Free Republic

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A COVID-vaccinated teenager from Tel Aviv, Israel infected at least 83 of his peers with the COVID-19 virus after catching it from a relative who has also been vaccinated. The case of mass transmission is one of many across Israel in recent weeks, where lawmakers and health officials have threatened new restrictions on civil liberties to supposedly help stop the spread of COVID-19, despite the country having one of the world’s highest rates of full vaccination against the disease.

Governor Jared Polis is ending the Health Emergency Executive Orders for COVID-19. He also rescinded all previous Executive Orders issued due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Polis says he want to focus on Colorado’s efforts on building back stronger from the COVID-19 pandemic. He signed a Recovery Executive Order to focusing only on those measures related to the State’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic emergency. Polis tweeted COVID-19 is “still here and will likely always be a part of our lives, but our hospital capacity is no longer in jeopardy and the safe, effective, free vaccine is widely available to...

OK, the headline is a bit like clickbait, I do not believe Ivermectin is useful, but I could be wrong. (Did I just say that?) A new study demonstrates how a rush to publish, (and possibly treat) may have resulted in poorly designed studies where a quiet signal is lost in an abundance of noise.While effective vaccines are an incredibly important part of the COVID-19 solution, none are completely effective, and so we do need anti-virals to reduce the severity of those who become infected. There have been many candidates that have come and gone, most recently Ivermectin as we...

Former Clinton campaign strategist and pollster has predicted Donald Trump will win the election in 2024, saying it is "obvious." Dick Morris, who helped Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996, has been meeting with Trump since earlier this year to chart his path after leaving the White House.

Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time Matthew 10:16-23 Friends, in our Gospel today, Jesus assures us that the Holy Spirit will help us when we face persecution. Speaking to his disciples the night before he dies, Jesus says that he and his Father will send another Parakletos (Advocate). That word, stemming from kaleo (to call) and para (for, or on behalf of), designates something like a lawyer, someone who would plead on behalf of another, who would support, advocate, encourage. Jesus is saying that while he will depart physically from the scene, he and his Father will send the Spirit as...

The White House on Thursday dismissed the deletion of a tweet with an image of Taiwan’s flag by its COVID Response Team as an “honest mistake.” “This was an honest mistake that was made by the team handling graphics and social media, and should not in any way be viewed as a shift in official US policy. When we recognized the mistake, we removed the tweet,” press secretary Jen Psaki said at the White House daily press briefing. She said the US remains committed to the One China Policy, which recognizes the People’s Republic of China but not Taiwan’s independence.

A combined 79 per cent of Britons have admitted that they feel some level of nervousness about the end of lockdown this month, in another poll pointing to Britons living in a state of fear over the Chinese coronavirus. The YouGov poll taken on Thursday found that more than one in five — 21 per cent — said they felt “very nervous” about COVID-19 restrictions lifting. A further 34 per cent felt “fairly nervous” and 24 per cent “not very nervous”, making a combined 79 per cent expressing some form of nerves over the end of lockdown. Just 21 per...

Gays are coming for your children. Don't take my word for it, take their word! The following excerpt is from the song, "This is Gay - We are coming for your Children", San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus, 07/08/2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vj4UffoHcjoWe're coming for them, We're coming for your children, We're coming for them, We're coming for your children. […] We'll convert your children, and then we'll turn to you,Decades ago my Vietnam war protesting father warned me about smiling, singing, happy gays (which the Bible calls Sodomites.) He said that behind their phony veneer and effeminate voices was something predatory and dangerous...

According to the affidavit, the pilot, who was identified as Joshua Kersch, said he felt the yoke go forward and saw the man over the co-pilot seat pushing on the yoke. Kersch said he was scared and concerned for the others onboard but said his biggest concern was trying to maintain control of the plane, according to the affidavit. One passenger, identified as Alice Samuelson, told Bohac the man seemed to have anxiety before boarding the plane. During the incident, she said a woman grabbed the man after the pilot pushed him away from the controls and that passengers held...

The Austria Center Vienna (Donaustadt) is of crucial importance for the city’s vaccination strategy. Around 5000 Viennese are vaccinated against the Corona here every day. But unfortunately there are always side effects. An Impfstrasse employee told Austrian daily Heute that around 50 people per day collapsed last weekend. Almost all of them had previously received a dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

The Chinese Communist Party is warning Japan that it will be “digging its own grave” if the country sides with the US to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion — adding Japan is “powerless against the Chinese military.” “Japan does not dare to confront China alone. If Japan involves itself in the Taiwan question militarily, it will be Japan digging its own grave,” said an op-ed published Wednesday in the Communist Party mouthpiece Global Times. “Japan’s military capability is completely restrained by the US and does not have an independent combat capability. It is easy for the People’s...

As the mainstream narrative about the origin of COVID-19 falls apart, it’s time to put other widely accepted facts about the virus—and the devastating measures they were used to justify—under the same scrutiny On March 13, 2020, the public school district where I teach announced that all classrooms and buildings would be closed for two weeks. Then two weeks turned into two months, and two months turned into over a full year without in-person instruction. My school serves a diverse population of low-income students in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is impossible to overstate the severity of this disruption...

Boiling lobsters alive would be banned in the United Kingdom under new legislation that protects the “welfare rights” of crustaceans and mollusks, according to a report Wednesday. Parliament is considering updating its Animal Welfare Bill — which defends against the inhumane treatment of creatures with backbones — to include invertebrates such as lobsters, crabs, octopuses and squid, according to the Evening Standard. The bill, which is making its way through the legislature’s House of Lords, would require fishermen and chefs to stun or chill the sea creatures before boiling them, which is thought to be a more humane method of...

With all the coverage of third-place hammer thrower Gwen Berry’s disrespectful national anthem stunt, you may have missed another bit of Olympic news that happened the next day: American track and field athlete Sydney McLaughlin smashed the world record in the 400-meter hurdles at 51.9 seconds.McLaughlin isn’t just praiseworthy because she’s good. She also seems to be heading to the Olympics with all the right priorities, using the competition as a chance to glorify God and honor her country instead of a means to cheap self-ingratiating publicity.The Dunellen, New Jersey native gets her love of track from both parents, Willie...

A 12-year-old used a hunting rifle to fatally shoot an armed intruder who was threatening the boy’s mother inside the family’s Louisiana home, a report said. The youngster, who will not be charged, feared for his mother’s life when he pumped a bullet into Brad LeBlanc, 32, at about 7:20 a.m. on June 30 at their home east of Clinton, East Feliciana Sheriff Jeffrey Travis told The Advocate. LeBlanc, armed with a pistol, first approached the mother outside their home and then forced her inside the residence where a struggle ensued, the report said. The armed suspect was then shot...

President Joe Biden offered to send a “strike force” into Chicago Thursday in order to help Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D) stem the tide of shootings occurring daily in the city. ABC 7 reports that a “strike force” would focus on gun trafficking. Lightfoot responded to Biden’s offer by saying, “My hope and expectation is that they’re going to be coming relatively soon. I’ve made not secret of the fact that this is a matter of incredible urgency and I think the president’s plan is to make a difference in localities like Chicago this summer.” On July 7, 2021, the Chicago...

Last week, on the Communist Party’s 100th anniversary, Chinese state media Xinhua News posted a tweet featuring a quote from Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s, including his claim that China had eliminated poverty and “we are now marching in confident strides toward the second centenary goal of building China into a modern socialist country in all aspects.”Many international users responded with sarcasm, questioning the CCP’s human rights record. Yet Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, responded with a tweet, showering the CCP with over-the-top praise: “The economic prosperity that China has achieved is truly amazing, especially in infrastructure! I encourage...

We now know the National Security Agency (NSA) not only was monitoring the electronic communications of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, but that either NSA or senior Biden officials leaked information from his communications to the news media in an attempt to smear him.Axios reported July 7: “Tucker Carlson was talking to U.S.-based Kremlin intermediaries about setting up an interview with Vladimir Putin shortly before the Fox News host accused the National Security Agency of spying on him, sources familiar with the conversations tell Axios.”The Axios article proves several troubling aspects of this story.First, Carlson was right. This confirms what...

I like to apply free market analysis to American politics. Within established laws, politicians compete for votes and are rewarded for maximizing voters' preferences. As in economics, there are sometimes market failures, but mostly the system seems to be self-regulating. This sounds nice, but it doesn't seem to describe what's been happening over the past five or so years. Both parties seem to be ignoring voters' clear signals. Neither seems to be rationally maximizing its votes and its chances of winning presidential elections or congressional majorities. National Democrats have indeed won the popular vote in six of the last seven...