Free Republic

[Catholic Caucus] At St Germain (France), Catholics celebrate Christmas before the closed doors of a church because of the obstinate will of Pope Francis “Mary gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock…” – St Luke.In Saint-Germain-en-Laye in Yvelines (France), Catholics celebrated the birth of the Savior in front of the door of a church closed because of the obstinate...

The nation’s recent lockdown policies and mask mandates will create a generation of children who exhibit lower IQs and signs of social brain damage, according to Dr. Mark McDonald, a clinical psychiatrist for children and adolescents, in an interview with host Cindy Drukier of a Dec. 25 episode of NTD’s The Nation Speaks. McDonald cited an Aug. 11 study by Browns University (pdf) which found that “children born during the pandemic have significantly reduced verbal, motor, and overall cognitive performance compared to children born pre-pandemic.” The masks, “zoom schools,” and lockdown mandates lead to “deprivation overall, of social contact, [of]...

We didn’t know it then, but on Election Night, November 8, 2020, America entered a Twilight Zone every bit as eerie and unanticipated as anything dreamed up by Rod Serling decades earlier. It began with time standing still in the middle of the Election Night vote count, followed by a flood of outlandish vote totals being relayed to us, especially from Democrat strongholds in 7 swing states. Then there was the alacrity with which network analysts declared Biden the winner, especially, the Fox news early projection of a Biden win in Arizona. Among Trump partisans and Republicans generally, there was...

President Joe Biden extended Kwanzaa greetings on Sunday to people celebrating the holiday. “As we begin the seven days of Kwanzaa, Jill and I send our best wishes to everyone celebrating,” Biden wrote on social media. “May this time of reflection on the rich heritage of African American culture bring peace, unity, and joy.”

"The new House map is more than half finished. And in many states where maps haven’t been finalized, the broad outlines are already visible. Taken together, the emerging picture is far more favorable for Democrats than most anticipated"

Jay recently bought this brilliantly engineered, original and unrestored Lincoln Continental convertible from a woman who lived three miles away from him! Lincoln savant John Cashman walks us through the unique and complex systems that make up this perfect California cruiser!

An undisclosed number of passengers tested positive for COVID-19 during a Christmas cruise, curtailing the cruise’s scheduled stops. Take a cruise during a pandemic at your peril. One Carnival Freedom passenger, Ashley Peterson, shared a letter from the captain offering a $100 gift voucher, apologizing for cutting two of the three stops, and assuring passengers that all protocols were being followed to keep them safe. “People have spent thousands of dollars on this cruise and picked this cruise for the ports,” she tweeted “Now on an 8-day cruise we will have only gone to one place on a delayed schedule....

Historian and author Jon Meacham said Sunday on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” that if former President Donald Trump runs again in 2024, it would be a constitutional crisis. Zakaria said, “I want to lay out what seems to me a reasonable scenario, which is Donald Trump seems to be trying to control the Republican Party for a purpose. This is not just a hobby. He would like to run again. If he runs again, assumption number one, he wants to run, assumption number two, he will get the nomination because the party seemed enthralled with him. He will run, and...

Vice President Harris acknowledged that she experienced some "frustration" during her interview with radio host Charlamagne tha God last week during which he asked her who the real U.S. president was. Harris acknowledged to CBS's Margaret Brennan during an interview that aired Sunday the exchange reflected "frustration" with the question, in which the host alluded to whether Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) was the president given his perception as a lone lawmaker to thwart some of the president's agenda give the 50-50 split in the Senate.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) will require its teams to host Covid booster shot events on New Year’s Eve, according to a report. Shams Charania, the NBA reporter for the Athletic, tweeted the news earlier this week. “In light of rising COVID-19 cases, all NBA teams were informed that they are required to host a booster shot event by Dec. 31 in which booster doses are made available for eligible players, staff, and their families,” Charania wrote.

RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) - Some Vermonters who are able to find antigen tests and then test positive are clogging up emergency rooms. The emergency department at the Rutland Regional Medical Center has been overwhelmed with asymptomatic folks. Dr. Rick Hildebrant is RRMC’s medical director. He says some people who test positive with a rapid test go to the emergency room looking for a PCR test. Hildebrant says those who are asymptomatic and receive a positive antigen test should stay home and reach out to their primary care provider. He says the only time to go to the ER is if...

The political atmosphere is heating up regarding next year’s election and is beginning to indicate a red wave tsunami. At the same time, the Supreme Court appears to be ready to issue a major decision regarding abortion and curtailing (or even overturning) Roe v. Wade. Enter Dr. Mehmet Oz, Professor of Surgery, Columbia University, the leading Republican candidate for the very crucial Senate seat in Pennsylvania. As a well-known celebrity, Dr. Oz brings serious credentials to the job. However, on the crucial issue of abortion, he is a typical politician speaking out of both sides of his mouth. If Oz...

It’s hard to believe that, less than 30 years ago, South Africa was a nation riven by apartheid and segregation. To look back on that time period and realize that it wasn’t that long ago is astonishing. Brave men and women stood up and spoke out against the horrendous policy, and eventually, South Africa shook off the bond of apartheid. Desmond Tutu was one of those voices who spoke of the importance of freedom for black South Africans, and now he is with his Heavenly Father. Tutu passed away on Sunday at the age of 90. “The passing of Archbishop...

Vice President Kamala Harris said during her CBS interview Sunday that 'democracy' is the most significant national security threat facing the United States. She had been trying to echo Democrats' warning about threats to the 'integrity' of the American democratic system as her boss, President Joe Biden, tries to push his voting rights agenda through Congress. In the final portion of her wide-ranging interview released over the week, Harris also defended the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in August, instead blaming its predecessor for first setting the deadline to leave. 'What do you see is the biggest national security...

China would have you think that there's no such thing as concentration and labor camps for their ethnic Uighurs, and that western sanctions expressing opposition to them don't bother them, either.But then ... there's this:BEIJING, Dec 26 (Reuters) - China has replaced Chen Quanguo, who as Communist Party chief in the Xinjiang region oversaw a security crackdown targeting ethnic Uyghurs and other Muslims in the name of fighting religious extremism.Chen, in his post since 2016, will move to another role and Ma Xingrui, governor of the coastal economic powerhouse Guangdong province since 2017, has replaced him, the official Xinhua News...

It was one thing when Americans panicked hoarded food and toilet paper during the early days of the virus pandemic. Then guns and ammo after social unrest broke out, but 20 months later, recreational vehicles continue to be hoarded at levels never seen before. A new RV Industry Association (RVIA) report released Tuesday shows shipments for towable RVs jumped 14% in November to 43,881 from 38,485 the same month last year. All motorhome shipments soared 30.4% to 5,254 vehicles for the month, and total RV shipments increased 15.6%. Like all of 2021, November’s sales are a record for that month…For...

A holiday party at the home of Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont earlier this month led to a "small number" of guests contracting "breakthrough" coronavirus infections, according to reports. Neither Lamont nor his wife Annie Lamont were affected, CTInsider.com reported. The infections occurred even though guests were required to provide proof of full vaccination status as well as a negative coronavirus test result, the report said.

President Trump on with Dan Ball of OAN now.

The James Webb Telescope was successfully launched yesterday, Christmas Day. It is now on route to a point about a million miles from earth where it will be in orbit around the sun and pointed out beyond the solar system. Hopefully, setting up the Webb telescope will be as successful as its launch.Okay, so here is my question: What AMAZING discoveries do you think the Webb telescope will reveal? The Hubble telescope was able to take us back in time to very early after the creation of the universe but the Webb telescope, using infrared technology will take us back...

In this brief communication we are showing original research results with early estimates from Danish nationwide databases of vaccine effectiveness (VE) against the novel SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) up to five months after a primary vaccination series with the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccines. Our study provides evidence of protection against infection with the Omicron variant after completion of a primary vaccination series with the BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 vaccines; in particular, we found a VE against the Omicron variant of 55.2% (95% confidence interval (CI): 23.5 to 73.7%) and 36.7% (95% CI: 69.9 to 76.4%) for the BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273 vaccines,...