Free Republic

I've posited something similar to the following in multiple threads as comments, yet the popular term 'gain of function' persists (a tell), particularly here at FR. The absolute worst example of the ignorance is that proffered by Senator Rand Paul himself in open session.I suggest reading the following at a minimum: Technically, Fauxi doesn't lie when he says 'gain of function', parroting the terminology used by even ignorant Sen Paul. The correct term is GOFOC, i.e., 'gain of function of concern', aka 'gain of function research of concern', but the paper below highlights the fact that researchers are moving away...

On August 8 the White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, turns 60 years old. It is, writes Mark Leibovich of the New York Times, a much-anticipated event on the D.C. social calendar. Klain, you see, has commemorated earlier "round-numbered birthdays" by throwing large, sumptuous "blowouts," including a fête at a Maryland farm in 2011 where hundreds of VIPs gathered to eat deep-fried Oreos and deliver "tributes to the honoree." Everyone who was anyone in Barack Obama's Washington was there. One's absence signified one's exclusion from the tribe. To know Ron Klain, then, is to have entered the power elite....

Biden: "I respect it? They talk to people there, their thing to occur, kids where talk to be are...are...are, are not kids what man on the moon those all the question or I -- excuse me why -- you know, you, you know why they approved the virus, but virus, period, but it and the drugs a gigantic kids who really know aliens, you know, aliens, the people those me why can't .... border control temporarily mean.... or not will big pistol 9mm thing, or not, they going murder at those, mean on or, you know, who are -- there's...

A federal judge in Louisiana last month blocked President Biden’s suspension of new oil and gas leasing on federal land and ordered the Administration to resume auctions. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland on Thursday gave the judge the back of her hand. The Biden Administration in January imposed a “pause” on oil and gas leasing on public lands nationwide while the Interior Department performed an environmental review of the program. The review still isn’t done, and Interior still hasn’t announced leasing sales despite federal Judge Terry Doughty’s ruling that the pause violated the law. Ms. Haaland’s line has been that the...

The great thing about Twitter is the way it allows corporations and nobodies to auto-clown in public in the same forum. Imagine picking up Saturday Evening Post in 1935, and there’s a big beautiful ad for a car, or a cigarette, or a bus trip. The height of the advertising craft, with a gorgeous illustration, elegant typefaces unique to the ad, attractive people engaged in the joy of the moment, all cares set aside. Directly across from the ad is a 27-word manifesto from Bob0323423 about how all pencils should be registered with the State.“That’s impossible,” you say. “Bob couldn’t...

Prayers up for continuing progress and success. FR is funded solely by contributions made by the liberty loving patriots who love and use it. We are beholden to no political party. No advertisers, no outsiders, no sugar daddies, no corporate string pullers. Definitely no government subsidies or tax breaks. No 501c or other IRS non-profit status. This means no commercial ads. No annoying pop-ups. No ad tracking. No mail campaigns. No spam. No third-parties -- not even the IRS -- trying to control what we do or say. We are self-funded, fiercely independent and enjoy our freedom to speak plainly...

With a border surge now setting records, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have admonished illegal border crossers not to enter the U.S. "Do not come, do not come," as Harris said in Guatemala. Joe has said similar things. Republicans have complained about the warnings not being sincere. Now, a Senate Republican report shows there's proof positive of it. According to Fox News: A new report by Republicans on a Senate subcommittee has concluded that the Biden administration is spending a minimum of approximately $2 billion to suspend construction of the wall at the southern border, even amid a continuing migrant...

It’s a big day today in the Galician city of Santiago de Compostela, because the twenty-fifth of July is the feast of its patron and namesake* St. James the Great. One of the original Apostles (literally, he and his brother John are the first two whom Jesus calls in the Gospels), James also had the distinction of apparently being the first Apostle to die for Christ.** His execution at the hands of Herod Agrippa† is reported in Acts 12:2;‡ it’s the only apostolic execution in the New Testament. This, of course, occurred on the southeastern fringe of the Mediterranean, so...

Dear Dr. Fauci, Based on your recent congressional testimony it is apparent that the NIH has a new official definition of “gain of function” research. Please provide the public with the new definition, and the timing an process used to create this new definition. Further, please apply the new and old definition to the research performed at Johnson & Johnson to develop their adenovirus vector approach to achieve COVID-19 immunity. It is widely reported that JnJ modified an adenovirus that previously only infected monkeys, adding the coronavirus gene for the spike protein and deleting/removing several originally present adenovirus genes. Isn’t...

A police department in Wisconsin is hitting back against a cell phone video taken during a traffic stop circulating on social media, arguing that body camera footage showing the incident from a different vantage point, proves that an officer did not try to "plant evidence" in the back seat of the vehicle. The incident happened Wednesday at about 3:22 p.m. when officers from the Village of Caledonia Police Department conducted a traffic stop for a vehicle traveling 63 mph in a 45 mph zone. The driver was identified by her driver’s license, and two rear passengers who were not wearing...

Today marks 16.5 months since the institution of the infamous “Flatten the Curve,” AKA The Deep State’s Plot to Drive Us Crazy, Make Us Stupid, and Take Over the World (in order to make the world safe for China and/or the Deep State and/or New World Order cabal to take it over). Since my last post in this series, 15 days ago, Los Angeles and St. Louis have reinstated mask mandates. The Alabama governor is sounding especially weird and frightening, even by the standards of Alabama governors, on the subject of the big bad ‘rona. So, Alabamans, you know what...

The frightening creatures go by various names. Some call them whip-scorpions, while one journalist at the Houston Chronicle called the insect a "land lobster from hell." The insects are better known as vinegaroons, and despite their hellish appearances, the nocturnal, visually impaired creatures pose relatively little harm to humans. In fact, they are good at killing pests like cockroaches and millipedes. Brought out of their burrows by heavy rains in and around Big Bend National Park in southwest Texas, the approximately three-inch-long vinegaroons are out exploring the desert in search of food and love, according to a Facebook post from...

As I noted a couple of weeks ago, the largest national teachers’ unions—the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers—have essentially declared war on parents and students, doubling down on Critical Race Theory and the “LGBTQ+” agenda while continuing to advocate for forced masking and vaccination of children. In that column, I called on teachers of good will, true allies of students and parents, to abandon the unions and stop paying dues, which is tantamount to supporting their agenda. The battle lines have been drawn. They are either with us or against us. So much for teachers. But...

Meet Ben & Jerry’s Board Chair: Anti-Israel Activist Has Published Defenses of Hezbollah, Hamas Anuradha Mittal founded nonprofit that accused Israel of human rights abuses and defended Hezbollah Ben and Jerry's board chairwoman Anuradha Mittal / oaklandinstitute.org Ben & Jerry's board chairwoman isn't your average corporate suit. A social justice warrior who's now under increased scrutiny in the wake of the company's announcement that it will boycott Israel's West Bank and East Jerusalem, she has a lengthy history of left-wing activism that includes publishing columns defending Hezbollah and supporting U.S. funding to Hamas. Anuradha Mittal, the leading force behind the...

Team USA was fried by the French in a stunning men’s basketball opening loss at the Tokyo Olympics. The Americans led Team France by seven with under four minutes remaining, but the French scored the next 14 points for a shocking 83-76 victory at Saitama Super Arena. Nets star Kevin Durant was in early foul trouble and finished with 10 points on 4-for-12 shooting in 21 minutes before fouling out in the closing seconds. Jrue Holiday net a team-high 18 and Bam Adebayo adding 12.

France upsets USA in Olympic men's basketball 83-76. NBA superstar Lebron "Shanghai" James couldn't be bothered representing the USA. "No, I think I'm going to play for the Toon Squad this summer instead of the Olympics. I think that's what I'll focus on, trying to beat the Monstars or the Goon Squad, we call them now."

Thousands of people flooded the streets of Turin, a city located in northern Italy, Thursday evening to protest harsh government restrictions for unvaccinated citizens, dubbed the “green pass.” The Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, told a press conference Thursday that the country will need to act and suppress another wave of COVID-19 infections at a time the Delta variant is spreading throughout Europe. The green pass — a digital certificate containing proof of immunization will be necessary for anyone older than 12 to enter stadiums, museums, theatres, cinemas, exhibition centers, swimming pools, and gyms. The pass is an extension of...

WASHINGTON, Wednesday, July 24. A letter was received in Washington to-day from a lady in Richmond, in which she says: "There is no rejoicing in Richmond. The number of killed and wounded brought into Richmond is fearful." This corroborates statements made by others that the mortality among the rebels is much greater than our loss. The loss on our side is less even than I have heretofore figured it. It will not be above eight hundred. It is reliably stated that Father O'RILEY has information from Richmond that Col. CORCORAN is dead, and that his body is in Richmond. The...

Israeli strikes in Syria reportedly killed a Hezbollah military commander and an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) senior official. The Kan public broadcaster reported that Hezbollah military commander Imad al-Amin was killed in western Syria. The Lebanese terror group confirmed on Telegram that al-Amin was killed "while fulfilling his duties" but did not specify when or how. Saudi outlet Al-Arabiya also reported that a senior official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Sayed Ahmed Qurayshi, was killed under unknown circumstances in Syria this week. There has been no official confirmation from Iran.

The MSM is echoing with cries of “The Delta Variant is more contagious!” This is somehow supposed to bring us to the needle on our knees, weeping for our insensitive, snowflake triggering refusal to get the shot sooner. We should have realized that our questions about the safety of the shot are actually “violence.” Certainly we don’t wish to be violent? Fast on the heels of the “Contagion!” scream is the screed that “hospitals have not yet reached maximum capacity.” Somehow this is supposed to frighten us back into ineffective and harmful lockdowns in the futile hope that something we...