Free Republic

U.S. life insurers, as expected, made a large number of Covid-19 death-benefit payouts last year. More surprisingly, many saw a jump in other death claims, too. Industry executives and actuaries believe many of these other fatalities are tied to delays in medical care as a result of lockdowns in 2020, and then, later, people’s fears of seeking out treatment and trouble lining up appointments. Trade group American Council of Life Insurance said the pandemic in 2020 drove the biggest annual increase in death benefits paid by U.S. carriers since the 1918 influenza epidemic, totaling billions of dollars. The hit to...

There are four minutes left in the third quarter of a public high school football game in the state of Washington. A player tries to make a tackle with his head pointed down, and his helmet flies off. He falls to the ground and lies motionless. An assistant coach runs out onto the field. He kneels beside the boy, and the boy says, "I'm seriously hurt. Please, pray for me." The coach calls out, "Call an ambulance." Then he begins to pray as the boy had requested. Did that coach just establish a religion for the state of Washington? Did...

Alarm! It is not surprising that applications for a residential mortgage have crashed and burned after The Federal Reserve’s announced intentions to raise their target rate and trim the ballast in the economic tanks. But dang! Mortgage applications decreased 13.1 percent from one week earlier, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending February 18, 2022. The seasonally adjusted Purchase Index decreased 10 percent from one week earlier. The unadjusted Purchase Index decreased 6 percent compared with the previous week and was 40.4 percent lower than the same week one year...

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Although many Americans may prefer that the U.S. stay out of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the brewing violence and political fallout are already hurting their wallets. Gasoline prices, which have hit eight-year highs — could surge even further if the hostilities escalate or if U.S. lawmakers pass another round of sanctions. The economic impact could also move beyond the gas pump, Wall Street analysts warn. Sanctions or export controls against Russia could make current semiconductor shortages even worse, while restrictions on wheat or metals could drive the fiercest bout of inflation in decades to climb even higher.

As many as 1,000 truckers are expected to gather in California on Wednesday to embark on an 11-day trek to Washington DC in an effort to protest what they claim are unconstitutional COVID-19 mandates. *** It has called on the federal government to end the National Emergency enacted at the start of the pandemic, arguing that the threat posed by the virus has now receded. *** People's Convoy organizers claim they do not intend to disrupt roads or bridges, like the Canadian protest did. *** However, some semi-truck drivers are already calling for widespread blockades, including Bob Bolos who on...

A “fairness ordinance” in a Nebraska city has triggered a firestorm, with one state pro-family organization claiming it will trample on First Amendment rights. The Lincoln City Council, located in the state capital, passed the ordinance on Feb. 14, according to a report by the Lincoln Journal Star. “This 67-page ordinance affects everyone in the city from churches and schools to your gym and local swimming pool. It’s a nonpartisan issue,” Karen Bowling, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance said in a Feb. 18 statement. “The ordinance penalizes citizens for expressing a worldview different from those currently in positions...

The Bible In Paintings 2 ENCOURAGEMENT FOR APPRECIATING AND APPLYING GOD'S MESSAGE E X O D U SCHAPTERS 1 & 2 Now the Israelites were fruitful and multiplied greatly and became exceedingly numerous. Then a new king said to his people, “The Israelites have become much too numerous for us.” So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor and worked them ruthlessly. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Every boy that is born you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.” Now a man of the house of...

Everyone recalls Biden’s remark that the U.S. might soft-pedal its response if Russia engaged in only a “minor incursion” in Ukraine. Well, surprise, surprise! Given the green light from Biden, Russia is unilaterally annexing only a portion of Ukraine. There’s its “minor incursion.” Biden is trying to talk and act tough but, of course, it’s too late. And here’s something to ponder: Don’t think that can’t happen here. Having given Putin the go-ahead, Biden is now imposing a few sanctions on Putin’s cronies, as well as putting a sanction on sovereign debt, limiting Putin’s ability to raise money in the...

Speaking from the East Room at the White House Tuesday afternoon, President Joe Biden announced new sanctions on Russian banks, sovereign debt and oligarchs after President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion into Ukraine Monday. "This is the beginning of a Russian invasion of Ukraine," Biden said. "I'm going to begin to impose sanctions in response." Almost an hour and a half late, Biden says that he will impose sanctions "far beyond" those which were imposed in 2014. pic.twitter.com/zGPElivTun — Townhall.com (@townhallcom) February 22, 2022 The remarks come less than 24 hours after White House national security officials wavered on the...

A helicopter crashed in Hawaii on Tuesday morning, killing four people, the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) confirmed. There were no survivors of the crash, and the victims identities have not been released. The helicopter was operated by Croman Corporation, a contractor that "provides range support services to PMRF," the facility said in a statement. The helicopter was supporting a "range training operation" when it crashed north of the missile facility, located near Kekaha on the island of Kauai, just after 10 a.m. local time. The National Transportation Safety Board identified the helicopter as a Sikorsky S-61N. The cause of...

Democrat Rep. Ruben Gallego (AZ) called for seizing the trucks of protesters headed to Washington, D.C., and then giving the property to businesses looking to grow. “Perfect time to impound and give the trucks to small trucking companies looking to expand their business,” Gallego tweeted in response to the following news headline: “Trucker convoy could shut down DC Beltway tomorrow.”

A National Guard official called it a "blessing" that no one was injured after two Black Hawk helicopters crashed following an incident in American Fork Canyon early Tuesday. Officials had previously stated the crash had occurred in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Aviation Public Affairs Officer Jared Jones said the UH-60 Black Hawks with the 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 211th Aviation Regiment were involved in a winter mountain training accident near Mineral Basin at around 9:30 a.m. As the helicopters were attempting to land in an approved landing zone just outside the Snowbird ski resort, both experienced white out conditions. During...

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave a long and important speech on February 21 as tensions with the US over Ukraine reached new heights. While the media focused on certain aspects of the speech, particularly Russia recognizing two separatist areas in Ukraine as sovereign independent states, there is much more there to unpack. Let’s begin at the end. “I consider it necessary to make a long-overdue decision to immediately recognize the independence and sovereignty of the Donetsk People's Republic [DPR] and the Luhansk People's Republic [LPR],” he said. These are two areas in eastern Ukraine that declared independence in April of...

Canada may be the future for many Americans. The Canadian government is freezing the bank accounts of truckers involved in the freedom protest. But on Thursday, they went even further, freezing the bank accounts and blocking credit cards and crypto wallets for people and institutions in Canada who donated to support the truckers. Without credit cards or checks and no access to financial institutions, people better hope that they have lots of cash at home. This is being done even without court orders. It is bad enough that financial institutions freeze donors’ accounts. Still, to get an idea of how...

"Archaeologists deep in the Jordanian desert have discovered a 9,000-year-old ritualistic complex near what is thought to be the earliest known large human-built structure worldwide." "The Stone Age shrine site, excavated last year, was used by gazelle hunters and features carved stone figures, an altar and a miniature model of a large-scale hunting trap. The giant game traps the model represents -- so-called "desert kites" -- were made of long walls that converge to corral running gazelles into enclosures or holes for slaughter. Similar structures of two or more stone walls, some several kilometres (miles) long, have been found in...

Beware of writing critical things about Eileen Gu, a teenage skiing triple-medalist at the Beijing Olympics. You'll be accused of racism. Gu was born and raised in San Francisco, but after competing for the USA, she decided in 2019 that she was going to ski for Communist China, where her mother grew up. The most pronounced irony of this flip-flop is how she's cashing in by straddling the two countries. During the games, NBC aired a gooey Gu profile. "She's made a massive imprint from social media to mainstream fashion ... and has netted deals with global luxury brands like...

BALTIMORE (WBFF) — Recent Project Baltimore reports have exposed how some Baltimore City high school students are far behind in their education. Now, one woman is sharing her story as a Baltimore City student who graduated from high school without learning how to read. Debora Prestileo is 41 years old. She’s a 1999 graduate of Patterson High School, who 23 years later, still struggles to read. “It’s embarrassing sometimes,” Prestileo told Project Baltimore. “Going into stores, like if I go into Walmart, and I’ve got to ask for help. Sometimes people laugh at me.” Prestileo has a learning disability, caused...

Poland aims to modernise and expand its armed forces into one of the strongest in NATO, under a new homeland defence proposal backed by the government on Tuesday. Outlining the plan to reporters, Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński said the proposed homeland defence bill was designed to "create the legal basis and financial instruments for a radical expansion of Poland's armed forces in terms of both manpower and firepower."Referring to escalating tensions with Russia over Ukraine, he added that "Poland must have at its disposal armed forces adequate to the kind of situation we have today--forces that will be able...

Sheriff Michael Chapman of Loudoun County, Va. got an unpleasant surprise recently from Old Joe Biden’s handlers. On Thursday, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) published a press release that reveals the truly astonishing extent of the administration’s high-handedness, dishonesty, carelessness, and recklessness in its resettlement of Afghan refugees in cities and towns all over the United States. Without any prior warning, Loudoun County officials were told that 2,000 Afghan refugees would be arriving in the county in just over two weeks and that 2,000 more would be arriving every month after that through September. In what will come as...