Free Republic

"While gas prices have declined in recent weeks, GasBuddy is forecasting that prices at the pump nationally could increase in 2022 and possibly top $4 a gallon. According to a GasBuddy forecast shared exclusively with CNN, the national monthly average price for a gallon of gas will hit $3.71 in May 2022 and then start to decline later in the year. However, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, said it is possible prices could hit at least $4 a gallon. ..."

"While this issue still hasn’t impacted a significant percentage of the national workforce, various vaccine mandates have led to the dismissal or forced resignation of workers who declined to comply and get vaccinated. This is a significant financial issue for many families because the rules regarding unemployment benefits make many workers ineligible if they either quit or are terminated for cause. In response to this, four states – Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, and Tennessee – had already passed laws making such workers eligible for benefits, with extensions offered in some cases. Now a fifth state has joined the list. Iowa will...

A California Highway Patrol officer “escaped relatively unscathed” after an apparently angry cow tried to toss him into the air in a rural part of the state, officials said. The scary moments were captured by the officer’s dash camera. CHP’s Susanville division uploaded the video to its Facebook page two days before Christmas. “Holy cow!!” the agency captioned the Dec. 23 post, noting the footage highlights “one of the many dangers we face on a daily basis here in rural northeastern California.” The grainy 12-second-clip begins with the cow charging at Officer Brandon Pratt, who is standing on the side...

"Kyle Griffin, senior producer of MSNBC's "The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell," recently raised eyebrows on Twitter by using the word "alleged" when referring to China's human rights abuses. ..."

A virus cannot target a specific person regardless of vaccination status. "Immune evasion," along with increased transmissibility, are reasons why omicron spreads. After the omicron COVID-19 variant was first reported to the World Health Organization by South Africa on Nov. 24, the variant was quickly discovered around the world, including in the United States. Since the emergence of the COVID-19 variant, there has been speculation that vaccinated individuals are more susceptible to catching omicron than unvaccinated individuals. According to Google Trends data, “omicron in vaccinated” saw a spike in searches beginning on Dec. 5. There are hundreds of tweets that...

"An Amazon Alexa voice assistant reportedly ''challenged'' a 10-year-old girl to ''touch a penny to the exposed prongs'' of a half-plugged phone charger, prompting the company to update Alexa to prevent a similar incident, BBC News reports. Kristin Livdahl, the child's mother, posted on Twitter that she and her daughter ''were doing some physical challenges'' provided by the family's Amazon Echo, which uses the voice assistant technology Alexa. This included lying down ''and rolling over holding a shoe on your foot'' from a [physical education] teacher on YouTube earlier. Livdahl added that due to ''bad weather outside,'' her daughter ''just...

"Rex CEO Peter Rex, who moved his business from California to Texas, says the migration is not over yet."

"This goes out not just to members of legislatures, its on the governors...but on redistricting the heat has not been brought."

The new year is set to begin soon and with it comes resolutions, hitting the reset button, and starting things off right. Most places are closed on New Year's day and outside of watching the parade, football, or taking down Christmas decorations, there isn't a lot going on. While it usually is very cold and is expected to be again this year, why not bundle up and start the year off with a new year's hike and your first hike of 2022? First Hike Of The New Year At City Of Rocks National Reserve About 85 miles southeast of Twin...

While numerous bills are proposed throughout the year, some bills move quickly to the floor for a vote while others never get out of committee. As the calendar turns to 2022, here are some new laws Pennsylvania legislators will be trying to pass in the coming year—a small sample of the many new laws recently proposed. Mandatory Handwriting Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Angel Cruz seeks to amend the Public School Code to require handwriting instruction in kindergarten through fifth grade. “My legislation will ensure that students can legibly print by third grade and write in cursive by the end of fifth...

Microplastics—tiny pieces of plastic less than 5 mm in length –– are everywhere, from bottled water to food to air. According to recent estimates, people consume tens of thousands of these particles each year, with unknown health consequences. Now, researchers found that people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have more microplastics in their feces than healthy controls, suggesting that the fragments could be related to the disease process. The prevalence of IBD, which includes Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, is rising globally. Characterized by chronic inflammation of the digestive tract, IBD can be triggered or made worse by diet and...

2021 was a banner year for CNN! For 12 long months, we looked to their fake news coverage for guidance, clarity, and above all, laughs. Let's take a look back at some of CNN's biggest stories of the year! January 7: CNN Gravely Reports On 'First Violent Protest In Recent Memory' It was a dark, dark, very dark day for democracy. Our country had never seen anything like it ever before. CNN courageously broke the story... January 21: CNN Praises Biden For Causing Sun To Rise In East This Morning The day after Biden's inauguration, CNN heralded the dawning of...

Boosting levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine with atomoxetine, a repurposed ADHD medication, may be able to stall neurodegeneration in people with early signs of Alzheimer's disease. This is one of the first published clinical studies to show a significant effect on the protein Tau, which forms neurofibrillary tangles in the brain in Alzheimer's. In 39 people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), six months of treatment with atomoxetine reduced levels of Tau in study participants' cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and normalized other markers of neuro-inflammation. The study points toward an alternative drug strategy against Alzheimer's that does not rely on antibodies against...

The ultra-leftists over at MSNBC are calling the ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ chant a ‘slow-motion insurrection’! And MSLSD only have themselves to blame for creating the Let's go Brandon phenomenon.

CHICAGO (ChurchMilitant.com) - A top cardinal, one who presides over liturgical abuses and incorporates pagan elements from Taoism and Hinduism into the Holy Eucharist, is doubling down on attacking the Traditional Latin Mass in his Chicago archdiocese. Cardinal Blase Cupich, who permits high-profile LGBT+ Masses, published a five-page policy two days after Christmas, prohibiting the celebration of the TLM on the first Sunday of every month, Christmas, the Triduum of Holy Week, Easter Sunday and Pentecost Sunday. The prelate, who publicly opposed bishops seeking to withhold Holy Communion from pro-abortion President Joe Biden, has promulgated his own rules implementing Pope...

Patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who had a combination of high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, or other conditions associated with metabolic syndrome were at much higher risk of acute respiratory distress syndrome and death, according to an international study. The risk for developing acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening lung condition that causes low blood oxygen, grew progressively higher with each additional metabolic syndrome criteria present. Patients with metabolic syndrome were 36% more likely to develop acute respiratory distress syndrome, almost 20% more likely to die in the hospital, more than 30% more likely to be admitted to an ICU, and...

Build Back Better May Not Be Dead Just Yet On Sunday, December 19, West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin dropped a bomb on the Biden administration when he said he would not support the $1.9 trillion Build Back Better legislation. With a 50-50 split in the Senate, a no vote from a Democrat was a death knell for the pending program. The senator cited rising inflation as a reason why the US cannot afford to spend another almost $2 trillion after the cost of the legislation would not be covered by tax hikes. While Republicans cheered, the move angered many...

President Joe Biden on Tuesday said he will impose a domestic travel vaccine mandate if medical experts approve of the measure. When asked by reporters if he will force domestic travelers to get the jab, Biden responded it depends on the recommendation of health experts. “When I get a recommendation from the medical team,” he said in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the Hill reported. Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser, told MSNBC on Monday the domestic mandate would further tighten the screws on those who remain unvaccinated.

Kidney transplant recipients tend to mount impaired antibody responses against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants after standard two-dose COVID-19 vaccination, according to new research published in CJASN. This is true even for transplant recipients with detectable antibody responses against the original SARS-CoV-2 strain in commercially available assays. Because kidney transplant recipients are at high risk for SARS-CoV-2 infection and more severe COVID-19 disease, SARS-CoV-2 vaccination is strongly recommended in these patients. Studies indicate that kidney transplant recipients mount lower antibody responses following SARS-CoV-2 vaccination compared with healthy individuals, however. Following vaccination, fewer kidney transplant recipients developed neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 than healthy...

How else can auto makers meet the requirement of a 55 mpg fleetwide average by model year 2026? Under the guise of regulating greenhouse-gas emissions, the Environmental Protection Agency recently announced new, more stringent fuel-efficiency standards for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. The real purpose of higher fuel-efficiency standards is to impose an electric-vehicle mandate by regulatory fiat, because there is little chance that Congress will enact legislation banning the sale of internal-combustion vehicles. For those who drive hundreds of miles every day, as some rural consumers do, having to spend hours recharging an EV isn’t practical. It isn’t even...