Free Republic

...Biden on Friday announced that Cathy Russell, the head of the powerful White House personnel office, would leave to assume the role of executive director of UNICEF.... ...A longtime adviser to the Bidens, Russell served in the White House and State Department during the Obama administration. She was U.S. ambassador for global women’s issues under former President Obama, a role that Biden highlighted in Friday’s announcement....

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal health officials on Wednesday authorized a new COVID-19 antibody drug for people with serious health problems or allergies who can’t get adequate protection from vaccination. Antibody drugs have been a standard treatment for treating COVID-19 infections for over a year. But the AstraZeneca antibody drug cleared by the Food and Drug Administration is different. It’s the first intended for long-term prevention against COVID-19 infection, rather than a short-term treatment. People who could benefit from the antibody drug include cancer patients, organ transplant recipients and people taking immune-suppressing drugs....the required two antibody injections may be effective at...

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) - The Bowling Green area is seeing significant damage after a potential tornado moved through the area early morning. According to Western Kentucky University, emergency crews are assessing significant storm damage and the university is in contact with all residential staff. There have not been any injuries reported on campus at this time. Bowling Green Police say all agencies in the city and county are responding to damage at this time. Police say several warehouses at the Industrial Park are “completely collapsed.” Power is out at the park which makes it difficult to see anything at...

OKLAHOMA CITY - A Trump supporter from Muskogee was sentenced Friday to 20 days behind bars for breaching the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

An FBI office in New York reportedly is warning local television stations to be on alert if they receive letters from someone claiming to be the "Chinese Zodiac Killer". The notice, issued Wednesday night, comes after several media outlets in the Albany area received letters from the mystery individual, according to the Times Union. It's not immediately clear if there is any connection between this person and the California-linked Zodiac Killer, but the FBI in its statement asked the television stations to be on the lookout for more letters ....

President Joe Biden joked about his declining poll numbers and claimed inflation would go down during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Friday night. Biden, appearing via satellite from the White House, became only the second sitting president to appear on a late-night show after his former boss, Barack Obama, visited Jay Leno a few months into his first term. White House senior officials have recently been critical of the mainstream media's coverage of Biden and his administration. Fallon offered little pushback to Biden's answers and allowed the president to give long answers promoting his agenda.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki suggested Friday that it is OK for kids to eat their lunches outside in cold temperatures in an effort to maintain safety amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Asked whether the White House wanted school children to "get back to a more normal school experience," Psaki insisted schools are having children practice social distancing measures, mask up, and eat their snacks and lunch in frigid outdoor temperatures in an effort to "keep their kids safe and keep students safe."... Psaki said she believes the "vast majority of parents appreciate" such measures...

LACERVILLE, Calif. (AP) — A father and son charged with starting a massive California wildfire that destroyed many homes and forced tens of thousands of people to flee Lake Tahoe communities earlier this year pleaded not guilty in court Friday. The El Dorado County prosecutor's office charged David Scott Smith, 66, and Travis Shane Smith, 32, with reckless arson. The office also charged the son with illegal conversion or manufacture of a machine gun and both men of illegal possession of a firearm silencer. ...The criminal complaints do not specify how the machine gun and silencer tie into the Caldor...

December 11th, 2021 Memorial of St. Damasus, Pope St. Stephen's chapel, Toronto, Ontario, Canada St. Stephen's hosts the St. Francis de Sales deaf ministry and has done so for the past 103 years Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Violet First readingEcclesiasticus 48:1-4,9-12 ©The prophet Elijah will come againThe prophet Elijah arose like a fire, his word flaring like a torch.It was he who brought famine on the people, and who decimated them in his zeal.By the word of the Lord, he shut up the heavens, he also, three times, brought down fire.How glorious you were in your miracles, Elijah! Has anyone...

(Reuters) -Multiple people were trapped after a roof partially collapsed at an Amazon.com Inc facility near St. Louis on Friday night, after tornadoes and strong storms blew through the area, media reported. The warehouse in Edwardsville in southern Illinois was damaged after a severe weather event occurred around 8:33 p.m. (0233 GMT on Saturday), the authorities said, adding that local police and fire departments have a search and rescue operations in place...

NEWSRAEL: Former Finance Minister, Khalil is considered the right-hand man of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri who heads the Shiite Amal Movement. Berri has already trashed this decision. Judge Tarek Bitar was forced to stop the investigation for two months as he himself was sued, but lately, the suits were proven to be a smoke screen and dismissed. The order to arrest the minister was given in the first meeting of the investigation. It proves that Judge Bitar is willing to go "all the way" and is not afraid of his distractors. If we look at the history of modern Lebanon,...

Great news! UFC president Dana White is officially COVID-19 free ... telling TMZ Sports he tested negative for the virus, and he's crediting Joe Rogan's suggested treatment plan of monoclonal antibodies, NAD drip, vitamins, and Ivermectin for the swift recovery. "I feel incredible! Today is day 5 since testing positive for COVID, and [Friday at 9 AM], I tested negative for COVID. Thank you, Dr. Joe Rogan!" Dana tested positive for the virus after a Thanksgiving day family gathering ... and immediately contacted the JRE host for advice. Of course, Rogan beat the virus in a matter of days ......

In the event that the Supreme Court overturns its 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion the law of the land, Gov. Galvin Newsom (D-Calif) is boasting that his state "will become an abortion sanctuary for the entire world. We have the will and the votes to go far beyond the bounds of the Roe v. Wade decision, which essentially only protected abortion during the first two trimesters." Based on the oral arguments between the Justices and the attorneys representing both sides of the issue, it is speculated that the Court seems most likely to rule that it will...

This aged well ... *Warning: Strong language* Clip...

Whenever fake hate crimes are exposed — and as my PJM colleague Victoria Taft points out, there are hundreds of them — the argument is always advanced that we shouldn’t pay attention to the exposé because it would make reporting of “real” hate crimes more difficult.We hear the same argument when a woman fakes a sexual assault. We have to treat the assault as real because not doing so would make women reluctant to report a rape.Why should this be so? In fact, exposing hoaxes doesn’t appear to deter anyone from trying again. Why should it deter anyone from reporting...

Surprisingly little attention is being paid to a bombshell admission made by the attorneys representing the corporation formerly known as Facebook, Inc., which has now transitioned into Meta Platforms, Inc.In a court filing responding to a lawsuit filed by John Stossel claiming that he was defamed by a "fact check" Facebook used to label a video by him as "misleading," Meta's attorneys assert that the "fact check" was an "opinion," not an actual check of facts and declaration of facts. Under libel law, opinions are protected from liability for libel.Anthony Watts of Wattsupwiththat explains:Opinions are not subject to defamation claims,...

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced back in July that it had achieved a complete “moderately prosperous society” and eliminated “absolute poverty” in China.However, recent research shows that the number of individuals from households with less than 500 yuan ($80) per capita monthly disposable income has exceeded 220 million in China, a sharp contrast to the statements proclaimed by CCP leader Xi Jinping in remarks for the Party’s 100th anniversary.In the “China Statistical Yearbook 2021” published by the National Bureau of Statistics, 20 percent of all households in China have a per capita monthly disposable income of 656 yuan (US$103),...

The procurement from Lockheed, including weapons as well as service and maintenance until 2030, is estimated to cost 8.378 billion euros ($9.44 billion), the government said. The construction of hangars and other equipment will add a further 777 million euros, and 824 million euros will be reserved for the final optimised weapons package and to control future contract amendments, it added. Finland is the 14th nation to opt for the F-35. It will begin phasing in the F-35 from 2027 onwards, said Airforce Commander Pasi Jokinen. Boeing said it still sees significant international interest in its F/A-18 Block III Super...

No evidence has come to light yet that indicates the Omicron virus variant causes more severe illness when compared to other strains, South African officials said Friday.South Africa scientists were the first to identify Omicron, a variant of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, which causes COVID-19.Science on Omicron’s severity “is not yet clear,” South African Health Minister Joe Paahla told reporters in a virtual briefing.COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have jumped in South Africa in recent weeks, driving fears that Omicron could cause more severe illness than earlier strains like Delta.The country reported 22,391 new cases on Thursday, up from...

Immunity people enjoy after recovering from COVID-19 is better than the protection bestowed from vaccination, according to a new study from Israel.Researchers analyzing data from the county’s health database from August to September found both COVID-19 infections and severe disease were higher among the vaccinated than those who recovered from the illness, also known as people with natural immunity.For instance, the naturally immune had a 10.5 per 100,000 infection rate four to six months following their recovery, versus a 69.2 per 100,000 rate among the vaccinated.The number of severe cases was also higher among the vaccinated: 0.9 percent of all...