Free Republic

the virus is our enemy. We need a modicum of clarity here. If the virus was deliberately seeded into this country, it is not the enemy—it’s the weapon. The enemy lay elsewhere. If we are to be open-minded, we must consider that while China halted all travel and grounded all domestic air travel in February 2020 to contain the pandemic, it continued international flights unabated until March 27. With less supporting evidence is the assertion of a high-ranking Chinese defector that the virus was intentionally released in October 2019 into the World Military Games in Wuhan.

President Joe Biden touted new commitments from businesses and ports Wednesday as his administration rushes to ease supply chain backlogs in time to ease the burden on Christmas shoppers and avoid being cast as a Scrooge. 'With the holidays coming up, you might be wondering if gifts you plan to buy will arrive on time?' Biden said, acknowledging the crush of commercial and online orders at risk of disruption as the holiday season approaches. 'I know you’re hearing a lot about something called supply chains and how hard it is to get a range of things from a toaster to...

Dr. Lobelo says, it is important to remember that family gatherings can drive the spread of the virus, especially in households where certain members are not vaccinated. "We know on average 70% of household members who aren't vaccinated are going to catch the virus if someone brings it home," Lobelo says. "It doesn't matter if it's a kid or it's an adult." So, he recommends taking some some basic precautions, including wearing masks. "If you're going to be gathering at home with people you don't typically gather with, that you don't know their vaccination status, you all need to wear...

The graffiti also mocked Jesus and maligned priestsVandals desecrated the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Colorado, on Sunday with satanic messages shortly before the morning Mass. The cathedral's brass front doors and stone columns were defaced with messages mocking Jesus, maligning Catholic priests as "child rapists," and claiming "Satan lives here," according to local ABC affiliate Denver 7. In an apparent reference to the phrase that went viral on social media after gay marriage was legalized in 2015, "love wins" was scrawled on a nearby statue of Pope John Paul II. A priest reportedly told Denver 7...

CHICAGO (AP) — The head of the Chicago police officers union has called on its members to defy the city’s requirement to report their COVID-19 vaccination status by Friday or be placed on unpaid leave. In the video posted online Tuesday and first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times, Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara vowed to take Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s administration to court if it tries to enforce the mandate, which requires city workers to report their vaccine status by the end of the work week. After Friday, unvaccinated workers who won’t submit to semiweekly coronavirus testing will be...

During the 2020 election, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spent hundreds of millions of dollars to turn out likely Democratic voters. But this wasn’t traditional political spending. He funded a targeted, private takeover of government election operations by nominally nonpartisan — but demonstrably ideological — nonprofit organizations. Analysis conducted by our team demonstrates this money significantly increased Joe Biden’s vote margin in key swing states. In places like Georgia, when Biden won by 12,000 votes, and Arizona, where he won by 10,000, the spending likely put him over the top. This unprecedented merger of public-election offices with private resources and personnel...

Minister reprimands top bishop for claiming the secrecy of confessional ‘above laws of the Republic’Catholic priests must report all child sexual abuse allegations to police, including if they hear about it in the secrecy of the confession box, the French interior minister has said after reprimanding France’s top bishop for claiming that the secrecy of the Catholic confessional was “above the laws of the Republic”. France is reeling from the publication last week of a devastating independent report which found that at least 330,000 children were victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy and lay members of church institutions over...

Former Clinton adviser James Carville said Thursday on MSNBC’s “The Beat” that President Joe Biden and the Democrats were using an “idiotic” strategy to sell the Build Back Better agenda. Carville said, “Democrats in Congress are asked to do very popular things. It doesn’t take much courage to negotiate prescription drug prices. It doesn’t take much courage to raise taxes on the wealthy. It doesn’t take much courage for expand health care. Somebody has to get into the room, OK. We want to do ten things, we can do five. Take the other five and run them in 2022. They...

At a time in the not so distant past (about 10 years ago), the phrase "gay evangelical demands that prayer for conversion be criminalised" would make as much sense as "square circle makes triangle". But in today's world it seems about par for the course! I'm not sure that in many years of reading 'reports' I have ever read one as chilling, or with such dangerous implications, as the just released Cooper Report from the Ozanne Foundation. That may sound hyperbolic but bear with me as we see what the report actually says. Although I was aware of the stance...

WORLD—Car manufacturers around the world are aiming to increase sales to women by replacing traditional "check engine" lights with new warning lights reading "Check Engine, or don't, whatever, it's probably no big deal." The warning light will flash when the car's computer detects something seriously wrong with the engine or transmission or other key components of the car, but will assure the female driver that it's not a big deal and they can drive with the light on indefinitely. "This is a more realistic warning light for the female market," said one executive at Toyota. "Frankly, the other one was...

Ratcliffe said former Justice official Michael Sussmann just "the first of what I would hope would be a number" of others charged in Russia probe. Former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe says he's given John Durham, special counsel investigating the Russia collusion probe, a trove of documents that he thinks support charges beyond those recently filed against cybersecurity lawyer Michael Sussman. "Sussmann's is the first of what I would hope would be a number" of additional people charged, he told Fox News on Sunday. Ratcliffe made the argument on what he said was "1,000 intelligence community documents" that he...

Anthony Fauci isn’t a fool. He just thinks everyone else is. This is why he’s been able to keep a straight face throughout the rapid devolution surrounding the narrative of his beloved vaccines. They were touted as practically 100% effective in the beginning. Today, some are saying they have zero impact on whether its recipients contract Covid-19 or not. A new video highlights the moving goalpost of vaccine effectiveness, starting with all of the reports that show it is 100% or 99% effective and flashing through as the number quickly dropped… and kept dropping. Meanwhile, Fauci has been playing everyone...

... Based upon interviews with the foregoing witnesses, as well as other witnesses who were interviewed during the course of the investigation, and in the inspection of approximately 1,000 absentee ballots and ballot images, the Secretary's investigators have been unable to substantiate the allegations that fraudulent or counterfeit ballots were counted. Investigators looked into claims made by Suzi Voyles, who worked the county's risk-limiting audit and claimed to see a batch of "pristine" ballots that looked suspicious. Voyles is now running for Congress as a Republican in the 6th Congressional District. After interviewing Voyles two separate times, investigators checked several...

Rep. Adam Schiff (D‑CA), who sits on the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol riot, announced over the weekend that they are “prepared to go forward and urge the Justice Department” to prosecute conservatives who refuse to comply with their subpoenas. The House committee is especially intent on sinking their fangs into Steve Bannon. The committee may refer Bannon for criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice (DOJ) if he doesn’t show up for a deposition slated for Thursday according to The Hill. McQuade said the committee has other options. It could seek the assistance of the House sergeant-at-arms to...

The Council of Bishops, the Supreme governing body of the Russian Orthodox Church, is scheduled to meet this November. They are planning to consider the approval of a canonical document, On the Security of Human Life from Conception. It stipulates the rights endowed to every human being from the very moment of being conceived. “There has been no change in our position on this subject, as it was presented in the Foundations of the Social Doctrine of the Russian Orthodox Church adopted over twenty years ago,” said His Grace Silouan, Bishop of Peterhof, Chairman of the Synodal Commission on Bioethics....

Internal Capitol Police documents were obtained and released by legal watchdog Judicial Watch. The nearly 500 pages of interviews of witnesses and investigators of the Ashli Babbitt shooting reveal “no good reason for shooting,” according to Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “These previously secret records show there was no good reason to shoot and kill Ashli Babbitt,” Fitton said. “The Biden-Garland Justice Department and the Pelosi Congress have much to answer for the over the mishandling and cover-up of this scandalous killing of an American citizen by the U.S. Capitol Police.”

Happy Wednesday. How are things going for Democrats today? Let’s review a handful of headlines. (1) Out of Iowa, a legislative seat that has been in Democratic hands for decades is no longer blue. Over the summer, Republicans won back a state senate seat in affluent, suburban, Trump-hostile Connecticut. Last night, they picked off a different sort of district. Trump carried it, but it had remained blue at the state legislative level, even in recent cycles with Trump on the ballot. Change: GOP legislative pickup in Iowa. Seat went 59/41 Dem in 2018 cycle. Dems had held it for decades....

As the first tranche of COVID-19 restrictions lifted earlier this week, the people of New South Wales (NSW) enjoyed their first taste of freedom after four months of strict lockdown and enforced seclusion. Although vaccination rates in the state were low in July, once the NSW government-linked freedoms to needles, the rates shot up as people flocked to get jabbed. With the 80 percent target due to be reached sometime this week, hope grows that we will return to something resembling normal life by year’s end. Those not yet fully vaccinated—plus conscientious anti-vaxxers—will live restricted lives for some time to...

A Netflix group for trans workers is coordinating a company-wide walkout protesting the company's latest comedy special from Dave Chappelle and Netflix's responses to criticism that it includes transphobic jokes, according to a report. Netflix didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. "Our leadership has shown us they do not uphold the values to which we are held," an internal organizing message for the group said, as reported by The Verge. "Between the numerous emails and non-answers that have been given, we have been told explicitly that we somehow cannot understand the nuance of certain content."