Free Republic

After examining the DNA of 93 bodies recovered from archaeological sites around the southern Levant, the land of Canaan in the Bible, researchers have concluded that modern populations of the region are descendants of the ancient Canaanites. Most modern Jewish groups and the Arabic-speaking groups from the region show at least half of their ancestry as Canaanite. In the study, published in Cell, the researchers explain that they used existing DNA analysis of 20 individuals, from sites in Israel and Lebanon, and then added 73 more, taking DNA from the bones of individuals found at Tel Megiddo, Tel Abel Beth...

While our Constitution famously set up a government of divided powers, the powers within each branch are not absolute. Each is subject to various checks from the others. Congress is responsible for lawmaking, but the president has a qualified veto over congressional bills. It is not absolute, for congress may override on two-thirds majority vote. As a theoretical check on the judiciary, scotus is subject to Article III congressionally determined “exceptions . . . and regulations.” Scotus has developed a habit of going far beyond its duty to adjudicate between parties and protect the constitutionality of law. Instead, it often...

SHOW LOW, Ariz. - Seven people have been critically injured after being run over by a truck in Show Low, officials confirmed Saturday morning. Police say a black Ford truck had hit multiple bicyclists in front of the Horne Auto Collision Center during the city's Bike the Bluff road race. Paramedics transported six people to a local hospital. Four of them are in critical condition, and the other two are critically injured but are in stable condition, police said. One other bicyclist was airlifted to a hospital in the Phoenix metro area for treatment.

One killed, 3 injured in Georgia shooting after man argued about putting on a mask; Over 2,000 airline mayhem incidents, mostly over being required to wear masks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCrB9SJQpww

California is adopting former Donald Trump's plan to thin out the state's 33 million acres of forests with controlled burns and raking the woodland floor - after state officials essentially laughed off the former president's idea a few years ago. Trump had suggested in 2018 that the Golden State start sweeping its forest floors of debris that often aids in the spread of wildfires. But by Aug. 2020, at the peak of the state's wildfire season, his suggestion became an ultimatum when he withheld wildfire financial aid on the basis of California's failure to clear its forests of dead trees,...

TRURO, Mass. — A no swimming order has been lifted at Head of the Meadow Beach after a confirmed shark sighting forced officials to close the water temporarily late Saturday morning, the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy says. The order was issued by Cape Cod National Seashore officials, according to an alert from the conservancy's "Sharktivity" app that was sent shortly after 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Beach-only activities were still permitted during the no swimming order, which has since been lifted. According to Cape Cod National Seashore officials, sharks have bitten people three times in the waters off Truro and Wellfleet. One...

In a major scientific leap, University of Queensland researchers have created a quantum microscope that can reveal biological structures that would otherwise be impossible to see. This paves the way for applications in biotechnology, and could extend far beyond this into areas ranging from navigation to medical imaging. The microscope is powered by the science of quantum entanglement, an effect Einstein described as “spooky interactions at a distance.” Quantum Microscope Up Close UQ’s quantum microscope, ready to zero in on previously impossible-to-see biology. Credit: The University of Queensland Professor Warwick Bowen, from UQ’s Quantum Optics Lab and the ARC Centre...

Eric Clapton has revealed that his polarizing views on the coronavirus pandemic have strained his personal relationships. “I’ve tried to reach out to fellow musicians,” the famed guitarist explained during an interview with YouTube channel Oracle Films. “I just don’t hear from them anymore. My phone doesn’t ring very often. I don’t get that many texts and emails any more. It’s quite noticeable.” Clapton vocally challenged the U.K.’s COVID-related lockdown laws, even going so far as to release a single alongside Van Morrison condemning his government’s actions.

Rep. Ted Lieu went on a rant this weekend against the Catholic Church calling U.S. bishops "hypocrites" and "nakedly partisan" for seeking to update Communion guidance that could rebuke politicians like President Biden and Speaker Nancy Pelosi for supporting abortion policies. The Catholic California Democrat called out several Republicans, including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Attorney General William Barr, for seemingly violating the beliefs of the Catholic Church, but not being threatened with Communion denial like pro-choice Democrats. Lieu said such hypocrisy could doom church membership. Lieu then dared the church to deny him Communion for his political...

The US military said the drills were carried out in order to improve the interoperability of the alliance’s forces with their African partners. However, American media reports suggested earlier that the Pentagon is mulling sending special forces trainers to at least one African state to help fight terrorists. Joint exercises between NATO and countries in northern and western Africa that took place over the past two weeks have now come to an end. The military drill, called "African Lion", saw 7,000 troops from the African states of Morocco, Tunisia, and Senegal, as well as from several NATO countries – the...

Dr. Anthony Fauci denied that he deliberately suppressed the idea that the coronavirus could have leaked from the Wuhan lab that was experimenting on ways to enhance a bat virus to make it a more deadly pathogen that could be used to infect humans. “I would say my actions were more intuitively driven than consciously deliberate,” he contended. “If the Wuhan lab leak was revealed as the source of the pandemic I felt it would do irreparable harm to the scientific community. So, I came out strongly in favor of the natural mutation theory.” Fauci went on to point out...

Researcher: Vatican, US bishops uninterested in my moral alternative to COVID jabJune 18, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) — Over the past year, as COVID vaccines have been developed and rolled out, and with all of those on the current market being connected in one way or another to abortion, Catholics are very concerned. A pro-life Catholic researcher is now creating an ethical and moral alternative to these stem cell lines, but he’s received no interest or support from U.S. bishops or the Vatican.In this latest episode of The John-Henry Westen Show, I speak with Dr. Alan Moy, the CEO of Cellular Engineering...

A southern Alberta couple who realized their infant had eaten raccoon feces found themselves racing against time to find a rare medication — and doctors and pharmacists across Western Canada mobilized to help them find it. Ashley Haughton learned raccoon scat can be extremely dangerous when she found it in her yard in Lethbridge, Alta., and researched how to dispose of it safely. Raccoons can carry a deadly form of roundworm called Baylisascaris procyonis, and the eggs live in their feces. An extremely rare parasitic infection can occur if humans ingest the eggs, which hatch into larvae, travel through the...

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – After parents and female students at Bartram Trail High School became outraged that yearbook photos deemed in violation of the student code of conduct had been edited without their knowledge, the St. Johns County School District said it is offering refunds to anyone calling about the issue. Many of the photos of female students were digitally altered to make them appear more modest, but the students say it was unnecessary and unfair. Riley O’Keefe is a freshman at Bartram Trail High School. She was surprised Wednesday when she got ahold of the yearbook and noticed...

The most-reported symptoms of COVID-19 are now a headache, sore throat, and runny nose, according to the research team behind a U.K. symptom tracking app, and medical experts here in Canada say various factors could be causing the illness to feel more like a common cold.

It seems natural to expect that, as the market conditions affecting the semiconductor industry continue to deteriorate while the demand for critical components needed to maintain vital infrastructure systems around the world continues unabated, China will be able to exert a disproportionate influence on the availability of these components. It is quite foreseeable that the Chinese Communist Party will see the semiconductor industry as strategically important and nationalize key parts of it, fashioning it into a tool of foreign policy. The United States will, of course, pretend to be doing something about this state of affairs, making for a noisy...

PARIS (AP) — A 22-year-old man lost his hand and several others were also injured amid clashes as police tried to break up an unauthorized rave party in western France, authorities said Saturday. The tensions erupted in a field near the Brittany town of Redon on Friday night, just two days before France lifts an overnight virus curfew that’s been in place for more than eight months — and has prompted growing frustration among young people. Police repeatedly fired tear gas and charged clusters of violent partygoers who hurled metal balls, gasoline bombs and other projectiles at security forces, according...

SAN DIEGO — Rady Children’s Hospital has now admitted eight local boys suspected of suffering painful heart muscle inflammation called myocarditis after undergoing coronavirus vaccination. They are local examples of a growing worldwide suspicion that the condition, and another called pericarditis, are rare side effects of the mRNA vaccines that have proven highly effective at controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the above examples show, not only there are many potential vaccines but also various approaches. And while some technologies have already provided promising results, it remains to be seen which will actually be able to defeat the virus.

CHICAGO, Illinois: Greater than 96 percent of America's practicing physicians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the American Medical Association.Further, it is reported that among those 4 percent not yet vaccinated, 45 percent plan on being vaccinated.