Free Republic

I log in to Twitter every morning. I have the same social media addiction as many other Americans, but I do find that Twitter helps me get a good read on how the news cycle will develop throughout the day. The trending bar will often give away anything big that happened overnight, and my follows fill in the rest of the blanks. However, lately when I log in to Twitter in the mornings, I’ve been seeing not news events on the trending tab, but celebrities. Usually, it gives my heart a bit of a start. “Oh no, this very important...

Denmark, as of December 9, 2021. Denmark has one of the highest RT-PCR testing capacities in the world and screens all positive RT-PCR tests with an Omicron-specific PCR – allowing screening for Omicron.There have been 785 SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant cases identified in Denmark. The earliest Omicron cases in Denmark occurred before South Africa announced the emergence of this variant. Most cases were fully (76%) or booster-vaccinated (7.1%); 34 (4.3%) had a previous SARS-CoV-2 infection. The majority of cases with available information reported symptoms (509/666; 76%) and most were infected in Denmark (588/644; 91%).One in five cases cannot be linked to...

When the Botswanan scientists saw the sequences, they were stunned. Four international travelers had tested positive for COVID-19 on Nov. 11, four days after entering the country. But when the cases were genetically sequenced, where the genetic code of the virus is analyzed to look for worrying changes, the scientists discovered a variant they had never encountered before. And soon, they alerted the world to what would become known as the omicron variant. The team in Botswana was headed by Sikhulile Moyo, the laboratory director at the Botswana-Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership and a research associate with the Harvard T.H. Chan...

I have a confession to make. I have two children, but I never wanted to be a mother. I married at 24 and I told my husband pretty early on that I was pretty sure I would never want children. They seemed like a hindrance to me. I had plans. Big, big plans. I had desires. I had needs. In my family, everyone, almost to a person, seemed “burdened” with the task of child-rearing. I hardly knew a single soul in my world who had planned on becoming a parent, not beyond my grandparents. And nearly everyone was divorced. Yes,...

[Catholic Caucus] A "Revolution of Tenderness", or "The Roche Christmas Massacre": A Farce in Eleven DubiaAs reported by this blog a few days ago, the "clarifications" of Traditionis custodes from the CDWDS, which the Pope has given his assent to, have been published today - relentlessly appalling in their attempted suppression of the traditional rites, yet comically absurd in their claim to be "preserving the gift of ecclesial communion by walking together, with conviction of mind and heart". In this current joke of a pontificate, war truly is peace. The summary of what the Pope and the CDWDS are...

Cancel culture has gone from amusing to annoying to ridiculous to just straight up communist. In the latest example of the cancel mobs coming for wrongthink, a famous comedian who was once considered on the cutting edge of social and political commentary has lost a prestigious job opportunity for running afoul of Wokesters. Monty Python comedic pioneer Terry Gilliam was preparing to direct a production of Into the Woods at London’s famous The Old Vic theater. The comedy veteran had looked forward to mounting the show next year, but then he made a terrible mistake that put everything in jeopardy....

Hundreds of thousands human brain cells grown in a petri dish have found a new meaning in life – they spend the day playing the retro videogame Pong. Australian scientists at Cortical Labs taught the cells to play in just five minutes, which is faster than artificial intelligence (AI) that picks up the game after 90 minutes. The system, called ‘DishBrain,’ is comprised of brain cells grown on top of microelectrode arrays that can both stimulate the cells. To teach the mini-brains Pong, the team used a single player version of the game and sent electrical signals to either the...

Though many Congressional Republicans are dismissing the House special committee's investigation into the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is looking forward to its results. “I think the fact-finding is interesting. We’re all going to be watching it,” the Kentucky lawmaker told Spectrum News. “It was a horrendous event, and I think what they’re seeking to find out is something the public needs to know.” -snip- Earlier this week, at a press conference, McConnell made waves when he said that “we’re all watching, as you are, what is unfolding on the House side,...

Kamala Harris on Friday took a swipe at Joe Biden for declaring 'independence' from Covid on July 4 - and appeared to blame scientists for the administration's failure to be better prepared for Omicron and Delta as the new strains threaten to send the country spiraling back to pandemic shutdowns. Harris, in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, said: 'We have not been victorious over it. 'I don't think that in any regard anyone can claim victory when, you know, there are 800,000 people who are dead because of this virus.' -snip- The vice president insisted that the virologists...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, poses a "direct challenge" to former President Donald Trump and has "betrayed" the GOP, former White House strategist Steve Bannon believes. Bannon, who served as the CEO of Trump's 2016 campaign and then as a chief strategist in the former president's administration, slammed McConnell during the Friday episode of his War Room podcast. His remarks came after McConnell gave an interview to Spectrum News this week in which he spoke favorably of the work being done by the House select committee investigating the pro-Trump January 6 attack against the U.S. Capitol, calling...

[Catholic Caucus] Father Claude Barthe: We Must Resist the Illegitimate Norms on the Traditional Rite - "Vatican hardliners have started a war they can only lose." Resisting an unjust liturgical lawMichel JanvaLe Salon BeigeDecember 18, 2021[Rorate: Father Barthe is well known by our readers. One of the greatest experts in the history of the Traditional movement, and the chaplain of the pilgrimage to Rome, he knows what he talks about.] This morning, the Congregation for Divine Worship published responses to certain provisions of the Apostolic Letter in the form of a "Motu Proprio" Traditionis Custodes. We interviewed Father Claude...

Tonight at 7 PM, the outgoing Dutch cabinet will announce new coronavirus measures. It is expected that the Netherlands will go into a “hard lockdown.”So what does this mean? This means that there is a possibility that all non-essential shops such as gyms, restaurants, cafes, museums, cinemas, theatres should close. Only essential shops like the supermarket should remain open.

There’s Misery on 34th Street. . ...this year, St. Nick wears a creepy red mask while sitting behind a desk as if a detached CEO, socially distanced from bored toddlers, also masked. Children sat on Santa’s lap the last time Santaland was open in 2019. Not anymore. “Guests will visit Santa in his office this year and will be seated opposite Santa’s desk,” says an edict on the Macy’s website. “What’s the point of going if your kid can’t sit on Santa’s lap?” one frustrated parent texted to friends after visiting the winter wonderland on the eighth floor of the...

A man calling himself Captain Beany from Port Talbot, Wales, will be celebrating Christmas with his favourite ever dish: baked beans. Formerly known as Barry Kirk, Captain Beany is absolutely obsessed with Heinz baked beans – he created a Guinness World Record in 1986 by spending 100 hours in a bath filled with beans. Captain Beany, 67, even changed his name by deed poll in 1991 to be seen as a ‘local superhero’. His Christmas will be filled with baked beans, even decorating his Christmas tree with homemade Heinz baked beans baubles and cans.

Media outlets across the board are losing viewership in light of President Trump’s departure from the White House. According to Comscore data reported in the Wall Street Journal on Friday, outlets including the Washington Post, New York Times and CNN, have all seen a decline in ratings. Politico took the biggest hit with a nearly 50 percent decline in monthly visitors. This trend is one Trump predicted throughout his first term.

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson and his counterparts from 26 other states filed an appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court Saturday morning in an effort to block the Biden administration’s OSHA vaccine mandate. The filing, announced by Wilson’s office Saturday morning, comes after a panel of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a split 2-1 decision, lifted a stay against the mandate Friday evening. Lifting that stay would allow the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to require people who work at companies with 100 or more employees to get vaccinated. “The fight against the...

The U.S. military must start making preparations for another "insurrection" after the 2024 election, according to a trio of retired military generals. An op-ed published by the Washington Post on Friday called for action amid growing concern among former senior officials about the "potential for lethal chaos inside our military" in a flash of violence that could eclipse the Capitol riot on Jan. 6.

Colorado state workers will be surprised to learn Gov. Polis now professes to believe vaccines should be a matter of choice, as opposed to the government mandate he imposed on them in September. The Democrat’s comments on freedom during this time of COVID came during an interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox (Gasp!) News. “I think at some level this becomes a matter of individual responsibility, individual freedom, informed choice,” Polis said. Except Polis’s idea of choice and freedom is to force state employees to get the shot or get tested for COVID twice a week for all eternity. That’s...

Paris canceled its New Year’s Eve fireworks. Denmark has closed theaters, concert halls and museums. Ireland is again forcing pubs and restaurants to close at 8 p.m. And the Netherlands is expected to announce a strict new lockdown later Saturday. With coronavirus cases surging across Europe as the Omicron variant spreads, governments are imposing new restrictions across the continent, triggering plans for protests in several major cities.

Three retired U.S. Army generals have warned of insurrection or possibly even civil war if the results of the 2024 presidential election are not accepted by sections of the military. Retired Major Generals Paul D. Eaton and Antonio M. Taguba joined retired Brigadier General Steven M. Anderson urged today's leaders to act to prevent such scenes, calling on today's leaders to "war-game" an attempted coup. In an op-ed for The Washington Post published on Friday, the former military leaders said they were "increasingly concerned" about the "potential for lethal chaos inside our military, which would put all Americans at severe...