Free Republic

Dozens of teachers at Olney Charter High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania staged a mass ‘sick out’ following the death of 17-year-old student Alayna Thach, who contracted COVID-19 in early December and passed away the week after.

Dec. 20 , 2021 -- The Omicron coronavirus variant has been found in dozens of states across the country since it was first identified in South Africa in November, and many may be wondering: Will it upstage Delta and cause a winter surge? Is it still safe to gather with others for the holidays? How is this variant affecting children?Experts addressed those and other questions in a webinar hosted by New York University last week, acknowledging that it will take some time to find out all the crucial facts about Omicron.But in the meantime, here's what's known -- and not...

There are now 23 Democrats who won't seek reelection in the 2022 midterms as Representative Albio Sires from New Jersey plans to retire and party leadership desperately grips their slim majority in the House.... ...With a series of upcoming retirements, Democrats' majority in the House looks increasingly vulnerable, and Pelosi can only afford to lose three seats in order to keep her party in power.... [list of the 23 at link]

"Former Smith College administrative employee Jodi Shaw, a white woman, is suing the elite school in federal court for retaliation and racial discrimination including forced participation in humiliating ideological indoctrination sessions. David Pitvorak, who describes himself in his Twitter biography as an “individual rights attorney taking on Critical Race Theory in the courts,” is representing Shaw in the lawsuit. “We allege that Smith forced Shaw to undergo ritual racial humiliation and tasked her with implementing policies that racially segregated and discriminated against students,” Pitvorak tweeted. The 101-page lawsuit was filed Dec. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the District...

"Joe Biden intends to mail out a half-billion COVID-19 tests, starting in January. The Biden administration announced early Tuesday that it plans to send 500 million test kits to homes as part of an effort to fight the spread of the omicron variant. "Today, the President is announcing his Administration will purchase a half-billion at-home, rapid tests this winter to be distributed for free to Americans who want them, with the initial delivery starting in January 2022," said the White House in a press statement. ..."

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Swiss authorities in Zurich put Vladislav Klyushin, a Russian businessman widely noted for his Kremlin ties, on a flight bound for the U.S. on Saturday, ending a months-long extradition fight that cast a pall over this summer’s Putin-Biden talks in Geneva. Swiss reporters first confirmed Klyushin’s extradition Saturday night; the U.S. Justice Department on Monday said the 41-year-old, a top official at Moscow-based IT firm called M-13, would stand trial on charges of insider trading, citing information allegedly “stolen from U.S. computer networks,” netting “tens of millions of dollars in illegal profits.” The charges carry potentially decades’ worth of prison...

"The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has called for all coming Christmas events to be “canceled” due to the rise in cases of the COVID-19 variant Omicron. WHO director-general Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has given a stark warning to the public over plans to hold Christmas gatherings this year. The WHO chief warned that celebrating the festivities as normal would lead to “increased cases, overwhelmed health systems and more deaths.” He’s calling for stricter government measures to curb the spread while urging people to cancel gatherings with family and loved ones. ..."

"If you thought yesterday's Democrat meltdown in response to Joe Manchin saying he will not side with Joe Biden on the BBB, if you thought that way bad well I guess Democrats were just getting started..."

Within weeks, scientists at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research expect to announce that they have developed a vaccine that is effective against COVID-19 and all its variants, even Omicron, as well as from previous SARS-origin viruses that have killed millions of people worldwide.The achievement is the result of almost two years of work on the virus. The Army lab received its first DNA sequencing of the COVID-19 virus in early 2020. Very early on, Walter Reed’s infectious diseases branch decided to focus on making a vaccine that would work against not just the existing strain but all of...

"...since the start of this outbreak there has been basically one set of facts and two competing interpretations: are our globalist overlords acting in good faith with this virus, or has this all been piloted from the beginning? ..."

"In an interview with CNN's "New Day" on Monday, Dr. Anthony Fauci responded to comment's from Fox News personality Jesse Watters, in which he called for students to ambush Fauci with questions regarding the National Institute of Health's funding of gain-of-function research. "New Day" host John Berman talked about a comment given by Watters at Turning Point USA's AmericaFest. ..."

The Omicron variant is now the dominant strain of coronavirus in New York, and Mayor Bill de Blasio says city residents need to move just as fast as the virus. “It will be a tough few weeks, and we need to understand that, and we need to do everything possible to address that,” de Blasio said Tuesday. “But look, this is going to be a temporary reality.” Back on Dec. 4, reported COVID cases hovered under 1,900 for a seven-day average. On Tuesday, it was nearly 9,300, a surge fueled by the more contagious new variant. The mayor said another...

About 20% of the world’s bitcoin miners are estimated to still operate from Chinese soil.According to a report by CNBC, bitcoin miners have found ways to keep operating in China despite the country’s comprehensive efforts to crack down on the industry.China used to be the country with the most significant share of hashrate. But that began to change in May when Chinese authorities began cracking down on Bitcoin and bitcoin mining. The increased regulatory scrutiny led to tangible impacts on BTC miners and exchanges, which started limiting or putting an end to their activities. In under a month, the Chinese...

TOKYO, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant intends to build an underwater tunnel to release water from the plant into the sea, it said on Tuesday, as part of a project to treat and dispose of contaminated water.... ...Pumps would move the treated water from the tanks to the seashore and through a seabed tunnel to release it at a depth of 12 metres (40 ft), and about 1 km out at sea....

<p>California will require health care workers to receive COVID-19 booster shots in order to retain their fully vaccinated status, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday.</p><p>The Democratic governor said more details of the requirement would be released on Wednesday. Newsom has scheduled a news conference in the San Francisco Bay Area.</p>

President Joe Biden’s administration is planning to mail out some 500 million COVID-19 tests, starting in January, according to the White House.The White House on Tuesday said it will send the test kits to homes as part of an effort to deal with the Omicron COVID-19 variant, which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday said accounts for about 73 percent of cases in the United States. It’s not clear yet whether the variant causes more severe disease than previous variants, although fewer than a dozen deaths have been reported worldwide.“Today, the President is announcing his Administration...

Discourteous remarks about Afghanistan made by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan at the recent Organization for Islamic Cooperation (OIC) meeting were an insult to the Afghan nation reeling from the Taliban takeover. In his remarks, Khan described the non-monolithic Taliban group as a predominately ethnic Pashtun movement, implicitly casting millions of Pashtuns as the Taliban’s adherents.... But perceptions matter.... ...To be sure, it is difficult to determine whether the Taliban will ever be able to run a non-ideological Afghan state. But by casting it as a Pashtun movement, Pakistan risks sparking Pashtun nationalism in more than 40 million Pashtuns who...

[Catholic Caucus] Assertions without reasons: A Statement in Protest of the CDW Responses from Pro Missa Tridentina Veni, veni, Emmanuel! Statement of the Lay Association "Pro Missa Tridentina" on the implementation of the regulations of the Motu proprio Traditionis Custodes (of 7/16/21) published on 12/18/21: The form and content of these restrictions cannot be accepted by traditional Catholics. With stunned horror, the faithful attached worldwide to the Roman tradition take note of the document that Archbishop Roche, with the consent of Pope Francis, addressed to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences, which was made public on Saturday, December 18,...

RED ALERT: this is not a joke. Elon Musk sat down with Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon, EIC Kyle Mann, and Creative Director Ethan Nicolle for an in-depth interview on wokeness, Elizabeth Warren, taxing the rich, the Metaverse, which superhero Elon would be, and how the left is killing comedy.