Free Republic

Amid staggering rise in monthly homicides, Chicago's hapless mayor implores for all the help she can get We knew that Chicago gangs couldn't keep up the torrid pace of the first week of July – four murders per day. After all, they are only mortal, subject to the same frailties of most of humanity. You know, like Police Officers being forced to work twelve-hour-days for weeks on end, oftentimes not knowing until the very end of their shift when the clueless "leadership" sends out an e-mail – SURPRISE! – you're being held over for four more hours. We're sure that...

It is not official yet but I am hearing that Canadian politicians are discussing the possibility that the US-Canada border may reopen to non-essential travelers with the Canadian position being that it should be open to fully vaccinated U.S. citizens wanting to visit Canada. Not sure what the U.S. position is on this. There was to be an announcement soon as the border closure formally ends July 21st. A one-month extension is expected but after August 21st there may be some limited travel possible. I know there are some people affected by the border closure because of the land access...

As freedom fighters have taken to the streets across Cuba, the Marxist Black Lives Matter organization blamed the United States for the protests, defending the communist government in Havana. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the son of Cuban immigrants, offered to help the Marxists move to Cuba, if they think it’s so peachy. “Black Lives Matter condemns the U.S. federal government’s inhumane treatment of Cubans, and urges it to immediately lift the economic embargo,” the Black Lives Matter statement began. “This cruel and inhumane policy, instituted with the explicit intention of destabilizing the country and undermining Cubans’ right to choose their...

A Turkish vessel fired warning shots at a Cypriot coastguard boat that was on patrol near the port of Kato Pyrgos, on the northwest coast of the contested island, Cypriot media has reported. The shots were fired at 3.30 a.m. local time, the Cypriot news agency reported, just west of the line that divides the Republic of Cyprus from the self-proclaimed Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Euronews has reached out to the Cypriot authorities for confirmation. An advisor to Northern Cyprus's foreign minister's adviser told Euronews: "There is no such incident. It did not happen. This is a lie."...

If I hadn’t left the Democratic Party years ago, I would leave it now. Their namby-pamby, lip-service reaction to the uprising of the Cuban people against 62 years of brutal communist oppression is shameful beyond words. Apparently, the protests are a bit inconvenient for them. AOC might be embarrassed if they said or did anything, not to mention Bernie. That Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned Cuban refugees not to come (while the border is open to practically everybody else, from Houthis to extra-terrestrials) put the capper on it. The Coast Guard has evidently already been alerted not to allow...

President Biden’s adviser Susan Rice is being ordered to sell a $2.7 million stake in the oil pipeline company Enbridge — after the Biden administration decided to allow the firm’s Line 3 pipeline project. The Office of Government Ethics ordered Rice to divest from the company on July 9, according to filings first reported by Fox Business. Although Biden has broadly taken action against oil pipelines, most notably canceling the Keystone XL oil pipeline, his administration has continued to allow the Line 3 project, which would bring Canadian oil through Minnesota to Wisconsin. Environmental activists oppose the Line 3 project,...

Astronomers have spotted a star whose shape indicates it will one day be consumed as fuel so a neighbor can become a supernova. The pair are only 1,500 light-years away, so the view from Earth will be spectacular when the explosion occurs. However, at an estimated 70 million years to ignition, there is no guarantee there will be anyone here to watch it. Astronomers find proto-supernovas all the time. Any star with a mass of more than eight times the Sun will end its life in an enormous explosion, with Betelgeuse being the most famous example. However, these are core...

When I was researching an article posting I did a couple of days ago, I happened upon this source: BikePortland. It's interesting because it contains candid discussions between members of the Portland "bike" community, all of whom are very far to the left but most of whom are quite articulate and willing to express themselves. Also, if you look at the various pictures of biker gatherings that are posted in the, it is impossible not to notice the very high percentage of members of one ... ah ... particular ... so to speak ... ethnic group. This despite lots of...

Dear Colleagues, At the start of the pandemic over 16 months ago, I committed to you that we would avail ourselves of all feasible strategies and resources to ensure the safety of our NSU campus community. Since that time, we have met the challenge by pivoting to flexible online learning modes, implementing remote work options, providing new safety measures, making available personal protective equipment, introducing new hygiene and social distancing protocols, and responding to the individualized needs of students, faculty, and staff. Planning for the start of the 2021 fall semester/term, we are facing the renewed challenge of the rise...

A ten-week trial found fermented food diet improved microbiome diversity and reduced inflammatory biomarkers while a high-fiber diet had little effectwollertz/Depositphotos ================================================================================== Investigating the relationship between diet, gut bacteria and systemic inflammation, a team of Stanford University researchers has found just a few weeks of following a diet rich in fermented foods can lead to improvements in microbiome diversity and reductions in inflammatory biomarkers. The new research pitted a high-fiber diet against a diet with lots of fermented food. Thirty-six healthy adults were recruited and randomly assigned one of the two diets for 10 weeks. “We wanted to conduct a...

Union Pacific is temporarily suspending eastbound service from West Coast port terminals to its Global IV intermodal facility in Chicago to help ease “significant congestion” at inland terminals, especially Chicago, and at the ports. The suspension is aimed at helping ocean carriers reduce backlogs. UP (NYSE: UNP) hopes this suspension, which will start on Sunday and last for about seven days, will not only help relieve port backlogs for Chicago-bound container traffic but also ultimately help address backlogs for containers destined to other markets. The suspension applies to UP-served terminals at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland,...

Marty Cetron, director for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, defended the health agency’s federal mask mandate on Thursday, describing masks as a “powerful” part of their “arsenal.” Speaking to Reuters, Cetron reiterated that the agency’s “current position” is to keep the federal mask mandate, which requires travelers to wear masks on modes of public transportation, including planes and trains, despite mounting calls from lawmakers to end the practice.

(President Trump's Operation Warp Speed Update) (New Cases, Hospitalizations and Death curves are all accelerating upward - Vaccinations slow/steady) Administered: 336,604,158 (12,966,602 J&J) People Vaccinated, At Least One Dose: 185,424,899 Fully Vaccinated: 160,686,378

Pennsylvania on Friday reported 415 new COVID-19 infections, adding to a recent upward trend. As of Thursday, the state’s 7-day daily average of new cases stood at 273, up from 161 on July 4, according to tracking by Johns Hopkins. The daily average is still below Pennsylvania’s peak of nearly 10,600 in December. But it’s a cause for concern as new cases trend upward in much of the country, with the rise driven by the delta variant, which is more contagious. Pennsylvania also reported 4 new deaths on Friday, raising its total to 27,786. As of early Friday, 247 people...

A Facebook Oversight Board member says free speech is “not an absolute human right,” and must be balanced against “other human rights” when deciding what content to censor. The board member, former Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning Schmidt, said “free speech is not an absolute human right.” “It has to be balanced with other human rights,” she said Thursday at a Politico Europe event. The 20-member Facebook Oversight Board was set up last year to allow corporate executives to claim distance from politically sensitive decisions. The board in May recommended that the company uphold a continued ban on former President...

Quantavius Brown was hoping to get a degree in accounting and business management when he was 21 years old. That all changed the night of August 3, 2018. Brown was drinking at a local bar in Copperhill, Tennessee, when he met up with a woman he had met two years earlier, an acquaintance of his then-girlfriend. The two had previously been involved in a court case, and got into an argument about it, WRCB reported. Later, the woman – who has not been named in media reports because female accusers are always protected, even if the accusation was false –...

U.S.—An American manufacturer has been overwhelmed with preorders for its brand new "ejection porch," which is specially designed to detect when Biden's vaccine evangelists are at your door so it can launch them into the stratosphere. "Excuse me, sir, do you have a few minutes to talk about our lord and savior Dr. Fau-- AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" said one door-to-door vaccine auditor after the advanced technology in the porch detected his whiny and annoying government vaccine-evangelist voice and launched him into the sky, above the clouds, and out of sight. For anyone who can't afford an advanced and costly porch upgrade, the...

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., received the ignoble distinction of four Pinocchios for his claim that Democrats have never opposed voter ID laws. A couple weeks ago, various Democratic leaders pivoted on their long objections to voter ID laws as the “new Jim Crow” laws, including Stacey Abrams. The Post’s Glenn Kessler wrote “On the face of it, it seems absurd. After all, Clyburn has long been a foe of voter ID laws passed in his own state.” In an interview with Fox News anchor Neil Cavuto on Tuesday, Clyburn was confronted about the flip flop when he announced...

Pagan cultists in Los Angeles are defying the CDC with a new indoor mask mandate, even if you are vaccinated. The CDC tells us that those of us who are vaccinated are in almost no danger of contracting the China Flu, and if we do catch it, the chances of it blowing up into something serious or fatal are almost nil. Therefore, the CDC revoked its mask recommendations for the vaccinated. What’s more, for more than a year, we’ve watched states such as North Dakota, Florida, and Texas choose not to force their citizens to wear masks, and the per...

Spending is now rotating back to services like travel and entertainment, with at least 160 million Americans fully immunized against COVID-19. Retail sales are mostly goods, with services such as healthcare, education, travel and hotel accommodation making up the remaining portion of consumer spending. Restaurants and bars are the only services category in the retail sales report. U.S. stock index futures held gains after the data. The dollar was steady against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury yields rose.