Free Republic

Anecdotes tell us what the data can’t: Vaccinated people appear to be getting the coronavirus at a surprisingly high rate. But exactly how often isn’t clear, nor is it certain how likely they are to spread the virus to others. And now, there’s growing concern that vaccinated people may be more vulnerable to serious illness than previously thought. There’s a dearth of scientific studies with concrete answers, leaving public policy makers and corporate executives to formulate plans based on fragmented information. While some are renewing mask mandates or delaying office reopenings, others cite the lack of clarity to justify staying...

August 22nd , 2021Memorial of St. Andrew the Scot St. Mary’s Cathedral,Edinburgh, Scotland Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green First readingJoshua 24:1-2,15-18 ©We will serve the Lord, for he is our GodJoshua gathered all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem; then he called the elders, leaders, judges and scribes of Israel, and they presented themselves before God. Then Joshua said to all the people, ‘If you will not serve the Lord, choose today whom you wish to serve, whether the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are now...

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Saturday said he’s now testing negative for COVID-19, less than a week after he was diagnosed with the virus. “I am now testing negative for Covid. I am told that my infection was brief & mild because of the vaccination I received,” Abbott wrote on Twitter. “I will continue to quarantine as recommended by doctors. And, I will keep working on issues affecting Texas. God bless you all. And God bless Texas.” The 63-year-old Republican, whose effort to ban mask mandates was recently rejected by the Texas Supreme Court, had been isolating at the Governor’s...

From the web. For your pleasure. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO’S ‘WHO’S ON FIRST’ ……updated version. Bud: ‘You can’t come in here!’ Lou: ‘Why not?’ Bud: ‘Well because you’re unvaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But I’m not sick.’ Bud: ‘It doesn’t matter.’ Lou: ‘Well, why does that guy get to go in?’ Bud: ‘Because he’s vaccinated.’ Lou: ‘But he’s sick!’ Bud: ‘It’s alright. Everyone in here is vaccinated.’ Lou: ‘Wait a minute. Are you saying everyone in there is vaccinated?’ Bud: ‘Yes.’ Lou: ‘So then why can’t I go in there if everyone is vaccinated?’ Bud: ‘Because you’ll make them sick.’ Lou: ‘How will I...

Vengeful Taliban fighters set a young woman in northern Afghanistan ablaze this week, a woman’s rights activist alleged, as word of the terror group’s atrocities slowly trickles out of the strife-torn country. The woman was “put on fire because she was accused of bad cooking for Taliban fighters,” Najla Ayoubi, a former Afghan judge, told Sky News Friday.

While the attention of much of America has been focused on Afghanistan, it’s worth noting a development closer to home: Negotiations between Venezuela’s Maduro regime and the democratic opposition forces led by Juan Guaido officially commenced on Friday in Mexico City. The two teams met for the official launch of negotiations, though behind the scenes talks have been under way for weeks — and real negotiations will not actually start until September. The negotiations have an unusual structure: Each side has named one “second” (to borrow from the terminology of duels) and several other facilitators who will play a smaller...

Former President Donald Trump was booed by his own supporters during a rally in Cullman, Alabama Saturday night after he encouraged the crowd to get vaccinated against COVID-19. "I believe totally in your freedoms, I do, you gotta do what you gotta do, but I recommend take the vaccines. I did it. It's good," he said, drawing loud boos from the crowd of supporters. "That's okay, that's alright," Trump continued, brushing off the disapproval. "But I happen to take the vaccine. If it doesn't work, you'll be the first to know. But it is working. You do have your freedoms,...

With the surrender of the Afghan government in Kabul, the Taliban is poised to inherit a substantial fraction of the Afghan Air Force (AAF) the United States spent over $8 billion dollars rebuilding since 2008. Photographs posted on social media and compiled by the Oryx Blog confirm that the Taliban has already captured intact at least twenty-four helicopters, seven Boeing ScanEagle drones, and two airplanes as of Thursday according to a count U.S. intelligence claims the full number may be closer to thirty to forty. But given the 211 aircraft in the AAF inventory, at least 167 of which were...

Former President Donald Trump slammed President Joe Biden’s disastrous withdrawal in Afghanistan during his rally Saturday in Cullman, Alabama. “Biden failed totally on the pandemic and he’s now overseeing the greatest foreign policy humiliation in the history of the United States of America. This is the greatest humiliation I’ve ever seen,” he told the audience. Trump added that Biden’s “botched exit in Afghanistan is the most astonishing display of gross incompetence by a nation’s leader perhaps at any time that anybody’s ever seen. Name another situation like this.” He continued: Vietnam looks like a master class in strategy compared to...

C.S. Lewis saw the direction things were heading back in 1958, when he warned of the rise of a scientocracy — a government driven by science that would offer salvation from danger and illness at the expense of personal freedom. From The Magician's Twin:

Although we, the regular middle class, were all happy, there was a certain way we could see the world in which we would understand that everything we thought we knew was wrong, and actually, we should be angry. Because of our failure to see this invisible but true reality, as the philosophers thought we should, in some ways the enemy was us. Gonzalez studied the critical theorist philosophy of the era and learned that “Their position was the worker has become his own oppressor because he’s bought into the idea of country and his family and capitalism. They say he...

New York City’s “Homecoming” concert at Central Park was canceled after coming to an abrupt halt in the middle of Barry Manilow’s performance Saturday evening — as lightning storms tied to approaching Hurricane Henri descended on the Big Apple. Concertgoers were told at 7:37 p.m. to “proceed to your vehicles and protected areas outside of the event center” as Manilow was singing his 1978 hit “Can’t Smile Without You.” An announcer could be heard saying that the highly anticipated concert was “canceled.”

President Biden is scheduled to address the nation Sunday afternoon to provide updates on the administration's evacuation efforts in Afghanistan, as pressure continues to mount for his security team to safely transport thousands of Americans and Afghan allies amid growing security threats. Biden is expected to deliver remarks from the Roosevelt Room at 4 p.m. EST following a closed-door meeting with his national security team

"When asked or threatened with loss of rights, benefits, job, so as to take the Vaxx perhaps responding like this will end up getting you an exemption.'I think I have antibodies already to Covid-19, and if I do, then taking such a vaccine might cause an antibody enhanced reaction, which could be lethal. So, before being required to take one of these vaccines, I demand that I be tested for antibodies to Covid-19. Naturally, to make sure you are not liable for my death, I demand that my antibodies be tested from a live culture of Covid-19, isolated from someone...

Armed Afghans push out Taliban from 3 districts in first local assault against the militant group, according to reports Afghans have reportedly begun to fight back against the Taliban, retaking three districts on Friday from under its rule. The anti-Taliban groups say they killed dozens of Taliban fighters and captured 20 others in the assault. Throughout the swift takeover, Afghans have been openly defiant of the Taliban. (excerpt) They drove out Taliban rulers in three northern districts in the Baghlan province of Afghanistan, just about 100 miles north of Kabul.

Its midday Sunday in Australia and hundreds are marching on the border between unlocked down Queensland and locked down New South Wales to protest the New South Wales COVID lockdown. The protest taking place on what's called the "Gold Coast" in Australia...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration just approved one of the most sought after vaccines in recent decades. It's the world's first vaccine to prevent dengue fever — a disease so painful that its nickname is "breakbone fever." The vaccine, called Dengvaxia, is aimed at helping children in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories where dengue is a problem. But this vaccine has a dark — and deadly — history. One that has led to criminal charges in the Philippines, sparked national panic and fueled a massive measles outbreak that has already killed more than 355 people. The concern That...

There can no longer be any doubt that the Covid-19 injections are more deadly than the alleged Covid-19 virus itself thanks to a raft of official Public Health and Government data available, confirming more people have died due to the Covid-19 vaccine in 8 months than people who have died of Covid-19 in 18 months. NHS data for England shows that since March 2020 up to the 12th August 2021 a total of 3,743 people have allegedly died of Covid-19 who had no other pre-existing conditions which include dementia, chronic kidney disease, chronic pulmonary disease, chronic neurological disease, and heart...

U.S. inflation showed some cooling off in July after posting large gains in prior months. Consumer prices rose at their slowest monthly pace since February, providing some relief to those in the “transitory” camp, who hold that this bout of inflation isn’t a long-term phenomenon. But, inflation fears still linger. The year-on-year increase in consumer prices remained stubbornly high at 5.4 percent, the same as in June. While it’s unclear when inflation could return to a level closer to its 2 percent long-term trend, economists are increasingly talking about a gradual slowdown in inflation in the months and quarters ahead....

Wazir Akbar Mohmand @AkbarMohmand2 Intel: taliban have sent massive battalion from kunduz to recapture Baghlan. Although they are superior in number/artillery we’ll fight to the last man & make a stand here. If I die, then I die as a free man & not a slave of pakistan Might be my last tweet Allhumdulilah