions on Saturday after initially reporting that Rudy Giuliani and One America News were warned by the FBI they were targets of a major Russian disinformation campaign during the 2020 presidential election season. The Post reported on Thursday the FBI warned Giuliani in late 2019 "he was the target of a Russian influence operation aimed at circulating falsehoods intended to damage President [Joe] Biden." The Post also reported that OAN received a similar warning. The warning was part of an extensive effort by the bureau to alert members of Congress and...

Multiple people were struck by gunfire in a shooting at a casino hotel near Green Bay, Wisconsin, on Saturday night, a tribal official said. Melinda J. Danforth, director of intergovernmental affairs for Oneida Nation, which runs the casino, said as many as seven or eight people may have been hit. The gunfire broke out in a dining room at the Radisson Inn connected to the Oneida Casino in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, just outside Green Bay, she said.

The video posted to TikTok showed a woman in a blue cardigan and brown medical scrubs dancing to a remix of Wale's "Lotus Flower Bomb." On screen, sandwiched between two sparkle emojis, the woman, who said she was a pharmacy technician, had written, "Most common meds I've filled that cause cancer." She then went on to claim medications like hormonal birth control, cholesterol medications and chemotherapy were cancer causing. So, Savannah Sparks, another TikTok user who goes by “Rx0rcist,” made her own video, part of what would become an ongoing series debunking medical misinformation on the app. “My name’s Savannah....

Each year on May 1, the Catholic faithful celebrate the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker. This feast day, instituted by Pope Pius XII in 1955, was meant to provide downtrodden laborers with a spiritual patron, as well as an alternative to the communist labor agitation that was prevalent at the time. The Catholic faith has a great heritage of honoring and celebrating labor and laborers. Because of that, this feast day offers us an opportunity, and a great responsibility, to build a robust and life-giving culture through laborers and their work. We must continue to take up that...

B TBTX’R NRFQR UPR KQBRBXV RU VBJW GSBATQWX SUIW, OPR B’H VAFT NUHW UE RSWH EUPXT BR. —OWJWQAM GAWFQM

My father-in-law had about 50 acres of farmland in central Italy, just south of the tri-region borders of Tuscany, Umbria and Lazio. Until the 1990s it was common for just about any Italian with land to at least have a private vineyard for their own consumption. I mean, it is Italy, and we are talking about wine, right? I have fond memories of helping him make his wine with his old wine press in autumn. He learned that they were paying a very hefty tax on the portion of land that the vineyard was on. As he researched this, he...

Okay, so I am back on the coast and and sitting in my backyard under a blanket of stars. Heaven on Earth. From my lounge chair, I can see a satellite pretty much every 5 minutes or so. But then something caught my eye...

A Texas deputy seen in a video punching a teenager outside a convenience store was fired for violating several department policies, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office announced. Former Deputy Bert Dillow was initially placed on administrative duty after he was accused of punching and cursing at the teen during a March 26 incident. A video of the altercation was posted last week on the Facebook page of the immigrant civil rights group FIEL Houston.

Costco paper towels. Same price as the previous several times buying them. Now with 20 fewer sheets. 140/160= .875 Inflation rate: 8.75% Find the old rolls in store with 160 sheets and it’s effectively like buying the new sheets at 8.75% off!

Community members are asked to avoid the Main Casino on Highway 172. Max Westphal, of Brownsville, was at the casino when the shooting started. "So, we were sitting in the casino, and it came over the loudspeaker that we had to evacuate. And, we literally thought it was a joke because we didn’t hear anything. We thought there was maybe a small fire. So, we got in an argument with the dealer to pay us out for what she owed us from the prior hand.... We get shuttled outside, we walk outside, and we’re still joking around about it, and...

Washington [US], May 2 (ANI): China's military base in Djibouti isn't the only sign of Chinese security engagement in Africa but the investments through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) in Africa can also motivate both Beijing and host countries to increase China's military engagement on the continent. The safety and stability of the government and population of partnering African countries can play a role in the types of projects China looks to fund through this initiative, reported The Washington Post. Natalie Herbert, in an article in The Washington Post, said that China is looking to protect its economic investments...

California is set to release at least 63,000 inmates convicted of violent crimes in an effort to create “safer prisons.” "The goal is to increase incentives for the incarcerated population to practice good behavior and follow the rules while serving their time and participate in rehabilitative and educational programs, which will lead to safer prisons," Dana Simas, a state Office of Administrative Law spokeswoman, said in a statement about the mass release of prisoners in the Golden State. "Additionally, these changes would help to reduce the prison population by allowing incarcerated persons to earn their way home sooner," she added....

During an appearance on Fox News’s “The Ingraham Angle,” Republican Florida Governor Ron Desantis said that America is not a systemically racist country, calling the idea “a bunch of horse manure.” “Give me a break. This country has had more opportunity for more people than any country in the history of the world,” DeSantis said. “And doesn’t matter where you trace your ancestry from. We’ve had people that have been able to succeed and all. And here’s the problem with things like critical race theory that they are peddling. They are basically saying all our institutions are bankrupt and they’re...

So far over 1000 shot this year in the city alone. The weather is warming up.