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The 2022 Beijing Olympics are set to include a record 109 sporting events this year, with seven new events in snowboarding, bobsled, and skiing. With a focus on new events with mixed gender teams, this year's Winter Games offer a greater balance between men's and women's events than ever before, according to the International Olympic Committee. The IOC says the athlete make-up in Beijing this year is expected to be 55% male and 45% female. This is thanks, in part, to a broader selection of events at this year's Games, giving athletes, especially women, more opportunities to go for gold....

Join with fellow FREEPERS across the world to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Agri-Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, Technology, and the Media. "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness." (1 Timothy 2:1-2) Religion Forum threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind. Finally, brothers, rejoice. Set things in order. Be encouraged. Agree with one another. Be at peace. And the God of love...

Former President George W. Bush gave the maximum allowed political contributions to Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, two Republicans who supported impeaching former President Donald Trump over the January 6 Capitol riot. New disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission said Bush gave Cheney $5,800 on October 28 for both the general and primary elections. On December 31, he also gave Murkowski $2,900 for her primary. The FEC sets limits on political contributions. Cheney, the daughter of Bush's own vice president, Dick Cheney, and an outspoken Trump critic, now serves as the lead Republican on the...

New York Democrats on Sunday released a congressional gerrymander so egregious that it makes Republican efforts pale in comparison. It’s also a flagrant violation of the state constitution, which means it is up to the state’s Democratic-appointed judges to show courage and throw this map out. Empire State Democrats left no stone unturned in their efforts to thrash Republicans. Nathaniel Rakich at FiveThirtyEight suggests the map could give Democrats the edge in terms of gains from redistricting nationwide. Cook Political Report redistricting guru Dave Wasserman explains that Democrats were so precise that only a few precincts in the entire state...

The Readings for today's Feast Day focus on the theme of the priesthood of Christ, seeing a kind of sacerdotal significance to this first entrance of the Messiah into the Temple. These Readings prompt us to meditate firstly on how Jesus has served and continues to serve as our great High Priest, but also how his priesthood is lived out in our own lives, since we share in his priesthood by virtue of our Baptism. 1. The First Reading is Mal 3:1-4:Thus says the Lord GOD: Lo, I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; And suddenly...

NN contributor Dr. Leana Wen on Tuesday published a piece saying America needs to get back to normal now that the Omicron variant is on the way out. This stands in contrast to the message Wen wrote late last year urging the Biden administration to enact heavy pandemic restrictions. While both of her write-ups talk about lingering threats on the horizon, the difference now is Wen wants the public to not be afraid of COVID-19 anymore. In a pair of dueling Washington Post op-eds, Wen reverses course on COVID-19 rules. In November 2021, Wen penned the prior piece by leaning...

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced on Tuesday he has tested positive for COVID-19. “This afternoon, I tested positive for COVID-19, and I am experiencing mild symptoms,” the 82-year-old congressman said in a statement. “Thankfully, I am fully vaccinated and already received my booster shot.” He continued, “I’m very grateful to the researchers, scientists, and medical experts who worked hard to develop the COVID-19 vaccines and to all the extraordinary public health workers and volunteers in our communities who have tirelessly worked to get shots into arms.” Hoyer said he will be working from home for the upcoming week...

A tragic story about a careless drunk driving incident involving an illegal invader motorist in Texas that resulted in a young American woman’s death has exposed the horrifying truth about Democrat Joe Biden’s plans for America’s future. Apparently, he plans to let the country be invaded by people who don’t have to follow our laws.“Biden administration RESCINDS deportation of Mexican illegal immigrant who crashed into and killed a 19-year-old woman while drunk as part of their bid to reduce the number of removals,” The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday. Here is the horrifying story in detail:Heriberto Fuerte-Padilla was driving drunk...

Specifically, in today's episode we note that people from San Francisco are flocking to Montana, which has seen a 140% increase from Fog City when comparing total moves from 2018-2019 and 2020-2021, according to the San Francisco Chronicle."I have a vacation rental [in Bozeman]," said Bozeman real estate broker Cancis Dorsch, who's spent years selling vacation homes to Bay Area residents and says that demand from the Bay Area has 'exploded.'"It became slam-booked for the entire summer. Buyers were making phone calls, buyers were buying properties, sight unseen, to get out of the Bay Area. It really happened in the...

“If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures” (Proverbs 2:4 KJV).

Lockdown measures used by governments worldwide to reduce the death toll from the pandemic had little or no impact on COVID-19 mortality, according to three researchers who analyzed 24 studies.The researchers, led by Steve Hanke, the co-founder of The Johns Hopkins Institute for Applied Economics, Global Health, and the Study of Business Enterprise, screened 18,590 studies to select the 24 papers used for the final analysis.They concluded that lockdowns in Europe and the United States reduced the mortality from COVID-19 by 0.2 percent on average. Shelter-in-place orders reduced mortality by 2.9 percent on average, they found.“While this meta-analysis concludes that...

The protection people experience after recovering from COVID-19, known widely as natural immunity, lasts for at least 18 months, according to a recently published study.Researchers in Italy analyzed the level of antibodies in 36 patients who were documented as contracting COVID-19 in March 2020. About half of the patients went on to get COVID-19 vaccines, but the rest remained unvaccinated. Samples from all but two were tested at timed intervals, ending in September 2021, using assays that have received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.“At 18 months, 97% participants tested positive for anti-NCP, hinting towards the persistence of...

The U.S. is Canada's largest export buyer for beef and Canada's largest importer supplier. Any disruption to the meat trade between both countries would have severe consequences for meat processors in Canada and consumers in the US. Days after the "Freedom Convoy" of truckers protesting vaccine mandates in Ottawa, the country's capital, protests are spreading to US-Canadian border crossings and furthering logistical headaches. Bloomberg reports 150 trucks packed with beef, bound for the US, are stuck in a traffic jam at the border at Coutts, Alberta, the Canadian Meat Council said. Since the weekend, a convoy of truckers has slowed...

The left celebrated when musician Neil Young announced he would be removing his music from Spotify for hosting comedian Joe Rogan’s podcast. This particular ploy was the latest in an ongoing effort to cancel the podcaster for having conversations with people who express ideas the woke crowd doesn’t like.Joni Mitchell, along with other geriatric musicians, followed suit. “Holy crap! Neil Young AND Joni Mitchell? Rogan is toast,” progressives seemed to think.But, as usual, they were wrong.Not only has Spotify stood firm in their decision to host Rogan’s podcast, he has also received overwhelming support, some of which is coming from...

Sometimes people have to see things for themselves to get the message.The trucker convoy with thousands of people protesting across Canada, and particularly in Ottawa, may have brought home in real-time to the politicians how much people are objecting to mandates and how much they have hurt people.Now there is a “growing chorus of politicians and health experts” calling for ending extraordinary measures and moving more toward a “learn to live with it” approach. Although they hastily add in the title “not because of the truckers,” because the media is still going to be the media.📍Ottawa, Canada:Canadian MP Pierre Poilievre...

Joe Rogan said something interesting in his Instagram post the other day when he was responding to the Spotify controversy about his podcasts. He talked about his view on the media attacking him for “misinformation.”“The problem I have with the term misinformation – especially today – is that many of the things that we thought of as misinformation just a short while ago are now accepted as fact, like for instance, if you said eight months ago, you can still catch COVID, and you can still spread COVID, you’d be removed from social media. They would ban you from certain...

@MaryMargOlohan Big Board owner Eric Flannery becomes emotional speaking with GOP lawmakers in his bar tonight: “When people ask me, ‘where are you going to get on the other side of this,’ I don’t know. I just know that I’m doing the right thing. And this place is supposed to be open.” Clip...

Whoopi Goldberg has been suspended from ABC following her controversial comments about the Holocaust in which she said the extermination of six million Jews was not about race. “Effective immediately, I am suspending Whoopi Goldberg for two weeks for her wrong and hurtful comments,” ABC News president Kim Godwin said in a statement. “While Whoopi has apologized, I’ve asked her to take time to reflect and learn about the impact of her comments,” Godwin added. “The entire ABC News organization stands in solidarity with our Jewish colleagues, friends, family and communities.”

White House officials are going the extra mile to ensure President Biden does not test positive for COVID-19, potentially undermining the administration’s own message about vaccine efficacy. During Monday’s National Governors Association winter meeting at the White House, Biden was seated at least 10 feet away from all other attendees and was the only person given a glass of water — thereby ensuring no one else needed to remove their face coverings. ... All this took place despite Biden being fully vaccinated and getting a booster shot in late September. ... During Monday’s event, Biden admitted that the US has...

Rapid at-home COVID-19 tests will soon be available in New Hampshire liquor stores, Gov. Chris Sununu said Wednesday. Sununu said the state has secured 1 million rapid tests, and the Executive Council authorized their purchase Wednesday morning. He said that within the next two weeks, he expects the tests to be available at liquor stores. The tests will purchased with federal pandemic relief dollars and will be sold at cost, which is about $13, Sununu said. The cost of the test can be reimbursed through health insurance, though the amount and process will vary from company to company. New Hampshire...