Free Republic

An alarming admission was found near the bottom of a recent New York Times article about pharmaceutical giant Merck’s new Covid drug molnupiravir. Approved by the FDA two weeks ago, the drug was studied on isolated hamster cells for 32 days before being given the green light. While the FDA narrowly voted to recommend emergency use authorization for the drug, France’s National Authority of Health on Friday cited the pill’s own lack of efficacy as it ruled it will not be used in the European nation. According to the NYT report, “A team of researchers at the University of North...

Biden press secretary Jen Psaki acknowledged on Tuesday that the holiday season at the White House isn't quite the same as previous years in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. “It doesn’t look exactly like it has always looked here, but we are going to continue to celebrate, to embrace the holiday season, and look for ways we can do that,” Psaki said when asked if traditional holiday parties are taking place this year. She pointed to a “variety of ways” the White House is celebrating, including the Christmas tree lighting and when first lady Jill Biden received the tree and...

An immunotherapy harnessing the immune system's "natural killer" cells has proven effective in treating acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in some adults whose cancers return. Now, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have shown, in a small clinical trial, that the same natural killer cells also can help some children and young adults with recurrent AML and few other treatment options. Results from the phase 1 trial, which included eight patients ages 1 to 30 years, are published online in the journal Blood. "All of the patients enrolled in this study had very aggressive AML," said first...

President Biden on Tuesday called for passage of his stalled multitrillion-dollar social spending bill in a video message marking the ninth anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre — highlighting a relatively obscure provision in the bill that he said would prevent additional mass shootings. Biden has taken many opportunities to promote the sprawling package, which would cost $2.2 trillion as passed last month by the House, or $4.5 trillion if its programs are extended over 10 years. “There are three common-sense bills to reduce gun violence that the Senate should pass now, right away, long overdue,” Biden said...

HR 550, a bill passed by the House, would expand state and local health department vaccine-tracking systems to monitor the vaccination status of American citizens and provide the information to the federal government.Since there isn’t a safe vaccine (as I’ve noted before), this is nonsensical. All of the research I’m aware of shows that people who take the approved vaccines are uniformly less healthy than those who refuse the vaccines.It takes less than 10 seconds to take actionPlease fill out the form on this page and hit “Send.”I use RoboForm so the whole process literally took me <10 seconds from...

Will likely be facing vaccine mandate. Does anyone have thoughts on taking Ivermectin to offset side-affects of the vaccine?

Here’s the LA Times story:This is nuts. These people in public health are sheep.I fired off this email to Mark Ghaly. I’ll let you know if he responds. I doubt I’ll hear anything back.These people don’t believe in science. Science says the randomized-controlled trials tell us the truth compared to uncontrolled trials. So what does California rely on: ten uncontrolled trials of course! Do they even mention the RCTs in the article? Heck no!Folks, any effect size of masks, if there is one, is TINY. It is too small to measure in the big RCTs. There is no possible way...

This video was posted by Ahad Abu Wadiya Al-Qa'actach, one of the most colorful figures in Gaza. He is well-known and was active in the "return marches", the riots on the border with Israel. He was present at every riot on the fence and considered to be one of the Gazan "influencers" on the net. Abu Wadiya, who was previously detained by Hamas, addresses its senior officials and tells them: "Because of you, everyone wants to emigrate from Gaza." The video was filmed at the Rafah crossing with three of his friends who chose to immigrate to Turkey. NEWSRAEL brings...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Portland City Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty is suing the Portland police union, its former president and a Portland police officer for $5 million, saying they leaked information last spring that erroneously identified Hardesty as the suspect in a hit-and-run. According to court documents obtained by KOIN 6 News, the lawsuit seeks $3 million from the Portland Police Association and $1 million each from the union’s former president, Brian Hunzeker, and Police Bureau officer Kerri Ottoman. The defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the newspaper.

The White House intends to commemorate the anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, though specifics are still in the works, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters on Tuesday. "I don’t have anything to report to you at this point in time about our plans," Psaki said. "Jan. 6 was one of the darkest days in our democracy," she continued. "It was a day when our nation's capital was under attack and I think there's no question you'll see us commemorate that day."

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released updated guidance on Tuesday saying that an individual can be considered to have a disability after contracting COVID-19 under certain circumstances. According to the EEOC's new guidance, a person who has or was previously diagnosed with COVID-19 can be considered disabled if the condition or any the symptoms they experience cause “physical or mental” impairment that “substantially limits one or more major life activities.” People who tested positive for COVID-19 but were asymptomatic or experienced mild symptoms that resolved without issue will not be considered disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA),...

The White House took the unusual step of recording and editing an address from President Joe Biden on Tuesday before releasing it to the public. The president addressed the country on the occasion of the nine-year anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre, promising to continue fighting for gun control. The White House did not provide any access to reporters for the address, which resulted in no questions being asked after Biden finished speaking. Usually, reporters and media cameras are brought into the White House to film the president when he addresses the nation.

Memorial of Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church Matthew 21:28-32 Friends, today’s Gospel is the parable of the two sons, a story about obedience to God. To live the good life is not finally a matter of autonomy but of obeying commandments. The obedience that Jesus desires is a surrender to the one who wants what is best for the surrenderer. The entire to-be of the Son is a listening to the command of the Father, and the creature, consequently, is meant to be nothing but a listening to the command of the Son. This...

Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) said Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports” that text messages of Donald Trump, Jr. urging his father’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows to help stop the riot at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, showed hypocrisy that “smacks you in the face.” Mitchell said, “What is the impact do you think of Don Jr.? Publicly, he was saying one thing and denying the severity of the insurrection while privately, he was pleading with Mark Meadows. Does it, first of all, suggest that they all were aware that Donald Trump, alone, could have stopped the violence...

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) passed a regulation aimed at “Small Off-Road Engines” on Thursday that will ban the sale of portable generators in the state — which includes generators mounted in recreational vehicles. The ruling bans the sale of gas-powered leaf blowers and lawnmowers in the state beginning in 2024. Portable generators will be required to meet more stringent standards in 2024 and meet zero-emission standards starting in 2028. In the 2024 model year, portable generators will have to improve their efficiency by somewhere between 40% and 90%, which seems unrealistic in such a short period of time,...

A helicopter crashed on the I-10 spillway bridge near mile marker 212.Louisiana State Police say east-bound I-10 from LaPlace toward Kenner is closed, with traffic being diverted at U.S. 51. I-55 south-bound is also being diverted to U.S. 51.Louisiana State Police: "Troopers are currently responding to a helicopter crash on I-10 eastbound at milepost 212 (Bonne Carré Spillway Bridge). I-10 eastbound at US Hwy 51 is currently closed. I-10 eastbound traffic is being diverted to US Hwy 51 southbound. I-55 southbound is also currently closed and southbound traffic is being diverted to US Hwy 51."

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) spoke at an awards ceremony over the weekend hosted by a Communist Party affiliate whose leaders used the event to recruit potential members to the organization.Blumenthal, one of the wealthiest members of the Senate, presented certificates of special recognition from the Senate to three winners of the "Amistad Award," given annually by the Connecticut People’s World Committee, an affiliate of the Communist Party USA and the Marxist People’s World news site.Blumenthal appeared even as Democratic leaders have downplayed allegations that many in the party support socialist or communist policies. President Joe Biden distanced himself from...

Ex-NFL player Phillip Adams (pictured in 2011, four years before he retired) killed six people and then himself in April this year in an as-yet unexplained rampage Ex NFL player Phillip Adams had 'unusually severe' levels of CTE when he killed six people in April before turning the gun on himself, pathologists revealed on Tuesday as they shamed the NFL for allegedly ignoring his pleas for help. Adams, 32, played 78 NFL games for six different teams across six seasons before retiring in 2015. In April, he shot and killed Dr. Robert Lesslie, his wife Barbara, two of their grandchildren...

Plant-based meat giant Impossible Foods — best known for their Impossible Burger — has launched its own chain of fast food restaurants… kind of. Using a modern method favored by everyone from Applebee's to Guy Fieri, Impossible's new delivery-only restaurant will operate as ghost kitchens, namely, working out of the Dog Haus hot dog chain. Launched last week in nearly 40 locations across eight states nationwide, "The Impossible Shop" is available on delivery platforms including DoorDash, Postmates, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. Worth noting, not all Dog Haus locations will be operating as Impossible ghost kitchens; the chain itself has locations...

What happened to the Viking Kittens? I had a FB Friend post a photo of kittens with Viking helmets and the words "We come from the land of ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow." It reminded me of the viking kittens. I miss them.