Free Republic

The left-wing media’s Ministry of Truth — website ratings firm NewsGuard — is at it again, slamming conservative news outlets while promoting liberal rags. And conservative leaders are furious. The firm’s report headlined, “Special Report: The U.S. Best and Worst of 2021,” claimed to “identify the misinformation websites with the most online engagement in 2021 in the United States.” In addition, NewsGuard alleged, “We also highlight a selection of the trustworthy sites that are producing reliable journalism, including for local and niche markets.” NewsGuard had two lists sub-headlined “The Ten Most Influential Misinformers” and “The Ten Top ‘Trustworthy and Trending’...

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden announced Wednesday it had earmarked some 6 billion kronor ($661 million) for a temporary scheme to help the most affected households across the Scandinavian country to cope with high electricity bills this winter. Home owners in Sweden have already started adopting strategies to lower their consumption — turning down the heating, closing off rooms, using alternative heat sources like wood log burners and wearing thick woolly socks. There have been reports of people taking bank loans to be able to pay their electricity bill. “I understand that people are worried about their finances,” Sweden’s Energy Minister...

A man entered the Saint-Denis Basilica on January 5 with a crowbar. He broke three statues and several windows before being arrested. The final resting place of the kings of France, the Basilica of Saint-Denis, was the scene of acts of vandalism on Wednesday, January 5. A man in his thirties entered the building with an iron bar with which he broke windows and three plaster statues in various chapels: those of St. Denis, St. Genevieve and St. Anthony. He also attacked several display cases in which religious objects were sold on the spot before being quickly arrested. “The three...

Gov. Gavin Newsom's administration this week announced a plan for addressing extreme heat that includes recommendations on how to monitor deaths caused by heat waves and the possible establishment of temperature limits for residential units.The release of the plan follows the publication of a Los Angeles Times investigation that revealed that California has done a poor job tracking the number of people who have died due to extreme heat and has largely failed to provide resources to communities that are most vulnerable to the effects of heat and global warming."Extreme heat threatens public health and safety, economic prosperity and communities...

VIDEOAdam Kinzinger told a zinger that the January 6 Committee interviewed Ray Epps and despite being at the forefront of urging people to go INTO THE CAPITOL, he was not arrested because he did not enter the Capitol building. This defense of his beloved Epps was undermined by the fact that Thomas Caldwell who also did NOT enter the Capitol building was arrested and imprisoned. Also Epps was seen whispering into somebody's ear just seconds before that person helped tear down a barricade at the security barrier around the Capitol.One very odd thing is that after revealing on January 11...

An unlikely star has stepped – or should we say, slid – into the epilepsy treatment story after a sea lion named Cronutt underwent an experimental therapy. After experiencing worsening epileptic seizures that left Cronutt unable to eat, a groundbreaking procedure was carried out to transplant healthy pig brain cells into the sea lion’s damaged brain. Incredibly, the approach has proved a success for Cronutt. UCSF Magazine reports he has seen a significant amount of brain function return since the transplant. Now seizure-free a year on, the plucky pinniped has scientists wondering if the same approach could be introduced for...

Elon Musk has attacked a draft plan under consideration in California that critics say disincentivizes the use of rooftop solar panels.The Tesla founder was responding to changes proposed by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to the state's Net Energy Metering (NEM) program.Under the program, the estimated 1.3 million homeowners and businesses in the Golden State who have installed rooftop solar panels can sell back surplus energy to the grid and receive credit on their bills.But last month the CPUC released a proposal calling for a number of changes, one of which is how much customers are paid when they...

WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday criticized politicians who refuse to say whether they’ve received a Covid booster shot. In an interview with far-right cable channel One America News, Trump said he received the booster and has seen politicians get asked in interviews whether they’ve also gotten a third shot. “They don’t want to say it because they’re gutless,” Trump said. “You gotta say it, whether you had it or not. Say it. But the fact is that I think the vaccines saved tens of millions throughout the world. I’ve had absolutely no side effects.” Trump said that...

The next time you see you county health officer, President Biden, or Boris Johnson why not ask them if they can find a mistake in this study by Kyle A. Beattie entitled Worldwide Bayesian Causal Impact Analysis of Vaccine Administration on Deaths and Cases Associated with COVID-19: A BigData Analysis of 145 Countries (the PDF version is here).The study found that the COVID vaccines cause more COVID cases per million (+38% in US) and more deaths per million associated with COVID (+31% in US).The abstract says:The statistically significant and overwhelmingly positive causal impact after vaccine deployment on the dependent variables...

This should terrify you if you’ve received an mRNA booster. Last month, the European Medicines Agency authorized boosters EVERY THREE MONTHS: EU drugs regulator says data supports vaccine boosters after three monthsToday, not even five weeks later, and barely 24 hours after Pfizer’s CEO downplayed a fourth dose, they said they think frequent boosters may not be safe: EU Warns Repeat Boosters Could Weaken Immune SystemWhat changed? What data have they seen since Dec. 9? Animal studies? Side effect reports? Epidemiological data? Or is this just an abundance of caution - caution that did not exist last month? The time...

Sen. Ted Cruz poses questions to FBI official and she refuses to answer them.

“The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” ― Ronald Reagan. Government-controlled education has no intention of giving parents control of their children’s education. School districts have unprecedented funds to teach Critical Race Theory and Social-Emotional Learning. After decades of being told big brother knows best, “big brother” received the ultimate test during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. Most schools were entirely unprepared for virtual learning. Very few studies are available to know how the loss of instructional time has affected students. When schools reopened, they mandated masks and vaccines for...

Certain hemp cannabinoids have the power to block SARS-CoV-2 – the virus that causes COVID-19 – from entering human cells, new research has shown. Let’s get in here early to say that this study has only been carried out in the lab, not humans, and there’s nothing to suggest using cannabis will boost your immunity against COVID-19 – unfortunately, it’s nowhere near that simple. With that out of the way, the new research does suggest that some of these compounds could potentially pave the way towards some interesting antiviral treatments in the future. The study was recently reported in the...

MADISON, Wis. — The homicide trial for Chandler Halderson will be put on hold until at least next week after Halderson tested positive for COVID-19, the judge in the case ruled Wednesday morning. Judge John Hyland informed the jury of a positive test among someone integral to the case, but did not reveal it was Halderson himself after his defense team expressed concern that the diagnosis could possibly cause jurors to hold it against him in some way. All attorneys for the defense and the prosecution left the courtroom and appeared via Zoom as the jury was informed, while Halderson...

On episode XXIV of "In the Know," (January 7, 2022) ARK CEO/CIO, Cathie Wood, weighs in on the tech sell off, innovation stocks, autos, China, the tech & telecom bubble, and more. As always, she also discusses fiscal policy, monetary policy, the economy, market signals, economic indicators, and innovation. We hope you find this monthly series useful, especially during periods of heightened volatility. Stay Healthy. Stay Innovative.Tech Sell Off, Bubble Comparisons, China | ITK with Cathie Wood | January 7, 2022 | ARK Invest

Stacey has a plan, and it’s only a surprise to people who haven’t paid attention. She plans to become the first Black woman governor in the United States next year. And then run for president in 2024 if Biden does not, or in 2028 if he does.” — Newsweek, November 2021 The quote comes from "an adviser who asked not to be identified to speak freely about her thinking." Fast-forward to Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022. President Biden and Vice President Harris visited Abrams's home turf of Georgia to push their "voting rights" legislation, which is already on life support. Democrats...

A retired sheriff’s captain who tried to unseat Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith in 2014 is trying again next year, amid a cloud of criticism over the six-term incumbent that hit a crescendo this week when the Board of Supervisors formally gave her a vote of no confidence. Kevin Jensen filed with the county registrar on Tuesday, records show, the same day that the no-confidence vote was held ...

Artist’s representation of IXPE in Earth orbit. Credit: NASA NASA’s newest X-ray eyes are open and ready for discovery! Having spent just over a month in space, the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) is working and already zeroing in on some of the hottest, most energetic objects in the universe. A joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, IXPE is the first space observatory dedicated to studying the polarization of X-rays coming from objects like exploded stars and black holes. Polarization describes how the X-ray light is oriented as it travels through space. “The start of IXPE’s science...

Brown University researchers are part of a consortium tracking the impact of COVID-19 on patients with cancer. The first study to evaluate the clinical characteristics and outcomes of vaccinated (but not boosted) patients with cancer who had breakthrough COVID-19 infections indicates they remained at high risk for hospitalization and death. The study, published in Annals of Oncology, showed that vaccinated patients who experienced breakthrough COVID-19 infections had a hospitalization rate of 65%, an ICU or mechanical ventilation rate of 19% and a 13% death rate. Data for the study was collected before booster vaccines were recommended for patients with cancer...

As more vaccinated people become infected with the omicron variant, we’re going to have to learn to live with Covid — and with each other. Back in September I got Covid, and got it bad. For two weeks I was too sick to work or do much of anything except sit on the couch or lie down in bed. The initial (and very intense) flu-like symptoms turned into a bad cough, which slowly faded into persistent fatigue and what many have described as a kind of Covid “brain fog.” It was nearly a month before I had recovered enough to...