Free Republic

Full Title: Are some people naturally Covid-proof? Scientists around the world are studying the phenomenon of health workers and others who are regularly exposed to the disease but have yet to become infected Mounting evidence that people are naturally resistant to Covid and its mutations One theory is that they have previously recovered from different coronaviruses Experts hope they can help create variant-proof vaccine to keep Covid at bay It's a common yet curious tale: a household hit by Covid, but one family member never tests positive or gets so much as a sniffle. As infections continue to soar in...

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has reportedly resumed negotiations with the White House on President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda after essentially torpedoing it before the Christmas break. According to Axios, sources confirmed that the senator has reportedly engaged with the White House “on the climate and child care provisions” in the president’s signature piece of legislation “if the White House removes the enhanced child tax credit from the $1.75 trillion package — or dramatically lowers the income caps for eligible families.”

A historic chapter in NATO’s Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) comes to an end as the F-16 Fighting Falcon flies last mission on January 6 and Bodø Air Base shuts down. Fighter jets have been stationed at Bodø since 1955 and the air base was Norway’s most important throughout the Cold War and until today. Located some 80 km inside the Arctic Circle, Bodø is strategically placed on the coast to the Norwegian Sea and in short flying distance to guard the northern air space against Russian military aviation flying out from the Kola Peninsula. The closure of the air base...

An 82-year-old cancer survivor died from COVID-19 after catching the virus from a friend who hid their infection so they could all get together and play cards, her family alleges. Barb Bartolovich, of Ohio, was vaccinated against the virus and took strict safety precautions, including only socializing with people who were also vaccinated. Her granddaughter, Lauren Nash, of Michigan, claims Bartolovich decided to attend a card game after all invitees claimed to be vaccinated. However, one attendee allegedly failed to disclose were sick with COVID. 'Somebody decided that testing positive for COVID is something they can hide,' Nash told WXYZ....

Norway' Minister of Defense, Frank Bakke-Jensen, on Friday signed an agreement with the United States allowing for, among other things, construction of hangar and fuel supply infrastructure for U.S. Navy P-8A maritime patrol aircraft at Evenes airport and the nearby Ramsund naval station. “This agreement will strengthen the United States and NATO’s possibilities to defend Norway,” said Minister of Defense, Frank Bakke-Jensen in a phone interview with the Barents Observer. The new deal widens the opening for transatlantic military cooperation further. At Evenes airport, inside the Arctic Circle, new infrastructure will be built and paid by the United States, aimed...

A nurse who spent 28 days in a Covid coma fighting for her life has been saved after medics gave her Viagra. Mother-of-two Monica Almeida, 37, from Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, was just three days away from having her ventilator turned off. Mrs Almeida was given the erectile dysfunction drug by her colleagues at Lincoln County Hospital. The ‘miracle’ drug caused her condition to improve in just a week and the level of oxygen she needed to drop by half as it opened up her airwaves. 'I had a little joke with the consultant after I came round because I knew him....

DnaNudge is an Imperial College London spinout company whose founder and CEO is a professor at Imperial College. At the end of December 2020 in response to complaints from its customers, who at the time was mainly the NHS, DnaNudge admitted a final Covid diagnosis should consider symptoms and not rely on the test result alone.A list of field safety notices (“FSNs”) from medical device manufacturers is maintained by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (“MHRA”). In a previous article we attached a list of 24 FSNs relating to “SARS” devices between 1 January and 30 November 2021 –...

A pro-abortion think tank is decrying 2021 as “the worst year” for abortion rights in nearly 50 years as dozens of laws aimed at restricting access to abortion have passed at the state level in 2021. The Guttmacher Institute, a pro-choice research organization formerly affiliated with Planned Parenthood, released a report earlier this month titled “State Policy Trends 2021: The Worst Year for Abortion Rights in Almost Half a Century.”The report is the latest of several Guttmacher Institute publications highlighting the passage of numerous laws at the state level this year, which the organization and other pro-choice advocates characterize as...

The Monthly Fiber Arts Thread is a monthly gathering of people that love yarn and fabric of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first project, to experienced fiber artists and beyond, we would love to hear from you. It is impossible to hijack the Monthly Fiber Arts Thread. Knitting, crochet, quilting, weaving, general crafting - there is no telling where it will go, and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our Fiber Arts...

The Diocese of Arlington’s former director for the Office of Child Protection, Father Terry Specht, was indicted last week on two charges of sexual abuse. A grand jury in Virginia indicted Specht Dec. 20 on one count of aggravated sexual battery of a child under the age of 13 and one count of sexual abuse of a child over whom a custodial or supervisory relationship existed. Michael Kelly, Chief of Staff for the office of Virginia’s attorney general, Mark Herring, told CNA that the maximum penalty for the first count is 20 years in prison, and five for the second....

Two space scholars have warned that astronauts may turn to cannibalism if humans do not prepare enough for the rigors of colonizing outer space. Dr. Cameron Smith, a co-founder of Pacific Spaceflight, agreed that it will prove vital to “establish a really good farming system and put in a lot of stored food.” The professors argued for different target locations for such colonies, with Cockell electing for moons around Jupiter and Saturn and Smith suggesting that the asteroid belt might provide the best potential.

Moscow, December 29, Interfax - An inter-factional working group for the protection of Christian values is being created at the State Duma, a source at the parliament told Interfax. "The group for the protection of Christian values is being created. The purpose of its creation is consolidating the efforts of parliamentarians and the Russian Orthodox Church in legislative work and upholding traditional values," the source said. Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia has given his blessing to the creation and activities of the group, the source said. State Duma Deputy Speaker Pyotr Tolsoy of the United Russia faction is...

* Paul Williamson claims he was forced to retire because of beliefs about women * Rev Williamson interrupted 2015 consecration service shouting 'Not in the Bible' * The priest tried to claim age discrimination when he was forced to retire in 2019 * He lost latest legal challenge on grounds of religious discrimination as it was lateA Church of England priest who protested at the consecration of the first female bishop has lost a claim of religious discrimination at a tribunal after he claimed he was forced to retire because he believes women shouldn't be ordained. Reverend Paul Williamson, 72,...

Central banks around the globe are ending 2021 with the highest gold holdings in 31 years. Yet the real story as monetary authorities recalibrate foreign-exchange reserve holdings is how the US dollar is on the losing end of these shifts. And in the year ahead, this trend could become a systemic problem. True, the dollar’s value versus gold has been falling for more than a decade now. That’s a product of ultraloose Federal Reserve policies flooding the globe with record liquidity. Now, even as the Fed moves to tighten the credit spigot a bit, other monetary powers are pivoting to...

On this date in 1923, Polish nationalist painter Eligiusz Niewiadomski was executed for assassinating Poland’s first president. After more than a century under German, Austrian, and (most especially hated) Russian domination, Poland had established itself an independent republic in the first world war’s imperial wreckage. Niewiadomski (English Wikipedia entry | Polish), whose father had taken part in the 19th century’s anti-Russian January Uprising, was a talented painter with a serious nationalist streak. And that was really the done thing for his time and generation: his painting career from the 1890’s into the early 20th century maps the Young Poland movement...

You must take this product. You cannot sue if injured. You can maybe see the clinical trial safety data in 75+ years. And the deidentified post-licensure safety data – no, you cannot see that either. Three prior posts explained how the FDA seeks to delay for 75+ years full production of Pfizer’s pre-licensure safety data. While we have that fight, we submitted a request to the CDC, on behalf of ICAN, for the deidentified post-licensure safety data for the Covid-19 vaccines in the CDC’s v-safe system. Even though this data is available in deidentified form (meaning, it includes no personal...

[H/T Silent One]A seasoned stock analyst colleague texted me a link today, and when I clicked it open, I could hardly believe what I was reading. What a headline. “Indiana life insurance CEO says deaths are up 40% among people ages 18-64”. This headline is a nuclear truth bomb masquerading as an insurance agent’s dry manila envelope full of actuarial tables.People frequently write to Jill and myself. People we have never met. They call, they arrive at the farm by appointment or unannounced, they fill our email in boxes with their inquiries. They all want something; time, attention, an interview....

Is it something in the water that makes some people think they’re so powerful that they have a right to become little despots wallowing in the grime of their own making when events turn against them? What makes them think they shouldn’t be the objects of ridicule or scorn and not have to take it? That’s free speech! And, when it does occur, and their feelings get hurt, where do they get the gall to demand police make arrests because they’re offended? No, it’s not in the water they drink; it’s because of the Patriot Act, profaned as it was...

[H/T Silent One]ransomnote: The article suggests there are many, many deaths from Covid that aren't classified as Covid. I believe that runs contrary to the CDC's proclivities (e.g., 'presumed' Covid). I believe these are vaccine related deaths. (The Center Square) – The head of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data...

The U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its parent entity, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), are being taken to court over the refusal to make public a post-licensure safety data for the COVID vaccines. A nonprofit organization called Informed Consent Action Network (ICAN), which advocates for full transparency of the medical products’ safety and efficacy data, filed the lawsuit on Thursday, after its three FOIA requests to publish the reports submitted through the CDC’s “V-safe” system were turned down by the agency. According to the CDC’s website, “V-safe” is a smartphone application that uses...