Free Republic

While COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe disease, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 and also reduce the likelihood of mild or asymptomatic infection, a small share of fully vaccinated individuals do become infected, and some become hospitalized or have died. These rare occurrences are known as “breakthrough cases” which are to be expected, and historically known to occur with other vaccines as none is 100% effective. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently monitors hospitalizations and deaths, from any cause, among fully vaccinated individuals with COVID-19, but not breakthrough infections, which it stopped monitoring as of...

I just got kicked off of twitter for laughing at antifa getting their buts kicked by people who decided to push back when attacked. OK fine. it was inevitable. I want to continue to read Andy Ngo's posts. Is Gab the best? Parler was shut down out of spite and I want a secure site. There are three or four other sites out there, What do you like, and why?

Chicago owes former President Donald Trump a million-dollar tax refund but the Cook County State’s Attorney, which is typically focused on handling the city’s crime, will mount an effort to block Trump from receiving his check. The Hill reports that the “Cook County state’s attorney is seeking to block a $1 million tax refund that the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board ruled is owed to former President Trump on his Chicago skyscraper’s 2011 tax bill.” The building was “over-assessed” according to a unanimous vote of Illinois’ state property tax board, but the Cook County States Attorney says the city should...

A huge Tesla battery pack was on fire for four days until firefighters managed to put it out. The "Megapack," at an upcoming Australian power project, caught fire in a trial, authorities said. It took 150 firefighters and more than 30 fire trucks to extinguish the fire, they said.A Tesla "Megapack" battery pack caught fire during testing on Friday, and it took firefighters four days to extinguish the blaze, Australian local authorities said on Monday.A Megapack is Tesla's largest battery product, and can store energy generated by solar panels or wind turbines. The Victorian Big Battery project, where the fire...

On this date in 1343, a noble widow’s career in piracy got its start where such ventures more usually end: the scaffold. Olivier III de Clisson, a powerful Breton noble nominally loyal to France, had been persuaded to ally with England’s Edward III in what nobody yet realized was the opening stage of the Hundred Years’ War. Intriguing to advance a claim to the French throne, Edward knew right where to look. “Brittany was France’s Scotland, choleric, Celtic, stony, bred to opposition and resistance, and ready to use the English in its struggles against its overlord as the Scots used...

Long before Covid, mental health experts declared a different sort of pandemic—a precipitous decline in mental health on college campuses. One 2019 survey by the American College Health Association found that over the course of a year, 55.9 percent of students reported feeling hopelessness, 65.6 percent reported feeling very lonely, 70.8 percent reported feeling very sad, and 65.7 percent reported overwhelming anxiety. Nearly half said that at some point in the year they felt so depressed that it was difficult to function. This data creates an odd disjunction. College, after all, publicly signifies opportunity, success, and even the American Dream—and...

VIDEOJake Tapper loves to use the labels "election liars" and "The Big Lie." On Sunday he again labeled Jim Jordan as an "election liar." Of course, he is referring to the 2020 election but as you can see, Tapper himself was a big defender of "The Big Lie" that there was Trump-Russia collusion in the 2016 election which by his own standards would make him an "election liar." As part of his promotion of "The Big Lie" about the 2016 election, watch how Tapper in 2018 desperately defended "The Big Lie" that the FISA warrant against Carter Page was somehow...

GOV. CUOMO: “Private businesses… I am asking them, and suggesting to them, go to ‘vaccine only’ admission.”

Source: NanoStockkFirst on the list was “Radium Water,” with this explanation: “Before radioactivity was fully understood, naturally occurring radium was lauded for its seemingly otherworldly benefits. Water was kept in radium-laced buckets, and people would drink the tainted liquid to cure everything from arthritis to impotence. Of course, this was an awful idea, and when people started to drop dead from this miracle water, the connection was made. Now, non-radioactive prescription drugs are used to combat arthritis and impotence.” Today, however, we have taken things even further. Not only are we giving perfectly healthy 18-year-old girls full mastectomies. Not only...

Haji Sakhi decided to flee Afghanistan the night he saw two Taliban members drag a young woman from her home and lash her on the sidewalk. Terrified for his three daughters, he crammed his family into a car the next morning and barreled down winding dirt roads into Pakistan. That was more than 20 years ago. They returned to Kabul, the capital, nearly a decade later after the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime. But now, with the Taliban sweeping across parts of the country as American forces withdraw, Mr. Sakhi, 68, fears a return of the violence he witnessed...

Kathy Griffin revealed she has lung cancer despite “never” smoking and will be undergoing surgery to have half of her left lung removed. The comedian announced the news Monday morning in a lengthy note posted to social media, sharing that the cancer is stage 1 and “contained.” “I’ve got to tell you guys something. I have cancer. I’m about to go into surgery to have half of my left lung removed,” she began her letter on social media. “Yes, I have lung cancer even though I’ve never smoked! The doctors are very optimistic as it is stage one and contained...

Hate crimes documented by police disproportionately list Black people as attackers, according to a new report by several civil rights groups for better protections under hate crime laws. Released Wednesday, the report is a comprehensive national review of hate crime laws that shows where laws variate. It also cited widespread flaws in data collection and reporting. Though the majority of hate crimes in the U.S. are committed by white people, motivated by racial or ethnic bias, the crimes disproportionately reported Black Americans as the attackers. ...

With so much interest in concealed carry these days, it’s time for me to put the spotlight on the Beretta 9mm Nano. You may be well-familiar with several larger everyday carry 9mm pistols. However, the unique miniature size of a pocket pistol brings a new set of ideas and challenges to the table.

“But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content” (1 Timothy 6:6-8). Believers should not have a self-centered preoccupation with money. With all the attention modern society gives to money, what it can buy, and the dividends it can earn, Christians are continually challenged to view it properly. But Scripture provides us with much help and guidance in this area. It is replete with warnings and...

Former President Barack Obama will reportedly have nearly 700 people at his celeb-packed 60th birthday bash in Martha’s Vineyard — even as officials warn of the dangers of large gatherings during the ongoing pandemic. The 44th commander in chief will have at least 200 staff on hand at his Massachusetts home this weekend to cater to the 475 invited guests, including Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney and Steven Spielberg, according to Axios and The Hill. Pearl Jam will perform, with a local hairdresser retained to style the hair of an unidentified member of the band, Axios reported. “It’s going to be...

The real threat to states like Arizona is not COVID, it’s CALVID, Arizona turning into California. People fleeing the deteriorating state are flocking to Arizona and bringing their failed political views with them. Former Californians now make up about 10% of the population in Arizona. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey titled an op-ed for The Orange County Register in March warning those considering moving to Arizona, “Leaving California? Don’t Forget Why.” He joked about thanking the California governor during a speech for growing Arizona’s economy. More people are leaving the state than moving there. A survey in 2019 found that 53%...

Rudy Giuliani on Friday slammed a Justice Department investigation into his alleged dealings with Ukraine, contending that he “committed no crime.” “I committed no crime, and if you think I committed a crime, you're probably really stupid, because you don't know who I am,” Giuliani said in an interview with NBC New York. Federal prosecutors have for some time been leading an investigation into Giuliani, the ex-personal attorney to former President Trump, and his dealings in Ukraine, looking into his actions when he was pushing for a Ukrainian probe of the Biden family.

Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc have raised the prices of their COVID-19 vaccines in their latest European Union supply contracts, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The new price for the Pfizer shot was 19.50 euros (US$23.15 ) against 15.50 euros previously, the newspaper said, citing portions of the contracts seen. The price of a Moderna vaccine was $25.50 a dose, the contracts show, up from about 19 euros in the first procurement deal but lower than the previously agreed $28.50 because the order had grown, the report said, citing one official close to the matter. The European Commission said...

Watch Bannon’s War Room Monday Morning Edition 10 AM Eastern.

Not since their infamous summit in Alaska in March have President Biden and his senior team arguably had a worse week on China policy. After Biden’s White House news conference Thursday, real questions remain whether he will in fact determine China’s responsibility for the global pandemic and hold the Chinese Communist Party accountable in a meaningful way if, as is widely suspected, the virus spread intentionally or unintentionally, from a government lab in Wuhan, China. In addition, Biden’s secretary of defense Lloyd Austin only deepened those questions, and raised another central one dealing with our allies, in his own appearance...